Stumbling
Posted on August 22, 2008 - Filed Under Writing/Blogging
I’d like to just take a moment to thank the wonderful person(s) who Stumbled my post about the coupons. It definitely generated a flurry of interest over here and I do appreciate it. Thank you so very much. I really do think that things like Stumbling and linking to posts are great ways to recognize posts that you enjoy and I can think of no easier, nicer, free way to give recognition to my blog buddies.
Many of you may have seen me comment that I liked a post so much I felt it should be Stumbled. If you then received a lot of hits on the post, it may have had something to do with the Stumble. So what exactly is Stumbling all about? Well, my friend Bobby Revell actually did a great post about it so I will not reinvent the wheel but direct you to his post instead. Bobby added more tips in another post here. He is sooo much better at explaining things than I am - probably because he understands them better. 
Fortunately, I don’t have to know how it works to know that it works or how to use it.
My quick version with my limited understanding is this: When you join StumbleUpon, you are joining a social network, just like you do when you register your first blog . However, StumbleUpon lets you quickly and easily alert others to posts you find worth reading. You can have a StumbleUpon Toolbar added to your browser like I do in Firefox. When I see a post I really like or think others with enjoy or benefit from reading, I first make sure I’m on the actual page for that post and not the main blog and then I just hit the “thumbs up” icon in my toolbar. Then, I am presented with a screen that allows me to put a little description of the post and choose whether or not the post is adult in nature (Memarie Lane also helped me learn about StumbleUpon by informing me that you should always select the option that the site is NOT adult in nature unless the post is pornographic because it will end up being tagged that way). So I add a one or two line description, and check that it is not adult in nature. Next, simply press the Submit button.
This will tip off other StumbleUpon users about the post and will bring more people to it. It can even increase traffic at your own site because if people tend to like things that you find interesting, they are bound to also want to visit your site as well. Trust me, one little Stumble can make a big difference traffic-wise at your blog and that is why I use it when I see a post I especially like. Don’t Stumble every post you see or you may lose your StumbleUpon followers and your Stumbles may lose their impact. Choose posts that you find well-written, especially humorous, or that you think should be shared for whatever reason. Give it a short but interesting description, give it a Stumble, and you’ll be rewarding the writer of that post with more views.
So thanks again to whoever felt my post was worth the Stumble. I am truly touched. 
I’d give you flowers if I could.
Popularity: 39% [?]
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18 Responses to “Stumbling”
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Wow. Sounds complicated. And a little misleading. If they are assisting you in stumbling on to a site, can it truly be called stumbling onto it?
I’m gonna change your name to Devil’s Advocate you little troublemaker!
LOL. Really, there is more to StumbleUpon than what I talked about - there is the whole interface where you can press the StumbleUpon button on your toolbar and it will “Stumble” you through to a post that other people have found Stumble worthy. You can just keep hitting that button and continue to “Stumble Upon” great post after great post that have already been reviewed by others. That’s where you get a lot of hits from - it’s so much easier than I make it sound though. It has to be, because I’m using it so that kinda proves that, right there! 
WOW! I cant even figure out this blooging thing barely dont make me figure out another site too
StumbleUpon is one of the most enjoyable ways to waste time that I’ve found.
It’s incredibly easy- you basically click a thumbs up or thumbs down if you visit a website (and want to)…there are lots of other things that you can do (build communities, make friends etc), but I mainly use it for those nights when everyone’s asleep, I’m bored, and want to see something different. It’s not difficult at ALL.
Thanks, Jen! Somehow I ended up managing to make it sound hard! LOL.
i have not used ever. i don’t know why, i’m always busy catching up on my blogroll. so thanks for the information, i’ll give it a shot.
I hope you enjoy it if you try it, Odette. It really isn’t as hard as I made it sound.
It was me: http://memarielane.com/2008/07/15/stumbleupon-101/
Thanks so much for reminding me, Marie - I admit my memory is awful about some things. I’m going to update my post with your info!
So how do you know if someone has stumbled upon your blog? What are the tell tale signs?
