How Often Do You Promote Others

October 19, 2008 · Comments

glenda and chris My favorite bloggers aren’t who you might expect. I love Glenda Watson Hyatt. I love Jon Swanson. I love Marti Lawrence. I think Ann Handley and Shannon Paul are excellent reads, too.

None of these bloggers are on your typical Top 10, but they’re people I read nonstop. I want YOU to read them, too. Not all of them will be your cup of tea, maybe. But they’re voices that deserve more attention than the stuff I write on a given day.

In our space, in the fishbowl business, it seems like there are a scant few people getting all the links and the references. We point to the folks on top of the charts all the time, and riff off their ideas.

Wouldn’t it be more cool if we found the less-known? Wouldn’t it be better if we collected some of our favorites into “starter packs” of interesting content we should be reading/watching/listening to?

And furthermore, even amongst the bigger names, how often are you sharing the good stuff other people are doing? I’ll tell you who’s on top of the heap who shares a lot: Robert Scoble. He points me to new stuff all the time, both on his blog, but very much in his Google Reader Shared Items.

So, my question to you: are you sharing and promoting others enough? Can you do it more? How can you bring more awareness of the people who deserve it?

Photo credit (stolen without permission) Glenda Watson Hyatt

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Tagged as: , , , ,

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • Just started another blog that has a regular 'best of the web' post on it. I put you (CB) there, but your point about finding the great and unsung people will be taken to heart. I'll read and research a little deeper to find the real stars who aren't on the top and sides of the fishbowl.

    Keep up the good work.
  • Ed
    Can I answer honestly, but selfishly this time?

    OFTEN

    Sometimes, it seems that's all I do.

    It came to my attention a while back when someone tweeted:

    "You have done so much to promote many. What about YOU?!"

    I guess I'm trusting the pay it forward approach, I mean it when link to folks for my followers sake (get a lot of thank-you's), and hope folks have memories and realize just how much one person can do/has done.
    In other words, it's all genuine, but I guess I don't mind
    if it comes back too. :)
  • George Bolam
    Not only will sharing help others, it will help you too..bringing good content to the attention of other people may well bring attention to yours..it's a little obvious, but often overlooked.
  • I agree that promoting others is a great thing to do. It's easy, and it's a way to create graceful cross-pollination. One of the ways the I let folks know about people is to have them on my podcast, Yoga Mama Satsangha. Also, I often find inspiration in other blogger's posts, and will riff off their topic. When that happens, I always give credit, and a link, in my post.

    Thanks for the great topic.

    peace,
    -LaSara
    http://www.lasarafirefox.com

    P.S. I recently wrote an article about twitter (which is where I heard about this post). It's called Be A Model Twitizen: A Twitter How-To. I would love your feedback: http://tinyurl.com/4jokke
  • This is why I respect you so much Chris.

    I agree, we all should promote more the up coming people with fresh new ideas, and the not so well known tweeps in our networks.

    One very inspiring person is @newoldmom who always promotes others at http://www.newoldmomsclub.com/ And @JessicaKnows at http://jessicaknows.com/

    I started building my network of people a year ago, by promoting other people, without asking anything back nor having a big plan. Then became a day I needed my network's help and reached out - and I realized I had build an amazing community without even knowing/planning on it.

    There is such thing as Good Karma. And it goes for good people like you, who promote other good people.
  • I try to link to others within my articles as often as possible. But one thing I've removed is my blogroll. It was just getting too out of hand and many people were abandoning there blogs which created dead links in the list.

    -Andrew
  • Great post!

    I love to drop names and links on my blog all of the time and I never take credit for something I saw on someone else's site...when I see others not referencing the credit where credit is due, it really fries my shorts.

    Bella
    Bella Casa Blog - Decorating On A Budget (Darnit!)
  • You know, I actually do this often. I am an e-store owner and consciously help my "competitors" promote their stores & brands. Not only because I'm into helping others ;), but also because promoting other brands helps promote my own.

