Yahoo Buzz 101

So, your Digg didn't get Dug, Your Reddit wasn't Read and Your Newsvine Seed dried up and died? Fear not, you can still try Yahoo! Buzz. Are you ready for your 25 minutes of fame? Want the link?

Whoa! Not so fast there pardner...

There are a few things you should know first.

There are two kinds of folks that use the Yahoo! Buzz Hive: The Bears and the Bees. The Bears are the folks that go to the Hive to look for honey. They are looking for Hot Stories, Amusing Tales and Interesting Tidbits to pass the time. The Bees are the folks that put the honey there in hopes of catching the Bears eye.

You are the Bee.

But, here's the problem: There are hundreds of thousands of bees putting little bits of honey in the hive. And, depending on the time of day and the category the honey goes in, the honey spoils in just about 25 minutes if it doesn't get any attention from a few bears. That's right, if your post or story isn't lapped up by a few bears and BUZZED UP in those short 25 minutes or so...your honey goes to honey heaven. You might still get a few straggler bears that hit on your honey in the days to come, but it doesn't amount to much.

So, now what?

Give Yourself A Buzz-It's All In The Title

Yahoo! Buzz is just like Digg, Reddit or any other Social Bookmarking Site or Links Page...the title you submit is going to make you or break you. With just a few minutes to catch the community's eye, you had better make it good.

Obviously, your post or article needs to be a quality piece. If your title gets 'em there and what they find is junk, it's all for naught. No Buzz Up for you.

Here are a few more tips:

* Don't post early in the morning. There are a lot more bees than bears early in the morning, and some of the bees post scores of articles consecutively in the same category. Not very smart...but I'm not going to tell them otherwise. Their posts knock each other down the list quickly.

* Buzz gives you 300 characters to work with in the summary. Don't do it. Try to write a second headline or use a lead sentence or two from your article/post. You are trying to hook 'em, not let them read it all on the Buzz site.

* Check out the category you are posting in before you do it. Just click on the Up and Coming tab. Look at the headlines and also look to see who is posting the articles. If you see a bunch of articles by the same person, wait a little while. If you don't, you're not going to get your 25 minutes of fame. More like 10 to 15.

* Don't let another item on the same subject scare you off. Your article/post could have a better title and exceed the other item in quality.

* Don't spam the site with junk. I have seen everything and anything on this site...from what someone had for lunch yesterday to an Ebay listing and everything in between in an attempt to get a hit. Don't do it. This junk ruins it for all the legitimate bees and will eventually drive the bears away.

Finally, you must be a member of the Yahoo! Community to submit. See? That Yahoo email address is going to come in handy now.

Happy Buzzing!