I don’t usually write about blogging or writing but today I’m making an exception. While doing some browsing and stumbling, I decided to look at the top articles on Stumbleupon (a social sharing network) about self improvement to get some ideas for new posts. I was amazed to see articles getting 140,000 views. One article, getting that many views? I think that is what every writer and blogger wants.

So what is the secret? You are about to get a bit closer to the answer.
Top 7 Stumbleupon Self Improvement Articles

These are just 7 of the top posts on Stumbleupon in the Self Improvement niche. There are many more on the web, but I think the ones I listed should serve as enough of an example of viral blog posts.

1. What Are Your Eyes Giving Away?

What is it about:
Learning how to read people’s intentions by their eye-movements and expressions and the visual clues they give.

Why it is interesting:
Everybody wants to have the skill of being able to know someone’s intentions or feelings by looking in their eyes and reading their visual clues. It’s a source of power and seems like a really cool thing to be able to do. Just by reading the title and understanding the topic of the article, it makes me want to start reading it and find out what it is about.

Why it makes me want to share it:
It’s neatly presented, broken down into easy-to-read paragraphs and contains interesting pictures. It is not too long and has some good facts and information I never knew about, so that is something I would easily share or send to my friends. Cool facts and pieces of knowledge are always something that people share.

2. 33 Ways To Get And Keep Yourself Motivated

What is it about:
A list post of 33 ways to get and keep yourself motivated.

Why it is interesting:
List posts are always interesting to read because with so many reasons about a topic I’m interested in (motivation), there are bound to be a couple good ones that I can learn from.

Why it makes me want to share it:
List posts are the most common kind of posts that get shared very easily. A list is something that everyone can relate to, and the more reasons on the list, the more likely a reader is to find something that they can relate to on a strong level. If you have a friend or family member that needs some motivation, a list like this one is perfect to send to them or share on the web.

3. Ten Strange Places

What is it about:
Ten strange locations in our world. Places both weird and wonderful and amazing to see.

Why it is interesting:
Travel is one of those global topics that almost everyone is interested in. Our world has so many hidden treasures and beautiful places. It is always fascinating to see pictures and learn more about our world. This post has ten incredible places in the world, with some interesting facts about them and gorgeous pictures!

Why it makes me want to share it:
Beauty is worth sharing! Pretty pictures and awesome locations in the world? That is definitely a recipe for a post that I want to share with the world and my friends.

4. 40 Tips for a Better Life

What is it about:
40 Different ways how you can improve your life.

Why it is interesting:
Everybody likes to think that they are living life the right way. I also like to think this, but I know there is always plenty of room for improvement. That is why this post is so appealing, it arouses curiousity to see if there is a way in which you can improve your life.

Why it makes me want to share it:
It’s an awesome list post. Easy to read with some valuable wisdoms that I would want to share with others.
I know that it is easy to read and won’t be a nuisance to others, but more of an asset to them, and that is exactly why I’d share this post.

5. How to Become a Better Husband, Boyfriend or Life Partner

What is it about:
This article is about being the best man you can be for yourself AND for your lady. Written by a man for other men.

Why it is interesting:
Relationships rank high in the list of most important things in the world. I for one am always curious about what other people say about relationships and how to maintain them. This post lists a whole lot of reasons in easy-to-read paragraphs. A nice length and rather informative.

Why it makes me want to share it:
Good relationship advice is always welcomed by others. Besides that, it was fun to read and enjoyable, and that is exactly why I’d share it.

6. How to Live a Better Life with Less

What is it about:
Achieving more by doing less.

Why it is interesting:
The concept of being able to live a better life and do more by actually doing less is an interesting concept in itself. The post is broken down in easy-to-read paragraphs with headings. In today’s world we are all so busy doing things, that we forget by doing less and the essential, that we can focus on the things we really want to do.

Why it keeps my attention and makes me want to share it:
It contains an important truth of cutting out the unnecessary and focusing on what you want to do. I would share this because it can genuinely help people make their lives better.

7. How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

What is it about:
Life and how you are letting it pass you by.

Why it is interesting:
So many of us all live for the weekend, or for the holiday, or the promotion in 5 years time. This post questions the way you live your life and if you are letting it pass you by. Very thought-provoking.

Why it makes me want to share it:
Exactly for that reason mentioned above. To give people a wake-up call so that they can realise if they are letting life pass them by.
How To Create a Viral Blog Post

List Posts:
The majority of the posts that go viral seem to be list-type posts. “X reasons to do something” or “X ways to be inspired”. The reason that these posts are so easily shared is that they are easy to read and there is always one or more reasons that relates to the reader. That is why they feel happy to share it and go through the trouble.

