Nobody likes a self-promotional loud-mouth. Well, unless you’re someone with a massive audience like Tony Robbins. As far as I’m concerned, he can self-promote all he wants. Love his stuff…

My point is, whether you’re on Twitter, Pinterest, or any other site, it makes sense to promote valuable information you find around the web, meaning other people’s content.

Think about it. Do you really have all the answers? In case the answer to that question is a mystery to you, it’s a resounding “NO.”

So, what happens when you find a valuable piece of content? Well, if you’re blogging about the same subject then it makes sense to reference it in your post. Your viewers will thank you for providing an excellent resource, which is nice. It builds some credibility. But, it doesn’t bring you viewers from their site.

So, what next?

Basic Social Media

Basic social media refers to the typical platforms we all know and love (or hate, depending on your opinion). Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, etc. These sites are ones that all bloggers should consider. You don’t have to be on all of them, but you should, at least, be on a few.

When you tweet, pin, share, or whatever, make sure the content is of value. Even if you don’t hook a viewer at first, they’ll thank you for the value you’re providing.

Here’s the key, comment. That’s it!

Let’s use Twitter as an example.

When you tweet an awesome article of valuable content, leave a comment. Think about how many retweets, shares, and repins there are. Some will originate from you, but not all of them.

If a tweet gets retweeted 7 times, chances are, that most of its audience have no idea who you are. They may check to see who originated the tweet, but more than likely, they’re checking out the link.

If you leave a valuable and relevant comment at the bottom, you may start to see some referral traffic from that site.

Content Curation

There are plenty of sites that allow you to curate content. Sites like scoop.it, paper.li, and flipboard are just a few. Sign up to one or two of them and curate a magazine. Share articles and sprinkle in a few of your own.

People who are interested in your topic will check out the articles. If they only check out one (even if it’s not yours), there’s still the chance of gaining traffic. How? Once again, leave a comment.

The key here is you’re promoting other people’s content. There’s people who can write absolutely epic content, but, can’t even promote the benefits of a weekend. So, by doing a little promotion for them, you can also see a bit of traffic come your way.

Create Valuable Content (Round-Ups)

Creating valuable content, I know, should be a pre-requisite to even publishing a post. However, I mention this because I have been fortunate enough to be featured in a couple of round-ups from time to time. Most recently,  Build Your Brand Academy and CEO Hangout.

By creating posts that others found valuable, they happily linked out to me. Which has provided me with another steady stream of referral traffic.

So, what happens when someone does that? Well, I make sure to thank them on their blog (comment) and I also promote the post. Whether it’s on Twitter, Google+, or any other site, I share the link.

Why? Simple. The more I promote their post, the more likely I am to get referral traffic from their site. But, since it increases their traffic as well, they’re more likely to promote me in the future. It’s a win-win!

Viral Content Bee

Viral Content Bee is one site that has made it easy to promote my site. How? Well, other people do it when I promote theirs.

VCB is set up with a point system. Every time you promote someone else’s article, you earn points. And, every time someone promotes your article, it costs you points.

So, in order to get shares of your articles, you have to earn points. You do this by sharing everyone else’s. After you accumulate a decent amount of points, you set up a budget and share an article of yours.

(If you prefer to skip out on promoting others and instead would like to just post your content to be shared, they do have a pro feature.)

Conclusion

These are just a couple ways I use other people’s content to promote my own. The important part, as always, is value.

When you share something, make sure it’s of value. That alone can boost your traffic. However, by commenting on these posts (no matter who views them) you can also increase your blog’s traffic.

What about you? What are some of the ways you promote others? How do you gain referral traffic? Or even, traffic in general? What did I miss that you think is worth mentioning?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and share this post with anyone who could benefit