Is it a good idea to plug my blog endlessly on these forums?

[Karanime]

Like, every time I put up a new post, do I put a summary here, just a link, or the whole post with a plug at the bottom, what?

I'm sure there's a line somewhere where it goes from simple marketing to spamming, but I have no idea where it is.

/<3

[andrew]

I'd just think about providing value. If you think what you wrote would benefit a lot of people here, then great, go for it.

People usually begin to ignore or react negatively if you're posting too much, it feels inauthentic, or you're asking for something/the site is. Make sure it's unique too.

Obviously that's for these forums, if you're new to a random other place, it has a high chance to come off as spam. You have a lot of posts (+2 years), so to most people, they'll assume it's not going to be spam since you've got street cred.

I've posted about 3 threads devoted to a post I made on my blog, but I involved people here in a discussion with great feedback for them, not me or my blog - and they know/feel it.

If I had a post on providing value (which I will), then this would a great place to put the link to help you in the appropriate context. (Option #2).

Most people here are cool about it, as long as you're genuine.

[moonrambler]

No, it's not a good idea

Andrew expressed it very well.

If you keep the link in your signature, that's fine. If you want to provide a link in a post now and then when it relates directly to a discussion, or if you want to start a new subject relating directly to a blog post you made that is relevant to personal development, that's also fine.

The line is a gray area, but generally it shouldn't start to look like your main purpose for being here is for blog promotion.

[andrew]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

The line is a gray area, but generally it shouldn't start to look like your main purpose for being here is for blog promotion.

That's what I was going for, thanks

[Karanime]

So, when starting a discussion based on my posts (which I think I'll end up doing often), a quick summary and a link will suffice, or is it a good idea to put up my entire post and just keep the link in my sig?

/<3

[Andrew Brunelle]

I would just put a link in your sig and not bother posting your blog entries on here every time. I think a lot of people would get sick of that sort of thing. It is not that you are not providing value or have a bad blog, it's just that your blog is the best place for you to promote yourself. You can use social bookmarking sites, along with twitter and whatnot, but if every blogger on this forum promoted their blogs, what would this forum look like?

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Karanime

So, when starting a discussion based on my posts (which I think I'll end up doing often), a quick summary and a link will suffice, or is it a good idea to put up my entire post and just keep the link in my sig?

Moderators on this site tend to be more lenient toward those senior members who post the whole blog post on here instead of a summary and a link. A new thread that simply has a summary and a link signals "spam" in our mind and is pet-peeve of mine. A whole blog post put on this site in which forum members read and respond without leaving this site is much more acceptable. At the same time, the frequency you do this matters. If you do it once in a while, we'll tolerate it. Start doing it too much, and you'll likely get a notice from one of us to stop doing it.

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

if every blogger on this forum promoted their blogs, what would this forum look like?

Yeah, that's why we regularly issue "cease and desist notices" to bloggers who start promoting each blog post on here. New forum members who simply start a thread to link to their blog post get the axe rather quickly, while we are more tolerant of senior members.

[Karanime]

So when it comes to replies, it looks like it'd be a good idea to quote bits of my blog posts instead of linking and saying, "I've written about this--read it!"

Am I right?

/<3

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Karanime

Like, every time I put up a new post, do I put a summary here, just a link, or the whole post with a plug at the bottom, what?

I'm sure there's a line somewhere where it goes from simple marketing to spamming, but I have no idea where it is.

/<3

Personally I find it annoying that some people write a blog post on their website, then make a thread here that doesn't even say anything other than posting a link to their blog post with a 2-line description.

I don't even read those blog posts and I view them as spam.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Karanime

So when it comes to replies, it looks like it'd be a good idea to quote bits of my blog posts instead of linking and saying, "I've written about this--read it!"

If someone else started a thread to ask a question, and the answer lies in your blog post, it's ok to post a link to it and say "I answered that here", if the post is truly relevant. Frequency is the key too, doing that once in a while = ok. Doing that frequently = not ok.

Hunting for old threads in which to do that is not ok though. (you'd be amazed what some people try to do to spam their sites).

[Karanime]

Originally Posted by seeker5

If someone else started a thread to ask a question, and the answer lies in your blog post, it's ok to post a link to it and say "I answered that here", if the post is truly relevant. Frequency is the key too, doing that once in a while = ok. Doing that frequently = not ok.

Hunting for old threads in which to do that is not ok though. (you'd be amazed what some people try to do to spam their sites).

Wow, totally not hunting for old threads... bogus, man!

Eh, I think I'll quote, though, for consistency's sake. So long as I'm posting the whole blog post in my own threads, I'll quote what's necessary in responses, and maybe link to the whole thing if it requires deeper reading. :P

Thanks!

/<3

[James81]

My rule of thumb is that I don't start a thread about a blog post unless I specifically have a strong desire to DISCUSS that blog post.

For me, that equates to making a thread about something I blog about only once in a great while.

For the rest of the time, I just have the link in my sig and trust that if people are interested in what I post here on the forums, they will click the link in my sig.

Ironically, though, all the threads I make where I post a link to my blog are the ones that don't really do well. Lots of views but very few replies.

[90802]

Totally off topic:

James81,

I checked out your blog and went to your top ten motivational playlist post. Just curious, what plugin did you use for the media player? Or is that something you did yourself? I need something to play samples of my songs, and this seems like it fits the bill.

On topic:

I'm kind of confused. Is the plan to come here and post a new thread every time you create a new blog post? I think that would be spam.

However, maybe if you had one thread about your blog, you could keep posting updates in that thread.

I mean, I think it's ok to post a link to your blog if you think it's relevant to the discussion, but wrong to create new threads just to promote your blog.

[Brutha]

However, maybe if you had one thread about your blog, you could keep posting updates in that thread.

I would also consider that to be spamming.

[aiyori]

Karanime:

(Off topic) You are good-looking!

(On topic) It all depends on whether the readers are interested in your post or ad. Most forum posts, including mine, are useless and boring. So if your spam ads are ultimately informational, I'd say why not.