Now what should you write a Knol about?  How can Knol’s promote your own blog’s or websites? Well first write about anything you think you have some knowledge on. There are so many topics that have not been taken yet it is an unbelievable chance to get your name on some prime real estate.  Something that is very hard to come by in the Internet world these days.

For example look at my Knol on Ithaca College.  Its where I recently graduated from and I figured I have a pretty good idea of what the school is all about after spending 4 years there.  It’s a lot like the Wikipedia page but that’s just fine its supposed to be.

The point of writing a Knol about my school was not because I am in love with the school and I’m looking for every way to pay it back for my 4 great years there.  Writing the Knol promotes myself, by giving viewers easy access to my profile and others Knol’s I’ve written.  My profile which includes links to my websites and this blog, my other Knol’s which are about this blog and my websites.  All giving me that much more exposure in this increasingly crowded cyberspace.

Now you might be saying how much exposure can a Knol on Ithaca College really give me.  Well it all comes down to Google’s search engine ranking of Knol’s.  The rumor is that Google is giving Knol’s an extra bump in its search engine ranking, with an ultimate goal of a Knol being the first thing that comes up for the search of any topic.  Ex. Search Ithaca College, the 1st result is my Knol with all the basic info on the school, then the next result is the actual school homepage.  Now that’s exposure.

None of this will happen quickly but I suggest you get out there and write some Knol’s.  In the coming months it could prove to be a huge source of traffic to your blog or website.

Also don’t just write on anything, actually write stuff you have a decent amount of knowledge on.  The whole point of the Knol system, unlike Wikipedia, is to sort out credible sources by having personal profiles attached to each Knol.

Also other people can write a Knol on the same topic that you write about, so make it good because the best Knol’s will be the ones that get high search rankings.

Good Luck!

Check out Google Knol

- this is the process of clicking the stumble button on your toolbar and coming across articles.  When you come across a page this way and thumb it up or down your vote is given more weight because you came across the site randomly and therefore voted based on content you had never seen before.

Tip – this is the best way to drive traffic to your site however its hard to control who comes across your site.  Key is to build a core group of friends, people who are truly interested in what your doing.  Then when your site is in the system theres a higher chance that your friends will come across it and therefore thumb it up because they like the same stuff.

2. Send To

- this is a handy toolbar function that allows you to easily send a site to any of your friends.  However it may cause a decrease in the weight of a thumbs up if you received the site via the “send to” button.  This makes sense because it tries to eliminate the ability to mass send a particular site and abuse the system if you happen to have a ton of friends.

Tip – it takes more time and is not as convenient but if you want to get your site out there use the message function on your stumble homepage and directly message each of your friends asking them to look at the site.  Maybe even ask them to find the site via Google to help your search engine status out as well.  If you’ve developed a core group of friends with similar interests you should get a decent response from most of them and hopefully a handful of reviews and thumb-ups.  I think this method works best for launching a new site or if you just have an amazing post, not something to do everyday.

3. Your Domain

- Don’t submit the same domain over and over again as your thumbs up will have less weight over time. Example – submitting every blog post you make.  Also this helps to limit the ability for good friends on the site to continuously stumble each others work.

Tip – Try and submit only your best work, the stuff you think will generate a bunch of thumb-ups.  Also if you are just starting a blog, DO submit all of your work.  Point being your work probably isn’t going to be seen at all if you don’t submit it.  Even if your decreasing your stumble weight by doing so hopefully you’ll attract a handful of readers to your blog and over time you can slowly decrease how much work you submit.  Goal being you don’t submit anything but your readers end up submitting all your work.  I’ve done this and even as my submissions for my own blog lost value they were still generating 100-150 views from stumble, not so shabby.

I must stress that none of this is proven but from my experience with stumbleupon these are the biggest trends that I have noticed and I think they are true to some extent.

Also remember to just use the site all the time.  The more you give back to the community the more it will give to you.

1. Coffee – According to the National Coffee Association, the average price for brewed coffee is $1.38. There are roughly 260 weekdays per year, so buying one coffee every weekday morning costs almost $360 per year.

2. Cigarettes – The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reports that the average price for a pack of cigarettes in the United States is $4.54. Pack-a-day smokers fork out $1,660 a year. Weekend smoker? Buying a pack once a week adds up, too: $236.

3. Alcohol — Drink prices vary based on the location. But assuming an average of $5 per beer including tip, buying two beers per day adds up to $3,650 per year. Figure twice that for two mixed drinks a day at the local bar. That’s not chump change.

4. Bottled water from convenience stores — A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too.

5. Manicures – The Day Spa Magazine Price Survey of 2004 found that the average cost of a manicure is $20.53. A weekly manicure sets you back about $1,068 per year.

6. Car washes — The average cost for a basic auto detailing package is $58, according to Costhelper.com. The tab for getting your car detailed every two months: $348 per year.

7. Weekday lunches out — $9 will generally cover a decent lunch most work days. If you buy rather than pack a lunch five days a week for one year, you shell out about $2,350 a year.

8. Vending machines snacks — The average vending machine snack costs $1. Buy a pack of cookies every afternoon at work and pay $260 per year.

9. Interest charges on credit card bills – According to a survey released at the end of May 2007, the median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans is $6,600. Rate tables on Bankrate.com indicate that fixed interest rates on a standard card average 13.44 percent. Making the minimum payment each month, it will take 250 months (almost 21 years) to pay off the debt and cost $4,868 in interest. Ouch!

10. Unused memberships — Costhelper.com reports that the monthly service fee at gyms averages between $35 and $40. At $40 per month, an unused gym membership runs $480 per year.

Original article found here