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.
We wrote here about LinkedIn’s groups, and how to network through them. An associate of mine told me that it didn’t work for him. When I asked him why, I understood his that he came in too strong by putting a link immediately after joining. This was considered spamming, and he paid the price. Here’s a lesson for all of us.
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.
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.
