So I was helping a client the other day with how to get more traction on their blog and I thought this would help all of the other startups out there looking for ideas...

a. Do people really use every single Social Bookmarking site? Probably not, so include the most common ones for the masses – Google, Yahoo, MSN, Digg, Technorati (favorites)

b. Use SocialPoster.com or other mass bookmarking websites and start bookmarking your blog URL everywhere.

c. Need to make sure that your blog is listed in every single web/blog directory that exists on the web. It’s a lot of manual work, but well worth the time investment. Use this as task for entry-level marketers, so they understand how submitting links, optimizing directory entries and increasing link popularity not only increases your organic ranking for search, but gives you more online market share in your space.

d. Setup a Twitter account: Feed your blog entries into Twitter. Add as many friends as you can and most of them will follow you back. Utilize this to keep the digeratis updated on what you’re discussing. Utilize this platform as a ambassador tool to keep people abreast of new features, leak information, etc. This crowd loves that type of content.

e. Blog Subject Matter – I think opportunity plays a great role in the subject matter that you choose for you to blog about. Check to see what people are covering in your space by checking into Digg, News and other real-time content entities.

f. Blog Interviews – Lock down some names that draw traffic and do some email interviews, phone interviews, video interviews, etc. Setup a schedule and pencil people in for the first 6-8 weeks and see what types of interest you generate. They know you’re going to promote them on there, they are also going to promote the fact that they are doing an interview on your blog. Get out there and leverage other social networks that people have. Maybe even interview some bigger bloggers on their perception of your topic.

g. Blogging Is Full-Time – Research topics by searching technorati to see what others are talking about pertaining to your space, review Google trends, Digg, setup a Google Alert for all keywords associated with your space so you automate the research process for cool, unique topics.

h. Media Relationships – Get the ear of a few major media reps, freelance writers, new rooms in the space. Make sure they sign up to receive your blog feed.

i. Email Subscribers – Make it easier to sign up to receive via email, not a text link. Use a single form field and block it out like a module. Make it stand out.

j. Blog Headlines – Blogging is like the old medium of newsprint. Copy lines engage people. Make your headlines more engaging and enticing. They don’t need to be crazy, but for people who subscribe via RSS they need to be enticed to click that 90-120 character link.

k. Buddies – Reach out to other bloggers in your space, exchange links, setup a blog roll so you can list them and let people know who else you are reading. This is important to leverage other blogs’ audiences. Interview other bloggers, even if they have 100 people reading their own blog; they are definitely going to promote that fact that they just did an interview with you and click this link to read it. 100+ new readers :) yeah!

If you're a startup, getting yourself out there is only half the battle; going into battle with a sound strategy ensures your execution will succeed.