The Networking Blog has proudly been updated to the latest and greatest version of Wordpress - version 2.9 that was just released. The upgrade did encounter some trouble – while the site ran perfectly well, no trackbacks or pingbacks were sent. This networking issue was solved quickly, and we’d like to thank those who helped.
In our last post about networking via linking in blogs, we’ll discuss the highest level of linking adding to the blogroll. Contrary to all the other methods of networking through links, this is a static link, that appears in ALL the pages of your blog.
Adding a fellow blogger to your blog roll is a big step in your relationship with the person. When you add such a link, the link appears in all of your blog’s pages, and every casual user will see it. This is much more significant than linking to the blogger in a post. Read more…
There’s no official ethic code for any social network. But some things aren’t done. Befriending someone one Facebook just to send him a link to your blog is problematic, but it happens too often. Let’s identify the networking issue and suggest a better way to do it.
Facebook Networking Done Wrong
When a person you don’t know befriends me on Facebook, I politely ask the obvious question: Do I know you? When I have the patience, I also add a few more words, such as: We have mutual friends, but I don’t seem to recall you.
Your blog can be utilized for networking, especially by linking to other bloggers – your potential connections. In two previous posts, we’ve discussed two methods of linking: a short link post and “linking by the way”. Both methods discussed linking to a single post. This time, we’ll explore a different approach – linking to the whole blog.
Linking to the whole blog means linking to the home page. The main drawback of this method is the lack of focus. Your readers aren’t directed to specific content but to a person.
Linking to a fellow blogger can sure contribute to healthy networking. In the introduction post to this issue, we outlined four ways of linking for networking, and last time we took a dive into writing a link post. This time, we focus on a better way of linking, by doing it “by the way”.
This type of linking method isn’t that complicated. You write a post that relates in one way or another to what someone else wrote. It’s better to focus on something that you would write about anyway. And while you’re writing your post, you link to your fellow blogger’s post when you relate to the topic he wrote about.
This method is the best way to link, and you can repeat it as many times as you wish. Here are the main advantages:
Using links in blogs is very useful for networking. In the initial post post about this matter, we’ve briefly discussed 4 ways of linking for networking. In this post, we’ll dive into the first method – a link post.
When I talk about a link post, I’m referring to a very short post, which is usually not longer than 100 words. This kind of short post focuses solely on the link. You can look at such a post as a road sign. It briefly tells you where to go.
Chester French is a talented two-man show. Let’s hear some of their rock music, and then talk about how they network their way to the fans:
The song you’ve just heard is titled “She loves everybody”. While this song helped them reach out to a larger audience, it wasn’t a huge hit, and wasn’t enough to promote their debut album “Love the Future”.
Traditional musicians rely on their record company to promote their act by using Public Relations offices, posters in record stores, etc.
But D.A. Wallach and Max Drummey took a different path: they’re promoting their music through networking.
Using links in blog posts is very common – you often cite sources to prove your point or quote an article that you’re referring to. Linking to other people’s blogs is also very valuable for networking purposes. Here are 4 ways of linking.
Why link?
Linking to a fellow blogger draws his attention in a positive way. In his blog dashboard he sees an incoming link from you, and he also sees incoming traffic. He also may get new readers to his blog, readers that came from your network.
This a gesture of good will that is taken positively. It can lead to having him thank you via your blog, or perhaps by a personal email. So, a link is good way of igniting a connection.
The best and most straightforward way to utilize your blog for networking is commenting on other people’s blogs. Here are a few tips for commenting.
Maintaining a blog is an excellent way to present yourself on the web. Contrary to social media sites, a web log enables you to control the design, write how much you want and set the agenda.
Having your own domain name also enhances your presence on the web and makes it easier to find you via search engines.
So my blog helps me present myself, but we’re here to talk about networking, right?
The best way to communicate with a blog is commenting on other blogs. If you wish to communicate and connect to another person who has a blog, head there and comment on one of the latest blog posts.
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The Wadi
