The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic Without Spamming

Filed Under Strategy, Successful Blog | 145 Comments

A Lesson from Lifehacker

You noticed something was different. You did the research. You organized your thoughts. You wrote a blog post that delivered quality content to your readers. You do that every day, right?

But today in your stats, you see something that looks a lot like this:

and it goes on page after page . . . after page.
Or you see the Digg equivalent.
Before you start feeling like the brilliant star that you are – STOP. Think. No matter how hard we work. No matter how well we write. We didn’t do THAT alone.

The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic

Someone else did a big chunk of the work when he or she Dugg or Stumbled the story. He or she might have IM’ed some of their Digg/SU friends, to invite them to participate.

What if that fan Dugg or Stumbled your next great story? Who wouldn’t want a fan like that as a regular reader? We could all use more quality friends that we haven’t met yet. After all, relationships are what social networking is about. Isn’t it?

I know this is going to sound “too Liz” easy, but the answer is simple.

Just say, “thank you.”

Yep. That’s it. Say, “thank you.” Find a way to show your appreciation. That Digg/StumbleUpon User probably sends tons of traffic to a number of sites every day. Yet, rarely does someone stop to say “thanks for the effort.” Be that someone. Do right – the way your mom taught you – and you’ll be that little bit remarkable. You also might make a true and influential friend.

How to Say Thank You to a StumbleUpon User

It’s easy to say a simple “thank you” on StumbleUpon. Send a message.

Become a StumbleUpon User.

open a StumbleUpon account and (download the toolbar).

2. Find the person who shined the light on your story. To find the Stumbler, go to the story (your post), click the white speech bubble in the toolbar. You’ll see the list of people who stumbled your story and on the upper right hand side (in a blue box) you’ll see the reader who originally stumbled your story.

3. Send a Personal Message to the person who recognized your work. Click on his or her avatar (the picture.) Use the “Send a message” button to send your thanks. Say a simple few words to let the person know you appreciate the time he or she invested in you.

4. Become that person’s fan. Press the “Add him (or her) as a friend” button on the profile.

How to Say Thank You to a Digger

Thanking a Digger is a bit more complicated. Digg doesn’t have an internal message system. But it can be done

Become a Digg User.

only takes minutes

2. Find the reader who championed your story. The avatar of the person that Dugg your story is found right beneath the story on Digg.

Befriend him or her.

4. You might also look at the profile section for the Digger. Diggers often list their website, email, or other contact information, which is a nice way to get in touch and write them a personal note.

The Secret to a 5-Star Thank You

Here are even more advanced ways of letting folks who’ve done you a stellar favor know that you appreciate them.

link to your champion’s profile from your story.

That link back also might send a ton of Digg/SU Users to your recommender’s profile. Chances are that will increase your his or her number of fans. You can bet a “thank you” like that will be noticed. Even LifeHacker takes time to thank their Digg friends.

2. Find your supporter’s blog. Read a while. Digg or Stumble a post you find while you are there. Make sure it’s one recommend highly. No backrubbing or playing up to the stars. That’s just not cool.

In StumbleUpon, click the About tab. Find the link to their real blog – most users have one. (If they don’t, it’s okay to link to their SU Blog.) Click through to the blog. Click the permalink of a post you’ve read and recommend. Click the thumbs up, in the toolbar. Fill out the form to review it and add a Stumble.

In Digg, click the Profile tab. Click through to My Website. Click the permalink of the post you’ve read and recommend. Click the Digg button to review or add a Digg.

Don’t Disappear too Quickly

The biggest part of any conversation is listening. Once you’ve sent your thank you, remember that the person at the other end is an individual, allow him or her to have an individual reaction.

One digger told me, “I’ve had a bunch of people add me to IM just to say thanks and then disappear.”

I asked, “Is that a good thing?”

The answer was, “well you it depends, sometimes you just want to say thanks, and leave it at that. Sometimes you want to take it yet another step forward and start a new relationship.”

So give the Digger a chance to respond. He or she might not, but on the other hand, you might find that a conversation has started.

That’s the Secret

Go out of your way to say, “Thank you.” Remember the time someone spent to help your work get noticed was time he or she didn’t spend doing something else. So a thanks isn’t out of order. It’s thoughtful acknowledgment of a favor.

Once you have a couple of good Digg/StumbleUpon friendships, traffic to your blog will never be the same. More than that, you’ll be making relationships that keep the blogosphere strong and growing. So you’re helping your blog and the blogosphere at the same time.

If you are a Digg or StumbleUpon friend who stopped by to read this, please know that we welcome your advice and your comments. If you know other ways to say “Hey, thanks!” to Digg/StumbleUpon Users, would pass them along?

Thank you! You’re not a stranger anymore.

