Ahh.. one of those dreaded moments for the guys.

We all know the pressure here. Oh yes, we’re tricky. But you know what? A little wisdom can definitely save you off the hook. But first, you need to know your partner better- the ground rule before all tips and tricks.

How does this have anything to do with social media? Every bit of it – urgency and the consequences of a reckless response. Regardless celebrities or politicians, even us normal people are responsible for the words we blurted out in the open. You’ll be surprised a simple joke can either build you or crush you, especially when we’re networking with users from different cultural backgrounds and status.

Art Of Communicating in Social Networks

In order to interact better with people from various social networks, identify:

• Who are they – readers, followers, business partners, potential customers, random chatters ?

• What are their backgrounds ?

• Where is the boundary; When shall the line be drawn ?

• What’s the amount of ‘Trust’ built or given to both sides ?

• What are the possible conflicts that may be or had already existed? If none, will you continue to avoid it ?

• What is your personal branding in the public eye ?

Cautiousness in social networking does not forbid you to express freely, but the courtesy to think twice before responding. Our mind reacts quick to disagreements, fast to defend and attack. Self-protect instinct like this can easily blur our judgments. Ask yourself,

“Is building credibility important to me? Am I encouraging it or another way around?”

Let’s brainstorm based on some possible answer(s) for your partner below:

1. Silence : “… …”

In Social Networking:

Social networking does not tolerate silence. If you’ve spent 5-10 minutes on a post surely there’s something about it that triggers your interest. Share your thoughts in the blog comment and create continuous conversations with other commenters. Hitting that ‘close’ button is easy but not if you wish to make all your blog visits worthwhile. Do SOMETHING.

For the guys:

Silence does not always mean safety. Advisable to have the ‘response’ ready if you are not prepared with the answer. Prevention is better than cure. Appear doubtful and troubled may sell you out at that instant.

2. Diversion: “Ah, It’s late! I’ll tuck the kids in bed. KIDDSS.. !! ”

In Social Networking:

Diverting people’s attention to our network seems logical, but not always welcoming if you hard push it. If you think people shall read your work, state out why and be convincing. Never flood people’s Facebook Wall and inbox with self-promoting post links for it is rude. You can easily jeopardize the friendship and trust people have in you.

Another kind of diversion is to run away from problems. I remember there were times I had trouble with the comment form in Blogger platform. Never occurred to me in trying out other commenting systems before I finally decided to move to Wordpress from Blogger. Now I only regret for not doing it sooner, same thing with DoFollow.

For the guys:

Yes, temporarily this may solve your problem but don’t grumble if the question pops up in some most unlikely moments. The earlier to deal with it the better.

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3. Honesty: “Then mood swing it is !”

In Social Networking:

There’s nothing wrong with honesty but mind that virtue involves. It is one of those ironies that got people wondering why it sounds much better in theory but not in practical. Going through the questions again and weigh in the consequences of each possible actions. We are not talking about your family members or closed friends who have known you for years but acquaintances who just shared a few conversations with you. Take into considerations all factors and risks involved. Shall this be done in private emailing or out in the open? The impact may cost your digital footprints and branding so you need to think twice.

For the guys:

Gals dig that, Right? For some lady friends I know, this can both be a straight forward question or a tricky one. Sometimes it is not just about the honesty alone, but the way you respond to the question. For some who can accept honest feedback, a little tip: no ‘must be’ or ‘it’s KILLING me’. Don’t forget you are being honest to help her, not trashing her self-esteem.

4. Skillful: “I love you just the way you are!”

In Social Networking:

Be thoughtful. You don’t add burden to an already troubled-mind. If you’re commenting on a site which the author talks about bankruptcy out of a poor judgment, don’t say ‘Stupid! I wouldn’t do that if I were you’ but be compassionate. There’s a line between hypocrisy and skilled communication, so make sure you know where to stand.

For the guys:

So far this has been chosen as the best response according to my female friends. Safe, they say, and can be the honest truth. You can’t really change anything, can you?

How To Deal With Tricky Questions?

