By now, the phrase social networking has been emblazoned on most of our minds. The problem is, not a lot of people understand how it really works or how to use it to promote their sites and their blogs. When used properly, social networking can be very beneficial and can help you pick up a lot of new readers. The key is learning how to use it effectively and learning the right techniques. Using the right social networking sites can mean the difference between a few hundred readers or a few hundred thousand.

Let’s start off with services like Twitter. Although your blog has a built in RSS feed, not everyone will subscribe to it. Twitter is a very popular new service that allows you to build your very own social network. You’ll get updates whenever someone in your Twitter circle does something, and as such, they will get updates whenever you do. Adding a Twitter module to your site allows you to reach out to your readers and adds a little more interest to your blog. This is also a very effective way of publicizing new events and building up word of mouth for your site.

Next, there are sites such as Digg.com and Technorati. Both are very popular, but they are not quite similar. Digg.com is more of a democracy, where Technorati uses a different means of indexing and promoting stories. You need to use both to cover both sides of the angle and attract the most readers. Digg.com can be pretty tough to break into and you’ll need to pay special attention to the type of content that does well on the service. For example, top ten lists are generally much more popular than simple posts on a news event. Find a way to incorporate a top ten list that is funny, interesting and related to your site and you’ll be able to do quite well on Digg.

Technorati works a bit differently. You’ll need to sign your site up for the service (it’s free) and then submit your RSS feed. Whenever you publish new content, you’ll need to use what are called “tags.” These are pretty much key words that describe your content. On the main page of technorati, you’ll see what is called a Tag Cloud. The biggest words are the words that are the most popular on the site. If you include these words in your posts, you’ll have a better chance of getting ranked better on the Technorati site. For the best results, set your blog software up to “ping” or notify Technorati whenever you publish new content.

Social networking is meant to be social and this means that you’ll need to reach out to your readers. It is all about building up relationships as well as readership. You can see great results with social networking and it can make a real difference in the popularity of your corporate blog as well as your regular site.

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Originally posted 2008-09-09 05:34:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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When you first start your corporate blog, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement. After a few on target posts, you may find yourself wandering and it can be difficult to find that balance of posting interesting content and keeping with your original plan. Here are some tips to help you stay focused on your corporate blogging adventure.

1. Set out a roadmap, complete with sidestreets.

You can stay 100% on topic all of the time or your blog would be pretty boring. When you’re figuring out the basics of what you will be talking about on your blog, find relevant secondary topics that still tie into what you do but are a little bit more fun. You can then allow yourself to go down these sidestreets, and you won’t have to worry that you’ll be going off track. In essence, you’re staying on topic, even if it doesn’t feel like it, since you’ve already worked out what will be acceptable to discuss on your blog.

2. Allow yourself one fun post a week.

You can’t be serious all the time and your readers won’t appreciate overly somber posts. Try to allow yourself one to kick back and have fun. This is a good time to post a top ten list or something that is engaging, fun and shows your company in a good light. By giving yourself one free day a week where you can express yourself in a different way, you’re cutting back on the risk that you’ll want to do this all the time.

In addition, your readers will learn to really appreciate this fun day and you may even find that your traffic spike on these days. As you post fun topics like this, you’ll also have a better chance of getting your site on Digg, or other social bookmarking sites. The readers that frequent these sites are notorious for their love of top ten lists and you can explode your traffic if you happen to get one of your posts included. By getting a little funny, you can really increase your chances of having this happen.

3. Utilize polls and other features to keep your reader’s engaged.

If you’re posting the same thing day after day, it is all too easy to lose your focus. Try adding fun elements, such as a polls, that encourage reader participation. You can actually learn a lot about your customers and your readers by trying this. Try to do this at least once a week as well.

These are just a few ideas of how to stay focused on your corporate blog. A blog management company will be able to help you with your needs and can make it easier to produce a blog that is not only fun and engaging but gets your message across the way you need it to be portrayed. They are very useful, especially if you are completely new to blogging in general.

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Originally posted 2008-08-05 05:01:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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The whole point of creating a corporate blog is to be able to reach out to your customers, build up an audience and market your company. It takes time to build up an audience but there are many things that you can do to ensure that more people will start reading your corporate blog. Let’s take a look at just a few hints that will get you started.

1. Promote your blog on your own site and in company material.

Take yourself back to a few years ago when more companies started building an online presence. Back then, you had to put your URL on everything (and you still should be) to get noticed. The same is true to today. It is important to actively and heavily promote your corporate blog in any way that you can. Adding it to your site should only take a few minutes and you’ll be capitalizing on people that are already interested in your company.

2. Use social networking sites.

Submitting your blog posts to places such as Reddit.com and Digg.com are great ways to increase your traffic and discover new customers. Keep in mind however that generic posts that are not very interesting are probably not going to get voted up on to the front pages. Pay attention to the posts that make the front page on social networking sites and find a way to do something similar on your own blog. Top ten lists are always popular and there is usually a way that you can create one for your own business. Let’s say that you run a corporate blog for a shoe store. You could do a top ten list on common foot injuries and how they could be prevented. Get creative!

3. Schedule interviews or invite guest bloggers.

Let’s face it, unless you are an incredibly engaging person, your blog might get a little bit dull from time to time. Inviting a high profile blogger in your industry to guest post on your blog is a great way to get cross traffic. If they won’t do that, schedule an interview with them and post it on your blog. By including someone who is more popular, you’ll be leveraging their success and putting it to work for your site.

4. Use keywords.

Smart bloggers use keywords that will ensure that their blogs are discovered. Read up on search engine optimization and then put those same techniques to work on your blog. You’ll be ranked higher in search engines, your discoverability will go up and you’ll be promoting your company the easy way. SEO is not that difficult and its benefits are numerous. Find keywords that are popular and integrate them into your blog posts.

5. Comment on other blogs in your industry.

Whenever you leave a comment on a blog, include your own URL. Many people underestimate just how powerful a comment can be. Just make sure that the comment won’t count against you or your company!

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Originally posted 2008-09-02 05:08:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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