Like we all know, blogging is not only (or even not at all) about a blogger talking to his readers; it is primarily about communicating with the blog audience. This interaction is much more active if you keep your readers updated on your activities outside your blog: what are you interested in? what do you read daily? who are your friends? The more they know about you, the more loyal readers they turn into.
Social media sites where you actively participate are a great way to expand your blogger-reader interaction and remind your readers of yourself. So how to connect your blog to your social media activity?
1) Inside your blog: publicize your social media activity feed. Two recent and already popular ways to do that: FriendFeed and BlogCatalog “My Communities” widgets. Among other social media services, they import shared stuff from Sphinn, Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, etc.
BlogCatalog allows a bit more customization but I had trouble installing it to my own blog, so if it worked with you, please comment here. Besides keeping your friends up-to-dated with your social media activity, this way will also grow your following across sites you chose to share at your blog.
2) Outside your blog: your blog dedicated group within a popular social networking site. The most popular example is Facebook fan page (note, we have recently created SEJ fan page; so please join ). A FB page keeps your readers together and builds your blog community fostering communication and idea sharing.
Another good way is to create a dedicated Mixx group to let your readers share links with you and each other. The great thing about Mixx Groups is that they encourage bilateral activity: both you and your readers can submit and share articles, comment and vote. (note: your group members will receive an email message each time a link is submitted to it, so you will have to moderate submissions and choose members to save your reader from being spammed).
An important thing about reaching your audience outside your blog is to remember that too much can be bad. Don’t send updates to your fans and readers too often – do that only if you really have some important news to share.
And do you connect your blogging and social media activities? Do you interact with your blog readers outside your blog?