There’s no definite answers on how to deal with tricky questions. It’s all about the art of communicating, how you willing to give and take in different situations. Perhaps it’s not common for us to face tough questions but someday when you do,

• Understand the question thoroughly. It’s easy to ‘assume’ and misinterpret so always be SURE you know what exactly is in demand here.

• Test the water with a brief remark; or provide scenarios (if needed) to understand the motive.

• Be thoughtful. You can’t please everyone but don’t blind yourself with self-absorption.

• Try to know your readers/followers personality through their writings or on social media connections.

• Listen more.

• Consider the consequences of each action.

Now It’s Your Turn…

Have you ever encountered any tricky questions? How do you deal with it? Kindly share YOUR art of communicating in the comments below.

If you like this post, a little sharing would be nice.

It has been several days now since I’m out of internet service at home. The area seems to go static with no connection whatsoever while some areas in town are not affected. As a fulltime blogger I find that a little devastating to start my new week. Negative thoughts crept in but I knew my foremost task is to eliminate them for good — by being practical!

Yaro said it, nothing goes right all the time. Funny how pressure can lead you into believing everything is doomed, but it’s not. Just several hours ago I did 7 productive things that put me in an uplifting mood. Here are some friendly references to some of you who are unable to sit quietly through the crisis:

1. Accept Reality and Fine Tune Your Mindset

You are probably worrying over all the pending tasks and the eagerness to get in touch with your contacts online. “Time is money, chances may pass you by; somebody is waiting for your reply at this very instant!” I’ll say these negative thoughts will eat you up alive before you know it! Those words were in my head on the very first day. We have deadline, urge, that’s true. However, never ever push yourself over the edge before dealing with it. There ARE always plans installed for you no matter how tough the challenge may seem. ADSL not working? Use dial up if you must. Phone someone or go to a cyber cafe or hotel lobby that has the connection. If not, then.. read along.

2. Brainstorm Ideas for Future Posts

Let me introduce you to my Blogger First Aid Folder – the inspirational articles I stored over the months from self-development to blogging tips and handy references. As I was having the disconnection crisis, I ran through the First Aid folder and came out with at least 10 new topics that I like to cover for the next few months. Bloggers are thinkers, don’t say you can’t think of anything because you CAN. Kindly refer to the topic of this post.

3. Transform Your Rants into Helpful Solutions

One of the best inspirational moments is to live through challenging circumstances while discovering solutions to the problem. As myself at this very state of mind, I know exactly how people with similar experience would feel. Of course, they won’t be googling about this right now but it’ll help before it drives you up the wall when occurred. Who says ranting cannot be a post? Sure it can but do remember the ‘WIIFM’ (What’s In It For Me) factor. It applies in all types of writings, especially when the blog isn’t all about your personal stories.

4. Write Off Topic Articles to Other Directories

It’s not easy to get my attention off the screen. Sometimes I still like to make up to the time I lost in writing, even if I did all I can, drafted what can possibly be done offline for my social media posts. Whenever I feel like that, I continue to write but off topic articles to other directories or local newspapers instead. For the latter, they have a column for readers where we get to write in and share our thoughts in various topics. I like to do that as an interest and it gives me satisfaction when I get to use my time for a similar activity yet different prospect! Movies? Music? Life stories? Anything I feel like writing. The more expressive I become the more energy I accumulate to deal with negativity.

5. Clean Up & Check Your OS, Backups

I’m keen in making folders. They are easily misplaced and I can find duplicates in different drives sometimes! Those are not intentioned but they really cramped up my memories. I do month-end backups but why can’t I do it now? Ended up clearing 5GB of free spaces, transferring unneccesary files off my working PC. Doubled my backup discs just in case. Feels good when all the tiresome yet important tasks are off my mind.

6. Working on OFFLINE Pending Tasks

Don’t have any? Good for you.

Sadly for me it’s easy to leave offline work piled up unintentionally when you’re working more than 10 hours a day. I went through my closet and tidied up the wardrobe, gave my toilet a cleanup which I was thinking of doing a week ago, sent out greeting cards for the coming Chinese New Year occasion in February. It put me at ease knowing I won’t have to be nagged about those things again. *YAY!*

7. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!

