I first posted the Top 20 Contest Blogs list on November 19th. I felt that the contest blog niche was up and coming and very deserving of a list like this.

Since I published the list I have reformatted the formula of which I previously used. I noticed about 5 blogs on the list no longer posted or were not in service so it was in need of an update.

There has been a lot of movement on the list. Contest Beat has taken the #1 spot. It’s too bad that it has been sold, I’ve tried to reach out to the new owner, which no luck. It still deserves to be the top blog though.

Several blogs lost a few spots, but two other blogs have really emerged. The first is Laura Williams Musings which has jumped from 5 to 2. She has a great blog, with tons of contests, giveaways and freebies.

The second blog is About Blog Contests. I recently asked GLF, the owner of ABC, to be our contest blogger for our weekend contest round ups. I think he has one of the better contest blogs, so I’m happy to see his blog jump all the way from 17 to #7!

If you feel your contest blog belongs on the Top 20 Contest Blogs list, please contact me and I’ll add it. I strongly suggest using our list as a resource when you are running your own contest. These bloggers are great and generally post about any contest as long as you let them know about it.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day.

I know I don’t post many pictures of myself, but this is my girlfriend and I. She’s yelling at me for posting the picture of her, but I think she looks great, doesn’t she?

Anyway, it’s going to be a pretty laid back Valentines Day for us. We got to go out for dinner last night for a friends birthday party at PF Changs. Not the best place for a 21st birthday but we had fun nonetheless.

I didn’t have to run around today for a gift, I bought Emma a nice little purse she wanted. Lucky me, because it’s been nasty and raining all day here in San Diego.

We’ll probably stay in tonight, make some Salmon and Crab for dinner and enjoy our nice meal. I am the best cook in the house, so it’s always good!

What are your Valentines Day plans?

Bloggers who blog about blogging have been told throughout the blogosphere that it isn’t a real niche. That it’s pointless, as well as not profitable. Or so I’ve read…

It Won’t Die

Blogs about blogging are a useful resource for all bloggers no matter what niche they blog in. As long as there is blogging there will be blogs about it. It’s very similar to the make money online niche. As long as there are people who want to make money online there will be blogs about it.

Not Profitable?

Some bloggers have said that blogs about blogging aren’t profitable. With the low cost of maintaining a blog, it’s hard for them not to be profitable. If you break down the cost of hosting and a domain it’s under 10$. For this blog, it runs to be about 6.58$ per month. 6$ per month for hosting, .58 cents per month for the domain (7$ divided by 12 months).

I wouldn’t say that it’s been easy or I’m making a ton of money on this blog, you can see January’s earning report, but I am definitely making a profit. If you can offer good content that people want to read and really be honest, you can easily make that few bucks a month spent on the blog.

Pointless?

Blogging has grown exponentially over the years. Huge numbers of blogs are created daily. New bloggers are born everyday. Who’s going to teach them our ways? Someone has to. That’s why we have the uber bloggers that we do. They offered the content people wanted and needed. Not only did they help bloggers grow, bloggers made them grow. You can earn quick money on a “fad” niche like Webkinz or Hannah Montana, but that only lasts so long.

What is your opinion on blogs about blogging?

When I mentioned buying wholesale, Ebay and auctions where brought up. Surprisingly, for how much I am online, I don’t buy online at all. I can’t say I’ve ever won an ebay auction. I did however use Craigslist to buy a T-Mobile Sidekick. I have used both ebay and Craigslist to find bargains.

Typo Buddy

Everyone loves a bargain, especially bloggers. Sometimes certain items are only available online. Typo Buddy is an interesting tool for those seeking cheap auctions. Typo Buddy is a tool to help you find commonly misspelled items, listings & words on eBay and Craigslist.

As I mentioned I never buy online so I thought this would be a valuable tool to pass on to my readers. I’ve just spent about 10 minutes searching for misspelled “Disney” auctions.

The popular searches on TypoBuddy so far are Abercrombie, Banana Republic, Disney, Ipod, playstation 3, and Wii. I can’t believe people can misspell some of these things, especially when setting up an auction. I guess for a bargain I would buy from someone who misspells Disney!

Thanks to Deal Locker for letting me know about this handy tool.

Finding advertising that works for you and your blog is important. If you don’t like it, it’s hard to justify using it other than the money. Kontera is a perfect way to put advertising on any blog or website. Advertising in-text doesn’t put up any images or widget to slow down your site.

Kontera hasn’t been the biggest a money earner here, but you have to figure that the niche isn’t as profitable. Obviously, different keywords and terms do better than others. I’ve actually had more success with Kontera on my freebie blog. I plan on adding it to several more to see the difference between them all.

What I have been the most impressed with is the Kontera staff and support. I’ve written to several directly, the response time has been great. They set-up everything for you and basically walk you through any troubles you may have.

