This is my 100th post on this blog, so I thought it would be fitting to review my daily process.  Let’s start with my goals.

My blogging and social media goals:

1. Stay informed of the latest news, trends and topics within my niche
2. Connect with other marketers, customers, and folks I find interesting
3. Share my thoughts and those of others with my network
4. Deliver valuable content to build my network, engage my market and grow my business online

Daily blogging, social media, and market engagement process:

1. I use Google Reader to find the latest news and keep my finger on the pulse of what happening within my niche.  I subscribe to dozens of news sources, popular blogs and Google searches to find relevant articles, with which I can share, comment on, or use as inspiration for my next blog post. I usually check Google Reader 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes each and complete 1-2 actions as a result.
2. I use this blog as the main source for content creation and distribution.  Creating content on my own domain allows me to maintain full control.  Sure I post information on Facebook and Twitter, but anything with substantial content resides on my blog.  I publish new posts every 1-2 days.
3. I use the WordPress ping.fm plugin to automatically share my blog RSS feed with Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and a few other popular social media and bookmarking sites.  Again, this allows me to maintain control rather than setting up 3rd party sites to receive my RSS feed.  If I ever want to turn off my stream, I can control this from one central dashboard in ping.fm.  Not everything flows through ping.fm – only content that I want to share with my entire network.
4. My iPhone is my Internet Marketing Remote Control.  I can manage Twitter, check Google Reader, update WordPress posts, reply to comments on my blog, check in with Facebook friends and fans, snap images and record & publish podcast episodes from my iPhone with the click of a button.  Of course, I can also use email and talk on the phone.
5. At night, I like to use Google Reader to answer questions on Twitter from people looking for help.  I have several dozen search queries set up and RSS feeds organized in Google Reader to make this simple.  Answering people’s questions on Twitter allows my to meet new people, learn something new, and share content I find helpful.

Keys to Success with Blogging and Social Media

The keys to successfull blogging and social media vary, depending on your particular situation.  Here are a few things I find helpful:

1. Write original content.  It’s OK to quote others, but the majority of your content should be original.
2. Find a frequency of engagement that suits you and be consistent.
3. Reply to comments, messages, and mentions quickly.
4. Write as if you were talking with your reader, but keep search engine optimization in mind.
5. Proactively promote your content by leveraging your RSS feed and providing links for people to find you.
6. Have a content creation strategy to help define what you will talk about and how that unfolds over time.

I hope you find this helpful as you continue to define or improve your process for blogging and engaging your market online through social media.

Any thoughts?  What tools and process do you follow to increase your efficiency and effectiveness?

Related posts:

1. 7 Tools to Increase Social Media Efficiency and Save A Ton of Time
2. More Evidence that Social Media is Critical to Online Business Strategy
3. 5 ways to leverage social media to better engage customers
4. Build a content distribution strategy, not a Twitter or social media strategy (Google Real-Time Search)
5. Posterous makes social media and content sharing simple

Blogging is a great channel to deliver content online, deliver your message and engage in meaningful discussions with your target market. One of the challenges for bloggers is their ability to make their blog more effective and efficient.

In this video I discuss my recommendations on seven elements to drive effective blogging. There are more elements than just seven, but it’s the most I could fit into a ten minute video. For a great library of resources on this topic I encourage you to read http://www.problogger.com and http://www.copyblogger.com.

Topics Covered:

• Unique & engaging content
• Personality & balance
• Consistent activity
• Design with purpose
• Focus & organization
• Contact information
• Comments & interaction

What’s been most effective for your blog? Which key elements am I missing?

Related posts:

1. Leverage Online Video to Engage Readers, Drive Website Traffic and Differentiate Your Business (Video)
2. How to Start an Effective Blog for Free (Video)
3. Drive More Traffic to Your Blog and Engage Readers (Audio)
4. Does Audio or Video Really Engage Blog Readers? (Audio)
5. Twitter Search RSS Feeds to Find Customers and Blog Content (Video)