This post kicks off this weeks theme of unlocking your social networking potential. As most will be able to tell you essentially you are never going any higher than you are now in the blogosphere without networking. While this is true to finding out new blogs and visiting other parts of the blogosphere you also need to arm yourself with another tool. The social network. I am sure that their are many of you out there that used these tools such as I have which is to say absolutely not to their maximum potential. Lets fix that.
The image here in this post is a map of the blogosphere. Its a very connected network isn’t it? I think we need to join in on this fun so lets start the show by listing the major players. I suggest you click all my links and join my groups by the end of the week we should have a network we can leverage to drive in some social traffic to our blogs; as well as, meeting some new people to network with. Lets get on with the show shall we?
MicroBlogging Networks:
Twitter -twitter.com/brilliantjeni
Twitter was one of the first microblogging platforms around and until recently was the most popular. The concept which the folks at twitter dreamed up and put out was so popular that they are unable to keep up with the growth of the user base. Not an issue as they are starting to make progress. This tool allows you to write about 140 characters into a microblog at a time. It also allows networking on an unheard of level. If you are using twitter yet I highly recommend you setup an account today. Add me and let the fun begin!
Plurk – http://www.plurk.com/user/brilliantjeni
Plurk has not been around as long as twitter, but it seems to have a little bit cooler of a twist on microblogging than others. When you start out their is a karma factor and you aren’t allowed to spam essentially or mass invite people without a negative effect. This and a few other features such as the horizontal time line may be a turn off to many new users, but if your like me you will unlock the power of this microblogging application and be smiling from that point on. Open an account and check it out. I will add anyone that adds me.
Social BookMarks:
DIGG – http://digg.com/users/brilliantjeni
Digg atleast for the blogging niche does not generally seem to bring a lot of traffic. This can be manipulated with social posts and put into the corresponding category, but as I will reveal later will yield all one time viewers to your blog. This network if leveraged correctly can bring you great short term traffic with the occasional person sticking around. If you need help making the front page feel free to add me to your network
Stumble Upon – http://brilliantjeni.stumbleupon.com/public/
Stumble Upon seems to bring the highest quality traffic to my blog besides one other network. These readers stick around and see whats cooking here at Big Ben Patton’s Place and often times join the conversation within the posts themselves. As a blogger this is a great tool for your posts which you think can drive new members to your rss subscription line and comment area. Obviously your network can make you a force to be reckoned with, so add me!
The Mixx – http://www.mixx.com/users/brilliantjeni
To me this network is easily accessible version of reddit and stumble upon. While I have not really used it as much as I should it has brought decent traffic to some of my better posts. If you have not heard of The Mixx yet then I really suggest you stop by today and give it a demo shot. It takes a little bit more to setup as far as preferences but what you get back after being a user is well pronominal. Check it out, sign up and add me!
Reddit – http://www.reddit.com/user/Brilliantjeni/
This network if you have anything news related, or niche specific seems to bring the most amount of traffic. I am not sure why but if it is a post of quality in any niche your in like flint. This system also works off of a karma kind of deal so watch the frequency and quality of your submissions. Easy to sign up, and check out what I gave a thumbs up!
Delicious – http://delicious.com/Brilliantjeni
Many will be familiar with this social bookmark site, but I am sure not as many are using it effectively for back links and keywords. This network should get its own post this week explaining how powerful Delicious can be. In the mean time sign up explore check out and see what I have bookmarked and see if you like it.
Social Networks:
My Blog Log – http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/brilliantjeni/
Social networks are different from social bookmarks, have no fear the same goals are being accomplished but your content is not the presenter your site and yourself is. Essential you are given the means to put a billboard up for your blog, brand, and persona. Use of this makes meeting new people interested in what you are writing quite easy. My blog log can be as power for you as you make it. The more time you put into networking the more people will see your content. If you do not already have an account… Make one! and join my community and add Big Ben Patton as a contact.
Blog Catalog – http://www.blogcatalog.com/user/Brilliantjeni
The requirements to join seem to be a little higher here than mybloglog, but I was accepted early on so everyone that is here reading should be ok. Once accepted you will see the many layers of networking that take place in this community. Much more care should be taken while filing out your profile and adding your blog. The better the job you do know the higher ranking and more views you should get. Sign up add your blog and then join my community.
