CornerScribe

Make the most of Entrecard and StumbleUpon

Networking

Originally uploaded by paal

If you’re on Entrecard and have participated in the Stumble Exchanges, you’ve no doubt noticed that those have been shut down in the forums. You’re probably also wondering what you’ll do to promote your site now. Along those lines, I have a couple of suggestions.

1. Install the StumbleUpon toolbar if you haven’t already.
2. As you drop entrecards, which you’re doing anyway, take a moment to stumble posts that you like.
3. While you’re there, leave a comment and let the blogger know that you stumbled them. Give them your StumbleUpon username so they can make you a friend if they like.

I know, you’re asking “How does this help me?” You may be wondering how you’re going to get your reciprocal stumbles, right?

First off, stop stressing about reciprocal stumbles.

If you take time to stumble other bloggers and comment on their blogs, you will get reciprocal stumbles and comments. Will it be 100 percent? Of course not. You’ll get some, however, and as you continue, your traffic will grow.

You’ll also benefit by participating on StumbleUpon and recommending GOOD sites that other stumblers will appreciate as well. That will increase the authority of your profile, making sites that you recommend benefit more and more. You’ll attract friends and fans, and those people will be more likely to read your blog and stumble you.

Finally, let me make my position clear, as a disclaimer of sorts. I haven’t been participating lately in the exchanges on Entrecard for a couple of reasons. I became uncomfortable with the notion that everyone was “owed” a 1 to 1 stumble exchange. People were asked not to participate, called names, etc. when they didn’t reciprocate, or fully reciprocate. Users often double-checked to be sure everyone gave them their stumbles, a complete waste of time, in my opinion.

The real issue though is the integrity of your own profile on StumbleUpon. You build authority on the site by your stumbles, so giving a thumbs up or a review to a low quality site hurts you and doesn’t help the site either.

Let’s say you thumbs up a site that’s of poor quality. It enters StumbleUpon and immediately starts getting negative reviews. The site you’ve stumbled doesn’t really benefit, and your profile takes a hit as other stumble users disagree with your review.

I think it’s perfectly acceptable to participate in stumble exchanges as long as they are a bit “looser” than what we’ve been seeing on Entrecard. For example, I have several users on StumbleUpon that are friends, and I sometimes check their posts and review those I like. In return, they do the same for me.

I don’t feel compelled to ever give a positive review if I don’t feel it’s warranted, and I don’t want anyone else to feel they “owe” me a stumble unless they think the post is good.

I know this is a touchy subject, but feel free to leave your comments below.