Social Bookmarking 101
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING. You might have heard the buzz, but wouldn’t it be great if you knew how to use social bookmarking to flood your blog with more web traffic then you could possibly handle? I’m not saying I know all the tricks, but here’s a few tips that might help you get there a little faster without wasting time.
And if you’ve ever wondered about social bookmarking and how to get started then this post is for you. I’ll break everything down into easy little steps. But I think there’s a little something here for the experts too. A few original thoughts mixed with conventional marketing wisdom. So let’s get rolling with step one.
Pick Social Bookmarking Content That Will Flood Your Nerve Center Or Blog With Hundreds Of Hungry Visitors…
Torrential Topics. Nothing will flood your website with traffic faster than a timely topic. With that said, you should spend most of your time picking and writing about topics that are already popular on social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, And Reddit.
Hungry Headlines. You know how hard it is to stand out online. Everyday, someone is writing a half dozen new articles and blog posts and this makes it almost impossible to stand out from the crowd. Knowing this, there’s few skills that will get you more web traffic than the ability to write headlines.
Pithy Descriptions. When you submit a link on a social bookmarking site you’ll most likely be asked to describe the content. Don’t brush this off. It means the world to your results. You want to be as concise but powerful. It’s basically a summary.
Unquestionable Quality. A good way to pick content worth sharing is to put it through a quick copywriting checklist. Here’s where all your writing skills come in handy because you can judge the quality of the headlines, lead paragraph, and basically predict the results you’re gonna get ahead of time when you share a link. Any decent copywriting checklist will do. Here’s a checklist I use to pick the best articles on BetterNetworker.com
But here’s how to get your content shared…
How To Get Complete Strangers To Share Your Content With The Entire Universe Without Spending A Wooden Nickel
Time. The day of the week or even time of day can really make a huge difference in how well your links do. And while I don’t have any specific suggestions for every site. You should be aware of this. When in doubt, test and measure your results.
Buttons. This is huge. If you want your content shared then you really need to download a plug-in that puts the little social media buttons on the bottom of every blog post you write. You can find one by using the search option if you have a Wordpress blog. It will be under the “plug-ins” menu and all you have to do is type in “social bookmarking” to see what your options are.
Seal the deal. Even with these buttons on your site you should still ask your readers to share your content. This is what’s called a “call to action”. It’s just a little paragraph or sentence where you ask you readers to act or do you a small favor.
Tagging. Whether you’re blogging or bookmarking, the categories you put your links in can have a gigantic impact on your results. Make sure you share you links in the right category. And double check your blog tags to make sure they’re accurate too.
Profiles. Your profile is your home on social bookmarking sites. So spend a lot of time filling out every little detail and section they ask for. If they give you room then tell your full story. It lets your new social media friends know who you are. Invites them into your life.
Writing. If you want your readers to share your content then you have to impress them with high quality content that they’d love to share with their friends. Remember, you’re whole reputation on a social bookmarking site comes down to the content you share. So all copywriting tips apply. Make sure the posts you share are easy to read. Double check your spelling and so on.
Give and Take. As you probably know, a big part of social bookmarking is sharing other peoples links. If you think you can spam yours all over the place then you won’t last long on these sites. Social bookmarkers are like spam nazis, and they aren’t afraid to kick you to the curb.
How To Get Started With Social Bookmarking
#1 – Specialize. I have to tell you, there’s so many sites out there that there is simply no way you can master them all and still keep running your business on a daily basis. So the best advice I have here is this. Specialize. Pick one social bookmarking site and get real good at using it to drive crazy amounts of traffic.
#2 – Read the rules. This is a biggie, before you share a single link on your chosen site you really should read the rules of the community. It’s like a forum. If you post some things they can ban you for life. Which would really suck if you start to get good at this.
#3 – Take your time. Anything worthwhile is worth doing well. So there’s no need to rush in to social bookmarking and slap up a bunch of links. Start with one and work your way up. Read one tiny section of the site a day.
Break It Into Chunks
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got for learning new technology was this. Stop, breathe, look around at all the little buttons and take them one at a time. Anything is easy when you break it into tiny chunks.
Prepare To Meet Thy Traffic…
And capture that traffic. I know this is a little funny, but some people spend hundreds of hours on these sites driving insane amounts of traffic for free and they don’t do anything with it at all.
So have a plan, if you’re trying to send traffic to your “nerve center” or blog then make sure you have your “marketing funnel” set up to capture e-mails and names.
How Not To Explode Your Website or Blog
The Digg effect. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the “Digg Effect” but it can wipe out your site in half a minute. You see, Digg News gets so much traffic that once your articles is voted up the average web host can’t handle the extra visitors and crashes.
Now, this is pretty cool, but if you start to get real good at social bookmarking you might have to upgrade your webhosting for extra bandwidth. By then you should be getting so many leads that you’re laughing all the way to the bank anyway. So you’ll be happy to pay it out.
