Secrets of Successful Blogging

The books I won in Matt Huggings "Win Free Business Books" contest finally came through the mail yesterday. I can't wait to devour them and will be sharing the many successful blogging tips I expect to learn from the books with all of you in posts to come.

I love reading, and I love wining free books even more!

Still on the topic of books, Brian Lee of Genius Types is giving away a brand new copy of The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris. I've noticed a few other bloggers giving this book a thumbs up and a "must-read" stamp. And when Brian publicly states that it is the most exciting book he'd read in a long time, you better believe him and go get a copy.

I want to escape the 9-5 rat race, work 4-hour week, enjoy yearly mini retirement and join the new rich! If I don't win this book from Brian, I'll definitely rush down to the local bookstore a get a copy.

P.S. I love reading in the great outdoors, in public parks or by the lake. And to shield my eyes from the harmful UV rays emitted from the harsh tropical sun, I've decided to enter a contest to win a cool pair of Pilgrim sunglasses courtesy of Natural Health Remedies.

Lucky 7s Contest Update #1

My first blog contest had received a lot of buzz but so far gotten off to a slow start where receiving entries are concern. From the many feedback I had gathered, the general consensus is that it is a unique concept using 7/7/7 as the core idea. I'm sure more entries will be submitted in the coming days. In this 1st batch of update, I want to thank these 3 entrants for their early submission:
Aldwin Ho
Enkay
Ruchir

There are 7 cash prizes to be given away and so far only 3 entries submitted, what are the odds of winning? Let's just say you won't get such high odds of winning some cash anywhere else. You do the math!

This contest will close on 31st July, 2007, still about 2 weeks to go. If you haven't already entered, now is the time to stop procrastinating and start writing! Join now!

Make Money Online with Blog-Contests.com

Holding blog contest seems to be the rage nowadays in the blogosphere, even yours truly had ride the trend and started my first blog contest. To catch this online trend, some innovative bloggers even jumped on the contest bandwagon by creating blog niche catered to sniffing out blog contests, spreading the word about them and creating a place where interested participants can congregate and partake in those contests that fancy them.

Blog-contests was created exactly with that in mind. The 2 main goals of this new site are:

• To give bloggers a place to announce their contests to the widest possible audience of interested participants
• To give bloggers a resource that will not only give them contests to enter, but provide content for their site (when you blog about the contest you’re entering), grow their readership, and increase their backlinks.
  

Blog-Contest is a free resource of blog contests for bloggers and by bloggers. What I like about Blog-contests is that it differentiates itself from the rest of the blogs that blog about contests, in that it put the money where the mouth is!

For a start, to create awareness of this new site which was created on 27 June, the owner, Walt is holing the first contest giving away $100 cold hard cash! The contest ends Thursday, July 12th at midnight EST.

Additionally there will be monthly contest where users stand to win $50 for submitting contest and also leaving comments.

Another 'think out of the box' feature which differentiate Blog-Contests from the others is the "submit & win" initiative which reward $50 to one lucky 'informer' each month, for being the first person to submit current running blog contests info (their own or other blog's contest).

Due to overwhelming amount of user submission which Walt found too tedious to keep up with,
he had rebuilt the site and transformed it into one with a professional touch. If you are familiar with Digg, then you will find the new Blog-contests.com very appealing, with simple user interface that offers easy navigational experience.

This latest upgrade is what I would call a Web 2.0 site. It is very much catered for user generated content, and community interaction. The new system is totally self-serving and once user submitted the contest info, it will be posted instantaneously. No waiting for Walt to pick it up from his inbox and posting them manually all by himself, which was the previous practice. Besides that, user can also vote for their favourite contest so that those with good value can rise and stay on top of the Popular contest page.

I like the "submit new contest" system so much I'm gonna walkthrough with you the 3 easy steps, but before you can submit a contest, you must first register as a member.

Step 1
Click on the "Submit a new contest" tag and enter the exact url of the contest.


Step 2
Enter the title of the contest, tag it with relevant keywords and write a brief description of the contest.



Step 3
You are nearly finish with the submission. Before you click on the submit button, you can modify it, if not, then submit it!



If you are a contest junky, Blog-Contests is the best contest resource available right now! Head over there and I guarantee you will have a wonderful experience.

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Romantic Ideas Link Contest

To celebrate hitting 100 RSS subscribers and Technorati 200, Romance Tracker - a blog about old-fashioned romantic ideas - is holding the Romantic Ideas Link Contest where you stand to win free blog reviews, backlinks and books.

The contest will remain open until Sunday, July 15, and any blogs can enter, as long as it’s family friendly. As an extra bonus, Phil will post a link to your site as soon as you enter the contest, regardless of whether you win one of the prize packages or not. Free link love from a PR 4 site using any anchor text you want . . . not a bad deal! Jump onboard and enter this easy contest now!

