The One True Cause of Rapidfire Growth

Feb 29, 2008

The One True Cause of Rapidfire Growth
by Skellie

The secret to rapidfire growth
Photo by millicent_bystander

Repeated and huge torrents of social media traffic over many months.

That’s it.

Think about the blogs you’ve observed grow from zero to many thousands of subscribers in a relatively short period of time.

Zen Habits has been on the front page of Digg 82 times.

Freelance Switch, 18 times.

Copyblogger, 22 times (but is now on the auto-bury list).

Dosh Dosh has never made the front page of Digg, but it eats StumbleUpon alive every day.

Here’s the truth about how they did it.

They focused their efforts on one social media service, rather than them all.
They wrote 90 - 95% of content with that service in mind.
They refined and practiced the art of writing content which did extremely well on their chosen service.
They repeated formulas which worked in the past.
In at least two cases: the blogger became friends with at least one power user on their chosen service and occasionally co-ordinated publishing and submission of articles by the power-user to ensure they got to cast the first vote.
In one case: became a power-user on the service they targeted.
Provided a call for action: directly asked readers for votes on their chosen service, in post.
In at least three cases: swapped votes with a network of friends and contacts.

And that’s the truth of most rapidfire growth strategies. All of these things are carried out in public, I’ve never observed any secrecy about them and, as far as I’m aware, none of the strategies above contravene any terms of use. Most of you (and myself included) will be participating in some of these strategies on a small scale already. It’s simply a matter of taking things a step further.

Anyone could do the above. Most people don’t. If you want rapidfire growth, almost guaranteed, follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned blogs. If you can’t write for Digg or StumbleUpon, hire someone who can. In a few months, your blog will probably have paid for them many times over.

Now that you know what’s required, are you going to do it?

I try to write value-packed articles for my target audience, and they tend to do well on StumbleUpon, but the networking, means to an end stuff bores me and makes me feel uneasy in more than small doses. Does that mean it’s boring? No — just that it bores me. I like to write the best content I can and see what happens. If I could escape the feeling that mobilizing social media traffic is not what I want to be doing, I’d no doubt be enjoying a lot more traffic than I currently am. But that doesn’t mean you should follow in my footsteps.

I’m not going to teach much on the ‘hows’ of this stuff much because it’s not a lot of what I do, but if you truly want a lot of subscribers in a relatively short time, it’s a near fool-proof strategy if you can get all the pieces to fall into place.

If you blog in a niche without widespread appeal (i.e., local issues, knitting), focus your efforts on StumbleUpon.

If your niche has widespread appeal (i.e., fitness, happiness), focus your efforts on Digg and del.icio.us.

If you write a lot of news, focus on Reddit and Digg.

Despite my partial aversion to social media networking, I’m starting to wonder if the significant rewards outweigh the hard work and dubious feelings involved. If it truly meant getting thousands of subscribers, would you put aside your uneasiness and try to implement each part of the strategy?

By all accounts and observations, these methods do translate into rapidfire growth. And I don’t think the above strategies are news to you — in fact, I want to suggest that you’ve probably known about them for a while.

So why aren’t you doing them yet?

That’s not a challenge. I’m genuinely curious to know. Despite our love of reading about booming social media success, what is it that stops us taking action on it, when the blueprint is right in front of us?

The truth: it feels like cheating. It sounds too good to be true.

But is it cheating if it’s the new rules of the game?

And how can it be too good to be true if it’s the core machine behind the success of so many popular blogs we know and love?

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45 Comments, Comment or Ping

Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

I think about these questions a lot, too. There’s a lot of info online that essentially amounts to gaming these services, but in the long run you won’t get any traction with those methods. I do some of the techniques you describe above, and they work.

My take on this has been that if you can’t bother to be a real and genuine participant in the social network, then don’t bother. What limits that is interest and time. You can only spend so many hours in a day, so what will you spend them on?

I despise Facebook, so I don’t use it. I really enjoy StumbleUpon and LinkedIn, so I’m active on both of those. I’ve been hired through LinkedIn and I get crazy traffic from StumbleUpon. I wouldn’t call it rapidfire, but more like a slow burn that will reach a critical mass (if you will forgive me for mxing my metaphors).

If anyone thinks they are just going to “use” these services as self-promotion tools, they will get smacked down by other users. You have to be a real member of the community. It’s that whole thing about giving, which both you and I have written about before, Skellie (although you are a much better writer than I am). If you be a friend and pay it forward, and don’t think about rewards, rewards will come of their own accord.

Feb 29th, 2008
Anthony Lawrence

Well, you certainly know how I feel about it and why: that “swapped votes with a network of friends and contacts.” stuff really bothers me.

