Speedlinking – 21 Jan 2008

This edition of Speedlinking will be a bit more random as I share with you a few of the interesting things I encountered this week while surfing around the Interweb.
Hope you all enjoy!
1. Israel from Fat Man Unleashed has released this simple workout for fat ass bloggers – hey, I resemble that remark. Sitting at a computer all day can quickly lead to extra pounds if you aren’t careful but Israel has come up with a few creative ideas to prevent your waist from growing with your traffic.
2. Muhammad Saleem certainly knows a great deal about social media and social networking, which is why you need to check out the easiest way to make your community happy. Have the social media services become so big that they no longer value the feedback of their community? Don’t let that happen to your blog.
3. Marty Weintraub from the aimClear Blog provided some food for thought as he stresses that you should ask what you can do for your community. Rather than always being the person asking for favors, you need to take the time to provide value to your friends and community as that will go a long way towards building quality relationships.
4. Speaking of relationships, Neil Patel from Quick Sprout reminds us that people that always pick up the tab at the restaurant are receiving a much higher return-on-investment than the cost of the meal. While it is best to be genuine when picking up the tab and not have an ulterior motive, kind gestures have a funny way of coming back to you two-fold.
5. Aaron Wall, author of the SEO Book, recently shared that he is experiencing conference burnout after attending eight to ten conferences per year. Aaron questions whether you still get the same return-on-investment out of conferences as in the earlier days – and I noticed that Aaron took advantage of Neil’s tip about picking up the tab.
The common theme this week is centered on building strong relationships with your community – whether that be through picking up the tab for dinner or simply taking the time to listen to the needs being expressed by your readers.
As someone that has plans to attend my first blogging conference this year, I believe that the ROI will be there in terms of meeting many of you and establishing relationships that go beyond relatively anonymous identities on the Interweb – and I’ll have the opportunity to listen to your needs and pick up the tab for dinner!