What if that place was free?

Well, I have good news! Social Media Examiner is proud to introduce Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs.

Keep reading to learn more about the Networking Clubs and how you can get in.

Why Networking Clubs?

The social media marketplace has matured to the point where it needs a gathering place, a water hole, a virtual hangout where people can share ideas and connect.

More than 450,000 people visit Social Media Examiner each month.  But there isn’t really a place for folks like you to engage.

Yes, we have our Facebook wall with 71,000 fans.  However, we don’t really have a way for those fans to interact.  Plus, after a few days, whatever activity occurred on the wall is pretty much buried forever.

Our industry needed something different.

So I got a crazy idea…  Why not hire some of the best developers I could find and build something powerful and new?

After months of hard work, I’m happy to reveal Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs.

Here is a screen shot of the interest page for Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs

What Are the Networking Clubs?

I think the best way to explain the Networking Clubs is for me to simply show you.

Watch this video for a sneak peak into the clubs!

Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs are a place where marketers and business owners can help others, network with peers and get their questions answered about social media.

And here’s the cool part. It’s free now and FREE FOREVER.

How Can You Get In?

We’re currently accepting folks into our private beta site. We’re looking for people who want to test out our new baby.  We expect to go live to the public in early 2012.

The first 500 people to get on our interest list will gain access to the Networking Clubs within 24 hours. The remaining will be let in over time.

CLICK HERE if you want to get on the interest list for Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs.

Remember this will always be free and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!

What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments in the box below.

It’s changed considerably from the early days of “dear diary” and “angry conspiracy theorist” blogs. Even Time Magazine has started honoring their “Best Blogs” of the year.

Here are eight questions to ask–keys if you will to blogging success.

#1: Are You Passionate?

In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott urges would-be bloggers to “be passionate about and want the world to know about” their subject. If you need copy written for a corporate blog and you don’t have a fire in your belly for the subject matter, delegate to or hire someone who does.

Even if your business is extremely traditional, readers expect some degree of humanity. They want to know that these posts aren’t generated by a soulless office drone trapped in a cubicle who also writes for 12 other blogs, and gets confused.

#2: Are You Patient?

The saying “If you build it… they will come” only worked for the Field of Dreams movie. People don’t just migrate to interesting and well-designed blogs. Bloggers have to network, repurpose their content in as many places as possible and comment frequently elsewhere online, such as other people’s blogs and LinkedIn discussion groups. Give people a reason to want to know what you’re talking about.

"If you build it... they will come" doesn't work for blogs!

#3: Are You Clear?

What’s wrong with this?

It’s critical for your blog, as a value-added proposition, to go forward, push the envelope, and sociably grab the low-hanging fruit via a second-to-none, seamless integration. At the end of the day, bloggers must hit the ground running, think outside the box and bring a lot of value to the table for their readers.

Did that mean anything to you? Avoid “business-speak.” It’s a turn-off to potential readers because it’s so overused and vague. Seth Godin created a fun business cliché rating system that’s worth a look.

Some things are better left unsaid.

#4: Are You Brave?

Saying what you really think can be difficult, even when you’ve thoroughly researched your subject. Having an opinion and being able to share some of yourself as you defend it are crucial to building trust with your audience.

The other part of being brave is dealing with confrontational commenters. If you’re putting yourself out there with an opinion, odds are good that people who disagree will respond.

Responding to these people fairly and gracefully takes mettle and humility sometimes. They might have fascinating points that you didn’t consider.

This has to be done to foster honest and real thought development on a subject. We bounce thoughts and ideas off of one another, and while it’s usually invigorating, sometimes it can be scary!

Blogging isn't for chickens!

#5: Are You Seasoned?

Do you understand your subject matter well enough to discuss it in your own terms? Chefs learn the basics before they go on to create their own mind-blowing recipes. You should too. Beginner’s luck is highly overrated.

