Do you know how good it is to wake up in the morning, get your coffee, flip on your computer, log in to your twitter account and find that YOU are the person being twittered about?  I do, it’s great!   It is exactly what happen to me last week. There were a great many “mentions” on twitter about my being listed as one of the Top 100 Women Bloggers to Watch.   I was surprised and honored.

It is the second time that I have been listed in a Top 100 List and both times I have been surprised and honored. I know that I am not the best blogger on the net and I am not the most prolific, but I do blog from a place that I have passion. As I said in a previous post, passion draws people to you like bee’s to flowers.

That being said, I also spend time on my social networking sites promoting my blog.  If you too are new at blogging use some of these tips to help drive traffic to your site.

1. Comment on other peoples blog – comments let bloggers know that you are reading their material.  It is always a morale boost when I get comments from others even if they do disagree with me.

2. Post your blog on your Facebook account and tweet your link now and then, let people know when you have posted new material.

3. Add links to other peoples blogs. If you are writing on a topic that others have written on, link back to them. It will build visibility and credibility for both of you.

4. Put your blog link on the bottom of your email, on your website, and even on your business card. It is a great way for others to get to know you.

5. Be brief, people do not take the time to read the long rambling blogs.  Say what you have to say in 300-500 words you will get more people to read your content.  And blog frequently, that has been a challenge for me this summer.

I am a novice blogger compared to many on the internet and I am sure there is so much more for me to learn, but I am proud to say that I have made to 2 top 100 list and I can’t wait to see what happens when I get really good at this.

Hazel M Walker, owns three award winning franchise’s. She is a 10 year owner of two BNI Franchises where she teaches members how to leverage their time and network to build each others businesses. She is also a Referral Institute franchise owner and teaches Business Owners how to harness the Science of Referrals to develop Referrals for Life. Hazel is a published author in New York Times best sellers Masters of Networking and Masters of Sales. As a member of the National Speakers Association she travels the world speaking to businesses and women’s organizations on the topics of networking to create a life you love.

As the economy took a hit and began to spiral down, email newsletters went up!  I am getting triple what I use to get.  I did not sign up for the emails, I did not ask to get them, I simply gave someone my business card and they believed that gave them permission to put me on their mailing list.  I am getting letters on a wide variety of topics;  Leadership, Sales Training, Human Resources, Finances and Investments, Marketing, Networking, Health & Fitness, Diet, Massage, Real Estate and on and on.

I don’t mind getting my clients emails, I don’t mind getting email newsletters from people who’s services I use or those that I personally subscribed to.    I don’t automatically put people on my list.  If someone wants my newsletter they have to write that on the back of their business card, send me an email asking for it, or subscribe to it.  I do not assume that because I have their business card I have their permission to email them.

I have tried to unsubscribe and one person became upset with me and sent me an email saying so.  After that I decided to start putting everyone who sends me a newsletter on my list so they will get mine in return.  Gee, was I surprised when MOST of them unsubscribed to my newsletter?  Or that MOST of them did not bother to open it.  I was not, it was clear to me from the beginning that they were only interested in a one way conversation.

So, now I have set up a rule for each newsletter that I did not subscribe to, they are automatically forwarded to the delete file which is emptied every Friday.  Last week, 21 newsletters and Ezines were deleted!  Today there is an equal number that will be tossed.

One technique I use to get permission is a simple follow up with the people I meet, I will “Forward” them a copy of my last Referral Tip of the Week with a note that says.

Blah Blah Blah….by the way I do a weekly article called Referral Tip of the Week.  Here is a copy of the last one I sent out last week,  I thought it might interest you.  If you like it and want to get it regularly feel free to subscribe or forward it to a friend.  I hope you enjoy this one. Blah Blah Blah.

Now it is up to them to decide if it is something they would like to get regularly or not.  This has increased my open rate and that is more important to me than the number of people getting the information.

So, remember just because you have someones business card – does not mean they want your newsletter.  ASK FIRST!

Hazel M Walker, owns three award winning franchise’s. She is a 10 year owner of two BNI Franchises where she teaches members how to leverage their time and network to build each others businesses. She is also a Referral Institute franchise owner and teaches Business Owners how to harness the Science of Referrals to develop Referrals for Life. Hazel is a published author in New York Times best sellers Masters of Networking and Masters of Sales. As a member of the National Speakers Association she travels the world speaking to businesses and women’s organizations on the topics of networking to create a life you love.

Wouldn’t it be great if once we finished all the work of creating a website, people flocked there of their own accord? I wish it worked that way, but alas, we have to get them to visit.

Here are some quick tips on increasing your traffic:

• Make sure your web URL is on every, and I mean EVERY source of information you send out. (Your URL is the address people type to get to your website, like www.cocacola.com.) That includes your business card, email signature, letterhead, footer of your invoices, direct mail materials, brochures, etc. Gather up all the materials you mail, email and send out in other ways and check to see you haven’t missed anything.
•  When posting comments online, write your website like this: http://www.yourwebsite.com, not just www.yourwebsite.com. When you include the http stuff it makes your URL a link so people can easily just click and visit you, rather than having to retype or cut and paste.
• Don’t have a flash website, have an .html one. You can ask your web programmers to see what kind you have. Flash sites have lots of cool graphics and movement but they are notoriously hard for search engines to find. If you have a flash, start thinking about changing it over to .html in future so that people who are searching for your type of product or service can more easily find you.
• Use Google Analytics. It’s a fantastic FREE service Google offers that lets you track and measure your site traffic in amazing detail. I would be lost without it. You can get it at http://www.google.com/analytics/.  Once you start driving more traffic to your site you’ll want to see how you’re doing. Google Analytics will tell you.
• Consider authoring articles and posting them to online article aggregators like http://www.amazines.com and http://www.ezinearticles.com. You can draft a piece of around 450 words about your area of expertise and provide a little bio of you and link to your site.  It creates more avenues for people to find you.
• Give people a reason to go to your website. Offer something free for them to claim and then put that offer on your business card and email signature. I created a 5 part e-course on how to make reporters sit up, say “Wow!” and cover your story. What can you offer that makes use of your expertise?

Implement these tips and watch your web traffic climb upwards.

Barbara Wayman, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, a free ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at www.bluetreemedia.com/ezine.html