All of these profiles have been set up under several different profile names. Originally, I started using “bullmoose” as my profile name (long story!). After a very short time though I noticed that “bullmoose” was taken on all of the new sites before I even started to sign up. Hmmmm, what to do? Well, use my name right? Wrong! My name is obviously more popular than I thought it was.  Turns out “Kent Allen” is taken on nearly every website that allows user signup.

So, I needed something unique and identifiable.  So, I just reversed the spelling of bullmoose to come up with “esoomllub”. I’ve used it as a username on many sites since I came up with it. More recently though I’ve had a need to start using my given name.  And since I am typically a first adopter of new social media sites (even those that have failed), I can often get my name now.

So what’s the point?

Well… over the last 10 years I have accumulated a series of profiles with different usernames. I don’t think there is a good solution to syncing the names. So, I’ve finally put together a spreadsheet of social media sites that I have accounts on so that I can stay sync’d with myself (no split personality here!).

Things I did not even realize or remember until I starting pulling together my list:

• Esoomllub is the most popular username I have used. I can remember using it on Yahoo way back in the day (only to forget the password and lose the email account I had it set up under.  Thus, username lost! However I do use it on My Blog Log (now a Yahoo service).  I have set up a series of websites there that have their own “profile” page, including a page for my SEO company .
• I set up a series of profiles for less than admirable social media  spamming purposes before realizing I did not really like being in to spamming of any type.
• My latest signup was on Friendster.  I’m not sure how much I like the service, but you can check out my Friendster profile to see how it looks.
• Do you take advantage of having a Google profile? You might want to give it a look. Here is mine.
• If you’re not a Knol user, give it a try. Even I have a Knol profile.

I’m sure my situation is no different than others.  You sign up for sites over time, user some of them a lot, use different usernames, and even lose track of some.

I realize this post may be of no interest to most, if any, of you. However, I am using it as kind of my own de.licio.us bookmark — a place that I come to often, and can modify as needed. Here goes:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Mixx
• MySpace
• Digg
• OpenSocial
• Not social media, but important to me: Wordpress API

Why do I care you ask?

Well, if you take the 3 minutes necessary to register to comment on this blog, you will be able to not only leave a great comment, but you will also be able to link your social profiles on major social networks to your comment.  So lets say you want your fellow commentors to see where you are on Digg, Sphinn, or other major social network.  If you spend an extra 10 seconds scrolling to the bottom of your profile page, you will be able to enter your username on your networks.  Then next to your comments you will find a link to your profile on that network.

What if your favorite social network is not an option?

The beauty of this plugin is that it allows the blog owner to make simple code modifications (just adding an extra array value really) and have new networks show up. Obviously your new social network needs to have a simple, consistent method for linking to your profile.  For most networks this is the case.

Isn’t this a waste of time?

I guess you might think that.  But take a look at the HTML behind the link then re-answer that question to yourself.

I just read a post about SEO and social networks via a link in Mixx. The article itself was fine, save for some grammatical errors (but given that I am prone to grammatical errors I can’t say a whole lot). It was a quick read, and re-iterated a chunk of things I already believe (and some I don’t). Instead of the text of the article grabbing my attention though, the thing that struck me on the page though was the sheer number of social media links in the content area of the page.

The following is a screen capture of the social networking list at the bottom of the post:

So what do I see here:

• 28 icons to save the page url
• 16 icons to share the page
• a Yahoo buzz up link
• a Digg link
• a Sphinn link
• a Reddit link

Now I’m not here to say this is wrong on the part of newbornbusiness.com, because their usage of these icons is prevalent across a large number of blogs.  I’m more questioning when enough is enough? At what point do these icons and social network links just become invisible to users, kind of a banner blindness of the 21st century? Agreed, if you click the ShareThis link on the bottom of this post, you will see a full list of social networks.  I prefer this less obtrusive design, although as I set here now, I wonder which more effective (a test for another day).

Trust me, I get the importance of social networks from an SEO, marketing, and general visibility point of view. I just don’t know how visible something can be when it is visible to the point of distraction.

By killing my time, I mean that I sometimes go overboard and don’t really grasp how much time an activity is consuming until it’s too late (missing other deadlines — a natural outcome for a procrastinator). I am going to try to keep using Twitter enough to really get a grasp on the power of tweeting, but stop short of just tweeting and reading tweets all day (or at least for hours on end).

