Coming up with interesting stuff to write about is one of the ongoing challenges for bloggers. A blog is only useful if it is regularly updated, and is targeted to the group of readers you're most interested in.
I'm not just talking about those of us obsessed with our own little realm of interest - in this case, real estate. This applies whether you're writing for an Active Rain blog or one focusing on dog training or politics or bird watching.
Stumbleupon (SU) is an interesting way to find ideas. SU is also a good way to generate a quick hit of traffic to your own blog posts.
Anybody who has used Stumbleupon knows it can generate gobs of traffic in big bursts. You do a Stumpleupon review of a page (one of your blog posts, for example) and that page is then likely to get a serious spike of traffic for at least a day. That's because other Stumblers will hit onto your site if they are interested in that general category. In the end it may not be very useful, but it's good for the ego, and at least it gets eyeballs looking at your material.
But I'm not really talking about the traffic building potential of Stumbleupon. I'm talking about its ability to show you many different websites in your areas of interest. Those websites can in turn provide lots of fodder for blog posts.
As you may know when you use Stumbleupon you establish a pattern of viewing and reviewing, and then you are presented with pages about those things as you "stumble" along. You click the "Stumble" button (you need the Stumbleupon tool bar to do it properly), and you're presented with web pages in your areas of interest.
For instance, one of my areas of interest is guitar playing. There are some fantastic guitar playing websites out there and most of the ones I've found have been through SU.
Another interest I have is political philosophy. And believe it or not, there are actually some very interesting philosophy websites out there. I don't think I would have taken the time to find or look at any of them if it weren't for SU. As it is, it's one source of ideas for my own philosopy blog.
To get back to my point... If you're a blogger, enter your preferences into Stumbleupon, and then Stumble on a regular basis. You won't have a shortage of on-topic things to write about ever again.
Rick, I had never heard about SU until your post. I will have to check it out!! :) My pastor is a philosophy professor during the week. Everyone adores him...He and his wife are lots of fun. Have a wonderful week!
Rick - I love StumbleUpon, although it's been awhile since I've used it. This is a terrific use of the tool!
Rick, I haven't used StumbleUpon. It sounds interesting -- so I will definitely check it out.
Hi all, Glad you found this a useful tip.
Sonja - It sounds like your pastor is just another fun-loving, witty and great-to-be-around philosopher ;)
Thanks Rick, never heard of this but will surely be checking it out...