I was introduced to a new social network site by a first time commentator in regards to platforms people could use in order to find networks for their particular niche.

For some niches, using a big time search engine (i.e. Google, Yahoo, etc.) might not yield you the type of results that you may wish to have. Whether your topic is too broad or very specific you might not have the time – or the urge – to sift through countless of pages in countless search engines! Even, if you do have that urge, this may help you focus your energy more directly, which as a successful blogger you would like to utilize.

Find A Social Network is an up and coming website devoted to finding social niches. There is a cloud bubble of the most popular searches but the database itself is quite vast and expansive. You will more than likely find something similar, if not an exact, match to your niche.

There is also an ad site feature. If there is a site that you feel should be added, you can submit for it to be included or you could of course, add your own (if you own a network). It’s free, user-friendly and easily accessible.

I tested it out myself (I’m always on the lookout for black women business networking sites) and while plugging my topic into the search engine it pulled up various networks – some that briefly touched on the topic – others, that were direct bulls eyes for what I was looking for. It took less time, it gave me what I wanted in an easy to read format and I left this page thoroughly satisfied in my outcome.

The following is not as high as technorati or any other of the big networking sites but it’s not nearly as cluttered and you will find something that will suit your needs!

http://findasocialnetwork.com/search.php

(I hope you find this blog helpful, if you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave me a comment and I’ll gladly assist you.)

Being that this is the Internet and from what I’ve seen everything (and anything) can researched and found in as little as one or two properly used adjectives, I plan to focus my next set of blogs on niche social networking.

Okay, breathe. Yes, I realize that are tons of social media networking sites (technorati, stumbleupon, digg, tumblr, etc), my statement is not for you to go out and join all of these sites (if you haven’t already) but to pick one or two sites that seem to cater more to your specific niche and start there.

It’s not about the quantity of social media sites you belong to but the quality of the site and how it fits into what your blog is talking about. Think of it this way, if you sign up for a popular social media site and their blogging demographic tend to focus on technology how will your blog stand out – long term – in that particular field? How many hits or visits can you expect to receive from that site?

Also, signing up for multiple sites equals more work for you, which depending on your time schedule can be either a blessing or a curse. In order to receive traffic, one has to go out and find similar people and start to slowly make your presence known in your niche. If you pick a social media site that doesn’t cater to that niche regularly, you are causing yourself more harm than good.

So, the primary rule should be as follows:

1. Start off small and acquire more when ready. Pick one to two appropriate social media sites, register yourself and start searching for blogs that are similar to yours. Friend them, as well as make sure to keep up-to-date on the doings of their blog – keep in as much contact as possible. If there is a way for you to showcase a particular post (stumbleupon is good at this), do that because it will definitely garner a lot more interest not only for their blog but for you as well!

My rule of thumb is in order to make myself succeed, you need to pay your dues, which in some cases may be just visiting blogs and leaving comments. In other instances, you might have to write emails to the blogger OR ask to guest contribute, it’s okay to start there because you only can go up from here! Stay positive.

Feel free to ask me any questions or leave comments, I love to hear what you all think!

Wikipedia defines an expert as: someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability in a particular area of study.

Experts are called in for advice on their respective subject, but they do not always agree on the particulars of a field of study. An expert can be, by virtue of training, education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon the individual's opinion. Historically, an expert was referred to as a sage. The individual was usually a profound philosopher distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment.”

As the definition notes you don’t have to be a professional in the field or have an advanced degree but you do have to know your stuff. You have to live, dream and love it because people will always be there to challenge what you know. Which is not a bad thing – be open to it – but you have to be able to come back with a well crafted response.

So, how does one become an expert? I will attempt in breaking this down in a series so I can spend enough time on each particular topic. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!

1. I would suggest you get a library card unless you have it like that, which if you do, I’m envious of you. Go to Amazon and see if there are any books on your topic, if there are, write down the titles to either loan out or buy. Highlight any pertinent material, sign up for mailing lists (if the author is someone you need to be kept abreast of). Always be reading something because even if the book is older, you still might be able to find pertinent information that someone has yet to talk about or bring an interesting old time idea into a new variation in your blog post.

Try to find publications that cater to your field. If its fashion, use Vogue, business use Enterprise, if it’s Science start reading Science Weekly get your mitts on whatever you can because there will always be at least ONE viable blog posting (more if you are creative) and it will also introduce to important issues and people in your niche that you NEED to be paying attention—if you aren’t already.

I know that most feel that you can just depend on the internet for material (I’m not saying skip that source because it is a huge component of your success) but don’t forget about the non-digital aspects as well. The more you know, the more likely that people will start to seek you out because – let’s face it – most information on the internet is circular, throw in a fact, anecdote or theory from some place that isn’t virtual will add a new credibility to your blog.

So how is the niche picking out there? Anyone, figure out what there niche is exactly or are you still struggling? Remember that niche blogging is not always concrete, blogs (not to mention, blog writers) change all the time; one thing to always to repeat to yourself is that for your first blog (at least), talk about something you know.

Next, focus on your competition (I personally, don’t like to see it that way because we are all in this together), after all blogging is a business. How many blogs do you know in your token niche (it doesn’t matter how specific it is; someone out there probably offers something similar)? Do you visit them daily? What jumped out at you? Was it the design or the posting? Do you view it as good or bad? What would you keep and EXPAND on and what would you get rid of all together?

The key is to EXPAND on a good idea or take a bad one and change it to suit your needs; stealing someone’s idea directly is not the way to go even though the blogging universe is vast word does eventually get around and besides, would you want someone doing something like that to you?

Think of interesting collaborations that you could do for one of your favorite niche bloggers, or perhaps you could guest blog on a website, which would direct traffic your way. There are also blog carnivals that have become really popular as of late; if your field is well known (self help, fashion, etc) there will be tons of carnivals for you to submit too, even if your niche is not as broad, starting your own carnival would be something of interest and another resource to use to bring more people to your blog!

Think outside of your comfort zone and your personal box, blogging is not a static enterprise and being that it seems everyone is blogging these days it’s better to go for the gold, instead of calmly accepting the bronze (you see that the Olympics are on my mind)!

Hola Everyone!
The name is Cynthia and I blog here: www.loveselfentirely.com

It’s my baby and I love it. I actually have been journaling since middle school back then it was on paper of course but by high school, I soon blossomed into the world of the internet. Most of my journaling was just the day to day musings of things that was happening to me, who I was dating, family strife—typical teenage/college stuff.

I’m 25 now, so right now I’m trying to focus more on my career, coming to gripes with some of the things that sit in my past. One of the biggest reasons why I decided to blog was the loss of my mother 3 years ago; she was 43 and had terminal cancer. We lost her in a span of month. I went into “survivor” mode and I spent 3 years coasting—now I’m on my way out of it and I just want to shout it out. I want to let other young women out there know (particularly women of color, since that’s what I am)it’s okay to hurt, to feel pain, to try new things and fall to pieces momentarily as long as you pick yourself back up, constructively.

I’m passionate about so many things. I am not sure how cliché it is but I’m passionate about life—my life, for once. Trying things, getting myself out of debt, not settling because that’s what I should be doing at this age. I want to learn, love and explore and I implore anyone open and willing to come along for the ride.

I will be blogging about niche blogging. Being that my blog is more personal in tone, that is my niche. I plan to start from the beginning explaining, what niche blogging is and make my way forward.

Nice to meet all of you and if you have any questions, let me know!