Read as much as possible and take classes from the very best resources in your business. As you build a better framework of understanding you’ll be able to offer your readers much more than warmed-up leftovers from somebody else’s blog.

This also builds trust with your audience when you have the integrity to voice your own thoughts instead of ripping off someone else’s. If you love what somebody else is saying on your beloved topic, then please do quote and link, give attribution, celebrate his or her savvy, but don’t quietly copy. Get seasoned and say something of your own.

#6: Are You Helpful?

Via the Third Tribe, Chris Brogan once told me that the heart of good blogging is addressing people’s pain. Most of us are familiar with the saying “People don’t Google aspirin; they Google headache.”

Are you the kind of person who really enjoys helping people? This will be hugely helpful in writing posts that more people want to read.

Social Media Examiner is a phenomenal success story because it reliably publishes detailed posts that help people navigate social media.

Are you eager to help people with the “brain itch” that afflicts them in your subject area? If you want to blog about organic gardening, are you excited about dealing with all the “brain itch” questions that will inevitably come if you’re popular? It’s necessary to WANT to explore these issues as they arise. It will inspire your content.

#7: Are You Organized?

Blogging doesn’t require a spotless desk or a rigid daily schedule, thanks to the ability to schedule posts. Some people write them in advance when they know they’re going to be out of town or busier than usual.

Every successful blogger is organized enough to put something of value out there on a periodic basis and to respond to every person who is gracious enough to comment, whether it’s confrontational or friendly. Decide how often you will write and stick to it so that you can develop trust with your readers.

Can you blog consistently?

#8: Are You Focused?

Are you able to stay focused on that one subject that keeps you up at night because you’re so eager to tell the world about it? Are you able to hold your course when people start asking about everything from technical reviews of the latest gadget to your opinion on experimental Asian cuisine?

It’s tempting to bunny trail off into whatever people are asking about but it’s a dead end because you probably have to generate excitement for those topics and it derails your blog’s purpose.

Stay true to yourself and to the desperate need to share what you know that started your blog. You’re going to need it to power you up to skip TV programs, get up early, stay up late, do what it takes to create and maintain a good blog.

After reading all of these questions, you’ve probably got a lot better sense of whether you’re going to be happy blogging or not.

What do you think about these? Leave your comments in the box below.

All photos from Shutterstock

Reportedly 70% of Digg’s user base have blogs, which when promoted to popularity are picked up by other bloggers, driving additional traffic. This helps websites attain additional exposure.

Why the New Digg for Your Business?

The new Digg will allow publishers to grow a targeted following much like Twitter, without having to promote content to Digg’s front page. When you submit (or Digg) your content, it will be exposed to your following on their My News page (see below).

When people who follow you “Digg” your content, the story will be posted on the My News page of people who follow them. This will allow for viral exposure as your submission is posted on more My News pages. The submissions with the most votes, or Diggs, will appear on your following’s Top News from People You Follow widget posted on the sidebar of the My News page for added exposure.

The new Digg is similar to Twitter, but aggregates the top news of people you follow on Digg.

The main function of Digg will be to expose news that is supported and enjoyed by people you follow.  Thus, Digg will become a viral marketing engine that facilitates the spread of your content through interested people who wish to support it, like a retweet.

Businesses could reach out to people in their immediate network’s network. Thus the proportion of a business’s following that visits its websites, subscribes to its RSS feeds and email newsletters and buys its products or services can dramatically increase with each submission.

Getting Started

The new Digg gives publishers the ability to open branded accounts that can automatically submit content from an RSS feed. Digg has opened an alpha version of its fourth iteration that will be released in the near future. The social network wants to give publishers a chance to get acclimated to the new interface before its full release. So how do you open and build a publisher account on this alpha version of Digg version 4?

For the time being, Digg is placing new registrations on a waiting list because they’re porting settings from the existing Digg platform to the new Digg.

