Any successful blogger will tell you that it’s very important to network with other bloggers. Blogging is very social, networking can take you to the next step. Getting another blogger in your network is basically giving you another resource whether you need a link, post, or vote that is potentially one quick message away.

Instant Messaging

Contacting bloggers through instant messaging (IM) is the easiest way to increase your blogging buddy list. Using instant messaging can put you into contact with bloggers, well, instantly. Email can be slow especially if you are trying to work out a deal or partnership.

Instant messaging has not only allowed me to network and develop relationships with other bloggers, it has also allowed me to make friendships. Some of my blogger friends I chat with daily, not necessarily about blogging.

With email or other ways to get in contact, it can be somewhat formal, especially if you haven’t built that relationship yet. Sending IM just starts with “Hey” and goes from there.

After you build that relationship it not only builds your base, but potentially social media profiles and readers or subscribers for your blog. Instant messaging has opened up even more opportunities as for paid blogging and partnerships. I’ve been able to co-blog with several people which has been great.

It really doesn’t matter which instant messaging you use, however I prefer AIM. It seems to have the most people using it. I have about 23 bloggers/internet friends added already to my list, I wouldn’t mind a few more. Feel free to add me on AIM (tinka5787). It’s not the best name, but it’s what I use!

Written by Mark of MeAndMyDrum | Subscribe to MAMD

There’s a trend of contests that have an incredible amount of prizes to give away and it shows no signs of stopping. The latest contest I found is incredible and is being given by DNXpert.

John, the owner of DNXpert, is giving away 62 prizes worth almost $9,000! What’s better than that? The possibility of winning more than one of them, that’s what.

Just check out the prizes:

• $700 in cash from We Build Pages who offer Link Building Services. ($700 value)
• $200 credit deposited into NameDrive domain parking account courtesy of NameDrive.com. ($200 value)
• $100 Godaddy Gift card from instantdomaintool.com. ($100 value)
• $100 credit in Bidvertiser account. ($100 value)
• $100 cash from WordPressFreelance. ($100 value)
• $50 cash from Ades blog ($50 value)
• $35 Cash from Tim Schroeder of eMonetized.com. ($35 value)
• $35 Cash from Web Hosting Reviews. ($35 value)
• $30 Cash from Life is colourful. ($30 value)
• 1 Market Leverage promo pack consisting of: MarketLeverage iFlip (digital camera), MLRewards card ($50), MarketLeverage USB Pen, MarketLeverage Polo and hat, MarketLeverage/Nike duffelbag. ($350 value)
• 2 x Market Leverage promo pack consisting of MLRewards card ($25), MarketLeverage USB Pen, MarketLeverage Polo and hat, MarketLeverage/Nike duffelbag. (2 x $220 value)
• 3 x Market Leverage USB Pens with $10 ML Rewards card. (3 x $35 value)
• 6 months subscription to MarketMotive.com. ($1794 value)
• 1 hour of SEO Consulting from Todd Malicoat from stuntdubl.com. ($500 value)
• 1 year’s PRO Subscriptions membership to FreshDrop.net. ($395.40 value)
• 5 x 1 license of the software product Domain Name Pro (5 x $64.95 value)
• 3 months membership at Aaron Wall’s SeoBook course. ($300 value)
• 3 x 1 copy of the Domain Graduate ebook. (3 x $87 value)
• 5 x 1 exclusive list of 100 expired domains from DNXpert.com (5 x $50 value)
• 6 months premium clustered hosting at iMountain.com (6 x $39.95 value)
• 2 months VIP membership at ClickMojo ($200 value)
• 15 minute one on one phone coaching session with Simon Johnson from Domainer Income ($200 value)
• 2 year subscription to DNSstuff pro tools. ($139 value)
• 1 x 100 domain parking account at WhyPark.com ($99.95 value)
• 1 copy of the Revenue Domains Exposed ebook ($97 value)
• 2 month subscription at Wordze.com ($90 value)
• 3 x 1 copy of the Domaining Manifesto ebook. (3 x $27 value)
• 1 copy of Wordze’s Guide to Keyword Research & Niche Wealth Building! ($80 value)
• 1 copy of a single use license of Brian Gardner’s Revolution blog theme of the winners’ choice ($79.99 value)
• 1 copy of Optin Comments WP plugin. ($77 value)
• 1 DNForum.com Platinum membership. ($59.95 value)
• 1 yearly subscription to Gold Account at iwebtool.com ($59 value)
• 3 x 1 copy of the Killer Domains ebook (3 x $17 value)
• 2 x 50 available domains from WordFuse.com (2 x $24.95 value)
• 1 featured listing on Sedo’s homepage for 1 domain. (worth $39)
• 1 DNForum.com Gold membership ($19.95 value)
• 1 Month DomainNews.com Newsletter Sponsorship – Top Position Advertizing ($500 value)
• 2 months 160×90 ad on ClickFire.com homepage (2 x $200 value)
• 1 Month text link on JustDropped.com search pages ($100 value)
• 1 month text link at DomainNameWire.com ($60 value)
• 1 month of 125×125 banner advertising on Winning the Web ($50 value)
• 1 month 125×125 banner advertising at DNXpert.com ($50 value)
• 1 month 125×125 banner advertising at DotSauce.com ($40 value)
• 1 month text link on blogaboutyourblog.com ($10 value)
• 1 copy of Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger ebook ($16.49 value)

