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Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

Wiebs — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:51:57 -0000

Thanks for this post. I love the concept of Twitter and Stumble Upon, just need to learn how to use them effectively.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

devinbest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:55:22 -0000

Tom: Thanks for your input on some StumbleUpon ideas. I've been using your
suggestions with some significant success.

What I'm focusing on right now is building up my network of friends to get
great content and a receptive body of people who can help me promote things.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

tomcolvin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:11:09 -0000

DEVIN: I don't pretend to be any kind of expert about Stumble Upon, but I
have been able to search out several excellent reports by others.
Unfortunately, I can't come up right off with the link to the best one I
read months ago -- I'll try to track it down.

Actually, both strategies you mention seem to be important. The thumbs
up/thumbs down activity does not go unnoticed. It establishes one as a true
participant, feeding back information. It also helps to define one's own
interests.

The stumbling through a chain of blogs is equally important, especially if
you take the time to write comments. With Stumble Upon, you will likely be
led to blogs with content about which you can offer comment. COMMENTS are
KING. And a routine trip of Stumbles, at least once a week, perhaps even
more, is certainly worth the investment.

Also, along the way, you'll pick up ideas for one's own blog. And one will
find opportunities for one to pass on links. Don't forget, for example, to
click on the name of commenters to track back to their blogs [assuming the
blog has installed the proper plugins].

Regarding my tactics for retention, remember that Stumble Upon delivers
people to your blog that are likely to have similar interests. And if your
blog has excellent content, it's no surprise that a good proportion will
stike around through the convenience of RSS readers.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

devinbest — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:21:35 -0000

Tom,

When you stay "Stumbling," do you mean thumbing up / thumbing down other people's content, or submitting your own articles to the database? I understand that you have to be an active Stumbler in order to get any traction.

And Caroline Middlebrook's StumbleRush course http://bit.ly/stumblerush brings up some ethical questions about submitting your own content there. I've done it several times, but there is, apparently, a method of self-submission that maximizes the benefits.

Sounds like you have a blog that converts into subscribers very effectively. What's your best tactic for converting random Stumblers and search engine traffic into subscribers?

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

tomcolvin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:58:12 -0000

Devin, for the most part, when my subscription numbers go up in a sudden
jump, about half of them seem to stick for the long haul. My blog has been
up for a bit over a year and a half, and my RSS subscriptions just went over
400. Twice I've done a flurry of Stumbling, and both time I've attracted
about 30 visitors who stuck.

Tom

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

devinbest — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:46:21 -0000

Tom, have you noticed in your web stats whether or not your StumbeUpon visitors actually stick around on your site? Or do they bounce quickly?

My experience is that StumbleUpon brings a lot of traffic that doesn't interact much.

What about you?

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

tomcolvin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:05:20 -0000

A few months back, another blogger led me to a post about how to harness StubleUpon. I discovered that my activity with StumbleUpon brings more newcovers to my blog than any other tactic.

Thanks for reference to the course. I'll check that out too.