When building your writer’s on-line profile, it is important to have a strong presence in a number of social networks. However, it is equally important to pick networks you can dominate, focusing your efforts on those that work for your, rather than spreading yourself too thinly.
Blogging, Twitter and Facebook are the obvious social networks, but you may find you can add far more value to a different, less obvious and more niche, network.
Below is a list of six networks that might just work for you:
Stumble Upon
The key with Stumble is to build your friendship network. They have a great conversation facility built into the sharing platform, which is powerful for cementing relationships. Here is a great link explaining in detail how to build social networks with Stumble.
Social Bookmarking – Digg and del.icio.us
Digg
del.icio.us
These are both social book marking sites but I have had less experience with them than Stumble. I am not in a place to advise on tips for building a network, but what I would say is that these site have, and still do, work well for some people. If you have any tips, then please add them to the comment.
Images – Flickr and YouTube
If you are a photographer or video maker then it may well be worth considering building a following on either of these sites. They both have in built social networking features and can prove to be a great place to build relationships with likeminded people. Like any other social site, this takes time, effort and a distinct strategy. Once again, if you have any tips please add them to the comment.
My tip for using LinkedIn is to focus on groups. They have loads of very active, very interesting groups. These specialise in many topics and will give you a chance to show off your wisdom, make new friends and build a network. The ‘rules’ for LinkedIn are a bit different from other social networks and I recommend you spend some time acclimatising yourself to the ‘mind-set’ on the site before heading into the fray.
GoodReads
This site is a hidden gem for book readers and writers alike. It one of the sites on my list to ‘crack’ but my initial impressions are good. They seem to have a very vocal and committed fan base. However, perhaps the biggest advantage is that it is book based – what could a writer want?
Bite-Sized Edits
This site allows the ‘cloud’ to edit your work. You have to go and play to get a feel, but it is all free. There is some social networking built into the system and I suspect it has some potential for building fans. Would be interested to hear people’s feedback on the site.
Spotify
The recent changes to Spotify mean that sharing your musical tastes with other social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, have been made easy. It is still early days but this service has real potential as a source of social networking.
