Monthly Archives: April 2007

Stroking the Ego of an “A-List” Blogger

Posted on April 27, 2007 by Erin Falconer

Jason Calacanis, A-List blogger and founder of Weblogs Inc. (the company behind the enormously popular Engadget) has written a post stating some general rules for link baiting him. Follow these rules, he says, and he’s very likely to link back to you.

Basically he expects people to stroke his ego a bit before bashing his usually controversial opinions. He recommends citing his past accomplishments, mentioning his bulldog, or displaying attractive pictures of him before he gained weight. Continue reading →

Why Believe the Simple Truth When Lies are more Appealing?

Posted on April 25, 2007 by Erin Falconer

An SNL video has been circulating the interwebs called Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford. The title basically says it all: an expert explains the most important rule of personal finance — spend less than you earn.

The funny part is that the people listening to the pitch don’t want to believe it. They’re dying for the finance guru to tell them how to buy everything they want right now.
Continue reading →

New Design is up and running

Posted on April 21, 2007 by Erin Falconer

I’ve just gone live with a new design. If you’re reading through a feed reader come check it out.

The basic structure of the site is the same, but I’ve upgraded the presentation to reduce wasted space and make it easier on the eyes.

Please let me know if anything looks broken. I’ve tested it a bit, but not for all platforms. I’d also love to hear any other feedback on usability or presentation. I’ll continue to tweak it for the next few weeks until it’s the best it can be. Continue reading →

StumbleUpon revokes Top Stumbler status for submitting pages from Digg and Reddit

Posted on April 20, 2007 by Erin Falconer

Well, the StumbleUpon community has read my post on how to become a top user and started discussing my tactics.

Also, I’ve been taken off the Top Stumbler page. I haven’t received a notice but I’m inclined to believe the events are connected. It will be interesting to see how my StumbleUpon traffic is affected. Continue reading →

Is there anything we can do about violence?

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Erin Falconer

On Sunday afternoon I went with a couple friends to see the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature, GrindHouse. Although it isn’t Tarantino’s best work it did not disappoint. By that I mean that it was phenomenally edgy and violent. During … Continue reading →

Use Social Media Arbitrage to Drive Traffic with StumbleUpon

Posted on April 18, 2007 by Erin Falconer

Everyone knows social media sites like Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon can drive massive amounts of traffic to your website. IF you can get on the front page.

The problem is that most submissions drop like an anvil through the new queue without getting more than one or two votes.

I can’t tell you how to become a power user on Digg or Reddit. I’ve had some luck with those sites but no consistent success, and I have a feeling it takes more effort and social networking than most webmasters want to do.
Continue reading →