Colin Klinkert Dot Com

What Else Can You Do To Become a Pro?

In a previous blog post, I spoke of taking advantage of the great resource StumbleUpon and the different types of marketing that some of the most popular Social Media Networks are looking for.

We discussed that if you are going to Digg, your posts need to appeal to the general masses, but StumbleUpon really likes the individual niches and specialty markets

So, lets go into today what you can do to make sure your posts get online.

• Instead of having a link round up on a weekly basis, change it to a weekly themed-resource list.

• News is great for Reddit and Digg, they love this kind of stuff, but if you are going for StumbleUpon, you need to focus on content that is not time related, something that is just as beneficial to the reader in 6 months from now as it would be today.

• If you have a post that needs to be in context with time, then it probably won’t get picked up by SU.

• You can make your posts short, but you need to have some good content, utilize some great tips and advice to help your readers.
• Remember, when you have a new reader, you need to sell your content right from the beginning. You want something that will help them right from the beginning. You will not keep their attention with a prologue of 500 words or more, they will give up and move on to the next one. Stumble Upon will be bored, uninterested and pass you by. Make your posts clear from the very beginning.

• Keep it simple, but leave the personal stuff out. Your personal stories may be interesting to your loyal readers, but to a brand new reader, they won’t really care.

When you are trying to get your blog noticed by Stumble Upon, don’t waste your time on the things that won’t interest them, but use the tips that will grab their attention, and you will see your traffic numbers soar.

Please Write your Review and Stumble My Blog HERE – Thank You

What can you do to become a pro-blogger?

Well, you need to get a lot of traffic to your blog.

And now you thinking….’I already know that, but HOW am I going to do it? I have some trade secrets to let you in on. By using these trade secrets, you too, can become a pro blogger.

Today, you are going to learn some great tricks of the trade to grab the attention of StumbleUpon, and use their platform to set your blog on fire. These tips and tricks will get you anywhere from the hundreds up to the thousands of StumbleUpon visitors each day.

StumbleUpon does lean toward some niches more than others, and you need to use this to work for your advantage. You will find that StumbleUpon can be one of the greatest viral marketing tool out there. So here are some tips:

• If you do have a niche that is lacking in the mass appeal, StumbleUpon will be a great boost for you where the others won’t. Digg uses a broad forum which keeps their power from weakening in traffic. StumbleUpon works a bit differently by creating more specific categories, providing a more targeted audience.

• Write posts that appeal to the particular social media, if you go for the general appeal, you are going to lose your followers. For instance, Del.icio.us likes anything that their users prefer, Digg likes the appeal of the masses. You have to have content that is going to get thousands of hits, or you won’t become a pro-blogger.

• When you are writing for StumbleUpon, you don’t need to worry about pleasing the masses, matter of fact, you benefit more by sticking with your niche, yes, even your small ones, and this will bring you some highly targeted traffic.

• So, write your content for your niche, not for the general public. By doing this, you will increase your chances to your post will be submitted to receive more traffic in a more specific category.

In another blog, I will go into the types of posts you should and should not be making. I will go into the types of content and the things you can do to make your blog more appealing to StumbleUpon.

Please Write your Review and Stumble My Blog HERE – Thank You

What Do I Mean By Scannable Content?

Did you know that only 16% of people on the internet actually read each word, and….the typical reader comprehends about 60% of it? So, this in a nutshell, should tell you why it’s vital to your success to make your blog content scannable.

You are writing a blog to effectively communicate with your readers. Let’s take a look at your style and find out if your blog is easy to read.

What are some of the main things a reader is looking for?

They are looking for words or phrases, pictures and/or visual cues along with powerful headings.

Reading text from a screen is actually harder on the eyes than reading from a paper source. By making your scannable blog content, you will be inviting more to read your blog without ever asking them to.

How Do You Know If Your Blog is Scannable?

Do a simple test; have a friend who has not seen your site, take a look at your most recent blog posts. After about 30 seconds, at the end of each post, ask them what they had read, what was the message of the post? You will instantly have a send of how interactive your blog content is.

There are a few techniques you should keep in mind as you write, which will make your blog scannable and easy to read:

• Visual - Pictures are an important factor in attracting the reader. According to research, pictures will draw the readers’ eyes down the page. The key is to place your pictures in the area of content they represent, drawing attention to the keywords in your blog. If you have good visuals, the chance of them reading the full content is much higher.
• Formatting Your Text – You can make your text eye-catching by using CAPITALS, underlining, bold, italics, and different fonts to get their attention. Don’t go crazy with this, it can cause a bit of frustration if overdone. Also, make your font color, size and style easy to read, drawing attention to your key points.
• Bullet Points – Readers love bullets and lists, easy to read, and the information is to the point.
• Headings – Use large words in bold that can be a visual cue to the blog content, sub-headings are also helpful.
• Quotes – If you have quotes or key points, place [boxes around them].
• Keep the Ideas Brief - Keeping the information short and simple will allow you to keep their attention. By bringing in too many points, the reader can become overwhelmed with too much information.

The goal is to make great blog content that is scannable, if you don’t, you may lose your reader to another blog, one that is easy to read.

Has my blog been easy to read so far?

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