How I Used Social Network Marketing To Build My Blog Empire

When it comes to online marketing there are many buzz words going around - two of which are "social media marketing" and "social network marketing". I learned from David Meerman Scott that there is a distinct difference in meaning between these two phrases. What I'd like to cover here is social network marketing which in the online world means internet marketing via communities or online portals. If you really think about it, social network marketing has been around for many, many years. It's really nothing new. As Mary Schmidt says,"Here’s the good news. You’re already doing it. Here’s the bad news. You’re already doing it." People would, and still do, attend networking functions and meet people in person. They walk around a room and go from person to person introducing themselves and handing out business cards. However, nowadays people are doing all of this online - except now all the networking is done from the comfort of their own homes...or the nearest internet cafe. Online Marketing Is Fun Again There are tons of places online where you can meet people while marketing your business at the same time. The best thing about doing this type of online marketing is that it's fun and it's free. I've gone the Pay-Per-Click route and tried out Google Adwords, but I think connecting with people on a more personal level creates loyal customers versus a one-time transaction from a Google Adwords lead who may not come back to your website - unless of course, you're very good at following-up with customers. When you join social networking communities, you're actively engaging with people whether it be making comments, sharing pictures, sharing information, voting, and all the other ways that you can communicate your thoughts and ideas. It's About Connecting With People You can leverage the power of online network communities to market your personal brand or business. It's no longer about finding places where your target market is hanging out because the truth of the matter is, they're everywhere online nowadays. And you never know, that online marketing guru you met in an online marketing forum may just know someone who needs what you have to offer - even if you are selling bird cages! That's why it's so important nowadays to connect with people and find out who they really are...as people...and not just "another lead". Social Networking Sites To Try Now For the past few years I've been using social networking sites as the only way to market my businesses. Here are a few that I like and recommend: MyBlogLog - The newest version of MyBlogLog allows you to follow what your friends are blogging about and it's all displayed on your main page. If your friends have their other social networking accounts linked up to it, you can also see what else they've been doing around the internet. I like MyBlogLog because I can quickly get a glance of stats for all of my blogs. Here's a video tutorial showing the basics of MyBlogLog... Facebook - This is probably the one site where I spend most of my time. I use this networking site to keep in touch with family and close friends, but I also use it to connect with business associates and customers as well. Here's a good video tutorial about Facebook for internet marketing... Stumbleupon - A great site to keep up with other people's favorite websites. You can also use it to submit your website and get more traffic. Stumbleupon has been instrumental in bringing a tremendous amount of traffic to my blogs. I also use it to discover websites on topics that I'm interested in. I like this video that explains the workings of Stumbleupon and how you can use it to market your business. YouTube - People love going to YouTube to watch videos and I love to use YouTube to market my blogs! You may or may not remember the success affirmations video I created awhile back. I posted that on YouTube and of course, included a link to this blog to get people to visit if they wanted to learn more about becoming more successful with their business. How have you used social network marketing to attract more customers to your business? I'd love to hear your thoughts... Related Posts: Online Marketing: The Real Way to Do It Blogging For Business: Two Lessons You Need To Know Some Things You May Not Know About Online Shoppers Top Photo Credit: Matthieu Mingasson If you liked this post, please consider making a donation... Discuss this post in the forum... Subscribe to Online Business Resources!