Using Bookmarking, Blogging and Social Networking Sites

The first step in marketing anything on the Internet is making prospective buyers aware that you exist. Just launching a website does not accomplish that. Your website could exist for months without anyone ever becoming aware of its existence. You can spread the word among your family, friends and associates, and even request that they provide links to your site from there's. But that probably won't help much, if at all.

Advertising is another alternative - if you have a lot of money. If you had a lot of money, you probably would not be trying to self-publish and sell books.

That leaves search engines, a means by which millions of people can eventually discover your website and check out what you have to offer. Search engines will, one way or another, eventually discover your website, or you can submit its address and hope they'll more quickly get around to indexing it. Then when someone happens to submit a search request for something relevant to what your site is all about, a link to your site will, hopefully, be included in the results.

But search services also have a product to sell. The value of their product is defined by the relevance of the results they return in response to the search terms user's submit. The various search services each have their own proprietary ways of trying to achieve that. Articles about how search engines work usually talk about page ranking, but the only people who really know the facts about that are not telling. It's a competitive business, and search services do not reveal that proprietary information. It is clear, however, that content is ranked, in part, according to (1) the number of links pointing to that particular content, and (2) the number of times links to that content are selected on the search engine's results pages. Even after your site is spidered and indexed, your rankings are going to be so low that your position on results pages will be so far down on the list that the link to your site often will never be seen, and therefore will never be selected.

You need some way get other sites to link to yours. One way is to provide some content worth linking to. The availability of your wonderful books probably will not be enough. One way that has proven successful is blogging. After you have something going in that department, you need to make people aware of your blog's existence. Same problem. How will anyone find your blog if the link to it always appears towards the end of 64-million results?

One answer is to seed the process. Book marking, blogging and social networking sites will permit you to create links from their site to your site, your books and your blogs. Here is a list of over three-dozen such sites that are relevant to what you are trying to do. MySpace, of course, is the leader of this pack, by far, so that's the place to concentrate on first. But register at each one, create a personal profile, then find the appropriate place to provide links to your website. Ideally, you will be able to create links to your home page, your blog, and to the promotion page for your books (individually or collectively). On book marking sites, you can appropriately enter these links as a list. On social networking sites, that sort of blatant self-promotion is usually not considered appropriate, so you will want to be a little bit more subtle about it. You can work links into your profile items, and most such sites offer space for a blog. Write a story for that space indicating that your personal blog is hosted on your own website (example provided below). Here's the list:

     • 43Things
     • Bebo
     • BlackPlanet
     • Blogger
     • Bloglines
     • Classmates.com
     • del.icio.us
     • Digg
     • eBay
     • Facebook
     • FaceParty
     • Friendster
     • hi5
     • Hover Spot
     • LibraryThing
     • LinkDoozer
     • LinkedIn
     • Listible
     • LiveJournal
     • Ma.gnolia
     • MetaxuCafe.com
     • MoTime
     • Multiply
     • MySpace
     • Netvouz
     • Orkut
     • Shelfari
     • ShoutLife
     • Spurl
     • StumbleUpon
     • Tagged
     • Tagworld
     • Technorati
     • Tribe
     • Tumblr
     • Vox
     • Wordie
     • Wordpress
     • Xanga
     • Yahoo! 360
     • Zaadz

Registering on all these sites is going to be a time-consuming process. Since the applications are all very similar, you can expedite it by preparing all the information you will need in advance. Type it up in a plain text file. Then select and copy the needed information and paste it into the appropriate boxes as your create your profile. Here is a copy of the page I have used; open your text editor, then copy and paste this section, save it as plain text and then revise the information under each heading for your own use:

Standard Data for Registration Forms
====================================

ABOUT:
I've worked as a self-trained, self-employed electronics engineer/entrepreneur for over thirty years. I am the founder of Warner Instruments, provider of special purpose temperature controls and alarm systems to industry under the well-known FireRight Controls brand name, since 1976. Now semi-retired, I have turned my attention to volunteer work, serving during the past few years on boards and committees of small nonprofit organizations, and lending my experience as a practical and resourceful innovator to show how these small groups can more effectively leverage their limited financial and experiential resources. I've also become a self-publishing author, writing in a broad range of topics. See http://www.boysmindbooks.com to see what I've done and what's in the works.

