Are you on Twitter? You can follow me here. I just crossed the 100 followers threshold, so I’m pretty excited about that.

What is twitter?

Twitter is a social networking site that allows you to post updates in 140 character blips. Think IM plus social networking, and you’ve more or less got it. With twitter, it’s perfectly acceptable to follow complete strangers while that’s frowned on by other sites.

Ideas for using twitter

I use twitter to post updates for some of my blog posts. It’s also a nice way to jump in to interesting conversations that I run across, and that’s more acceptable on twitter since the conversations are public.

One thing that I don’t see talked about as much with twitter is the value of just following. It’s a great way to get ideas about a topic, see what people are talking about, etc. I’ve gotten good results asking for responses on twitter, so it’s another option besides the traditional blog poll.

I can see other potential uses for twitter. I can see it as an interesting medium for poetry or even ultra short stories. I’m hoping that as more people use it and experiment, other interesting uses will come out.

So, how do you get people to follow you on twitter?

First, go to Twitter search and look for people with interests similar to yours and follow some of them. You’ll start getting their updates in your friends list. Chances are, some of them will follow you in return.

Ask for followers on your blog. That seems so obvious, but it’s all to easy to forget to do the simple things. You might want to put a “follow me” button somewhere on your site, but I’ve had good results writing a quick post just asking people to follow. In fact, I just gained about 15 followers in the last week by doing that and asking for followers on a forum I frequent.

Ask for followers on forums you’re a member of. First though, be sure it’s okay to do so and within the community guidelines. Even if it is, be sure it’s acceptable in the culture of the forum you’re on as well. Otherwise, you could end up doing yourself more harm than good.

You’d be surprised, but explaining what you want and just asking works wonders. I wanted to cross the 100 followers threshold, and I did by simply asking.  So, I’m asking again. I’ve got 102 followers right now, and I’m curious how long it might take to reach 200. Care to help me get there?

writing, blogging, blog, fiction, novel, book, freelance

Self-publish — or Not?

This is an intelligent discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of choosing self-publishing over a traditional route. All too often these discussions degenerate into insults and absolutes that are useless. This discussion is pretty good though.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t consider self-publishing to be vanity publishing. I think some writers do have unrealistic expectations though. I frequently read comments where writers hope that their self-published work will be “discovered” and published traditionally.

Of course, I know that happens from time to time, but how often? Really? For ever book that gets discovered how many hundreds, or thousands, are left unnoticed? If you’re thinking of self-publishing with that hope in mind, I’d think hard about my plans for discovery. You’ll never get discovered unless you do something to get yourself discovered. That may mean getting an internet following, submitting your book to agents/publishers, doing your own marketing, or all or more of those things.

For me, what it boils down to is learning to do my own marketing for the novel. To get the book “out there” and discoverable, I’ll need to get as many people to see it and read it as possible. That means advertising. I know it’s an ugly topic for many writers, but I think it’s unavoidable.

And why am I thinking about this topic again? Well, now that the freelancing project is finished, I’m going to get back to the novel in earnest. Unfortunately, I find that I just don’t have time to balance my freelancing, fiction, blogging, etc. all at once. If I’m busy with one, then one or more of the others suffer. When I figure out how to stop sleeping and eating, I’ll get more done.

I’m catching up on comments, so if you submitted one and it hasn’t popped up yet, it’s probably stuck in my spam filter. I’ll get to it as quickly as I can.

Constant Content

After registering, you’ll submit your work for approval. You can submit content that matches up to a previous request, or you can write whatever you like. After the content is approved, it’s up for sale.

Pros: You can write about what you want and charge what you want. Writers can typically get more from Constant Content than from other sites.

Cons: Your writing skills need to be a bit more polished than other sites might require; otherwise, your content is likely to be rejected. Your content may not sell for quite some time, or ever. In my experience, most of the content sold here will sell for full rights, meaning that the writer gets no byline or credit for the piece. Writers will need to accumulate $50 in earnings before being paid.

Associated Content

Associated Content is similar to Constant Content. Associated Content has different payment categories, some of which pay up-front and others don’t.

