The only thing that matters in the relationship between a business and its customers is the proper execution of communication and ensuring that it reaches the right person at the right time. This is where Social Networks come in handy – in spreading the word, the way you want it to be. The usage of social media has had an impact on the profitability of many a professions online, especially the blogosphere. This is because blogging and social media form a great combination to spread the communiqué to the desired audience.

The basic concern for a blogger shall always be the determination of ways to increase traffic and attract attention. The social media channels effectively handle both. However, there has to be a background research done, of a social networking site in order to identify the pros. and cons. before relying on it. As a seasoned blogger and social media consultant, I believe it is important to target niche sites which offer the information you want to deliver. The trick here for a blogger lies in understanding the areas to focus on while he/she is writing for the correct promotion of a particular website, product or service.

As I pointed out earlier, role of social networks in blogging is about delivering the right communiqué to the target audience and the research here proves the same:

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand the fact that the top 4 results prioritize the role of communication. A smart blogger would understand how to use the data in order to reach the desired results. Engaging in discussions with the readers, using services such as twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn for promotion will help further.

Thus, for a blogger it is important that he/she implements the following;

1. Write content which people would standup and notice when linked via a social networking website.
2. Register and comment regularly on the blogs which form a part of the niche and are relevant to the domain one writes about.
3. Places social widgets on the blog which would take visitors to the social networking profiles.
4. Puts information on the profile which would get a target reader interested in one’s blog.

These steps when followed regularly would begin to show results in due course of time. It is important for a blogger to understand the role of social networking to the core. Social networking is all about conversations and traffic. It is thus important to be accountable for your actions and be faithful and trustworthy in nature for the people to get attracted to.

Brand4Profit reiterates the same by saying,

Social Media Marketing uses the power of attraction. Your friends have your best interests at heart and advertisers do not. Social Media Marketing is based on building trust and that foundation will make Social Media a dominant player in Marketing.

Therefore, for the successful creation and sustenance of an online brand such as a blog, it is important to establish a reader base by spreading the positive word of mouth. The innate significance of social networking lies in its ability to help increase awareness quotient of your blog.

If you are not using a social networking tool, then most likely you feel pretty ancient right now. Just about everywhere we look these days, social networking sites envelope us. As a matter of fact they slowly choke us to death or at least that is how it feels with the burden of having to join this and that site.

If you don’t twitter, you are simply not cool these days. Alternatively, if you are not part of MySpace you are not in the loop. Stumblers are also a force to be reckoned with, especially for bloggers. But who says so anyway?

Perhaps the millions of people who join these sites every month to converse with like minded people world wide. Or else the trend setters. Who knows, but what is clear is that social networking is robbing us of our time.

Do you ever feel pressured to join social networking sites because it is the in thing to do right now? I find that bloggers are neatly pressured into this template of behaviour. Everywhere we look, we are urged to join yet another social networking site.

Soon enough this can become not only time consuming, but also very confusing.

But wait, there is more

Besides the time issues, the peer pressure and what not, there is another alarming trend that surfaces in social networking.

Security holes.

Many social networking sites are spruced up with the help of free applications. What many network users don’t know, is that some of these applications are actually posing a huge security threat to us and our privacy.

They monitor our online behavior, bombard us with relevant advertisements and maybe even steal private information from us without us knowing.

Because everybody takes part in these networks, users don’t think there are issues for concern. But if you are to believe an article that was released by AP yesterday, there is rising concern on whether our information really is a as safe as we’d like to believe it is.

What do you think? Do you feel pressured to use these social networking sites and if yes, why? How safe do you feel by giving out personal information on these platforms?

Entrecard is a relatively new concept of social advertising. It is based on a model of a free exchange network that allows you to display 125×125 ads. The idea behind is revolutionary in terms of being able to earn credits to have your card displayed on a budding network site.

I see this as a modern day blogroll where we can display cool looking images to attract new readers.

Entrecard is a free networking tool and here is how it works: you surf and visit the collaborating websites who also use the Entrecard network and whilst there, you drop your own Entrecard into theirs.

The currency of the Entrecard network is credits which you can accumulate by networking with others (visiting and dropping your card). You can also earn credits when others drop their card on your site/blog. For this to happen you need to sign up for free, activate your account, create a widget with a personal image and then copy the code into your sidebar.

Once you have earned enough credits, you can spend them to advertise your Entrecard on other people’s widgets.

Here is how credits are earned?

• You earn credits every time someone advertises on your widget.
• You earn 1 credit every time you drop your card for someone else.
• You earn 1 credit every time someone else drops their card for you.

If you are a serious networker looking to get some card action, then Entrecard might be a great way to get around.

Do you use Entrecard and if yes, has it panned out well for you?