Blog Update Announcement

Just want to post a brief update of some minor tweaks and additions I've made to this blog recently.

Regular visitors should have noticed by now the change in the header image. That will be the most noticeable change for this latest update. For the benefit of new readers, the previous header contained only the blog title and a long-winded tagline, all words and no image. I find the old header very boring and wanted a refreshing change. I've decided on a web 2.0 feel to the new header, with reflection to the blog title and had removed those long-winded taglines. To customize your header image and give it a personal touch, you can head over to http://blogsheaders.co.nr for some great selections.

In addition, I've removed the default Blogger profile page. For the longest time, I find that the standard profile page is unimaginative with lots of restrictions. I wasn't HTML savvy enough to hack it to custom-made into my preferred profile page format.

Using what limited knowledge I possessed, I've replaced the previous profile page with a new About Me page (link at top of left side bar) where I've written a more detailed profile about myself on Google Page creator. For new and regular readers alike, I welcome you to click on the new "About Me" link to have a glimpse of my background.

Warning! Some chest-beating coming up next. The following is an ego-boosting, chest-thumping and shameless promotion of this blog's latest technorati ranking.

I just noticed this morning that this blog had broken into the top 5k Technorati ranking, with an Authority of 605. This latest milestone came 3 weeks after I reported breaking into top 10k. This is getting more fun by the day and I'm starting to see some results of the hard work I've put into this blog over the last 4 months. This milestone will spur me to set my sight even higher and bring better content and better user experience for all of you. Without the continuous support of all my valuable readers, this blog is nothing.

If you enjoyed this post, do consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. If you do that, you may as well enter my Lucky 7s contest.

Make Money - Win a Contest

Last week something strange happened? An esteemed but unexpected visitor dropped by this humble blog and her avatar was captured by the recent readers widget. Upon seeing her avatar, I got a strange feeling, a good one though. I asked myself then, is it a sign? An omen that something big is gonna happen?

My curiosity was finally put to rest when I received an email from Kumiko (yes, that famous Agloco-bashing Kumiko) informing that I am the winner of her Cash Quests competition. I can't believe my luck! Wow!! That was totally out of the blue and absolutely awesome!

I've won $100 in cold hard cash (which I've received in my paypal account), a full review of this site (valued at $50, but priceless where this blog is concern), a one month link in her "Wealthy Sites" section (I've chosen anchor text Singapore Blogger), and a 2 weeks 480x60 banner ad(which I've chosen text link) at the top of her popular site!

I am on cloud 9 and feeling sky high but I am also ready to welcome Kumiko's readers to my humble blog, and I am bracing myself for the ton of traffic the text link ad and her full review will bring here and hit me like a speeding bullet train!

A big Thank You to Kumiko!

If you enjoyed this post, do consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. If you do that, then you may as well enter my Lucky 7s contest.

Lucky 7s Contest

This special day has finally arrived, a day that only comes by once in 100 years! What better way to celebrate this special day by kicking off my very first blog contest on such a special and auspicious occassion! So here it is people, my first ever blog contest(will not be my last) held on this very special day that only comes by once in a century! I want my first contest to take off with a bang, and I'm gonna need as much help from you, you and you to do that and I'll be making 7 people very happy!

Yes you heard right, it's not 1, not 2, but 7 winners! That's the reason I called this the Lucky 7s contest. The top prize is US$77 and another 6 consolation prizes of US$7 each, all paid via paypal and all coming out of my pocket!

Here are the rules:

• Post a review of my blog(min. 200 words) on your blog linking to my home page using anchor text "earn income online" or "earn online income", also link to this contest page and one other post on my site — pick any post you want and use the post title as anchor text. If you are unsure which other post to link to, let me suggest a few favourites here:
  

Back Up Your Blogs
Personalize Your Blog Posts
Top 5 Ways To Generate Traffic

• Subscribe to my full RSS feed, and take a screenshot of it and include it in your post. This applies to new and existing subscribers. See example here.
  

After your blog post has gone live, post a comment in this contest page that include the url of your post. In addition, please make sure you also email me the link to your blog post. You must receive my reply to confirm your participation.

This contest is open to everyone who has a blog, regardless of the language the blog is in. As long as the rules are followed, you are in! This contest will close at 11.59pm (my time zone is GMT +8) on 31st July, 2007. All 7 winners will be randomly draw out of the hat.

Now I know you want to win one of those prizes, so hit me with your best shot! Good luck and have fun!

