Welcome to the light !

The following quote is attributed to Marcus Sheridan, aka The Sales Lion -

"Great content is the best sales tool in the world."

We are very sure Marcus knew what he was talking about, but laymen might still want to ask this of him - if great content is all a site needs, then why is that so many awesome sites with high-quality content never see any traffic?

Great content is important, yes. It can motivate the reader to purchase, or donate, or share the information, yes. But can it promote itself? No. Is great content on its own enough to make the world sit up and notice your passionately created site and hail you as the next big thing? Sadly, No.

Do note that when Mr. Sheridan talks of great content, he says it is the best sales tool. But he never says it is the only tool. There is much that you need to do in order to bring your site out from the recesses of the internet and into the light where it is seen and talked of.

So, how exactly do you go about doing this?

1. You build a network

Your audience doesn't know you yet, but there are others who know the people you are targeting. Start by networking with bloggers, web journalists, and social media power users. Now, networking does not mean that you suck up to the big publishers. Create your own friend zone on the internet; be a buddy first. And second, be a writer whose work his buddies can be proud of sharing.

2. You make your content easy to share

What's the use of all the epic content you create if no one can share it? A click of a button can change your life in the virtual world, so make sure that button is clicked to share your writing. Go crazy with your headlines. Deliver useful articles to your audience. Make the format reader-friendly. And don't shy away from displaying the share button; in fact put it right out there so that your fans can use it as often as they like.

3. You write your heart out

VaynerMedia's Gary Vaynerchuck stays up late at night to write stuff he believes in. He reaches out to everyone. He is everywhere. That is the kind of passion you need to write original content. Your writing needs to be unique and it needs to be driven by passion. Rehashed content can be great too and may bring readers to your door but only the originality of your voice will bade them enter.

The internet is a miasma of blogs and sites that cry out for attention. You can allow your voice to be drowned out by that chaos, or you can choose to rise above. Remember, you need to write well but you need to promote yourself even better to make the cut.