Pros: You can get paid something for just about anything you’ve written. Even if they offer no up-front payment, you’ll get paid a small amount for each article based on its page views, so your articles can continue to earn for months or even more. Even better, Associated Content will begin paying you about a week after your first article is bought. Beginning writers will find their work more readily accepted here. Because writers can claim their works publicly, Associated Content also makes a much better portfolio than Constant Content does.

Cons: The pay is pretty low, sometimes only $3-7 per article. Priority is given to content that is unique to the site.

Helium

Helium allows you to post whatever content you want, like Associated Content. However, Helium is unique in that members rate articles, and those ratings determine which articles move to the top of their categories and get the most page views.

Pros: You get paid something for your work, but it may be a small amount since Helium pays a percentage of the advertising revenue the article earns. Helium also has a marketplace where buyers can ask for particular articles, but in my experience there are usually few options there.

Cons: The pay is low. You’ll need to accumulate $25 or more before you get paid.

Suite 101

I can’t speak to the pros and cons of this site since I’m not a member. Unlike the other sites listed here, Suite 101 requires writers to apply to write for them. From that point, they sound a lot like Helium; they pay a percentage of the ad revenue your articles earn.

Xomba is another site that works very much like Helium or Suite 101.  The revenue model for many of these is the same, you earn a share of adsense revenue.

You may be asking, why would I use any of these sites that share their ad revenue when I can write for myself and get all the ad revenue? That’s a good question, and I think it depends on what your ultimate goal is. Writing for your own site will build your blog or website and, over time, increase its traffic. However, you’re likely to earn very little if anything in ad revenue for some time. Sites like Helium can provide you with better initial traffic, and higher earnings. If you’re allowed to put links back to your own site, you can also drive some traffic as well (check the TOS first).

This is what I do. If the content would work well on one of my blogs, that’s where I put it. If it’s an article that I’m interested in writing but that doesn’t fit with my blogs, then I sell it.

Note that I’ve deliberately eliminated sites that pay you to write advertisements and reviews on your own site. Those are a bit of a different animal. I also didn’t include article directories that don’t pay but that drive traffic back to your site. I also didn’t include freelancing sites like elance or guru.  All those are for a future post.

My best advice is to experiment with different sites. Join, write an article or two and see what happens. You may find some easier to work with than others. I tend to post most of my work to Constant Content. If an article doesn’t sell after several weeks, then I might consider placing it on Associated Content or even Helium. In short, try for the biggest payout first, and only later settle for one of the lower paying options.

I tend to use StumbleUpon and Twitter primarily. I try not to bombard by followers/friends with links and posts, but many of them are nice enough to Stumble my posts when I do.

The one thing I recommend about using any social media site is to spend time really socializing and contributing before trying to get something back. Many of the people who frequent these sites are very attuned to what they consider “spamming,” and it’s all too easy to seem like you’re in it just for yourself. Remember, these sites are intended for everyone’s use and enjoyment, not as a marketing tool.

If you’re interested in following me, here are some of my social media identities.

Twitter: cornerscribe

StumbleUpon:  cornerscribe

Ravelry: jkay

Please feel free to leave your identities below, and I’ll reciprocate.

The results… I’m not really sure.

I got about a 4 percent thumbs up rating, which was lower than I’d hoped for. However, since it’s my only campaign, I don’t have anything to compare it to either.

I didn’t promote the campaign other than buy the visits. From time to time I’ll promote my content on twitter, stumbleupon, entrecard, etc. and drive more traffic and stumbles that way. I deliberately chose to not do that in this case because I wanted to see how the post fared all on its own.

I didn’t include images, although I know now that Stumble users tend to prefer posts with them. Next time, I’ll try that.

Next time, I’ll also experiment with putting the same article in multiple categories; I know that that can have a big effect on how well a campaign goes.

If you’re interested in running a StumbleUpon campaign, you’ll pay $5 per 100 visits. Yes, that’s a bit high, but the potential is there for your content to get thumbs-upped and really take off. Here are a couple links you might find helpful.

