An ethical guide to promoting your content on Triond for new members, as well as some old ones.
Purpose
As stated above, the purpose of this article is to provide an ethical guide to promoting your content on Triond. The focus will be on promoting inside Triond. Promoting outside of Triond will be touched on only briefly at the end. The first thing you need to understand is that all of us writers on Triond are basically “selling” the same thing. If you sell vacuum cleaners for a living, the chances are that you will not try to focus on selling to other vacuum cleaner salesmen. It just doesn’t make too much sense. Try to think of it in this way if you ever have the urge to start a thread in the Triond forum blatantly promoting yourself. Now when you do ignore this unspoken code of ethics and spam yourself all over Triond you tend to be ostracized by the rest of the community. I’m sure when we all first start off on Triond that our intention is to experience a certain amount of success from our efforts. If this is the case for you, I assure you that taking an unethical approach to self-promotion within the established Triond community will have the opposite affect. This article is intended to explain to you how you can maintain a reputation as a decent writer within the Triond community by participating ethically and contributing to the community in a positive way.
Ways to Self-Promote on Triond
Comment on Other Articles
The first tried and true method to ethically promote yourself is to comment on the work of others. Now, don’t think that means to place generic comments on an article without even reading it. Trust me, we know. It is a good idea for your comment to include some sort of indication that you understood what you want them to think you just read. Most of us would receive this as an insult and, again, it would produce the opposite affect for your purposes. As a matter of fact, I know many of us in the Triond community that simply delete those generic comments so your effort was completely useless. Here is an example: “Great article! Take a look at mine!” Or worse is leaving the linkfor your article in a comment. You can count on that one being deleted. Just ask yourself how you would feel if someone did that to you. The goal should be reciprocating sincerity and not clicks and generic comments. If you are sincere with your comments you will get the clicks.
Before I move on I would like to just touch on the proper way to critique an article. It is generally not a good approach to give an article a bad critique solely because you just don’t agree with it. We all have opinions and many of the greatest pieces of literature in history often have different viewpoints and contradict the other. This does not make one less worthy of being great writing than the other. When you critique you should focus on things like spelling, grammar, easily readable formatting, word usage and how well the subject was delivered. This doesn’t mean you can’t give your opinion, just do it politely in a professional manner. If you do notice any grammatical errors and the such, send them a direct message about it. If you present criticism politely and they don’t respond kindly then they need to evolve as a writer and realize that it really is about people helping people.
Build a Rapport and Forum Activity
This is probably one of the easiest way to promote yourself on Triond. The first way to do this has just been explained. The more you give sincere feedback in your comments the more you will be noticed and the more people will take a look at your own profile. You are already building the right kind of reputation among the Triond community. Another way to build rapport is to frequent the Triond forum. Not only is there a wealth of knowledge to be found within, there are simply some great people and great writers that spend much of their time there. If you don’t frequent the forum then you are missing out on good advice and building some wonderful friendships. If you gain friends in the forum and communicate positively in the forum regularly then you can count on your friends to look at your content on a regular basis and they will even check back for any new submissions and you can learn from their experience, as well. Just as with the comments, let your common sense be the guide as to how you should conduct your self in the forum. If you are rude, lewd and condescending you will gain no friends and you will be ignored on a regular basis, not the reputation you want.
If you insist on only visiting the forum for blatant self-promotion then fear not. There are places already established for that. Search through the forum with a topic that eludes to promoting your content. These will have general topics such as, “Your most recent article, poem, or photograph.” There are several of these threads throughout the Triond forum and I would suggest these should be the only places in the forum for blatant self-promotion. The only exception to the rule is if there is a thread with a topic that is congruent with one of your articles. If the information in your article adds to the content of the discussion then, by all means, drop the link. Just be mindful of your approach and try to avoid “tooting your own horn.” The last thing I will mention about building rapport is quality writing. Yes, they are linked. Forgive my honesty but, if you write on a third grade level, don’t expect to maintain a faithful readership. You should always be striving to improve upon your skills to gain that faithful readership. Therein lies the true success of writing on Triond. If you put enough effort into quality and you land yourself on the “hot content” page, that will give you all the exposure you want on Triond.
