Digital Point is a massive webmaster related forum. There are thousands of users that log on daily to discuss different ways to make money online, as well as being able to buy and sell links. I’ve been able to make thousands of dollars just using Digital Point alone.

With that being said, using the site itself to get links, may not be the best idea.

It is a massive forum, meaning there are tons of members. Due to it being so big, some users abuse it. You can’t stumble your own Digital Point threads since it is banned from Stumbleupon. Linking to your website, blog, or article from Digital Point may also give you penalties in Google.

De-Ranked from Google

When we had our trouble with NeverBlueAds (which is now resolved) I, of course, posted about it. That post ended up ranking on page 1 in Google for the term NeverBlueAds.

I found a thread on Digital Point discussing NeverBlueAds so I put in my two cents and linked to my article. Soon after that I realized my traffic from Digital Point was increasing but the search traffic for NeverBlueAds went down. After Googling it, I found the post was no longer ranked on page 1. Going a bit deeper I found I couldn’t find the post at all.

Figuring Digital Point may be the culprit, I tried to edit my post to remove the link. However you can’t seem to edit links that old, so I had to change the URL of the post all together. Within the next few days the post was back where it belonged, on page 1.

Linking to Digital Point?

I’m not sure what the affects could be for linking to Digital Point, however I make sure to no follow links, just in case.

Have you noticed this too with your posts? Several of our other posts have been affected due to links from DP

NeverBlueAds was one of the first affiliate networks that I joined and actually used. Their freebie offers are perfect for some of my blogs. It took some time but I’ve reached over $100+ in earnings (almost$200), with the number being steady each month.

However, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, for a while I was no longer promoting NeverBlueAds.

My affiliate manager, Tina Chien was essentially worthless in helping me with problems that happened. She should of sent me to a manager in the first place, but instead decided to no longer work on my account with no word whatsoever. After being shorted about $36 due to different problems with the network, I had enough. I was tired of watching my earnings drop without a word as to why. So…

I wrote the post about my problems and that was that. Until…

Head Affiliate Manager to the Rescue

In my article, 6 ways to get a refund online, I mention the power of blogging. Luckily the post about NeverBlueAds bounced around on the front page of Google for that term. The power of blogging brought my answer.

One day out of nowhere I received a phone call from head affiliate manager from Leanne Thubodeau. She wanted to discuss my problems with NeverblueAds, and so we did.

The end result was a $38.50 bonus, which was actually $2.50 more than I had figured I had lost. I had a short discussion telling her my problems stressing how unsatisfied I was, especially with my affiliate manager. I didn’t really try to gain back more than I lost, even though I had probably spent a total of 2 hours disputing my case to my previous affiliate manager.

Overall, I am giving the okay to join NeverBlueAds again. With the advice that if you run in to trouble, just ask for Leanne!

Welcome back, contests are waiting you! First of all, don’t forget DNXpert giveaway with incredible prizes! Cash, domain names, free advertising and more! BAYB is one of the sponsors! Here are more blog contests from around the blogosphere:

Cash from IMBlogger

IMBlogger is giving away a total of $600 dollars (PayPal) for three lucky winners. You only have to subscribe to his RSS feed by email and then leave a comment telling that you are in. Blogging about this contest is optional, but it is of course appreciated.
Ends on June 15th.

Cash and Domain names

Enter the DiggItLive contest and win free cash and domain names of your choice. There will be a total of three winners. To enter just subscribe by mail and leave a comment.
Ends on May 30th.

Cash from Everyday Finance

To celebrate his 250th post Everyday Finance is holding a contest where 2 winners will receive $100 an $25 plus advertising space. Gain your entries by subscribing to his RSS feed, writing about it on your blog, or spreading the world over the net (in other blogs, sites, forums…).
Ends sometime in June

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

John Cow became a funny parody of John Chow. Several had the idea, but only one has been able to successfully run with the idea. Bob Jones, formerly of BobMeetsWorld.com, found a way to successful brand John Cow into a real money maker and authority in the blogging niche.

By doing that he has been able to sell the John Cow empire. We all know that John Cow was on the market, and was offered $50,000 by different people. He posted that the blog hadn’t sold, but it appears to be under new management now.

Garry Conn the New Cow in the Pasture?

Recently John Cow and Garry Conn have launched a cross promotion, that appears to be about who can make the most money or something along those lines.

The first thing I thought of, however was that Garry Conn must have bought John Cow. Why not? It would be a good investment for someone already in the make money online / blogging niche. The ‘Cowpetition’ seems pretty fishy to me and wouldn’t make sense for John Cow to participate. It seems right up Garry Conn’s alley however, to spin it. They supposedly had a little fight about who was best (are you buying this?). To settle it they decided to have a competition (yeah right).

To make the investment even better for Garry Conn to buy Cow, the cross-promotion would obviously help GarryConn.com a lot more than John Cow. John Cow has about 3 times as many RSS readers. Last time I visited Garry Conn, his RSS feed was at about 600, it’s now up to 847.

Besides the “Cowpetition” recent posts have also been made about keyword research, which is what Garry Conn seems to specialize in, with different niches.

In their last post one of his readers asked to know who the new Cow was, then would consider advertising…

If I’m Wrong…

Yes I could be wrong, however it doesn’t seem likely. If so, the one who has benefited the most from the sale could be Garry Conn.

Today is my 22nd birthday! I was just looking up last years birthday when I turned 21, it was great to see all those comments.

My birthday is a little different, last year it was spent at a funeral, so it’s all I can think about this year. So hopefully I can take my mind off it later for my birthday dinner.

This is the only time of the year I ask, so if anyone wants to give me a present, feel free to send a little cash to my paypal. No one participated in the donation contest, but that’s okay. I haven’t forgotten about the T-shirt contest I will be picking up some San Diego T-shirts soon, I didn’t get a chance in Las Vegas to buy any.

It’s funny how things change, last year I wanted to buy a John Chow review, now all I want is a new theme!

Hope everyone has a great day, keep reading BAYB!

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.