First you need to build it, then you need to spread the word, and then the visitors will come.  Mixx accomplished this rather well, as some members who joined up when it first began, like myself, knew that not only would Mixx be a popular and successful social site, but it would be able to surpass all of the others that were currently taking over the net.  

There are currently hundreds, if not thousands, of social sites on the net.  Some of them are strictly for bookmarking, some of them are strictly for socializing, but the really good ones are totally interactive like Mixx.  There are currently six other social sites on the net that are extremely popular, boast a high PageRank, get loads of traffic on a daily basis, and just might be considered the best social site overall.  However, in my mind none of them can really compete with Mixx, and I will tell you which sites they are and what makes Mixx stand out instead of them.  

1.)  Mixx vs. Twitter

Anyone who is anyone is Tweeting these days right?  

Twitter boasts an Alexa rank of 97 and a PageRank of 8.  Twitter is possibly the most used social site on the net.  However, Twitter is one of those sites where you are restricted.  The initial purpose of Twitter was to get friends connected, so that your friends could see what you were currently doing.  This obviously did spread like wild fire, but it's all you can do with Twitter.  Gain friends, then send them a short message about what you are doing.  

Sure you can have 50,000 friends or more on Twitter, but you'll never be able to keep track with all that is going on.  From a marketing perspective, you don't even get the benefit of a "dofollow" backlink, so if you are marketing a business and trying to spread the word, it better be something that people need and would be interested in, or it's just not going to matter.  

Basically, Twitter is just a place where you can have some fun by sending a brief 140 character message to friends.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It's become quite popular, but perhaps that's because it's so easy to do.  

In Mixx, you can do way more than simply adding as many friends as you want and letting them know what you are doing.  Mixx is also useful for marketing because you always get the benefit of a "dofollow" backlink.  Just try not to submit too much of your own stuff lest you get accused of spamming the site.  

Advantage Mixx.

2.)  Mixx vs. StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon emerged 2 years ago as a way to enable people to "stumble" sites that they, or their friends liked.  

StumbleUpon boasts an Alexa rank of 359 and a PageRank of 8.  StumbleUpon is quite different than Twitter, almost the opposite in fact.  In StumbleUpon you can add friends, but you only get 200 max, and you don't interact with them directly like on Twitter.  The point is actually to either stumble sites that have been added to the site, or submit them yourself.  Once you submit a link, it receives a thumbs up by you, and you are also able to add your own review of the site along with keywords which enable it to be found more easily.  

StumbleUpon will give you the benefit of a "dofollow" backlink, however, there must be an automatic block in the system because users do get restricted from adding links from the same site over and over again, at least until other sites are added first.  This has happened to many marketers in the past 2 years.  It's not a ban, but a temporary block from submitting links from a certain website.  Some marketers like to boast of a "Stumble Effect", which tends to mean tons of direct traffic from the site itself.  I've found such a thing to be no more than inflated traffic results from the toolbar, not to mention traffic that will not convert, but that's all been covered in other articles.  

Basically, StumbleUpon is a place where you can have some fun by submitting some sites you like (not your own), or go through sites that have already been added.  I once heard that a woman stumbled everything on the internet.  Well, everything that had been added to StumbleUpon anyway.  That's some stumbling!  

In Mixx, you can add as many friends as you like, your submissions are not nearly as restricted (not an excuse to submit only your own stuff), you can add as many categories and keywords as possible, it's easier to let your friends know about your submissions, and there is way more interactivity.  

Advantage Mixx.

3.)  Mixx vs. Digg

Digg actually emerged over 4 years ago, but what is this Digging stuff all about?

Digg is one of the older social sites that boasts an Alexa rank of 185 and a PageRank of 8.  When someone submitted a link, I guess they wanted to have a cool name for it, so they came up with Digg.  Users Digg sites by submitting them, or by giving up votes to sites that have already been submitted.  Naturally other social sites followed suit.  

Digg has all of the age and popularity, but despite that it still remains to be a very basic site.  You can add friends, stories, vote and comment, but that's about it.  From a marketing perspective, Digg is also a good site for the "dofollow" backlinks, and a lot of marketers have used Digg over the years.  However, controversy has driven a lot of former users away from Digg.  Users have been banned for "spamming", or for just having an opinion in some cases.  

In Mixx, there's no big controversy.  You don't get banned for sharing your opinion or your stories (unless you really are a spammer - beware).  You can also do even more than simply adding friends, sharing stories, voting on stories, and commenting on them.  Digg is old and basic.  Mixx is extremely interactive and is contantly evolving.  

Advantage Mixx.

3 more matchups are still to come.  I will tell you why I think Mixx tops those as well, and what other benefits there are to Mixx which is just a bonus at that point.  I love bonus.

 

Why These Sites Can't Compete With Mixx  Copyright © 2009 Dave Earley 

About the Author:  

Dave Earley is an entrepreneur who excles in the area of social media marketing.  Submit your articles to this directory by registering, logging in, and choosing the submit an article option within the user menu.  Also join in with the discussions going on over at the forum.  

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