The following excerpts are from A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

Copyright 2009 by Deltina Hay. All rights reserved.

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A Social Bookmarking Strategy
The first thing to do is get a good feel for a number of social bookmarking sites. There are some popular sites listed at the end of this chapter and on the resource CD. Choose a couple that represent your interests. If you do not feel inclined to do the research, I recommend starting with Delicious.com, Technorati, and StumbleUpon. Using these three sites should give you a broad reach into the world of social bookmarking. Before you begin using a bookmarking site, it’s important to become familiar with the guidelines. Some sites are much more stringent than others about bookmarking your own sites, or representing a business of any sort. It is best to go forward informed rather than risk getting a reputation for ignoring the rules, or worse, getting banned from a site.

As you develop your social bookmarking strategy, keep in mind that the Social Web is about interacting, sharing, and collaboration—not self promotion. Bookmark, tag, and comment on sites that interest you, and connect with others who share similar interests. You will be amazed at how many people you ultimately reach. There is nothing wrong with
bookmarking your own Web pages or blog posts, as long as the site allows it; just balance those contributions with others.

I know I sound like a broken record on this point, but fill out your profiles completely! You don’t want to go through the trouble of bookmarking a bunch of sites, only to have others not even know how to find your Website if they find your bookmarks engaging enough to click through to your profile.

Create a list of your best key terms to use as tags and use them as often as they apply to the sites you bookmark. Use your best tags within the descriptions you give each of your bookmarked sites as well. Many of the social bookmarking sites have developed social networking characteristics as well. If available, you should join groups that are relevant to your area of expertise or interest, and subscribe to email updates for those groups.

A Crowd-Sourcing Strategy
Crowd-sourced news sites are different from social bookmarking sites in that they focus on sharing news and information about stories, Websites, and blogs, as opposed to sharing bookmarks to Websites or blogs. As a result, you want to use a different strategy for these sites than you would social bookmarking sites.

There are a lot of crowd-sourced news sites out there, so you may want to explore a number of the sites we mention at the end of this chapter in the book or on the resource CD to get a feel for them. You should be able to choose a few sites that are good fits for your message.

As always, fill out your profiles completely so that others can find their way to you easily.

Add some of your more newsworthy blog posts, Web pages, or online press releases to each of your chosen crowd-sourced news sites. Pay close attention to each site’s submission guidelines and do not add information that does not adhere to their guidelines or is not a good fit for the site. When considering whether to add something to one of these sites, ask yourself if it is something you would find newsworthy and if you would naturally share it with others. Just like with social bookmarking sites, be sure to offset your own content by contributing other content as well. You will get a natural following of readers from these sites if you contribute regularly and engage in the conversations that happen around topics of interest. The advantage to this strategy is that you can hone in on your target audience by seeking out and commenting on topics relevant to your product, book, or message.

Many of these sites have also added social networking features, so explore any additional ways the sites may offer to connect, such as groups.

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Beyond strategies for social bookmarking and crowd-sourcing, this chapter also includes real world examples of social bookmarking and crowd-sourcing in action, as well as lists of some popular social bookmarking and crowd-sourcing sites, such as Technorati and StumbleUpon, reddit and Mixx, respectively. The resource CD offers linkable resources and four fillable PDF forms called “Social Bookmarking Strategy,” “Crowd-Sourcing Strategy,” “Social Bookmarking & Crowd-Sourcing Submission Form,” and “Social Bookmarking & Crowd-Sourcing Tracking Form.”

A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

416 Pages, Indexed, Resource CD with fillable forms.

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An optimized foundation is essential to overall success in the Social Web. This series will show you how to achieve it.

Author, publisher, and Web developer Deltina Hay will explain:

• what an RSS feed is, and why you need one
• how to start a blog without breaking your back or the bank
• the basics of social bookmarking and crowd-sourcing
• why you want to share your images and video in media communities
• in which social networking sites you should establish a presence
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Again, these picks are in no particular order. Social Media Power is not affiliated with any of these sites, and we simply provide this list as a courtesy to our readers. The best way to discover your favorites is to visit each site individually. Please note that these sites are for “general” content, and there may be niche sites out there more relevant to your industry. And remember to respect submission guidelines.