Well, I use WordPress and in my admin panel I can see where referrals are coming from. Generally, the first clue is a higher than normal number of views, then I check the referrals and there will be a whole bunch coming in from StumbleUpon. When I looked at my hits yesterday, I had a normal amount on my latest post but an unusually large amount on the Coupon post which was older so I knew something was going on. I looked at the admin board and had 82 hits at that time just from StumbleUpon on that one post.
You should get that plug-in that displays a line of Social Network Icons on each post like I have on my site.
It’s called Social Bookmarks. It’s customizable to your liking allowing you to choose what networks you wish to display.
It makes it easier for your readers to bookmark your posts.
You can test it out on my site if ya’ want.
I have that! I have that! Wait, can’t you see it at the bottom of my posts where is says if you like this post to click some of the icons to share it with ohters?
Stumbleupon is the only “social bookmark” thing I use and I don’t use it for bookmarks. I just “stumble” to see what — or who — comes up.
— skedaddle on stumbleupon
I just made sure you were in my “friends.”
Just blog and enjoy yourself. Everything will follow. The idea is to have fun! Please do.
Okay, so far, so good!
If you want to see all the people that have stumbled your post, you can install the StumbleUpon toolbar in Firefox. Then, visit your page, click the little comment icon, and it will show you who stumbled it.
Hey! Where were you earlier? I just figured that out for the first time by accident earlier today!
I was “stumbledupon” a little while ago.
I looked at my stat counter and said, “WTF?”
It was nice while it lasted.
~m
It does make a nice difference even if it is temporary. At least you get more exposure and some people may become regulars. I see many more stumbled posts in your future though!
That sounds cool. I will have to try it. I’m always looking for good stuff to read. It will probably take me forever to figure it out like it did wordpress but I will try. I’m up for anything new. Good Find!!
If I can do it, I bet anyone can do it so don’t let anything stop you, Joan!
I added you to my friends list…, now all you have to do to stay there is visit stumbleupon at least once every two months. I regularly go through my friends list every so often and delete those who haven’t been active for two months. The reason I do this is to keep from adding more “ghost friends.” These are apparently people whose accounts have been deleted for nonactivity, but were deleted everywhere. I’ve got 9 of them — which means I’m actually limited to 191 friends instead of 200. It’s one of those bugs they can’t seem to figure out, though at one time I had over 20 “ghost friends.”
Wow. I had no idea about ghost friends. LOL. I definitely don’t want to be one of those so I will try to remember to visit at least once every two months. I should be able to handle that. Thanks for all the helpful info, Mike.
“were deleted” was intended to say “were not deleted.”
Gotcha!
Thanks for explaining what “Stumbling” is … I never had any clue! I’m still a bit confused, but not sure I have time for “another” thing that could potentially eat into my workday … I am bad enough now with my forum and blogs and Facebook, ROFL!!!
I totally understand about not taking on anything new, Hannah. It can really get overwhelming and time-consuming. Sometimes I don’t do much reading through StumbleUpon because of time constraints, but I mostly use it for Stumbling other people’s posts and that doesn’t take any time at all, just a click of a button! But I’m not pressuring anyone, just letting you know it’s out there!
wow! thanks for all of the info! I had seen that mentioned but had not taken the time to actually look into it! now i know…
It really is a simple tool to use and once you see the results of what a stumbled post can do for your blog, it’s exhilirating and something you want to share with your friends.
I stumbled your blog one time(cannot remember when..lol)
I should look back and see..
I adore stumble upon!
The sites are always so interesting and I value people’s opinion on other sites that I have found.
I will look for you there(forgot I could add you to my friends there too!)
Thanks so much for that stumble, Merri! I am just now finding out that I can actually find out who stumbled me. I really am a slow learner. I think I spend too much time commenting on blogs to learn new things quickly. LOL.
It must have been that they are semi-invisible that I didn’t notice. Mine are very visible.
LOL. Mine are kinda small but I need lots of room for my long-winded posts so I can’t afford too much space for other things. LOL.