Using Blogs as Networking and Marketing Tools

Many businesses can really benefit by networking -- meeting people in their industry, getting to know them and being introduced to other business relationships.

Malcolm Gladwell talks about it in the Tipping Point, (one of my favorite books.) The concept of Connectors, the people who know a lot of people and are the intersection point for a town, an industry, a field.

Two strong on line networking tools help to make connections easier, more immediate:

• LinkedIn, a social networking site, attempts to connect 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels of connections to help people make and get introductions more easily and smoothly.
• Facebook is all about the connections, groups and friends.

Mike Sansone, at ConverStations, has started a series of short videos. The link below, Blogging to the Fringe, explains how to more effectively network with a blogger you'd like to build a business relationship with. It surprised me how similar it is to regular "off-line marketing.


Back in the day (mid 90's) businesses questioned, "Should we have a web site?" Now they are wondering "Should we have a blog?" I predict soon that businesses will be saying "How do we do this blogging thing?"... and Mike Sansone, blog coach extraordinaire, will be perfectly poised to answer that question.

Another recent video of Mike's is Porch Pitch -- like an elevator pitch but more conversational.