I found a bug, you have FOX News listed as a credible news source. Nonetheless, congratulations on cutting the umbilical cord.

Haha. You'll notice that FOX is actually the lowest rated source on our site. That's the community deciding, not us. ;-)

I don't place much value in web 2.0 marketing strategies. There is a difference between the user who would come to your site and stay and use it and the user who would just come in response to a campaign. You need to make sure your groundwork is done first before you start thinking about campaigns.

What value do you provide to users? Figure that out, then figure out what people would find that valuable. Then figure out where you can find a lot of those people, then think up marketing campaign ideas.

There is also a difference between marketing to your current users, and marketing to potential users. Separate the two. The contest idea for the top 5 commenters is really valuable to existing users. and it creates value (content) for you, which helps entice other users. But if you direct it at potential users, you're wasting your time, because they're not likely to join just to comment on something and hope to win something. Most people would assume an existing user would just beat them out for the prize, and they'd probably be right.

So my advice is to do a lot of groundwork first, then come up with an interesting idea that fits who you want to target. Not come with an interesting idea, and then try to fit it into what your research says.

And congratulations by the way, its a big step, so good luck. :)

How can I (tech blogger) get my content on NewsCred?

"2 Cups - We combined that list with the top 100 blogs ranked by Technorati."

I am on the top 100 but can't find my blog on NewsCred.

As for increasing signups.. lower the barriers to entry. Add OpenID (look at clickpass too) and advertise that on the homepage. The quicker your users know registration is as easy as supplying a user name and openid url, they will not hesistate, in theory.

I'll take a look and add you soon. How bout a quick review of our site in return ;-)

Congratulations!

Perhaps you've read this, but this is great advice from Alexis of reddit.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24126/How-to-market-your-website-o...

Contests are a good way to increase activity on your site... free t-shirts for the top5 commenters? Or flash drives or anything really.

I am confused by the credibility ranking. Here is Instapundit:

http://www.newscred.com/source/show/name/instapundit

This guy is a _pundit_ with an agenda (conservative hawk that calls himself libertarian). Allowing users to give him cred simply validates the fact that they agree with him. His resulting credibility score doesn't help the newcomer to your site that has never heard of Instapundit. Based on his NewsCred score, he is one of the most credible authors in all the media. Seriously?

Your point is a good one. But we don't want to force our beliefs/agendas on our community. We provide a platform for them to voice their opinions. And having a strong opinion (whether liberal, conservating, libertarian) is not a problem in itself as long as its transparent. If you think he's not transparent and hides his biases, that deserves to get discredited.

from looking at that ranking table, it looks like all of them started out with 1000 positives

Yes, we did that so the initial users dont see the CredRank fluctuate wildly every time someone votes (i.e. go from 0 to 100 to 50). We also felt it was important that everyone starts off as credible (100). We shouldn't be able to decide at the start, because then the entire idea is tainted!

BTW, by looking at data and trends from our Alpha, we realized we have to tweak some of our algorithms. So I'll post separately about that for the geeks out there who want to chip in.

Firstly, congratulations. Leaving paid employment is often a big step to take for people used to getting a wage and usually a vital one in being a entrepreneur.

The most effective form of marketing is word of mouth. Try to do things to get people passionate about your site and talking about it. Find out what draws people to you and run competitions/events/campaigns around those areas.

I thought the 37signals affiliate program was a pretty clever piece of marketing: https://affiliate.37signals.com/

I'm not sure if you could replicate it without having the reputation that they do.

> Any pearls of wisdom or inspiration for interesting marketing campaigns?

Lurzer's Archive, a quarterly ((IRC) global magazine of award winning print, video and online ads.

Check out the book "Buzzmarketing" - it's great. By Mark Hughes, who renamed Halfway, Oregon to Half.com, Oregon

congrats, dude. see you in london soon.