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If you are involved with social media marketing for more than five minutes, you will inevitably hear someone preach about the power of Digg. It is funny how hard people work for their 15 minutes of fame. Yes, if you make it on the homepage your website will receive hundreds of thousands of views in a single day. Yes, the links it provides will help your search rankings. And yes, the Digg girl will magically show up at your house and play Twister with you. But is that stuff really necessary?

I have yet to make it to the homepage. In fact, I have had only mild Digg success. When I first created my account about two years ago I tried commenting a few times and learned a lot. I specifically remember asking what an Ubuntu was and quickly deleting the comment after reading the numerous replies of people laughing at me. Afterward, I continued participating and eventually got a better feel for the community. I even got to the point where I thought I could use this to my advantage.

I had an upcoming job interview and crafted a masterful plan. I spent three days writing and perfecting an article about how Kevin Rose had a higher popularity ranking than the President. I woke up at 5:00am the day of the interview and submitted the story. (Later I learned that between 8:30am-10:30am is a smarter time to submit.) My ingenious plan was to make it on the homepage by 3:00pm and casually use it as an example when the interviewer asked me about my hobbies. (I now know stories take upwards of 24 hours to hit the homepage.) My hopes were high as I checked the Digg count leading up to the interview. Two measly Diggs and my story was already on the 3rd page of upcoming. Foiled again!

I ended up getting the job (this one) and spent the next seven months honing my skills. At my new job I was on a new playing field. I was a lonely Digg homepage virgin working at a Digg homepage brothel. The added competition and resources actually ended up helping me yield better results. One day it came to me. The perfect Digg submission. It combined every Digger's three favorite things: the internet, TV references, and porn. It was foolproof.

My plan was to post my piece here and submit it myself to make sure it had the best title and description possible. All that kept me from sure internet stardom was actually writing the piece.

First attempt - Not funny and a little offensive.

Second attempt - Too dirty and slightly uncomfortable (apparently aardvark porn is taboo).

Third attempt - I did it! It was all I had ever dreamed of, but it had one tiny problem. I couldn't post it.

I made the same mistake that countless people have made before me. In writing my 'perfect' piece, I neglected to write for my core audience. My post had some funny bits but was also mildly offensive. I decided not to post or submit the piece. I think too many people (myself included) get distracted by the quick gains social media provides and avoid working on long term plans.

Social media can be a wonderful tool if supplemented by great content, but it is not the silver bullet I was looking to find. Being successful online is achieved the same way it is offline. It requires hard work, intelligence, connections, and luck. Only recently have I been able to realize that a funny quiz or top ten list is not going to change that. Writing for Digg is fun, but now I realize my time is much better spent writing content for all of you.