Who wouldn’t want to be viewed as an expert in their field? It can mean more traffic, more sales, more credibility and greater visibility. The readers that you already have and your activity with social bookmarking services and sites can really help you out.
If you come across something very readable, you want to communicate this to others. You also want to be able to find it again if you needed to. This is the essence of social bookmarking, after all. If you provide top class content, your visitors will thank you. If they are particularly happy, they will make sure to bookmark what you have written within one of their favourite social bookmarking locations.
There are social bookmarking services and sites for just about everything. Readers can tag content, videos, pictures and more. You can create your own account with these sites and add icons to your blog or website content pages. The sites don’t copy your content but index a link to it when someone bookmarks it. The bookmarked content or media is voted on by other members of the site. You could even be featured on the front page. Your inclusion here could bring you more visitors.
Remember something very important: people won’t bookmark your material unless you try to build a relationship. Listen to what readers say in surveys and make changes on your site or to your products. If people know they are being listened to, they will respect you.
Keep going from here. You might find that some of your readers also write. Take the time to find out what your visitors really like. If you find that they have their own blogs, visit and interact. When you come across some of their posts that you like, bookmark them. If you see any of their bookmarked content, leave comments when you vote.
Reply when readers post on your blog. Use your responses to start a conversation with them. It can be as much a fact-gathering mission as curiosity about those who read what you write or buy your products.
Your material may end up being bookmarked on certain sites, such as StumbleUpon or Digg, where people may vote for you. Social bookmarking drives visitors to your web presence and helps to establish you as a trusted expert. You should select social networks that are appropriate to your niche.
If readers like and trust you, they may be more inclined to use social bookmarking to interest others in your work too. It’s a two-way street, do the same thing for them by tagging their content as well and visiting their sites. Again, the reader/business relationship has proven to be mutually beneficial. If you’re looking for an expert to take care of the details for you, to get the ball rolling, consider hiring professional virtual assistants to get it all done, fast.
Blogging
On average, one in three of your readers will have a presence online in some way or other. The majority of these will likely be blog sites. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Tempt them to send information by offering discount coupons or giveaways if they give their web address to you.
Now, go to their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy “I came to visit you to say hello.” Put some effort into it and be involved.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Act like a participant, just like their other followers. Everyone will appreciate the quality interaction.