However, if you’re already on the new Digg network, follow these instructions to build your account and import your website’s RSS feed. Digg representative Erin Ryan emailed me the instructions you should follow to open a publisher account on the new Digg:

1. If you already have a Digg account, but are not on the new Digg, go to Digg.com/new and leave your username and email address. You’ll receive an administrative message notifying you once your account is ready for new Digg access.
2. If you don’t have a Digg account, go to Digg.com/register and enter your email address. You will receive an email address once you can join the new Digg.
3. For all of you who already have access to the new Digg, Digg administration strongly recommends you create a unique RSS feed with your best content prior to submission, so users are not inundated with every update.

Once Digg adds you to the invite list, you can log in New.Digg.com and start tinkering and experimenting with the new platform.

Suggested Profiles

The first screen that loads prompts you to follow suggested news sources picked by Digg. You see suggested users in all topics by default. You could also see suggested users according to their topic of coverage. As on every social platform, it is best to engage with people and brands that share your niche’s focus. Exchanges in communication are points of exposure that will reach out to more people who are interested in the content you produce.

Everything you do on the new Digg does not reflect your Digg account on the old Digg interface, so I’m not saying that you should follow everybody; just experiment until you find the type of activity that works best on this platform. Act like you’re Thomas Edison and the new Digg is a strip of carbon filament.

A number of businesses are already using the new Digg.

You are also directed to a page that allows you to follow people with whom you are acquainted on Facebook, Twitter and/or Google. You click the Connect button beneath the logo of your favorite community, and a list of friends, followers and contacts on either network loads beneath. Click either the Twitter, Google or Facebook button on the left menu to load people from either platform. You could also disconnect Google, Facebook or Twitter from Digg by revoking access to Digg on each of the other digital networks.

The new Digg allows you to easily follow your friends from other social networks.

Your Digg Home Page

Your Digg home page loads all of the submissions Dugg, submitted and commented on by the people you follow. There have been complaints by the more active users in the Digg community that friends’ submissions are not given a unique page. Diggers are proficient at promoting stories to the front page of Digg.com because they vote on each other’s submissions. Such reciprocity is similar to how some of the most successful people on Twitter use the @reply frequently. Each action constitutes a point of exposure that is exponentially amplified as links to each user’s profile are populated with @replies or Diggs.

The new Digg home page.

Top News

From the home page, you can click on the Top News section. The Top News section will be the new Digg Popular section. The Popular section on the old Digg was the home page. The stories that acquire the most votes, or Diggs, are promoted and published on the front page of the Digg platform.

It will be interesting to see if the Top News page maintains its popularity. On the old Digg.com, users didn’t need to click anywhere else to view the most popular stories on the aggregator. On the new Digg, users will have to click another page to view the most popular submissions. Digg aims to distribute the front page’s popularity by directing people to stories that their connections are supporting.

The Top News page on the new Digg.

Settings Page

Time to look under the hood. Click the Settings link in the upper-right corner of the browser window. The Account page will allow you to change the email address associated with the account and your password. Remember the email address should be unique for each account you open. All communication directed at the Digg administration should be sent from this account.

The new Digg Account Settings page.

Your profile allows you to enter your name, gender, location, some information about yourself and your birthday.

The Notifications page allows you to be alerted when you acquire new followers or when there are new Digg announcements. You can also choose to be left out of these communications.

The new Digg Notifications Settings page.

Import Feeds

Pull out some lipstick and a napkin and start taking notes—this will be on your test. You can import your feed by clicking Import Feeds on the left navigation menu. Enter the exact web address of your feed in the field above the Add Feed button. The field is pre-populated with the following characters: “http://”. Triple-click the “http://” and paste your feed’s address into the field.

Import feed to new Digg.

Click the Add Feed button. A code is loaded labeled as “Verify Key.” You should see it beneath a subheading that reads “Manage Feeds.” A paragraph of instructions is also loaded on the right side of the page. The instructions say that you should copy and paste the code into your next post “in the title, body, or hidden in an HTML comment.” Once you have inserted your feed into your new post, click the link that reads “Verify Now.” Digg states that it will take about 4 hours for your feed to be imported.

