Blogging is the branding element. Build up a readership, establish yourself as the authority in your niche and reach new prospects.

You can quickly gain a following on the Internet. There are an ever increasing number of people who regularly read blogs as their source of news and information.

For blog marketing to be effective, the content must be fresh and interesting enough to attract readers and be good enough to get other bloggers to link to the postings. This is why blog postings are so highly valued by the search engines.

Blogs broadcast their content out to the web via RSS every time there is something new. Posting and syndication is almost instantaneous. It is easy for visitors to subscribe to a blog so they can view new postings as soon as they happen. Blogs encourage repeat visits with content being delivered to your favorite reader or delivery by email.

Blogs can be set-up for free. Free hosted solutions are the simplest and easiest to launch. There are free hosted solutions such as blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

LinkedIn is the professional networking element where you establish a broad network of business relationships.

LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool that everyone in business who is growing their business should be using. LinkedIn is social networking (similar to Hi5, Facebook, Friendster, etc, etc) but still very different. What makes LinkedIn different is that it has become the accepted norm as the universal business networking tool.

One of the keys for successful LinkedIn networking is to spend some time building up a complete profile. Your profile is one of the central ways that others will seek you out to network with you. The more information you share on your profile, the more searchable you become and more chances you will be able to make a real connection with someone.

Networking using LinkedIn increases your chances of connecting with the right people. People can search for services not only among their direct network, but also with the people that your network knows directly.

LinkedIn is the most accepted tool for connecting professionals. Facebook is making great strides, but does not have the same audience and number of business users. LinkedIn allows you to keep in touch with people that otherwise may drop off the radar a few years after leaving a position. It allows reconnecting with old colleagues, clients, and vendors.

Facebook is the social networking piece and works at a more personal interaction level. Facebook is about building relationships. Facebook is one of the most powerful social networking services available and is very popular with small business owners.

Your Profile: Build an attention getting profile that will make an impact. Think of this as your branding for your business. Include a good photo, contact info, a link to your website, education, work history, personal interests, etc. Take the time when building your profile to include the city your business is in, your industry, and other networking information. Let potential business partners find you and make yourself more searchable.

Add friends to build your networking. There are tools to find friends that are already on Facebook. Use Facebook tools to meet people with common interests, build a relationship and gather them as friends to build up your base.

Use the phone to contact "friends" you create to increase the interactions and better build business relationships. Don't go in looking for customers to convert into a quick sale. Go in with the idea that you want to build relationships. You can create many unexpected alliances that can cause your business to benefit in many unexpected ways.

BLIF marketing is a free marketing strategy that is designed for small businesses and hobby businesses where there is no marketing budget available. Even without marketing dollars, it is possible to build and grow a thriving business. Businesses can do this without spending one dollar on marketing.

Are there other areas of social media that can be used? Of course! But the premise of BLIF marketing is to establish a core strategies that can become the social media marketing foundation.

There is a blog set-up that only focuses on BLIF marketing and how businesses can use it. The one over riding principle is that all marketing must be able to be implemented without spending even one dollar.