4 Points for Better Networking
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been diving myself into social bookmarking and believe I have come up with some interesting points on the subject.
Regular bloggers visit a lot of blogs each day, pick up feeds, hit sites to make comments, and move to the next blog.
I spend more than half of my day centered around blogging, even when I don’t have a new blog post on any of my blogs. The majority of my time is spent promoting I’m Blogging That because I believe it’ll be helpful for me when I move into my next blogging project (starting a new blog).
What I also want to do here is create a name for myself. I’ve said this before when I talked about personal branding, that I want someone somewhere to know my name and associate it with someone that is helpful and provides good information.
There has been one site, in particular that helps to drive traffic to I’m Blogging That and more recently, sticky traffic to I’m Blogging That.
More on that in a minute.
I believe that the everyday blogger may be missing out on a vital key to successful blogging when just visiting everyday blogs. After we comment on an entry, we move on to something else.
You’re forgetting something.
Bookmarking. If a post is helpful to you, it may very well help someone else. If the post is on topic and could be helpful at a later date, it could help someone else right now. Thus, you have one action to take.
Stumble It, Digg It, add it to del.icio.us. Do something to thank the blogger for the help, tip, extra bit of information, fantastic writing style, or all of the above.
When I first joined StumbleUpon as my first social bookmarking site, I didn’t do anything. I downloaded the toolbar, removed it from my constant view and did nothing. I didn’t StumbleUpon anyone. I didn’t acknowledge them for any reason other than a comment, and I did nothing to help others get the recognition that they deserve.
Recently, I feel back into social bookmarking and decided to make myself active within the many social communities online and discovered something I never really knew: it helps.
Within the last couple of weeks, I have had three major blog posts “stumbled.” The traffic that I received was unbelievable! And most recently, my post PageRank Update brought the highest amount of traffic in one day (according to WordPress.com stats plugin).
The other two posts that were stumbled are IzeaRanks Is Finally Here! and Understanding Follow Tags.
So, knowing what social bookmarking and networking has done for me I have created a list of what we should all do after we have read a blog post that we enjoyed.
1. Comment
Bloggers want commentators that add value to the conversation, that ask questions, or can create an interesting topic around the blog post. If after reading a post you have something to say, say it. You’re giving the blogger an acknowledgement and in turn, allowing them to acknowledge your visit.
2. Bookmark
If you love it, share it. Don’t feel obligated to bookmark posts you don’t love, didn’t find useful, or don’t care if you read again. Bloggers could help in this task by adding some sort of bookmarking plugin to their site but even if they don’t you can still Stumble/digg a post without jumping through hoops. However, I do firmly believe that it’s first the blogger’s job to make this easy for us if they’re interested in being added to any bookmarking sites. (This could even include adding the site to your Technorati’s favorites).
3. Subscribe
If the post was something that greatly interests you, see what else the blogger has to offer by subscribing to feed, adding the link to your blogroll, or ensuring that you can continue to come back to the site. You may very well find some great posts to inspire your blogging.
4. Drop Cards
After adding Entrecard to my site yesterday, only drop your card after you have paid attention to the site. Don’t drop cards for the sake getting yourself some credits. Look at the site and pay attention to it. Bloggers create for you to read, not for you to drop.
By following a system you’ll be more proficient in getting your name and blog out there by networking and rewarding the blogger by giving them the same things that they are after. It’s a win-win system for you and the blog.
Half the battle of having a blog that people love is getting your name out there. If we could all follow the same general rules of networking we’d all be more successful.
So as you go on today, reading your blog posts, writing, networking, and creating… how will you reward the bloggers who have written something you enjoyed?
Technorati Tags: Bookmarking, Social Networking, Social Bookmarking, Blogging, Blog Posts, Better Networking, StumbleUpon, Digg, Traffic
January 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
By branding yourself, you are associating your name with a given object, logo, theme or topic that people will remember for time to come. The difficult part is standing out by finding what is unique only to you.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Dan » Agreed however, what I see happening is those that started blogging for a hobby and are now looking to become serious don’t see themselves as a brand. They’re unsure of the basic steps or what exactly it means and what it can do for them. Branding is a huge aspect to marketing and something that should be talked about much more frequently.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Hey Katy, great post.
I guess I can’t disagree with anything you said - it would be so nice if every visitor would read this and then listen. That way all bloggers would have thousands and thousands of comments, massive traffic from social media, etc.
However, being realistic, that just isn’t the case. So instead of focusing on converting everyone into commenters and bookmarkers, you, as well as everyone else in lncluding me, need to work on maximizing the results.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Hi Katy. Great blog…I found you through the 10 questions on BlogsWeLuv. I’ve been looking of the site and a couple of your other websites. It’s all great stuff!
I very much agree with your comments on social bookmarking. It is a wonderful source of traffic for blogs AND a great way to find new sites for yourself. I will have to look into Entrecard some more since I’ve not used it.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Brian » Thank you. You’re right, it wouldn’t be possible to get everyone on the same page with my list here. But it’s a thought that maybe I can convert just one person to this system after reading this entry. Who knows?
As far as maximizing the results, you’re absolutely correct. There’s still a lot to come here and I believe that my constant changes to improve will be noticed and help the bounce rate that I have (even though my bounce rate is typically low).
Jim » Thank you very much. BlogsWeLuv is awesome, they feature blogs that I would have otherwise not found.
Good luck with Entrecard. My results so far have been mixed but by no means will I be removing it from my site soon. I’ve got a lot more to learn about the system before I decide to keep it or ditch it.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:52 am
You’re absolutely right about the power of commenting. I think “comment karma” is vastly underestimated - as well as enjoying commenting on posts I’ve found interesting, I’m told by a lot of people that they find me through helpful comments I’ve left on others’ sites.