Feed verification page.

The Viewing Digg page allows you to set the way you view all of the platform’s communication tools. You can filter out profanity by clicking the Enable Profanity Filter checkbox. You can set how external links are opened, whether in a new or the same window. You can also set how you view comments with sort, hide and page size parameters.

New Digg viewing settings.

Your Links section allows you to post links to your external web properties like your blog or digital publication. In the field that reads “List Name”, you type in the name of the site. For search engine optimization purposes, the link has an HTML attribute called rel=”nofollow”. That’s a good indication that the profile will be public and accessible by the search engines and probably populating vanity searches for your name. The attribute is meant for communication with an external search engine.

However, the link will not pass link equity that the search engines gauge when determining which websites are loaded on the front page of their results. Type the URL of your website in the field that reads “e.g. http://external-site.com”; click the Add Link button and your link will load beneath. You have the option of removing the link by clicking the “X” right next to the link beneath the “Manage Links” subheading.

New Digg profile links.

Caveat Emptor

Do not open multiple accounts just to Digg your other accounts’ submissions. Digg has made it clear that it will terminate “serial or overlapping accounts.” Like Twitter, you may want to avoid having multiple accounts covering the same topics. Contact support@digg.com to inquire about management of multiple accounts.

Remember, what happens in alpha Digg stays on alpha Digg; it’s Vegas 2.0. However, whatever actions you perform on Digg senior are recorded on Digg alpha version 4. Thus you could start to publicize your Digg account by posting links with a call to action which reads “Follow me on Digg.” Any friends or fans you attain will become your followers on the new Digg.

However, the new Digg will add vanity URLs to your profiles. So your profile web address will be http://digg.com/[username], as opposed to what it is now, http://digg.com/users/[username]. Stay abreast of other changes to links, APIs controlling your widgets, buttons and feeds for Digg pages, as they have not been ported yet. Digg on!

What do you think about the new Digg?  Will you use it? Leave your comments in the box below.

ComScore reported that the popular networking site surpassed 100 million U.S. visitors in a single month, joining the elite list of sites (including Google and Yahoo!) that have also reached this milestone.

This major success led to another Facebook record as founder Mark Zuckerman reported they had reached 350 million users in total.

And the impressive stats don’t stop there.  ComScore also reported that Facebook took up 5.5% of all time spent online in the U.S. during the month of November.  Considering how big the “online world” actually is in terms of web pages, this was no small feat!  Check out this image:

Image taken from mashable.com

About the same time the Facebook stats surfaced, Morgan Stanley released The Mobile Internet Report. This report covers an array of trending themes, including an in-depth look at Facebook’s place as a social networking giant and soon to be “close partner” to the expansive world mobile.

Based on Morgan Stanley’s report, here’s a snapshot of Facebook’s reach, impact and marketing advantages:

Facebook Usage Stats

These stats may shock you:

• Shared content (web links, blog posts, notes): 3.5 billion/week
• Photos uploaded: 2.5 billion/month
• Videos uploaded: 14 million/month (more than 19,000 per hour!!)
• Events created: 3.5 million/month
• Users who have signed on with Facebook Connect: 80 million total across 80,000 websites since it launched in December 2008

The Power of Facebook Apps

According to Facebook, they currently house over 350,000 apps. Here are the top Facebook apps*:

1. Farmville (63 million) 
2. Causes (35 million)
3. Café World (28 million)
4. Mafia Wars (26 million)
5. Happy Aquarium (24 million)
6. Pet Society (21 million)
7. FamilyLink.com (21 million)
8. Yoville (20 million)
9. Texas HoldEm Poker (19 million)
10. Farm Town (18 million)

*These stats fluctuate slightly each week depending on usage. 

