by WorkAtHomeGal » 15 Mar 2017, 17:12 Today I was thinking a lot about the different activities I do online to help promote my blog and I thought about how in reality I don't do enough to get it off the ground so to speak. It also got me to thinking of probably one of the most but maybe not so talked about subjects which is the importance of a positive online reputation. Like other people I have gone through starting more then one blog in the past only to have it die. Die as in I lost interest, so it went nowhere.
Maintaining a website or a blog is not always easy or fun and games. These types of activities take long hours, a lot of work and most important of all, driving traffic and building a name for yourself. Right now I am not using as much social media for exposure as I could be. In fact I mostly just use Twitter and Youtube and occasionally Facebook. My older half sister actually believes in me and suggested starting a Facebook page, which I have thought about myself. It seems like a good idea maybe.
So the next thing is the positive reputation which I am very confident with my honesty I have achieved that for myself at least to gain a small readership. I have noticed on other forums I use or Reddit though that people still pop in spamming and posting things they shouldn't be posting. With that being said let's take a look at how to build a positive reputation for yourself online.
Be Yourself - You know what is cool? When I find bloggers, youtubers, website owners who always are their self. For instance one lady I follow does an organization/clutter free Youtube channel. She is bubbly, humorous and offers great advice. Even though during my small time of doing a game channel I got some pretty negative/hurtful comments and I kept going. The gaming community is nothing like other communities some people are just immature. I grew out of it though as my interest in gaming has changed a bit. With my extra cash blog although I sometimes might be funny I am actually quite serious and professional, blunt and to the point. That may turn people away from reading my work, but that is something I don't know. And all those are true things about me. No matter what you pursue online just remember there will be fans and there will be the odd jealous/hater type.
Be A Community Superstar - Take ForumCoin for this example. We have tons of great members here who go out of their way to post detailed post and make a very positive reputation for their self. Which you can see that by looking at how many reputation points someone has. Even if I wasn't using the signature area of this forum I would still try to be a good poster. I think I am a good poster and I think it helps. But it also goes with who I am. Wanting to help people and not lie to them. Same as Twitter, I try to retweet things that might help my readers and help a fellow Twitter user get some exposure. Don't spam of course though, that is a reputation I am sure nobody wants is to be known as The Spammer.
Answer Questions - While making this journey online you may notice with the positive rep may come some questions. For example maybe you have a Youtube channel and blog about a niche and people might start asking stuff. Myself if I get spam type comments I delete them and that is okay. If there is genuine interested people showing up though, make sure to acknowledge their question or thank them for their comment/remark. And try to get into this habit daily, I have let comments sit to long before and well it might lose readership so make sure to be on the ball with it.
Start Slow - One thing I noticed when I was trying to do to much at once to gain traffic and readers I had to much happening at once. I found that I was getting burned out and frustrated. Something to remember there is risk with doing this the risk that you won't make money or get noticed. Now of course if your blogging or doing videos for no profit that is something different. But most people I know who run a blog and Youtube channel are trying to make some income from it, myself included. I know it takes time and effort. There was once a great post I read on daily activities to get traffic to your blog. The lady who wrote it did A LOT everyday to get her website noticed. So think of it this way if the desire isn't there, just go slow with it. If you want something more, make a plan and stick to it.
Now that I have listed some ideas to go with here keep something it mind. It isn't just us, the little guys who need a positive online reputation but also big companies. Have you ever gone to your internet providers Facebook page before? There is a good chance if you did you will see some negative feedback from people who pay for the service, and someone usually responds to them quickly or in some cases some companies delete the comments... As much as a negative comment can hurt someone, I think it is important to respond to the issue in a positive way.
I truly do believe though that with building a positive online reputation one can in time and a lot of hard work capture an audience and a following and if you choose too, make money from it or pay it forward.
