I recently wrote a beginners guide to social news websites and this article follows up on that by offering a list of the social news websites you can use to get information and web traffic.

There are a great deal of social news sites on the internet, sometimes too many. Most of them are dormant and are no longer active, largely because they were poorly marketed and hence, never had an active community of users in the first place.

For instance, this webpage has a list of over 380 social news sites. Most of them are a waste of your time: they are riddled with spam or are so ill-promoted that they’ll never attract a critical mass of viewers or social news participants.

You don’t have a lot of time on your hands. You want a community that gives you fresh news on topics you care about. You want something that sends prospects and traffic while branding your website or business. You want a social news site with a long term returns on investment. Here’s a list of some of them.

50+ Social News Websites: Notes about this list

I spent some time going through hundreds of social news sites and came up with a list of sites which I think are worth exploring. Each site on this list is evaluated according to various criteria, including the no. of votes for each story and the frequency/date of submissions, all of which are indicators of user/viewer activity.

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. It doesn’t include every social news website out there but only the ones which I think has potential for providing you with relevant/fresh news while giving exposure to your ideas, brand or website.

Some of the sites on this list have a broad topical focus while others are created to cater to a specific niche. I’ve divided the list into two portions: General Social News or websites which cover a wide variety of news and Niche Social News which refers to specialized sites that only focus on a limited range of niche topics.

This list purely consists of English social news sites. There are no social bookmarking or social network sites included. I’ve not included video sharing sites because I’ll be writing more on them and video marketing in a future article.

Here’s a brief definition of social news sites, in case you’re unfamiliar with them:

Social News websites are communities which allow its users to submit news stories, articles and media (videos/pictures) and share them with other users or the general public. Some of these articles will be given more visibility, depending on various factors such as the number of user votes for each item.

Apart from counting registered user votes, some social news websites employ human editors to determine the visibility of each news item. Certain stories will be removed from the website while others may be given a ‘featured‘ position if the story is highly relevant and news worthy.

General Social News Websites

1. Reddit: Popular social news website with a large user base. Covers a wide range of news. Includes several topical sections called subreddits, which focus on specific topics like programming, science, politics and business.

2. Digg: The largest and most popular social news website on the internet. Covers all topics including politics, entertainment, technology and general news. Includes a separate video and image section.

3. Propeller: A social news site that covers all topics from technology to politics and entertainment. Operates in a similar fashion to Digg.

4. Fark: A community news site which allows users to comment on news articles. User submitted links will be posted on the main page once they are approved by the administrators.

5. Slashdot: Primarily a tech news site, Slashdot also covers topics like books, games, politics and entertainment. Users can submit stories and they may be published after editors approve it. A popular site that can send a large amount of traffic.

6. Metafilter: A community weblog which allows users to share links and discuss interesting websites/topics. Moderation is done through editors as well as peer pressure in order to prevent gaming.

7. I am bored: Covers general topics with a strong focus on weird and offbeat news. You can submit a link which may be posted after the editors approve it.

8. Mixx: A general social news sites which has a category for all types of news. Topics covered include business, entertainment, sports, health and tech. Includes the ability to create groups to share news with other users.

9. Shoutwire: General news site that is well populated with a loyal group of users. Topics covered include technology, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

10. Newsvine: A website consisting of community-driven news stories and opinions. Users have their own blogs and can write articles, save links to external content and vote/comment on other user stories.

11. IndianPad: A general social news site that with a large indian userbase. Topics covered include entertainment, sports, videos and tamil news.

12. Linkfilter: Covers all sorts of news. All links are posted and moderated by users. Links can be ranked on several levels: clicks, votes, age, or a combination of all three called points.

13. NewsCloud: A general social site with a focus on news in all topics. Similar to Newsvine, each user has their own blogs and can publish content to be voted up by other users.

14. Hugg: Hugg is a social news site with a strong focus on environmental issues. Also includes other categories like politics, science, fashion and technology.

15. Plime: A general news site which features a wide variety of topics ranging from religion and sports to technology or business. Odd news performs best in this community.

16. C2NN: An active social news site with a variety of topics including environment issues, business, politics, animals and offbeat. Similar to Hugg in focus but much more populated and active.

17. Kirsty: A general news site with a focus on fashion, entertainment and design on top of other topics like technology and food. Has a strong female user base.

18. Nowpublic: A participatory news network which focuses on citizen journalism. Each user has their own individual profile blog/page and can upload videos, images and news stories.

19. Stirrdup: General social news site with four broad categories: politics, technology, news and entertainment.

20. Searchles: A hybrid social news sites which covers all topics. Includes a video section and offers personalized filtering features and the option of joining groups made up of other users with similar interests.

