New blog traffic service

MikeD · #1 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007, 10:21 AM

I'm on a lot of lists...to many. One of them is www.income.com. They released a new service called BlogRush at www.blogrush.com. It's free or so the video says. I'm guessing there's an upgrade or something on the back-end but it does look good. When I finish fixing my site/blog I'll sign up.

It's a wiget thats sits in on your blog with links to their blog posts via their RSS feeds. Every time you get a page view you earn 1 credit for your post to appear on the wiget. As others sign on, via the wiget on your blog or your affiliate link, you get some of their traffic and any traffic form those they sign on. I think it's because your posts WILL appear on those in your network...I'm not sure about that part.

There's this networking viral thing going on that looks really promising but I'm just not ready to take advantage of it yet...maybe some of you are.

It look like something the community could take advantage of by signing up from each others widget of similar blogs leveraging the communities traffic...I haven't thought it thru...it's just an idea that popped into my head.

If anyone signs up I'd like to know your experiences with it.

--Mike

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007, 01:29 PM

Very interesting, Mike. I guess the success on this largely depends on how well they target the ads in the widget. I may have to test the waters on this one. I'd also be interested to hear from others who have tried it.

Bingo · #3 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007, 04:32 PM

This concept reminds me of the Digital Point Co-op. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a making of Shawn Hogan or one of his Co-op members.

I must take a look at this more closely, interesting indeed.

webdev · #4 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007, 08:05 PM

This sure seems like a innovative and exciting technology but at the same time extensive and complex. If it can survive any hick-ups (bugs and downtime), i can really this getting popular and finally someone (yahoo or google) will buy it out.

webdev · #5 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007, 08:11 PM

I don't own a blog otherwise i would definitely try it out. But there are things i'm not sure about.

What if i don't want to send traffic to my competitors? The blog posts shown on your blog will be from blogs resembling your blog. I mean if i own a popular blog, i certainly wouldn't wanna send my traffic to a competitor.

And what about spam blogs or meaningless/dead blogs? I certainly wouldn't wanna send traffic to blogs which presents no content and are just littered ads and garbage. That could hurt my reputation. I wonder if you can control those things. The video didn't talk about that.

MikeD · #6 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 09:18 AM

I definitely hear what you guys are saying in regards to new tech and competition.

I bought into the “promise” of instant buzz and was severely disappointed. Part of it was due to my lack of copywriting skill and writing really great headlines or one line ads. I don’t surf a whole lot so I never got the credits to do any real ad testing. It doesn’t work well in Firefox…that could be due to conflicts but for 100 bucks I really don’t want to here it.

Not all these cool web 2.0 toolbars and tech peacefully co-exist and there are always problems with the first generation. Most important to me is customer service. Anyone can install help desk software but if I have to wait 2 days before I get a response I’m pissed.

This BlogRush thing is supposed to have filters so you can control what sort of stuff shows up when it’s on your blog.. It’s a double edged sword. You might be able to get more traffic but what’s the point if someone else has a “master” writing headlines for them…snatching your traffic.

I’ve got a lot on my plate this month so I probably wont get to BlogRush until October.

When I do I’ll report back

--Mike

Bingo · #7 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 02:53 PM

I've went ahead and added it to my SEO blog (see sig link). Was very easy to setup and looks ok.

I'll give it more time before I pass any opinion on it. I like the idea and it might help drive more traffic.

Theresa · #8 (**permalink**) 09-18-2007, 10:56 AM

I added it as well. It looks like a really great tool, but still in its early stages. You choose a category and receive targeted traffic from that category. Right now some of the categories are quite broad (including mine), but hopefully this will improve with time.

MikeD · #9 (**permalink**) 09-18-2007, 11:46 AM

Like I said in my first post...I'm on a lot of lists. I got 3 MORE emails from the "guru" marketers promoting this thing with their affiliate link. That doesn't mean anything all by it self...they could be partners, but it looks like their trying to leverage all the traffic of their list subscribers blogs into their's.

I signed up...even tho' my blog ain't ready for prime time. I'm going to use what's left of my Instant buzz credits to promote, put a post on my blog, and see what up with some old "list building" accounts I have, and see what else I can do since I don't have a list or a lot of traffic...yet!

After that...I'll wait and see.

--Mike

TechieGuy · #10 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007, 06:09 PM

I decided to try BlogRush and have added it to my blog. I'll see what type of traffic it generates.

I have heard good and bad things about it. Most of the bad is from people who don't trust it and think it is like a pyramid scheme.

I did have one problem though. It keeps asking me to put the code in my blog, but it is already there. I guess I'll have to contact their support.

Theresa · #11 (**permalink**) 09-22-2007, 07:15 PM

BlogRush has emailed users to let us know that they are working to add more categories, as they feel many of the categories are too broad. They are also getting ready to add options for color choices for their widgets (something that bothered me).

They are also reporting that many members are cheating the system, so many new anti-abuse measures are being implemented. Automatic submission is also a thing of the past. Blogs must now be approved prior to membership so that BlogRush is not cluttered with irrelevant spammy sites.

All in all, they seem to be very responsive to any problems that arise. I am hopeful that this will be a very successful traffic generating tool.

lisa · #12 (**permalink**) 10-27-2007, 03:41 PM

I finally signed up with them but for at least a week now it keeps saying "Your blog has been submitted for review" when I login and I cannot do anything else in my account. The ads are showing up on my blog so I must've been accepted.

Anyone else get stalled at this point? Maybe I'm missing something.

MikeD · #13 (**permalink**) 10-28-2007, 06:13 PM

I know they are doing some housekeeping because of folks starting bolgs just to put blogrush on it...
http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/1...from-blogrush/

...and they are updating...

From the site...10-26

Quote:

Just a quick post to let everyone know that the BlogRush “Phase 2″ is getting very close.

I wanted to release it today but the dev team wants a couple more days to stress-test it.

It’s coming very soon! Thanks for your patience.

I'm beginning to ask the question does it add value? Yea it's cool and all but if you don't get a lot of traffic you won't get any exposure. I've got mine waaaay below the fold and I'm not putting it on my newest blog for birth control.

--Mike

TechieGuy · #14 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 06:15 AM

They had many people abusing the service so they have switched to manual submissions review. Add the update that MikeD just posted and it looks like it could take some time to be accepts.

I was lucky...I guess...in that I submitted early before all the changes. I haven't seen any benefit to using it yet, but I'll see what happens once everything is working.

Theresa · #15 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 10:03 AM

The dashboard has been down for weeks while they implement these changes. I think once that happens and we get more categories, hopefully we'll will start getting more results.

I am going to stay with it for a while and give them a chance. I have definitely noticed that a catchy title makes a world of difference with this tool.

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