Anyone that’s read TUK in the last month should know about the contest I’m having – at the moment, there’s $150.00 and all my Entrecard credits up for grabs. At the moment, I’m somewhat in the lead – my buddy Internet Babel is coming close though, especially as he’s splurging the cash on paid reviews. Those of you that want to engage in RSS contests of your own may find such a situation unfair – what if you’re up against someone that’s not afraid to splurge the cash, and already has taken the initiative to purchase paid reviews on a few big blogs? You’ll need free ways that you can use to push ahead, and these are the ways which I’ll be using to try and win the RSS contest.

Guest posting

I’d say that guest posting beats paid reviews in almost every single aspect – except when those paid reviews are on TUK, of course :razz: . Seriously though, say you submit request for a paid review, and fork out a lot of your money to do so… and the blogger just doesn’t like what you’re putting up. What you’re left with is not just a huge hole in your pocket, but also a battered credibility as thousands will have seen your bashing, and this can not just effect the view point in the short run, but also have repercussions later. An example of how a bad review can kill is this one on John Chow – $450 out of pocket, and to decide for yourself just take a look at the comments.

Guest posting on the other hand allows you to be in your element. You write for an audience in your style on a topic of your choice, and most bloggers will be happy to let you put in a small plug for yourself – if they don’t, don’t bother with the guest post. By producing quality, which you’ll have to do in order to be accepted, you’ll leave a lasting impression that can help boost not just traffic, but other important things like RSS subscribers and comments.

I’m writing up a few guest posts, and already had one published on John Cow… if you have a website with more than 400 RSS subscribers and want me to throw together something, let me know :)

Entrecard chain dropping

I’ve criticized Entrecard a lot in the past for sending junk traffic… it is traffic, nonetheless. What I did (and you can do) is go mad dropping – but change your redirect URL to the one of your contest first. ECers generally check up the sites of those that dropped on them, so even if half of them do I’ll get a few visits; as my widget is below the fold, they’ll have to scroll down, and hopefully the sign of money will blind them and send them into an RSS subscribing frenzy. :) If you’re here from Entrecard, and you haven’t subscribed to my RSS feed, then what the hell are you still doing? Click the damned button and enter in your email address! :razz:

I dropped more cards today than I ever did in my life, and one fifth of my total all time – I tried to go 300, but it was just too boring… 100 will have to suffice for now. What I did was went to Powerdropping.com, right clicked on the cards of the first twenty and opened them in Firefox tabs and card bounced through them till I racked up 100 credits – it took me approximately 20 minutes.

I really put in some hard work – just to make it clear, look at my dropping statistics over the previous 30 or so days:

Commenting on other blogs

This always works – you’ll get a visit from the blog owner, if nothing else, but anyways – leaving intelligent (or way right controversial) comments on a few blogs, and using a link to your featured post as the URL can help send you free traffic, and targeted ones too (from bloggers that would be interested in your niche). So get commenting below, eh :)

Make sure you leave useful, non spammy comments, or else they’re going to just get deleted – you don’t want that happening, do you. Note – just ‘Good post!’ does not equal a useful comment.

Nothing revolutionary above, but three free ways you can get traffic to your blog contest. Get cracking, eh :razz:

I got interviewed

I’m a complete tool – I got interviewed a while ago, and then completely forgot and never mentioned it on here. If you’d like to know a little bit more about me, feel free to check it out at Successful Footsteps. Successful Footsteps is a fresh blog started by a friend who also runs Fruitful Time Task Manager; it’s a motivational website that aims to well… motivate you :) . It has some promising stuff, and I’m sure it’ll continue growing.

Membership websites

Unlike the good ole eBooks, membership websites can bring in a nice source of residual income… month after month and so forth. I’ve picked up a killer domain, and think I’ll eventually get around to setting one up – as soon as I find someone that knows how to install the script, as I’m clueless in those areas sadly :) . What I’m thinking is charge $9.99 or $14.99 and offer a few custom written reports of my own with resale rights – ones that can be passed on or even sold.

