Malarky

A friend of mine recently tried cross-promoting his blog on a forum that discussed similar topics as his blog. Unfortunately, this didn't turn out quite as hoped. Many readers from the forum, rather than simply click the link and view his blog, attacked him for daring to promote himself on the forum. How dare he search for people with similar interests as his own? I almost understand this feeling of hostile loyalty, but at the same time, I don't.

I've never understood why so many organizations are so unwilling to cross-promote with each other. I've encountered bars and stores that refuse to cross-promote for each other for fear of losing their crowd, but it can be totally beneficial to both sides. Sure, you may be giving up your crowd for one day / night, but the idea is that the favor is going to be returned. After all, we're all in this together aren't we?

On the other hand, other communities are great about cross-promotion. I often promote my headache / migraine blog on other blogs and sites, and allow others to do the same on mine because we're a big community of people looking for solutions to our pain together. Community theaters and non-profit organizations are in the same boat: They need money and audiences, why not help each other get them?

What are your thoughts on cross-promotion? Do you think it's not really worth the time, or does it pay off later?