With that said I have opted to start a new blog at www.socialnetworkingthing.com   It is just as the title suggests.  I have been asked many times recently what this whole social networking thing is about so to better understand I have decided to start a blog on the subject. This blog is more for me and other social network beginners than anything else.  In the same way x7SEO.com seeks to better understand the methodology of search engine optimization, SocialNetworkingThing.com seeks to better understand the methodology of effective social networking.

Thanks…..  eric

I look back on two occaisions in my past when I saw this same concept in use only on a pencil and paper level.  When I got out of the Navy in 1987 I went to work for a major insurance company and the first two days on the job the only thing I did was make a list of everyone that I knew no matter how well I knew them. Everyone from best friends to the guy that took my money at the local convenience store for a cup of coffee. This was to be my core list of sales calls.  A few years later I took a job as a car salesman (hardest job in the world by the way) and once again the first couple of days at work were devoted to making a list of everyone I knew.

So now that I think of it the concept is not new just the technology involved. We have moved form legal pad and pen to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace et al……  Maybe CIS 101 in college these days should include how to start and maintain a personal social network.

What are your thoughts on having these networks as a suggested job requirement?

I am curious as to what your opinion is?

What do I mean by “better quality of visitor”? Referrals have always been the golden nuggett in sales.  Isn’t that what social networking is all about at its core? I find something I like on the web and I share it with others who like the same thing. Simple but very effective. Through social networking referrals I know the visitors want exactly what I have to offer, whether it is a product or service. Someone has told that visitor about my website and has recommended they visit it.

I am starting to believe that social networking will surpass SEO as the primary means of getting a website in front of the right viewers.  By having social networking as my primary means of traffic generation I am freed from having to worry whether or not I have offended the powers to be that control the search engines; I am free not to worry about correct keyword to text ratios or page layout. I am still concerned with inbound links but beyond that all the other apsect of SEO can go out the window.  As long as I have a good service or product and good quality content tha solves a persons problem, then I should focus on developing relationships with my visitors and their contacts.

True I may not get as many visitors but the visitors I get are more apt to use my service or purchase my product based on the fact that someone referred them.  What do you think? Has social networking overtaken SEO?

Paying someone to be a full time social networker could have it’s benefits in establishing a more personal relationship between customer and company. By providing customers the ability to interact with your company via Twitter, Facebook or any other social network, you are bringing your business to a more personal level. As a social networker who creates an online persona and then uses that persona to interact with followers you have in effect brought your company down to a one to one level with the customer.  People like the ability to communicate with a company, to provide ideas and suggestions as well as complaints, and the smart social networking manager will use this information to better their product or service.

Maybe the time has come to add this position to your company. What is your opinion?

By building a blog under a different domain name you do a couple of things. First you establish a second identity in the same industry. This second identity can be developed to the point where you are considered and expert on your particular field of interest.  As your build your blog you can use it to display the latest news and achievements from your company as well as your industry niche. When these news articles are written you have the opportunity to use anchor links in your text to link back to your original site.  Of course it takes time to build credibility so those links will be effective but with good quality original content you can achieve that status in a few months. Quality is definitely the key to this process.  In addition to anchor text links throughout your articles and news you have the opportunity to use a keyword based link from your blog roll back to the original site.  Place a banner ad on your main site displaying a visual link to your blog and set up a Twitter account with an auto updater plugin so your blog entries will post automatically in Twitter.

Before long your secondary web presence (blog) will be driving traffic to your site and you have the opportunity to actually rank more than one site for the same company high in the search engines.

What is your experience with using blogs and websites together.

Here is my example:  Main site at www.bbq-festivals.com and blog at www.bbqhub.com