Do you stumble? When I come across a blog post that speaks to me, gives a great tip or recipe I don’t want to forget, or is simply something I think others should read, I stumble it.
StumbleUpon is an Internet community that allows its users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos. It is a personalized recommendation engine which uses peer and social-networking principles. (via Wikipedia)
I don’t know all the ins and outs of StumbleUpon, and therefore probably don’t get as much out of it as I should, but I do know a few things:
- With one click I can Stumble a post and have it bookmarked for future reference.
- StumbleUpon drives traffic to blogs. When I stumble someone’s post, I am complimenting them and promoting their blog. It feels good!
- When I see a spike in my traffic, it is often due to someone(s) Stumbling a post of mine. In my toolbar, I can look up who stumbled it and get to know my readers.
- I’ve set up a little community of like-minded friends on StumbleUpon. I can go to their Stumble page to see what they’ve been reading and enjoying. Don’t want to miss anything!
- Stumbling is super easy if you download the toolbar. To Stumble a post, just click on the “thumbs up” sign. To see who has Stumbled a post, click on the conversation bubble.
StumbleUpon is my go-to tool for bookmarking posts I want to keep handy, and complimenting those who wrote them. Works for me!
If you don’t stumble, what is your favorite method of bookmarking and promoting blog posts?
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I love Stumble, although I’m still trying to figure it all out. Like, how on Earth do you figure out who Stumbled with the toolbar?! I must know!
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Amy Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
@Phoebe @ Cents to Get Debt Free, Go to one of your posts that you know has been stumbled. Click on the title (permalink.) Then look at your stumble bar. See the white conversation bubble just to the left of “info”? Click that. Should show you who stumbled the post.
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For a while I was trying to do the Stumble thing. Then I forget about it. I am glad you wrote this post. It will prompt me to get back into it. I like how you put it. It’s a way to compliment a blogger. I like that! Thanks, Amy!
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
@Lisa@blessedwithgrace, The Stumble toolbar is key. Without it, I would NEVER remember to stumble a post!
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GASP! A comment from a “famous” blogger! Thanks for stopping by my new blog and leaving a comment! I am going to be posting soon about the Mommy Come Home Series. Loved it!!! Is there a way to get the Mommy Come Home Series button on my blog?
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Amy Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
@Jennifer, You are too funny. I’m flattered.
To get my MCH button, just save it as a picture and then upload it on your site. Thanks for writing about it!
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Thanks for the into to StumbleUpon. I haven’t done it, but it sounds great. I don’t have a good system for bookmarking. I wonder if it helps you organize the pages that you’ve bookmarked?
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:25 pm
@Greta @ Mom Living Healthy, That is the one downfall. I’ve heard that you can organize the posts with “tags” but I haven’t figured that out yet…
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Ok I just signed up for Stumbleupon. Thanks for the heads up! i think I will be a stumbling fool for a while!
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It’s been so long since I signed into my Stumbleupon account… it was becoming a major time suck and I decided I needed to step away *L*
These days I use delicious which is dual purpose. Saves the sites I like (and I can use tags to sort) and puts them out there in the world too.
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
@mub, I haven’t tried delicious. Sounds very similar.
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The first time someone linked to a page on my website, I had a month’s worth of people show up on my site in a day! It was amazing!
I had people link to my site on delicious as well.
It’s always a pleasure to have people link to me and bring me more traffic!
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
@The Prudent Homemaker, Isn’t it great?! Such a fun surprise when I go check my stats.
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Ok, I am now laughing that I haven’t been pushing the thumbs up when I have been stumbling people. I downloaded the tool bar but was cliking the Stumble icon. Do you think it was working?
I stumbled this.
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:30 pm
@Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, I see you on my stumble toolbar, so whatever you did worked! All I’ve ever done is click “thumbs up”. When I click “stumble” it takes me to a random webpage, I assume based on my “preferences.” Hmmm… guess I’m still pretty clueless.
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SU is fun! I find some really neat things that way!
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I have an account but haven’t actually done anything since I wasn’t sure how it worked.
Now to get my computer back so I can start.
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I think I signed up for it? LOL!
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
@Sherry, LOL. Did you download the toolbar? That will make stumbling so much easier!
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Hmmm… Think I need to get into this StumbleUpon stuff too! Trying to get more traffic on my blog and other posts! This might help! Thanks!
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I was curious about this, but also intimidated. Doesn’t sound so hard after all. Thanks for breaking it down for me!
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I don’t use StumbleUpon, but I love your philosophy that it’s like complimenting someone. I do use Twitter and Facebook – and, occasionally, I use Kirtsy – but it’s so hard to find time for all of the social media tools.
That said, I do love your idea of promoting the posts of other bloggers. I do that primarily through my Tuesday Tours column, but perhaps I should brainstorm other ways to do that as well…
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Yes, I do stumble but had no clue about the white bubble. Learn something new every day. Thanks!
By the way, I stumbled this post.
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Amy Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for the stumble!
Have you had a chance to check the bubble? Fun, huh?
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