21. Linkinn: A social news site that specializes in pictures and video. Covers a broad range of topics, particular offbeat and weird content.

22. Earthfrisk: Covers topics like humor, politics, entertainment and business. Combines a social network and group features with digg-style news voting.

23. Truemors: A social rumor news site which focuses on the publication of “true rumors that are relevant, informative, and interesting.” Users can post links anonymously via text, voicemail, web or email. Editors moderate content.

24. StumbleUpon: A social network and browser toolbar which allows users to channel surf the internet. Technically not 100% a social news site, although users can submit webpages to be rated by other users. Here is a guide to StumbleUpon.

25. Linkswarm: Covers a wide range of topics from celebrity gossip to funny media, science and politics. Focuses on pop culture and bizarre news as well.

Niche Social News Websites

Here are social websites which focus on a specific niche. For best results, only submit to them when your site falls within the same niche or covers the same topics. Or else you’re likely to be marked as spam.

26. Sphinn: Sphinn is a social site for search and interactive marketers. It’s designed to allow you to share and discover news stories, read and take part in discussions, discover events of interest and network with others.

27. Dzone: DZone is a free link-sharing community for developers. Other topics commonly featured include web design and programming.

28. Tweako: A user-powered site and social network with a focus on guides and tutorials in all categories like computing, technology, and the Internet.

29. Autospies: A social site that focuses on automotive news, car reviews, auto show photos and videos.

30. Design Float: A social news site for design-related content. Topics covered include business, freelancing, advertising, digital art and branding.

31. Ball Hype: A site that aggregates content from thousands of sports blogs. Users can submit stories and votes will determine if they make it to home page.

32. YCombinator Hacker News: A news site that focuses on technology, startups, business and entrepreneurship.

33. SWiK: A community driven resource for people who use open source software.

34. Buzzflash: A user driven progressive political news website that allows you to submit political stories.

35. DNHour: DNHour.com is a user-powered news portal built specially for the domain name industry. Most members are generally from the domain name industry, which includes domain name owners, companies or professionals.

36. PlugIM: PlugIM is a user driven internet marketing community. Topics covered include search engine optimization, products, business and marketing.

37.Showhype: Operates in a similar way to Ballhype. Stories come from two sources — users and aggregated content. Users can also submit a link to a story that they’ve found or write their own article on ShowHype.

38. Small Business Brief: A niche social site which focuses on small business news. Topics covered include marketing and sales, website development, management and entrepreneurship.

39. Hypediss: Social news site with a focus on design, fashion, urban culture and art.

40. Chictini: Product-oriented social site which a focus on new trends and styles. It’s possible to submit news stories although most of the submissions feature products from online retailers.

41. DotNetKicks: DotNetKicks.com is a community based news site that focuses on topics like NET development techniques, technologies and tools including ASP.NET, C#, VB.NET, C++ and Visual Studio.

42. Lipstick: Reddit-style social news site for celebrity gossip.

43. Hubspot: Social news site for marketers, entrepreneurs and business professionals.

44. Winelifetoday: A niche social site for wine lovers. Topics covered included news and opinion articles to do with wine.

45. iliketotallyloveit.com: Allows users to publish and share products with the broader public which they find cool, innovative, exceptionally beautiful, or just weird. Included with every item is a link to an online shop where it can be purchased.

46. Wordsy: A niche social news site for people who love reading and books. Topics covered include small presses, fiction writing, authors, book awards and poetry. (Note: Wordsy has suspended its site since Dec 2008)

47. Value Investing News: A niche social news site that covers stocks and investment news. A small but active community.

48. Teenwag: Focus on celebrity gossip. A hybrid social network with digg-style voting. Users can submit links to be voted up by other users.

49. Muti: Muti is a social bookmarking site inspired by reddit and Digg but dedicated to content of interest to Africans or those interested in Africa.

50. Tip’d: A social media site for finance, investing, and business topics. Tip’d users vote on stories they like by clicking the ‘Tip it’ button that appears next to each story, and then can comment by pressing the ‘Discuss’ link below the story.

This list is a work in progress. I’ll be updating it with new sites over time and I plan to include my own opinions of each site when I have the time. Right now, I’ve only written a very brief description of each site along with their niche focus. Know any quality site that should be included?

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Influence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others. A power that can affect, persuade and cause changes to someone or something. In order to influence people, you first need to discover what is already influencing them. What makes them tick? What do they care about? We need some leverage to work with when we’re trying to change how people think and behave.