Here’s an interesting fact:  7 out of the 10 apps above are actually social games. Social games are those played on social networks where there is a level of interaction with others (taking turns) and you can see others’ actions as the game progresses.

Because social gaming is currently the leader in app development, marketers can take advantage of this as they look for ways to cross-promote and engage with their audiences via new platforms.  It comes down to meeting your audience where they are already spending a good portion of their time.

Wonder if Facebook app development is a lucrative opportunity?

Here are two examples of successful Facebook app developers.  Zynga, one of the largest developers of social games on the web, has developed 36 Facebook apps, reported $67 million in ’09 revenues and 183 million active users.

Playfish, also an online game developer, has created 10 Facebook apps, reported $30 million in ’09 revenues and 60 million active users.  Pretty impressive when you consider how the top apps on Facebook are used solely for enjoyment.

To put the success of Facebook applications into perspective, the Morgan Stanley report listed a few impressive real-life examples. Here are two of our favorites:

Facebook Rivals a Guinness World Record:  Currently 7 games on Facebook get more monthly active users than all players on World of Warcraft (an online game that holds a Guinness World Record for most popular multi-player online game of all time).

Facebook Rivals the Home of the Quarter Pounder: According to the report, “It took McDonald’s more than 55 years to open 32,000 restaurants worldwide, compared to only 4 weeks for Facebook users to open more than 1.5 million virtual restaurants on Playfish’s Restaurant City app, a game in which users start their own restaurants, employ friends as chefs and waiters and compete with other restaurants in their area.” Wow!

Facebook Takes on the Mobile World

Here are some more interesting stats:

• It is estimated that 17% of Facebook users currently access the site using a mobile device, and that number is estimated to skyrocket to 90% within 5 years.
• Mobile Facebook users are 50% more active than non-mobile Facebook users.
• 1 million users commented on their friends’ status changes on mobile devices within the first 24 hours of the mobile feature’s launch.
• There are currently 180+ carriers in 60 different countries promoting Facebook mobile products.
• Here’s a graph to show Facebook’s steady rise of mobile users:

Image taken from The Mobile Internet Report by Morgan Stanley Research

There is no doubt that Facebook is in a class of its own in the social networking arena.

Do you think Facebook can stay on top? Do you use Facebook more often than other social media tools?  Have you had any major successes with Facebook? Let us know about your own Facebook experiences!

However, just because anyone can set up a blog, doesn’t mean everyone should, and many professionals and businesses start blogging without giving any thought to why, how and who will be doing the blogging.

Over 50 percent of blogs are abandoned within the first 90 days. While this isn’t really important if you’re writing a personal diary, political or celebrity blog, it is very important if you start a blog for your business and don’t keep posting on it consistently and with purpose.

When a prospect lands on a blog that hasn’t been updated in months, it’s akin to walking into a vacant store with busted windows and dust blowing in. It’s just not pretty; and it doesn’t look good for you, your business reputation and your branding.

Don’t let that happen to you. Start right, start smart and follow a few suggested guidelines. First, let’s review some basics:

What Is a Business Blog?

Because a blog is an inexpensive, fast way to build an online presence, it is an ideal way for business entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, speakers, authors and other professionals to establish their credibility and expertise.  Since your readers can post comments, you create a conversation with your audience and build rapport and trust as a result.

The very nature of a blog is perfect for the busy professional.  They are quick and easy to update.  You are creating fresh content frequently (two to three times a week is recommended minimum) that is useful to your prospects and customers and loved by search engines.  In contrast to “traditional” static website, a blog is a dynamic site that encourages your visitors to interact with you through commenting so they can get to know you better.

When you create a conversation with your audience (visitors, readers, prospects), you are establishing your credibility.  You build your network and increase the visibility of your products and services in a casual way.

A blog is an essential tool in the professional’s marketing toolbox.  Combined with a website, an ezine, database management and ecommerce system, you will have everything you need to develop and run your business globally and online.

