Slideshare features our blogging e-book (and shows one way to motivate participation) | Social Signal

I just got an email from the fine folks at SlideShare, letting me know they'll be featuring our free e-book on getting value from blogging on the front page of their business and management section for the next day or so.

Which is great. For the e-book, that means more people will see it and, I hope, read it. And for me, well, I have to admit I'm a sucker for a combination of third-party validation and increased attention.

Actually, a lot of people are. It's easy to get caught up in trying to motivate participation by offering prizes ("Win yet another iPod shuffle!")... and in fact, contests do have a lot going for them.

But don't underestimate the value of singling someone out, and giving them a higher profile, even for a little while. Discovering you've written the "Comment of the Week" or uploaded one of the "Photos We Like" can go a long way to making sure you contribute again - and maybe put even more effort into it next time, and encourage others to join in.

Better yet, the rest of your users will see there's an opportunity to gain a little prominence, and they'll be motivated to contribute more.

Getting featured is terrific, and the email I got from SlideShare is the icing on the cake. And the sprinkles on that icing? This paragraph:

P.S - Why not blog/twitter this and let the world know about this awesome masterpiece you have created?

Apparently that paragraph works, or you wouldn't be reading this post today.

P.S. - I wonder if they've thought of hyperlinking the Twitter suggestion, so you could just click on it to tweet the good news to your network.