Digg for a Quick Buck
By David Turnbull
Digg.com is a huge news site, with thousands of visitors online at a time. Digg is also a huge gold mine if used in moderation without being ‘spammy’. Some people see all affiliate links as spam; this is how I see it: If it’s helpful to the user, and is not a duplicate then it’s not spam. Simple – then again, peoples view on spam is subjective (everyone has a different opinion). This is where there is a little more thought involved.
I’m Not Saying….
I’m not saying to register at Digg and every post you make be an advertisement – that is stupid. I still like to contribute to Digg to sort of justify these occasional advertisements, and you should do the same. If you just advertise it won’t be long before you get permanently banned. I am not condoning spam.
The Right Offer
You need to find the right offer for Digg. I’m sure 99% of Digg users won’t want a news story about the latest Free Car Quote provider (I know from experience). Like with all things you have to research. Research what Digg users are fond of, and then provide that. I’ll post a little case study of exactly what I did with Digg.
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Digg.com Case Study
Digg, from my brief testing, was the clear winner in conversion & click through rate. It works a lot better in moderation, than spamming though.
This is the offer I chose.
ID: 2717
Name: Xerox - Enter for a Chance to Win a HDTV!
Payout: $7.50 (recently lowered to $6.50)
Why?
- Provided by a Respected company (Xerox)
- Good prize for the end-user
- Decent Payment
I then went to this offers page, and the bonus was:
Payout occurs upon submission of the first full page registration form.
Nice and simple action that needs to be completed to receive payment.
Now time to post the news story.
I logged into my Digg.com account, went to the submit page, and entered the URL of the offer.
Subject: Win a 50" High Definition TV!
Description: Xerox is offering their users a chance to win an awesome 50" High Definition Television. I know I've entered!
Why this news story worked:
- The Title: Simple and to the point. Users don’t want to be mislead.
- Description: It sounds like I am genuinely interested in this competition and not just trying to advertise. I find adding the personal touch, such as “I know I’ve entered” helps with conversions.
- Topic: Place your article in the correct category! A tech-related competition fits well in the Tech Deals section.
- From Xerox: Seeing as Xerox is a large and well known company, people trust it.
Results?The results will not come instantaneously. It can take 12 hours to see any money, but it will come (if you’ve followed the steps I set) so just be patient, and maybe get outside and do something active. Plenty of time to make money later.
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Sites like Digg
Don’t constrain yourself to Digg for a quick buck. There are plenty of sites similar to Digg where you could make a quick buck from. You should definitely check out the following:
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http://news.netscape.com/
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http://www.shoutwire.com
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http://techtagg.com/
They are all similar to Digg and have a decent supply of traffic. Netscape is still bringing in money from a story I posted over a month ago!
This is not a complete list however, Digg is a popular site model, it is just the one that people took a liking too. Check out any site that allows you to submit news too (just do a quick Google search) and you should be able to find some nice alternatives.
