We’ve talked extensively about branding and promotions. But along with sending the word out, smart bloggers know they need a way to track feedback and keep their ears glued to what the latest buzz is in their market. But why is interactivity important to bloggers? For one, it’s a business. For another, it’s good for community building. Your readers are more likely to want to read you if you extend a personal touch. So let’s see which social media tools you can use for your blogging business.
1. Your comments section. Yep, although it can be a bit haphazard, your comments section provides some measure of interactivity you can use to build a homey environment on your blog. Read through reader comments and respond in general terms as appropriate, or email commenters for private messaging.
2. Twitter. Every blogger should have a Twitter account. So if you don’t already have one, go ahead and sign up here. It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s free. This is great for announcing each posting, even to those who are not subscribed to your feeds.
3. Facebook. This is another ‘should’. Create an account if you haven’t already. Facebook provides you a more intimate way to stay connected with your reader base. Also, it allows them to interact with one another.
4. Google Wave. A fairly new tool, get your hands on a Google wave account and discover how they’ve made real-time communication and collaboration fun and easy. This one really present endless possibilities for interacting with your readers, your contacts list and your other networks online.
5. Email lists. Whether you use Google Groups, email subscriptions via Feedburner, of manage your contacts through a service like MailChimp which allows you greater flexibility, emails reach a wide span of internet users – especially old-school types – and is great for lots of exposure.
6. YouTube. You already know businesses are starting to appreciate and use video-sharing sites like YouTube to reach a broader market base and connect with their customers. But did you realize it’s not just for famous vloggers like Kevjumba, Fred and HappySlip? Even regular, mostly-text bloggers like me that exploit the popularity of YouTube and be more interactive with my readers. You don’t need to know HTML to embed a video to a blog entry; YouTube does that for you. And most blogging platforms – WordPress, Blogger, etc. – have tools that allow you to easily include a YouTube video on a blog post, just like that. So, why not record a video for your About page? Or perhaps do a monthly video blog entry for your readers. It makes the whole process of following you even more fun.
These are just six of the many social media tools you can use to advance your blogging career and build a healthy, vibrant and active community. Don’t worry about the costs; most, if not all of these tools are free and available. In the rare event you like one that needs you to pay a few bucks, you can always look up a free version or a similar tool offered by a competitor for no extra charge. Just take a closer look at the photo across the top of this post and you’ll find a wealth of social media tools you can use to enrich your and your readers’ experience.
