StumbleUpon is a pretty awesome traffic tool. All you have to do is review a page, and it will instantly get traffic. Well, that’s the super basic analysis, but that’s practically all there is to it. Of course, there are a lot of factors determining how much traffic you’ll get, and those can be saved for another article, but today’s question is how to profit from it.

It’s pretty obvious that StumbleUpon traffic is very quick to judge; if your page doesn’t have what the stumbler wants to see, they’ll be gone in no time. That’s why you only have a few seconds to make that crucial first impression. A well-written article may get some attention, and get your site recognized, but you still might lose a lot of visitors since they don’t want to read, they just want to SEE.

You could get some new readers from StumbleUpon traffic, and that’s great, but how can you monetize from stumblers who randomly find your content?

Here are some interesting ideas to monetize from fast traffic:

Catch Their Attention

If you’re trying to sell something, than I think this is pretty obvious. Then, no matter what you do, do NOT hard sell. Do you think they are willing to whip out their credit cards on a whim just because a completely random site tells them to? Heck no.

Here’s a good idea. Present them with a really interesting concept, something they can really use, then recommend specific resources to get it done or make things easier. You’ll definitely have to have something worthwhile to read here, but if they do read it, they will be open to your suggestions.

If you want to catch their eye too, and make sure they actually do read your article, focus on a very strong headline. Here a good resource for attention grabbing headlines:
http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/

Advertising

Here you will have to be a bit creative. PPC ads probably won’t work; why would a stumbler click on your ads when they can just stumble to another site. It isn’t going to happen. There are other ways to monetize with ads though, like CPM, which pays you per thousand displays, or maybe you can make money selling private ads.

This isn’t a very viable option for a new site, but it’s possible that if you start writing articles that get a lot of attention, and good stumble reviews, then it’s possible you can make some decent money with this.

Images/Videos

Visual stimuli is great for catching the attention of fast traffic. No reading required, just look and enjoy. You could make some good money with paid image hosts. Stumble really funny pictures, and thumbnail them just a bit too small so that viewers have to click to see it in its full glory, and you get commission.

You can also use videos that have ads on them, which could get clicked, because the viewer has clicked play, and sort of “invested” the time to view it. Try pop-up video marketing too.

Free Downloads

I’m going to be talking more about this in the future, but you can get people to sign up to a newsletter or something so that they can download a freebie. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Then, you can contact them in the future with offers, or have the offers inside the freebie!

You can also find CPA offers that pay you per sign up. These usually offer free trials and such, so it might not be too hard to convert these either. You just have to be able to draw the viewers attention, make them DO stuff and get that mouse pointer off the Stumble button.

Well there are just a few ideas on how to monetize fast traffic, and I know I used StumbleUpon as the main example here, but it really applies to a lot of different services. Try stuff out, experiment, and I’m sure you’ll find some interesting tactics that work for your site and niche!

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