Over the last few months, I have racked my brain over how to get some things going around here. One thing that I have had trouble with on this blog, that doesn’t seem to be a problem on my others is drumming up some comments on the blog, and getting some feedback from the readers here.

I have been thinking long and hard, and I have come up with a plan that I am going to be running a giveaway for comments on my blog.

So, for the next 2 weeks, any comments left on my blog will be entered into a giveway drawing that we will have.

Now, I can’t just open the floodgates to every spammer that hits the net. Because of that, I will be closely moderating the comments.

1. Every comment will be entered into the drawing. So, if you comment 100 times, your name will be in the drawing 100 times.

2.  Your comments must be relevant to the post. “No, great tips” or “nice blog”  it must add value to the post, and be relevant to the topic we are discussing.

3. No link spamming. You will get a link through your name, don’t spam html links in your comments.

4 Keep it Clean. No adult related sites or illegal sites will be allowed links.

Now, what are you going to receive?

I am going to do is giveaway the prizes to one lucky winner, by random drawing, two weeks from today. All relevant commentors will be entered into the drawing.

prize #1 5 original articles on a topic of your choice, Plus 1000 bookmarks to up to 10 URLs of your Choice…

prize #2 , Internet Marketing Secrets — this recording over 2 hours long takes you deep into the strategies that I have used and many others have used to find success online. This recording covers everything from niche research, keyword selection, Content Creation, Setting up your own site, traffic strategies, and a viral marketing strategy that I have used many times to build traffic to my sites, build a massive email list, and drive customers to an offer they just cannot pass up.  The information in this recording is priceless.  You get the full recording over 2 hours long.

All comments are dated, so previous posts, new posts, are all free to comment on. We do moderate comments closely, so be sure to make it obviously valid and relevant, and happy commenting.

So, here is what we are going to do.

Finding inspiration for business can be tough. However, if you look for it, you will find it right in front of your face. I was watching the inspirational movie “Patch Adams” today. As I was watching it, I started to think about my buisiness. I have been looking for a way to make it better, and how to really do the things that I want to accomplish. I realize that I have not done what I need to do in order to have what I want out of my websites. So, now, newly inspired and refocussed, I am working on a plan to get where I should have done months ago.

Now, in case you don’t know, “Patch Adams” is an inspirational movie based on the real life experiences of a doctor that challenged the system, and is largely responsible for a movement to force modern medicine towards looking at healing people rather than curing symptoms and running a business. He has even been working to build his own free hospital, the Gesundheit Institute, where patients and doctors work together to create health in mind body and spirit.

The story is about a man who had a vision, and has worked his entire life to bring that vision to life. He revolutionized medicine into an art of healing by connecting with his patients, and providing medical care to anyone who needed it, not just those that could afford insurance, or huge doctor bills.

Now, you may be wondering how this all ties in to making money online. This is a story about how to connect with people and build relationships. That is what marketing on the web is all about. You also need to learn to step outside of what others consider the ony way to do things, and find your own strategies and way of doing things that works for you.

Finding inspiration for your business can be found anywhere if you look for it. You can find this inspiration in a movie, as I did. You can also find it in a conversation with a friend, or as you drive down the street, and see a funny sign on  a street corner.

Be willing to step outside of the comfort zone of conforming with popular methods of marketing. There are many different marketing strategies that you can learn and follow, which will make you successful online. In the end, only you are in control of your business.

Now, this is not to say that you should ignore what the experts have to say. They have loads of experience to share, and you never know what new tidbit you may pick up. However, never follow anyone like a

blind sheep. Analyze, test, and follow your own instincts. If nobody ever stepped outside of what convention teaches, we would still believe that the earth was flat. 150 years ago, harnessing the power of lightning was a pipe dream that most people never even considered possible. Yet, that was the beginning of the study of electricity. Most people today could not even fathom being able to survive without it.

A few years ago, nobody believed that short messages quickly sent from your  computer or phone to keep in touch with friends would ever be popular. Yet, someone stepped outside their comfort zone, and Twitter has become one of the most popular sites online.

You can find inspiration for business wherever you look. It does not matter whether you are running an Ebay store, starting an affiliate marketing business,  or  starting your own blogging empire, you just need to find something that motivates you to push forward.

Who knows what tomorrow may bring to our online world. Every day, new technology is being developed, and new ways of building and marketing our businesses are evolving. You can either sit back, and watch others rake in the profits from these inovations, or step in front of the crowd, and test a new theory.

Who knows, the next big thing online may just come from you. But, we will never know if you don’t try.

Where do you find your inspiration? What drives you to keep working?  What have you done to step outside of your comfort zone, and expand your potential lately?

Today, I have been working on my network of blogs, adding new posts, and trying to build them up, as I am also building links to my websites.

Now, as I am posting on these blogs, one thing that I have done for a while, and I am wondering about is the new Google update. After all, this seems to target long tail keywords, and all of my keywords are focused on the long tail.

As I am going along, I took a break, and started looking at some of my analytics on my sites. I have seen some changes in my rankings, and not all the same direction.

I see some of my pages that have been high in the rankings have fallen totally off the radar. However, other pages that have never ranked before, now show up in high positions on page 1. I am still not sure what is different. I am looking at everything, from the number of links, bounce rates, traffic flow, and importantly (I think) where the traffic is coming from.

What I am seeing, and will continue to track, is that the sites ranking highest right now, 1, have the most links and traffic coming through certain social sites, and these pages have links more on social sites than sitting in article directories.