But there’s a problem. You won’t be able to meet and get to know everyone. You won’t have the luxury of learning their life history and what they hate or love. In the online world, people are ghosts. They drift into your website, showing up only as a number in your traffic statistics. Who are these people that come in to your website? Who is viewing your content and checking out your products?

If you don’t know the answer to all these questions, how are you going to influence them? The solution is to find and analyze general patterns of human behavior or thought. These patterns are indicators of how most people operate: by learning them you would have acquired the tools to exert influence over them. You don’t need to know everyone personally to understand what drives them and what they love or hate.

I recently read Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click by Susan Weinschenk, a book about how our online behavior is influenced by both conscious and unconscious thought patterns. I found it fairly interesting because it provided some scientific explanations to tactics that many marketers have been using for the longest time.

At only 130 pages long, the book is a very easy read because its tailored for the average person and not specialists. The downside of this is that it only offers a very general overview of brain science and how it relates to websites.

Contrary to its name, it also talks more about psychology than general web design/usability. If you’ve read Robert Cialdini’s work or other books on persuasion tactics you would easily recognize many of the concepts mentioned in the book.

While I would preferred a lot more depth on some topics covered, it did offer a handful of helpful tips you can implement immediately to improve your website. I thought I’ll do a quick summary of these tips while adding in my own unique analysis and comments.

But before we begin looking at what you should do on your website, you must first understand how your brain works.

Trium Brain Model – We Have Three Brains, Not One

The trium brain model is a theory developed by Paul MacLean in the 1960s to explain how the human brain has evolved. This simplified understanding of the brain became an influential paradigm amongst psychologists and some neuroscientists. As the name suggests, we don’t have one brain but three. These are all layered on top of each other and were developed during different stages of evolution. They are as follows:

1. The old brain. Also known as ‘R-complex’ or reptilian brain. The old brain is primarily concerned with your survival. It scans the environments for threats and benefits. It controls instinctual survival behavior and is also in charge of autonomic functions such as heart beats, digestion, movement and breathing.
2. The mid brain. Also known as the Limbic System or mammalian brain. The primary seat of emotions, memories and attention. This is where your emotions are produced and where positive or negative feelings arise. The mid brain includes the amygdala, which is involved in connecting events with emotion and the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory recall and converting information into memories.
3. The new brain. Also known as the neocortex. This is the logical part of the brain that involves rational thoughts, thinking skills as well as language and speech processing.

According to this theory, we are only fully conscious of our new brain, the neocortex. But our mid brain (limbic system) and old brain (reptilian brain) are largely unconscious. Our unconscious is incredibly efficient, smart and useful. Neuro-scientists have estimated that our five senses receive 11 million pieces of information every second with our conscious brain only processing around 40 pieces. The rest is being assessed by the unconscious automatically.

The unconscious brain helps you to determine what you should pay attention to with your conscious brain. Your decision-making behavior is greatly influenced by the unconscious brain. According to Weinschenk, the best website is designed to talk to all three brains, both the conscious and unconscious.

Such a website would be the best at encouraging any visitor to take action. Here’s what you can implement on your website to talk to all three brains:

1. Show ratings and reviews by other users

Allow visitors to rate and review products on your website. Make sure that ratings and reviews are clearly displayed on your site or product pages. Allow users to include more information about themselves such as their gender, name, location and occupation. This makes the reviews even more compelling since it creates an instant persona (e.g. 36 year old stay-home mom from Boston).

Why do ratings and reviews work? Social validation. People look to others when deciding what to do, especially when they are not sure of what action to take. This is part of the mid brain’s unconscious urge to fit in and belong.

When ratings and reviews are clearly displayed, they help to unconsciously trigger people’s need for social validation while allowing their new brain to rationalize that they are making a smart choice. They work on both the conscious and unconscious: to the rational thinking mind, user ratings and reviews are also more credible than profit-seeking ad copy.

2. Provide instant gratification and a quick fix

When deciding to make a purchase, we often influenced by how fast we can have the product (gratification). In an experiment participants were asked to choose between getting $5 now or $40 at a later date. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reports show that when they thought about waiting, the new brain or pre-frontal cortex was activated.

When they thought about getting the money right away, the mid brain lit up. This shows that the emotional mid brain is aroused when people think of getting something rewarding right away. You can take advantage of this even if you’re not selling a digital product or something that ships the next day. You can activate the same emotional triggers by using words like ‘instantly’, ‘immediately’ or ‘fast’ to engage the mid-brain. Integrate them and other similar words or phrases into your site copy.

