We get a lot of e-mails from readers who thank us for providing quality opinion pieces instead of the usual "these are the facts" reporting on gay news you can find elsewhere. We really try to encourage our contributors to write from their own experiences instead of regurgitating news clips you would have already read. We don't try to be first with breaking news, but to give thoughtful opinion on current events from a queer perspective.
Many of you ask how you can help us grow the site. As most of you have realized, the more readers we have, the easier it is to get other contributors and more content - which brings in more readers, etc. Readers also help us attract advertisers, which (supposedly) pays the Ed Team for our time on the site. (For most Ed Team members, TBP is a full-time job on top of our other commitments.) Since we're asked so often, I thought I'd put together a short list of ways you can help Bilerico Project grow our readership and community.
I want to specifically highlight one of the easiest ways you can assist our growth: Send a link to the site to everyone in your address book and ask them to check us out. Link them to a specific article you enjoyed and tell them why they should read it or send out a link to our main URL and ask them to check out what we have to offer. Nothing is more powerful than word of mouth advertising!
We truly appreciate everyone's help with growing our Project. Some other suggestions after the jump.
Along the same lines, if you like something one of our contributors has written, share it! We try to make it easy for you to tell others about a post you enjoyed. Here's some ways you can share our content:
- Send a link to a mailing list or post it on a forum, newsgroup or your own blog
- Add the link to your Facebook profile
- Send it out over Twitter
- Use the social networking buttons below each post to add it to Reddit, Digg, Stumble, Mixx and other popular content sharing sites (Don't know much about social networking sites? We're here to help! These sites send a ton of traffic when enough people vote for our post.)
You can help us bump up our subscriber numbers (and make sure you don't miss any great content!) by subscribing to our daily digest e-mail. We send it out at midnight every night and it has all of the front page content from the day before.
If you have your own blog, are we on your blogroll? If you've added us to your site, we'd be happy to add you to our list of worthy blogs!
Have you joined the Bilerico communities that are available around the web? We offer several ways for you to continue the conversations outside of the Project:
- Bilerico Project's Facebook group
- Bilerico Project's Facebook fan page
- Bilerico Project's Twitter feed
- Bilerico Project's MySpace profile
- Bilerico Project's Facebook profile
- Bilerico Project's GLEE profile
- Bilerico Project's YouTube channel
My last idea is probably my best one. If you're a hardcore Bilerico Project fan, how about adding a link to the site to your e-mail signature? How many e-mails do you send out per day? Quite a bit? Think of all of the free exposure you could be giving to the Project with each and every e-mail you send!
Thanks again for all your help in growing the Bilerico Project into one of the nation's largest LGBT group blogs. We couldn't have made it without your help - and we wouldn't have wanted to do it without you.
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5 Comments
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Let's see:
- Link to Bilerico in E-mails. - Done that.
- Post a link on my blog. - Done that.
- Sent out Bilerico articles to friends - Done that.
- Contributed articles. - Done that.
- Put links to related Bilerico articles in my articles. - Done that.
- Verbally told friends to read a particular article on Bilerico. - Done that.
Okay. I'll see what else I can do.
MonicaHelms | September 26, 2008 12:42 PM
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Right on, Monica! Thanks for all your help! As one of our best known and most active Projectors, I know how much you've done to spread the Bilerico love! :)
Can anyone top Monica's contribution?
Bil Browning | September 26, 2008 1:42 PM
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I bet I can Bil, but it's kinda cheating (not to mention craven self-promotion, but hey... ;)). I think it's high time I invited some more Bilerico folks on my show, and I think it's time to have you on again. Busy next Thursday evening?
In addition to all that other stuff, I've found one thing that really helps to sell Bilerico:
Just get LGBT's to take a good look at the site and read a few posts and there's a good chance you'll get 'em hooked. I did that with someone at work. I got him interested by showing him that I'm involved, and then I showed him why. I also recently learned that a casual friend of mine, a straight guy, checked out TBP because he knows I'm a contributor, but he's become a regular reader of the site.
Oh and I have a great idea...it's a net classic and I bet it would not only be great fun but also great promotional value:
Bilerico Project T-Shirts, maybe with the site logo and/or some cute relevant saying. I bet you could sell a lot of those.
Rebecca Juro | September 26, 2008 7:50 PM
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I am not sure what the Bilerico project is ? What is it's focus ? A LGBT experiment as stated, but what is unique about all the same daily subjects as on the other LGBT blogs?
I go to several blogs recommended by the Signorile show and you are not one of them. I go to Queerty because sometimes they get news well in advance of other blogs, Signorile's blog because I listen to him daily on Sirius, and Pamshouseblend because she is an edgy writer, but I don't post there because it causes ire among her afro-centric posters, who are usually white. Not unlike Alex Blase on this blog. Come up with something unique and I am sure it will attract bloggers.
Charles Merrill | September 27, 2008 7:38 PM
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A month later, I know what your blog is. It is a place for gay people from Indiana who want jobs, raise money or get their books published. Good luck. You need controversy, not favorite regulars that compliment each others postings. A blog doesn't grow that way. A mutual admiration society never gets readership.
Charles Merrill | October 20, 2008 8:58 PM
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