Tips to Get Started with StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a thriving website with many strategic uses for artists and bloggers. Finding inspiration is easy among the infinite content found here.

You’ll need to decide how you want to use StumbleUpon, and I’m going to give you some help getting started.
First things first, set up a complete profile using your real name so that people can find you and your content. Make sure that you share your new StumbleUpon profile on your blog and everywhere else so that people can find you.

 StumbleUpon’s recent upgrade created a more beautiful and organized environment. The drop-down menu from their name/logo on the left of the screen has the About section, blogs and other goodies and on the right side under your photo/name are view profile, add a page, settings, help and sign-out.
StumbleUpon is about random discovery of things from all over the internet, they select what you see by the content that you select and what you give the StumbleUpon thumb up. You have the option of following Interests (these are topics like keywords), Stumblers, Lists or Channels. I’ve focused mainly on Interests for my content and have never been disappointed while Stumbling.

Pick five interests to start with and set these up so you have targeted content to view.
What makes a great stumble? There are wonderful tips from the StumbleUpon blog on what content is most shared on StumbleUpon.
For a great Stumble, think: 

1. Visually interesting
2. Creative
3. Inspirational
4. Intriguing
5. Content can truly go viral on StumbleUpon with thousand and tens of thousands of views!

This post has 15K views to date:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPzZ__JdlYk
An unwritten rule for success on StumbleUpon, as with all social media channels, is to not share only your own content. You’ll want to share content that you like from other’s websites to gain momentum or Stumble mojo as I like to call it.
For your own blog, keep these same tips in mind when you are writing a post. Always use a large, interesting photos with your article and work in other visuals if it’s appropriate to your content and audience. You want your content to be able to be shared easily on StumbleUpon and Pinterest. Make sure that you have a StumbleUpon share button available on your website. I love Shareaholic’s sexy bookmarks on my WordPress blog.
A wise tip is to be careful to focus your activities with StumbleUpon if you are working this into your social media or blogging efforts. Stumbleupon is fantastic but can draw your attention with shiny new things to click on so make sure when you are adding content you are efficient. Plan other times to browse and be inspired by StumbleUpon when you have it in your schedule.

Round up of StumbleUpon tips:

1. Set up and share your profile
2. Use large, interesting visuals on your blog so it stands out on StumbleUpon
3. Make it easy for readers to share your content on Stumble with share buttons
4. Plan time to Stumble for work (your blog, content curation) and play (inspiration and fun)

Quick tips

Load the mobile apps — they have them for iPhone/iPad, Android, NOOK and Kindle

Bookmark the StumbleBar and check out the other goodies here

More about StumbleUpon and content curation here: Maximizing StumbleUpon for your Content Sharing Strategy

I hope this gives you a few ideas to try on StumbleUpon that are not only fun but will be helpful and bring some new traffic to your website. What has your experience been with StumbleUpon? Do you have any questions on how to use it?
Guest author: Peggy Fitzpatrick  is a positive vibe producer, a social media butterfly and connector. She is a talented blogger and Managing Partner of 12 Most and the Host of My Book Club. 
*****
Thanks Peg! I truly appreciate your generosity and friendship. Thank you for sharing such helpful SU tips with us here. ~Lori 🙂
(*So let’s meet on StumbleUpon too! Also, here I am on Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, and join in the fun at Fine Art Tips Facebook Fan Page! Please checkout my art too LoriMcNee.com, or find me on Instagram lorimcneeartist.)