Using Social Networking as a Marketing Tool

Social networking is one method of marketing your blog. It is probably the all around best method as it costs nothing to do, exposes you to similar bloggers and promotes your blog.

I recommend using social networking as a marketing tool and the one tool to use before you use any other. Social networking is an excellent source for beginner bloggers to observe and learn how things are done. Advanced and even professional bloggers can benefit from keeping aware of the trends in bloggin through the social network.

Tips to using Social Networking as your Marketing Tool

• Build your persona. This will become your branding so put some time into it. If your purpose of networking is to bring more traffic to your site, don't forget to mention your site subtly. Add a link under 'my sites' and mention that you are a blogger in your job description.

• Join groups that have to do with what your purpose it. If you are attempting to promote your hacking blog, join a hacking group.

• I would recommend a micro blogging tool- such as Twitter, and a larger network such as Facebook. Focus on belonging to two and promote the other in your posts.

• Look for friends. Usually on Facebook, someone will accept you as a friend if there is a common friend between you. When you are accepted or confirmed as a friend, check out the other persons friends for new friends. Don't request them all though.

• When you request a friend, add a note such as, "I saw that you are a member in this group and we both have John Doe as a common friend."

• Don't get carried away with sending things like bumper stickers etc. This can become annoying. Let the other person guide the level of friendship.

• Take advantage of the mailbox address importer to see who you may know. You never know who they may know.

• Never underestimate the power of a friend, no matter who they are.

• Be friendly, conscious and courteous when you post something such as your status. You never know who will see this.

• Update often. You'll be more apt to be noticed in a sea of millions.

Twitter-Specific Tips

• Every time your post something new, update your Twitter status to with a catchy teaser. For instance, "Just posted, 5 ways to promote yourself on Twitter". Then add a way that people can read it "successfulblogging.com".

• Make it a habit to add 10 new followings per day. Before you know it, you'll have 100 followers as these people will follow you and their friends will soon follow.

• Set your settings to notify you whenever you get a new follower. Be sure to follow them back.

• Many Twitterers make it a habit to e-mail their new followers to thank them for the follow. They may also add a "visit me at this site" or "looking forward to Twittering with you".

• Let everyone know you are on Twitter. Place a Twitter gadget on your blog and add your twitter address on your Facebook and MySpace.

Here are some tips for forming your blog network;

1. Have a mutual purpose to all of the blogs invited into this network. The mutual focus can be a hobby or common interest.

2. Don't go over-board with the number of blogs in the network as there will be a point will that will distract from one another.

3. If there are too many blogs, say over 20, to add to your blog network then it is time to split them up into subcategories.

4. It is okay to belong to more than one network.

5. Start a blogroll for your network. Post it proudly on your blog.

6. Use an image or catchy phrase for your blog roll. This will help in establishing credibility.

7. Keep in contact with members on a weekly basis to keep everyone motivated.

8. Inspire members to visit member blogs and leave inspiring comments.

9. Share information with and be sure to site and link to the other blogs in your network.

10. Consider having a contest, writing an e-book, or using another marketing tool with your network buddies.


The purpose of joining a network is to promote, be promoted and support one another. It's a great tool for any blogger. Market yourself just as you would market a business. Think branding and image.

GET STARTED NOW- Follow me on Facebook, join my Blog Promotion through Social Networking group. It is FREEEEEEEEEE! Totally FREEEEEEEE.

25 GREAT Blog Marketing Tips

All week long we have been focusing on marketing your blog. If you are blogging with the intent of getting traffic you are probably blogging to reach further goals. Marketing is important to you.

Here are some tips, many of them may be reminders that you should be reminded of.

1. Evaluate your marketing efforts on a six month basis in order to give things enough time to work.
2. Set goals and objectives that can be measured.
3. Be open minded when you evaluate your own blog- not everything is going to work but, you need to try things to make sure.
4. Listen to your feedback from others. They may see something that you have totally missed.
5. Use a variety of marketing methods but, not too many as you still need to focus on the blog at hand.
6. Use some kind of networking, It will entail you helping others while they help you.
7. Word of mouth is always the best marketing tactic.
8. Facebook is an excellent source for marketing your blog.
9. Keep your eyes open for trends and ideas in the news.
10. Observe and be supportive of other bloggers.
11. Write often, at least daily.
12. Demand posts from yourself.
13. Comment on other blogs and sites.
14. Be nice to all, not everyone will think exactly like you do. It is a fact of life.
15. Be confident in your writing and think of yourself as a knowledge base for others.
    
16. Use analytics and other free methods of keeping track of who is following you and where they are coming from
17. Make sure that your feeds and newsletter subscription opportunities are in a noticeable location.
18. Invite and exchange guest blogging opportunities.
19. Promote something, such as a contest or a free e-book.
20. Answer e-mails and comments in a positive way.
21. Use a Twitter update with creative leads when you post.
22. Quote and link to others.
23. Remember to submit your address to pings and directories.
24. Don't let the bookmarks and social media stuff over take your blog.
25. Be original and do not steal or copy.
    

How's your marketing plan going?

All this week, I have been focusing on marketing your blog. Yesterday I wrote about the beginning blogger and why is is important to wait and work with your blog before you go all out with your marketing.

