Yesterday Forbes ran a piece applauding the Chia Pet-like growth of StumbleUpon. According to all the Internet whiz kids and numbers crunchers, StumbleUpon surpassed Facebook as the No.1 source for social media traffic in the U.S. The website hunting service accounted for a full 43 percent of U.S. social media traffic on January 1st, while Facebook accounted for 38 percent. This is big news for sure, but how can the average small business beef up its presence on StumbleUpon?
Since StumbleUpon is really a social bookmarking site, striking it rich in here can pay off big-time as you can potentially reach millions. And like Facebook, Twitter and even Las Vegas, your odds of winning at StumbleUpon increase the more you play. StumbleUpon is social, so the easiest way to get play is to be social (duh). Follow sites on StumbleUpon that your clients would like and pass on content you are interested in. You can always see who has checked out your profile so you always know who to follow back on StumbleUpon. Interact with followers and friends like you do on Twitter and over time you’ll see results.
The other powerful thing about StumbleUpon is that it runs on recommendations. Not only can users recommend content to one another, they also can recommend their own content. Contributing your blog posts to StumbleUpon truly throws your hat in the ring. By recommending and thumbing through content and following more users, your content gets more recommendations and more users. It’s a social media version of the circle of life. Yet the easiest way to increase your StumbleUpon juju is to simply tell people you’re on StumbleUpon (duh part deux). Obviously lots and lots of folks are using the site, so it might be helpful to add an “SU” badge to your blog and website. Also, don’t forget to cross-promote SU on Facebook and other social media sites.
Will StumbleUpon continue to blossom and be a true social media giant? Can SU really help you? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
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