Dec
10
Getting your name out there can be just as difficult as coming up with creative topics for your blog. There are not many things that are more damaging to a person’s psyche than constantly checking your blog’s visitor stats, only to find that no one cares. This can be depressing and humbling, but it’s easily fixable.
One solution to this problem has to do with social networking, blog style. These sites are just like networking giants MySpace and Facebook, but geared specifically to those in the blogging world.
When you join one of these sites, you can begin to establish a reputation (preferably good) that will keep readers coming back for more day in and day out. As your community grows, you will find that more people are reading your blog and commenting on it than ever before.
- MyBlogLog is the original and probably still the best networking site for bloggers. It offers an easy avenue to promote your blog and an excellent opportunity to network with fellow bloggers. It also gives you a chance to discover blogs you might otherwise not come across.
- BlogCatalog claims to be the “premiere social blog directory on the internet.” That may or may not be true but it certainly is one of the largest and most popular blog directories. After becoming a member and submitting your blog, you can begin joining groups, participating in discussions, and becoming friends with other members.
- BUMPzee is another social networking site geared towards bloggers. It has many of the same features as MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog but focuses on specific communities instead of just free-for-all networking. I like it a lot but find it more difficult to use than some of the other sites.
- BloggingZoom is the new kid on the block. The primary function of BloggingZoom is to provide a place for you to submit all of your blog posts and gain some additional exposure for your blog. It does have some limited social features that allow you to meet other bloggers who share similar interests. Still in the early stages of development but definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Whether you are just writing for fun or you are looking to make a career of blogging, these networking sites are great places promote your blog and grow your community.
Popularity: 10% [?]
One of the added benefits of joining the various blogging communities and adding your avatar to them is that when you comment on avatar-aware websites your picture shows up. It’s a good idea to use the same avatar on all associated with your particular blog to increase familiarity and consistency. Remember to smile
db
Good point. Using the same avatar and similar info at all these places can help you build a consistent online profile and make you more recognizable.
Out of the above, I especially like and use MyBlogLog and BloggingZoom. BZ appears to have a lot of potential, in my opinion and I’ve been an active user there. I also use MBL a lot (I add 15 communities everyday).
I joined mybloglog a long while back, I think I have joined all the other on this list as well but they are not very attractive.
MyBlogLog helped me meet a lot of people early on… Since then I’ve kinda wained on it, but I think it’s time to get back in the fold. (#):)
Not only are they good for promotion, when I joined them I found a few of my current daily reads. The networks are trying real hard to organize the sites so you can not only promote but also discover new sites!
Darin
My favorite out of all of the social networking sites that you’ve mentioned is mybloglog. It’s easy to use and there’s that widget that you can use to track who’s visiting your site.