Blog Tipz

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other sites have cropped up during the past few years, which can be attributed to a new craze in social networking/media. These terms are commonly thrown around in the blogging ‘sphere, but few really know how to properly capitalize upon them.

They were created in order for individuals to stay in contact with those who they have not talked to in a while, but many feel they have developed into more of a social tool to help get in touch with customers. No matter what the original purpose and where they are headed, we’ll be talking about how you can properly utilize all of the services – or should you be?

Photo by Victor Phung

Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of the social networking sites. While there are millions of members, you can’t really get in touch with them quite like a blog and the smaller sites, which give you better access to a dedicated community. In my opinion, the larger social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) do more for personal communication between people you already know and trust offline than those online.

That isn’t to say that Facebook isn’t creating some powerful tools for businesses and brands, but there will always be a larger focus on those truly personal facets of our lives.

Starting Small and Branching Out

Some will tell you to join as many social networking sites as you possibly can when you start a blog. I’ll tell you to join between one and three, get your feet wet, and see how each works for you.

The problem with joining multiple sites at a time is that you don’t (and can’t) really learn how each works and what is involved in staying “up-to-date” with the service. As new features are introduced, it may become a challenge to properly integrate them into your daily routine.

1. Join Twitter and see how it works. Right now, it is the most popular service, at least in terms of what you can get out if it.
2. See what others are doing to promote themselves, especially within your own niche. Check out what other niche “leaders” are doing.
3. Communicate with others and really engage yourself in the conversation. You Don’t have to be well-known to really be noticed. You just need to be different and unique.

Once you have joined at least one of the popular sites and you have accumulated quite a number of followers/friends, it is time to branch out further.

When the Going Gets Tough

Problems quite often arise as you branch yourself out. IF you were spending half an hour each day updating your Twitter page, communicating and replying to others, then you’ll have to increase that time with each service you join. It’s all about how you go about managing your profiles online. Let’s say you start with a Twitter profile, then join Facebook with a page, you’ll then either need to “manually” post new links or “automatically” post new links.

Obviously, there are downsides to each method. On the “automatic” side, you’ll essentially only gain new friends who are already fans of your site, or people who don’t want to use Twitter and instead have opted to use Facebook. Alternatively, if you use a “manual” approach to updating, you may see more of a following develop due to the fact that you’ll be creating multiple communities.

With multiple communities, there will be more challenges, but nothing that is too difficult. Blogging is stressful at times, but it’s all about how you manage yourself online and how you are able to conduct yourself during the challenging times.

Quick Tips for Twitter, Facebook, and Other Services

I’ve previously covered some of these tips in a post titled “How to Get the Most Out of Every Social Networking Service,” but this time around, I’ll be looking at some of the specifics of how to maximize your time spent on these services.

• Look around for services that track the benefits of each service. In deciding the services that can reap the most benefits, you want to find one that can convert visitors into readers, and readers into customers.
• Research each service in-depth before joining, and don’t be afraid to join a service just to ask others using the service what benefits they’ve seen as users of the service.
• Vary the time you spend on each service. When getting started, you want to see how much time it takes to really become acquainted with each service. Depending on your approach, you might want to spend more or less time with each, depending on where you want your overall focus to be.
• Time away from the sites. One of the problems with Twitter and other sites is that you need a constant Internet connection. Leaving your Twitter page not updated for more than a day at a time can tell your followers that you really aren’t dedicated. You need a way to stay in contact with your community at all times and at all costs.

What Are You Looking For?

Setting out to develop yourself online, you have to consider a few major ideas. These key points will either help you grow online, or they will set you back quite a few steps in your efforts.

First of all, you have to understand the main results you want to see from social networking sites. Mixx, Digg, Delicious, and other sites have been around for some time, while others may be newer, only beginning since the mainstream popularity of Twitter emerged earlier this year.

Some would say that developing a large base of followers and friends across the many social networks is key, while others would rather have a more focused network. In some cases, you can have 100,000 Twitter followers who spread less than 10% of your ideas, while you can have 10,000 “friends” on other sites like Digg, Mixx, etc., who spread 50% or more of your ideas, but you are more involved on Twitter than all of the other sites combined.

I would say that new bloggers should be looking for traffic on these sites, as it will result in some immediate exposure, while well-developed bloggers should focus further on creating a community around their site – the traffic will come soon thereafter.

Secondly, you have to put a price on your time. How much time are you willing to invest in Twitter and other sites, compared with the time you spend updating and managing your blog? If you are only able or willing to invest ten minutes into your Twitter page, invest that much time.

On the other hand, if you don’t see the results you want after providing an hour of your time into Twitter each day, you are either doing something wrong or you just aren’t seeing the results that others have seen with similar efforts.

Finally, you have to analyze your long-term goals. Where do you see your blog in a month, six months, or a year from now? Do you want to see it ranked within the “Top 100″ blogs within your particular niche, or do you want it to remain extremely focused and barely known?

This is one of the most serious points to consider in this discussion, and if there is one thing you take form this post, this is it. The success of your blog is dependent on how well you are able to illustrate your ability to connect with others and spread what you know.