My Blog
Networking - How Much Is Too Much?
Subtitle
- January 8th, 2008
- COMMENTS 7
Picture from Stephen Downes
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I’ve read some great articles over the past few weeks about social networking and building up your contacts to help your blog grow in 2008. My favorite article was one I read today titled Social Media and the Power of Giving. This post pretty much summed up blogging - you must give before you can receive. Simple as that. You can do this by networking with people and submitting their content to social networking sites such as Stumble or Digg. This post outlines how important it is to get friends in your niche and to start trying to form relationships with other bloggers.
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That is all good and fine, but it poses the questions, when is it too much? Honestly ask yourself, how many online relationships can you handle at one time? How many blogs can you subscribe to before you find your email flooded with articles? How many people’s names and blogs can you keep track of? For some of you, it may be easier than others. However, for most of us I think that there is a limit to how many people we can communicate with on a healthy basis.
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Personally, I am subscribed to about 10+ blogs. I know that 10 blogs is a lot, but all of them are offering such high quality content that I feel like I can’t miss what they are saying. These aren’t the only blogs I read though. I probably have 10 more bookmarked and about 10 more memorized that I visit on a daily basis. Total, that is over 30 blogs that I am trying to keep track of! Way too many!
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Sure, there is the obvious answer: stop reading them. But how? I am forming great relationships with many of the bloggers who run the content I am subscribed to. I can’t simply tell them that I won’t be networking with them anymore!
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So let’s look at this in perspective: I have over 30 blogs that are pumping out great content that I try to read on a daily basis. I am active on Your Design Forums and am constantly emailing people and talking with them on MSN. On top of that, I am writing articles for my blog, worrying about social media, replying to comments, submitting to social media, and doing my web design for clients! Phew! Take all of that and pile it on top of family, friends, and real life and I’ve got quite a busy day. And for some icing, the latest “networking guides” are telling me to start creating a larger network of social media contacts and bloggers.
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That’s why I want to ask everyone how they manage their blogging lifestyle. How do you manage your contacts, your networks, and your real life? I have some tips I would like to share that have helped me, but before I do I would like to see what everyone’s thoughts are.
The following has been funded by Wet Paint
You’ll draw more people to your wiki page when you learn more about how wikis work today.
Brian, communicating with your contacts just requires a bit of time management. Example, for me I take a look at my fav’s early in the morning and perhaps post a few comments. Late at night before going to bed I generally take a look a post 6 or so comments. I answer e-mails religiously . In my post I wrote about your blog giving. By that I mean your blog can give to your contacts and your post should reflect that. Another example, you communicated with me and all you did was write a good post. I feel validated, significant and thats part of the relationship. Think of the bigger picture and beyond, My Blog Log is popular because people want to know who has been to their site. often that is enough for some people. Another example, I see that VIc has been to your site. That means he has read your post and at some level you have communicated. How much is enough? For me, it is never ending. Here is why, you will lose relationships online, through attrition or just someone moving on, so you need to always cultivate new ones.
I agree, time management is the key. I have certain blocks of time set apart for blogging and networking and. Also, I only check my email twice a day. Ever since I stopped pressing the send/receive button 10,000 a day, I’ve gotten a lot more productive and I’m not nearly as stressed out.
Hi
I try to use maximum 1 hour before I go to bed and 30 minutes at work. That time I respond on comments, Digg, write new comments. During the day when I have time I check my Feeder for updated blogs and read, if I have time I comment.
My problem is that I have no niche, I like everything. I lean a bit to the geeky side but yesterday I wrote about a dog.
I think, if everyone in “my ring” knows how it is, I would feel more relaxed about this. I don’t think people will get sore feelings if you miss them a “tick” or two. (I played M.U.D. in my younger days)
The more relaxed souls in that ring is in my opinion increasing the quality of the ring. Quantity is not always the sollution.
Hmm just my .4 cents.
Best wishes.
Beautiful comments guys. I’m not going to reply to them here, instead I think I will write a post about your articles here soon. Thanks for the time to give your feedback - look for a juicy backlink in a couple days
I find it is not only trying to keep up with my blog feeds which eat away in to my actual writing time, but things like reading through and submitting links to new Bloggingzoom articles and catching up on some of my contacts there, replying to and composing broadcasts on Blogcatalog and MyBlogLog, checking on my groups and contacts on Facebook, Yahoo360, Mashable, browing for new and interesting links with Stumble, to name just a few social networking activities I try to cram into the time I spend at this machine.
It can be somewhat overwhelming and applying good time management is essential if I am to stay on top of it all.
Can hardly wait till the big, fat check rolls in for all this effort.
LOL LOL LOL!
I agree Pablo. I actually ran out of time to even submit to BZ until last night when I submitted about 6 articles at the same time.
[...] Networking - How Much Is Too Much? - I’ve been known to do this. MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo Mash, Twitter, and of course Friendster when it was popular. Hell, I even used Xanga for a while as a networking tool. I even own a somewhat poetry networking site. Maybe I should cut down? Eh. Well, MySpace does suck donkey balls. At least I haven’t done much there recently. [...]