I’ve removed all “social media” style links from my site in protest: no more “Digg this”, “Add to Technorati” etc. I built and still build my traffic honestly: no begging, no trading. I can’t ever be a “super site” anyway because of the limited audience for my focus, but even if my site was more “general interest” I would NOT engage in this kind of stuff because to me it’s cheap and bordering on shady.

Now yes, that’s a bit extreme and I know it. The vast majority of ultra popular sites still would have been popular if they ignored social media entirely - these games may have ramped them up more quickly, but they still deserve their fame. But just the same, it bothers me.. it’s just not something I could do and face myself in the mirror every morning.

So, that’s why I don’t. If that doesn’t bother you (a generic “you”) as it bothers me, I cannot imagine why you wouldn’t. What other reason could there be? Laziness??

Feb 29th, 2008
Warren

In my experience with social bookmarking, it is the most obtuse topics that get the most attention. My two articles that have gotten major attention on social sites are:

http://www.zenproblog.com/2008/22-benefits-of-owning-a-business-and-why-you-should-do-it/
-and-
http://www.zenproblog.com/2007/10-methods-to-release-after-a-long-day-week-or-lifetime-of-work/

Both are very generic. If I wrote in these terms all the time I would never get visitors to turn to subscribers. My current readers want really useful content.

It is hard to balance but I have gained more subscribers with less visitors since starting out. Social sites brings a lot of traffic in but they don’t stick as well as organic search traffic or links from other sites.

Feb 29th, 2008
Evan

Because once every one learns the new way to game the system it stops working.

So, to all those out there who love my posts, please stumble them. But only if you love them. Otherwise the social media sites will just be full of crap and people will stop using them.

Feb 29th, 2008
Mary Jaksch I GoodlifeZen

I agree with you, Skellie - I’m happy to use social media to a certain extent but there is a part of me that remains skeptical. For example, I’m not really interested in taking a lot of time to make ‘friends’ on StumbleUpon or other social media. I’m a fan of making real, deep friendships that endure because there is intimacy and trust. On social media sites you make ‘friends’ by simply clicking a button.

The difference between real friends and virtual friends is like the difference between a picture of a yummy meal and the same meal steaming on your table.

My main way of growing my blog slowly but surely is to provide great content. That’s satisfying for blogger and reader!

Feb 29th, 2008
Lin

I’m a big fan of stumbleupon and my articles do well on SU. I must admit that I have not yet spent much time at all browsing through del.icio.us. to see what it is all about. Perhaps I need to look further into it.

I’m not real interested in Digg just because the majority of the ~~crap~~ stuff found there is about celebrities and news, neither of which interests me in the least.

There are numerous low-end/newly lauched social media sites that occasionally bring in some traffic and comments, but overall…StumbleUpon has done the most good for my blog.

Having had some of my posts given a thumbs up by “widely known” bloggers has also brought huge traffic surges, and that has been accomplished by taking the time to build relationships and friendships with them on a more personal level. StumbleUpon has been my primary focus and it’s getting better by the day, but I’ll definitely look into del.icio.us. and see how that goes.

Feb 29th, 2008
CatherineL

Skellie - Your advice is excellent. I kept away from Social Networks - partly because my young kids love them and I thought I’d feel out of place.

Then I took your advice about writing a long resource post. But, I still didn’t join a network. But, what I didn’t know - and it took me a long while to figure out was this. An online friend of mine who’s blog I visit often is a top stumbler and he had stumbled that post. I really had no idea he did social networking at all.

So, I joined StumbleUpon, after working my way through all of your posts and taking onboard your great advice. And I have to say - your advice really rocks. Everything you say works.

PS: Anthony - I’m tired of hearing your whinging. You’re a miserable tosser and Skellie is not generic - she’s a star.

Feb 29th, 2008
Rudy

As I commented on Tony Lawrence’s blog, the problem with StumbleUpon is that people hardly ever “thumbs down” a site, except when it’s offensive.

Also, from my observation, I think StumbleUpon is also very lenient with who gets into the stumble rotation - which is pretty much anything with at least 2 thumbs up. I observed this with one of my Dilbert Widget article. Traffic would trickle in for a couple of days after 2 thumbs up. Then it pours in after I thumbs it up myself.

It also pours when someone takes the time to type in a “review” for it.

Feb 29th, 2008
yungchin

Thanks for this post. I guess I just don’t feel comfortable with online “social networking”. All these sites kind of abuse the term “friends”… a silly objection, I know.
(Also, most real-life friends should really not become SU friends: their favorites would bore me to death and vice versa :))
So anyway, I always feel a bit alienated when I browse social networking websites. But if I would blog for a living, I’d certainly follow your advice without hesitating.

