I do not like the whole idea of network marketing, because once someone gets into it his friends turn into prospect clients, and he builds a relationship with others not because one is interested in them, but because he wants others to buy something from him.

It seems like something similar is going on in the blogosphere these days.

Thanks to social sites like MyBlogLog, SpicyPage and others. On the one hand these site are really cool, because they allow you to find likeminded people and build a proper network with them. On the other hand it opens the way for “network marketers” who use any mean to get people to see their blogs, which usually are the ugliest ones around and do not have much value to them. Sexy girl avatars, “Nice blog! Come, check mine!” messages… you know what I am talking about. I do suppose that some of those are genuine, but even if they are, they get lost in the piles of fake ones. Do these gimmicks produce results? Yes. Longterm results? Usually not. It takes just a couple of clicks to unveil the fraud.

Does that mean that social sites should not be used to attract people to blogs? No, but they have to be used wisely. What can one do to make the most of using social sites and yet not be concidered spammer? I see few things.

• Before you publicize anything make sure that it is worth looking at. Your goal should be not to get people to come to your blog, but to make them fall in love with it. How can this be accomplished? Easily. Make a decent design, choose an interesting and more or less popular topic and most importantly produce quality content. That’s all there is to it.
• When you are ready to invite others to your blog, make sure you do it in a personal way. At least refer to people using there names. Make sure you tell them clearly, why they might want to see your blog.
• If you plan to advertise your blog or individual posts on site like Digg, deli.cio.us, Reddit make sure that your titles shout for attention, and they describe the content of your post perfectly. In other words write not only flashy titles, but flashy posts too.  

Imagine all bloggers follow these simple points. If that will come true, I’ll simply love to see new “Come, check out my blog” messages in my mailbox.  

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