Read this post for more information on Crowd-Sourced News Aggregator sites.

Digg

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won’t find editors at Digg — they’re here to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and they’re changing the way people consume information online. Everything on Digg is submitted by their community (that would be you). Once something is submitted, other people see it and Digg what they like best. If your submission rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page for Digg’s millions of visitors to see.

Reddit

Reddit is a source for what’s new and popular online. Vote on links that you like or dislike and help decide what’s popular, or submit your own!

Mixx

With Mixx, you’re in charge. You find it; they’ll Mixx it. Use YourMixx to tailor the content categories, tags, specific users and groups, and they deliver the top-rated content as chosen by you and people who share your interests. So go ahead and whip up your own version of the web. Just tell Mixx how you like it Mixxed and they’ll deliver the best the web has to offer.

NowPublic

NowPublic is a participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. In twelve short months, the company has become one of the fastest growing news organizations with thousands of reporters in over 140 countries. In 2005 NowPublic became a recognized leader in the emerging field of citizen journalism. By harnessing the wisdom of crowds and tapping into the news creating potential of the hundreds of millions of Internet users, bloggers and photography enthusiasts, NowPublic is changing the way news is made and distributed.

Hugg

Hugg is another version of Digg. Hugg is the source for user-submitted green news and provides green news globally.

Propeller

The new Propeller.com is a social news portal programmed by you—the audience! All of the stories on Propeller are submitted and voted on by Propeller’s members. The stories making it to the Home Page are a cross-section of the most popular stories on Propeller as determined by votes and comments from members. And, as a result, the Home Page experience is a diverse news experience that changes often throughout the day, based on the interests of Propeller’s readers.

Fark

Fark.com is a news aggregator and an edited social networking news site. Every day Fark receives 2,000 or so news submissions from its readership.

A couple popular Web-based news aggregators are Google Reader and PageFlakes.

A crowd-sourced news aggregator is a Web-based news aggregator that allows its users to determine the popularity of a news story or blog entry through various types of voting or rating systems. Most of these sites also have certain social aspects, allowing users to connect to others with similar interests.

This system gives news-searchers an alternative to what is served up to them by the regular news aggregators. It offers a way for searchers to see how other people rate stories and what they have to say about them.

You have probably heard of the site Digg.com already. Digg is an example of a crowd-sourced news aggregator since it encourages people to “digg” the stories they like, which will in turn bring the “dugg” stories or blog posts closer to the home page of the site. Each news aggregator site has its own unique twist on this concept.

Adding some of your more news-worthy blog posts, Web pages, or online press releases to these crowd-sourced news aggregators can drive a lot of traffic your way. But pay close attention to each site’s submission guidelines, and don’t add information that does not adhere to their guidelines or is not a good fit for the site. When considering whether to add something to one of these sites, ask yourself if it is something you would find news-worthy, and if you would naturally share it with others.

Here are some of our favorite crowd-sourced news aggregators:

Digg: A place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. All content is submitted and “dugg” by users.

Reddit: A source for what’s new and popular online. Votes on links to help decide popularity, or submit your own content.

Mixx: Tailor the content categories, tags, specific users and groups, and Mixx delivers the top-rated content as chosen by you and users who share your interests.

NowPublic: A participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. NowPublic changes the way news is made and distributed.

Hugg: Another version of Digg, Hugg is the source for user-submitted green news.

Propeller: All of the stories on Propeller are submitted and voted on by its members. The most popular stories on Propeller are determined by votes and comments from members.

Fark: A news aggregator and an edited social networking news site.

When adding a post or story to these sites, make sure you have your best keywords ready to use as tags, and a good title and description that will “hook” readers into wanting to know more. You will also want to take the time and add your company information to your profile on the sites that offer this feature, along with your email and URL. This is how others can learn more about you and your business or book.

And remember, the goal is to connect, so keep your message authentic and have fun!

Copyright 2008 by Deltina Hay. All rights reserved.