Facebook fanatic? Tweet-aholic? Mad for Pinterest? Tell Us Why!

Social media - whether you love it or hate it - is here to stay.  Everyday, it seems like a new one springs up.  First there was MySpace.  Then Facebook and Twitter.  Google+, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, and Tumblr - and probably dozens more I can't even name. 

During a lunchtime meeting of my mastermind group, the subject of social media came up.  It seems we all have a favorite.  I am a huge Twitter fan.  Linda loves Facebook.  Jessie's new passion is Pinterest.  And Mike prefers LinkedIn and Google+.  What I found most interesting, though, is not that we each had a particular favorite, but that much of our reason for preferring one over the other actually had very little do with which one was best for our business.  We all use social media to help build our businesses, but few of us could actually tell which of our clients, customers, and subscribers actually frequented the same social media sites we did.  Sad, isn't it?  But it led us to an interesting research project.  Each of us has decided to use our blogs and/or websites to get some information on social media.  Something may come of it - a report or at least a blog post.  But mostly, we just want to satisfy our own curiosity.  How many others favor a particular social media site for reasons other than it's the best one for your business? 

So, here goes: Which social media site do you focus on for your business and why?  Answer by leaving a comment.  Maybe you can help coach the coaches by showing them why your favorite platform is the one we should also be using - because it's best for our businesses and not because we like the fact that interactions are limited to 140 characters!

How to Get That Link Love

I have just recently completed ProBlogger's course "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" and I am already seeing results.  The increase in traffic has been dramatic, to say the least.  And that's what inspired me to do some research to see if I could gain some further insight on gaining more exposure - and hence more readers - to my blogs.

And insight I did find!  The information I found was so helpful, I couldn't resist sharing. 

One of the blogs I read actually talks about gaining "blogferrals" or "link love".  It seems the most popular blogs are the ones with the most links.  Which just makes sense.  More links = more readers.  Check out "Would Your Blog Win a Popularity Contest?" by Heidi Richards Mooney for tips on how to get those all important links.

Incoming links are priceless, but you can also use outgoing links to help to get your blog noticed.  I used this tactic quite a bit when I first started.  And I found an article that very clearly explains how it works and how to make it work for you.  "Using Outbound Links to Improve Your Blog" by Steven Snell is a must read for anyone serious about building their own blog readership.

Did you realize that the design of your blog could cost you readers?  Me either.  Or at least not until I read "5 Ways to Improve Blog Readership with Simple Design Changes" by Tia Peterson.  Although I do think she should have stuck with her original title for this post! 

If you're new to blogging or maybe just thinking about it but haven't started yet, you must read Lee Odden's post "How to Increase Business Blog Traffic, Readership, and Community".  In it, Lee offers 5 tips designed to improve the performance of your blog.

Travis Campbell's post "10 Ways to Increase Blog Readership" give both offsite and onsite ways to build your blog community.   Here you will learn how to use blog alliances and comments to drive traffic to your blog.

We all use social media to promote our blogs.  But are you using it correctly?  If you are not sure, then you need to read this post on Technorati - "Improve Your Blog Readership Via Social Media and Simple Tips".

I hope you find this information as helpful and interesting as I did.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to put my new found knowledge into action!  Happy blogging!