MEET:
Anyone interested in the topics I write about, who has opinions or experiences to share. Users of FireRight Controls are also welcome to contact me through this venue.

INTERESTS:
Nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, writing

BANDS:
Ottawas, Hurons, Iroquis (This was supposed to be funny. I'm not interested in any music groups, per se.)

VIDEO GAMES:
Combat Parcheesi (Ditto)

TV SHOWS:
Boston Legal, The News Hours with Jim Leaher

MOVIES:
On Golden Pond, It's a Wonderful Life, The Quiet Man

MUSIC:
Show Tunes, Trebles

BOOKS:
My Own, Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, George Soros, Eric Kandel

QUOTES:
The end never justifies the means.

SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
Grand Haven High School, 1954 - 1958
Missippi State University, 1961 -

"The Manitou Passage Story" BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Learn about the natural and human history of the Manitou Passage, from glacier to National Park! This small book offers a light, sometimes romantic, conspectus written in the conversational style of the popular broadcast series, "Alistair Cooke's America."

"Solutions for Secretaries" BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A guide for nonprofit corporate secretaries and administrative assistants. Learn how to build a first class image on a third rate budget.

"Mind Over Monster" BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Psychological self-help for boys. A simple approach to becomming a happy, well-adjusted man.

BOYSMINDBOOKS COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
BoysMind Books publishes print-on-demand titles in wide ranging subject areas. Offerings include books on nonprofit management, historical narratives, visitor guides, common sense psychological self-help books, and personal memoirs. BMB books are sold through ordinary trade distribution and are ordinarily available through any bookseller.

MAIN BLOG URL and DESCRIPTION:
http://www.boysmindbooks.com/rss/labels/bloghome.html
News, views, whims, rants, and notes about things learned the hard way at HKU (Hard Knocks University) about authoring and publishing print-on-demand books.

BLOG RSS FEED:
http://www.boysmindbooks.com/rss/rss.xml

SPLOGGING MESSAGE FOR USE ON BLOGS ASSOCIATED WITH PROFILES
===========================================================
BoysMind Blog

In the interest of housekeeping, and to avoid any hint of splogging, I've moved all my stories to my own website.

For news, views, whims, rants, and notes about things learned the hard way at HKU (Hard Knocks University) about authoring and publishing print-on-demand books, visit <a href="http://www.boysmindbooks.com/rss/labels/bloghome.html">BoysMind Blog</a>.

Click here to hook up to the <a href="http://www.boysmindbooks.com/rss/rss.xml">RSS Feed</a>.

[-=glw=-]

Is this legit, or is it really just "splogging"? After you've been registered at MySpace for a day or two, you'll find out what splogging really is. You'll receive lots of friend requests from unsavory characters who are really trying to sell you porno, sex toys, or sex partners. Occasionally the pitch will be more mundane, perhaps for penis or breast enlargement pills or creams, or offshore prescription drugs. If they provide any profile information at all, it'll be scant. Another consideration is this; these sites are in business to make money, mostly through advertising. As you can see from the above "the leader" link, you saw that the basis of the ratings was mainly the number of unique visits these sites logged per month. By registering and visiting, you are therefore doing them a favor. You are also making it possible for others to find you and get acquainted, and these associations can sometimes prove very helpful. That's the whole point of networking.

