Blogging and Social Identities: Make Yourself Available

With the increasing number of comments I have seen on my site, I am alarmed at the number of people who have not plugged into handy tools that I have blogged about, especially people I know to have businesses.

One of the big ones is Gravatar. Gravatar allows you to sign up for free and load an avatar (a graphic that to represent you, much like that image you get to load in Twitter.) When you comment and use the same email address you signed up with Gravatar, your image will appear in the comments. Sometimes a gravatar that is catchy might attract someone to your site. For some professionals, it might be a great way to allow people to connect a face to your business.

Another things I see are people hesitant to being versatile to signing up for a multitude of social networking sites. Because of all the comment tools like IntenseDebate, Facebook connect, and Disqus, you should seriously sign up and become connected. Some bloggers only allow you to comment using the specific tool they use. For example, you may only be able to comment with your profile from one place, but be allowed to type in your name and site address in another. Do not let signing up for another thing let you down. Believe me, for the amount of social identities I have listed in my own navigation bar, there are many more.

The point is to make yourself available online to any potential client for a business or even on a personal site, to any visitor. Make your blog versatile and allow them to comment with the most convenient method they like to use. You might find that they may keep coming back to join in on the conversation in the future.

Do you use Gravatar? What tools do you use to make your blog versatile? What social networking sites do you belong to. (You are welcome to share the links to them. I would be happy to friend/ follow you.)