Piggybacking
There are a few ways you can “piggyback” off some of these popular and must-have friends. The first step is to send friend requests to the profiles just described and other low-user-number profiles. It’s easy to locate these types of profiles. Simply view someone else’s friend network to see who’s listed first. You’ll also find that many of these users are “loose circle” types, as discussed in the preceding chapter. They will accept a friend request from almost anyone and will gladly add your profile to their ever-growing social network. Once they have confirmed your request, you can begin building a presence on their MySpace page as well. Their profiles represent the best target for this type of work because they receive a large number of page views each day.
Leaving Page Comments
Periodically leave comments on MySpace pages. This can be something as simple as saying hello. If the person allows HTML-based comments, you can include things such as banners and clickable buttons. Be careful with this, however. If a user feels you are abusing his comments section, he can ban you from his network. I recommend leaving only one to five comments each month to avoid annoying the page owner.
Leaving Blog Comments
Leaving comments on a blog post is similar to a leaving a comment on someone’s MySpace page. The only difference is that the comments left on a blog post are usually specific to a topic being discussed. These comments are part of a threaded discussion and tend to be more focused than general messages left on a user’s profile page. By leaving blog comments on popular MySpace user’s blog posts (especially ones that fall in your demographic), you can piggyback some of their success.
Because some of these popular users receive a large number of blog readers, your profile is given a great opportunity to be seen. As you join the conversation, more users will begin to recognize your profile and, in some cases, click through to it. This can help establish your profile (and promotion) as an authority in your scene and most importantly drive traffic to it. To avoid being considered spammy, make sure you are contributing to the conversation and not simply promoting your profile. Establish a repertoire and even reach out to the community; your new friends will thank you.