Photo by Gaetan Lee

If your blog is a business you’d like to promote, then there’s a few simple ways to get your link out there and to expand your readership.

Here are a few ideas.

1.  Your Email Signature

Take advantage of the “settings” feature in services like Gmail, and add a simple signature that includes your blog’s link.  Make it simple and easy to read, and add your tagline or some description so that everyone you email has access to your site.

2.  Your Forum Signature

If you’re on any online forums, make sure your signature settings also have a link to your blog, in a similar fashion to your email signature.  Make sure this is allowed, as each forum has its own rules.

3.  Twitter

If you want to promote your blog at all, you must use Twitter.  I personally only use it several times a week, but when I’m on it, I stay active and interact.  There are many resources that will give you guidelines and ideas on how to use this tool to its maximum advantage – one solid place is TwiTip, written by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.  I’m not an expert, but I do use it, and have found that it really increases my blog audience loyalty.

I recommend downloading TweetDeck as a great medium for using Twitter, and at minimum, using TwitterFeed to automatically send out your latest post to your Twitter friends.

4.  Other Social Networks

Each blog niche has its own logical use of social networking, and it’s impossible to be on every single site.  I recommend narrowing down to the ones that make the most sense for your niche, and spending most of your time there.

However – I do recommend at least opening an account at almost every networking site you can think of, and at least filling out the profile to include your bio and link.  This is because you’re building a brand with your blog, and you want to snag the same name on all these sites.

I’ve registered “SimpleMom” on most networks out there, but I really only use three or four on any regular basis.  But that means I’ve kept the brand identity mine.

5.  Business Cards

If you’re going to the Blissdom Conference February 6-7 this year, you need to order your business cards asap.  If you’ve got plans for any sort of blog convention or conference in the near future, then you also need business cards.  If you have any plans on entering a public place sometime this year, I also recommend business cards.

They don’t need to say much – they can be simple, with your blog’s name as the focal point, along with its tagline (conference attendees will receive a lot of cards, so they’ll need to remember the general gist of your blog).  Also include your full name, your email address, and any form of contact that’s important to you.  I’ve got my Twitter name on mine (@simplemom).

Use them to pass along when you’re chatting with people at blog conferences. It’s expected self-promotion, so it won’t come across as pushy.  In real life situations, however, it can be a bit random to pass along an unsolicited card, so choose more discreetly when you pass it along.

Always keep a few with you, and you’ll be surprised when you need one. I’ve given mine out on play dates, at the playground, on bulletin boards at a local community center, and even at a coffee shop.  It might only mean a few new readers, but you can’t pass up face-to-face contact to build loyalty.

I recommend Overnight Prints for quick, inexpensive, quality work. I was very impressed with my cards, along with everything else I’ve ordered from them.  Usually, you can get 100 business cards for $9.95.

If you’re a beginner blogger, it might feel weird to think of yourself as a brand – but by building your expertise on your blog, that’s exactly what you’re doing.  And strategically putting your link in the right places means getting it in the right hands. To further your blog’s success, think of it as a business.  And think of yourself as its CEO.