Feb 29th, 2008
skellie

Thanks for the comments everyone — it’s been quite fascinating to see the different ways people conceive of and interact with social media.

@ Mary Jaksch: I have actually never met one of my dearest friends — we talk exclusively through IM, he lives in Seattle. So I would say that I’m not skeptical of virtual friends, but it certainly is a matter of meeting the right person and being able to experience a mental connection without physical presence.

@ CatherineL: I think by generic “you” Anthony meant people in general, not me, so I don’t take offense. Just a misunderstanding I think.

Feb 29th, 2008
Monika Mundell

Great post and certainly worth digging deeper. When I started out with social networks I joined everything I found only to realize that this wasn’t the best strategy at all.

As a matter of fact I exhausted myself trying to keep abreast on those I felt comfortable using. A few month ago I drastically limited those networks to two or which I’m both fairly active.

I also stopped worrying about getting traffic from these and focused instead of promoting other great posts instead. One of them is SU and is responsible for most of my blog’s traffic.

I’m just trying to be a valid member of the community helping others to be noticed. Other than that I don’t worry about it.

Feb 29th, 2008
Making Sales making Money

Skellie no doubt you are correct , I recently experienced the other side of social media with very negative effects, Posted about it and it got worse. At the end of the day any traffic is good traffic and social media is here to stay. Its a tool embraced by many, despised by others and absolutely abused by a few, but the rewards outweigh the risks in my view

Feb 29th, 2008
Shane

Skellie, there could also be some cultural issues in play here. I have that Australian version to self-promotion and looking pushy or full of myself. Online friends I have State-side don’t seem to have the same problem.

Perhaps this is something similar?

Feb 29th, 2008
Anthony Lawrence

@Catherinel

I have no idea how you could possibly interpret that as an insult to Skellie. I phrased it that way specifically to show that I was NOT talking about Skellie.

Feb 29th, 2008
Trisha

In the past, I’ve had a really tough time with social media. Warren is right, it’s the super generic anyone-can-relate-and-follow kind of stuff that really takes social bookmarking sites by storm.

It is for this reason I purposefully go to the bottom page and work my way backwards to find the best reading - but that’s neither here nor there.

I find it interesting you listed Dosh Dosh as a site with rapid fire growth. Yes, Maki is huge now, but if my memory serves me right, Dosh Dosh has been around for years.

Granted I’m a very “show me the stats” kind of person, but I think it would be quite interesting to see their growth statistics over the course of the blog’s entire lifetime. Perhaps even with AdWord-like functionality (”this date had such and such post, this date marked such post made digg front page, etc).

Ah, but I’m also a pipe dreamer

Feb 29th, 2008
Linda R. Moore

I lasted three days, I think, on Facebook before deactivating my account. I might try something other than Facebook in the future, and there are several niche-specific sites that might work better for what I want to promote (my motorcycle/travel book).

Only now am I starting to investigate StumbleUpon and I admit that I am still finding it hard to figure out. I’ve been online since the early 90s and can figure out most sites, but I’m still rather stumped. I guess I’ll get there eventually. I’d like to get the hang of it as I’d like to move more into writing e-books on non-niche topics.

I’m concentrating on writing good articles that will bring people in the niche back to the site each week, and reaching out to folk in those niches. It’s lovely when someone Stumbles a post: the traffic is remarkable. But I do have a question. I have one of those social media plugins that I think largely gets ignored. Do you think it is a better idea to lose that widget and simply ask, on my best posts, for the Stumbles?

Feb 29th, 2008
skellie

@ Shane: It’s possible. I think culture in the U.S. is much more welcoming of public displays of self-confidence whereas in Australia it’s generally expected that you should be self-deprecating and do things the ‘battler’ way. Sometimes option A makes things a lot easier, but I kind of like that aspect of Aussie culture :).

Feb 29th, 2008
Lani

I’m laughing at the Aussie-culture issue. I have that same aversion myself. Thumbing up my own work just isn’t something I’m comfortable doing, even when I’ve written something i’m very proud of.

As for why I don’t use those strategies… I’m happy with my blogs growing “organically” and they have been. I use SU occasionally, and my online network of friends uses it as well, so occasionally I get a spike from that. But I can’t even imagine including a “call for action” in post. Perhaps I’m an idealist, but my work can stand or fall on its own merit. And time invested in social media strategies is time away from my work.

It just isn’t a priority.

Feb 29th, 2008
CatherineL

Hi Anthony - I see - you are quite right. When you choose to insult people in general, it is their responsibility to make sure they don’t misunderstand what you’re saying.