I know you’re not in the mood for exercise now, but you got to get your negative energy out somewhere! ‘Swearing’ won’t make you healthier or slimmer but ‘Sweating’ will. I got on my bike and paddled for about 20 minutes and it felt good! I know my muscle is going to ache the next day but I’m cool with that.



So Now It Comes to This…
Here I am, sipping my coffee while preparing to give this post a happy ending (at internet covered town area). Maybe it’s another life lesson to break through pressure. Jim seems to be handling that very well even surrounded by cops! I could use some rhumba right now. LOL !

I believe once in a while we all need a little inspiring input. If none of the above helps, maybe these 50 Simple Ways To Stay Productive will. Do share with us how did you overcome downturns and pressuring moments when you can’t blog? We could all use some ideas from one another.

A lot of resolutions been talked about lately. How many of you have set up goals based on what you’ve learned in the past? Now I must admit, initially I have no intention to do a blog review based on performances in 2009. To dig up old archive seem troublesome and it’s much better to save effort for a much productive work, right? Wrong.

Measuring blog success isn’t just about bragging how good you are, but identify how much you could or should have done to improve blog traffic. Bottom line, if you are serious to increase blog traffic, a review is needed for:

• Periodic goal-settings

• Understanding own potentials and ability

• Measuring current blog status and progress

• Knowing parts to improve and avoiding repeated mistakes

• Following up on lost comments & connections

Based on these 6 ways to track blog success, I can have a general idea how my blog survived all the way from March, 2009 (1st post about social media). During the process, I immediately realized the first and utmost lesson is to involve Analytics and Feedburner more in my planning instead of just a casual check monthly.

Popularity and Blog Traffic Review

Results are ranging from 17th March, 2009 to 6th January 2010 (my 1st day of work in 2010):

What I love about tracking comments is to find out which post type attracts the most discussions; what matters to the readers when they visit and the content that stands out from the rest. Engagement is a big deal here therefore I’m blessed to have a group of loyal readers who are taking comments very seriously! May the spirit continues in 2010. Of course, in order to obtain more accurate results, social media strategies and time factor are to be taken into considerations as well.

Other criteria that helped in commenting: Do-Follow, CommentLuv (Reasons To Love), Blog Promoting via Social Media

Top 5 Famous Posts via Google Analytics:

13 Facebook Applications to Promote Your Blog
How To Pick Up From Your Blogging Downturns
How Seriously Do You Take Blog Comments?
16 Social Bookmarking Plugins to Promote Your Posts
16 Misconceptions About ‘Serious’ Blogging

The results are slightly different but undeniably, Facebook is a hot topic here. The post was only written in October, 2009 but it overtook other posts and came first in Analytics. Also, it made me realized which type of posts are search-worthy; which are favored in social bookmarking sites and so on.

My Top 5 Traffic Source in 2009

I’m only active in Stumbleupon after migrating to wordpress in July. SU brought me a lot of new visitors but its bounce rate was still among the highest comparing to other traffic source. In order to capture the right audience in StumbleUpon, do make sure the submitted post is tagged correctly. Here’s a great post of 5 Tactis to drive in traffic from StumbleUpon, old tricks but good tips. As for Google Search that improves to rank #3 out of no where, no doubt that Wordpress plugins such as All In One SEO helped me a great deal.

I believe migrating to Wordpress from Blogger is the smartest decision I made in 2009 to increase blog traffic.

Power of Twitter & StumbleUpon in Promoting Blog Posts

Even though I started to blog in August, 2008, I only switched to social media blogging in March, 2009. Between my first and last social media post in 2009, I found 2 spikes happened in May and September respectively. It was during the time when these 2 posts were published:

a) The Best of Twitter Desktop Clients – Secrets Revealed!

