I don't need to be jostled from sleep by Sonny and Cher; judging by the "Phil Murray" and "Punxsutawney Phil" Twitter trends, it's February second.  How many more days of winter?  I live in LA; don't hate; there's plenty of sunshine, yes, but smog, ebb-less traffic, and unrelenting crowds of people live here too.  I'm not worried about the fate of winter; but, being in online marketing, I am interested in link building processes.  If you operate a business, tips on link building should have you 'walking on sunshine,' because it's no secret of success – link building improves authority, rankings, and exposure.

I read an awesome post today by Neil Patel, receiving ten insightful tips related to seeking and acquiring link opportunities.  Does your brand want to brook more time within a winter of 'dissed' content or do you want your content to gain more attention?  I don't need to wait for a reply or a groundhog (I'm definitely not waiting for a 'PR Panda') to rear its head to know your brand is ready to spring into action regarding link building.  However, you should wait before composing your next piece and consider the following; if you release your content without some pre-consideration, you may find no one's popping their head out of their respective days' work to give your content a look, prolonging the winter of dissed content.

Before You Write

Okay, you wrote some good content.  Now, it's time to give it a social nudge.  Which social sites is your brand leveraging?  Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, all of the above?  Go ahead and push them through…  Oh, you've done that before but didn't see much traction?  Let's consider some "social" things you could do before you compose a piece.

Influencers

Rand Fishkin suggested contacting 'influencers' in your field before composing a piece.  An 'influencer' is a 'big fish' in your industry (CEO, popular blogger, etc), one who can augment the piece's immediate exposure.   If more people see the work, it's likely you'll attract more links.  In addition, as Dr. Pete advised on his Twitter account, building relationships with influencers far exceeds a one-time, link building purpose.  If you can get influencers and industry cohorts to recognize your brand delivers quality and wants to add to the ongoing conversation, that social connection is priceless.

Topics

What are the hot topics going on right now in your industry?  It's important to voraciously read sources of information.  It may be popular newspapers like the New York Times or niche bloggers, aligned with your industry.  While writing upon currently-popular topics is a good way to attract attention, make sure you pay attention to timing; understand with each passing moment, tons of other brands could be generating similar content; you need to 'get there' first.  However, as Neil suggests in his post, you could find a 'window' of opportunity, making the hot topic 'your own' by adding something 'new' to the ongoing conversation.  You can do it; get creative.

Guestpost

Your brand is looking for more links and exposure.  While your copywriting team is entrenched in deep discussions with each writer's respective muse, your savvy link building team member is contacting several other brands and bloggers, asking if one or more team members could inspire readers via a guest blog or column.  If your brand is seeking more exposure then maybe copywriting endeavors could 'hit the road' in search of new hosting destinations.  Does the process sound like a good idea?  It is; that's why Ethan Lyon wrote a post on how to use Twitter to secure more guest blogging opportunities.

Thanks for reading