I am going to focus on the blogger who has been blogging for awhile and the need to re-evaluate your marketing plan every six months. Most specifically, what are your goals and objectives? Goals and objectives are an integral part of your marketing plan.


I am going to assume that your goal when you started was to write a blog that would bring you a certain number of new and repeat traffic over a certain amount of time. Have you checked your analytics to see if you have met this goal?

First of all, there is a difference between goals and objectives.
Goals are broad and general while objectives have a more narrow scope.
Goals are general intentions; objectives are precise.
Goals may be abstract while objectives are more precise or concrete.
Simple stated, a goal is the anticipated outcome of objectives.

Here is how to check to see if your current marketing plan is working for you.

1. If you have never done this before then write down the two most important goals of writing your blog, as of six months ago.
2. For each of the goals, list at least two objectives for each of these goals, as they would have been six months ago.
3. Now, write down how would have gone about measuring your goals and objectives today, but, in your eyes six months ago.

Example. Six months ago Ellie started her personal blog. One of her goals at the time was to get more traffic. An objective was 10 visits a day within the next six months. To measure her success, she got a simple counter free online. She kept a daily record of her daily hits. Now, six months later, Ellie can evaluate her traffic to see if she has met her goal.

Even if you have the most productive blog in the world, you need to re-evaluate and adjust things over time. People change, ideas change, and your writing will change as well.

How is your marketing plan going?

Wait six months before you go all out in your marketing

All this week I am focusing on marketing your blog. So, you have been blogging for a while, possible six months or more. You are at the point where you have found your writing style and you are comfortable with it. The layout of your blog satisfies your eye and answers all of the questions about who you are and what your site is about.

Yesterday, I wrote about the marketing strategies that you need to consider as a beginner blogger. This was more like setting the stage to market your blog. You are setting the stage to get you going in the right direction of your blog as a whole. Today, I will focus on what to do between setting the stage and the actual marketing of your established blog.

The primary goal of marketing your blog is to get traffic and you do this by defining your niche. Defining your niche is what makes you unique and the reason why not only will people visit you in the first place, but they will return again. Defining your niche means that you find where you stand among the other sites and what makes yours special.

Waiting six months is important to do. Besides allowing you to find your niche, it allows you to gain some experience in writing for your own site. More importantly, by waiting, you can observe how things are done in the world of blogging. It is important to see how the pro's do it to help you learn what works in order to save the disappointment and efforts associated with what doesn't work. This includes topics, fonts, colors, advertising, and social networking.

If waiting six months doesn't seem right for your needs, be cautious. Don't just start marketing the day you start your blog. Intense marketing and starting your blog on the same day will restrict you and any room for adjustment. It is like an advertising campaign done without marketing research. If six months is not the right amount of time for you, you should still map out a proper course, allowing yourself plenty of time for adjustment and growth.

Tomorrow, I will focus on marketing your blog after the six month mark.

The beginner blogger's marketing strategy

The beginner blogger's marketing strategy starts on the day that their blog started.
If you are new to blogging and you hope to one day have a decent following, you must think about how you will market your site. Every aspect of your blog needs to be thought about in the over-all scheme of things.

Here are five important marketing tasks for the beginner blogger.

1. Your over-all design. Yes, it is so easy to start your new blog with the basics provided to you by the good people hosing it. Amen to that if you know nothing about html coding. It is okay to go this route but, you need to personalize it. Otherwise, your blog will look just like the others and you will have nothing special to market. What you need to do is personalize it. Start by choosing the most basic blog template available and add a picture and other items to personalize your blog.


2. Your content needs to be interesting. 80% of this has to do with your posts. Do they make sense and are they well organized and to the point? Read up on some of my other tips on how to write a post. The other 20% of the content has to do with the items on your sidebar. Links to other helpful or related sites etc.
   
   
3. Market yourself as the author. The easiest way to do this is with an "about me" section. People can relate better if they can visualize an image of you.
   
   
4. Reach outside your blog to market your blog. Easily done by joining a blogroll or leaving comments on other sites.
   
   
5. Finally, join social networking groups to get hints, tips and connections. The best marketing is done by word of mouth in the marketing world. Online is a great way to market your site.

As a beginner, there is so much to be thinking about that it can become over-whelming. Your best solution is just to focus a few ideas and go from there.

How to market your blog for success-over view

Marketing your blog is an all-around effort. This means that the presentation, the content and the daily promotion must all work together. This week I will focus on marketing your blog.

Marketing your blog takes a daily effort.

You should start out by listing what are your goals for the marketing effort and how you will measure them. An example goal may be to increase your visits to 100 hits a day. This can be measured by an of the analytic counters available.

In you statement of you goals, you should also mention a time span for meeting you goal. When you hot that date, you should evaluate whether you have reached your goal.

When you have reached a goal then it is time to set a new goal with new measurement criteria. If your goal is to get 100 visitors a day in six months then in six months evaluate if you have reached that goal. If you have reached that goal then you can set a realistic goal based on this one. Say, to get 200 hits a day in another six months.

What happens when you do not hit your goals. Obviously, like with anything else, you must re-evaluate why. Was the goal unrealistic? Were you doing something wrong? Was the content of your posts not there for people? Were you not putting a marketing effort into it all?

This week I will focus more in depth with marketing your blog. Keep in mind that this is always going to be an evolving effort and is of the utmost importance if you successfulness is to measured by visitor hits and returns.