- (61% direct traffic while 21% Twitter.com)

I remembered clearly it was the magic of Twitter that drove in the traffic. Loic from Seesmic tweeted about this post and soon the tweet went viral! You may be surprised why Analytics showed most of the visits are from ‘direct traffic’ instead of Twitter.com, this is because some clicks from Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck, Twhirl etc will not be counted in Twitter.com but as ‘direct traffic’ to your blog.

b) How To Pick Up From Your Blogging Downturns – ( 85% stumbleupon)

I was very surprised with this result but I think part of the reasons is the kind support given by my blogger friends. Could it be due to the Su.pr evolution and easy-to-adapt toolbar for browsers which made stumbling quick and easy? I think so too since I’m also an active stumbler in the same way. Everyone can easily participate in more than one social media sites nowadays so it will definitely help if we manage to assist one another in post-promoting. That’s the beauty of integration and networking.

Now It’s Your Turn…

What is your most popular post and which social media site has been your main traffic source so far? Share your post link and ideas in the comment below.

Are you a prolific blogger who owns multiple blogs and eager to share everything on your Facebook Fan Page? If yes, congratulations! This post is dedicated to you.

We all are aware of how easy it is to autopost from A BLOG to facebook account. You can have plenty of app choices even among the 13 Facebook Applications to Promote Your Blog. However when it comes to multiple blogs, sometimes we are forced to input them manually or rely on combination of apps such as Notes, Social RSS to make it happen. Actually there’s an easier way!

Here’s a request earlier from a blogger friend who posted on my blog’s fan page :

As much Wordbook sounds promising, we know it is not capable enough to post for multiple blogs and to Facebook Fan Pages. Truth is, you don’t have to add any Wordpress plugins. The answer lies in the hand of NetworkedBlogs and I’m gonna show you how:

Register Your Blogs to NetworkedBlogs

First requirement is you need to make sure all your blogs are registered to NetworkedBlogs and you’re following them individually (skip this section if you’ve done that already):

1.  Add NetworkedBlogs to your Facebook application.

2.  Then click ‘Register a new blog’. Fill up the details required.

3.  At ‘Blog Feed’ section, click ‘Pull Now’ to import all posts from your blog. Refresh the page if needed.

4.  Verify your account for each blog (either way) following the instructions given (Repeat step 2 – 4 for your multiple blogs) :

Configure Your Facebook Fan Page For Autoposting

1.  Go to your Facebook Fan Page. Click ‘Edit Page’ to enter management page.

2.  Scroll all the way down to locate ‘Networkedblogs’ and hit ‘Edit’.

3.  All the blogs you’re currently following will be displayed in the Page Settings. Select the blogs you wish to import to your Facebook page.

4.  Grant permission and Save your settings.

Done. Now whenever your blogs are updated with new posts, they will be published on both Facebook page and personal account.

But, what if you wish to prevent personal account from receiving blog updates?

Some people may not like to harass their real life friends with business related info, here’s what you can do:

1.  In NetworkedBlog, look for ‘Feed Settings’ at the right sidebar to change your feed-posting preferences.

2.  At ‘Fan Pages’ section, click ‘Configure’ and mark the ‘Auto-Publish blog posts to Page Wall’ ; whereas for Personal Profile remained un-ticked.

That’s it! All can be done within Facebook Fan Page! Import as many entries you need to enhance blog traffic.

Here’s A Great News…

We reached 100 members today so we got ourselves a custom URL ~ facebook.com/SocialBloggingTracker ! YAY! You guys rock and can’t thank you all enough for the participation. If you haven’t join us, by all means! It’s a perfect place for all readers/social media enthusiasts to meet and get inspired!

Do you find the tutorial useful? If you know a better way to autopost from multiple blogs to Facebook Fan Pages, do share with us in your comment.

I’m currently on day-21 of my family vacation in Penang Island. It’s the longest leave I’ve ever taken in a year. Despite of a blue screen laptop that failed on me few weeks back, I’m thankful at least I can use my nephew’s PC to declare:  I’m very much alive and never been kidnapped by aliens, thank you.

Social networking is pretty much on-going here alright. Sometimes it’s even more challenging when you’re around with family members who you only meet once every 2-3 years. Nevertheless, this trip is of a great value. I won’t have a better place to share it if not here with you guys whom I missed dearly.

8 Lessons to Boost Up Blogging Experience

1. Don’t Give Yourself Reasons to Feel Old & Sloppy

Keep Young At Heart - I like to remind myself that whenever I feel I’m too old for something new. Stop blaming ‘age’ for the things you cannot do or we won’t have much fun growing older. Put that aside and think about how much you’ll celebrate if you manage to overcome age barriers – confidence, knowledge, connections and energy. The more we tried, the more we realized where our ability stands.

Negative mindset is all you need to stop miracles from happening. Let your writing be filled with excitement! Use words and pictures to capture readers’ interests! Remember, aging will only make you wiser, never a loser in blogging.

Root of Inspiration:

Kids! I’m surrounded by my nephews and niece (aged 3, 5, 6 & 8 ) who are constantly energetic and curious about EVERYTHING! Learning is the best way to stay young and ahead of the curve.

2. Life is About Taking Chances, So Is Blogging

Life can open doors when one is willing to take chances. I quit my job to pursue my dream when people are looking for one; I submitted my work to bigger names when low self-esteem had crept all over me; I tried my hands on social media when people are less likely to believe their potentials. All doubts replaced by new theories one by one. I learned if I don’t take chances and overcome my fear, I’ll never discover my full potentials. I would probably still working in a cubicle, sighing and waiting for the day to end!

Root of Inspiration:

In Amazing Race, competition can make people overcome their fear in an instant, because they have a higher goal to reach. We worried because we presumed the worst we can reap from an action. Of course I don’t mean putting yourself in danger but with thorough understanding of your own ability, you’ll know when it’s the time to go full force for one thing. The picture is just an indication. While you admiring my courage, the snake-tamer actually stood beside me after handing me the tail.

3. I Deserve to Spoil Myself Once in a While

When I work, I work hard; when I play, I play hard. That’s the rule. All work and no play I’ll soon bored you and me to death. I’ll have nothing useful to share. Words will be meaningless for life is boring! That’s the last thing you need in blogging! Give yourself a treat for doing a good job. Vacation is the time of the year I let myself go with a reasonable manner. Before this I usually have a financial plan to make sure I won’t go overboard and drown myself in debts. If I want to play or spend, I’ll make sure I can afford it. Having fun should be rewarding, not to trouble us afterward.

Root of Inspiration:

I eat and I shop. I bought new clothes to replace old ones at home, which I’ve sold online or donated. Year End Sales with discounts up to 50 – 70% always a charmer. Be a smart consumer. Don’t get ripped off while you’re at it. Bottom line, have fun and enjoy life the way you want it.

4. Capture and Utilize Inspirations Wisely

An artist will appreciate inspiration more than normal people. They will value and inject it to their work before it vanishes. I’m no where near an artist but I figure if I’m able to capture it in words or pictures, I’ll know how to present myself in the next post. Inspirations are important for bloggers to be expressive. We need a lot of input to make things happen. During vacation, everything is fresh with new surroundings; people are handling matters differently which may enlighten us how we run our lives. I tend to bring this back with me in blogging and everything I do at home.

Root of Inspirations:

I was greatly inspired by my brother who is an amateurish photographer. He has a keen eye for the surrounding. Look what he painted on his wall, the photo frames will be fully up on the coconut tree in less than 6 months, I’m sure.

Opportunity might occur once in a lifetime, grab it while you still can. The hibiscus in the garden only blossom for a day before they died the next. If I didn’t capture that moment, nobody would have known they existed.

5. Appreciate & Treat Your Work as a Legacy

Today will be remembered for many years to come by your descendants, if you left them a legacy. People may shrug or yawn when they enter a museum or art gallery, but we are made from those history. Without the past, we won’t enjoy the luxurious lifestyle; without the inventions, we have no ways to communicate or work from home. Culture made us who we are today and we are still living it, renewing its definition every time with improvements and discoveries. I’m living to create my page of history today. I’m looking forward to telling my grandchildren how their grandma live through the adventure daily.

