Winner of the Signed Book, “Crush It”

Posted on 08 December 2009 by Suzanne

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<—— A quick reminder to Retweet if you enjoy the post … Thanks!

I want to thank each of you who participated in my little giveaway of Gary Vaynerchuk’s, “Crush It” here on the blog. There were a total of 13 entries. I put each participant on a spreadsheet, went to Random.org and entered the info (numbers 1-13) and it randomly drew the number 10. The signed book goes to ConfessionsMom … congratulations! Check out her site … it’s a team of mom writers who share their parenting experiences, tips and tricks, recipes, reviews and more.

If you didn’t win this copy of the book and you haven’t read it I really do highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have an online business. It’s very motivating and gives some great ideas too. It is based on finding your passion (I know you’ve heard that quite a bit from me too – so you know I agree) and how once you do you can have a business that won’t feel like “work” but will just be a part of who you are.

I also found the cliff notes for Crush It on Cliff Note Book Reviews so you can check it out there too.

I’ve seen some awesome deals on the book on both Amazon and on eBay so check there if you’d like to purchase your own copy. For your own signed copy you can take a look at Gary’s signing schedule.  

Thanks again to all who participated!

Have you read the book “Crush It”? if so, did you enjoy it? Have you followed Gary on his vlogging adventures for Wine Library TV? Let us hear from you. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Wanna Learn How to Promote Your Site Online?

Posted on 14 August 2009 by

 

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OK … If you haven’t followed along with the Mother/Son Competition I am taking part in with my 13 year old son, Austin, you’re not going to want to miss this!

We both have our sites up (finally) and we’re about to get into the marketing and promoting phase of the sites. The way we will attack our promoting is the same as we would do for any of our other sites (very aggressively) and if you have any type of online site or business you might as well see what we’re up to.

I will say that the Niche Classroom has far exceeded my expectations as a membership site! The amount of information is nothing short of astonishing … and quite honestly I think it will take me several weeks (or months – I’m not sure yet) to get through all of the training they have posted there.

I will also say that setting up my niche site was a bit more time consuming (and possibly complicated) then I was expecting. LOL … I’m not in any way saying that it wasn’t worth it because I am very, very excited about this business model (niche sites selling information products) but I was caught off guard by all that needed to be done. With that said, it’s yet another reason why I’m confident I will be successful … most people simply don’t follow through on proven methods and that’s why they don’t make a dime online.

If you want to see what Austin and I have started simply visit this page and get signed up for our free email series where we’ll be sharing the steps we take to get our new sites set up, promoted, and on to selling our new products! Like I say, “Guaranteed or your money back!” LOL

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Well … we’re ready to roll!

Posted on 04 August 2009 by

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Austin and I have started our niche site “showdown” and we’ve decided to let our readers watch over our shoulders as we set up our sites and as we market and promote them … and eventually sell our products.

We’ve decided that due to the work involved in sharing this process and due to the fact that we’ll be sharing our niches and keyword choices and such … we will be putting the lessons on password protected pages on our blogs.

“Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.” ~ Mark Twain

To be honest … after sharing this idea with some people online … they couldn’t believe we would give these “lessons” away for free! They’ve encouraged me to make it into an eBook and sell it.

Sure … we could … but we’re not going to! All we ask is that you opt in to our mailing lists and follow along with what we’re doing … fair enough?

Click below to read about the “competition” and to get signed up for the free lessons! 

Free Niche Site Lessons!  

Thanks for all of your encouragement so far … I hope you take us up on our offer and please let us know if you have any questions (we’re here to help). *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. Do you build niche sites? Have you ever done a site specifically for information products? Are you going to sign up for our free lessons … and/or cheer us on? Let us hear from you!

P.S.S. Please let me know if everything goes smoothly when you get signed up for the lessons … I’m still mastering Aweber!

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Mother – Son Competition … This is Going to Be Fun!

Posted on 31 July 2009 by

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If you’re reading this via RSS please come over to the blog for the posted video

mother-son-1So … I mentioned in an earlier post that my 13 year old son, Austin, and I came up with the idea to have a friendly competition … to test our abilities to build and promote a niche store of our choice.

