YouBundle

4 Common Bundling Mistakes

I just finished up the outline for the first bundling tutorial video.   This is NOT on the mechanics of how to bundle as that is pretty straight forward and won’t be an issue for our user base until we get to the mass market adoption.

The subject of the first tutorial video is on some of the mistakes that people will commonly make when creating a bundle and a few simple steps that will only take a few minutes extra but will make the difference between an average and a fantastic bundle.    Its in outline form- but here ya go.  Will have the video ready shortly.

• Why do you want lots of views
  • Maybe you are promoting a website or service - more views=more referrals
  • Fame and Glory
  • If you are going to bother to make a bundle - then might as well spend an extra 2 minutes to make it nice
• Examples of Bundles that Don’t get Views -  (afterwords will will discuss how to remedy this)
  • Bundles without display pictures
    • Remember people will be browsing or searching with many other bundles on the same page - if you don’t include a display picture then you are saying that your bundle is not interesting
  • Bundles without personalized link descriptions.
    • Just leaving it blank or using the default description
    • The description field should be in YOUR voice.   Remember you are giving a Guided tour of the subject.   Give your opinion of the subject matter
  • Unfocused or overly Broad bundles.
    • Bundles like-  - “Cool things”  that have a link to your website - and then 2 outher random sites wont do well.
    • Remember that a bundle is a guided tour of a subject - pretend you are a teacher prepared a summary or lesson plan on your bundle subject
  • Short bundles
    • Its perfectly ok to have a bundle with the minimum 3 links - and some of the best bundles are made like this-  however consider ways to improve and fill out your subject matter to paint a complete portrait
• 4 Steps you can take to Getting the most Views from your bundle
  • Upload a compelling thumbnail picture.
    • Even if you dont have anything on your hard drive, do a quick web search and find that relevant photo to grab and upload.
    • Even if your subject does not have a photo that could be directly associated - then just grab something representative.
    • Your Bundle is a work of art - pick your thumb image with the purpose of grabbing peoples attention to get them to come inside and explore your bundle
  • Great Title - Description on the Bundle and the Links
    • TITLE
      • Your title should be descriptive - it is also your URL so include keywords so people searching on the web can find your bundle
    • BUNDLE DESCRIPTION
      • No need to paste a whole wikipedia article - but a concise paragraph on the subject matter will do nicely to brief people on our bundle.  Also can make this personalized with instead of objective talk - can talk about the links you included and why
    • LINKS
      • Personal description on the links is SO important.  Just leaving the description box blank or using the default description is not going to give your viewers a good idea of what is inside that link.
      • Remember this is your guided tour of the subject - so in the link description box - dont be afraid to talk about the link from your PERSONAL voice.  Tell why you like this link or what is wrong with it
  • Keep your Bundle Focused!!
    • For Example - Instead of Making a bundle on “Wine”  Try one on “Chillean Merlots”  or “Great Red Wines to Eat with Lamb”
    • To do a great bundle on a very broad topic is very difficult and consuming.   So focus in on a particular deep niche of you topic and explore it thoughtfully
  • Fill in your Bundle
    • One of the biggest mistake people make when first starting to bundle is that they will have a few great links on a subject add them and be done with it.   Great bundlers understand that this is just the beginning.
    • Take this opportune to further learn about your subject by searching out more relevant information.   You win because you learn more about something that you are passionate about and your bundle wins because it gets filled in with great content.
      • Search on Flickr
      • Search on Amazon
      • Search on YouTube
      • Search on Google
      • Search for you topic on all of these and you will first off learn more about your subject, but just as importantly- be able to present your readers with a more complete portrait of the subject.  Again pretend you are a teacher preparing a lesson plan via links in your bundle
• Have Fun!!