Presentation to accompany talk at SoCon, Atlanta, GA, Feb. 9, 2013. Case study of successful Tumblr, Art Deco Architecture, and tips on how to succeed on Tumblr.

1. Making That
Tumblr Tumble
Achieving Tumblr Success
Wendy Darling, Atlanta, GA
@wcdarling | facebook.com/wdarling | tumblr.com/wdarling | about.me/wdarling

2. Begun October 2010
As of Feb. 8, 2013
6,963 Posts
5,732 Followers
746 Likes on Facebook
299 Followers on Twitter
Art Deco Architecture
Blog for Art Deco architecture, civil engineering, interior
design, plus related history and culture – around the world
decoarchitecture.tumblr.com

3. Types of Posts
• Photos
• Historical Photos (1900s-1940s)
• Later Photos
• Recent Photos
• Historic Illustrations
• Architectural Drawings
• Postcards and Posters
• Advertising
• Movie Sets
• New Digital Design &
Traditional Art
• Videos
• Articles and Books
• Reblogs
• Questions & Submissions

4. Traffic Numbers
on Web Site
Since Inception*
200,000 Visits
570,000 Page Views
Most Viewed Posts:
• Empire State Building Lobby - 12,000
• Chrysler Building Elevator - 5,200
• Helsinki Train Station - 3,900
• Whitehouse Diner (NJ) - 3,400
* 6 mo. missing data in 2012
NOTE: This does not include views
via Tumblr itself. Tucson, Arizona

5. Audience
Growth
• Google
• Tags and descriptions in posts
• Other Tumblrs & sites linking
• Success leads to success
• Tagging
• Users browsing by tag (click under
posts)
• Users searching Tumblr by tag
• Influential Tumblrs reblogging
• Tumblr Features
• Featured Tumblr tags
• “Spotlight” image
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

6. Why Tumblr?
• Easy to use from both browser and posting POV
• Plays well with others – Twitter, RSS, etc.
• Wide variety of templates and options
• Fun to explore
• Easy to reblog*
• Community and reciprocation –
“I’ll share you, you share me, we both benefit”
* (Maybe too easy.)

7. Good Tumblr Citizenship
• Credit, credit, credit! • Tag!
• Name source. • Enables others to find your
content
• Link to source. • Provides more context
• Link photo to source. • Links your content to similar
content
• Promote source.
• Identify! • Be egalitarian!
• Buildings, people, etc. should • Promote other Tumblrs and
blogs.
not be posted unlabeled.
• Reblog others and while you’re
• This way, context is retained. at it, thank them.
• Goes along with crediting
source. • Don’t spam!
• 100 reblogs in a day isn’t going
to gain you followers.
• Stay on your topic.

8. Tools to Try
• Queue
• Tags
• Facebook
• Fan Page
• Automatic RSS Import
• Hootsuite
• Twitter
• Co-Editors
• Tumblr Apps

9. Questions?
Wendy Darling
@wcdarling
facebook.com/wdarling
tumblr.com/wdarling
about.me/wdarling
Art Deco Architecture
decoarchitecture.tumblr.com
@artdecoarch