How Reddit Can Benefit Freelance Writers
Submitting Articles to Reddit Helps Increase Page Views
Oct 1, 2009
The best way for freelance writers to promote their content online is by getting active on one or two social news websites. These sites are growing exponentially every day, and it's best for writers to choose one or two and focus on growing a readership and submitting links to these.
One such website is Reddit, a source of the latest and most popular news available on the web. Submitting articles to Reddit and being an active member of the Reddit community can help writers drive traffic to their own blogs, websites, and published works.
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a website where members with accounts can submit links to any article, website, blog, or audio or video content that they find interesting for all other Reddit members to see. When other members view the content, they can approve of what's "good" by clicking an up arrow, or deem something "junk" by clicking the down arrow.
The more members approve of a link, the higher it is ranked on the Reddit front page, and the greater exposure it gets. Reddit is unique in that its design tries to avoid the bandwagon effect, where users simply approve links because everyone else did. When a link is submitted, the score isn't immediately displayed, so members are genuinely voting for what they find interesting.
Reddit also awards "karma" points to members who frequently submit links that other members approve of.
How Freelance Writers Can Use Reddit
A Reddit account is free and easy to set up. Similar to other social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, users can customize their accounts, befriend other users, and leave comments on other profiles and articles. Obviously, the more active a writer participates in Reddit, the more use they will get out of their membership.
With any social news website, it is important not to just create a basic profile and start submitted links to articles the user has written. Reddit is not just about contributing, it's about participating, and moves like this are seen as self-serving and spammy.
The best way to use Reddit is to get to know other users who submit links of genuine interest to the writer, and approve of them by clicking the up arrow. For example, a food writer can easily find other users who submit links to food blogs and restaurant reviews. After communicating with other members, the user can begin submitting links, not just to his own articles but to other sources he finds interesting.
The key is to be genuine about social news. Writers only looking for self-promotion who aren't interested in really being involved with the community aren't going to experience much success on Reddit or any other social media website. The best way to build a readership is organically, by building and maintaining a relationship with other Reddit members with similar interests.
More About Social Media for Writers
To learn more about other networking opportunities for freelance writers, check out these other social news websites:
How StumbleUpon Can Benefit Writers
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