Technorati – http://technorati.com/people/technorati/brilliantjeni
Besides being “THE” goto site for blog ranking importance, it is also a great place to find new blogs and people to network with. If you have not added, nor claimed your own blog you should. If you have never searched for blogs by niche, content or subject I highly recommend you try this out as the results will be exceptional which saves you time. If you are already a member make sure to favorite my blog. 
Friend Feed – http://friendfeed.com/brilliantjeni
This is a one stop shop for everything on any given user. Imagine one place you can get everything about what I am doing, what network activity I have had and what I am writing. I highly recommend setting up an account here and adding all your possible info. Feel free to add me so I can keep up with you as well.
Sphinn – http://sphinn.com/user/view/profile/login/brilliantjeni
This network will appeal to internet marketers and bloggers alike. This network delivers content and users that are active and interested in engaging you in thought. If you write anything that is remotely considered on topic leveraging this network to your advantage will yield some pretty amazing results. Check out my profile and add me today.
I have lumped the microblogging platforms in with social bookmarks at this point because I sincerely believe while they are their own standalone addition to your blog because of the viral infectious mentality of these and how easy it is to reach out and grow your followers base that we can successfully leverage this just like a social network or bookmark. I will elaborate further later this week.
Their are a couple of up and coming social programs that I will mention later in the week a couple of them are in beta and I did not want to try and stir much of a fuss on our fist day of the week. If you take the time to make your profile accurate and use these bookmarks and networks to your advantage you will have created a network that you never thought possible. And I know that many will feel overwhelmed by the potential for all of these, but with friend feed and a new program coming down the pipes soon you will have to go to just one place to see and use all of this. Think of it all as using your instant messenger. Eventually you will develop a comfort with the use of these, and maybe you already have. After you have an accurate profile keep in mind what you are giving a thumbs up and how often you do it. Many of these networks have algorithms in place that can lower or raise your juice in effect. If you are wise about how often and what articles you do this with then you will be effectively leveraging social media to your advantage.
Social media has much more potential than the short term gain. Many focus solely on a one shot a week deal, but I am going to show you how to bring in new readers that want to stick around and join your community network. Reciprocity is a word you should know and love. If not then prepared to be mighty lonely in the social networking world.
Tomorrow I am going to break down some of these and show you the basics to using one or a few of these networks to your brands/blogs/products advantage. In the mean time I’d love to hear if your using any networks I have not listed, and what results any of these have yielded for you.
To those that noticed the spelling error in my ebook image TY!
Related posts:
- Using Social Networking To Promote Your Blog
- Take Your First Step In Leveraging Your Social Network
- The Importance Of A Single Static Social Profile
- Blog Networking
- The Renegade Plurk Project: Calling Home – A Plurk Novel
I have used social bookmarking for a long time, but never touched things like Twitter and Plurk. Can’t see what good they can do to my blog. I have only joined MyBlogLog and I see it sending me a few uniques daily. =P
I got to see what Twitter is all about and join.
I’m actually getting a lot out of myBlogBlog and BlogCatalog. It’s important to have a good social network strategies these days but I try to focus on a couple of particular networks instead of being all around the place. I found it to be better this way. Thanks for sharing this Ben!
Ben from SEO Horrors last blog post..Short posts are OK!
I am on all of those with the exception of TheMixx. When you are keeping up with them, you really can tell the difference. I haven’t had time to make the most of the social sites lately and my traffic has decreased accordingly.
BigPappas last blog post.."What I Found In My Email" Mondays. Vol.2 – Issue 23
I have befriended you Ben on all the networks I’m on, which is 7. Not many people are on Delicious, it is good that you recognize it. This was a good post, social networking can be very powerful, you can meet new people and find out new things about people you know.
Wow! I’m not that very social after all
I only use four of all the above: twitter,technorati,digg,stumbleupon
Rajaie AlKoranis last blog post..How To Effectively Deal With Negative Comments On Your Blog
I really like BlogCatalog…though I’m not as involved as I should be. Plurk is nice, twitter is good…I use ping.fm that let’s you send status updates/micro blogs to many services at once.
I’m really falling in love with socialthing! which is in beta at the moment.
I am on a few of the others but haven’t explored them enough, just submitting a few things here and there, when I find something I like.
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[...] got this idea from reading a blog post by Ben. In this post Ben lists all the major popular Social Networks. I have an idea on how I can really [...]
I haven’t been really capitalizing on the benefits of social networking myself though I’m in most the social sites.
That said, I have just followed you Twitter.
Yan
PS: Ben, your Tweeter profile url is not the right one, would you check it again?
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