    More people should do this. And you're right - it is always the same brands being chanted in the hallways everywhere I go...
  • Thank you so much for the shout-out, Chris. You are a sweetheart and such a fine judge of good reading *grin*

    Seriously, I understand your point, and I do try to help everyone I can. The Internet is so vast and there are so many awesome writers out there, we need to do everything we can to point out those we find who are doing excellent work.

    Blessing to you for all you do!
  • I try to share things I enjoy as much as possible. I don't have a personal or professional blog yet so there re some limitations to what I can do. Twitter, delicious and stumbleupon are my big 3 for sharing. And being that I don't have my own blog I'm 100 percent sharing others stuff.



    Its tough to match folks like you or robert though :)
  • Just a follow up thought ... Life is all about giving and serving others. That's not easy to do, but its the right thing to do. Life on the internet is no different - we should be thinking of others every step of the way. Sharing links, knowledge, info, etc ...

    Sounds a bit idealistic I know - but we have all see this truth work - when we give it always finds a way of coming full circle.
  • A great question. I'm a relative new-comer to the world of blogging/twittering and I find myself stumbling about quite often. Not just with regard to how do it well/effectively, but what tools are out there to further the cause.

    Having found your site (Chris) just recently, I must say I'm getting a better sense for how to do it well. I know there isn't a set formula or anything, and what works for one isn't always right for others, but a good example is always helpful.

    As with any endeavor, helping others is always the surest way to helping oneself...can anyone point me to some resources that take a layman's approach to this topic? Everything I find seems to be about PR...how to promote your brand/product/site/etc. All that's good, of course, but is there a guide, of sorts, that might help a beginner be, well, a better beginner? One that leaves more than they take? Adds value equal to or greater than they receive?

    Thanks all...Jeb
  • jon
    I smiled at frank's comment about it being hard to keep up with you and robert scoble. I understand that feeling. And work 'religiously' to not try to keep up. Because the more I try to be anyone else, the less anyone gets from it.

    Thank you friend.
  • Chris, thank you and yours. Extra present under your tree this year.

    Better to give than subscribe.
  • NICE post, Chris!!

    Twitter is one of my fave ways to promote others. I wrote a whole post on this at whyfacebook.com about how to increase interaction with your Facebook & Twitter network:

    To tweet and retweet good posts and resources; to buoy my peeps up; to @ message those whose blogs I comment on & link to their blog; to fan their Facebook Page; to share on Facebook; and to blog about great peeps when I come across excellent customer service, for example.

    For sure, there's much those of us with a tribe can do to help lift others up and help bring them more visibility, readers and clients.

    Cheers,
    Mari
    @marismith
  • This is an important post. I was on the receiving end of your promotion via Twitter a few weeks ago when you mentioned my blog about being called "the n-word" via e-mail and it brought me a lot of blog traffic. That spike was nice, but what was better about it is that people found me who may not have otherwise, and several emailed me telling me that I was writing about something they're passionate about and deem important. They also empathized and shared stories of their own. That's priceless. I also met Robert Scoble at ConvergeSouth in Greensboro, NC on Friday and he is definitely one who brings others to the limelight. There's room for everyone is this space, and the more who believe that, the better.
  • Like Ed i agree with the pay it forward blogging approach.
    I reference others quite a bit. Also include thier actual work, with a link to thier site included. It's only seems right they produced the content give them the credit.

    Gary McElwain
  • You are absolutely right, Chris. I've gotten lazy at promoting others online...I need to do that about 10x time.

    Thanks for the reminder.
  • Two comments:

    First, I love this philosophy, and I couldn't agree more. I like the philosophy that I've heard you espouse where every time you pimp something of your own that is especially nice, you do penance by pimping other great stuff at 10xs the factor.

    Second, what the heck is up with this dual-comment deal.. here and on FriendFeed? That's crazy-nuts.
  • Most definitely Chris.

    I feel that all too often, the influencers or bigger names in the industry love throwing out eachother's names instead of reaching out to those less than popular, but super smart, names.

