As the first official post on the new WriteSourcing blog, I decided to bring back the post on the role social media has played in the growth of WriteSourcing. Since this post was originally written, it has played an even greater role but the main ideas below remain true!
(image via: Flickr Creative Commons)
One of the best ways to market your blog is to take advantage of sites and services like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Digg. When I started WriteSourcing, I decided it was time to establish more of a social media presence, so I created a LinkedIn account and a Twitter account (I have a Facebook account which is primarily used for personal, and not business networking). I thought that in both cases, they would be great tools to use in order to increase traffic to WriteSourcing’s own blog and projects, as well as to articles and blog posts completed for our clients. What I didn’t realize, is that social networking would do so much more for the development of a new business.
Through LinkedIn, I’ve reformed connections, gathered referrals, and even attracted business from individuals and companies that I’ve worked with in the past. Twitter I found brought traffic to the blogs, which was my initial intent, but it’s also really worked to network and brought me far more opportunities then have arisen through handshakes and exchange of business cards in the “real world”.
The thing with social networking on sites like Twitter is that it isn’t all work. I’ve learned that you can’t attract a good following of people interested in the things that you do if all you’re doing is posting links to articles you’re listing and promoting yourself. I’ve formed connections with people from all walks of life; I jump in on conversations about politics, celebrity gossip, diaper changing, and yes, sometimes also discuss topics that are directly relevant to my business too. It seems to be all about balance in order to effectively make use of a site like Twitter, and I’m glad I’ve found it, because there’s nothing more rewarding than getting a request for a quote on a project, or having someone inquire about our services and having them note that they found me on Twitter or that one of my Twitter followers (whom I’m never actually worked with) recommended me. It’s about establishing reputation, awareness, and giving a voice to your company; some might scoff at it but social networking works!