If you’re good at what you do you should have a lot of industry knowledge, advice and experiences to share with everyone.  What better place to share information than the internet where you can reach the billions of current Internet users around the World?  67% of these global Internet users visit online social networks, with 10% of total online time spent on these social media sites.  Technorati’s most recent figure of indexed blogs currently stands at 133 million, tracking on average 900,000 blog posts created within a single 24-hour period. That is a lot of content being created and today businesses are striving to be visible in search engine rankings.

Marketing agencies are doing away with traditional marketing strategies and adopting new media marketing tools to help their clients succeed in the rough economy. Social networking and blogging has become the fourth most popular online activities, even surpassing personal email. A survey reveals that 64% of marketers utilize social media for over five hours a week to carry out their client’s campaigns, with 39% using it for over 10 hours per week.  Businesses are saving money by relying on new media marketing companies, such as Triangle Direct Media, that have knowledge of the best use of effective search marketing tactics to leave a footprint in social media.

The power of blogging is nowhere near the end of it’s time as the number of online bloggers are increasing exponentially.  With so many potential consumers online today businesses are able to utilize blogs for brand awareness, relationship building, consumer feedback, and search engine visibility. Businesses can create a face for their brand, have an online presence and establish themselves as a leader in their industry via business blogging.  According to a survey by Blogads, the most trusted media source for useful information among readers are blogs.

Business blogging allows brands to obtain an audience of current and potential consumers to encourage participation and interaction about the company and it’s industry.  Discussions about current sales, new products, and industry related news gives consumers more insight to your brand and influences their buying decisions.  Combining business blog marketing with other new media marketing techniques allows for  an effective alternative to traditional marketing strategies that are beginning to fade, letting you become a recognized expert in your industry.

Are you a social media leader, or just a follower?  This is an interesting question brought up by Examiner.com and commonly asked by many other social media gurus.  The question comes down to what you want to accomplish through social media.  Is it simply just a networking tool for you, or are you looking to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain more business?

Social Media followers are simply those people who flood Twitter with retweets and spend their quality time on Facebook adding friends in hopes to gain customers through this technique.  The difference between these social media followers and the leaders is they are always looking for the next trend they think will help market their business.  The truth is, they are simply “following” the media in what they think is the marketing trend that works.

Sure social media is all about gaining exposure, but in order to drive value to your business you have to gain exposure through search engines as well.  Social media leaders utilize social media networks by incorporating industry participation with link building to increase search rankings and promote their brand even further.  They present new ideas, educate the followers, and don’t always go with the popular vote.  Leaders often make use of authoritative social networks such as LinkedIn, Squidoo, SlideShare, HubPages, and blogs who allow followed backlinks in blog posting, articles, videos, and other quality content.  Social media leaders take that extra step to benefit their online business by utilizing the convergence of social media marketing with search engine optimization.