The domain I’ll be using is TheMarketersCourse.com - it’s adequate, I think. What I’ll be offering is unlimited support through instant messenger – something that will make up the monthly fee completely, I think. I’m also thinking of starting a small membership website for PLR, and offering five items at $5.00 a month – $1/item, which is not a high fee to pay by any means, especially as those items retail for around $10+ each.

That’s all for today – I’m working on those short reports now. :)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

12 Responses to “What I’m Going To Do To Win The Contest”

  1. Collin LaHay (18 comments) Says:

    You are welcome to guest post on mine at any time.

    I am bordering 400-450 rss.

    Collin LaHay’s last blog post..Free PR9 .edu Links

    [Reply]

  2. Richy (27 comments) Says:

    Good Post!

    What ever happened to your imagehost & short url site..lol

    Richy

    [Reply]

  3. Misty (14 comments) Says:

    What an interesting post. Good luck with your membership sites Jason. It is something I have been mulling over a lot lately, so I will be keen to read how things go for you. How are you going with your affiliate marketing?
    Cheers
    Viv

    Misty’s last blog post..High Speed Internet Is A Must-Have For Gamers

    [Reply]

  4. Aleks (227 comments) Says:

    Just read that paid review. That’s an excellent way to kill a blog on long term.

    Aleks’s last blog post..Hello world!

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  5. Creadiv (2 comments) Says:

    Jason,

    This was a really great post. I am a new reader. I subscribed when you first started this contest. I wan’t really sure how I felt about your blog, to be honest I was a bit biased having been a subscriber to Thomas’s blog before coming over. But I really enjoyed reading this and learned some stuff from it as well.

    I am holding a contest for my blog that I put up on it yesterday. I haven’t had any responses yet. I am assuming it is because people don’t want what I am giving away, but do you have any other advice on how to get it out there?

    Adam

    Creadiv’s last blog post..Be Creadiv (Contest)

    [Reply]

  6. Jason (702 comments) Says:

    @ Colin, I’ll send you an email :)

    @ Richy, the image host is still up… I had to shut down the short URL one because tools were using it to spam; gaah! :twisted:

    @ Misty, tried doing something with Clickbank, found out their tracking was crap… haven’t done anything since then :(

    @ Aleks, aye it is. :)

    @ Creadiv, you can support both of us at the same time, ya know :razz:

    As for your contest, I had a short look… I’d suggest you add examples of what you’re giving away – post up your portfolio of logos, link to past articles you have written. I suggest you swap the prizes around – all the free stuff to a random reader that subscribes through RSS, and a copy of the WP theme to the person that hits you up with the best idea :)

    [Reply]

  7. Creadiv (2 comments) Says:

    Thanks Jason,

    I will make some changes to it definetly.

    Adam

    Creadiv’s last blog post..Be Creadiv (Contest)

    [Reply]

  8. Matt L (6 comments) Says:

    I completely agree about the guest posting part. I am subscribed to a lot of blogs by online entrepreneurs, and almost all of them offer some form of ReviewMe. Yet, it seems like every single time I read these they are filled with nonconstructive criticism. The process was meant as a form of advertising for the website in question, as well as some constructive and good natured criticism. All too often I see sites ripped on. It is like paying to get insulted.

    [Reply]

  9. egk (293 comments) Says:

    Wow that dudes ebook got ripped on John Chow! That would suck to pay $450 for that bad of a review.
    The membership sites sound interesting. Keep us updated.

    egk’s last blog post..Diesel :: RE: 81 300 d vs 87 300d

    [Reply]

  10. Jim (102 comments) Says:

    I like the guest posting tips. I think it is essential that you first have a blog that is somewhat popular and has a lot of great content prior to winning a guest blogging spot however, otherwise people simply won’t want you writing your nonsensical ramblings on their website. I will keep this in mind.

    Jim’s last blog post..GPT Reviews: GetAFreeAppleiPhone.com

    [Reply]

  11. Richy (27 comments) Says:

    Yea, spam with urls are increasing… :( ..

    ImageHosting is a fairly good business, I am glad to be in it :D

    [Reply]

  12. Finding a unique gift (2 comments) Says:

    Hey very nice blog!!

    [Reply]

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