Fine Print:
All my decisions are final
No porn, splogs and warez
Rules are all subject to changes as necessary
I am not responsible for any currency conversion losses or local bank charges you may incurred

The New 7 Wonders of The World

A Swiss-Canadian film maker and adventurer, Mr Bernad Weber, had founded project n7w, short for New 7 Wonders of the World project. It is the first global online ballot to update and select(the people's choice of) the new 7 Wonders of the World by popular vote.

The New7Wonders Foundation was created in 2001 with a mission to protect humankind's heritage across the globe. They are the body behind the New7Wonders campaign, and express the aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage under the motto:

"OUR HERITAGE IS OUR FUTURE."

To vote for your favourite wonders, you must register as a New7Woners member to get 7 free votes which you can cast online or via telephone. Even International calls can be accepted. After you've voted, share with us your 7 favorites and the reasons for your choices. My submitted votes and the reason(s) I chose them are:

The Colosseum
An ancient architure wonder that stood the test of time and which represents Joy & Suffering - joy for the spectators in the stands and suffering for the gladiators fighting for their lives.



The Taj Mahal
built out of white marble by an emperor in memory of his beloved wife.
It is a great symbol of Love & Passion!






The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall is the world's longest and largest human-made structure ever built. The construction of the Great wall spanned across different dynasties.




Statues of Easter Island

because they are a symbol of mystery & AWE!








Stonehenge
it is still unclear who built this monument, nor for what purpose.
It is truly an amazing engineering feat which represent Intrigue & Endurance!




Pyramids of Giza
for it represents a phenomenal achievement of Eygptian construction and engineering feat.





The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá

This famous remple city was the political and economic centre
of the Mayan civilisation. It symbolizes Worship & Knowledge.




The new 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the official declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.

Be part of history in the making, vote for your new 7 Wonders of the World now! How to vote?

Disclaimers: This campaign was launched in 2001 as a private initiative by Mr Bernard Weber, and there is no link whatsoever between UNESCO’s World Heritage programme, which aims to protect world heritage, and the current campaign concerning “The New 7 Wonders of the World”.

The list of the “7 New Wonders of the World” will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.
UNESCO clarifies.

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Review of The Best Hotel Site For India

If you are planning to go to India for that well deserved holiday, then make sure you learn to say the word Asra, which means shelter in Hindi. Combine the two words Indian and Asra together and you get Inasra, which is a young and vibrant company set up to make traveling in India as easy and delightful as having an ice-cream!

What service exactly does Inasra provides? You can find the answer by visiting its homepage Inasra.com, they bring hotels in India closer to you, actually just 2 mouse clicks away! They help users search and book hotels in over 200 Indian cities online. With such a vast database of hotels, tourists will have no problem to book Indian hotels. The homepage is really no frills and no gimmickries, users are presented with a hotel search box where they have to enter information like their destination city, their check-in and check-out dates.

Once the relevant information are entered and search button clicked, users are presented with a list of hotels available in the particular city. The list consist of the hotel addresses and the price range of their rooms. Users can find more details about any hotel by clicking on the view button which will show an image of the hotel, the rates for different room type and from here, users can go on to complete the booking process.

Besides that, users can also refine or filter their search by checking on the amenities they want in the hotel, the type of cuisines they would like the hotel to serve, and the star rating of the hotel they want to book.

Hotels are just the first step in what Inasra consider their journey to bring all the Travel/Shelter related segments (Flights, Tours, Service Apartments...) 2-3 clicks away from you. And judging by the ease of use of the hotel search and booking system, they will be a great asset to India's tourism industry.

(This is a sponsored post)

Contest, Contests and More Contests!

June was a record month in terms of blog contest entered. And June ended on a good note as I was notified that I've won a book, Secrets of Successful Blogging - What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging And Podcasting, from Matt Huggings' Free Business Book Giveaway contest. I hope more good news awaits me in the coming days as many of the contests will be drawn and winners declared.

As more and more bloggers begin to realize the benefits holding contest can bring to their blogs, I'm sure more contests are in the pipeline waiting to be discovered, and entered. I'm actually planning to host the first contest on this blog. I do not have big budget to hold elaborate contest with fabulous prizes, nor do I have product sponsors offering tantalizing products for my contest. But I do hope my first contest can get off with a bang! It will roll out in the coming days, so stay tune and don't miss out.

Having said that, and until I've finalized my contest details, here is another contest entry I would like to post.

Live Learn Invest is giving away a brand new Ipod Shuffle of your color choice, in the easiest contest in the world. All you need to do to enter is to write a sentence in your post, linking to its homepage and also mentioning "Printed Circuit Board Quotes".

After that, send Kendrick an email including a link to your post and tell him what color Ipod Shuffle you’d like. This contest will run until 4th July, so hurry, don't miss you chance to enter this easiest contest in the world!