You’re spot-on with the bookmarking side of things too – there are several blogs that seem to have generated a ‘digg culture’ where users digg or bookmark every post for kicks. What a shame! It’s what’s stopping great blogs like this one from bubbling to the top.
StumbleUpon has been one of my largest referrers. I always get a peak in my traffic on Fridays at about 5pm when tired workers are winding down for the week. Unfortunately, StumbleUpon traffic also has the highest bounce rate for me (about 35%); if you haven’t got someone’s attention with a fancy page design in 10 seconds or less, they’re off stumbling again!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Nick » Completely agreed. I think the major thing is that a lot of bloggers haven’t realized what commenting and returning comments can do for them.
As far as bookmarking, I have to agree again. It’s over-used by people who aren’t genuinely interested in the blog post. It’s more of a popularity contest based on the blogger rather than the content. It’s a shame.
Like you, StumbleUpon has been what’s been successful for me. While reaching the front page of digg is great for a lot of blogs, as you mentioned, it’s just something that is not going to happen for a blog like mine. I haven’t even tried and was actually shocked when I received my whopping 4 visits from digg… once. I think I stick with stumbling.
Thanks for leaving your thoughts. Your blog is great and I’ve picked it up in feed.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Social media and bookmarking sites are essential for any blog in my opinion. Amount of traffic that will come to blog from Digg or SU is really great(it’s known that articles that made Digg front page brought servers down, they couldn’t handle huge traffic incoming to blogs). Furthermore if you submit interesting stories(not your own) people are more likely to be interested to read what you write about.
January 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Great article, many thanks…if I might say, StumbleUpon is the most incredible social networking platform on the web today…simply incredible…it must be experienced - and then you can see how it is superior to the others.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Vins » I completely agree with you. While I have never experienced digg taking down my site from traffic, it’s not exactly a goal either. I believe the goal to taping into the power of social networking is understanding what social networking sites work with your blog’s niche topic. By understanding that, you’ll unveil the true power of the social networking sites.
Keith » Thank you. And again, I agree with your statements about StumbleUpon. Of all that I have actively used it is by far the best. And after my first “stumble” I have started receiving “sticky” traffic from there as well which greatly strengthens my belief in networking sites.
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
The blogosphere is totally a give-and-take community!
I have four blogs, myself, and there’s nothing better than getting comments…and having someone else mention you on their blog. It lets you know that you’re not just out there talking to yourself.
ADQ
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Kango Mom » I agree, it is give and take but the downfall is that not everyone feels that way.
Comments, yes, they’re awesome. I attempt to do my best to respond to everyone. It’s not always easy but certainly a fun challenge and rewarding when there are many repeat commentators.
February 1st, 2008 at 10:10 am
I definitely agree with all 4 points given and really need to work on branding for a couple of my main blogs. I had a few of my posts stumbled on my blogging with cents blog that dealt with tutorials. It seems that people seem to like step by step instructions on how to do something. I’ve got more of those planned;)
I’m a big fan of subscribing. If after a month or so I don’t enjoy reading what they’ve wrote, I unsubscribe but I always give them a chance!
Great post!
February 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
Lori » It occurred to me just the other day that I’m a freak about branding. My Dad, being a business man, has drilled it into my head. And the more blogs I read, the more I advocate for it.
Tutorials… always great and useful. Especially if you can write great “how to” tips that haven’t been written 1,000 times. Be sure to let me know when you post some of those ideas!
February 1st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I sure will Katy! I would love to do some video tutorials but am not sure of what software is used to do this. Maybe you know?
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:25 am
Lori » Video tutorials really make life easy. I have often made them to explain to new clients how their cPanels and WP Dashboards work. Very handy.
To create the videos I use CamStudio. Their site looks a little spammy but it’s a great program, open source, and is easy on resources when you’re using the software.
February 4th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Thank you Katy:) I appreciate the link and am heading to check it out.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Quite welcome!
February 5th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I did my first one but it’s not great. I’m not sure how to keep the quality? I hope it’s okay to put the link here… Organizing Inbox
February 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Lori » Quite fine to post your link here, I’m glad you shared it. I’ll be sure to head on over and have a look!
February 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Katy,
StumbleUpon has been great for me like many others. Re your comment about never getting to the front page of Digg. I made the front page after my blog was just a couple of months old and my blog is about Math! Who woulda thunkit? You never know what will go viral. I got 45,000 hits from Digg in one day, and two months later I still get Stumble visitors for that post.
I did a post a few days ago that had 6 cartoons plus credit to the source. It’s gotten probably 20,000 views and a bunch of RSS subscribers.
You never know what that flurry of traffic will bring. After a while you sort of develop a sense, though, of what to write that will bring traffic.
February 16th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Sol » Congrats on reaching the front page of Digg! It’s not even something I have tried doing, my topics don’t seem to go over very well over there and the constant changes make me a little hesitant to get involved.
One of the best things for me with Stumble is the residual traffic. A lot of my posts get the initial blast of traffic and then for weeks and months later, there’s still people coming in. I love it. The biggest benefit for me with Stumble has been the RSS subscribers. Love it!
February 16th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Katy,
If you’re getting a good number of RSS readers from Stumble and have more than 100 already I highly recommend you put up the Feedburner subscriber count chicklet on your blog. You can look at my blog for an example. Showing off your subscriber count makes for good “social proof” and will encourage people on the fence to subscribe — “If she’s got that many readers I should subscribe so I don’t miss out.”