The Bloggers Desktop

Digg up some traffic on Digg

Our second installment on increasing traffic with Social Networks is going to concentrate on Digg.  Digg is a great little social network which centers around people “digging” or “burying” content.  People can vote up or down on submissions thus either promoting it, or “unpromoting” it.

It is only fair to mention here that in the last year or two there has been a decent amount of controversy surrounding digg because a group of users have acted like the digg mafia and have gotten things they want promoted despite the intended purpose of keeping the site a truly democratic forum.

That fact aside, Digg is still a great way to drive traffic into your blog or website.

So let’s talk about how to best use Digg to drive traffic in.

1. Join

First of all I suppose the most obvious thing I can say is join digg, and build a profile.  This does not need to be extensive, by any stretch of the imagination, but you definitely want to put some links to your blogs or other sites there.  Se mine for an example.

2. Add Friends
After joining, be sure you add some friends.  When it comes to adding friends there is no such thing as too few friends.  When you look at a users profile, you will see several things.  You will see things they have voted on, comments they have made, links they have submitted, and usually a brief bio describing them or some links to other websites they like.

If they don’t appear to be a spammer or pornographer, go ahead and add them as a friend.  Digg’s friend system works on a two tier function.  You have fans and friends.  Fans are people who say they like you.  They will see everything you add and digg on, and you can “send shouts” to them asking them to “digg” your content.  But fans cannot shout their content to you.  They must be mutual friends.  So when you add someone as a friend, they must then return that favor or you will not be able to contact them through the network.  Don’t worry though, since having friends in digg is often so important, most people will reciprocate your friendship after you add them.

By now you will have a digg account and several friends.

3. Digg

Next you need to be digging and commenting.  Spend some time digging your friend’s submissions, and commenting on things you find interesting.  You will find just about anything you ever wanted to know in digg.  In fact, I get most of my news from Digg and other Social Networks.  This is especially important since the major news outlets and I all seem to disagree on what “news” is.  But that is a rant for another day.

4. Submit

When it comes to submission to Digg, I will repeat something I have said before.   Don’t be narcissistic.  The old and dying business model is the selfish, greedy, establishment.  Your Social Marketing will N-E-V-E-R survive if you show that you are only out for yourself.

So when you are submitting things to digg, submit thing that other people wrote!  Your network is for asking people to digg you.

Listen to me, this is the most important thing I can say.  The people who get the most traffic from Digg use the network alot, and they rarely submit their own content.  They ask other people to submit their stuff!  Do you hear that?  Ask others.  That’s what friends are for.  But DO NOT tire people out with your constant begging.  Find the medium and you will find yourself with some good business contacts and some great digg traffic!

Increase Traffic with StumbleUpon

When it comes to Social Networking, StumbleUpon is a good introduction for a new user.  One of the pushbacks I often hear about social networking is that people don’t really like to “put themselves out there” by telling too much of who they are and trying to find “friends.”  The reason StumbleUpon is a better introduction to social networking for this group is because building a long list of friends is not as important. 

A few friends in StumbleUpon are more than enough.  You will want to sign up and build a profile, ALWAYS put in a link or two where people can find you.  And sure, add a friend here and there.  You can find me here.  

But after the initial start up, its all about the stumble button.

You get the handy tool bar, with several options for stumbling around on the internet, but when you use the stumble button, you are automatically directed over to some site which other users have submitted.  StumbleUpon will automatically deliver qualified traffic as soon as your site is listed. 

Let me just pause here for a second though and say this.    In order to get the most use out of StumbleUpon you need to have a blog.  Get used to hearing that, it won’t be the last time I say it! 

Now there are three things you need to do in order to effectively use StumbleUpon.

1. Stumble

First, Stumble yourself.  Use the button, and visit some sites you care about.  Then simply mark them as you like it, or not.  Don’t feel like you absolutely have to mark every page you visit, but it never hurts to be active on the site.  You might find yourself some friends that way.  Plus, I have found some fascinating websites using the Stumble button.  

Be Warned: It CAN become a time sucker if you are not disciplined. 

2. Submit

Submit Websites you find interesting to stumble.  Is it worth it?  Did you find and interesting site?  GREAT Stumble it!  Do you find this post helpful?  Stumble it! (this is probably not a good post for submitting to stumble upon though, because most stumblers already know how it works).

Every once in a while feel free to even submit your own stuff.  But look carefully at the stuff you are submitting and see if you look like a narcissistic, selfish pig.  Do you think you are producing most of the content out there that people care about?  You probably don’t.  Then your submissions should not say otherwise.  

3. Ask others to Stumble you.  

The more reviews and submission you get from other people, the better.  If 20 people click “I Like It” on this page, then StumbleUpon will continue to send me more traffic.  If one person likes and 19 Thumb it down, then that is going to hurt me in StumbleUpon.  

So get friends to join Stumble and ask them to thumbs up your stuff too.  Now, remember.  If you and your husband are the only two people ever voting for your blog, that is still going to be a bit fishy.  Even computers are smart enough to see what’s going on.  This is when haveing a larger network in other places can be helpful.  Every couple of weeks I get an email from someone asking me to Stumble something for her.  And you know what?  I almost always do.  If I were getting that same email three times a day I never would.  

So on a final note, keep this in mind.  Dont’ wear out your friends with cries for help, but don’t be afraid to ask for a quick favor every now and then.  

Increase your website traffic with Social Networking

Its been a while since I have written on the topic of Social Networking and how it will increase your success at online business.  I think it is time again to go over some of the basic Social networking sites which can dramatically increase your traffic.

So I think it is time for a series on some of the better social networks.  There are literally thousands of Social Networks, some of them specifically tailored to niche communities, some of them broader and with lots more people in them.  So I intend to post one additional article about how to find smaller social networks which might be just right for your particular website.

But First: 

We will be looking at Digg, Mixx, StumbleUpon, Twitter, and Facebook (and even though it might not really be a “social network proper” FriendFeed is on the list for sure).

I would love your input if there are others you would like to see profiled here.

Be sure to Check Back or Subscribe to get the lowdown!

And Please Leave your thoughts on important social networks, or contact me through one!

I am jaredmlee at all of them!  I look forward to connecting with you!