I have to confess, that just about sucks me dry for social bookmarking tips today, but if you’re already an old pro at this I’d love to hear from you below. Share a few of you “secrets”. I’m sure my friends would be grateful. 
Or if you’re new to this whole thing (and there’s no shame in that) I’d like to invite you on a special “recon mission” right now. Here it is.
Special Ops Training Exercise:
I thought it would be really neat if we took this time to visit a new social bookmarking site and see what it’s all about first hand. But be sure to take it slow.
Here’s the steps.
1) Create one profile on a popular social bookmarking site today. If you want to get started then look for the social media buttons below. I’ll also share a list of links. Take it slow. You don’t have to share anything today. Just set up your profile.
2) Fill out all the details on your profile. Because people like to communicate with real human beings not robots. Let your new social bookmarking friends know you have feelings too by sharing your personality.
And if you’re ready to go…
3) Pick one (just one) piece of content to share. If you want, get started by reading some of the popular headlines on your social bookmarking site and find something similar to share. You could always share something about social media bookmarking because almost everyone there is interested… that’s why they’re there.
Like today’s post. *wink wink.
Here’s a few social bookmarking links to get started:
Don’t get stressed out by this huge collection of social bookmarking links. There’s a lot of links here, but to get started, pick one and take it really slow. It’s the best way to learn.
Some social bookmarking sites are better for certain types of content. So over time you’ll probably move to one that suits your style.
Digg.com http://digg.com/
Reddit.com http://www.reddit.com/
StumbleUpon.com http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Technoratti.com http://technorati.com/
Delicious.com http://delicious.com/
Sphinn.com http://sphinn.com/
Propeller.com http://www.propeller.com/
Blinklist.com http://www.blinklist.com/
Right now, it’s all about taking that first little step.
To your success,
Jason The “Better Networker”
P.S. For Social Bookmarking Pros: If you’re already on a social bookmarking site then I’d love to hear a few of your tips or tricks. I think a lot of my friends would love to hear them too. So feel free to leave a comment today. And thank you for your leadership.
11 Comments
E. Marie on November 16th, 2009
Jason, good piece.
The link you use to pick the best articles on BetterNetworker.com is broken, can you please supply it. I’d love to see it.
Thanks!
[Reply]
November 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Hey, thanks E. Marie
Sure thing. The link should be working now.
And I hope you find that checklist useful.
Again, thanks for letting me know. Much
appreciated.
[Reply]
Adam Goldman on November 16th, 2009
Hey J! Great article my man, just had to tweet it
I have an article about social bookmarking as well – Would love to hear you comments !
NetworkMarketingGuild.com
[Reply]
November 17th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Hey Adam,
I love it. Hilarious too. I
was wondering what the
world the picture had to do
with it till I read the rest.
But you make a good point.
Very cool. Thank you.
[Reply]
AhsanShankar on November 20th, 2009
Nice article and thanks for sharing here
[Reply]
November 20th, 2009 at 10:23 am
And thank you for stopping by.
I’m glad you like.
[Reply]
Some Network Marketers Have All The Luck…Network Marketing Business Blog on January 21st, 2010
[...] Have you played around with social bookmarking yet? If not, here’s an article you might enjoy: Social Bookmarking 101. Of course, you might [...]
Keith D Shrock on January 22nd, 2010
You can broadcast a message to your e-mail list asking them to “Digg” (pick your best network) your latest post. Or you can work with a syndication team of, let’s say Betternetworkers, on each others posts. All you need is 5-15 “Diggs” to prime the pump — if it’s good content — it will take off.
[Reply]
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:04 am
Hey Keith,
Awesome advice man.
I think people will really “digg” this.
But I like your ideas on priming the pump.
[Reply]
Jason,
Great Post. One thing I would add and yep, not too many people know about this one. When you sign up for the social bookmarking sites it is a good idea to use the titletag of your website as your user name.
The Page Rank of the sites you are bookmarking on have a huge impact and how your content will rank as well.
For those of you who don’t now, there is a difference between “nofollow” and “do follow” links. The nofollow link does not pass the Google Pagerank to the links on it’s page where the do follow does.
In other words, these are the best use of your time.
1. Folkd (PR7)
2. Oneview (German) (PR7)
3. Spurl (PR6)
4. Feedmarker (PR6) – Feedmarker now charges $50.00 to create an account.
5. LinkaGoGo (PR5)
6. SpotBack (PR5)
7. Connectedy (PR5)
8. Blinklist (PR5)
9. MyLinkVault (PR4)
10. A1 Webmarks (PR4)
11. OYAX (PR4)
12. Pixelmo (PR4)
13. TeDigo (PR2)
14. MyPIP (PR3)
15. SyncOne (PR3)
Cheers
[Reply]
November 16th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Wow Josh.
That’s a killer tip. I hope people
take your advice to heart. I’ve been to
your blog a few times and you really
have your business together. I think
A lot of people could learn from you.
And thanks for leaving a tip. It sets a
great example for other pros too.
[Reply]