Shortly after we came up with the idea of having a contest I happened onto a badass site (Niche Profit Classroom) that specializes in building and promoting niche sites … but not the eBay or Amazon type sites we initially had in mind … sites where we sell our own information products.

This is perfect! It levels the playing field a bit (for those of you who said it wouldn’t be fair to Austin LOL) and we’ll both learn a great deal from the exercise.

I’ve signed up for the monthly membership at Niche Profit Classroom and the video lessons are awesome! Adam is a great teacher – he’s very detailed and that works well with my personality.

What Austin and I have decided to do for this “contest” is to choose the two July niche stores that are provided through the membership site and we’ll: 

  1. Choose and purchase our domain names
  2. Put up the ready-made sites
  3. Edit the site and content to make it unique
  4. Get the eBooks ready to sell
  5. Start promoting the sites
  6. Hope to sell something! LOL

We will be documenting most everything we do (probably via email back and forth) and we will both be sharing this on our blogs (go check out http://www.austinfranco.com and subscribe while you’re there). We will challenge each other as we go for certain things like … pages indexed, backlinks to the site, PR, etc. … and of course SALES!

If you’re interested in niche stores, internet marking, blogging, or any type of online marketing … you will want to follow along as we go through this process … I promise you’ll learn something along the way (guaranteed or your money back ha ha ha)! *SmiLes* Suzanne 

P.S. What do you think of this friendly “competition”? Do you have any words of encouragement for me? Do you want to follow along and see what you can learn from us? Let us hear from you below …

P.S.S. Now … for those of you who think this is unfair to Austin … I will ask, “Do you have any idea how much my son is ‘gunning’ for me?”

Remember … I have businesses to run and a house full of kids (and a husband) to take care of … so for those who think this isn’t fair to Austin … THINK AGAIN! Austin has been following along with everything I’ve learned online and he’ll do just fine. Besides the idea isn’t for me to “beat” him … or him to beat me … but for us to challenge and motivate each other … with a dash of fun thrown in there – and it’s really important to both of us that we teach others as we go.

If you want to see what the Niche Profit Classroom is all about they’ve done a great job explaining it here … 

Niche Profit Classroom

Check out our video message below!

 

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Macs vs PCs … Which Do You Use and Why? Free Macbook Pro!

Posted on 06 December 2008 by Suzanne

Macs vs PCs … Which Do You Use and Why?

Macs versus PCs … which do you use and why? So why am I asking? Because one of my new online friends is holding a killer contest … well two actually … where he’s giving away a couple of Macbook Pros! If you don’t know it yet … I’m a very lucky lady so I’m thinking I stand a pretty good chance at winning (*wink* at least) one of  these things. Well, that got me thinking … if I won a Macbook Pro in this contest would I keep it, sell it, or give it as a gift?

I’ve never owned a Mac before, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even laid eyes on one much less played around with one. I’m a PC user just because … well … I don’t know why actually. Without doing a bunch of research I’ve always heard that Macs are more expensive but much easier to use. I’ve also heard that there are instances where you can’t use certain software so that’s a bummer. I’ve seen people asking on forums, “Is there a version I can use with a Mac?” So that’s always turned me off.

So now I ask … which do you use and why? Have you ever owned a Mac or are you strictly a PC user? Have you ever switched from one to the other? If so, how did that go? Either way how would you like to win a Macbook Pro?

To get your shot at winning go check out these two separate contests (on the same site) and good luck (beating me that is LOL).

The first one is going to be based on RSS subscribers. It’s totally easy to enter – just subscribe to D’s RSS feed via email and then leave a comment stating you’ve done so. The drawing will not happen until there are 500 RSS subscribers so it’s in everybody’s best interest to help spread the word. Fair enough right?

The second contest requires you to make a 200 word blog post about D’s blog and about the contest and then leave a comment that you’ve done so. No specific anchor text is required but he’s asking for at least two links to the contest post (pretty fair too huh?). The drawing will take place on December 18, 2008 so long as there are at least 20 participants so, again, spread the word and let’s make sure this thing goes off.

