If you are on Empire Avenue and you don’t have a blog, you are missing out on a great way to build your social networking activity and audience engagement; and with today’s blogging tools it’s easier than ever to create an online presence that is all about you.  The most popular of all blogging platforms is now Tumblr. (It recently surpassed WordPress.)

Next, facts and tips about Tumblr. 

Here are some quick facts:

• 8-billion page views a month
• 6.8-billion posts to date
• 21-million blogs
• 34-million posts a day
• The average user create 14 new posts a week and reblogs posts 3 times with half of these photos.
• Tumblr has ten staff.

Tumblr makes it easy to post from anywhere and to share content with your friends and network.  So, here are fifteen tips to help you get the most out of this most social of blog tools:

1. Remember Tumblr is Not Like Other Blogs
   Just like most people on Facebook and Twitter view your posts on their own walls/streams, Tumblr provides a ‘Dashboard’ that streams posts from anyone the viewer is following. People can still get to and see your site like a traditional blog, but many people will never see it that way. So, plan your content accordingly. Your posts need to standalone more than they do on other blog platforms.
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2. Use the Empire Avenue Badge on Your Tumblog
   The Empire Avenue badge gives your more credit for visitors to your blog. You can find in on the Empire Avenue site here.  To add it to your Tumblr, copy the code from the Empire Avenue badge page, click on Customize in Tumblr, then on Info and paste the code into the Description field. Finally, don’t forget to change the Ticker from DUPS to your own.
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3. Post to Twitter and Facebook
   We have to assume that if someone views your blog post in their dashboard that you are you are not getting credit for a visit to your blog (your Empire Avenue badge does not get a hit). You want as many people to direct link to your posts as possible. So, take advantage of post to Twitter function on the Add Post page.  Also, Facebook has a Tumblr app that will automatically post content from your Tumblog to that social network.
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4. Choose a Better Tumblr Theme
   The default Tumblr theme is pretty basic. I use a great free theme that makes my photos larger and gives me some other features such as social network sharing and nice follow icons.  Choosing from one of the many themes will also help you give your blog your own personality.
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5. Post a Mix of New and Re-blogged Content
   The Development Team have said that Tumblr is likely coming as a direct network connection to Empire Avenue. The Tumblr API (the way Empire Avenue can get network data from Tumbr) can share whether a post was original or reblogged. Empire Avenue would most likely give more credit for original content rather than reblogged content (and may already check this – Nakeva confirms they do in the comments). Also, you get more credit for new posts within Tumblr than reblogs. However, reblogging (and liking) other people’s posts is a great way to introduce yourself and pick-up more followers. So, do a mix of both.
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6. Remember post-length matters to Empire Avenue
   Empire Avenue gives more credit for a long blog post than a short-one. So, add some commentary to those photos you post — it will make a difference.
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7. Use Tags
   Unlike some other blog platforms when someone does a tag-search  on Tumblr that can look across all blogs, not just one. So, use tags to help people discover your content. Also, the Tumblr Explore page creates categories of individual posts based on tags. So, good use of Tags could get you exposed to millions of viewers.
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8. Use Pages
   Tumblr provides you with the ability to create static pages in addition to main blog stream. A blog page is a good way to share other information about yourself.
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9. Post from Anywhere
   Tumblr makes it very easy to post by email, from your smart phone, from a telephone and the web. Take advantage of these tools to post more often. In particular checkout the Tumblr bookmarklet which makes it easy to share anything you find on the web to your Tumblog.  Also, sites like Flickr and YouTube have buttons for one-click sharing of content from those platforms.
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10. Use Widgets & Apps
    Tumblr makes it easy to add additional  features to your blog (such as a tag-cloud widget) or to connect with other services. To help you with this Tumblr has a list of third-party apps here.
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11. Take Advantage of Photosets
    Now with Tumblr, you don’t have to limit your photo posts to just one image. Photosets allow you to post multiple related photos that can be viewed as a slideshow. To create a photoset, upload your first photo in a photo post and then click ‘Add Another Photo’. You can learn more about photosets here.
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12. Queue Your Posts
    Feeling productive now and not going to be around later to publish content to your Tumblog? Tumblr has a great queue feature that allows you to prep posts now and have them publish at specific times. I particularly like that you can specify how many queued items to post in a day and between which hours. You also have the option of setting specific times for individual posts.
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13. Share with Share on Tumblr Button
    Do you use other blog platforms? Well now Tumblr provides a sophisticated Share on Tumblr button that allows you to share selected aspects of your content. Learn more about it here .
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14. Create a Topic Focus
    Want to break through the clutter of the gazillion people just posting whatever they think is cool at the moment? Then, give your blog a topic focus. I have a Tumblog that is just about charity videos for example.
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15. Consider Another Platform Like WordPress
    Tumblr is great, but it is not the only blog platform out there. It does have some shortcomings. For example, there is no way to backup your content to Windows yet or to export your content to other blog platforms yet.  Other blog tools such as WordPress do provide this functionality. So, take a look at Tumblr and see if it meets your needs. I happen to use WordPress AND Tumblr with each filling different needs.

What are your Tumblr Tips?  If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can find about more about many of the great features of Tumblr here.

Related posts:

1. Pre-schedule Your Posts
2. Be a Twitter Star to Shine on Empire Avenue
3. Ten Blog Tips for Erindale – Part 1
4. Ten Blog Tips for Erindale – Part 2
5. Do Blogs Matter on Empire Avenue?