This reader ‘quick tip’ is from FMF from Free Money Finance
If I had to pick one tip to give new and aspiring bloggers, it would be this: participate in blog carnivals.
No, it’s not a new tip and it’s not particularly exciting, but it’s certainly effective. In particular, consider these benefits of blog carnivals:
1. They give you links from sites within your topic area. I submit to six carnivals every week on one of the various aspects of personal finance (saving money, debt reduction, investing, etc.) That provides my blog with six quality links per week — links that help develop and grow my blog’s credibility as well as provide some great SEO juice.
2. They deliver instant traffic. You probably won’t get an avalanche of visitors from a carnival, but if you participate in one on a popular blog and you submit a post many people find interesting, it could send you a couple hundred extra visits in a week. And some of those visitors turn into regular readers. Do this week after week and you start building up quite a following.
3. It’s easy. By using a site like Blog Carnival (www.blogcarnival.com), it takes me 20 minutes to find and submit to the six carnivals I participate in each week. That’s a small investment of time for the big payoffs noted above.
Nice post and excellent tip, but can you do this kind of thing if you have adsense in your site? Wouldn’t that be similar to using things such as blogexplosion, which is against adsense TOS? I am not sure and thats why I am asking..
Ed
This is a great tip. Does anyone have a list of more Carnival sites? (ones that are good)
One great resource is the [url=http://momgadget.com/upcoming-blog-carnivals-official-list/]Mom Gadget Carnival of Red Hot Bloggers[/url]. There is a new family oriented and family friendly topic every week to participate in and it serves as a great source of traffic, especially for those who are newer to blogging or who have family oriented blogs.
http://onlineblogbusiness.blogspot.com
I love blog carnivals. I’ve recently gotten hooked on them actually. It’s been the best medicine to treat writer’s block – Ever! Three other mom’s and I put together the Carnival of Red Hot Bloggers – it’s growing better than a Chia Pet. :)
I know there are several on Blog Carnival that are very popular, if you can weed through the ones that are no longer active to get to them, you’ll strike blogger gold.
This is a tip that I have used to help build my traffic and I think it is a great way for new blogs to get their name out there. In addition to participating in the carnivals, you can sign up to host a carnival as well. Not too long ago, I hosted my first carnival and it was great.
Richard, have you poked around at blogcarnival.com yet? They have quite an extensive list of carnivals to choose from on many different topics. I’ve found enough there on my niche to keep me busy so I am not sure of other sites with quality carnival listings.
Besides the traffic and links from the carnival host, there are a few more advantages to blog carnivals:
1. Links from other blogs besides the carnival host. Often, another blogger will discover your story via the carnival and link to it.
2. Networking with people. Carnival visitors will leave comments, email you, invite you to participate in other carnivals, give you more story ideas, ask questions, and give you tips and other information. I’ve developed a few ongoing relationships with other bloggers because of carnivals, which has helped both our blogs.
3. Prizes. I once won a random prize from a carnival – mmm, chocolates! The prizes on some carnivals can be significant, for example check out Darren’s prizes for his Group Writing Projects.
4. Great posts to read. I’ve often discovered great new sites from carnival posts, and read stories that have inspired me with fresh ideas to write about.
As a summary, carnivals are a great way to get you out of the insular “me shouting to the world” mode, and into a more productive, enjoyable, sociable “me joining the conversation” mode.
Excellent point! I’ve been using blog carnivals for some time now, above all else – if they don’t bring the traffic, it is excellent (as several have said) to treat writers block, and expand the mind. Something tells me I’ll be seeing you all around the carnival! Too bad we can’t get balloons too.
Hey Darren,
I might add that Hosting a Carnival can also be an advantage. People look for Carnivals and the like for information all in one place.
Often people who visit for a Carnival will re-visit the hosting site again to see what’s going on. I have had many return visitors from the initial exposure to my blog from my Carnival.
Some have even become regular readers and joined in other conversations in comments.
Personally, I think that they can help to build a community in any niche.
My experience has been good and I would recommend it to anyone who has the time to devote to it. I have seen decent traffic generated through Carnivals, so it could be worth the effort to the Hosting site.
Joe
I just participated in a carnival and was one of the winners. I have noticed that I get increased traffic, which peaks after about a day, but does not go back down to the pre-carnival level. Some how I pick up readers that stick around. In October I hosted what I believe to be the first ever virtual pumpkin carving contest, similar to a carnival, my traffic peak lasted about a week.
Thank you for this great tip. I had heard of blog carnivals before but never participated in one. Following your suggestion, I went to blogcarnival.com and found that it was easy to find several ongoing blog carnivals that fit with my topic, and blogcarnival makes it very easy to submit (just scroll down and hit the “submit article” button).
I have a small question.. what ARE blog carnivals? That’s one blogging term I’m still not sure of..
I agree, this is a great tip.
I signed up with blogcarnival.com and now I’m publishing a Carnival entitled “Carnival of eBay Sellers”
We are getting lots of attention by the thousands and thousands of eBay sellers… all exchanging ideas and tips on how they have made their eBay experience successful and profitable.
Thanks for helping to promote Carnivals.
Tom
http://www.pga-auctions.com/wordpress/?p=89
I’ve been meaning to get involved in blog carnivals for some time. Since I’m currently looking around for more ways to increase traffic to my blog and network with more bloggers, this is perfect timing. Thanks for the cool post.
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Thanks for the tip. I will try it out and tell you how it works for my site.
btw, do you manually add content to these or is it nice and happens automajically? Do you have any urls one could reference or would a simple Google search work?
Thanks again
Exactly the type of tip i needed to help gain exposure for my blog.
http://www.australianbetfairrevolution.com
The question is still unanswered i think.Does joining these carnivals violate any google adsense rules
We are getting lots of attention by the thousands and thousands of eBay sellers… all exchanging ideas and tips on how they have made their eBay experience successful and profitable.