I’ve been busy over the last few days – although I bought my new desktop ages ago, being on holiday I’ve only recently gotten around to using it; the screen is 5″ bigger which is pretty sweet and I still have to install a load of things like one or two or twenty games. :razz:

I also installed Pidgin, which is a multi-messenger chat client – in the past, I’ve been annoyed with the amount of popups from various messengers (MSN, Yahoo, GTalk, Skype, AIM). I didn’t have AIM but will be getting it now that I can manage everything from one place (feel free to add me on any kind of IM if you haven’t :) ).

It was an exciting month – the first edition of Blogging Idol went well I thought and it ended up with those that towed the line being kicked out and a worthy winner emerging. However, I did not reach my goal of doubling my feed count – I had big plans to do so but I was busy with two things, first other big projects (one of which will be very beneficial for you guys… those that know about it will realise why) and second just relaxing because it is the holidays. :)

There were two strategies revealed in Blogging Idol that just brought out that sense of awe in me – the first, something basic (adding Aweber subs to Feedburner – done by Gyutae Park of WTW) but it definitely worked; he finished just 8 subscribers behind the winner. Personally, I’ve got an Aweber subscriber list nearing 500, so if I’d have done the same I probably would have won the thing. Sadly, I did not think of doing so. :razz:

The eventual winner was someone I know personally – Abhijeet of Stock Market India (I’ve sponsored a competition of his before as has he for me and I’ve got him on GTalk) – his strategy was pretty simple but insanely effective, and I cannot believe I hadn’t thought of it before (will be trying it out on my niche blogs). What he did was email related niche groups offering them advice on the topic and passing on his email subscribe link; in the finance market, that worked very well and he took the prize with a near 600 increase. Not bad for a month! Speaking of which, TUK is nearing 600 subscribers… maybe we can have a party of sorts to celebrate when I do reach the number :razz:

I did promise you guys that I’d link to everyone which commented on this post if I didn’t reach the number and I didn’t, so guess I’ve gotta follow through ;)

Agent 001 runs a review blog.

Vinny VT runs a poker blog, with his thoughts and ideas on the game.

JK Swopes runs IM With Joe, a blog talking about Internet Marketing. He’s a familar face this end. :razz:

Germz runs an ‘Make Money Online’ blog… you can read a review about him here.

ChiQ Montes runs a WP theme discussion blog, and smoked the recent PR update by getting a PR5 at the first go. High quality Wordpress themes + designer links = profit! :)

Jim runs a stock market / blogging tips blog, with a theme that looks like this one (I wonder why, buddy… :razz: ). At the moment he’s running an easy contest giving away a Flip Mino.

Emma runs ‘Gettin’ Personal‘, a blog that talks about her personal experiences online and offline. Her theme looks familar too :)

Narendra runs Tech Treak, a blog talking about – you guessed it – tech. He’s always up for a contest, so let him know you’re having one and he’ll dominate it :)

EGK has been a regular here, and doesn’t run a blog (despite numerous proddings… :razz: ). He does however run forums talking about a pretty cool brand of car, the Mercedes Benz.

The Anand recently got a new theme (which he created himself) so check it out.

Elroy runs Living 2 XL, a niche site talking about living healthy. :)

Aleks runs a humour blog and some of them were pretty hilarious, so check them out to be amused.

Rob @ Iron Blogger has one of the sweetest designs in the blogosphere – it cost a chunk but would have been worth it for the level of branding he’s getting.

Jay @ Dat Money is a professional link spammer of this blog, amongst other things. He’s having a contest too, giving away a Wii (although it’s damned hard to enter). :razz:

Rajaie recently started Rajaie Talks, a blog where he talks about blogging tips and other entrepreneurial things. He’s 14 or 15, but custom designed his own theme which is pretty sweet.

Nathaniel is dedicated to TUK and BP, and was top commentator last month. He talks about personal things and blogging tips at Green Flamingo.

Hendry Lee talks about Blog Building. I like him because this is the second last mini-review I have to write… :razz:

Last but not least, Ryan @ Smarter Wealth recently found the blog and has become a dedicated commenter. One of his recent posts was titled 30 things to do before you’re 30 and was not a bad read, so go have a look. :)

After this roundup post, one things my PR4 juice is dead (couldn’t be bothered to nofollow the links). Some of the sites above are decent, some slightly less so, some slightly more so – check them out and you’ll be sure to find a couple you like. :)

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