photo credit: dro!d

Are you utilizing social networks for your small business? Are you ready to bridge your small business with the millions who use Myspace, Facebook, or Linkedin? Let’s say you run a profitable photography business from home and are looking for new brand exposure and free marketing. You’ve already utilized local print media, craigslist and word of mouth for advertising, so what else can you do? Have you considered utilizing a social network and reaching out to new prospective customers? If you have a brand and existing business, this could be a fantastic boost for sales. I want to start a series here on The Passive Dad and focus each week on one social network to find out how it could boost your business and your brand. If you already utilize a social network with your small business, I want to hear from you. Has it brought more traffic to your website or more emails from prospective clients?

This week I want to ask the question: “Do you mix business with pleasure?” Do you bridge your personal life with your business life? One example using the professional photographer, should the photographer offer personal information through the social network? If your business is Scott’s Photography, then people will also know you as Scott the husband, cousin, grandson, neighbor and business owner. If you sell photo equipment online, do you want customers to know about your non-business friends? Is it professional to have family pictures for your branded business website? I really think this could give mixed messages for clients and you would want to really think about the impact it could give. But, if your brand is you or your name, then that would be different. For example, if you are selling and marketing a nutrition program, you might want to consider having friends and family give testimonies of your product. Have you lost over 100 pounds and want to show the world your progress? That could be a perfect opportunity for increased sales and marketing through the social network.

Next week we will look at Flickr and the ability it has to transform your website, blog, or personal business. Could social networks offer another passive income to your site?Do you already use social networks for your small business, I want to hear from you. How has it changed your business?

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I thought I would write a post that keeps me motivated and tracks my progress towards increasing traffic to my blog. I have really enjoyed sharing links and meeting some wonderful bloggers who have similar interests in personal finance and passive income. We all share the same goal of increased traffic and I thought it would be a good assignment to track my blog traffic. I track my passive income, so I should track traffic as well. I will be updating this list as I find out what is and isn’t working to increase traffic to my blog. I believe this will be a good analysis as my time should be spent efficiently while blogging, just as I would any other task at hand. If you have any suggestions for generating traffic, I would love your feedback and I would be interested in testing your methods. If it’s successful or not, I will include it in my list.

6 ways I have increased my blog traffic:

1. Google search blogs in your field of interest. My blog is about passive income and personal finance. Several blogs I reviewed were interesting and I left several comments. Most, not all, visited my blog and left a comment back. I really believe that the smaller blogs are interested in feedback and comments and will reciprocate. Some of the larger blogs that receive dozens or hundreds of comments, probably don’t have the time or need to visit my blog. When leaving comments on blogs, be sure to leave a detailed comment and write a little more than “Nice blog”. A good comment will show your intentions and interest in their blog.

2. Post daily. Short and sweet, but true. I have to remind myself at about 11pm some nights, that I forgot to post. Some days I have so many ideas floating in my head, I’ll write several posts. I just make sure I set the post to another day and I can take a breather. I like to visit several personal finance blogs and notice right away when the blog looks like a ghost town. If the last post was in 2007, I leave immediately. Even if the blog looks professional, I feel the blogger has moved on and lost interest.

3. Tell friends and family about your blog. Seems easy, but it works. My family loves to read my blog and give suggestions. Some days I don’t feel like talking, but the blog is always available to read 24/7. Since I’m a guy, this works great for my wife. She’ll also be able to read my mind now. The blog is a great way to get free traffic from family and friends. Your mom tells her sister, who tells your cousin, and bam. Now 20 people are reading your blog. Just think if your mom goes to the hair salon and to the dentist. More traffic!

4. Utilize social networks. I know you might think that your friends or online friends may not be interested in your blog about cupcakes or professional hopscotch. But you might be surprised. I have utilized facebook and Yuwie and both provide good traffic. I have also started my own social network for another niche passion of mine. That’s for another day and another post. If you are worried that creating another blog on a social network will be time consuming. Don’t! I just copy and paste my entries or provide a link to my blog in my profile. On facebook I have friends who are attorneys or own businesses. They provide links to their websites. They do it, so should you.

5. Utilize free traffic sites like Link Referral. Since I started my membership, my traffic has increased about 25%. You can also receive some great feedback on your blog or website from their review process. I have also been able to find fellow bloggers with similar interests in passive income and shared links. If you would like to share a link with me, subscribe to my RSS feed and leave me a comment that you have linked to my blog. I will link to yours. More traffic!

6. Have a free contest. I have one Spring Cleaning Contest #1. It’s a fun way to clean my closet and build traffic. You could have a contest for anything. Try it around the holiday’s or your birthday when you get that present without a gift receipt. I hope my aunt doesn’t read this. One Christmas she gave me a $2 dollar bill made into an origami sport coat. Very unique, and someone would want it. That might be my next contest. If you need ideas, send me a comment and I’ll visit your blog or website and help you think of a contest.

Let me know if you have other ideas for building traffic and we can prosper together.

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