    This space is evolving and so are the people. These smaller newer names are the ones who will help carry this industry into the future as we look to become the 'influencers' (or whatever you want to call it).
  • @Ann - the FriendFeed comments thing is a peek into what the gang over on FriendFeed is saying about the post. This particular post got almost more comments there than here. Crazy, eh?
  • Chris, thank you for the mention. You are so sweet. And, thank you for the reminder to not only look to the big guys ahead of me, but also to the guys [in the non-gender sense] beside and behind me and to help them along the way you've unselfishly helped myself and others so many times. Another great lesson in the blogosphere. Thank you.
  • Hey Chris - this was my recent attempt to share the love between 97 people and try to help EVERYONE to create some new contacts:

    http://www.mytropicalescape.com/2008/10/15/97-r...

    Hope you have a great week1
    MH
  • I'm sure other people say this to you - but we have the oddest psychic connection. Oftentimes, I'll write my post and then come to your blog and see that you've hit the same topic. Case in point, I just left you a comment on the post about the new book promotion about wanting to hear about the little people, enough of the superstars already...then I scrolled down in your newsletter and saw this awesome post.
    Anyway, I'm honored to share parts of brainwaves with you!
  • Thanks Chris, I agree with you. You should always try to point out users to other great blog or applications if nothing else as a way of good karma. In the industry world, a lot of information and links is strictly passed along the top dogs and it's hard for a smaller player to get their name out there, even if the content is great. I'm glad to see you help out the smaller player.

    Craig
    www.budgetpulse.com
  • This is how I have operated since I started blogging. I have met more wonderful and talented new business folks than I could ever have imagined. These are men and women who are not only creating fabulous new products but who are eager to help others, as I am.

    The blogosphere and social networking has been very good to me, primarily because I am proud to promote others - and make friends with some undiscovered great minds in our country.

    Thanks for this post. So timely and terrific.
  • Thanks, Chris! I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. I can't even believe that you mentioned me; I feel so special.

    I'm learning very quickly how much of a juggling act it is to write, work and stay up on everyone else's content so I can promote them, too. The synergy between these three things is something to keep in mind since any one of them is dependent on the other. You're truly one of the great ones that remind me that doing well at all three really is possible.

    Thanks again!
  • I personally promote any content that's good, and I don't censor it just because the blogger behind it is well known or not. That's my policy.
  • I couldn't have said it any better myself...the quickest way up the ladder as an artist...is to promote other artists who have helped you. We are not corporate sharks in suits who have to tip-toe over one another to gain momentum towards a promotion. We are artists...every one of us. We are the people who add color to the soul of humanity.

    I make it a point to ALWAYS promote others who have helped me or worked with me in my publishing endeavors; whether, that's in advice, artwork (such as with my friend Maria Sanchez who painted the cover art for my book, Proud Souls) or even technical advisers for my blog. It's one of the BEST ways to see the favor returned by others.

    For everyone you promote along the way...you must believe and understand....someone is doing it for you on the back side...

    ~Bobby Ozuna
    "Drawing Stories...With Words"
  • I wish I knew less known people more then stuckup people like some on net. I also hate self promoters...and people like Arrington (but just recently) LOL.Yet I LOVE TechCrunch.
  • Speaking from personal experience, the posts that get the most traffic are the ones where I write about other people and what they do and their accomplishments. I think it's just human nature to be turned off about people who talk about themselves all the time. Also, by writing about other people, I've been able to connect my readers with the people I cover and my readers find that useful.
  • How often do I promote others? NOT ENOUGH! Good post (naturally, coming from you) and good reminder. Rockstar.
  • I am always striving to promote others more because I think it is a fundamental aspect of this space. I appreciate that people like you, Gary Vaynerchuk, Robert Scoble, Louis Gray and many others help promote tons of other people on a daily basis!
  • I don't share on Twitter great blog posts as much as I should and I'm working at changing that. On my blog however I do have a rolling account of what I'm saving on Delicious so people can see new articles, I recently added a link to my google reader shared items page to my site, and I've recently decided to add a few links to other good info that pertains to any blog post I did. So I'm trying to spread info, but I know there are some areas I need to improve upon.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post:

Next post: