Happy 4th of July! Today we will be busy with a parade, eating, and fireworks. We hope you will have a chance to stop by and leave a comment.

If this is your first Comment Friday we give one lucky person a free weekly blogroll spot as our “blog of the week“. Along with that we are also giving that winner 250 entrecard credits.

Since we are adjusting our new WordPress theme, I was wondering what your favorite WordPress theme was. Have you changed themes lately? If so, why?

The problem with having a RSS base from contests and other promotions is that they might have only subscribed for the prizes. It’s your job, as a blogger, to make them stay long term. The last successful big contest we did was actually our Christmas Contest.

As we’d of course like to launch another huge successful contest, it does take a lot of time to organize and run successfully. With so much competition it is becoming harder to entice people to participate.

As mentioned earlier, some people just participate (like subscribing to RSS) then later unsubscribe after the contest is over. We’ve been able to keep a lot of our readers this long, but as of late, we’ve seen a lot of unsubscriptions. Other than a contest, what can you do?

Get Readers Involved

Give them a reason to want to come back and read day after day. This of course includes posting frequently, daily is best. But beyond that, then what? We always do our Comment Fridays which are definitely a lot of fun. This allows us to ask questions to our readers and get them involved.

Other things could be fun polls to do, round-up posts, or personal entries in your blog.

Launch New Campaigns

I would consider a contest, an advertising campaign, wouldn’t you? It generally takes time of course, as well as a prize. Advertising is your time and money invested into your website or product.

So why not try something else? I would definitely recommend visiting blogging forums and interacting with other bloggers, or other people interested in your niche. Our favorite blogging forum is Bloggeries.

There you can participate in similar discussions you talk about on your own blog, as well as promote your website as well as develop your brand.

Participate in Fun Competitions

Another recent ploy to get more RSS subscribers has seemingly been a “competition”. We’ve seen Conn vs Cow do whatever it is they are doing. I still don’t get it, but it seems to be working for them apparently.

Another interesting competition (which I wish I could of gotten in) is Blogging Idol at Daily Blog Tips. The competition is between 100 different bloggers. The main goal is to increase their RSS subscribers the most with different tactics. The top winner will receive $3000! That sounds like a fun way to increase subscribers with great incentive.

What do you do when you see your RSS feed count dropping?

We’ve finally been able to make the jump and change our theme. I’m pretty excited about it, I think it looks good. We still have some kinks and other things to work out. Internet Explorer viewers please be patient, it’s a little off.

Any suggestions on our theme please let us know. If you haven’t seen it yet (and are looking in your RSS reader etc) make sure to stop by and visit us.

What Theme Are You Using?

I’ve been looking for a long time for a theme I want to us. This theme is actually a free WordPress theme that is made by Unique Blog Designs. I really like their work, so when I saw them offering this theme I definitely jumped at the chance to use it.

You can read more about the theme at the UBD blog.

Ad Rates

Now of course would be the perfect time to mention our advertising rates. You can buy a 125×125 banner ad directly from us at the top. The price is only $20 per month. You can also register to get stat tracking on your ad!

You can also buy a text link from us directly for only $10 per month. Just contact me.

When I first announced and promoted Pepperjam, Pepperjam already went viral. They almost instantly became most popular with bloggers throughout the internet. It’s only appropriate to pay back the loyal bloggers.

Commission Increase

For the month of July, Pepperjam is increasing their referral program commission. Instead of $5 it is up to $7, which is a 40% increase. Not much, but thats only the start.

$10 Sign-Up Bonus

If you haven’t joined the Pepperjam Network you can now join and instantly get a $10 bonus in your account. In order for you to get that bonus, you must click through on this special banner, as well as become approved as a Pepperjam Network affiliate.

Blogger Incentive Program

On top of those great promotions, Pepperjam is also looking to reward their bloggers for mentioning them. For every post you make (up to 5 per month) you could earn $10 per post.

Obviously Pepperjam is getting very serious about promoting their program. They just landed a great affiliate with eBay and there are tons of other affiliates to promote.

Any Pepperjam Network questions feel free to ask!

$10 Sign On Bonus for All New Pepperjam Network Affiliates.

Win these prizes with no effort! Enter these easy contests there are great chances for you.

Blog Paradise Contest

Blog Paradise and Contest Whiz, two interesting blog about contests, are running an interesting competition. These are the prizes: one year web hosting, Entrecard credits, free advertising and a 6 months SKY.fm Internet Radio Premium subscription. Simply subscribe to Blog Paradise RSS by email and confirm it with a comment. See original contest post for bonus entries.
Ends on 4th July.

Cash and Domains

First giveaway on Techogy: 6 winners and a total of $500 in prizes (cash and domain names). Subscribe to his RSS feeds by email, leave a comment on the contest post and write a post about it.
Ends on 17th July.

Market Leverage Contests

Another Market Leverage contest on the net. ZacJohnson is offering an iPod Nano, a USB Drive Pen, a $200 ML American Express Rewards card, a Flip Video Camera and an iPod Touch. Check out how to win: join ML or write a post on your blog.
Ends Tomorrow!

I’ve been a bit busy working on other projects, trying to find something to make me some real steady income. I just applied for a part-time job to help. If you can make me rich let me know lol.

If this is your first Comment Friday we give one lucky person a free weekly blogroll spot as our “blog of the week“. Along with that we are also giving that winner 250 entrecard credits. On top of that, we are adding a $5 grooveshark gift card to the winner.

Since I’ve been thinking about money, what makes you money? What makes you the most money on your blog or on the internet?

With our recent web hosting troubles, I figure why not revisit Web Hosting Geeks. At WebHostingGeeks.com you can find the best web hosting for your needs. The website hasn’t changed as much since the last time we reviewed Web Hosting Geeks, however it is different.

Top 10 Best Web Hosts

One thing that is different is the top 10 list of best webhosts. The number one host is still BlueHost. Two new ones I’ve never heard of rank 2 and 3, Inmotion and HostingPad. HostMonster, our host, is at #5, with a 96% rating.

The top list is done by web hosting reviews of users. Each web host is reviewed, however I would definitely like to see more. The most popular web hosts obviously have more reviews and seem to rank higher because of that.

The top 10 list also includes the bonus features that each host gives. Many give you a free domain name, advertising credit (yahoo and google) as well as the ability to host unlimited domains.

Perfect for First Time Buyers

I wish I would of found a site like Web Hosting Geeks when I first was in the market to buy hosting and domains. They provide great web hosting articles for any beginner or even novice users.

You can even find web hosts by your budget or type of site you wish to run. Bluehost was named their best blog host. For Ecommerce they chose Yahoo.

Some Improvements Needed

I do like the site overall, but with so many different options, navigation wasn’t as easy as I would like. There isn’t even a search bar.

When I tried to find a particular host (that wasn’t Bluehost or Hostmonster which are written about everywhere) I couldn’t find it. Hostgator is almost nowhere to be found, except under the best reseller hosting. However on that page there are no reviews of the actual service.

Make sure to head on over to the Web Hosting Geeks and leave a review of your host.