Last week, Chris Brogan wrote a great article discussing what you should do if you find yourself with an extra half-hour of time. He had many great ideas, but didn’t do much more than just list them out and ask for our thoughts. Unfortunately, if you are just getting started in the social media game, just a list of things to do isn’t as helpful as more detailed descriptions of how to do them. So, I picked out a couple that I think deserve more detail and outlined how to use these steps:

1. Reading and commenting on blog posts
   1. Find new blogs to read by checking out sites like alltop, stumbleupon, and google blog search and searching topics you are interested in. Once you have found ones you like, subscribe to them so that you see new content. It is easy to unsubscribe if you no longer are interested.
   2. When you comment, make sure to always link back to a page on your site or blog that is similar in topic to what you are discussing. If none exists, just link to your homepage.
   3. Add to the conversation – ask a question, pose an opposing idea or add more details to a thought. Just putting “good post” doesn’t benefit anyone.
   4. Comment on bloggers who have less comments. You are more likely to get a response, noticed an appreciated than if you are commenter #100.
   5. BUT…it is also good to comment on extremely popular blogs if you have something important to add for the search engine optimization.
2. Writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin.
   1. Make sure that you only add recommendations for people you have actually worked with personally.
   2. When you write the recommendation, include specific points, not just generalities. People want details, not fluff.
   3. It is okay to ask for a return recommendation, but it is up to the other person what they choose to do. Do not expect a returned recommendation.
   4. Be picky about whom you recommend, and it is okay to turn down someone who asks, just make sure to have a valid reason why you’ve said no.
3. Investigating websites that may or may not help your business.
   1. Is there one area of your business that you struggle with? Pin-point one area to improve and search for just that.
   2. Too wide of a search will mean you can never filter through all the sites that are there, narrow focus means better results.
   3. If you find a site that may help your business, make sure to check out the company thoroughly before becoming involved, there are a lot of disingenuous people online.
   4. If you find a site that can’t help you, but may help others, pass it on! They’ll return the favor down the road…

What other ways can you improve the time you spend online?