Sorry - I called you a tosser. You’re obviously not one.

Feb 29th, 2008
Joanna Young

Hi Skellie

I think it all depends what your purpose and intention is.

I really enjoy StumbleUpon because it’s generous - it sends me lots of traffic, and I enjoy the act of stumbling something that I think is a good read. It’s a way of saying thank you to the person who wrote it.

I wouldn’t do it to game the system for all the reasons listed by your commenters above.

Likewise I enjoy (some elements of) Twitter, because it’s a chance to talk in a more informal way with people, to find some new sites and materials, to feel connected (which is important when you work on your own). But I do it for those reasons, not to promote my blog.

Joanna

Feb 29th, 2008
Anthony Lawrence

@catherinel

Thanks for taking the time to re-read..

I have great respect for Skellie. We disagree now and then, but it’s usually minor stuff. Here, for example, we’re very close: she obviously feels some discomfort with self promotion and trading votes as I do, but I get the impression that she doesn’t think the abuse component is as high as I do. That’s a pretty minor disagreement.

Feb 29th, 2008
Ian Denny

Whatever the reason, we all crave an audience. Even shy people want one, and a big audience at that, because they have the protection of the keyboard and screen in front of them.

But we’re a little bit reluctant to “sleep our way to the top” so to speak. Or would we sleep our way if we didn’t get found out?

I’ve played around with Stumble and can see the potential if you put time into it.

But it would feel more natural if it happened naturally. For now, I’m focusing on using it properly.

I have a very strange niche, and I’m not sure social media is the place to find that audience.

Feb 29th, 2008
plonkee

It’s not just Australians that have an aversion to self-promotion, although I think with Brits it’s almost like we’d prefer to do badly in a really amateurish way than to appear professional at anything. *roll*.

In any case, I’m perfectly happy to help other people out with their social networking, most/all of the people who I network with are people whose work I like anyway. I don’t solicit it myself to the same extent, although I know that I could. And I’m too lazy to actually write for SU (my favourite networking site).

The downside of this is that I’m experiencing linear growth, rather than exponential growth. Not exactly the end of the world.

Feb 29th, 2008
Josh

Thanks, Skellie. Hammering the social networking scene feels like door-to-door salesmanship. I’ve never had the stomach for that. But it may just be a necessary evil. I liken it to the icky feelings you get when you’re on a job search. Survival mandates that you do it. I’ll be employing some of the tactics you outline soon.

Mar 1st, 2008
Anthony Lawrence

Well, oddly enough today I’ve broken my rule. I actually did a post where I *ask* people to go ahead and “Social Media” the post as much as they want.

My reason is that it’s a selfless post. Well, not 100% of course because there is the traffic element, but for years now I have offered free advertising to other Unix, Linux and Mac OSX consultants and although that’s been successful, what the heck: nothing wrong with more success, right?

So, by gum, I’ve become a shameless Social Media beggar.

Well, for today anyway

Mar 1st, 2008
Alda

I’d never even heard of StumbleUpon until a couple of days ago when I read about it here. I was intrigued so I signed up, but haven’t yet quite figured it out … like many people here have alluded to, I don’t have a great deal of time to spend online so between working, maintaining my blog, taking care of family, etc. etc. I don’t have a lot of time to make virtual ‘friends’. That said, I’ve made some delightful and rewarding friendships online, that I do take the time to maintain.

Lots of people here say that SU accounts for a lot of traffic to their blogs - can anyone explain, in just a few words, how that works?

Great post, BTW and very interesting to hear people’s take on social networking.

Mar 1st, 2008
Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

I think to look at it as a tool for self-promotion is a mistake. Join and be a genuine member of the community. Be real. Give to others. Have fun. Share stuff that’s exciting to you, that you love, but don’t think in terms of self-promotion. Think selfless promotion.

Mar 1st, 2008
danae

Hey, good post.

New to blogging, just getting the hang of it - this is all very informative and inspiring.

Yeah, in answer to the question ‘why aren’t you doing it?’ - never knew it was an option. Have been half-heartedly ‘promoting’ my blog via comment streams and finding it all a bit random and a waste of time. I rely more on the obscure nature of my content (try googling ‘bibliomancy’ - my blog is on the page!) and generally blog out of sheer need to get what’s in me ‘out there’… 250 or so people subscribe to my blog (according to my site stats), and I love the idea of having a ‘following’.

I’m not going to tailor my writing purely to fit a model for ’success’, but learning more about how to communicate more clearly and to a wider audience is wonderful.

so thanks for the heads up.

dan

Mar 1st, 2008
mac

From my point of view, articles related to generate money always got the readers attention. A guide on how to do it always got their attention.From stumble to digg you can see that this kind of post frequently got their high vote in it.

