extreme webmaster evernerve

A while ago, I said that I would test some of the methods for earning money on the Web. I want to see what still works and what doesn’t.

So here’s my first go at it: Recently, I read a really useful article on Digging. This article not only explained how to get to the Digg front page, but also managed to do that by getting more than 1200 diggs! So, the proof was there. And I decided to follow the instructions in that post.

Read on to see what additional things I discovered about Digg.

An explosive start

So, I created an account, chose an ID image that can easily be spotted and recognized and started digging. I followed the instructions from the author aforementioned article, Stuart, to the letter.

I have been digging upcoming stories and adding friends for some hours. Then I started submitting my own articles. I got 200 visitors to this website thanks to the work I’ve done on that first day alone! This may not sound much, but it is a fair number of visits for a fresh user of Digg, on his first day there!

How to start Digging to acquire a large number of friends

I did the following:

1. I dugg only upcoming stories. This is where people who are starting out as you are linger. They submit their stuff or things they find amusing and interesting. They hope that their story gets dugg, so they will appreciate people who digg their submission and who leave a comment.
2. I almost always leave a comment. Diggers check their submissions and keep an eye out for any comments that might appear there. How do I know this? Well, because I always look at comments left in my own submissions. It’s only natural: Everyone wants to be noticed, everyone wants to hear others discuss their stories.
3. I add as a friend anyone whose story I dugg or who dugg/commented on my story. This is important, because these people will most likely digg back. Add as many friends as you can, but do this naturally, so that it doesn’t seem that you are only adding them to get more traffic.

Keep an eye out on what you are Digging

I only digg stories, videos and photos that match my interests. I advise you to do the same, because:

1. You can’t leave a good comment on something that you aren’t familiar with.
2. You can’t comment on something that is pure crap. Example: Submissions from people who try to promote various products and spammy blogs, without anything substantial in their “stories”.
3. You don’t want to make friends with someone who doesn’t have interests that are similar to yours. Because you won’t be likely to Digg their story when they ask you to do so, which they will.
4. When you are digging the stories that match your interests, hobbies and the like, you are creating n image of yourself - you are becoming a specific Digg user. And that will attract the interest of others like you - people who will add you as a friend because they find what you’re digging interesting.

Submit stories that you really find interesting to Digg

You should search the Web for interesting stuff (interesting to you) and submit these stories to Digg. You must do this, if you wish to have more friends on Digg and if you wish to have a credible profile. Why? Because:

1. If you only submit your own stuff (your blog, portal or whatever it is that you are trying to promote), you will get suspicious. And you will lose credibility. And friends won’t digg your stuff.
2. Your website may be banned from Digg. And that’s the last thing that you want to do.
3. Submit different stuff and try to get diggs for these stories too, even when they are not related to your website(s). You will gain credibility and exposure.

For the most recent news, I track and search:

• Reuters - one of the biggest and best known news agencies in the world.
• Alertnet - also belongs to Reuters, specializes in emergencies, catastrophies and such events.
• Google news - search for anything you like (a country name, your hobby, some field of human endeavor) and you will be served with the most recent stories in that niche.
• Various bullshit aggregator websites - funny videos, unusual stories, weird photos and such.

Choose your Digg friends wisely

Like Stuart said:

• I added anyone who dugg my submittals or who left a comment.
• I also added anyone (in the upcoming section) whose stories I dugg.

After a week or so, you will see some patterns begin to appear. And I advise you to start weeding out people who aren’t of any use to you. These are:

1. Anyone who hasn’t added you as a friend after you did add them as a friend. If a week has passed and a person like that hasn’t even noticed you, screw them. Remove them from your friends list, you don’t need them.
2. Mutual “friends” who never digg anything that you submit, but bombard you with their submitted stories. Yes, these people exist. I don’t know what do they expect to get back in return for such a display of selfishness? There are individuals who will send you a shout with their stories (all coming from the same website) 4-5 times a day, and will never even look at what you shouted to them. Just remove these ego-trip assholes and move on.
3. Mutual “friends” who don’t allow anyone to send them shouts. Frankly, I don’t understand these people. Are they retarded? They are rare, but they do appear from time to time. Maybe they just clicked that option in their settings by error, or they are just plain stupid. Whatever. Remove them from your friend list.
4. Dead diggers. These are people who come, stay for a day or two on Digg and never come back. By looking at their activity, you will notice that they are inactive for days and/or that they almost never digg or submit anything.
5. Well-known diggers. I susually avoid these, because they will rarely add you as a friend. Really, you don’t need them. Build a base of mutual friends that are new to Digg as you, and you will have many

I have managed to add about 400 friends during a single week. Out of these, about 120 became mutual friends. From them, the mutual friends, I get anywhere from 12-40 diggs for the stories and articles I submit, which is a nice start.

Your Digg profile is extremely important

In addition to the rules laid out above, I advise you to do the following also:

1. Make sure that you have a link to your website/blog in your profile. Your mutual friends will check out your website and some will subscribe to your RSS feed. More traffic.
2. Have a consistent profile on other social websites. Bookmark and tag the stuff you like on Digg on StumbleUpon and del.icio.us too! Because I have noticed that people on Digg also visit my StumbleUpon profile, my MyBlogLog.com profile and so on. And some of them add me as a friend there.

Be friendly and it will pay off

People will send you shouts with messages like “Please digg if you like” or “I dugg your story, please digg mine”. And that’s what’s Digg about: Sharing stuff and having mutual benefit.

I digg almost everything that my mutual friends on Digg send me, because, like I said, I choose them wisely and their stories are interesting to me most of the time. And they Digg mine back. I send them requests too.

Once you have a good friends base on Digg, you won’t need to search for them anymore, just pay attention to their shouts, submit new stuff and digg back. You will gain traffic and exposure.

Also, don’t get all worked up or depressed if your comments on Digg are turned down or if you’re being insulted, etc. There are a lot frustrated individuals who come to Digg only to spit on others and vent their shortcomings and frustrations. Ignore this nonsense and move on.

One final piece of advice: When submitting your own stuff, make sure that it’s something well written - quality content that will spark people’s interest. You may have 4,000 mutual friends but you won’t get a single digg if you submit spammy crap.

Hats off to Stuart, whose method really works.

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