3. Put the most important action to be done first

When you want your visitors to buy a specific product the most, make sure that it is highlighted and displayed as the first item on the page (either at the top or beginning of a row/column). A study of an e-commerce site selling tents showed that visitors picked the first tent to appear on the page 2.5 times more than any others. This is an unconscious preference. Do some similar testing on your website to see if you notice any sales differences.

The idea behind this is simple: what comes first is unconsciously regarded as the best. So even if you’re not a vendor but an affiliate, put the product you want to get sales for first. For example if you’re doing a review site promoting a couple of products, make sure that what you want to sell the most is the first to be seen when someone lands on your website.

Having had some experience with affiliate review sites, I’ve noticed that you’ll eventually find a ‘winner’, a product that converts the best. If you notice that a product not in the first spot converts better than the one that is, make them switch places. Sales may go up.

4. Use the illusion of scarcity

When something has a limited amount to it, its assumed value increases. We will want it even more. Make your product/offering limited by showing a limited stock quantity or limited time frame. This is a common tactic that most internet marketers and offline/online retailers use. And it works. Because we feel good when we gain objects of value.

The way you frame scarcity is important. I’ve seen some marketers combine scarcity with exclusivity by restricting access to a limited number of people. The term ‘Inner Circle’ is a widely used in many niches offering paid membership programs to demonstrate exclusive premium value. Scarcity is enhanced when exclusivity is stacked onto it.

5. Build reciprocity by giving away something for free

When someone gives you something, it triggers a sensation of indebtedness, which you will unconsciously want to get rid of by giving something back. Create this feeling of indebtedness in your visitor’s mind. You can give away things like free product add-ons, free guidebooks, free content, free downloads, free shipping etc.

A study mentioned in the book suggested that visitors are twice as likely to complete a survey form after they were given access to free useful information, as opposed to being allowed access to the information only after completing the form.

Does this mean that you’ll get better email opt-in conversions after giving away free content first? Research would say so. But I suggest that you perform your own tests to get a more accurate reading of what works best for your website.

From my general experience, I do get higher quality subscribers (judging by email open rates and no. of unsubscribes) when I first provide value-added freebies while making opt-ins optional. When I lock content and only allow people access after they perform an action, I inevitably get some tire-kickers who’ll unsubscribe or not open emails later on. When I think about it now, reciprocity DOES seem to play a big role in actual audience responsiveness.

6. Learn to use food, sex and danger

These three things are related to survival and appeal to the old reptilian brain. Use headlines and pictures that look or sound frightening to emphasize danger. The old brain is primarily focused on ensuring your survival. It puts your entire body and mind on high alert when it comes across any threat.

When you are in this heightened state of awareness, whatever you encounter is more deeply engrained in your memory. That’s why you see TV commercials using exciting and dangerous scenes like a car chase, sky diving or a sexy woman to promote products like credit cards and beer.

Use pictures of food on your webpages, it instantly attracts the attention of the old brain. Imply the presence of sex through the use of faces, bodies and things associated with sexual behavior or experience.

Are food, sex and danger really so attractive to the unconscious? Think about it. What are you drawn to when you’re bored online? Many people gravitate to celebrity gossip or porn (sex), food sites or thrilling content (extreme stunts/sports/music videos/movie clips on Youtube etc). Maybe you would rather work on math puzzles or read a knitting blog instead. But not many would.

Learning how to integrate each of these three topics into your website will be an interesting challenge. A while ago, I wrote about Cracked.com and how their style could help you create super popular content for social media sites like Digg.  Cracked.com is a great example of a site that often has all topics (food, sex, danger) in constant rotation, both in their content and their use of images/references.

7. Limit the choices available and promote bundles

While people think they prefer many choices, the numerous options available often lead to decision paralysis. Too much choice may cause your visitor to not take any action at all. The Paradox of Choice is a fantastic book which examines this issue in much greater detail.

So how do you solve this problem? You don’t have to reduce your inventory range, you just need to highlight specific actions you want taken.

My solution is to simply choose for your visitor. For example, certain products could be moved into a ‘Editor’s choice’ or ‘Most recommended’ or ‘Top 3 choices’ list which is then displayed prominently on your site. Alternatively, you can create a wizard user interface which asks the visitors certain questions, one after another in order to ascertain what product suits them the best. The final result will show the recommended products for his/her specific needs.

Our brain has a unconscious fear of losing and we’ll make decisions to avoid loss, especially when we feel the loss will be painful or disadvantageous. This fear of losing can be activated by bundled products/services. This means that instead of allowing visitors to select the core product first and then choose addons, you promote a product bundle and then allow them to subtract items from their final order. Subtracting is akin to ‘losing’ something.

Many e-commerce websites practicing different levels of bundling. Take Amazon.com as an example. Instead of promoting bundles over single products, every single product page showcases a bundled package with a reduced price. On top of that, they promote bundles indirectly by including the buying statistics/patterns of other customers.

8. Speak to your visitor by using the word ‘You’

A quick and easy way to grab the attention of the old brain is to use the word ‘you’ often in your copy. The old brain is self-centered and focused on what is good for you, hence it’ll often unconsciously prefer what better emphasizes how You can benefit.

Here is a comparison of sales copy. The second one should appeal to you more:

No. 1: “This software has many built-in features that allow for photos to be uploaded, organized, and stored. Photos can be searched for with only a few steps.”

No. 2: “You can upload your photos quickly, organize them any way you want to, and then store them so that they are easy to share with your friends. You can find any photo with only a few steps.”

In my opinion, ‘you-centred’ copy is part of the bigger ad strategy called personalization. You’re writing copy that speaks their language. And that entails knowing what your prospect or target market likes/dislikes and desires. Write as if you’re talking to a person sitting right next to you. She is your prospective customer. She is your blog reader. And she is your friend. Don’t be afraid to use slang or community lingo to connect to their thought processes.

9. Get your visitors to make a commitment

People are more likely to take action after they’ve made a small commitment first. This is because a small commitment activates a persona which the person will seek to maintain with future decisions. For example, asking someone to wear a small badge to promote breast cancer awareness is an example of a small commitment.

This activates a persona which makes them think ‘I’m a person who cares about cancer patients.’ Later on, they will be far more willing to make a donation to a breast cancer charity because the action of donating is completely consistent with the persona they have taken on. In fact, donating maintains that persona and makes them feel good about it.

Your goal is to activate a persona within all your site visitors. This persona will eventually push them to take a specific action, be it buy, donate or subscribe. Methods you can use include using quizzes and surveys around a topic that is related to your product or website focus. The simple act of writing, typing or signing something strengthens their commitment to to your website/company/brand. The more public the commitment, the stronger it will be.

Getting your visitors to commit to your website is incredibly easy. You don’t always need to get something from them, like their email or vote. By simply allowing comments, you’re allowing visitors to be publicly committed to your website. Polls and surveys work equally well too because they make your visitors interact with you. They aren’t just lurking viewers anymore, but participants within a community. Step it up a notch or two after that.

I think its important not to overthink it. Ask for what you want. As long as its not an outrageous demand, you’ll get people to respond and invest their time, especially if you’re already worked on developing reciprocity.

10. Use images that demonstrate similarity and attractiveness

Use images of attractive people who are similar to your target market’s demographic profile. People are most influenced by people they deem to be both attractive and similar to them. The old brain is unconsciously sizing up people you see and their attractiveness can rub off on your website itself, much like how an attractive person in a cellphone ad makes the cellphone look more enticing.

This doesn’t just apply to images. Most internet marketers know that in order to appeal to a certain group of people, you need a human face that will be the focal point of their empathy and connection. Hence, the widespread use of pen names, stock photo pictures and even a made-up history or life story. While it may be entirely artificial, these methods do work to engage website visitors.

11. Be a master at telling stories

Use stories as part of your sales copy or weave them into your content/blog post. When we read or listen to a story, our brains physically react as though we were having the same experience ourselves. When combined with pictures, it is a very powerful way to immediately grab attention, convey information and ensure that your reader retains your message.

Story-telling is a fantastic method of persuasion. It’s almost like a hypnotic process. I’ve noticed that I tend to suspend rational thought when I’m thoroughly engaged with reading or hearing a fascinating story.

I’m fully conscious but my mind is taken over because I’m actively visualizing the situation by generating images to accompany the words I’m reading/hearing. And the images I’m creating are generating emotions at the same time. A skilled story teller can easily embed suggestions or increase one’s perceived value subtly by using stories.

This is a really powerful persuasion tactic and something I would encourage you to learn. All of us can tell stories but not all of our stories are as persuasive as they can be.

So there you have it. These methods of extending influence are easily applicable in most circumstances so put them into action as soon as you finish reading. Feel free to spread the word and share this article with anyone you know.

doshdosh.com

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The Importance of Social Media Marketing: Why You Should Learn and Master it

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.

There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again.

If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.

Those who ignore the efficacy of social media usually fall into three categories; the ones who don’t know much or anything about social media, the ones who are interested but don’t know how to use it and those who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can bring to any site or business.

The Value of Marketing Through Social News Websites

For those who don’t understand or see the value of social media websites, let’s take a look at the benefits of creating viral content and effectively promoting them through social media channels.

Developing link baits and successfully getting it popular on various social media websites like Digg and StumbleUpon will lead to multiple benefits for any website:

• Primary and Secondary Traffic. Primary traffic is the large amount of visitors who come directly from social media websites. Secondary traffic is referral traffic from websites which link to and send you visitors, after they come across your content through the social sites.
• High Quality Links. Becoming popular on social news websites like Digg or Reddit will get you a large number of links, some of which may be topically relevant, some not. A good story can realistically acquire a large number of high quality editorial links, most of which cannot be easily bought.

Now let’s translate this into tangible benefits for your website:

1. Links = Better Search Engine Rankings.

When a website receives a large number of natural, permanent links from trusted domains, it develops authority. Search engines trust it. If you optimize your linkbait and website structure properly, you can easily start ranking for competitive keywords, which will in turn bring in search engine visitors.

Do this often enough and your search traffic will undoubtedly increase. In a sense, you are obtaining these quality links through borrowed trust. Many bloggers and webmaster still think that if an article is on the Digg or del.icio.us homepage, then it’s probably worth checking out and referencing through a citation link.

A new website may find it difficult to gain links from a critical mass that is not familiar with it but a trusted social news resource makes it easier for links to come in, because the community and buzz has somewhat ‘certified‘ the value of the site. Note that the actual strength of the article is still of utmost importance for all.

2. Primary + Secondary Traffic = Community/Supporters.

Some people claim that social news websites only send useless traffic, visitors that will often just view a specific webpage and click away. Yes, that’s usually the case. Sites like Digg are notorious for their poor bounce rates: many visitors drop in for the article and then leave after reading it. StumbleUpon is much better in this aspect.

But don’t mistake this with a lack of interest. Your subscriber figures will often take big jump up and then stabilize after a few days. If your entire site is relevant to the general interests of the social media website, there will always be a handful of social users who will start to track your site in order to submit future content.

Detractors also ignore the power of ultra targeted secondary traffic. General sites or blogs in the same niche will link to a story that’s popular on social sites, because it adds value for their readers or users. This is done naturally on a daily basis for many.

While primary traffic usually comes in a larger volume, I would argue that secondary traffic is more valuable. Why? Because links from other websites bring visitors who are very likely to be interested in your content. These citation links demonstrate recognition of your site in the eyes of others. It builds your brand.

Think of the social news site as a platform or a soapbox. As something that gives you a chance to be heard or read, even for a brief moment of a few hours. The people who are drawn to your message will visit your site and recommend it to others.

Four Reasons to Practice Social Media Marketing

Why bother exploring social media as a marketing channel for your website or business? After all, you could stick to link exchanges, search advertising or the purchase of banner and editorial ads on relevant sites.

Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:

1. It’s natural. Not only do you get natural links without any discernible pattern, your website is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
2. It’s defensible. Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
3. It’s low-cost/high returns. If done by yourself, costs are limited to only time and perhaps the expenses involved in hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will often exceed the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links; social media has the ability to give you that for free.
4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.

So How Does Social Media Help Me to Make Money?

It doesn’t. At least not directly. Every site or business that wants to expand and become profitable, needs a core group of supporters who will be willing to make purchases or recommend the site to others. Your site needs to perpetuate itself.

The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your site. Social media marketing is an excellent way to get people to come into your site to take a look at at what you have to offer. You will grow when there are a group of loyal visitors ready to always act upon what you have to offer.

Because social media websites can be leveraged for links and better search rankings, they can greatly increase your site’s income potential. For example, you will be able to price ads higher or generate revenue from any paid business models.

Why Bloggers Should Learn How to Use Social Media

There are many ways to build a popular blog and many methods to promote your website. For example, you can start leaving comments regularly on many high traffic blogs in your niche or perhaps, consider guest posting on other bigger blogs.

My marketing strategy for blogs is very simple. I don’t comment actively, hold contests or write guest posts. I’ve never done any of that for any blog I’ve ever set up. Some people might enjoy doing it but its just a little too tedious for me.

What I do instead is strategic. I focus on creating just one excellent blog post, which I will then push through social media sites and email pitches to other bloggers. This is straightforward and I don’t have to run around many blogs putting up my URL and thinking of something insightful to say.

Think about it. Why write 50 guest posts for 50 different blogs when you can easily just write one article and get an equal amount of links and greater traffic through the use of social media? Guest posting builds relationships but I reckon there are many more powerful ways to network with others.

It isn’t just about creating articles and then promoting them on social sites as an afterthought. It’s about putting social media in the center of your marketing strategy, optimizing your site or content and making it an attention magnet.

Social Media and It’s Potential for Your Site: An Example

I recently launched a new blog a months ago and took around 20 hours to create a feature article. I subsequently promoted it on various social websites through my own influencer profiles. I also sent out emails to large sites in the same niche.

The article eventually got to the Digg, del.icio.us and Reddit frontpage and received over 140+ reviews on StumbleUpon. It accumulated well over 800 unique links, including some from very heavily trafficked websites. Some of them alone sent more traffic than the frontpage of del.icio.us.

The article is more than a month old and it is still receiving incoming links. Subscribers are up by over 800% and I received around 12K pageviews everyday for the first month. Bear in mind this is only a one month old site.

While not every article in every niche will receive the same amount of attention or success, this illustrates the great potential of social media. I’ve become a firm believer in having a solid social media strategy for every website I develop. It is important for success on every level, even for sites that are already popular.

Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing: An Article Series

Social media marketing is not difficult at all. It is something every one can do with some effort and knowledge. It isn’t some secret art form that only experts can master. Unlike other skills, social media has a remarkably low barrier of entry. Everyone is invited to the party. No one is excluded.

I know how social media works. I know what type of content/bait works for different websites. I know what type of marketing strategy to adopt for a high possibility of success. This knowledge is something you can acquire yourself too.

Now that I’ve illustrated the value of social media, a step by step introduction to social media websites and the appropriate marketing strategies to adopt is in order. I plan to start an article series on DIY social media marketing, to teach absolute beginners and bloggers/webmasters what they need to do for social media success.

Some of the advanced social media strategies I have in mind might not be appropriate for a large audience as they can be extremely intricate; unless you’re an active user of the site, it probably isn’t something you’ll appreciate reading about.

I might consider setting up some private newsletters or forums for these advanced tactics, so those who are serious about learning about them can opt-in and we can discuss them away from the public arena. More details later on.

I’m quite sure most of you will find this article series useful so if you have any specific topics you want to see addressed, feel free to drop your query in the comments.

doshdosh.com

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Что такое Twitter? И что говорит популярность Twitter’а о текущем состоянии в технологической отрасли. Ведь, не будем забывать, что он является самым обсуждаемым веб-проектом, начиная с февраля этого года (а может и раньше).

Я сижу в приемной офиса Twitter в Сан-Франциско, общаясь при этом с 31-летним CEO самого быстроразвивающегося веб-стартапа последних лет, Джеком Дорси, когда некоторое чувство дежавю настигает меня. Юный предприниматель, неформальная обстановка – я уже был здесь не так давно, когда в 2005 году Марк Цукерберг показывал мне свой Facebook, объясняя всю важность его проекта.

Это было в Пало-Альто. А годом позднее Чад Харли и Стив Чен рассказывали мне про YouTube. Сегодня обе компании являются настоящими гигантами, которые должны уже в ближайшее время озолотить своих хозяев (Цукерберг по-прежнему возглавляет Facebook, а YouTube уже продан Google – оба проекта пока еще до конца не внедрили систему монетизации).

И вот я снова здесь, слушаю очередного молодого предпринимателя, который старается как можно больше говорить про свой проект, совсем чуть-чуть времени посвящая тому, как он планирует зарабатывать с Twitter.

Я смотрю на Дорси, больше похожего на какого-то музыканта из Beattles, чем на предпринимателя и спрашиваю о том, когда же, наконец, Twitter начнет приносить прибыль. Он достаточно лаконичен: «Когда придет время. Сейчас мы получили достаточно средств (22 миллиона долларов), чтобы спокойно развиваться, дожидаясь того момента. У нас еще есть время, чтобы поэкспериментировать».

Пожалуй, это бывает только в ИТ-бизнесе, когда компания появляется на свет, не осознавая, как она будет зарабатывать деньги. Мы видели уже множество примеров таких компаний, среди которых Google, FaceBook, YouTube и другие. С другой стороны – подобные компании внушают оптимизм, доказывая, что мир еще не лишился настоящих новаторов. А текущий бум интернет-стартапов только способствует тому, что мы можем выделить среди кучки обычных проектов настоящую звезду.

Что это такое?

Twitter – это сайт, подаривший миру такое понятие, как микроблоггинг. Это отличное место для общения между людьми, посредством коротких текстовых сообщений, которые могут быть автоматически переадресованы на мобильный телефон обладателя аккаунта на Twitter средствами SMS-сообщений. При этом можно добавлять других пользователей Twitter себе в друзья, благодаря чему вы сможете видеть все их сообщения в одном месте, и даже переговариваться между ними этими же короткими сообщениями, адресованными кому-то лично (правда, это не мешает другим пользователям читать их).
 

