The Power of StumbleUpon
To some these days, social bookmarking sites are almost a little quaint. Facebook and Twitter are the kings of social media content, and bookmarking sites seem so … five years ago. I’m here to tell you, however, that social bookmarking is alive and well as a traffic generator. Recently, for client SleepBetter.org, I was researching which tactics we weren’t using to help people find the sleep tips and advice provided by the site. Of course, we’re on Twitter and Facebook, and we’re also utilizing Google Buzz. We tried Digg, Delicious, and Reddit with little success. Then, we started submitting links to Stumbleupon. The results were immediate and dramatic. In fact, in the month of February, Stumbleupon was our second largest referrer, after Google.
Unlike other social bookmarking sites, such as the aforementioned Digg, Delicious, and Reddit, users of StumbleUpon don’t have to be looking for your content to find it. I’ve often thought this was the downfall of trying to use Digg to help visitors find you. Unless your content is tech-related or involves someone falling off of a donkey and hurting a sensitive part of the body, posting to Digg is often like whistling into the wind. StumbleUpon is different. In fact, the whole point of the site is finding random content that you didn’t know you were looking for. You click a button and “stumble upon” a site. It’s much like channel surfing. StumbleUponn can help you find random content that’s been submitted, or you can have it help you find random content within a category. Obviously, it’s an outstanding time waster.
StumbleUpon’s strength is it’s lack of the cliques found on Digg and other sites. On other sites, it can be hard to generate interest unless you’re already well known. In other words, if you’re well known already, you’ll get plenty of “Diggs”. Thing is, if you’re well known already, you don’t NEED Diggs to help people find your content.
So, what’s the strategy for using StumbleUpon if you’re hoping to generate interest in your site or your other content? It’s pretty simple. First of all, submit your content to StumbleUpon. You can go directly to stumbleupon.com to do it, or you can download a toolbar for your browser that will help you. Then, review others content. Don’t give random reviews that are not well thought out. Find good content relevant to your own, and write good reviews. After doing a couple of reviews per day, if your content is good you’ll find that more people are reviewing and finding your content.
Pretty simple.
Happy stumbling!
News Release Distribution Review 2010
This is the third installment of my running review of online news release distribution sites. If you’re finding these reviews for the first time, you should know that I’ll update this post as best I can throughout the year as sites change their offerings. Previous editions of my review can be found here and here.
This post has been a long time coming. Client work and family life keeps getting in the way, but the online distribution universe changes so fast, and I’ve received so much goodwill as a result of the previous two versions of my online news release distribution reviews ( that I had make the time to write this update.
Let’s take a look at a some good reasons to distribute your news releases online:
- By including a link in your release, you’re building inbound links to your web site.
- Your news is being spread beyond the boundaries of your web site, increasing the odds of it being seen by your audience.
- There is the possibility that it will be seen by new media or traditional media, leading to coverage from these outlets. This isn’t something I ever count on, but it does sometimes happen.
Disclaimer: There have been occasions where I have been given free “try out” release distributions. I do accept these because they allow me to sample different services, but I do my best not to let them sway my judgment in the review. I consider it the same as a product reviewer accepting a sample product. Disclaimers about specific services can be found within their reviews.
So, which is the best place to distribute your news releases to reach your goals? Below is a review of what I consider the best of the best, both free and paid. Feed free to add your own via comments!
Facebook is Better for “Old Folks”
There’s a great post today on Mashable about something I’ve been talking about with clients and when I present to groups for quite some time — the fastest growing segment of the social media world has grey hair.
The article, Baby Boomers and Seniors Are Flocking to Facebook, has some great stats about the growth of the number of Americans 44+ on Facebook.
A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 2
This is the second part of a two part primer on social networking giants Facebook and Twitter. The first part gives basic information on using Facebook. This post will cover basic information on Twitter. This primer came about when a client asked me to send him an email on how to use the two sites. The information I emailed him ended up being longer than he was likely expecting. When I was finished, it occurred to me that I could re-purpose this information into a two part blog post. Bear in mind when reading this that I’ve edited it somewhat, but it was originally written in more of an email format than a blog post format.
This isn’t a complete textbook on Twitter, nor was it meant to be. It’s merely some information to get you started. Whether you’re just learning, or you’re a social networking pro, please be sure to follow me on Twitter, at @stevemullen!
A Primer on Twitter
While Twitter and Facebook have some similarities in what they’re used FOR (at least when it comes to business), the atmosphere at each is very different. Using Facebook privacy settings, you can control who sees your posts. On Twitter, everything is out in the open for all to see. Additionally, there’s the 140-character limit to deal with on Twitter, which means posts are usually limited to a sentence or two and a link.
A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 1
A client recently asked me to send him an email on how to use Twitter and Facebook. I wrote him what amounts to “Facebook and Twitter 101″. I don’t think he realized just how long this email was going to be. When I completed the long email, it occurred to me that I could re-purpose this information into a two part blog post. The first of those two parts is below. Bear in mind when reading this that I’ve edited it somewhat, but it was originally written in more of an email format than a blog post format.
This isn’t a complete textbook on Facebook, nor was it meant to be. It’s merely some information to get you started. While you’re learning, please be sure to become a fan of EndGame PR on Facebook!
When you’re done reading this post be sure to read the sequel, A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 2!
A Primer on Facebook
The general idea of social media, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, on a blog, or somewhere else, is to provide something of value that people want to consume — whether it’s an article, blog post, video, audio, or something else. Before launching a social media presence, think about what you’re going to do with it. That may tell you which site is best suited for you, or that none of them are.
There are a few different types of Facebook presences:
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