Kontera Video Contest

Kontera announced on their blog, they are looking to find out experiences their publishers and advertisers have had by using their service. To enter record a short video about the benefits and your overall experience with Kontera. I can’t tell you my idea, but I plan to enter and post the video on our blog. Make sure to keep a lookout for it.

By making the video, you could win 500$! Second wins 250$ and third wins 100$. They are looking for the best video, so be creative and if you can, funny!

To be eligible you must be a publisher or advertiser with Kontera so make sure to register.

The contest ends March 1st, so you don’t have time to waste getting started. For the full details on the contest, refer to the Kontera Blog.

What would you do if you won 500$?

New week coming up, new Contest Roundup for you all. Directly from About Blog Contests. Here we go. See below what you could win simply using your blog…

A Canon IXY Digital L4 Camera

Neil Duckett is giving away a brand new 7.1 MP Canon IXY Digital L4 Camera to promote Japan Singles. To gain your entries simply write a post about this contest, subscribe to his RSS feeds by mail and add a couple of links to your blogroll. Minimum of 100 entries required.
Ends on March 8th.

A Set of iPod Portable Speakers

Boost your iPod Sound with a set of iMaingo portable speakers! You can win it thanks to Fiddyp and his easy blog contest. You only have to write a post about it and write that if you don’t win, you can buy them directly from his site.
Ends on February 22nd.

Free Amazon Gift Card

It’s time to spend some money on Amazon. Jason from The Amatureist Financial Journey is offering you 3 Amazon gift cards ($65, $25 and $10). As always, there are many ways to enter and earn points. You write about the contest, stumble any article on the site, and subscribe to his RSS feeds. If your post send the most traffic, bonus points for you!
Ends on February 29th.

Stay update with the latest blog contests on the net! Visit About Blog Contests and get your daily source of prizes!

Luckily most of our criticism or critiques have been manageable, I know the weaknesses of Blog about your Blog better than anyone. I can always take the bad with the good.

What about when it’s all bad?

Negative Criticism

What I like most about Entrecard is the shop. I’ve even turned into a shopaholic. I’ve been able to get several links as well as permanent links from reviews. I’ve been very happy and impressed on the quality I’ve gotten just for a few entrecard credits. However, our last review, didn’t go as well.

Recently I purchased a review from Nothing of Particular Interest (their website is no longer available, I wonder why?). I can’t seem to find the cost it was, but it had to be only a few 100 credits. I was drawn to it by first of the page rank and second of the low alexa score.

Yesterday before the review was published I received a message.

“Hi! Your blog review is done, but I will say, it is overwhelmingly negative. Having said that, if you would like me to pull the review, I will be happy to give you a full refund. I wouldn’t want you paying for a review you’re not happy with.”

I said it was fine and to go ahead and publish. It couldn’t be that negative, could it?

Well, it was. Everything from the quality of our site, to our grammar was called into question.

I was given advice that really didn’t matter for our blog. Moving our entrecard widget isn’t a necessity and it does just fine in its spot. Our entrecard price is twice of NOPI’s. Why move it?

I was also criticized about our Project Wonderful price of having a ‘minimum’ bid.

On the subject of Project Wonderful, I noticed he has no ads there. A more in-depth investigation (read: clicking the link) shows that his default price is $0.50. That’s a BIG no-no in advertising.

Our current advertiser is paying $1+ per day. Their’s? 10 cents.

I’m not saying there weren’t valid points, because there were. However, going in open minded, the review turned negative and our blog never was given one compliment. Being in ‘business’ for a year, 10,000+ visitors per month, and almost 600 RSS readers, I have never received a critique that harsh.

So what?

That’s only one person with a blog. The best thing we can do with that, is take it the best way we can. Improve our quality, our posts, and our blog. That way, the next person to read and visit our blog won’t think that way. All I could do was really address the issues of the review, thank them for their input and time. Then move on.

You have to remember, try not to be negative as well. It only makes you and your blog look worse. I have received several mean or rude comments at Blogging Zoom. With that I’ve tried my best to be as civil and professional as can be. Getting into a name calling match is not only unprofessional but stupid as well.

Ignore It

Another method to a bad review or criticism is just to ignore it completely. Why not? If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all.

Many of the bigger blogs or websites take this method for two reasons. Any press is good press. Secondly, it’s impossible to address every comment. The worst thing someone can do, in my opinion, is respond negatively back.

“I hate you and your blog.” Okay, I hate you too, your blank blank *insert bad name*. Sounds childish doesn’t it? “Thank you for your comment, we will try to improve.” Sounds a lot better.

Any comment, good or bad, is essentially good. It means at least someone is reading!

How do you deal with negative comments on or about your blog?