Для использования Twitter нужно завести на сайте личный аккаунт, выбрав себе уникальное имя пользователя – после чего вы сможете свободно писать свои сообщения. При этом стоит понимать, что максимальный размер изображения составляет 140 символов. Создатели Twitter называют появление новых сообщений в аккаунте каждого пользователя обновлениями, в то время как сами юзеры предпочитают этому слово «tweets» («начирикать»). Twitter – это Facebook для тех, у кого действительно нет времени.

По описанию простому человеку будет очень сложно понять, что же такое этот самый Twitter. Здесь, как и в большинстве случаев, когда дело касается Web 2.0, нужно попробовать самому, чтобы понять, о чем идет речь.

Согласно данным comScore, за июнь Twitter посетило более 3 миллионов человек. А это в три раза больше, чем в ноябре 2007 года. Тогда общественность восторгалась первым миллионом участников этой сети. Впрочем, эти показатели не говорят нам о том, сколько реально людей пользуется Twitter, так как comScore не учитывает тех пользователей, которые используют мобильный телефон для работы с Twitter.

Twitter сегодня является еще и маркетинговым инструментом, который используют многочисленные корпорации и политики. Например, у Барака Обамы более 50 тысяч последователей на Twitter. CNN распространяет краткие анонсы новостей через Twitter, а авиакомпания JetBlue расписания ближайших рейсов.

Что внутри?

В компании Twitter ко всему подходят с юмором. Так, когда сайт бывает недоступен некоторое время из-за технических проблем, на его главной странице появляется изображение кита, которого поднимают в небо несколько птичек (логотип Twitter). В компании считают, что лучше уж смеяться, чем паниковать и кричать, что ресурс «в дауне».  

Инвестор Twitter Фред Уилсон говорит, что блоги были началом информационного бума в сети. Twitter является его продолжением, позволяя сообщать всю необходимую информацию в сжатых объемах. Это феноменально. Twitter способствует настоящим информационным взрывам.

Дорси создал этот сайт в 2006 году, как один из проектов, принадлежащих компании Odeo (уже не существует), которой управлял Эван Уильямс (создатель сети Blogger, которую позднее выкупил вездесущий Google). В итоге, в 2007 году Дорси, Вильямс и еще один бывший представитель Odeo основали Twitter. Во главе компании встал автор идеи.
 

Сегодня Twitter является не только одним из самых популярных и быстроразвивающихся интернет-стартапов. Проект образовал вокруг себя целую инфраструктуру. Многие независимые разработчики выпускают сторонние приложения, которые позволяют людям взаимодействовать с самой популярной сетью для микроблоггинга. Например, пользователи компьютеров Macintosh могут работать с ней при помощи замечательного приложения Twitteriffic.

Однако, у создателей Twitter есть ответы далеко не на все вопросы. В частности, они до сих пор не знают, как будут зарабатывать деньги со своего ресурса. Ни основатели, ни инвесторы, вкладывающие в проект миллионы долларов. Не так давно Twitter приобрел другой молодой стартап под названием Summize. Многие считают, что эта сделка напрямую касалась будущей модели монетизации Twitter. Возможно, что уже скоро мы узнаем некоторые подробности по этому поводу.

Если же говорить про проект Submmize, то это обычная поисковая машина, предназначенная для сервиса Twitter. С ее помощью можно увидеть комментарии других людей к интересующим вас темам. Например, можно ввести в поисковое поле слово «Темный рыцарь» или «iPhone» и получить комментарии пользователей сети, содержащие эти слова (и мнение о фильме и коммуникаторе, соответственно). Возможно, что Twitter просто будет показывать контекстную рекламу, сродни той, что транслирует на своих страницах крупнейший поисковик мира Google.

Кроме того, можно предположить, что Twitter мог бы брать деньги за позиции в выдаче. Например, если создатели фильма «Темный рыцарь» хотят, чтобы по соответствующему запросу людям сначала показывали их информацию.

Сегодня Twitter является еще и настоящим инструментом влияния на мысли других людей. Например, известный блоггер Майкр Аррингтон имеет 22 тысячи последователей, которые читают его короткие сообщения. Очевидно, что он достаточно быстро может запустить какой-либо флэшмоб или молву через Twitter.

Впрочем, пока CEO Twitter Джек Дорси не намерен сообщать общественности о том, как они намерены зарабатывать с проекта. Какие-то идеи у них явно есть. Возможно, что над ними уже работают. Но торопиться с внедрением никто не будет. Сам проект важнее всего. Важна его целостность, удобство пользователей, и их желание быть участниками Twitter.

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