Like I have said in the past, there is no such thing as bad traffic, only bad content, or bad marketers.

But the real power of social media driven linkbait comes from those long term naturally given, organic links with some juicy anchor text thrown in. No, you wont get anchor text like “cheap mortgages”, but you will get a keyword in the anchor text, like “How Cheap Mortgages drove one guy into the arms of the Hells Angels.”

Only word of warning I’d throw out is how easy it is to algorithmically detect and correct manipulation of links & search results via social marketing. That wouldn’t matter for those tying that new flow of traffic into some way of building a list, or those who have a ton of quality content on the site and are just trying to get exposure.

However, for those who want to use it as a one-off technique to blow up traffic or top search results, just know there are no (okay, very few…) shortcuts.

If I’m wrong on that Lyndon, correct me. I’ll make sure we have an option priced in for our clients to use your services – well worth it.

It’s not surprising the amount of users you ‘stumble’ across that only have 1 or 2 posts to their names and guess what, they’re self promoting ones! Seems like a lot of people join and then fall away before getting started.

I too, have the time and the client base to learn my way through Social Media, but when I’ve miss-stepped, I tend to turn to somebody like you, dude. Nice work

I haven’t ever got into blogging, although I did write some articles earlier this year. One got heavily stumbled and sent as much traffic in one day as I usually get from G in 1/2 weeks, about 2,000 hits. Other than all the links that provided, I didn’t get much else from it.

Do you use social media as more of a branding tool than to increase incoming links?

You definitely have developed a strong reputation among social media users ( especially StumbleUpon in my opinion). I find that social media becomes more enjoyable as I get to know the nuances better. I guess that’s because some success comes with it.

It’s not East Enders, it’s all the other things bloggers and site owners need to do – generate content, design, coding, seo… Adding Digg on top – a huge investment in time for undetermined gain – is a lot. Which I guess is good for social media consultants like you.

Oh absolutely–and I tend to rely on gut instinct most of the time, in the relatively short time I’ve been doing it. I also think that certain personality types are naturally predisposed to being good at it–go to any topical forum on the web, and I would be willing to bet that the most influential top contributors are either INFPs, enneagram Fours, or both. The Shakespeares of the internet. ;)

But I work at an agency, and we’re big on process. Plus process, at least a bare-bones version of it, it an essential in client relations. Process caj close the deal–results keep the client. :)

Thoughtful and evocative. Thanks for another great post and reasoning.

“My point is, these social media destinations are very hard to crack in the sense of understanding the nuances and the culture. It is very hard sometimes to understand why one story on digg got buried and one did not. The more time you spend at such places the better you understand. Problem is, do you have that time available to you?”

Totally True.

I definitely think social media marketing is an art rather than a science. You have to get a feel for it.

Do you document your testing? Have a preferred format for documenting what works and what doesn’t? (Not asking what it is, I know that’d be proprietary–just wondering if you have found something that works for you.)

I’m a right-brained poet type, m’self, so it’s really hard for me to tap that left brain and actually document my experiments–but in my experience, that’s what makes you able to extract a repeatable process out of testing.

Anyway… just rambling at this point.

Nice list of questions at the end as well – questions like those can be invaluable for people looking at social media (insert specific site name here) and evaluating the opportunity costs, expectations and potential.

Also, it’s important to question why you want to know your way around digg. I use digg as the example because it’s the big bad boy of the moment.

Question:
Why do you want be able to make stories go front page?
Are you set up to take advantage of what a front page digg can bring?
Do you have a social marketing strategy that fits into your overall strategy?
How is social media going to help you make money.
Is there a wrong way to use social media?
Is online networking really online notworking?

There’s a typo at the end of your post, when you write:

“Contact my now at…”

Nice post though.