You can check out my tweeting, critique my tweets, and follow me if you like!

Actually, I thought about ending the post there, just to be like some university psych professor trying to quiz you.  You know, like the old urban myth of the student who answered the Psych question “Why?” with “Why not?” and got an A on the test. I’ve yet to see proof.

But really, why not? Surely the value of submitting to the majority of directories out there is minimal to practically non-existent. But can you tell me with certainty that some piece of link-bait, no matter how craftily put together will generate back links?  Sure it may crash your server if the digg-aholics come in droves, but can you tell me definitively that you will get links for all the hassle?

So tell me… is the ROI on a directory submission that much lower than a wish and a prayer for links in a blog post? I’ve yet to see proof.

You go through the effort of being an active member of a social network, you make friends, you vote on content, comment on content, and submit content (even your own sometime), all in the name of driving up your own site traffic.  I realize that those in to social networks for the sake of being members would argue that this is not the reason to be a member, but the fact remains that webmasters in the game to make a living are approaching social networks with at least a thought of this in their minds. In the end though, if you get a regular flow of traffic or even sporadic spikes of traffic from Digg, Stumbleupon, Mixx, or any other social network, have you really accomplished anything?

Instant Payoff from Social Network Traffic?

It is widely accepted that Digg traffic does not convert at a level worth talking about.  One could likely extend this belief to other non-niche social networks with a reasonable level of confidence.  We all know… the traffic is not targeted, the social network users do not like to be gamed, many of the social networkers hit your page and are gone in a flash — those that stick around don’t follow through on offers.

With this in mind, one can easily buy the Makak Media premise that social networks can be a huge waste of time if you don’t watch your time. I fall in to that trap on occasion.

Building a Brand

However, I believe that a well thought out social media plan is a great step to take when considering how much time to put in to social marketing. And I view it much like TV advertising. TV advertising rarely has an immediate quantifiable payoff with regards to sales. However, TV ads generate brand awareness, word of mouth brand knowledge and ultimately leads to getting customers in the door or looking at products on shelves. At that point, it is up to the advertiser to close the sale.

In terms of websites, social network traffic is largely filling a branding role.  Creating buzz and/or word of mouth (aka links), and brand awareness (aka RSS subscriptions) for your site can go a long way towards fulfilling that purpose. Why?

Search traffic is the ultimate in targeted traffic.  Consumers search for something, they find your site, they come to your site, they convert (or you learn what is weak about your conversion process). And it is apparent to anyone who has spent more than 15 minutes reading about SEO that links are a significant factor in search rankings. Build your brand, enjoy the links and RSS subscriptions, and enjoy the long term benefits of social networks.

It is the Sum of All Parts

Summing it up in my mind then, seeking out social network traffic for the sake of traffic surely is a waste of time if you are looking to make money online. Seeking out social network traffic for the sake of fulfilling a larger SEO goal is a very valid pursuit. Set some goals, set a plan (including some restraints for your time), set the plan in to motion, and adjust as new opportunities arise.

I’m not advocating this, nor am I saying it is possible.  However, a comment from Kimota in the first post got me to thinking… is it possible for someone to Stumble a competitor’s site so that they their traffic drops. It sure is a crappy thing to do, but given some of the things I’ve seen over the years on the net, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. The characteristics of the competitors would seem to have to be something like:

• Not an A-List blogger or top site, as one would assume that they would have enough positive Stumbling going on to counter any lame attempt
• A blog or site that was competing in a big affiliate space, as why would even a jerk waste time on an attack unless they were trying to make money.

How would an attacker do this?  Well, according to the comment, Kimota experienced a drop in traffic and the inability to self submit after triggering some type of self-submit flag for his site. Taking the leap that the self submits were the cause and that there were no other significant factors in play. If this is truly the case, a Stumbler might start Stumbling this competitor’s site as soon as articles or products were added. Based on other comments about the algorithm possibly identifying networks of Stumblers, one might also add a group of Stumblers to this network to make the submissions look more suspicious.

I can’t truly see this being successful on any grand scale. I even have to wonder why anyone would see it as a viable plan. However, I am fairly confident that some people have at least experimented with it. To me though, it would seem that the effort to do this would offer a larger return if it went in to working on your own sites. And of course, I am talking only about Stumble traffic.  I would assume that all social networks would have to deal with some similar issues though as they work to police self submission.