Bookmark this article at del.icio.us Â»

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Tags: 30_hour_work_week, digg, social-media, social-networks, Stumbleupon

SOB Business Cafe 10-20-06

Filed Under Great Finds, Successful Blog | 18 Comments

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Brain Based Business wants everyone to know migraine isn’t about stress.

Nektros wants the emperor to wear decent clothes.

Tech Buzz reports on a clever scheme that mashes a click exchange with the 80/20 rule to game the traffic at Digg.

TechZonline didn’t miss a step in getting to know his way around.

Writing, Clear and Simple explains how some reporters only offer half of the information they should.

Shards of Consciousness answers a question as basic as day and night.

Small Dogs Paradise offers sound advice — perfect information for sharing with kids who will be out this Halloween.

Related ala carte selections include

Christine Kane offers 10 ways to stop choosing disaster.

Success CREEations is letting the world know the past doesn’t have to predict the future.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tags: Brain-Based-Business, Christine-Kane, Content, Design, digg, migraine, Nektros, passive-voice, Shards-of-Consciousness, sleep, Small-Dogs-Paradise, Spike-the-Vote, Stumbleupon, Success-CREEations, Tech-Buzz, Techzonline, Writing-Clear-and-Simple

Interview 10.2: Sebastian Blogs, Life, and Advice

Filed Under Business Life, Interviews, Successful Blog | 2 Comments

Seb Talks about Blogs and Life

When we left Seb Prooth of Seb’s Random Thoughts he told us about his current film work on YouTube at YouTube.com Melting Clock, http://www.youtube.com/meltingclock/ and the success he’d enjoyed being part of the www.globalgeekpodcast.com “>Global Geek Podcast.

Seb, How does blogging fit with your life?

This is a really interesting question. It just so happens that I have recently been making the conscious decision to blog more often. With the effect of quitting a weekly podcast and having no other connection with the fast moving world of digital media other than my blog, I decided it was time to take things more seriously.

Aside from that, I usually blog when I have something to say. For instance, last week when Richard Hammond of the BBC’s TopGear was severely injured in a crash, I covered the story on my blog. TopGear is one of my favourite shows and when I saw the headline I was compelled to write something.

Where has your blog taken you so far? Where do you see your blog taking you in the future?

My blog has made my writing better. I have written very formally on the blog at times such as when I talked about the effects of Digg and being Dugg when I openly opposed telemarketers making use of Skype to sell their goods. I see that my blog has made me a name on a couple of forums. On a Google search for “Sebastian Prooth” it pulls something in the region of 40 grand results. Although my efforts in podcasting contribute greatly to those numbers, many of the results are due to things I have said on my blog.

In the future I hope to see my blog progressing as it has been. I enjoy the casual nature of blogging. I have the motto on my site “writing not for hits, but to hit with what I write.” If my site gets Dugg and I get 20 thousand hits in 2 hours, I will be pleased, but If I continue getting 150-500 hits a day for what I write without the assistance of Digg or other mass media distribution service, I am happy with that.

What you tell a younger friend to do if he or she were just starting a blog?

If I was advising a younger friend about blogging I would probably tell him or her to go for it. Definitely. The Internet does not need blogs about what you had for breakfast (unless you are a gourmet chef,) or what you did when you had 20 shots of whatever on Saturday night. The Internet needs blogs where people talk with passion about what they know. I can’t stand it when I go to blogs that are there obviously to benefit a company or to push someone’s agenda. We all have agendas, your blog is not the best place to bare your agenda naked to the world.

The Internet is a cruel place at the same time as being the largest and most resourceful – resource on the planet. If you are going to start a blog, and you want readers the first thing you should consider is if what you are going to write about is of interest to anyone but yourself. I don’t really care if Joe Bloggs (pardon the pun) ate chilli for breakfast. It doesn’t have any bearing on my life. But if you are blogging about a feature on the latest beta release of Windows Vista, or reviewing a film that has just come out, or maybe one that came out before you were born, you have an audience there.

If you don’t care if anyone reads what you write, then I suggest you do whatever you like on your blog. Remember, even though now a tired cliché, do not release a great deal of personal information about yourself. And the last rule of blogging is – ENJOY IT!

Thanks Seb, can’t wait to see where you take your blog next.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Interview 10.1: Sebastian Prooth, Blogger, Podcaster, Film-maker
Interview 9.1: A Conversation with Dr. Tammy Lenski
Interview 8: Marti Lawrence, Blogger, Author, Publisher
Interview 7.1: Meet Cat Morley, World Designer

Tags: digg, Google, richard-Hammond, Sebastian-Prooth, Sebs-Random-Thoughts, Skype

The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic Without Spamming

A Lesson from Lifehacker

The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic