Sphinn - Seattle SEO John Andrews challenges Sphinn to top 600

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Sphinn It!

Seattle SEO John Andrews challenges Sphinn to top 600

Went Hot: August 8, 2007 - 6:00 pm
Posted By: johnandrews 695 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.johnon.com)
Category: Sphinn Zone

Seattle SEO John Andrews challenges Sphinn members to prove their mettle as marketers, by pushing Sphinn over 600 for the first time. If you're new to Sphinn, welcome! and why not throw your first Sphinn onto this historical post?

Sites like Digg show hundreds and sometimes thousands of votes because their members participate and exercise their voting rights. Sphinn is young, but more than a year old already and yet most posts have 10, 20, or 30 Sphinns. Why not more?

When this post first went "hot", it challenged Sphinn's membership to "prove themselves" as marketers. The most number of Sphinns for any post at that time was less than 70. Since the users pushed this to 100, then 200, and now over 400, Sphinn has grown site wide. Many posts see almost a hundred Sphinns.

More Sphinns reflects more participation, and by increasing participation we not only prove ourselves as marketers but help keep Sphinn alive as a viable community.

Let's go to 600 but continue to pace of voting to Sphinn up what deserves to be Sphunn, site wide!

90 Comments

Who Desphunn This (3)

Comments

from dannysullivan 695 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

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Oh my, really, the first serious Sphinnbait. And so deserving of a Sphinn. C'mon, let's kick John up to 100.

from nathanholman 695 days ago #

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funny stuff.

from toddmintz 694 days ago #

Votes: 2 | Vote:

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I assume you are going to make 100 Sphinns, top the "Greatest Hits", and then quit, correct?

Don't be a "One Hit Wonder", John.

from bwelford 694 days ago #

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Way to go, John. However I hope all this fun stuff won't crowd out the quality content.

from qwerty 694 days ago #

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This is just a demonstration of the mob mentality within the business. Well, I won't sphinn it. Nope, I'm not falling for it. Not this fella.

must.... resist.... sphinning....accckkkkk

from Sem-Advance 694 days ago #

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I tried to read his blog but after looking at it... decided wasn't worth trying to decipher.

But I was thinking his idea is SphinnSpam

Say that three times real quick.....

from dreras 694 days ago #

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This is a perfect example of linkbait. John caught my attention just like he said he would...through my logs. Way to go John, you got my Sphinn.

from HamletBatista 694 days ago #

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I found out through my log too. Clever strategy. Was that a typical get-rich-quick looong sales letter or a post?

The only items missing were the red bold letters, big headings, testimonials and his signature ;-)

from ScottFish 694 days ago #

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LOL I love the update on John's site now, sooo many outbound links. I guess that answers the question of "does it hurt to link out to too many sites?" =)

from SEOHonolulu 694 days ago #

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good lord.. that blog is about 10 minutes away from MFA land... no sphinn for you! I am the sphinn nazi!

from beammeup 694 days ago #

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John gave me some great advice a few months ago about where to go in my business. I'll gladly Sphinn this. It's now Sphunn. This is fun.

Now, I'm done.

from Jill 694 days ago #

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Hmmm...Rand's mug or John's mug.

Rand is much cuter. But what the hell...I'll sphinn it...

from Derick 694 days ago #

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It's just one more Sphinn. What could it hurt?

I promise I'm quitting tomorrow. This is seriously the last one. Well... I'll have to Sphinn once tomorrow morning... just to get the day started off on the right foot.

But then I'm done for real. Yeah. Tomorrow is the day. That's the plan for today anyway.

from MattMcGee 694 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

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John ... love it. Making Seattle proud. You get #1, Rand gets #2, and then we all bump one of mine up there and Seattle owns the Top 3. Sound good?

from SEOHonolulu 694 days ago #

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I did sphinn it for the record.. was just trying to make a bad seinfeld joke.

sorry :(

from randfish 694 days ago #

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Threw a link on the SEOmoz blog to hopefully help you out. Good luck.

from Sebastian 694 days ago #

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Heh. I'd kill for a link - sphunn, and great job John!

from willcritchlow 694 days ago #

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Okey dokey. I'm a sucker. Sphunn and contact made.

from ciaran 694 days ago #

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Sphunn, more to see whether driving traffic to his page will drive it on to our site which is on the list - nowt as yet...

It's bloody hard reading though, isn't it?

from LukeRegan 694 days ago #

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Sphunn, love it.

from robwatts 694 days ago #

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moved finger on mouse downwards

from justinhayward 694 days ago #

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Sphinn to Win. Legendary work fella.

from TimDineen 694 days ago #

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alright. why not.

from Silver 694 days ago #

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I'll give this a Sphinn, though it sounded as though we'll later lose the ego-links he's got to our blogs? Worthy of a Sphinn, regardless.

"...watch their referrer logs like hawks..." Yeah. I guess I resemble that remark!

from seoz87 694 days ago #

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sphunn....

from fantomaster 694 days ago #

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Sock it to 'em, John - always good for pinpointing the latest coolest buzzy trends from Absurdistan.

from eeko 694 days ago #

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It can be done.....one step closer to 100

from kiru4 694 days ago #

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Back in the day, I spun pressed vinyl and got David Cassidy and the Partridge Family in return... Then the Berlin wall came down, vinyl became a sofa cover that my legs stuck to on humid days, and I found myself thrust into the exciting world of SEO. I'll sphinn to say I was a part of history!

from kimber 694 days ago #

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part of me says no, don't do it...but i couldn't resist.

from Syzlak 694 days ago #

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damn fine idea

from dannysullivan 694 days ago #

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@Jill, see, at first I thought John's mug was a Borg from Star Trek -- which alone would have been sphinn worthy. Then I realized it was a camera! Great post about taking photos about the surfers and bringing that back to search privace, by the way, John: http://www.johnon.com/380/google-privacy-2.html

from fskipper 694 days ago #

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Booyah...

from aimClear 694 days ago #

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Wonderful...in addition to the link-for-Sphinns approach, I think gift certificates for sushi in San Jose should be distributed to those making colorful comments.

from webprofessor 694 days ago #

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I guess sphinning this makes me a dirty dirty link whore

from Marie 694 days ago #

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wow that was my first sphinn!

from bigoak 694 days ago #

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Okay, I'll bite and make this my first Sphinn. Your strategy worked, I tracked a link to my Big Oak SEO Blog and found the article.

from SisterSledge 694 days ago #

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Haha...I had to register just so I Sphinn this. I've been reading Johnon since Threadwatch closed down...nowadays it's the best place I can find for snarkyness. Hmmm...maybe I should go check out what Thatgirlfrommarketing is writing - without Threadwatch I'm snark-deprived :-(

from PaulHancox 694 days ago #

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I do believe I'm the 100th sphinner!

:)

from johnandrews 694 days ago #

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Wow... I went biking this morning and just checked back in to see 98 sphinns! Awesome.. and certainly gives me more to show off to the domainers next week at DomainRoundtable. Now, who will be Sphinn #100 of the first post to Sphinn up to 100?

I'll get the linking updated... lots of work to do :-)

from PaulHancox 694 days ago #

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I believe the answer is, ME :)

Wow, that was more exciting than sniping an Ebay auction :)

Maybe I should get out more...

from AmyGreer 694 days ago #

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Sphunn ... and I subscribed to your feed, John. Double whammy.

from beammeup 694 days ago #

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101! Way to go John! Way to knock off Rand! (no offense Rand, seomoz = still super cool)

from webconnoisseur 694 days ago #

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102 and still going...

from ViperChill 694 days ago #

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No offence to rand but I'm glad he's not up there anymore :D

from bwelford 694 days ago #

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Since we've now delivered on John's objective, perhaps we can now get back to Regular Programming. :)

from pittfall 693 days ago #

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Regular programing... this is a marketers community!

Oh the drama, the intrigue, and mine is bigger than yours.

from gabs 693 days ago #

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Nice ping list for this one ;)

toprankblog full list pinged ?

from johnandrews 692 days ago #

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Only the first 400 entries ;-)

from PaFinder 692 days ago #

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i joined sphinn because of this article. it is good and made me want to join.

from tinkerbellchime 691 days ago #

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Hey, I joined Sphinn because of this article, too. John, they should pay you! You're the best marketer of the week.

from jandrew07 691 days ago #

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done

from JohnWeb 689 days ago #

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I regret that I only have one sphinn to give.

from macewan 680 days ago #

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I'll give it a shot.

from debohobo 670 days ago #

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Sure, I'm in!

from gothwalk 662 days ago #

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Another one signed up because of John's article...

from billse 653 days ago #

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145, baby. You make some good points.

from bwelford 549 days ago #

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Just one more Sphinn and it's the double century. I've helped already so it can't be me.

from BenWilks 530 days ago #

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lol.

from techustle 530 days ago #

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go John go!

from Aussiewebmaster 528 days ago #

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Good technique to get some backdoor sphinns.... always smile at your methodologies... keep it up mate

from sunaren2001 472 days ago #

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I did my job john :)

from discuit 472 days ago #

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19 to go....

from turnkeywebsites 472 days ago #

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18 to go :)

from johnandrews 465 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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So now we've got de-sphinners, on a Sphinn-zone post. Gimme a break. If nothing else, this thread is PROMOTIONAL and FEELS GOOD for Sphinners who participate. I can see desphinning news items that don't make the grade, but desphinning a Sphinn-zone discussion?

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

from tamar 464 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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Sour grapes it may be, but it doesn't add any value to the Internet Marketing community in my opinion.

Come on, you can handle it.

from AboutBruyns 459 days ago #

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Very good post you wrote about barter: http://www.johnon.com/528/google-paidlinks.html

from discuit 451 days ago #

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Well thats all done then

309

from incrediblehelp 450 days ago #

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Little late to the party here, but this whole thread reminded me of phrase that starts with circle and ends in jerk.

from Rizoh 395 days ago #

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Sphinnbaiting...I like that word.

from johnandrews 393 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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80% of the way to 400 sphinns...

from monchito 387 days ago #

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just added 0.25% ;)

from moneymanatee 377 days ago #

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I have to say this is lame and reminds me of when Digg started to go over the tipping point and then became super lame. I'd rather see a story with 30 sphinns than a story begging for votes. I mean seriously folks... what's in it for us? Nothin'.

someone needs to start a campaign to desphinn this one... lol?

from johnandrews 377 days ago #

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welcome to the party.. a bit late. But thanks for the comments anyway.

There were links involved, just so ya know, but the management has put the kabosh on saying that so it isn't said any more. Nope. No one is saying anything about back links for Sphinns. Why go to 400? Well, why leave it at 100 where it was.. or 200... or even 300?

Now whether or not this is "lame" has not been addresses here, but you could always start a thread about "Sphinn is a popularity contest" or something like that. The whole idea of votes for stories you didn't write... well that could be debated too if you want. But not here.

Now if you have something helpful to add, perhaps regarding what should be up here, that would be great. It's all about the Sphinners... and this post started because there was another old, boring, useless post sitting at the top at that time.

from danlew 327 days ago #

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Cmon 400 is easy, i'll see you at the top! LOL

Would be nice to see who can hold the record and for how long? Sphinn should also issue a prize aswell, Nice achievement!

from johnandrews 327 days ago #

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Social Media Marketing is a funny business. Right now, for instance, Tamar and I have been contrasted on the SEOBook blog for our views of Social Media. Tamar is portrayed as all bubbly and optimistic, and I have been described as cynical. Actually, that is a pretty good comparison. But that should not be construed as dismissive. I do not dismiss social... I just dismiss people who have little more going for them than their cult of online friends who vote for whatever they want voted up (or down). I believe in hard work and education. I think everyone deserves a shot, and no one has to do both work and education, but I dislike the players who pull social infleunce to secure commercial opportunity that others have worked hard to earn, through sweat and/or education.

