Build A Better Blog Day 17
Today's tip is about Social Networks. These networks are becoming more important to building a strong blog brand. Believe it or not most of the work required to build a better blog happens somewhere other than your site. I'm sure you've heard of sites like MySpace and Facebook, but you should also become familiar with sites like del.icio.us, Digg and Technorati. Each of these sites is unique and should be used in same aspect with your blog.
MySpace
One of the planets largest network is undoubtedly MySpace.com. I've been using this social site for some time and I know many others who do too. MySpace has taken it on the chin in the past for allowing bad behavior on the part of its members, but I have been able to connect with a lot of really cool people. If you take the time to connect with others who have the same interest as you on MySpace you should be able to build relationships that can benefit your blog traffic.
Facebook is what I would consider the grown up version of MySpace. It has a lot of the same features; friends, applications and widgets, profiles and picture sharing. But where MySpace is all about skinning your site and adding music play lists, Facebook is about connecting on a social level. Facebook uses groups and networks to build a large group of users who have the same interest. These groups then share information on each others site. The target audience is different from MySpace and you can tell. One thing I noticed right away was the interface. Facebook is very clean and professional.
Where MySpace is open, meaning each user can have a vanity style URL and you can see the entire site, Facebook is closed; you must be a member of Facebook in order to see anyone's profiles. This is a drawback in my opinion, but I have built much stronger connections on Facebook than I ever have on MySpace. Become a facebook member. Start building good relationships. Comment on your friends and groups profiles. In return they will visit your blog.
del.icio.us
As you are surfing the net you come across sites you want to save for later. One of the best services for this is del.icio.us. Interesting play on a domain. Almost all blogging applications have a del.icio.us widget which allows you to share your links with readers. I highly recommend you do this.
Digg
Digg is a site where users post a link and then ask others to critique the link and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. You may even hear the term "the Digg affect". This is when a blog post was submitted to Digg and a large amount of people thought the post was worth reading, so they clicked though to the site. This could generate thousands if not tens of thousands of visitors in a small amount of time.
The Digg affect is great because it drives people to your blog and hopefully you've been implementing some of the tips I've previously given and these new visitors stick around.
Technorati
Technorati is is an interesting site. It basically keeps track of who is linking to your blog. If you use a ping service as I suggested earlier, readers on Technorati will see your post and click through. Technorati also keeps track of sites that link directly to one of your posts. The service also provides a voting type system.
Finally I want to talk about two small but absolutely necessary social applications you should be using. One is Twitter and the other is Jaiku. Of these two Twitter seems to have a larger following and this is because the information passed from user to user is done over a web application, GTalk IM or SMS. I want you to stop reading right now and go sign up for Twitter. If you do nothing else with this tip today, do this. the other service is called Jaiku, like Gikoo. Recently purchased by Google, I think this service will give Twitter a run for its money. Both of these services allow you to build social networks where you share small bits of information, or what's being termed micro-blogging, with a select group of people. It's highly effective and can be done on the go. I a good majority of my traffic from Twitter. Try it. You will be surprised.
In the end, for Social Networks to be effective you have to participate. If no one knows your there it's basically a waste of time. Take some time to check these different services out and incorporate them into your blog brand.
ProBlogger's day seventeen post: Run a StumbleUpon Campaign for Your Blog
I read a blog by 
. Being the geek I am, there had to be some type of technology to make it work. After spending more time than should have been spent, I came to the same conclusion Patti did: you don't need a software tool to implement GTD.
