Viral Marketing in the Web 2.0 Era
Sometimes you just get disappointed some days looking at your web stats. You see people just aren’t coming to visit anymore. It’s like a bar owner whose regulars quit coming in for a drink. You recognize it but you just don’t know what to do about it. Your losing readers faster than AOL is losing customers. How can you fix it?
How do you get new readers?
This isn’t a how-to guide or a step by step analysis or anything. It’s not a six and a half step process on how to develop community over at your blog. It’s just what I think works. Let’s lay aside the sleezy pick up lines. Forget about advertising for a minute. How do you find new readers damnit? Why won’t anyone tell me? I sent Kottke an email that went ignored. What’s his secret. I asked Maddox too. No answers. So I went diggin and guess what? It works. For awhile. It got me thinking about how to attract new readers, not just traffic to my site and keep them. Because I know how to get em there once. But how do I get them to stick around and have a conversation? Here’s a few of my favorite places to hang out.
1. Forums
2. Social Bookmarking
3. Chat Rooms
4. Other Blogs
5. Technorati
7. Groups
6. Dirty Bar Bathrooms
I have been noticing that the majority of my new traffic is coming from Dirty Bar Bathrooms. I am not sure who posted my url in there. But I am not complaining. Call it Viral Marketing 2.0 . I think this is truly Kottke, and Maddox’s secret. I am not saying that it works for everyone. But I know one thing it works for me and it could work for you to. Try it. Especially if you live in Boston.
There’s one very easy, and very necessary thing you need to do if you want people to “hang out”—get a recent posts link that shows comments in real-time—as poeple comment, the post they commented on bounces up the list, just like on a forums active topics list.
Nick WIlson said this on November 18, 2005 7:20 pm
Hey Cowboy,
Don’t despair. I just came back twice in one night. I think you should get me to hang out with you. Then the folks who didn’t like you would have someone to talk to.
ME Strauss said this on November 20, 2005 8:57 pm
Hey Cowboy,
And vice versa.
Don’t despair. I just came back twice in one night. I think you should get me to hang out with you. Then the folks who didn’t like you would have someone to talk to.
ME Strauss said this on November 20, 2005 8:58 pm
Looks like you learned how to comment spam too. Everyone loves me. They are just in denial.
liberalcowboy said this on November 20, 2005 9:00 pm
Oh Cowboy,
Of course, they love you. What was I thinking? What I meant was maybe you need a silly girl to play against your tall, dark and handsomeness. Yeah, that’s what I meant.
What do you mean comment spam? This is about how to get readers? That is my suggestion. Still is.:)
ME Strauss said this on November 20, 2005 9:38 pm
I was joking because of the double post.
liberalcowboy said this on November 20, 2005 9:41 pm
Nick,
I was actually thinking about that a lot lately. I agree.
liberalcowboy said this on November 21, 2005 12:47 am