One of the big issues that will confront any business blog is actually finding people to read it. You could have great ideas, interesting content, consistent posts, in fact maybe it’s the best blog in the whole world! But if all your effort is only reaching your mom and the other two people you told about it then I think its time for a new promotion strategy. Enter StumbleUpon. If you haven’t heard of StumbleUpon, you’re not alone. It is not as well known as Twitter or Digg, but its power to drive traffic to your business blog is unparalleled. So are you interested in doubling or tripling your blog’s traffic? Here are five tips on how to use StumbleUpon to do just that.

1.  Become an active Stumbler, trust me it’s worth it!

To give you a quick overview, StumbleUpon is a website and browser toolbar that allows people (known as Stumblers) to give a Thumbs Up to websites they think are interesting. Then, when people click on the “Stumble” button in their browser they are taken to a random page (within their stated interests) that someone else has given the Thumbs Up to. Similar to Digg, Twitter, or Facebook, StumbleUpon has social networking features that let people friend other Stumblers. So your first step in leveraging StumbleUpon to drive traffic to your business blog is to start using StumbleUpon, and start finding and adding friends. Right away you’ll start to find interesting sites that you never would have found before, all while setting the stage for getting your own content Stumbled.

2.  Create content catered for Stumbling

As I mentioned before, people using StumbleUpon give the Thumbs Up to content they find interesting. So in order to utilize the power of StumbleUpon, you need some content that Stumblers find interesting! After you’ve been using it for a while, you’ll start to see patterns in the kinds of content that is stumbled. To give you a quick idea, Stumblers usually find videos, unique photos, or good how to’s interesting – among other things. Now I’m not saying that all of your content needs to be catered for StumbleUpon, but you’ll need at least a post or two that is in order to get the most out of this strategy.

3.  Ask fellow Stumblers to take a look at your Blog

So far you’ve started to use StumbleUpon, you’ve been Stumbling interesting stuff, adding friends, and created Stumble worthy content. Now comes the part you’ve been waiting for, actually getting traffic sent to your site. To accomplish that, forward links to the content you created for StumbleUpon to the friends you’ve made since you began. You may also want to ask them to add a quick review, as having reviews will help get more Thumbs Up in the future. Most Stumblers have no problem helping out a friend, and they will take a look and give it a Thumbs Up (just be sure to return the favor some time). Every time your page gets a Thumbs Up, traffic gets diverted to you when other Stumblers press the Stumble button in their browser. And if those Stumblers like it, they’ll send more Stumblers, and on and on it goes. So now do you see why StumbleUpon can be so effective at driving traffic to your site? It is basically the raw power of viral marketing at work.

4.  Use StumbleUpon Ads targeted to the right content

The above steps are definitely best, most consistent way to drive traffic to your site from StumbleUpon. And best of all, it’s free. But there is a way to bypass some of the harder aspects of the above tips. That way is StumbleUpon Ads. Just like you would set up a PPC campaign with Google AdWords, StumbleUpon lets you set up a campaign to send traffic to your site. In an interesting twist, Stumblers seeing one of these “Ad” pages have no idea that it’s been paid for, it looks like any other page in StumbleUpon. In return for sending Stumblers to your site, StumbleUpon asks for $0.05 per visitor. All you have to do is tell them what page to send the visitors to (your StumbleUpon specific content), tell them how many visitors you want, and then pay via PayPal. That’s it. I suggest running a $5.00 campaign to send 100 visitors to your site just to give it a test run. One thing to note: Using StumbleUpon Ads will let you bypass the work of stumbling and finding friends, but not whether or not people with like your content. People can still give your page thumbs down, which will greatly reduce the effectiveness of your campaign. Make sure that you’re content is catered for this audience, and make sure you put it in the right category when you start the campaign.

5.  Make it easy for your content to get a thumbs up

The last quick tip for driving huge amounts of traffic to your business blog using StumbleUpon is making it easy for people to Stumble it! Doing this is a relatively easy but often overlooked. All you need to do is put a StumbeUpon button on your posts. Yes it’s that easy. Not only will your regular readers give it Thumbs Up, but it signals to Stumblers that you’re one of them. Check out the box below this post to see what I mean.

So that’s it, 5 quick and easy steps to driving traffic to your business blog. Using these tips I have no doubt that you’ll see instant results in the form of double, triple, maybe even quadruple the amount of visitors you had before. Yes, it’s that powerful – so don’t wait around for people to miraculously find you, go out and grab their attention!

With today’s emphasis on social networking and media, it seems like every business in America has a blog. And that’s a good thing, blogs help businesses connect with their customers as well as create a lasting brand image. But having read a great many of these business blogs, I’ve ran into a couple of archetypes that a majority of blogs fall into. So without further ado I give you “If Business Blogs Were People: 5 Types of Business Blogs”.

The Celebrity

Everyone knows this business and its blog, because they’re famous. Usually a well known company, at least in their niche, they use their blog to further the branding efforts they’ve already put forth. This blog always has a lot of readers, and other bloggers are constantly referencing it to the point that people take a look just to see what the big deal is. You’ll notice that the celebrity business blog always has posts that are “cool”, which result in a deluge of commenters trying to get in on the action (and get coolness by association). Every single business blog wants to be a Celebrity, but most will settle for using the Celebrity’s products and commenting on their blog.

The Snob

The Snob business blogs are the one’s who think they’re a celebrity. They try to post things they think are “cool” just like the celebrity business blogs, but it just doesn’t have the same cool vibe. When people ask the snob what they’re trying to accomplish with their blog, without fail they say they are trying to “Establish thought leadership in their industry”. Sometimes this comes off with the intended results, but other times it makes it seem that this business blog knows more than anyone else. And no one likes a know-it-all!

The Show Off

This type of business blog is always taking about the last trade show they went too, and which one they’re going to next. Often included with these posts are impressive pictures of their large booth, with smiling executives’ front and center. When they aren’t talking about what shows they’re going to, they let you know exactly what is going on with their company at any given moment. And for some reason, they always announce new hires on their blog!

The Salesman

This is the kind of business blog you can spot from a mile away. That’s because the Salesman business blog is always trying to sell you their product. Without fail. This type of business blog relentlessly posts about new case studies, new user acquisitions, and new product features. They always let you know that they have a new product available that can solve your problem (even the ones you didn’t know you had).

The Loner

The Loner business blog is also an easy one to spot, as there are very infrequent posts. In fact, their might not have been any posts for months! These types of business blogs are attached to companies who weren’t sure if they should have a blog, but since everyone else was starting one they thought they should too. But without a solid content strategy or the resolve to post consistently, it has been neglected to the point of oblivion.

The Average Joe

At last, we arrive at the category that most business blogs fit into. Blogs that are an Average Joe usually have a bit of all the other types in them, but they aren’t quite any of them. They occasionally are like a Celebrity, with some posts being wildly successful with lots of visitors coming to take a look. Once in a blue moon they’re a Snob, trying to “Establish though leadership”. They display their Show Off tendencies when they talk about the next trade show they’re going to. Whenever they have something new and interesting with their product, they let you know just like a Salesman. And finally, once in a while they have to re-build their resolve to continue blogging after a dry patch that signifies a Loner. Just like most people out there are Average Joe’s, most business blogs are Average Joe’s too. And there’s nothing wrong with being an Average Joe, in fact I’d take that over most of the other types!

So what kind of business blog are you? Do you think I missed a type? Let me know – post a comment!