Like I said, this is what i am seeing right now, but not sure if I am just jumping at shadows here yet. I am going to do some detailed testing, and see what works and what does not.

Anyway, let me know what your results are. perhaps if we share some info, we can figure out what has changed, and how to get back on top across the board.

leave me a comment, and tell me what you are seeing with your search rankings.

Hey guys gonna need your help here. I am jumping smack dab into the middle of another contest. I am hope it can help with increasing my blog traffic, and getting more people up here checking out all the cool new stuff that I am working on for you.

My friends over at FamousBlogger are hosting another awesome guest posting contest, so I am going to enter. I know some of you run your own blogs, so you really need to check it out. Last time I entered one of their contests, I got a lot of traffic within a few days, and quite a few followers as well. Now, the cash prizes are great, but if I can get more visitors and followers here, it will be worth the effort, even if I don’t rake in the cash.

You don’t have to sit there feeling jealous. You can enter too, and we can see who gets the top prize. So, here is what I need you to do for me. I will post here once the guest post is live. I need you to jump in comment, tweet, stumble, bookmark, and help me drive some more traffic and comments to the post.

I am working on a really strong post, and I may even throw in two or three. You never know. I may just pull this off. Anyway, here are all the sponsors for the contest:

Contest Sponsors

This is the FamousBloggers ComLuv Contest Sponsors, feel free to check them out, also check the Online Contest page for more information. Special thank to Gail our Social Media Marketing Strategist for the great work.

$300 SPONSORS

- Main sponsor The ComLuv Network
- Claims.com specialists in Accidents at Work Claims and Compensation

$150 SPONSORS

- FamousBloggers ~ Group blog about How to Blog, making money and blogging for business.
- Longest.com ~ GoDaddy Coupon FAN3 30% Off

$100 SPONSORS:

- Andy Bailey’s personal fiddyp blog
- FiredWok Chinese Takeaway & Delivery ~ Chinese Takeaway Lancaster
- GoodMillwork ~ Florida Based Millwork Architectural Mouldings
- Andrew Rondeau Ltd ~ Blogging Guide
- Marc Duquette ~ Scribnia Blogging Community
- The Happy Guy Marketing ~ professional SEO consultant
- The Online Recruiters Directory ~ Executive search firms
- Monster Auto ~ Auto Monster Cars Blog
- Bill – ANS Gear ~ Paintball Guns & Gear
- Cori Padgett- Big Girl Branding ~ Entrepreneur Business
- NowRelevant.com ~ Best new search engine
- The Internet Time Machine ~ Niche marketing software
- Joe & Colleen ~ Kennewick Homes For Sale

$50 Sponsors

- DennisEdell ~ Direct Sales Marketing Coach
- Ditesco ~ Home Based Business Resources
- Firas ~ WP Worx – WordPress Services
- Kiesha ~ Blogging tips & tricks to help you blog better
- Melinda ~ Simple Home Organization
- Dan Keller – TycoonBlogger ~ Promote Your Blog
- ProjectCenter ~ Club Flyers
- PPI Claims ~ PPI Claims
- Free Gifts ~ Free Gifts
- Zoomit Canada ~ Social Bookmarking just for Canada
- Fence Houston ~ Houston fence contractor
- Fence Philadelphia ~ Philadelphia fence company
- Location Villa Espagne ~ Location Villa Costa Brava
- Lube Oil Sales ~ Buy Amsoil Motor Oil
- Olympic EyeWear ~ Designer sunglasses

It looks like it will be another big hit. They are even talking about adding more sponsers, and maybe even throwing in some more prizes.

Social bookmarking is a great way to build up your business online. However, too many people are  just wasting their time by spamming their own website over and over again. This has lead to many bookmarking sites locking down their rules. Utilizing social media traffic, on bookmarking sites is critical to your success, but don’t spam the net

Don’t Just bookmark Your domain

Diversity in your bookmarks is critical to real long term success. You want diversity in your social bookmarking accounts. Bookmark content for other site owners. This helps their content be found, and you get some goodwill with those site owners.

Let’s say you want to get a guest post on one of my blogs, for example. If you contact me and say,”I want you to let me post an article to your site so that I get some free back links,” your request will probably go in the trash.

However, if you contact me and say,”Hey I have been following your blog for a while, I love your blog and share it with my freinds on Digg, and STumbleUpon, and FB”, (then include a link to your profile where I can see the bookmarks), If you have joined in my community, added comments on the blog, and provided value to my site, and offer to build links to my blog, promoting your own content posted there, I am more likely to sign you up and let you have a guest spot( and yes, I am open to guest posters here).

Another thing that you can do with your social bookmarking is to bookmark your social sites, and even your bookmarks on other sites.

I have bookmarked a Digg on about 100 other sites, and see that Digg post jump in the rankings within a few hours. This gets more views, people rating my digg, and visiting my site through the link. This is leveraging the power these social sites have to get fast rankings and drive the traffic you crave to your site.

Social sites love video. I always make sure that I bookmark  my YouTube channel. Again, don’t just bookmark your own. Bookmark other videos you like, and share cool stuff that you find.

Finally, don’t ignore the social aspect of these sites. It is not all about search engines. You can get a lot of traffic to your site fast by building your friends lists on the popular social sites. This does not take long.

I spend about an hour every week on Digg, Mixx, Reditt, and other social sites, checking other bookmarks, leaving comments, and building my friends lists. By doing this, your bookmarks will be seen by more people, and you will get a lot more benefit from using these sites.

Of course, if you don’t want to do all this work, you can always let me handle your social bookmarking for you. Check out my social bookmarking packages, and let me help you today.