Selling My Soul for Links - Batch 2

With all the John Chow wannabes out there, the blogosphere has come alive with linkback offers. My first post, Selling My Soul for Links, highlighted the first 5 that I came across. I guess not all the sites highlighted were for linkbacks as some blogs are offering contests or charity donations if you meet their conditions. In an effort to keep my blog from becoming littered with reviews I decided to clump them together in groups of 5. Not only does it accomplish keeping my blog tidy, but it also provides other blog owners a resource for promoting their blogs. Sure they could spend countless hours trying to find sites to review to get a linkback, but its much easier to come here and reap the fruits of my labor. This is also a great opportunity for me to mention my Not So Boring Challenge.

As always I’ll take this opportunity to rate each blog owner as either BORING or NOT-SO-BORING. Blog owners are judged on the excitement of their offline lives and the quality of their blog posts related to extracurricular activities. Extra points are given things like driving a fast car or skydiving.

HarpzOn: Mitch broke into the blogging scene with a splash. He paid ol’ Johnny boy a pretty penny to review his site that was only a couple days old. I think its working out for him since he’s been able to pump out some good content. He’s also running your average run of the mill linkback promotion. His latest article about your Crap to Content Ratio is pretty good. It’s worth the read. Mitch wants stinkin’ 250 words for this review so I’m gonna have to fluff it up to even come close since I wasn’t gifted in saying the same thing over and over. Plain and simple, if you’re an entrepreneur looking for info on increasing your website traffic, Marketing, Blogging, or Investing you should get HarpzOn on your feedreader.

There wasn’t a single bit of interesting info in Mitch’s blog about what he likes to do. However his Who is Harpz page is littered with some good stuff. He’s a scaredy cat when it come to flying. He likes traveling, hanging with his ’significant other’, running, and watching movies. Nothing really sticks out to warrant a Not-So BORING rating. With that said I would recommend Mitch take some time to smell the roses. You’re obviously quite successful in the business world, but before you know it you’ll be 40 years old and not able to do a lot of things you can do while you’re young.

---

BlogAboutYourBlog: BAYB is quite unique. Its actually a bunch of bloggers working for the greater good. Helping others to get noticed. Interesting concept in my opinion. I love the logo / header design. I’m personally not crazy about the 3 column design as it makes the user interface a bit to busy for my liking. Plus it reduces the text size to cram more content in to make the site flow. The only other suggestion I have would be to put a border around the content panes. All the white space makes the site feel like a big blob. With a load of bloggers contributing, the content is pretty diverse. Since this isn’t a traditional blog I couldn’t nail a single person with the Not-So Boring label, so as I see it the whole community is Not-So Boring. Why you ask? They’ve had some great posts like an Author Interview and Proud Parent.

---

James Gill: James is the only site I feel that genuinely wants to hear what other think. I personally like the theme he’s chosen and the Top Commentator promotion is brilliant. No wonder you’ve got people leaving 20-30 comments on your site. Also I really enjoy the MyBlogLog going horizontally across the top of you site. The only thing I can recommend is to pump out some good content. You’ve got to provide something to the community which will make them come back for more. I don’t know how you’ve done it but you’ve sent me a load of traffic from your site, and for that I’m grateful. For that reason alone I have dubbed you with the coveted Not-So Boring title

---

Blogging Secret: Ain’t link love great?! I sure hopes its worth all my time writing these 200 word reviews. The first thing I have to say is, “please update the theme”. With the gazillion different themes out there find something or make it something just a teeny weenie bit original. In 5 months Louiss is pulling some pretty hefty numbers among google and technorati. The majority of his content is focused on blogging tools and technology. He does have a load of other topics he covers which i found quite useful like his List of Secrets.I had high hopes that Louiss was going to take the Not-So Boring title home after noticing he had 11 posts in his Life Log category. It turned out there wasn’t a single post in there that was even remotely interesting. I guess the reuse of a previous Valentine’s Day gift was a little interesting, but certainly not warranting Not-So Boring. There was also no About Me page that outlined anything about boring ol’ Louiss. I guess that is my second recommendation. Put together an about me page that tells your readers a little … about you! Might I suggests this article by Hannes?

---

Alex Shalman: Alex Shalman at Practical Personal Development (a blog about self help and personal growth) is hosting a Donation Contest in which you press a button and he donates a dollar. It really is that simple. $500 donation to charity = Not-So Boring.