Helping Others Help You
Once you gain your footing on Triond I would encourage you to put yourself out there to help others. There will always be someone newer than you and if you have some useful advice or you can help them in any way, you should do so. When you help others they will always remember and you will have gained a friend that would be willing to help you out. As I said above, it really is about people helping people, not people solely helping themselves. This is the essence of what this article is attempting to convey. If you know of different sources of promotion outside of Triond that someone else is not familiar with, share the information with them. Maybe they know of a better source of promotion that you are unaware of and they will share with you as you did them. There is nothing wrong with you going as far as promoting a friend’s article. If you are on Twitter and you have a lot of followers, post your friend’s link every now and then, get them a little traffic. You should not help others with the intention of getting something in return. Selfless-service will take you to extreme heights of success. It’s just a good value to have.
What Not to Do
Do not just quickly drop into a thread in the forum and drop your link that is completely off subject. You should only promote within threads with topics that are already established for that purpose.
Do not leave a generic comment on another article without reading it for the simple hope of a reciprocated click.
Do not engage in rude, demeaning or abusive behavior in the Triond forum.
Do not blatantly declare yourself the best of anything. Practice a little humility or you will be humbled.
Do not trash another article because you do not agree with the message. You know what they say about opinions.
Outside Promotion
In closing, I will briefly touch on where you can indulge in blatantly gratuitous self-promotion. All of this “type” of promotion should be done only outside of Triond. In the picture above you will notice that resources just for this outside promotion is provided on the webpage of your article, right next to “I Like It!” You should go through each one of these and sign up for them. Every time you write an article submit it to all of them. You should also make the effort of manually submitting your article to as many search engines as you can. Sometimes you may be able to find your content on Google because Triond and their publishing sites are on Google. But, it has been my experience that you will receive much better results if you manually do this yourself. Don’t forget to submit your home profile to the search engines and bookmarking sites as well. As mentioned above, Twitter is a valuable source of promotion. The important thing with this, however, just as with any social networking site, is how many people you have following you. If you only have twenty people following you, don’t expect it to be a good source of promotion. You need to have hundreds if not thousands of followers. It is not as hard as you may think to gain this amount of followers. It can easily be accomplished in a week. I like to figure that I will receive approximately 2% to 5% return from my overall promotion efforts.
If you follow these simple guidelines then you will experience the pleasure of truly being a well-respected and established member of the Triond community. What you get out of it will be a direct reflection of what you put into it. It is simply up to you what your level of success will be from your efforts as an ethical and proactive member of Triond.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:46 am
Great piece RE.I know I’ve done a little self promotion in the forum but mostly in a goofing around playful mood.I don’t see anything wrong with friends you already have a relationship with to send them a link now and then but this is so on point.I’ve grown tired of the newbies flooding us with requests to read their material when we had to earn our friends the hard way……good writing.But this was a good eye opening piece for the new guy,we’ve all been there.I don’t mind helping if they’re willing to learn.I’m still learning myself.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Sound advice and good points. I do try to read and comment. Sometimes it is very difficult when there are mulitple publications in one day from one author/artist/photographer. I am very short of time, which is why I am limited to one publication (ish) per day. Responding to so many is quite a task – just wish there were more hours in the day.
April 8th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Thanks for your article, I only wish I’d read it a few weeks ago when I first came to triond, as in my naivity, I commited one or two of the sins you’ve mentioned, since then I have learned a little more of the protocol, and this article has added a great deal. thanks again brianberu
April 8th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Great, no wonder no one seems to be clicking on stuff that on forums, although I found a link to this article on the forums O_O
April 8th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Thank you for this article! I think it will be helpful to all. For the newbie, I encourage folks to look around at as many Triond writers as you can … there are some outstanding writers here! I think that reading stuff from great writers is helping my own writing (I am not in the list of great writers) and I still have much to learn. And you’re absolutely right … if you want meaningful comments on your work, leave meaningful comments on the works of others. Nicely done.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:02 am
This is a good article that every newbie should read. If only the Forum had stickys – this should be one of them.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:21 am
I am a newbie and I really find this article very helpful and informative. I couldn’t agree more. A true and sincere writer (or person in any field) doesn’t really wait (or ask) for the praise of other.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Good. Now, read all my stuff. It can be found at: hhhhttttpppp/whoop-de-do.spam.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Thanks Repucket, I haven’t been using the forums much. Didn’t realize they could be so helpful. I saw a lot of silly stuff there at first, so I’ve been all but ignoring them
April 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Nice article. The best bit of information, in my opinion, is to always be improving on your writing. No writer is perfect. At least no writer that is alive today.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
This is one piece that actually does what it says on the tin. How many times has someone written one of these types of article and on reading you realise that it was written by someone who doesn’t have a clue about anything.
