So I’m checking my email today, and I get a google alert for “www.jtpratt.com”. In my next post I’ll talk about why and how I do that. I read the email and it had one link to Marco Richter’s Blog. Specifically his post on the Viral Recommendation Carousel. It’s a novel linkbuilding concept. In some ways it’s just a mimic of an old-school snail mail chain letter. But I think it’s more than that…

Remember chain letters? People have been sending those in postal mail for decades. In fact, believe it or not some people still are – I got two in the physical mailbox in the last year. Basically it’s a letter stating you can get rich just by following simple directions. At the end of the page are a list of 5 names and addresses. Usually it tells you to send either $1 or $5 to each person, and then make a copy of the letter. Erase the last persons name, and a new persons name and address on top. Then make 5 copies and mail the letter out to 5 people you know (new ones) with their name on the list as well (or something like that). Basically it’s like a pyramid scheme where if all 5 people send to 5, and then send to 5, and they send to 5 – you’ll get a bunch of money in the mail for free. Most people don’t follow through and you just get a couple bucks in the mail, usually not even enough to cover your time and effort.

Marco’s concept is much the same, you copy his text of what the Viral Recommendation Carousel is, and in the list of recommendations you add a blog your like to the top of the list with a short review (leaving your review intact of course). The “viral” part is the “pass-it-on” effect of the blogosphere. Now that I’ve read this on his site, I’m flattered to have been on the list of blogs he reads, and even though I don’t know him and haven’t come accross his blog before (and didn’t know he read mine), I’m writing about his post and becoming part of this Carousel. Hopefully many of you that read this post on my site will do same and become part of the viral backlink train.

In theory you look at this (like the chain letter) and say – that’s just cheating (for linkbuilding that is)!! But is it? It’s a little different on the web (and the blogosphere). In addition to viral linkbuilding Marco is building community. I didn’t know he or his blog existed, but now I’ve visited his site and read many posts. There are millions of blogs on the web and I only see a few new ones each week. Marco has some good posts on blogging and WordPress – I’ve added his site to the feeds I will read and I left a comment on one page today. He has prompted me indirectly to become part of his “network” or “community”. I’m sure he’ll comment on this post, and I found out through his initial post he’s already a part of my community. Sure this Viral linkbuilding exercise may seem like a chain letter, but it’s “long tail” causes us to look at, review, and become part of new blogs and sites. We will gain new subscribers, visitors, and start new comments and conversations as a result of this exercise.

If you are reading this post now and own a blog – I encourage you to become part of the “Viral Recommendation Carousel” and part of my (and Marco’s) community. Together we can connect and network with all kinds of new bloggers! All you have to do is copy from the red line below to the ending red line, and follow the instructions and paste into your blog. One last thing though…DO NOT be tempted to merely paste this in a post as-is without a lengthy explanation as I’ve done. The last thing you want to do is have the Carousel instructions become the bulk of the text in your post, because google will just label your page as “duplicate content”, and you may lose all the benefits to participating in the first place. Don’t cheat! Write a meaningful post explaining why you are participating and what you think the benefits will be to those that want to participate as well. The better you explain it – the more people will try it, and the more recommendations you will get!

– copy and paste from this line (including the line) —

Why this will work

  • It provides value through personal recommendations
  • Links to your blog with linktext of your choice
  • Backlinks come from within a dedicated content about your blog
  • Rotating content will prevent it from penalties from search engines
  • It is viral – more participants means greater effect

How it works
Simply follow these few steps to make this one working for you:

  • Create a new post on your blog and start it with a few words about how you came into this carousel.
  • Copy and paste the entire text between the red lines
  • Check if all links are working after copy and paste
  • Remove the very last recommendation from the list
  • Add a recommendation of a blog you love to the top of the list with at least 2-3 sentences about why you love to read this blog and add a little note, that you recommend this together with a link to your blog. Here is an example:

MarcoRichter.net is a blog, I love to read on a daily basis. It provides latest information about blogging, linkbuilding and blog seo issues. From detailed how-to articles to some ultimate ressource lists, Marco covers a wide variety of information for your daily blogging routine. Recommended by: JTPRATT’s Blogging Mistakes

Blogs I recommend because I love to read them daily:

  • shoemoney.com – run by Jeremy Schoemaker a blog about making money online and web marketing tips and tricks. As CEO of ShoeMoney Media Group his claim to (initial) fame is earning over $100,000 in one month from cell phone ringtones. His most recent success story is the creation of “Auction Ads”, and obtaining over 20,000 affiliates in under 6 months – and then selling the company for a huge profit. I believe Jeremy is a web marketing genious, and reading his blog is not only entertaining, but insightful. He is the average person’s Donald Trump, and one to keep a very close watch on the next few years… Recommended by: JTPRATT’s Blogging Mistakes
  • canimakebigmoneyonline.com – run by George Manty is the definite ressource when it comes to monetizing your blog. Being more than 2 years on the scene, there are several hundreds of articles on making money online. Take your time to read through them all – it´s worth it. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • bloggingtips.com – More than 10 authors contribute interesting blogging topics to this site. If you want to stay updated on what´s hot in the blogosphere, this blog is a must read. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • bluejar.com – run by Sarah Pacopac does more than blogging topics and goes out to browser relates issues and also provides some design and affiliate marketing information. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • jtpratt.com – run by John Pratt is a quite new blog about blogging mistakes and how to avoid them. John has been running websites for more than 10 years, so he knows about the hard way to learn from mistakes. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • OneMansGoal.com – run by Bryan Clark is a good stop for bloggers wanting to learn more about generating visitors for their own blogs. He adds some time management topics for those among us looking for optimization of their daily routine. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • topsecretblogger.com – This one is a completely community driven project. Everyone is invited to sign up and write a post on the blog. Many contest will be attracting other bloggers to come in and join the project. I think this will become even more influential in the future, it´s definitely worth taking a closer look. Recommended by: Marco Richter
  • probloggersmatrix.com – Mark´s blog is well-established and concentrates on topics about the relationship between bloggers and their readers. His posts are often titled as questions, what helps starting a conversation with the audience. Recommended by: Marco Richter

This carousel has been started by Marco Richter on viral linkbuilding – the basic concept is a slightly adjusted version of Alex Sysoef´s reciprocal review carousel.

– copy and paste up to this line (including the line) —

Please join the Carousel and add your recommendations for favorite blogs and personalities on the web. If you add someone, you should probably let them know so they can join in as well! The blogging mistake here (for me) is not reaching out to other bloggers to join my community sooner!