If you are like me, every new day is a challenge to find new and exciting places to share blog posts. Sure, Twitter, Facebook and the other “big” social networks might be great, but everyone already knows about them. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about our friend Skype, and how you can use it to drive some extra traffic to your site.

Challenge: making friends and contacts

Making new friends doesn’t come naturally for people like me. Many folks have called me an introvert, and I suppose that fits for the most part.

In total I have around 500 Skype contacts, and I talk to a lot of them on a regular basis. I am constantly asking and answering questions. Everything from SEO, design, Linux, PC, photography to relationship advice.

I’m also part of about 15 different Skype groups including:

  • an SEO agency group consisting of about 10 other SEO agency owners
  • and SEO blog group with a bunch of other SEO bloggers (about 10 probably)
  • about 5-8 other random Skype groups in the IM niche
  • our company group chat
  • our company design chat

I’m always connecting with new developers, designers, bloggers, writers, editors and network admins for various purposes.

In short: my Skype game is on point.

So why the most powerful?

If you’ve just got done publishing that “big post” there is no better way to get it out there than Skype. Nothing wrong with asking for a little help from your friends.

I don’t really cash in on this very often, because after a while the purpose is diluted. The best way to go about this is to approach the right people for the job.

For instance the post I wrote yesterday about Linux SEO command line tricks, I might have approached some of my Linux hobbyist or system administrator friends.

But don’t just ask them to post:

  • ask for feedback
  • ask them to contribute ideas
  • see if they can help you spell check it

If they did help you write it, perhaps throw them a link to their Twitter or even their website and mention them.

Giving back and interacting

By giving back, I don’t just mean sharing other peoples posts on inbound.org or other places. There is no audience on Skype, it is just you and your chat partner.

Make yourself available on Skype. You can start by not being the always – “invisible” or “away” person on Skype.

Offer feedback to SEO blog posts, design projects, apps, or code snippets whenever possible. If you notice someone that isn’t getting a lot of shares, comments or interactions on the web but has worthy content, reach out to them. The beginners of today are the experts of tomorrow. Maybe they will remember you when they are getting 500k impressions every hour :)

One perk I love having on Skype is my bloggers group. I can share a draft to that group and get a good honest answer. Its also a great place to brush up on your copy writing skills by offering feedback on titles and such.

Don’t get greedy

Don’t be the guy / gal that constantly bombs peoples Skype with your post every time you publish something. That is just annoying and lacks couth.

As with everything in life, you want to save your favors for when you need them. You can’t ask everyone you know to share every post you publish.

In total I think I’ve only asked for my own content to be shared maybe 4-5 times, and that was when I published a major post.

If you make yourself available enough to other people, they will do the same for you.