Let's face it. Social networking sites provide a ton of free traffic.

So, how can this help your blog?

It can help your blog tremendously. Many social networks come equipped with some sort of service, application or gadget that lets members share links with their social friends. If you write a blog, this is a great avenue for you to put every single one of your blog posts in front of each and every one of your friends on the network that you are using. This can provide you with a steady flow of traffic from your social network to your blog for free. If you have properly set-up your blog with quality posts and ads that generate revenue, this traffic increase can also mean an increase in revenue!

It's easy. Every time that you complete a new post, make sure to share the permalink to the post using your social network's "share a link" service. Most of these "share a link" services (like the one on Facebook) will actually post a brief summary of your post along with the link to help entice people viewing the link at your social network to click through and continue reading your post. That is, as long as you've written something that will attract your friends attention and make them want to read the full story.

Some social networks (like MySpace and Yuwie) even allow you to have your own free blog. If your a blogger with your own stand alone blog, you can use this free blog provided by the social network to post a short summary of your posts that include the permalink back to your original post on your blog. More free, targeted traffic! Another bonus of using this method is that it creates more incoming links to your blog which can help increase your blog's visibilty in the search engine results. Better visibilty in the search engine results, can also lead to an increase in traffic!

Once you get the hang of spreading your blog posts around the social networks this way, you can branch out and try to place even more links back to your blog throughout the social networks. Many social networks have discussion boards, forums, clubs, groups, etc. that are focused on a particular activity, event, place, or product. Search around your social network and find discussions, clubs, groups etc. that are related to your blog or blog post and add your post summary that includes the permalink back to your blog. Other members of your social network that regularly view that discussion board, forum, club or group will see your summary. Peak their interest and they will visit your blog to read the rest of the story. More free traffic!

Remember, more traffic to your blog means more people are viewing and/or clicking on the money making ads that you have placed on your blog. If you're blogging about products that you're selling through your blog or website, more traffic may also provide you with an increase in sales. Don't expect miracles. It takes a while to develop a strong blog following. Keep writing and posting. Eventually you're target audience will find you.