Triberr LogoI’ve been using triberr as a way to amplify my posts for some time now. When I first joined I did what most newbies do. I joined every tribe out there without a thought to the quality of the tribe. Now that I’ve had some time to really explore all that triberr can offer, I thought I’d give you my tips on how to use triberr effectively and how not to be a jerk.

What Is triberr?

First I suppose I should tell you a little more about what triberr is. triberr is a social media tool where users are organized into Tribes. By joinging a tribe, you agree to amplify each others blog posts through triberr and to your Twitter feed. This is accomplished by attaching your blog’s RSS feed to your triberr account. triberr checks for new posts throughout the day and when it finds one, it adds it to your tribes stream. Once in the stream, all tribe members have the opportunity to share that post via their Twitter account. When it works correctly, you can expose your content to a much larger audience and that’s the beauty of it.

When triberr Goes Wrong

But triberr can go very wrong too. As I mentioned before, I joined tribes willy nilly and got into some coupon blog tribes that post 20-30 times a day, each. That was not a good fit for my readers, nor for me since  every post has to be manually approved (paid accounts have some automation capabilities) and while it takes less than a second to approve it, 200 bloggers putting out 20 posts a day is just too much for my Twitter stream.

The other problem with Triberr is people who join a Tribe but don’t understand the reciprocal nature of it and this is where you can become a tribber jerk. While I don’t do a tit for tat when it comes to other Tribe member sharing my content, if someone NEVER shares then that’s a problem. Joining a tribe you have no intention of participating in save for everyone else sharing your content makes you a jerk.

How to Be a Better triberr Tribe member

Instead of dwelling on the negative about triberr, I thought I’d share how to be a better Tribe member. So here are my hints and tips for using Triberr effectively.

  1. Research potential tribes by reading their description and checking their category. A small tribe with the right following would be vastly more beneficial than a large tribe in the wrong category.
  2. Next, check the current tribe members. Click on their icon and look at their stream. Are those posts you’d feel comfortable sharing in your Twitter stream? If not, then keep searching, this tribe isn’t a good fit for you.
  3. Become a Tribe follower. A follower can see the Tribes stream and even share tweets, but their RSS feed is not connected to the tribe. It’s a good way to introduce yourself to an existing tribe and to check out their feed for a few days to see if it fits your needs. Followers can request to become members .
  4. Don’t ask to join a Tribe if you’re not a good fit – if the tribe has all SEO Experts and your a lifestyle blogger, your content isn’t going to fit. That’s not to say a mixed Tribe isn’t good. It’s actually what I hope to achieve  with mine. But being aware of the  dynamic of the Tribe before asking to join is important.
  5. Don’t ask to join a Tribe if you have few followers. Build your Twitter feed first. You can’t expect a group whose average user  following is 24K to accept you if you have less than 2K. While most Chiefs are happy to help newer bloggers, you have to actively be working to grow your numbers. Look for a Tribe that in the same  space as you are currently. I run two Tribes. One averages 20K, the other 8K.

My final tip is just remember to participate by logging in daily, share at least 80% of what’s in your stream, and if you can’t do both of these things then leave the Tribe. Don’t be a jerk!