tumbleUpon is a valuable resource you can use to drive traffic to your site, discover new authors, writing sites and more. With an easy-to-download browser toolbar and ways to connect to Facebook friends and email contacts, StumbleUpon has everything you could ask for – and more.
Here's how it works:
- Start an account. Be sure to enter what type of content you like to read on the Web when asked.
- Download the StumbleUpon toolbar (IE and Firefox).
- Once the toolbar is in your browser, go to the very left and click STUMBLE!
- Then, StumbleUpon will automatically show you sites based on your topic choices.
When you see a site you like, you go to the toolbar and click the thumbs up symbol. If you don't like, give it a thumbs down.
But many don't understand StumbleUpon. They think submitting their own blog posts every day – withough Stumbling themselves – will somehow help them find their market or improve Google page rank. In fact, only Stumbling your stuff could hurt your Search Engine Optimization, as I discovered while taking Caroline Middlebrook's free StumbleUpon course, Traffic Rush.
Caroline was kind enough to drop by Market My Novel to talk about Stumbling and how it an work to your advantage.
Caroline, for those who don't know, what is StumbleUpon?
How does it work?
Users of the StumbleUpon toolbar thumb up pages that they like and new
pages are added into the SU database under a certain category. These
then get shown to other people who are interested in that topic. The
more thumbs up a page gets, the more people see it.
Is it OK to Stumble yourself to get started?
an extent. The SU algorithm takes into account the number of times you
have stumbled a page from a particular domain and pages from that
domain are weakened every time you do so. The mistake most newbies make
is stumbling nothing but their own content. That is a no-no but it's
fine to submit one of two of your own pages in amongst the rest of your
stumbling activity.
What is the etiquette of a site like StumbleUpon?
because it is user driven, it's also the users who say what goes. There
is certain material that tends to do well, and similarly some things
just don't sit well with stumblers.
Can you make friends on the site similar to Facebook and MySpace?
How can authors use it to their advantage?
What is the
best way to classify books, virtual book tour interviews, or anything
author-related?
Most people begin to use it for fun, then they realize the
potential. They go through and submit each of their own items to
StumbleUpon, but if the novelty of the site has worn off, that is all
they do. Does this work?
I mentioned before. The first couple of pages will do okay then the
next few will have less impact and finally the domain will be
blacklisted and your account may even be terminated.
What are key steps to using StumbleUpon as an author seeking an audience and, ultimately, sales?
StumbleUpon naturally, and work to contribute to the community (in the
subject area of your niche) as much as possible. Make friends, write
reviews, submit good content and so on. You'll also need to work hard
to ensure your own content is SU friendly – hard sales pitches do not
work on SU so you need to make sales in more indirect ways.
How can you entice your fans, blog readers and fellow writers to use StumbleUpon?
course – write an article about SU, work it into your own niche and
encourage your readers to sign up and start using it.
Can you just use StumbleUpon for free advertising, or should
you use it with a combination of other items, like Digg or blogging?
What are the most common mistakes people make when using StumbleUpon for marketing/PR?
Can Stumbles of your pages increase your SEO?
What is the best lesson you've learned while using StumbleUpon?
What was an important mistake you made – and learned from – when you first started Stumbling?
stumbled too much of my own stuff! My domain stopped working, I got no
SU traffic at all, and I could no longer submit anything from my blog.
Eventually I was able to resolve this but that was a tough lesson.
You offer courses on StumbleUpon free on your Web site. Tell us about those.
into two halves – a basic half and an advanced half. They each consist
of 10 parts and most lessons also come with accompanying videos. The
basic course is free, and the advanced one is just $47. To find out
more go to http://www.traffic-rush.net/
What else would you like to add for us today?
StumbleUpon is a sensitive beast, treat it with care
At the bottom of every post on Market My Novel, you can click a link to
Stumble, Digg and other services. If you haven't already, start an account and Stumble this
story as your first post!
Copyright 2009 Angela Wilson * * * StumbleUpon graphic from StumbleUpon.com
This was a VERY interesting post! Thanks so much. I'd never heard about StumbleUpon before reading your blog. Now I'll have to go check it out!