Now this comment stream is being "played", as you can see in the comments getting voted down (quietly.. slowly.. every since tamar expressed her self-admitted "sour grapes" above). I don't corral any legion of followers to click my stuff or vote for me or support my friends... that is what I dislike about "social media marketing". I love the concept of moving the people... I just don't like the fake, wanna-be marketer stuff that comes out of "come on folks, time to vote this up" (or down).

It's okay... I have always supported Sphinn and although I would prefer to see a positive approach to competing, I understand how certain players may have a limited arsenal of creativity available to them, and may feel they have to resort to negative tactics. Wouldn't it be great to see someone produce something so Sphinn-worthy it collected 400 Sphinns?

When I started this, here was very little comment voting going on at Sphinn, and very little Sphinning compared to viewing. That was a driving force behind my initial "prove yourself a marketer" post looking for 100 Sphinns. It worked. Lots more activity, new members signing in to Sphinn, and mostly positive comments.

Somewhere above some people decided they had no hope of overtaking this post at the top of the Greatest Hits page, and things started going sour. Negative comments, down votes, and now... ?

Too bad, but perhaps reflective if the players behind some of the Social Media scamminess? No worries... I believe in the power of marketers even if there are a bunch of sour ones.

And that is why I offer a challenge... go ahead and displace this post on the Greatest Hits page. Prove Yourself a Marketer, get something else up here at 400 or whatever Sphinns, and I'll hand over the crown and edit this post so it doesn't detract from your glory at the top. My initial goal for this was 1 million Sphinns, but I am willing to forgoe that dream if it helps make Sphinn a more positive communty.

So there it is... a challenge. We're on our way to 400, but if you can be creative and get something Sphinn worthy up here close to this post's count... a respectable challenger so to speak, I'll defer to your Social Media Genius. Up to it? I hope so. In the mean time, thanks everyone for the votes and let's keep it positive out there!

from shannonswenson 275 days ago #

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394. Yawn and g'nite.

from yetanotherben 231 days ago #

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I'm a little disappointed it's now hit 405! I found it funnier when people left it at 401...come on guys!

from johnandrews 222 days ago #

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@yetanotherben I suppose we now need to go to 499 and let it sit there! That would be even funnier! ;-)

from yetanotherben 219 days ago #

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@Johnandrews, OK I've finally been suckered in to Sphinning it to help you along your way!

Now everyone say after me: "I promise I won't Sphinn this post past 499"

...great thinking John!!

from elenap 163 days ago #

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Well, if this is a historical post, here is my first comment for you )

"I promise I won't Sphinn this post past 499"

from bthomson 156 days ago #

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What do you mean 449... there are only 82 comments!

from JustinMarch 148 days ago #

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Quality first IMHO but a very clever idea John...

from hepcj 128 days ago #

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I added my Sphinn too.

from slaphappychappie 120 days ago #

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I was only 481 - would loved to have been number 501 to conclude your objective!

from AirDisa 103 days ago #

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I was 487. I would love to see it go way past 500. I would be willing to bet it will go past 500 by more than one voter vying to be number 500 on the spot. Go go go :)
Best wishes,Disa

from sk33lz 70 days ago #

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Well, this is my first sphinn and I am #506. I wasn't sure if you all wanted to keep this sphinning or not. Time to go sphin some others that I have been reading over the past few weeks. Might as well keep it going at this point :)

Cheers

from bennycostello 30 days ago #

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lets hope spinn gets there. fingers crossed

from YourEasyWay 19 days ago #

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Well John's not doing too badly for himself at a respectable 536 with my Sphinn. ;)

Let's keep "him" Sphinning, and maybe that 1,000 is not so unobtainable...

Warm regards,
Paul

from Gab 14 days ago #

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lol how many times is John gonna be able to change this title? :)

from MariosAlexandrou 4 days ago #

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@Gab I could've sworn the title was 500 at some point. Thanks for confirming I'm not going nuts.

It does seem odd that the title can be updated... I just checked some of my submissions and I don't seem to have that ability. Or am I missing something?