Last night’s platform-building class gained some progress despite the balmy weather outside. While attendance was down, those who showed got individual attention from me and the more advanced students. Writers wanted to understand how to gain a blog following and how to keep their social media experience brief and efficient.
Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to grow your blog or social media platform and still find time to write?

• Visit Other Blogs and Comment Often. Become known as a thoughtful commenter on successful blogs. Leave your signature and/or a trackback. This enables potential readers to recognize you as an “expert” in the topics you comment on.
• Use Links. Get in the habit of inserting links into your blog posts or status updates. If you are providing extra info, the reader feels as if she walks away with something valuable. For instance, I like Nathan Bransford’s blog and I read it regularly.
• Use a Dashboard and Networked Blogs. I’ve listed Tweetdeck and Hootsuite before as a one-stop way to tweet, use facebook and other social media. You can also syndicate your blog by using Networked Blogs, accessible via Facebook. Just type in the search box “Networked Blogs”and follow the steps. They’ll ask you scary questions about allowing them access to your “stuff,” but you control the dashboard so this isn’t really a problem. You can check in several times a day and your “reach” should increase dramatically.