This article is the exception, some very good points and well made by a writer with a growing reputation.
The only point I would disagree with is;
“Do not engage in rude, demeaning or abusive behavior in the Triond forum.”
HAHA, why not? it is too much fun sometimes. lol
Ok I’m not being serious there.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
good article well written xx
April 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
This is truely useful for me,I am not that really active on triond but i already published few articles on it.There are times that I visit it and still trying to promote myself on it but I was kinda having difficult times,but anyway thanks for sharing this article,Its quite helpful.God bless.
April 8th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I think I’m a terrible promoter.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
What if I write on a second grade level?
Is there be hope 4 me? I rly like 2 write abut funn-e stuff!
April 8th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Nice one. I think i’m gonna try more promotionn on twitter and maybe make friends with some newbies. I teach ‘em what I know. Good job!
April 8th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Well written and to the point Airborne, I think the more people pass the candle of experience the less bull…t will be on this site and we all can get back to the art of writing. Friend, fan, smile
April 8th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Very handy dandy. I’ll keep these ideas in mind! I’m not too good with Twitter… but meh.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I’m with you, Morgana, I’m a terrible promoter. “Hundreds if not thousands of followers in a week???????” Man, I’d love for someone to show me how!
RE, this is an excellent article, thank you for sharing it.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I’m sure this will be of great use. Thanks for sharing with us all. newbies and oldies
April 9th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I’ve learned from previous sites to build up gradually and in the end hopefully your work will speak for itself- and I’ve also learned that by taking the time out to read the work of others opens up a whole world of ideas, and writing possibilities, as well as some really great tips – thanks for taking the time out to write this extremely helpful piece!
April 9th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Great advice! I liked the point where you specifially mention that you shouldn’t just leave a generic comment in there. It’s pretty annoying: I usually comment back on the article’s of people who leave REAL comments on mine but I ignore the copy&pasters.
April 10th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
This is a great article, lots of great tips,
Especially for the newcomers
Thanks for sharing!
April 11th, 2009 at 9:30 am
nice job, REPuckett. actually, i exactly did the same….
April 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Nice methods of promotion you have there. If only anyone here in Triond would read this. Especially the “what not to do” part should be enclosed in the Forum FAQ. Thanks for sharing your tips
April 12th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Good to know what not to do while trying to get some promotion to my articles
. As a newcomer, I wouldn’t want to be ostracize by the triond community (sounds scary). Hope to survive and thrive while working hard to write and interact with other writers.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Good advice. I find it hard to divide my time amongst all the sites I belong to, so I usually avoid forums. It takes time enough just to comment on all the writers I follow!
April 14th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Thanks for posting this article. I have only recently started learning the art of self promotion. There a lot of work to it.
Erin
April 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
thumbs up!
April 15th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I guess this is the expanded version of the first question I had asked a couple of hours ago…:)
April 16th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Great job; this will help the newbies and some that just dont “get it” a lot!
BTW: saw ur f/u post in the forum to the multi thread guy. I think that was great of you to come back and offer advice if he is legit. thumbs up for the high road
April 17th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Hi REPuckett, this is the first of your articles I have read – it has encouraged me to look for more. I found that like all the best things that have survived the test of time as it were, it stated the obvious or as one advertiser says – it does what it says on the tin!