Now, if you’ve noticed I refer to this guy as “D” … that’s because he won the lottery and he hides his identity for obvious reasons! I’m happy for him and envious too … I need to start buying myself some lottery tickets (remember I’m very lucky)! He’s decided to blog about his life as a multi-millionaire lottery winner and I guess we can all live vicariously. He seems like a pretty good guy – does some random acts of kindness and all. Now with that said, that does NOT mean to go asking this guy for money or for help or anything like that … in fact I think that would be just plain rude and obnoxious.

Leave your comment below about the questions I’ve asked about the Macintosh versus the PC and let me know if you’re entering one or both of D’s contests. *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. I did a quick video showing some very basic keyword research I did for this post. I want to start getting in the habit of videoing as many quick tips as I can so let me know if this is helpful or not. Keep in mind I’m VERY (brand spanking) new at using Camtasia Studios software (screen capture) so please bare with me while I get better at using the screen capture. You might want to take some Dramamine before you watch! LOL

 

 

 Here’s a link to the keyword tool I used: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

P.S.S. Let us hear from you … Will you join one or both of D’s contests? Did you enjoy the quick video on keyword research? Should I do more of them while I work each day? And … let me hear your thoughts … Macs vs PCs

If you haven’t subscribed to SuzanneFranco.com yet … use that cool orange button below this to get all set up … it’s FREE and I’ll do what I can to help you become a success! What? The orange button isn’t there? Then just “Click Here“

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Some Great Contests and Prizes Around the Blogosphere …

Posted on 04 December 2008 by Suzanne

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There are some great contests going on around the blogosphere right now so check these out: 

John Chow Has Impressed Me … Again!

By now most of you know that John Chow stopped by here to show his support for my quest to become Blogging Idol and even went on to blog about it. Well, now he REALLY has my attention. He is holding the best online contest I’ve ever heard of and quite frankly if you don’t participate you just might not have a heart.

He has teamed up with a company called XR.com ~ they are the newest and greatest Tiny URL company and they’re really starting off with a bang. In fact, if you are the drawing winner, they are going to donate $5,000 to the charity of your choice AND give you $1,000 to spend as you please. If you don’t know what a Tiny URL is you’ve got to check this out. It’s a service that will shorten URLs for you ~ so instead of seeing http://www.johnchow.com/6000-contest-from-john-chow-and-xrcom/ you will see xr.com/nvg and it will link to the same page. Pretty darn cool huh? If you use Twitter this is especially helpful since you only have 140 characters for your tweet but they can also be used in forum signatures and all kinds of places online.

If I’m the lucky winner I will donate the $5,000 to Teen With a Dream which was started by a friend’s teenage son, Spencer, during his battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After experiencing, “extended periods of social isolation in a less-than-cheerful environment” he realized the need for other pediatric cancer patients to have laptops, games and activities, candy to help alleviate the bad taste chemo can generate, cool hats for those coping with hair loss, gift cards, and other items to help children keep their minds off this very long and painful process. This charity does a whole lot more for these kids and you can read about that on their Teen With a Dream website. As for the $1,000 … I think I’d have to go with a pink laptop! Go ahead and laugh but if I’m going to stare at the darn thing 15-20 hours a day … it might as well be pretty (and my boring black on is crapping out on me)!

So … go read the rules and good luck “paying it forward” this year … it’s the right thing to do and you know it!

Nspeaks.com ~ Ninja Affiliate Plugin

If you were eyeballing the Ninja Affiliate Plugin that was in my drawing but you weren’t fortunate enough to win a copy … you have another chance. This is a great plugin! In fact, I really want this thing for myself so you’re lucky I’m even passing this contest on to you. LOL. Go check out Nspeaks.com and all you have to do is subscribe via RSS email and leave a comment that you’ve done so. If you win … you owe me … I mean … you’re welcome!

StandoutBlogger.com

This one is not quite as easy to enter but there are some great prizes and it’s different and fun! Tom with StandoutBlogger.com is hosting a Film Festival for Bloggers and it’s going to get pretty good. I can’t wait to see the creativity everyone comes up with. Go check it out and if it’s something you’d like to do but you don’t know how to make a video … let me know in the comments and maybe it will prompt me to do a post on some video basics … enough to get you started anyway.

