Neil Patel has a great post “Get Stumbled Through Friends” which talks about starting a group of friends to, in a somewhat organized fashion, “look out for each other.”
Meaning, you post and vote for my stuff, I’ll do the same for you.
Why is this not gaming the system?
Why is it not spamming?
Because it is natural. I am not talking about hiring a squad of data entry people from India to go nuts on all your stuff. That is gaming the system in a big way and people are trying it, but there’s a difference between tricking an algorithm and tricking real humans.
It is very difficult to successfully game a Web 2.0 system precisely because real people, millions of them, are in charge of content now and they will nail you to the wall for trying to artificially bump your numbers.
Is it artificial to have a group dedicated to helping each other out?
Not at all. They won’t make THAT much difference in the first place. A couple votes here and there will simply get you in front of some other folks and then your content has to rock their world as well or it will die off.
But having a group of like-minded content submission and voting friends isn’t new. We do this all the time at ASC with our group with great success.
It’s all natural, no gaming and no spamming.
Here’s what you are doing:
1) You are vowing to your “buzz group” to look at their stuff FIRST and vote/submit it first before you go off helping strangers promote their content.
2) They are vowing to do the same for you and together you are more powerful than individuals.
Isn’t it natural to follow the content and progress of friends, associates, and partners?
Yes. That’s how social marketing and news sites work. You build a following. In this case you bring your following with you and build from there.
Everyone does it from the biggest sites on the web to the smallest.
All it takes is an agreement and a promise to stick with it.
I vote up and submit friends all the time and they do the same for me. And it is as much from liking my content as it is to scratch my back.
So build your social marketing buzz group and reap the rewards only friends can bring!
Don't
Miss Out On Free Traffic!
Subscribe to the FTR RSS feed
or our
email list so you don't miss out on real, traffic driving tips from Jack
Humphrey! You can also and Follow Me on Twitter! Thanks for visiting!
Related Friday Traffic Report Posts - Marketing As If Your Life Depended On It! The number one surefire way to be a success with your online business. You’ve surely heard stories of miracle feats of accomplishment and even brute strength by ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Little old ladies lifting cars off of trapped loved ones. Ordinary people achieving fortune and......
- World Internet Real Estate Development (WIRED) On The Rise! Content Site Building Is On The Rise! People are Cashing IN and Cashing OUT with online real estate... A neat thing is happening on the web. Sort of an e-renaissance in a sense. A small but hardy and professional group of internet niche site publishers is picking up on the......
Related Websites -
how to pay less income tax Taxes. It's that day - the day the bloodthirsty government takes its pound of flesh out of you to pay for the programs and causes we (as a people) have voted for, again and again. Medicare, Social Security, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and before that, the Cold...... - Blog Consultants Empty Cabin Media Review I was turned on to Empty Cabin Media by a great blogger Larry who runs Gather Little by Little. Larrry has, significant experience starting, growing and optimizing blogs and web-sites on the internet. I’m also an IT manager and prior to that was a software architect, designer and developer. I’m......
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Jack, I see your point on the ethics of this strategy.
However, I believe the main issue here should be how biased the votes are within these groups of Friends.
The fact that I’m interested in a certain subject or even liked one of my friend’s articles doesn’t mean I’ll like everything he/she publishes.
If every member of the group ONLY gives a “positive vote” to his/her friends’ stuff when he/she truly feels like it, then I think it’s ok. Otherwise, I think it’s still a subtle way to game the system.
Then again, I may be wrong. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
Yes, people should only stumble what they like. There is no group in existence today that I know of that forces people to vote no matter what.
Of course no one WOULD know about such a group because it would be shut down and every URL the group was associated with banned from all the social sites.
This is why no one is made to vote for anything - no one CAN be made to vote for anything that they don’t like.
But having a group of people who ban together to read each other’s stuff before anyone else’s is nothing more than what Oprah does with her book club.
She’s NEVER been accused of “gaming” the New York Times best seller list even though she’s responsible for putting hundreds of books on it single handedly with her reading club.
Totally agree with you Jack.
I have certain people that I follow, and I always check their stuff first. Does it mean that I stumble EVERYTHING that they submit? …uh No, but it does mean that I try to stumble or plug or whatever things that are of interest to me. And I hope my friends and followers would do the same.
I also try and expand my circle or community and find new blogs all the time with stuff that interests me, and I try to help them out too!