Marketing dynamics of TheWritePerson

It has been an encouraging journey thus far in trying to get visitors to my blog.

Since its inception in June this year, there has been a steady stream of visitors. Averaging about 400 page views per month. Not a lot, but it is really encouraging as it is like a bonus for me as I started this blog as a media to exercise my passion in writing.

Frankly speaking, it started off primarily as a mean for me to publish my soccer articles, which wasn't too up to standard to be sold off for publication. Then I decided to spread my wings into lifestyle writing in a bid to expand my portfolio.

The first baby step in marketing for myself began with the naming and branding, in the conceptualising of name, TheWritePerson. I had wanted this blog to be part of my writing portfolio for a writing-related job. Thus I wanted a name which can creates the right impression, which sets the scene. I had job search at the back of my mind, thus was thinking about being The Right Person, but it sounded so jaded and cliche. I added a little twist to it and made it The Write Person (blog site) at The Write Space (blog title). Still slightly cliche, but does good enough to separate from the pack. In fact I have received compliments from friends who thought that this is a rather appropriate name. Thank you.

But really, I am indeed proud of TheWritePerson. It had served as a way to get my articles seen, a way to keep in touch with my numerous overseas friends, as well as to keep up with my passion. After starting this blog, I felt like being a journalist, or not, does not matter as much. If I just wanted to make my articles seen, I can do it here. If I want to get down to reporting news, I can also do it here; citizen journalism.

TheWritePerson has taught me a lot. So, I'm going to talk about how this blog went from zero visitor to its current state.

There are numerous media online for hosting personal websites and blogs. A careful selection is needed in my opinion. Having tried a few blogging platforms, I found Blogspot catering most to my needs. It has a slightly more casual image than WordPress which fits my pursuit. I didn't want my blog to start off too seriously. Probably a bit more fun like I am; getting the right audience.

Then, comes the issue of convenience. A heavy user of Apple, the Blogger application allows me to blog from my iphone, as well as ipad. No problems at all even if I am not with my laptop. Easy interface and stability a plus. Also, the set up was easy and had tonnes of template for me to choose from! Talk about all the convenience offered in this fast pace world where users starts to get irritated when their Google search exceeds 400 milliseconds wait time.

As always, the first post was a self-introduction which almost does not have any selling point. That practically explained why there were no visitors. Plus, how to get eyeballs if I am not even letting people know of my product? *Slaps forehead* So I decided to start off my marketing for this blog through direct marketing. I started to text my close friends with the web address and finally managed to get the counter rolling.

Then I started to blog more.

I realised I cannot depend solely on just the handful of visitors I was getting. I needed more visitors to read my articles and hopefully give my feedback for improvement. I started to promote my blog by posting direct post links with a short copy as my Facebook status. True enough, the blogspot statistics showed an encouraging figure for the direct post linked visitors. Moreover, I was getting comments on my Facebook status more than what I get on my blog! A more direct form of communication with my visitors. I value all feedback. Really grateful.

All these communications had me all excited. After all my interest had always lied in the area of computed mediated communications, which prompted me to do my university dissertation on the communications on Social Networking Sites and its educational value.

Then I found a simpler way to cross over and post my link on Facebook. I realised there was a share icon at the end of every blog post for me to share on social media. Saved me the trouble of going into my blog, then into the specific post to get the permalink, and open another browser for Facebook to update my status with the link. I could push my article onto other social media like twitter and Google+ too.

Big plus! All these media are free for everyone, so ROI is 100% !

Lastly, I saw the potential in marketing my blog on my personal name card which I gave out to industry professionals whom I met at sports events which I was covering and along the way. You know how cute my name card was designed to be in order to leave an impression as I did not want my name card to be thrown away without serving its purpose. Moreover, my name card allowed me to display my creativity as well as Photoshop skill in doing up the entire thing on my own.

I noticed that most people whom received my name card will flip to its back to check out how it was done, how the attachment is secured. Thus, a plain flip side would be such a waste! Perfect opportunity to advertise my blog.

However, even though results had been satisfactory, there are still much to be worked on. The next thing to work on is definitely on my Search Engine Optimisation. I can't find my blog on google and yahoo even when the exact words 'thewriteperson' is entered. I need SEO skills. Learning is crucial to improvements, time to hit the library soon.

Thank you everyone for being with me here!

Good night!