Ten or 12 years ago, when the internet was just a pup, no one had heard of social networking. There were no blogs, no MySpace, no Facebook, no StumbleUpon, no Digg.

But don't think there weren't hot spots, because there were - the forums. They became immensely popular in a hurry, because they were about the premiere element of social networking in a medium that, as it turns out, is really all about social networking.

It's important to understand what a revolution internet forums were back then, from what had existed before. When people wanted to connect with friends, they called them on the phone. In business, they flew for a weekend to some other city for a convention or a seminar, getting together with others who had like-minded interests.

Or maybe they did an occasional conference call ... which, depending on the number of participants, would cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

In business, the fastest way to improve your results has always been to learn from those in the same business who share their own experiences and the tips & tricks they have learned. With one or two bits of good information, you might make a quantum leap ahead of a lot of your competition, so those conventions & seminars were worth attending.

Then came the internet ... and the forums. Suddenly, the world changed. On one website, you could easily gather hundreds or even thousands of people with the same interest ... marketing, for instance. Some would hang around all day long. Others would check in once or twice a day ... or once or twice a week.

But the amazing thing was, a total marketing newbie could find a forum and do nothing but read the pearls of wisdom (hopefully spotting the imitation pearls mixed in), and that person and many others could get a marketing education that just a couple years before would have cost them thousands of dollars and probably years of their lives.

It is still true. Today, you can find multiple forums in just about any niche, and you can get up to speed on any topic in just hours. We live in a very different world from what it was 15 years ago.

Which brings us to blogging. The participants in those forums STILL focus on the hottest topics in their niche. The questions they ask are often the ones that resonate with many in the niche. Just use Google to find the hot forums in your niche (search: +niche +forum). You don't even have to participate in the forum. Just look at the titles of each thread. Read the ones you think show the most promise. Take notes. Focus on the burning questions these guys ask. Then do your own research.

You will come up with a steady stream of blog posts that address the hot topics in your niche. And THAT is what will make you a hot blogger!