Mar 1st, 2008
Preston

My blog is in a very tightly focused niche of modern, green building. I love to use stumbleupon because I can find great articles in this area and the user base is diverse enough to find my site. It’s fun. And I stumble my own articles every now and then, but only if I think it’s the type of thing that will get popular with the readers.

That said, I’ve been involved in groups that collaborate and share ideas (i.e., trade votes) with the purpose of promoting each other’s blogs and content, etc. Most recently, I participated in a non-public group for about a month and half. Matter of fact, this group is full of influential, power users all over the social web. Here’s what I learned:

(1) certain team members are always promoting their stuff and it’s not all that great of quality. They’re never satisfied with their traffic numbers, either.

(2) the payback is not that great. You spend a lot of time thumbing others’ content for little returns in terms of traffic.

(3) it’s better to just network with those bloggers, as opposed to trading thumbs with them. I’m still friends with all the bloggers in that group, but I don’t team up with them to make stuff go popular.

(4) readers that come as a result of social media may not be the right type of readers you’re looking for. As mentioned above, you may be attracting the wrong type of reader for your content.

(5) it really does feel like cheating.

I had to stop doing it because I just didn’t feel right about it. I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with the “new rules,” but I personally have a hard time with it. So what do I do?

Positive votes for content that I truly like only.

Mar 2nd, 2008
David

You are right Skellie, I have know about the power of social networking for a while and have not truly acted on it. I am not really sure how to get the diggs or the stumbles. Why didn’t I think to just simply ask? It is so obvious I guess I overlooked it. I think this is my next step. I need to get out there and do this if I want my blog to grow. I think I have a good one, but I want it to be big. Thanks for the inspiring post Skellie.

Mar 4th, 2008
Mark

This is one of the best posts I’ve read in a while. Honestly, cheers to you for simplifying a topic that’s such a mystery to most newbies.

@ Evan: you make a good point, unfortunately the ‘gaming’ aspects of these things seems to be inevitable, I guess we’ll just have to hope the free market pushes down the junk and allows the quality to rise to the top.

The real beauty of social sites is they allow passionate people to get their message out in a way that would otherwise be nearly impossible.

Thanks for a great post skellie. Keep this in mind when you have worries about self-promotion: your content is excellent, and you do your undiscovered audience a huge disservice by not letting them know you exist!

Mar 4th, 2008
Mark

Come to think of it, I’m kind of annoyed with you for not closing me harder on subscribing to your site other times I’ve been here!

What else have I missed?

Mar 4th, 2008
Andy

Great post as usual and a good perspective on how to grow ones blog. For my blogs “about this site” post, I have referenced your blog as a place for new bloggers to come to! Great info presented in a very easy understand manner.

Mar 4th, 2008
Jeff Jones

Skellie,

I’m an internet marketing newbie and I’m trying to do all I can to increase traffic to my sites.

I use socialmarker to submit to only 4 of them and I always see a rise in traffic afterwards.

True, I don’t see a corresponding rise in sales or subscribers and I’ve heard that from other marketers but I’m happy to take a few more using this method.

Thanks for a quality post,

Jeff

Mar 8th, 2008
raj

On Friday, I published what I thought was one of my most insightful pieces, on a blog I’ve never really launched (so it was unlikely to have been stumbled). But even with 5-6 stumbles, it got a grand total of 56 pageviews over the weekend. And it would not have done well on Digg. Digg has been a downer lately, so finding the most appropriate social media site for your content is crucial.

Mar 11th, 2008
Ralph

An article with deep thought about “social networks” and the success of these.

I will start my own blog in this summer and i think about my blog-strategy. Your points in this article to write only for people and not for “services” is hard, because everybody know “social networks” and “search engines” are important to get new reader for own blog, too. I think, at the begin of own blog somebody need this kind of service to get new readers. After some times the own blog has reputation and readership.

@Skellie: What do you think about?

Apr 20th, 2008
Fight Videos

I do hope that one day my page will appear number 1 in all search engine but heck, I am no Google.Hahaha..no harm in dreaming though..

May 13th, 2008
aldrich

Great post and certainly worth digging deeper.
Granted I’m a very “show me the stats” kind of person, but I think it would be quite interesting to see their growth statistics over the course of the blog’s entire lifetime.

May 20th, 2008
space code

I think that only the big name blogs make it on those social networks. Its kinda hard for the small time bloggers to make it up there, sadly.

May 21st, 2008
rake

Excellent! i keep digging deeper on your post! i really hope i can take a competitive with those expert!

May 21st, 2008