When you register at these sites, most will provide you with a special URL to your own sub-domain or webpage. To keep these registrations active, you will need to log in at these sites periodically. To make that easy, create a local html-coded page with links to each site where you are registered, and showing your logon information. You can then open this page in your browser to quickly and easily access each site. Here's an example you can copy and paste as a template:

<html>
<head>
<title>Blog/Bookmark/Social Networking Site Subscriptions</title>
</head>

<body>

Blogging/Social Networking Site Subscriptions<br>
=============================================<br>
43Things | username::password | <a href="http://www.43things.com/person/genwar">login</a><br>
... etc ... <br>
Zaadz | username::password| <a href="http://www.zaadz.com/genwar">login</a><br>
&nbsp;<br>
&nbsp;<br>

</body>
</html>

There are many other networking sites. The following were excluded from my list for the reasons indicated, but might be of interest to you if they target a relevant audience:

     • AIM [messaging system]
     • BoardGameGeek [about games]
     • BookCrossing [book swapping system]
     • BookMooch [book swapping system]
     • Buzznet [photo, journal, and video-sharing ]
     • Clipmarks [web page clipping using special toolbar]
     • Coastr [beermaking]
     • Cork'd [wine reviewing and sharing]
     • deviantART [for artists]
     • Diigo [web page clipping using special toolbar]
     • Dopplr [travel blogs (currently invitation only)]
     • DVD Aficionado [DVD interest site]
     • DVDSpot [DVD interest site]
     • Flickr [photo sharing site]
     • Flixster [movie database site]
     • Fotopic.net [photo sharing site]
     • FrugalReader [book swapping system]
     • Furl [web page bookmarking and commenting using special toolbar]
     • Geobirds [social networking for birdwatchers]
     • h2g2 [collaborative online encyclopaedia project]
     • I Heart Movies [social networking and personal databases for movie lovers]
     • iMeem [for music and video enthusiasts]
     • ICQ [instant messaging system, now part of AOL with social networking]
     • Lala [music]
     • Last.fm [internet radio - music networking]
     • List of Bests [part of ideas.43things.com ,ideas.43places.com, etc.]
     • MetaFilter [poorly run - sign-up fee - product promotion not allowed.]
     • Mog.com [music sharing and discussion]
     • MSN Messenger {messaging]
     • MyFilmz {networking with a movies theme]
     • Gaiaonline [teen-oriented social networking]
     • Live Spaces [Microsoft friends networking - MSN Messenger/Hotmail extension?]
     • Buzznet [networking with a music and pop culture emphasis]
     • Sconex [networking for high school students]
     • MiGente.com [networking for latinos]
     • myYearbook [networking for high school students]
     • NaNo [unknown]
     • Pandora [internet radio - music]
     • RawSugar [bookmarking - but links addable only with browser button]
     • PaperBackSwap [book swapping club]
     • Piczo [photo based networking for teens]
     • pbase [photography sharing for the professional and serious amature]
     • PoemHunter [poetry and quotations]
     • Rate Your Music [music enthuiasts]
     • Ravelry [a knit and crochet community]
     • Second Life [a virtual world - subscription service]
     • Skype [peer-to-peer internet telephoning]
     • Slashdot [scoemce and technology-related news; science-fiction]
     • SmugMug [digital photo-sharing]
     • SocialCatalogers [not found]
     • SongMeanings [song lyrics]
     • SourceForge.net [Open Source software development]
     • Squirl [cataloging site for collectors]
     • Stashmatic [cataloging site for collectors]
     • Title Trader [book swapping]
     • Twitter [mini-blogging, usefulness not understood]
     • TypePad [a subscription service - 14 day free trial]
     • WhatsOnMyBookshelf? [book swapping]
     • Wikipedia [encyclopedia project]
     • Windows Live Spaces [Microsoft friends networking - MSN Messenger/Hotmail extension?]
     • WineLog [online wine community]
     • Writing.com [online writing]
     • Yelp [reviews of local businesses]
     • YouTube [video clip sharing]
     • zoominfo [[business information search engine]

This is going to be a lot of work. But, hey; whoever said the marketing part was going to be easy?

[-=glw=-]