Please do not misunderstand me, that was not meant as a negative – on the contrary. I have always advocated to do something simple and do it well is the answer and for me this was a prime example.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Hi REPuckett – Hmmm, forums. I hadn’t even thought of that resource. I will need to give that a try. I had tried the usual self-promotion methods of Twitter, and other social networking sites; This may just be even a better support system. Thank you for the information.
April 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Great article and very diplomatically said. Sometimes it takes a while for me to get around to reading but I try and will always reciprocate when someone has left a comment on my writing. I have had many PMs asking me to read their work…they are deleted, don’t ask me to read your work when you haven’t taken the time to read mine.
Great advice, Robert!
April 19th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Hello REPuckett,
Great article, I learned a couple of new ways to promote my work. You have some good advice and I agree that this is helpful for both ‘newbies’ and ‘oldies’. I have featured this on both my blog showcasing the work of emerging writers and my blog about online writing and gaining views. Hope this is ok.
http://developingwriters.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-promote-your-content-on-triond.html
http://onlinewritingkeystosuccess.blogspot.com/2009/04/ethical-promotion-on-triond.html
Thanks for sharing,
-Resounding Glass
April 20th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I think this should be compulsory reading before venturing into the forum. Great piece.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I actually never ever promote my own work. I don’t know what it is, but I feel a bit odd doing it. If people read my work great, if not…oh well. I never really noticed we had an online forum. I may try to go see what that is all about.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:47 am
As one of the “newbies,” I appreciated hearing your opinions and advice.
Thanks,
Momma Tells
April 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Here is something that I learned from C Jordan http://www.triond.com/users/C+Jordan .and that is to link your own articles. When you submit an article, at the bottom state something like:If you enjoyed this, try these pieces also by REpucket: The Village….
How to do this? First type like I just explained, then highlight the name of your article. I open another window, go to that same article, copy the link. Now back to your page that you are submitting: look above your article and you’ll see a small link of chain, click on it. Now a box appears and click in the first slot, past the link to your other article. In the second space, choose the ‘open’ selection, then in the last box retype the name of your linked piece. Finally, click on ‘insert’, you’ll notice the color of the title has changed. Personally I don’t recommend linking more than 3 , but if you do it to each piece you create a big loop. I like to link my older work to the newer work.
I can’t take credit for this, as C Jordan taught me how to do it, you should too.
Clay
April 21st, 2009 at 8:29 pm
The above information is correct in the sense that it is a good tactic to get clicks to other articles. However, staying true to the theme of ethical promotion, you would be spamming your own content. I would suggest only linking back to other articles that are congruent with the subject. That is the best way to stay on the ethical side of things. If I write an article on the history of bowling, I am not going to place a link on it to an article about the smallest bird in the world. This will put your readers off from clicking your links in the future because they lead them somewhere outside of their interest at that time. However, this is merely a suggestion.
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Good advice, I’ve seen some hard promoters but I appreciate people that actually say something that indicates they understood, too.
Sheri
April 24th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Thanks for this article. I am still struggling with the idea of promotion. I don’t like to blow my own horn.
I agree with what you are saying. We need to build friendships rather than just sell our articles.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I think the article is very informative. I still have a question, I have 300 followers in Twitter, but I don’t think many of them would really read my articles, how can you promote in Twitter? Anyway, it is very nice of you to share tips with us.
April 26th, 2009 at 3:24 am
I liked this article a lot as it is ofcourse 100% correct. A person shouldn’t just force another person to read one’s article. They should make friends. Another nice article by you.
April 26th, 2009 at 6:56 am
You are so well spoken that I get engrossed within your writing. I wanted to mention something about leaving comments with “construtive” critisism *terrible spelling I know*. It’s fine to leave a bit of advice but don’t leave it multiple times, as one lovely person did on one of mine 10 times, and when possible it is sometimes better to send a private message, which is much more appreciated. However leaving comments of praise that are obviously hollow is just as bad so I agree with the be sure you have READ what you are commenting on. I prefer true praise to “click me” praise any day.
