Comics Promotion via StumbleUpon

Tinyghosts · Post by **Tinyghosts** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:03 am

I first heard of something called "StumbleUpon" when I started getting hits in my stat counter from it. I went to their web site:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

It seems to be a plug-in for your browser. I think it's pretty popular and now comes preinstalled on some computers. I don't really understand the guts of how it works, but it seems that it allows you to 'rate' websites you visit, then it compares your likes/dislikes to other users, and suggests websites that it thinks you might like.

The important thing about StumbleUpon is that it looks like (and correct me if I'm wrong) anytime anyone using StumbleUpon clicks the 'like' button on your website, it starts a cascade where the site is recommended to a whole bunch of other users. So every time someone out there 'liked' my comic, I'd get 20 or so hits generated.

Therefore, I'm unabashedly suggesting that we game the system. I started by installing the plug in, then went to a bunch of webcomics I respected and 'liked' them. Then I went to my own comic and 'liked' it, resulting in a bunch of hits from people clicking on the suggestions in StumbleUpon. Of course, you are only allowed one account, and you can only 'like' a website once.

I'm proposing a sort of 'click exchange'. Anyone interested should post their webcomic URL in this thread. Then install the StumbleUpon plug-in (which is free and doesn't seem to cause any spyware problems), and then 'like' all the other comics in this thread. As more people 'like' your comic, you should see some referral hits from StumbleUpon.

Will it work? It's hard to say because I'm not sure exactly how StumbleUpon works. But since it is free and only takes a few minutes, it can't really hurt.

Anyway, here are my comics, in case anyone wants to 'like' them:

http://www.tinyghosts.com/

http://www.foundcomics.net/

Kels · Post by **Kels** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:22 am

I'm not at all fond of browser plug-ins, but I do know that being "liked" through Stumble Upon gets some degree of attention. Someone "liked" this image of mine on deviantART, and now it's my most-viewed drawing, even surpassing some of my photographs, which usually get more attention on dA.

In fact, it's more than three times my next-viewed drawing, and that's saying something.

I'm gonna wait and see what people come up with, but the early results don't look too bad.

Guardsman · Post by **Guardsman** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:54 am

I'm not a huge fan of plug ins either but this may warrant further investigation. I’ll check it out and make a post later on my opinion.

Jekkal · Post by **Jekkal** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:27 pm

I have been looking for a reason to use StumbleUpon, actually. A lot of the blogs I've been watching keep mentioning it.

I'm in!

My Comic (as always): http://lastresort.xepher.net

Opinion So Far: Suh-WEET!

Finding a few yummy flash toys so far, need to stumble more. I find I just click to the next one more often than vote it down though; I need to change that.

Clicking up a few of the usual comic sites, for the hell of it. Added mine to the mess. It's supposed to have this phenomenal effect, so it ought to keep the site busy while I'm off on vacation for a few weeks.

More details on the blog entry.

Tetsuo75 · Post by **Tetsuo75** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 3:48 pm

The only problem I found with Stumble upon is that if people stumble upon your site once then the system will not bring it up again. So if they miss it, it's gone.... also people tend (with me anyway) to favour archived pages and not the actual main page... so it never shows as if you're popular because the pages don't match

Jekkal · Post by **Jekkal** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:16 pm

tetsuo75 wrote:The only problem I found with Stumble upon is that if people stumble upon your site once then the system will not bring it up again. So if they miss it, it's gone.... also people tend (with me anyway) to favour archived pages and not the actual main page... so it never shows as if you're popular because the pages don't match

Which is basically a 'neutral vote' as far as the system is concerned. Plus if you favor a site it should be saved in your favorites so you can visit it again.

Kit630 · Post by **Kit630** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:04 pm

Stumbleupon is interesting. Well, the site claims no adware or spyware, which is cool (If you can beleive them ;3)

Actually, it's got some neat features that I would use especially when bored. Came across some funny websites already. Guess we'll see how much it helps "promotions" though. There's not really a "Webcomic" tab for your interests.

Axonite · Post by **Axonite** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:32 pm

I recently got a whole bunch of hits from StumbleUpon for my fourth comic, Silence in the Darkness on Q16 - it was by far my top referrer for the comic last month, giving me a couple thousand more visitors than the month before. It's died back down a bit now, but it's still my top referrer there so far this month.

Anyway, my comics:
http://www.stationv3.com
http://z7.comicostrich.com
http://ebb.comicostrich.com
http://silenceinthedarknessonq16.comicostrich.com

VinnieD · Post by **VinnieD** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:45 pm

I tried this out before but kind of abandoned it for a while. Using it for comic promotion hadn't really crossed my mind at the time, but now it seems to have a practical use.

I'll "like" a few comics as well tonight, and throw some hits to the comics I so enjoy.

The Neko · Post by **The Neko** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:39 am

I never subscribed to it, but for months and months I kept getting a huge amount of traffic from that site.

It's fun never actively advertising.

Turnsky · Post by **Turnsky** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:26 am

The Neko wrote:I never subscribed to it, but for months and months I kept getting a huge amount of traffic from that site.

It's fun never actively advertising.

the best free advertising's word of mouth, or post of fans, in this case.

Guardsman · Post by **Guardsman** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:17 pm

Alright…this rocks. I went though the entire topic and voted for every comic I could find, as I am sure they all “the rock”. Also Carlos, Lowroad is great! Wish I didn’t have a 9 to 5 job or I would go though all of them!

One day, if I work hard, my own fan services will be that good!

Tetsuo75 · Post by **Tetsuo75** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:32 pm

Guardsman wrote:Alright…this rocks. I went though the entire topic and voted for every comic I could find, as I am sure they all “the rock”. Also Carlos, Lowroad is great! Wish I didn’t have a 9 to 5 job or I would go though all of them!

One day, if I work hard, my own fan services will be that good!

Thanks!
Just a word of advise:
Don't give them TOO MUCH fan service otherwise you'll get stuck with it whether you like it or not.... I wish someone had told me that

VinnieD · Post by **VinnieD** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:23 am

tetsuo75 wrote: Thanks!
Just a word of advise:
Don't give them TOO MUCH fan service otherwise you'll get stuck with it whether you like it or not.... I wish someone had told me that

Shut up and draw more panty shots.

Tetsuo75 · Post by **Tetsuo75** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:06 am

VinnieD wrote:
tetsuo75 wrote: Thanks!
Just a word of advise:
Don't give them TOO MUCH fan service otherwise you'll get stuck with it whether you like it or not.... I wish someone had told me that
Shut up and draw more panty shots.

Damn you and your insatiable libido! I just wanna draw unicorns!!! *shakes fist*

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:11 am

Tee hee! Somebody must like me because I got some hits from this today!

Geekblather · Post by **Geekblather** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:49 am

What the hell- it's worth playing with anyway, yeah?

[Edit: Now that I've been playing with it, it kind of reminds me of Pandora where it starts to figure out what you like, the more information you feed it. And if people haven't played with Pandora, you should. It's a great source for finding new music. I also went through and 'liked' the folks on this thread.

Oh! And Stumble sent me this be Jackson Pollock Cooool...]

Shishio · Post by **Shishio** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:21 pm

What the hell?

http://www.one-liners.net/

RobertBlake · Post by **RobertBlake** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:27 pm

My comic could use some more traffic, so what the heck.

http://fergoandenrique.comicgenesis.com

Kels · Post by **Kels** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:05 pm

I was hesitant, but I'm in. I'll get the plugin and add everyone on this thread then.

Oh yeah, I'm http://xenosparadise.com