Root of Inspirations:

I came across this old light house that I never knew existed at Fort Cornwallis. It was built in 1882 and 21 meters in height (renovated a couple of times in early 1900). The view up there was wonderful! I climbed to the top, admiring the view. Imagining what it would be like to have its light beaming at night, guarding the ships to reach the shore. And the wall carving from Kek Lok Si, looks magnificent isn’t it?

6. Embrace Your Childhood for Innocence & Excitements

Think about the good qualities a kid possesses: innocence, pure intention, cheerful! I love how they come around and try to solve a puzzle by themselves. We were once a kid and loving it! We knew how to have fun. We appreciated things easily and forgot why we just cried. We enjoyed simplicity and contentment. I like to keep a bit of childlike in me — not to be naive but fast to ditch the sadness and anger; ready to go out and start a journey all over again.

Root of Inspirations:

For a net-goer like myself, living with kids is hard to adapt at first. Tasted all the bitter sweet of having kids around but it’s always wonderful to put us in somebody’s childhood.

See how happy I was at the Toy Museum? I was totally a big child there!

7. Be An Initiator in Your Social Network

We are in need to communicate daily. Whenever I’m on a social media site, I look forward to the engaging conversations. That’s how I like to treat blog commenting as well. I may not be the best writer or grammatically impressive, but I will try to express my thoughts in words that people can understand. To reach out first has earned me friendships and learning opportunities. Never be afraid to make mistakes for it’s a chance to be better.

Root of Inspirations:

When I was riding the Singapore Flyer, my husband and I were greeted by this friendly couple from England, Mr and Mrs Potter. Mr Potter was kind enough to offer us a hand in photo taking. Later we had a nice 10 minutes conversation before we landed. It was a pleasant experience! On my way back to Penang Island, I sat beside a couple from South Carolina, US. We talked briefly and wish each other happy holidays before getting off the plane. It’s fantastic when we get to practice what we preach online about social networking.

Last and most importantly,

8. Treat Bad Experience a Learning Point

Perfection is ideal, but how many of us can reach there? We made bad decisions and failed, but who doesn’t? Ask any people who succeed, almost 90% will tell you it’s more than just luck. Failure is discouraging but one can still claim the victory if he’s not been struck down by it. My work had been rejected before. Disappointment is inevitable but you need to get out from the mourning asap. Don’t forget another door opens when one closes. You just earned a second chance to try and be better! How good is that!

Root of Inspirations:

I hurt my back a week ago, painful and hard to sit straight. My laptop left me a blue note and currently on strike for overworked.  Fine! I’m not gonna grumble.  I’ll ease my pain and rest more instead. Spend more time bonding with the kids. Took this pic while Javon was attempting to bake a Strawberry cake. Yum!

Hope this post can turn on your holiday mode! It’s a time to rejoice and be glad. Get ready to wrap up 2009 before starting fresh in 2010!

Now Is Your Turn…

Did you learn something from your vacation as well? Have it told in a post or share with us in your comment below. If you didn’t go anywhere this year, do update us with your work so far. What does your year-end-review tell you?

In the mean time, how about a little love-sharing on social bookmarking sites?

Request: “Hope you can write about FB applications to promote blog in future ! Thanks !”

Do you own a Facebook and a blog? If so, think you’re going to enjoy this week’s discussion. Thanks to S.Pradeep Kumar for bringing up the question during his visit at 16 Social Bookmarking Plugins to Promote Your Post. I’ve started a little journey digging through Facebook in past weeks, hoping to find some relevant ideas on how to promote your blog using Facebook applications. Before we’re getting into any of those, make sure you fill up as much information on your Facebook Profile as possible — digital name card for first timers:

13 Facebook Applications To Promote Your Blog

There are ways to frequent your blog’s visibility within Facebook network. Do bear in mind you don’t have to use ALL of them or keep your Wall busy with all the blog updates – especially if you are a productive daily-blog-poster. It may get a little annoyed and your friends may secretly switch off your news feed reminder so be smart on picking the ones that suit your network.