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
awesome work thank god someone wrote this you did a brilliant job. sometimes i get sick of people writing a thread saying something that is completly off topic when they are promoting their work. i don’t have a problem in reading it only if it the thread is written as something different
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I like the fact that this article states not only what I have seen you say in the forums, it also exhibts how I have seen you promote your own work as well. I think you are one of Trionds better examples of writers and I am happy that you reached out to me when I was still very new. Thank you for the both the article and the advice.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Wonderful article! I’ve been here on Triond since Sept. 2008 and your article has some very helpful advice for me. Thanks for sharing.
May 16th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Enjoyed your article, there’s some really useful information. I’m a newbie and found you through reading threads in the forum. Unfortunately I don’t have much free time these days to read everything & everyone…,and started submitting my writing primarily because I enjoy writing. If I can earn some pennies from doing it all the better. I hope people will comment on my work as it will help me improve, time will tell. Anyway, I will take heed of your advice and see how things go.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Many thanks iv found this very useful.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Thank you! I needed that! It is interesting and wrote it very well and understandable. I’ve been trying to do as you have stated. I hope I’m doing ok. I hope I’m doing OK.
June 5th, 2009 at 5:30 am
Wow, thanks for the article, REPuckett. I was actually directed to the article from a forum post saying it provides new information, not only to new members, but even to some senior members, and they were 100 percent correct on that.
My favorite part of the article is where you stated to leave some hints in a comment to prove you read the entire thing. I have some experience with that, especially when you write an article, and receive a comment that is totally not even on-to-speed about what you were talking about, which clearly states that the person did not read the entire article, or did not fully understand it, xD.
– xNarutox
June 11th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I have heard all this info in the forums repeated numerous times. wish i would have known this from the get go.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:00 am
well i know i self promoted in the forum. I wished someone would have sent it to me this when i first started here.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I am happy to read this article and I will indeed follow the instructions. Thanks for helping newbies like me.
June 13th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Based on my experience, your ideas are effective. Even outside Triond, I join forums but not just to promote my work here but respond according to the topic and as a result they view my signature because they are curious of me and that leads them here.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Great stuff, I’m just a newbie starting out on Triond and I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting any views by anybody except myself
But this explains a lot. Triond has sort of a clannish atmosphere and you can’t expect success without joining in that clan. Though I found this from a link in the forums. will certainly use the forums more often now, I just discovered them a minute ago. Thanks for the article.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Here’s my indication that I understand:
Great article, as a newbie to Triond- I found it truly enlightening.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:56 am
“You should go through each one of these and sign up for them.”
As a newbie I still not quite sure how to promote my articles. Thank you for the wonderful advice. To be honest, I kinda feel overwhelmed with the whole promoting thingy. I thought of avoiding the forum as I found it is too cluttered and I don’t know where to start. After reading your article, I think I will head on there immediately
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
After almost 2 years, i am still getting my head around marketing my articles, the likes of reedit,digg aren’t really working for me at all, most of my views come from related article links or people viewing my profile. Great Article, learnt a great deal from it
July 30th, 2009 at 1:38 am
No offense to your peice or anything, put I feel like people on this sight should really take the sticks out of their asses. I mean really, triond ettiquette? We’re all here for the same thing, veiws. So why do we have to be all sneaky and work around it so that we don’t hurt eachothers cute little feelings? Why am I the bad guy for being direct? God, triond is the worst.
_Bria
July 30th, 2009 at 6:04 am
What You said is exactly what you applied in this article and it has proven to work, Great article looking forward to hear more articles from you.
August 1st, 2009 at 10:41 am
I think you made your point to most Trionders and ‘newbies’. The only point of contention I have is with the role of the forum, but you and I have already been there done that. Good article. Good advice. Seeya. Dave
August 30th, 2009 at 6:55 am
This article has some VERY great tips. I, too, like many other people who have commented, wish that I had read this article sooner. I have tried to self promote several times; and everytime I have failed, like you said so.
August 31st, 2009 at 4:29 am
I greatly enjoyed this article. I can also say I’ve checked out your profile on Triond. I like your this day in history articles. Thank you for sharing the advice on how to promote better. Keep up the great work. I hope to one day be as successful on this site as you are.
Have a good day.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Nice.
( I don’t agree that short comments are meaningless. I read a hundred+ articles daily, -don’t have time to comment or reiterate what I just learned to provide proof to the fanbase that I read it.)