The Newbie’s Guide to Starting an Online Circle

 

No man is an island- definitely not here in the internet.

If you’ve just set out your journey to online domination (well at least that’s the goal), the very first crucial step to survival is to find others who can help you push farther.

But wait, before you think this is another one of those nonsense tips around building online relationships, I’m promising to you right now that in here is where I’m laying out genuine and proven ways to amass your social circle. Of course legitimate means that is.

Have the Guts to Start the Conversation

Right now, if you’re feeling like a small, miniscule fish in a very, very big pond, well don’t worry- everyone starts right there. The rule of the game is simple- you need to have guts to get the attention of the biggies.

When I started blogging for example, aside from writing and tweaking on my own blog, I didn’t really know what to do. Sure I followed the A-Listers of that time, but for the first few months, I was just there, a newbie blogger lurking around behind counter page views. I didn’t leave any much of a traceable mark. Of course that’s a very big mistake.

Here in the internet, you have to realize that opportunity is always right at the screen in front of you. It’s just a matter of clicking and/or typing the right things isn’t it?

But I won’t just stop there; in fact, I’m going to enumerate a couple of good ways that’ll help you get started:

1. Engage actively in good blog post discussions
And yes, I’m talking about blog commenting. Now, there’s tons and tons of blog posts that you can comment on, but for good strategy’s sake, focus on the blogs that attracts readers (especially quality readers and not just the usual spammers).

This technique worked a lot for me for two reasons:
• Focusing on good, quality posts also means that learning from the best ideas around the net. It develops your critical thinking, especially if you listen out to equally critical responses. If you want to talk like a pro, listen to people who talk pro.
• Secondly, isn’t it obvious? It brings back traffic and great exposure 😉

2. Join promotional schemes
My favorite trick is to always say yes whenever I’m asked to sponsor a contest. Most of the time, it doesn’t even have to be in the form of monetary sponsorship, you can just sponsor basic things like premium ads or sponsored reviews (hint: stuff that has zero costs to you). Then at the same time, you even reap benefits. There are so many examples of promotional schemes (may it be directly in blogs or in social media accounts). You just need to keep your eyes wide open and be alert at every possible opportunity.

3. Yes, forums still work
Actually, if you go to forums like the Digital Point Forums and the Warrior Forums, you can even testify how forum interaction brings in so many advantages. The best part is that you can usually find experts cuddled up in a section (usually the premium spots) and freely ask for advice (which they’d happily give). Target old, well-known forums. They’re usually the hub of the activity and in cases concerning pros, forums are usually the best places where transactions are done. Just remember the golden rule though: never spam.

4. The contact form box is there for a reason
The best way still is to directly message someone you’re interested to get to know more (professionally speaking). Like what I’ve said, the contact box is there for a reason. I personally feel this is much better than just trying to build an image by being a loyal commentator or something like that. Messaging people directly is a good way of showing you’re serious and you’re willing to take the conversation to a higher notch.

If you’re using gmail, the best part is to even add them as your chat buddies. You might have nothing to say for now, but in the future, I bet you’ll have something in mind. Actually, through chat (or through constant email contact), I’ve established lots of joint ventures or sometimes even found clients. It might sound old school, but trust me, it really works.

So all in all, these are the methods I’ve used (and still continues to do so) to build my social circle. While this may sound a cliché to many, but that doesn’t mean that these things doesn’t work (in fact, they really do). So unless you want to stay obscured an unknown to the blogosphere, I suggest you start working your way to get known… and fast.