Basic Features:

1. Links & Updates

- Share your blog / post link with your friends to have them feedback or comment on it. Or easier, announce an update to have them all aware of the blog launch. Just a snap!

2. Notes

- Copy and paste your individual blog articles or import the entire blog feed into Notes so your friends can read them, either through link sharing or by tagging them. They can spread the notes on your behalf or comment on it as well. The notes can be viewed in Full or Compact (shown in pic) mode.

Blog/Posts Exposures via Additional Applications:

3. Facebook Pages

- Facebook Fan Pages can be a good idea for blog promoting when:

a. You plan to keep your personal Facebook account separated from your blogging community.

b. You can have discussion board, customized applications while sending email updates to ALL fans, as I like to call them supporters instead.

I have just setup my blog’s Facebook Page. Hope to see you guys there!

Social @ Blogging Tracker

Suggested Read: you may be interested in 16 Facebook Applications to Boost Popularity of Facebook Fan Page

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4. Networked Blogs

- The most-used application to promote your blog on Facebook with the ability to network with other blogs easily through ‘follow’ option. Followers can post comment, rate the blog and enjoy meeting other followers. Not to mention it equips the ability to autopost from multiple blogs to your Facebook Page too! I had my Social @ Blogging Tracker all fixed up in NetworkedBlogs. It’ll be a privilege to see you there!

You can have your networked blogs visible at the sidebar, underneath your Facebook Profile or on your Facebook Pages. Displaying yours and other blogs you’ve joined or liked, served as an active blogroll apart from blog promotion.

5. Social RSS

- Provide RSS feed subscription for your blog through Facebook. Make your Social RSS visible by setting it appeared as box tab or at the sidebar. Tag the RSS with a familiar name like ‘blog’ so others will notice. Configure and fill up the required fields before activate it. The feeds will update automatically in accordance to your latest post.

6. Simplaris Blogcast

- Display your latest or chosen posts with or without graphic on your Facebook Profile (box tab or sidebar) or on Facebook Page. Normally latest posts will be displayed on your Facebook Wall as well if you preset it. Visibility is what Simplaris Blogcast do best, however the updating is quite slow sometimes and require manually setup (free version).

Indirect Methods:

7. Blog

- How about a little indirect method to promote your main site via ‘Blog’ on Facebook? This application allows you to blog directly on Facebook – by unmark the ‘private’ option you can make the post public in ‘Explore’ section to whoever is using the application. Extra audiences, why not? An idea I picked up from those who are using Tumblr and Posterous to promote their main blog.

8. Blog Box

- The efficiency of writing a post on Blog Box (similar to no.7: Blog) or import from your existing blog. If for the latter, it will update every 6 hours checking for new post on your main site. Unless you prefer to spend some dime on Pro version that may save time on the updating, for me that’s unnecessary. Blog Box is said to be visible outside Facebook too, so people can add your blog to Google Reader freely.

9. Blog It

- Ability to inter-posting between your social media sites and Facebook. Choices ranging from microblogging to various types of blogging platforms. I’m more into using it for microblogging instead of blog posts but that’s just the matter of preferences. Some similarities shown as Mirror Blog application.

10. Tumblelog

- The ability to display content from your Tumblr blog on your Facebook profile. If you own a Tumblr blog this application is worth a shot.

Extra Facebook Features:

11. Create Facebook Groups

- Create a group that you’re passionate about and have like-minded people to join in. Have on-going and active discussions, connect with members often. You may even find some new members interested in your writings too.

12. Facebook Ads

- If you’re willing to pay for publicity, another idea is via Facebook Ads. You can create a campaign to drive in traffic to your website or your well-known Facebook Page and more. The idea of reaching out to targeted readers varied by age, location, interests is what Facebook Ads do best.