Interesting Topics:
Posts that go viral are often about topics that everybody has an interest in. Travel, life, money, sex, relationships. These have a broad appeal and are likely to be shared.

How-to Posts:
If you can provide a solution for a problem then people are grateful. If you can provide a solution for a common problem that many people have, the chances are big that your post will get shared by everyone who finds your solution helpful.

Of course not every post that you write in one of the above three styles will ensure that it goes viral. however, I think that it will greatly increase your chance for creating a diamond in the rough, a post that will get thousands if not hundreds of thousands of views. If your aim is to create viral blog posts, or even just one or two to get more traffic to your blog and new readers, then it is worth it to write articles in one of the three styles I mentioned above (or a combination of the styles).

Overall the risk you are talking about is the one of having your own visitors stop visiting your blog after they discover the one of a “competitor” through a guest post you accepted. Is this a real risk? In my opinion, no, and for several reasons.

First of all if your content is good (and it should be, else all other tactics will fail), your visitors will return no matter what. Even if all your posts contain links to other useful blogs, sites and resources your readers will come back because they’ll want more of that. If your content adds value to your readers, they are coming back no matter what.

The second reason is the fact that bloggers on your same niche should be seen as partners rather than competitors. If you had a website selling a product or service, then yes another website on the same niche should be seen as a competitor, because once the visitor purchases the product of the competitor he won’t be looking for what you have to offer anymore.

With content based websites, however, the same is not true. Web visitors can consume a very big amount of information, so the fact that a visitor will read another blog on your same niche does not mean that he won’t read yours, too. He can read both. Heck, if he is interested in the niche he will probably read ALL the good quality blogs around.

On top of that there is also the fact that blogs on your same niche will make the niche grow. If you blog about green tea, for example, it would be a positive thing if other blogs about green tea popped around, because they would bring more readers to the niche, would get more people exposed to it, and in the long run you would gain from that effect as well.

In summary: I would not be worried about accepting guest posts from blogs on your same niche. You should see this as an opportunity to network and grow together with your fellow bloggers.

It’s harder than ever to spend even a few minutes online these days without bumping into some get-rich-quick story or advertisement, whether it’s news about Ponzi schemes netting crooked financiers billions of dollars or annoying Google sidebar paid ads promising you that you’ll make $7,287,964/hour working from home, stuffing envelopes. The siren’s call of easy money is a tempting one, indeed, and it’s even trickling down to the world of blogging, with more and more stories appearing on mainstream news sites and portals about “professional” bloggers earning six figure salaries. Is this really the golden age of bloggers, with anyone with a blog virtually printing money with a few flicks of their fingers?

Anyone with a blog is likely already chuckling to themselves and shaking their heads no, and for good reason. While it is true that more and more businesses and corporations are creating positions related to blogging and managing larger social media efforts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites, “blogger” still has a long way to go becoming an established profession (and miles further to go past that point to regularly command a salary that eclipses that of recent MBA graduates, attorneys, etc.). A handful of bloggers who make more than $100,000/year is undoubtedly impressive, but for each one there are thousands of top-notch bloggers who never make a single solitary penny for their efforts.

Like many issues that get twisted and mangled so that make “good” news, anyone looking to profit from blogging may encounter a much different situation when they start casting their blog posts out into the real world. Most uber-successful bloggers (viewing success strictly from a monetary perspective) that make the headlines are actually more marketer than blogger, with their blogging efforts tied directly to a product or service they sell. Interestingly enough, if you browse through assorted lists of the world’s best paid bloggers, the majority make their money by, you guessed it, selling ebooks, DVDs, and other products that teach other people how to make money online. Handsomely-paid bloggers who make their living from simply posting pithy, well-written posts about topics near and dear to their heart are a very, very, very rare breed.

With that depressing news out of the way (no, you won’t get rich blogging), there’s actually a happier silver lining lurking, which is that it’s much easier to make money from blogging today than it was in the past. While your blogging efforts may not ever pay for that Caribbean island you’ve had your eye on buying, there are definitely more and more ways for quality bloggers to profit from their skills. The days are gone when the only way to monetize your blog was by selling text links or slapping up some Google Adsense ads, as bloggers now have many more alternatives when it comes to profiting from their prose. With blogging increasingly being viewed as a legitimate business practice for marketing and advertising departments, there are also more and more part-time and freelance blogging jobs posted on job sites and freelance portals such as Elance. While it still may be very difficult to quit your day job to become a full-time blogger, it’s easier than ever to turn blogging into an enjoyable, profitable part-time job.

this is the first post in wickipedia info blog