Problogger gives some advice on advertising using StumbleUpon.

StumbleUpon Alerter is a great little tool that lets you track certain posts and see how many times they’ve been voted up, and by whom. By the way, if you have trouble getting it to run under Windows Vista, right click the shortcut, choose properties, and set it to run as Administrator. That did the trick for me.

Will I be participating? I’m not sure, but I probably will from time to time. Will I promote posts that I feel are of low quality? No. When I run across a submission that I don’t feel that I can thumbs up, I usually try to find something else on the site I feel okay about stumbling.

I’m curious, how does everyone else handle this?

Updated to add:

Million Dollar Challenge has an interesting post about a stumble exchange there. Read through the comments to get a clearer view of how it works, and the potential problems of stumbling sites that aren’t “worth” stumbling. I never thought about one point that was made; if someone stumbles one of my posts that’s a bad one, then it makes visitors less likely to come back and view the good posts that I have.

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.

If you want to make money, then treat your blog like a business, not like a blog.

Some of his points really hit home. I’ve spent most of my time developing content for my blogs and not nearly enough time marketing and promoting. Yep, my traffic numbers show it too. One of my goals this year is to boost traffic, so his article on making money from blogging couldn’t have come at a better time.

Here are some interesting points from the article (but head over and read the whole thing yourself anyway).

• He spends only about 20 percent of his time writing content
• He’s worked on multiple income streams; not all his income comes from ads and affiliates on the blog
• Writing for money is nothing to be ashamed of, and you should avoid those who try to make you feel that it is

Go over, read the article, and make a plan for some things you can do right now to promote your business (blog). Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Write a note to thank your recent commenters
• Participate in online forums
• Send an email to a blogger you read, introducing your site
• Participate in a social networking site that is appropriate to your niche
• Write an article that’s out of your comfort zone; often those are the ones that draw traffic
• Try something unconventional!

List any other ideas you have in the comments below.

In December I had only about 4300 page views. Not very spectacular, is it? In January, that was 10,500. I’m very pleased with that.

I also increased my RSS subscribers from low 20′s to about 30. Right now, it’s 31. RSS subscriptions are very tough to get (and keep), so I’m happy with that as well.

How did I do it?

I did a few things differently to promote the site. I’m not sure which had the greatest effect, but overall things are working well.

• I joined Entrecard. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I was concerned about the quality of traffic. I’m seeing not only more visits, but more subscribers and more commenters. I think it has turned out to be a good choice.
• I participated in a writing contest at Daily Blog Tips. Writing contests are a great traffic builder, especially when the site is as popular as his.
• I ran a contest to increase RSS subscribers. Also, I repeatedly reminded people of the contest and asked them to subscribe.
• I participated in the forums over at Entrecard. Specifically, I participated in stumble exchanges. StumbleUpon is a consistent source of traffic for me anyway, so it makes sense to drive more to the site if possible.

I plan on keeping up the same tactics for this month, minus the contest. I may run some sort of Entrecard contest later this month, but I haven’t decided what it might be.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m participating in Project Wonderful.  I’m ready to begin buying ads there instead of only selling them, and I’m hoping that will boost my traffic as well. If you’re running ads and have a good deal, leave me a comment. I’m shopping for some ad space.

I don’t expect to see another doubling of page views (though it would be nice!). I do want to see a significant increase, maybe to 15000 or better. If anyone has any tips I that have worked well for you, leave them in the comments.

I’m still seeing a good traffic boost from Entrecard. Visitors are also commenting more, which is terrific. Of course, the extra page views will be a good thing for Project Wonderful as well, so the two should work well together.

As a thank you to all those visiting, here’s a list of my top ten card droppers. Keep coming back, and don’t forget to subscribe to my feed!

1. Yimto Affiliate Marketing Blog
2. Shop Dog Diaries
3. Computer Tech News
4. Vigorous Writing
5. My Weight Loss for Life
6. Turnip of Power
7. My Internet Marketing Adventures
8. Bebo Author
9. About Every Little Thing
10. My Sense and Sensibility