A Purse Inside a Purse? Why Didn’t I Think of That!

Sandy, with Organize with Sandy, is hosting a great giveaway of a Pouchee and I really want it! Ladies … this thing is awesome! You can organize all of the necessities for your purse and it fits inside your purse and then when you change handbags all you do is move the Pouchee out and put it into the other purse. Guys … you don’t have to “get it” at all … but you should know that this thing makes an awesome gift so go check it out anyway. If you win … you’ll be a hero (or feel free to send it right to me). LOL Earn drawing entries for subscribing to her blogs, adding buttons, blogging about it … you get the idea and you can read more and enter here.

A Market Leverage Contest on SuzanneFranco.com?

Today I received an email from Dina with Market Leverage letting me know that they weren’t able to “sponsor” me for the Blogging Idol contest but that they’d be interested in helping me out with a contest here on SuzanneFranco.com. Wow! That’s cool. If you’re not familiar with the super prizes that Market Leverage puts up for grabs … trust me … you’re not going to want to miss out. In fact, let me know what your favorite ML prize is so I can go to bat for your guys! Stay tuned …

OK … that’s it for now. Are you hosting a contest? Do you know of any other great contests going on? What do you think of these? Do you plan on entering any of them (other than the John Chow/XR.com because you just HAVE to do that one … I said so!)? Let us hear from you in the comments. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Did I Earn the Title “Blogging Idol”? Guess You’ll Have to Decide …

Posted on 02 December 2008 by Suzanne

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Did I Earn the Title “Blogging Idol”? Guess You’ll Have to Decide

Well … I’ve been waiting for today for … well … since I heard about the first Blogging Idol back in July … and here we are. Seems like a lifetime ago when I first heard about last season’s contestants battling it out for the coveted title.

So … here’s an excerpt from the official decision on Daniel’s site (read the whole decision post here):

“Actually we have three winners! Surprisingly enough, two of them are tied on the first place, and one is taking the third place.

The Winners

The three winners and their respective scores are:

So congratulations to Raghu from HappySchoolsBlog, he is the Blogging Idol!”

My response on Daniel’s site:

“I’m sorry this is so long.

Wow! Where to start … This contest has been life changing for me … sounds dramatic … but it’s true. As a 40-something year old “mom” I’ve spent much of my life “doing” for others … and I truly did “this” for ME. The great part is I knew I’d also be able to help others through my journey (so not totally selfish LOL) and I believe I was able to accomplish that.

A huge thank you to Daniel for the hard work and dedication it took to put this together and to stay up with the contest. Also to the judges and the sponsors who gave so generously. Without all of them this contest would not have happened. If you haven’t taken the time to check out their products/sites … please do that now! They’re all awesome and they deserve a look.

Now to the other contestants who pushed me to work harder than I knew I could. Thank you all! Especially to those who “raised the bar” and kept me going … even when I was exhausted and didn’t want to (Raghu, Matej, Tofugu, Vanae, and many others).

I can’t say enough to thank those who have supported me in this contest. With their kind words, their subscriptions, their votes … their tweeting and retweeting … blogging, and constant encouragement. It means the world to me and I wouldn’t even know how to repay any of you.

I wasn’t shy about wanting that TITLE! So now what? I’m Blogging Idol runner up, tied for 1st, almost made it something or other? One of my readers said I was the “Blogging Queen” or something like that … so maybe I’ll have to solicit for the proper title. Either way I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and hope to help many others find their way as a blogger too.

Remember … there were a lot of great strategies used throughout the competition so I hope everyone will learn from them and use them to their own success. *huGs* to all … Suzanne”

Daniel’s response:

  • 1. @Suzanne, as far I am concerned you can call yourself Blogging Idol too, you scored as many points as the winner after all.

The tie breaker was just used for the prize split.

Congrats on your accomplishments!