13. Social Media Integration

- Ever since Facebook has decided to open up and willing to integrate with other social media and microblogging sites, sharing a blog post or promotion has never been easier. Through a well-written post you can gain massive exposure on Facebook when blog readers submit your post to:  Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious, Twitter and have it shown on their Facebook Wall ! As you’ve noticed I’ve tried a few on my Facebook, along with LinkedIn account info and Twitter updates:

a. Social Twitter

b. LinkedIn

Now It’s Your Turn…

If you have any experience gaining popularity to your blog using Facebook applications, feel free to share in the comment section. If it’s relevant I’ll be including it in the post and credit you a mention.

If you like this post, kindly share it with your networks:

I’m supposed to have a new post up this week, but something came up and I had to attend to an urgent family matter so will only be back by next week. Remember How To Pick Up From Your Blogging Downturns? It’s one of those moments when real life matter kicks in unexpectedly. Quite a tough time for us but I can assure you everything will be fine after this.

To my dearest blogger friends & regular commentators,

you guys have been a tremendous support to my site, so this week it’s all about YOU! I’ll be sharing my favorite posts on your blogs and hopefully some readers can pick up from your great advises and bookmark your sites as well. For those who are not enlisted this time, no worries as you’ll have your turns definitely. This isn’t a favoritism contest. I can make a ‘100 posts to read’ type of posting but we all know it won’t get everyone the exposures they deserved. Quality traffic comes from quality posts, with quality promotion. Agree? ^^

I’m blessed to have you all’s regular visits. I’m thrilled to see many new visitors and I can’t wait to know you all as well. Keep up the quality bog comments. Please be assured I’ll be visiting your blogs shortly. And Now…

11 Great Posts From Readers’ Blogs that I Love:

1. How To Increase Your Blog Traffic

Benjamin’s site is about Money Making, but I find this post very well thought out, easily understand and well informed. Various relevant links given so saves time and energy.

2. How To Eliminate Objections Using Headlines

Paul reminds me much of copyblogger. He’s very talented and I enjoyed this post about how to sneakily twist a headline to make it compelling and persuasive.

3. 10 Definitions on Being A Successful Blogger

Miguel has diligently gathered 10 perspectives on being a successful blogger. Can you see how similar/unsimilar one’s opinion to another? Mostly affected by respective blogging goals. Truly mind-provoking!

4. 5 Bribes to Build Your Subscriber List

Thanks to Doug, now we all have some ideas how to bribe our subscribers (*evil grin*). I would love to hear your opinions on these steps, especially if you had applied them personally. If not, how would you like me to ‘bribe’ you?

5. Google Wave Sandbox – I Have A Login!

Christie has made an initiative to approach Google and gained a login! That’s superb. You can have a browse on how cool it is to use a Google Wave Sandbox!

6. 6 Common Computer Data Backup Mistakes

A good reminder for me about Backups! One will not know how important a backup file is until it’s lost. Not convinced? A timely post for you.

7. Yes, Kids Do Say The Darndest Things

What’s not to like? Jannie’s precious daughter, Kelly just so adorable. A living proof with this post. Hope you’ll have a good laugh with this!

8. Use Google Trends, Yahoo Search, News Websites for..

Very nice tip from Asswass. I had once used the same tactic with one of my posts and it went viral in Twitter due to that. However, don’t forget ‘personal touch’ and writing styles — nicely advised by the author himself.

9. What Bloggers Do

Sorry, I just had to be ‘selfish’a bit and pick this post from Sire. I always enjoy discovering extra talents from a blogger friend, and Sire is incredibly genius in putting this post together while giving link-loves to others. Creative!

10. Make Money Online with Your Empty 125×125 slot

Obviously, I had a good read with this one, thinking about my own empty slots. Appreciate the info, Michael.

11. Accessibility Changes Lives

Ricky is a strong willed and incredible individual. I totally love her idea of making this post a series as her experience will educate many on how technology can help to make one’s life productive.

Lastly, An Encouragement For All ~

“BROKEN WINGS”

“Picture taken in an evening near the sea side of a bird with broken wing flying home.” Quoted by King Lee, the photographer.

Life may not be a bed of roses, but there’s a reason for every happening. Try to be strong and have faith, nothing is impossible to handle if you have a right mind and perspective to conquer it.