Copyblogger.com makes it easy to find articles about the core message and there are several ways to generate leads and build a list.

Do your research. Alltop.com compiles the best blogs on hundreds of topics so you can check out your competition.

10 Steps for Starting Your Blog

Before you get to the nitty-gritty of setting up your blog, there is some pre-work to do. This will ensure you start right and put your best foot forward

1. Before you do anything else, examine the reasons why you want to publish a blog. What is the purpose for the blog? How does the blog’s purpose relate to your business purpose?

2. What are the business objectives or outcomes you want from your business blog? Some people use a blog as a lead generator to build their database. Some are looking to build a visibility platform, while others use the blog to develop content for other purposes like books, articles and programs. What do you want to get out of your blog?

3. Who is your ideal reader? Who are you writing to/for? For most businesses I’ve worked with, the ideal reader is similar to their ideal client. It’s important to know your audience so you can meet their needs and address their concerns, challenges and what they’re looking for to improve their lives.

4. How do you want your readers to feel when they read your blog? This may seem like a weird question, yet it will help you tap into the emotions of your audience. Do you want your reader to be inspired, motivated, and moved to action? Again, tapping into this will help you focus your content on serving your reader.

5. What do you want your readers to DO when they read your blog? This relates to the goals you set for your blog. If your blog is a lead generator, then you must have very clear steps for guiding your reader to subscribe to get blog updates and/or get your lead generating content.

6. How much time do you have to devote to your blog each week? This is getting to the heart of blogging. If you can’t commit to writing a lot of valuable content, then you’re doing yourself and your readers a disservice. Be honest. The most effective and successful blogs are those with fresh, new content posted at least two to three times per week. Is that reasonable for you to manage? Will you have a team of bloggers? Remember, there are many, many ways to create content. It doesn’t have to be all you all the time.

7. What’s your blog’s core message? This relates to the topic of your blog and the niche you are focused on. What do you want your readers to learn? Why should anyone read your blog, and more importantly why should they subscribe to and follow your blog? This is another key piece to get in place before you start your blog. Brian Clark, publisher of Copyblogger.com, recommends creating “cornerstone content.” This is a series of posts that articulates your core message and provides new readers with an introduction and overview of what they can expect to learn from you.

8. Create an editorial calendar. It’s no secret that content rules on a blog, so it’s helpful to have a content plan going into the game. A key element of a good blog is having a list of 7-10 keyword-rich categories. Once you determine the categories (or subtopics) of your blog, you can plan your content calendar. If you plan on posting three times per week, then plot out post ideas for each of your categories. Make a list of 5 topics for each category. Then, fill in your calendar. Five topics times ten categories and you’ve got 50 blog posts in the pipeline.

9. Do your homework. Critical to your blog’s success is knowing your competition. Who is already blogging in your niche? What are they writing about? If blogs in your niche are scarce, this may be a great opportunity to dominate the search engines with your own content. Finding great blogs will take a bit of time and research. Start at Technorati.com and search for blogs using your keywords. Next use Alltop.com and Blogs.com to find the best of the best.

10. Build your blog. Now that the research is done, you know your message and have content ready to go, it’s time to get down to business and build the blog. This is where the fun part starts and cannot be easily covered in a bullet point. Two things to think about: 1) Are you a do-it-yourselfer or will someone build the blog for you? and 2) Are you a techie or not? There are many blogging platforms each with pros and cons. If you’re a techie, you may prefer WordPress.org. If you’re not comfortable with tech stuff, then TypePad may be a better option for you.

As you can see, there’s more to business blogging than initially meets the eye. The more preparation and thought you put into your blog BEFORE you start, the more successful it will be. Once the prep work is done and the blog is built, you’ll have a powerful marketing tool for creating a highly visible web presence and attracting the right people to your business.

What else would you add to this list to prep your blog for success? Share your best blogging tips in the comments below.