Hmmmm …

So … I’ll turn to you … my readers … did I earn the title, “Blogging Idol” or not? I’ve received several emails telling me that I deserved the title and that the judging wasn’t fair because one of the judges didn’t use the proper criteria to make his decision. All I can say is that’s the way it goes sometimes (like it or not LOL). Others have said I’m the “Blogging Queen” … “Blogging Diva” and … I think there was one more … but the point is this. Did I earn the title? Do I let you vote on another title? Do I go without a title? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I would like to close with once again thanking each and every one of you for your support. I did cry a bit this morning … but I’m not sure it was from being defeated as much as just how overwhelmed I am at how many of you wonderful peeps supported my efforts and truly understood how important this was to me. A heartfelt “Thanks!” *huGs* Suzanne

P.S. Also a special “Thank You” to Trackur.com and Text-Link-Ads … I can’t wait to “use” these awesome prizes and share the results with all of you

         

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Drum Roll Please! The Winners of the Drawing Are …

Posted on 02 December 2008 by Suzanne

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First a huge “Thank You” to all of our amazing sponsors who gave so generously for this drawing. These sponsors all responded with their prizes within a 48 hour period of me contacting them with my request and have absolutely spoiled you guys! If you haven’t taken the time to visit each and every site … would you please, please do that? If you want to continue to see great prizes donated around the blogosphere then we all need to support these bighearted people when they step up like this … agreed?

I want to thank Louise for reaching out and helping me with a simple system for using Random.org. I was about to make this way too complicated (I do that sometimes LOL) and she set me straight. I will do a post here soon on how to do a successful contest and I’ll include the instructions for using the site too. Keep in mind that we had over 100 contestants with over 500 entries so I took my time organizing it so it would be done right!

With that said, here are the winners of these great prizes:

Peraduanku ~ 30 Minute Backlinks ~ Michelle MacPhearson ($97.00) (x1)

Wendy Burt-Thomas ~ Ninja Affiliate ~ Pawan Agrawal ($97.00) (x1)

Lena ~ 1 Year Business Hosting Plan ~ Hostgator ($179.40) (x1)

SuburbanGypsy ~ 1 Year Business Hosting Plan ~ Hostgator ($179.40) (x1)

Jami ~ 1 Year Business Hosting Plan ~ Hostgator ($179.40) (x1)

Chris Carroll ~ Special Report Club (PLR) ~ Melissa ($182.40) (x1)

Alethea Anderson ~ Beating Adwords ~ Kyle & Carson ~ ($67.00) (x1)

Karrine ~ Premium WP Theme ~ Blog Design Studio ($49.00) (x1)

Fatherlyours ~ Premium WP Theme ~ Blog Design Studio ($49.00) (x1)

Sonya Smith ~ Premium WP Theme ~ Blog Design Studio ($49.00) (x1)

SuburbanGypsy ~ Premium WP Theme ~ Blog Design Studio ($49.00) (x1)

Lindsay Conner ~ Premium WP Theme ~ Blog Design Studio ($49.00) (x1)

Luca ~ 125 x 125 Sidebar Ad (1 month) ~ Blogging Tips ($50.00) (x1)

Marijke ~ Banner Ad Bottom of Post (1 month) ~ Blogging Tips ($30.00) (x1)

JeffLeft ~ 125 x 125 Sidebar Ad (1 month) ~ Shannon (InfectedByBugs.com) ($25.00) (x1)

Navjot Singh ~ Site Review ~ Shannon (InfectedByBugs.com) ($75.00) (x1)

Shannon Lilly ~ Video Site Review ~ Normal Joe (IMwithJoe.com) ~ ($50.00) (x1)

Yield to Pedestrian ~ Custom 125 x 125 Graphic ~ Nicole/Dusty Designs ($5.00) (x1)

Angie ~ Custom 125 x 125 Graphic ~ Nicole/Dusty Designs ($5.00) (x1)

Dhadha ~ Custom 125 x 125 Graphic ~ Nicole/Dusty Designs ($5.00) (x1)

Tammy ~ Make Money/Success Hypnosis CD ~ Jo Ann Galla ($34.95) (x1)

Shannon Lilly ~ 125 x 125 Ad (1 month) ~ Blog for Beginners ($15.00) (x1)

Jo Ann Galla ~ WP Auction Gold ~ wordperez.com ($29.99) (x1)

