Do I “Digg” what you have to say? Such is the premise behind the powerful site Digg.com. Digg is a collaborative news service where users submit, suggest and vote on stories. It’s a service with over 25 million users a month and it is completely driven by the likes of you and I.
If you have something interesting to say about a topic you can write a piece and submit it to Digg. Maybe it has to do with newsworthy mental health legislation or an interesting new treatment model. Or maybe it’s a piece focusing on your approach and philosophy with regards to a specific psychological issue or social dilemma. If you have something to say and would like to share it then give Digg a try.
Digg can be a tremendous asset as both a market research tool and a marketing vehicle. It offers viewers a glimpse into what users believe to be important and interesting at that particular point in time. It accomplishes this because subscribers rank user contributions thereby giving all of us a glimpse into the collective consciousness of the marketplace. Digg is also great for those who want to contribute their own content as a way to build credibility, awareness and relevance in their profession.
If you choose to submit an article or a post and viewers like what you have to say they will offer their opinions about the piece. They either choose to “Digg” your article or not. The more people “Digg” your article the higher your post ranks. And the higher it ranks the more visibility it is given. The Holy Grail for Digg is to be listed as one of the top 10 highest ranked contributions for the day. Much like Google, this gives you massive exposure and credibility. It puts you in front of all kinds of people thereby leading to highly effective networking and business opportunities. However, you don’t need to be in the top ten for Digg to offer you impact. Getting your work out there in front of others is the name of the game as you learn to leverage the new Internet. Users who read your piece and like it may choose to post your work on their blog or share your work with colleagues and friends. The viral capabilities alone are worth you participating.
You too can have your own social networking site! Ning is an Internet portal that gives you this capability. It’s really a great application in that you can easily create a social networking site on a mental health topic in a matter of minutes. As an example, you may be an expert in Grief Therapy. It might be interesting to consider offering a social networking site on that very topic. Once you set up an account you have the capability of giving your target market the ability to create their own profiles. They can search your site and add other members as friends. They can offer resources, book suggestions and submit their own blog posts about grief therapy.
Of course, you don’t have to create your own social networking site to take advantage of Ning as a business opportunity. You can simply participate in one that already exists and again, get your name out there. Two Ning sites for mental health professionals worth exploring are Links for Shrinks (http://linksforshrinks.ning.com) and the Online Therapy Institute (http://onlinetherapyinstitute.ning.com). Take a look at these two sites and you will see all the functionality available to you.
At the very least, begin exploring these sites and identify a plan for how you might leverage them based on your professional goals. And if you’re more adventurous, think about an area you believe will help people and start your own social networking platform on that topic. It’s a great way to lead a discussion, build a following and expand your network.
APR