That’s 62 prizes in all and comes to a total of just under $9,000 in value. Did I not tell you they were spectacular? Furthermore, you can even win more than one!

The way to enter is so easy:

• Subscribe to his email newsletter
• Write a post to your blog about the contest
• Write a post to your blog about the contest AND also include the list of prizes with the links

Then stay tuned to his email newsletter to learn of other ways to earn more points to enter.

Even if you’re not interested in entering the contest, I highly recommend getting to know DNXpert. It serves up some of the best information I know of regarding the domain name industry. You can learn tips on how to choose the right domain name for your next blogging venture, where to find the best deals to register, and even find frequent lists of pre-owned domain names that are ready to be snatched up if they haven’t already.

Recently I watched a few video blogs by Vic and I was interested in his opinion and a few things I had questions about. As many bloggers know, Vic has really taken off as a blogger with his strong opinion and personality. His blog, Blogger Unleashed has really taken off in the past weeks and months. He seems to be pretty controversial, so I thought I’d get to the bottom of a few things.

Due to the fact I had so many questions and Vic’s time restraints, he made a video blog to my interview questions.

As I mentioned in Is Vlogging the Best Way to Blog, vlogs can be time consuming. So I’ll do my best to recap and summarize the answers the best I can. However the video is definitely worth a watch and will give the complete answer. If you are looking for a different voice in the blogosphere don’t miss this interview.

What exactly do you do? You seemingly came out of nowhere.

Vic stated that the people who are really making money online don’t have a face.

He didn’t exactly answer the question, but we all know he does very niche websites and mentioned early in the interview that he has over 100 domains.

You have such a strong opinion and personality. Do you think you are intimidating?

The short answer, yes. “Apparently so”. Instead of being nice about it, he’ll tell you what he thinks.

Why do you promote niche’s so much?

Working a niche is a lot easier to move up the SERP’s, which in turn brings in the traffic that will make you money.

In one of your vlogs you mention TLA and Payperpost was bad for blogging. What else has been bad?

TLA and Payperpost are the worst thing for blogging. What he said that basically happened was by selling links at these prices and with PR juice etc, it essentially drove down the cost for advertising across the board.

What else has been bad for blogging is the A-listers. By the A-listers being at the top of the pyramid, that makes it harder for bloggers like me to make money.

In your opinion, what has been best for blogging?

Overall the whole idea of blogging and the fact it’s just getting started. Vic has already turned to video blogging which he calls the future.

What do you have against so called “A-List” bloggers?

“They are self centered b@#^%^ that scam people to death” Couldn’t ask for a better quote.

Why do you have such a problem with Caroline Middlebrook?

“Shes a scammer” You definitely need to see his video response to this, pretty interesting. However thats what a lot of people with followings end up doing. Offering ebooks or affiliates without actually using them or benefiting from them they way they are saying they do.

Why was it such a big deal for you on the sale of OneMansGoal? Wouldn’t that be good for bloggers like you and me?

Basically he said that the sales of overpriced blogs will end up driving down prices, because those people investing, won’t ever get a return on it. Which would discourage future investors.

You mentioned John Chow is basically screwed by saying ‘screw google’. What do you think he should do now?

Keep buying adwords and the traffic. If you want to make money you need google.

I just wanted to thank Vic for this interview, hopefully we can work together in the future.

Do you want the new MacBook Air? Keep on reading and find out how to win fantastic prizes joining the best and simplest blog contests on the net.

Two MacBook Air and $100

This is one of the best. Bloggin-Ads is giving away 2 MacBook Air ($1,799 each) and a total of $1,000 ($100 x 10 winners). You have many options to gain your entries: subscribe to his RSS feed by mail, participate in 2 of his forums, write a blog post about the contest using blog reviews as anchor text, Stumble/Digg/Propel the contest post.
Ends on June 13th.

Cash and Entrecard Credits

Script Debate, is running an easy contest. Three winners will get: $50 and 2000 EC credits $30 and 1000 EC credits, $10 and 500 EC credits. Subscribe to this blog via email, write about this blog contest, Stumble/Digg/Technorati Fav the blog.
Ends on May 31st.

Cash from The WWW Blog

Subscribe by mail to The World Wide Web Blog and Win Cash and Entrecard Credits for you. There will be three lucky winner when the blog reaches a total of 100 subscribers. And one more random winner will get a 125 x 125 advertising space. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling that you are in!

If you’re looking for blog contests and, if you want to promote your own competition, don’t forget to visit About Blog Contests!

Today I am not feeling too great, but that’s okay. We are all settled from Vegas and everything. It was pretty fun and exhausting. I found out we are BINGO addicts. Going out to the casino again tomorrow to play (in San Diego). Come join me at Sycuan!

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 200 entrecard credits.

This week I was wondering if you have ever tried using Sitehoppin? What are your opinions on it? Would you try using the new toolbar?

What is the latest trend of online business? Online business try to earn money by offering web traffic which equals potential money and charging money in return for services or virtual credits which are usually worthless.

In the blogosphere itself, we have witnessed the success of Entrecard, the ineffective challenge from Spott to dislodge the king from its throne. Now SiteHoppin is posing a serious threat to Entrecard’s authority.

Can SiteHoppin pose a serious challenge to Entrecard?

SiteHoppin can be considered Entrecard on steroids. Theoretically speaking, SiteHoppin can bring as much traffic to sites as Entrecard but it also offers many other mind numbing features.

SiteHoppin’s credit is named Beer Credits and they are almost like Entrecard credits, they can be used to bring traffic to your own sites or be sold for money. There are several ways to earn Beer Credits such as commenting, site submission, click through to SiteHoppin from the widget on your blogs and visiting other blogs in Browser-within-Browser mode. You can also earn Beer Credits while you sleep – you just have to put your computer on auto surf Slide show Mode to let the Browser-within-Browser keep on loading member sites.

SiteHoppin’s internet domination plan does not stop there. It also includes StumbleUpon’s capabilities where users can discover and submit new sites, rate them, tag them and discuss them. This feature becomes more convenient in the recently released beta SiteHoppin FireFox Toolbar. The toolbar is highly similar to that of StumbleUpon’s and simplifies the task of hopping from one site to another. The toolbar is a real stroke of genius from ZedoMax.

As if SiteHoppin is not attractive enough with the above mentioned features, it also comes equipped with money making model from One Buck Wiki. SiteHoppin is powered by MediaWiki, and as such wiki pages for certain keywords like “make money online” can be bought on the site. Those paid Wiki pages are named Beer Stocks and people who purchase them can customize their Wiki pages and can expect to get a portion of SiteHoppin’s total traffic and also a two-tier Beer Stocks affiliate earnings. The value of Beer Stocks is not constant and will depend on factors like total SiteHoppin web traffics, amount of visits an individual Beer Stock page received and the age of the Beer Stock itself (much like valuation for a domain).

What to look out for in the near future?

Recently, there has been many unsatisfied Entrecard users because of the new advertisement pricing system and the new rule that allows user(s) from an IP address to drop maximum 600 entrecards per day.

As for SiteHoppin, I am pretty sure it will be much more popular once the Firefox Toolbar is ready for public release. Besides, with ZedoMax’s experience and influence in other projects such as Wagg It, One Buck Wiki and Five Buck Wiki, there seems to be unlimited growth opportunity for SiteHoppin.

It will be interesting to note how SiteHoppin will stand in comparison with Entrecard in 3 months or 6 months’ time.

Want to try out SiteHoppin Firefox toolbar? Visit Blogger Focus.

I come across a myriad of money making options everyday.  Many are the usual – PPC networks, mlm scams and a new banner network seems to pop up everyday.  But a few do interest me and here are a couple of alternative monetization tools I have found:

Ziddu – I don’t know if these guys were the first but I like em.  Basically Ziddu is a file sharing site similar to RapidShare, which gives you free file hosting.  But Ziddu actually pays you everytime someone downloads a file.  So if you’ve got a popular file, think about uploading it to Ziddu next time.

LinkBucks – Once again, these guys weren’t first in there field but…LinkBucks pays you everytime someone leaves your site.  Basically they chuck an intermission ad in between your site and the destination.  Yes it could be annoying but it could also work quite well on some sites.  I had lots of success chucking the ad code on a popular forum I own.

AdCamo – This one is yet to launch (or relaunch) yet the concept is great.  Basically they turn the background on your site into one big ad!  Sounds silly?  Yes, but CollegeHumor.com has been doing this very successfully for a while.  Stay tuned for this one.

Make sure you follow me on Twitter guys – its were I give away free GoDaddy.com Gift Cards and Domains!