Tyler ~ 125 x 125 Ad (1 month) ~ Sensonize.com ~ Monty ($30.00) (x1)

Sissy ~ 1 Year Hosting, Blog Install and Theme Update, 1 Month Email Consultation ~ Kai Wilson ($300 – she’s low-balling this quote … this is HUGE … I promise!) (x1)

Robert ~ 125 x 125 Ad ~ GetInternetMarketingStrategies.com ~ JR ($25.00) (x1)

Marta -Rawvolta ~ Site Review ~ Jason Parish ($25.00) (x1)

LaTara ~ 125 x 125 Ad ~ MutualPay ~ Topen ($15.00) (x1)

Angie ~ 125 x 125 Ad ~ DirectSalesWebMarketing.com ~ Dennis Edell ($20.00) (x1)

Sonya Smith ~ 125 x 125 Sidebar Ad (1 month) ~ SuzanneFranco.com ($25.00) (x1)

Young ~ Blogger Interview ~ SuzanneFranco.com ($50.00) (x1)

Congratulations to all of you! You deserve it and I really do appreciate all of your support in my quest to become Blogging Idol (that post is next I promise).

Shannon Lilly was drawn for his own prize (I had a feeling that might happen in this drawing) so as promised I moved him down to the next prize which was the video review from Normal Joe. Funny thing is these two guys just battled it out in their own RSS contest … and I think it’s a good thing Joe beat Shannon or who knows how that review would go! Just kidding … but if you’ve never seen one of Normal Joe’s video site reviews … you’d better stay tuned to this one … it’ll be entertaining I promise.

I will be emailing all winners today and providing your contact info to the prize sponsors/donors.

Thanks again to all of the sponsors and to all of you who participated! It was a very successful contest/drawing so watch for more to come on the blog.

Did you win something? Was it what you wanted? If you didn’t which prize were you pulling for? What type of prize ideas do you have for my next promotion? We’d love to hear your comments so don’t be shy. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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I Won the Contest!

Posted on 01 December 2008 by Suzanne

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OK … you can shoot me … I did win the contest but not “that” contest … not yet anyway. LOL

I won a site review from Romil, of Blab Web, and it’s posted over on his “Blogging, Social Media, and Web Talk” site. Go over and check it out and feel free to add any and all constructive criticism here, or better yet there, in the comments section. I’m always open to new ideas and sincerely want to hear what would make this blog more valuable to you so please speak freely.

As for that “other” contest … two of the judges have made their decision (though still under wraps) and we are waiting on the third and final judge to cast his vote. That should be announced tomorrow.

I am almost finished tallying up the drawing entries for those of you who participated in the drawing and then I’ll head over to random.org today and find our winners. If anyone has experience with random.org feel free to shoot me an email and give me any pointers you think would be helpful.

What do you think of the site review? Do you have any constructive criticism for my blog? What categories and subject matters would you most like to see here? If you had an hour of my time one-on-one what would you most want my help with? I’d love to hear your comments below.

*SmiLes* Suzanne

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Way to Go and Vote! You’re Awesome! And Some Details About the Drawing …

Posted on 29 November 2008 by Suzanne

Way to Go and Vote! You’re Awesome! And Some Details About the Drawing …

You guys are awesome! You ROCK! In a fight to the finish … I landed in 3rd place in the voting portion of the Blogging Idol contest which gives me a much needed point in the competition.

Now we just wait for the judges to vote (Monday) for who they feel used the most “clever” strategies to gain RSS subscribers and to promote their blog. I gave it my all in this category so all I can do is hope for the best. If you want to have your say you can go to Daily Blog Tips and leave a comment about why you think I have earned the title, Blogging Idol.

The contest/drawing here on my blog is going really well and I can’t wait to see who wins the awesome prizes. Many of you emailed me your entry and I need you to comment on the contest/drawing post to be entered into the drawing. I will need you to do this by Sunday, November 30, 2008 by midnight EST. If you have any questions or don’t know how to do so please let me know using the contact us page.

Thank you all so much for your amazing support of my quest to become the next Blogging Idol … it means the world to me. I hope I win the title and make you all very proud of me. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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