Contests & Prizes Galore!

Ok don't get too excited, this is not about a contest from the Monetizer (yet) but from other people online! That's right, one cool thing Monetizer has noticed is how generous other blog sites like to be in giving away stuff like the iPhone, iPods, Nintendo Wii's, Blog Designs, Cash and more! Some of them even win stuff from one contest, then just turn around and give it away to someone in their own contest..Smart thinking!

RockNRollSolo.com has a win a 16gb iPod touch contest going on until November 12th. The iPod Touch is a pretty nifty piece of technology complete with a you guessed it, a touch screen. You can flip through album covers for your music, watch videos or movies, check out your stored pics, and surf the internet all on a 3.5 inch screen! It has a gift avalue of approximately $399. To enter this one, just head over to win a 16gb ipodtouch at rocknrollsolocom and follow the rules!

There's a big bad blogger battle going on between blog legends, Shoemoney and John Chow. Each guy is trying to outdo the other in terms of getting the most RSS subscribers for his blog before the end of this month. Monetizer previously mentioned John Chow's contest which includes a ton of prizes. Since Chow is giving away prizes, Shoemoney decided he will give away a prize a day because he's been slacking in the contest. Head over to Shoe's blog to sign up for his RSS so you don't miss out!

Beyond those big 3, if you want to check out other contests going on you may want to check out this blog: MyBlogContests.com for more great giveaways!

3 Essential Pages Your Blog Needs

Here's 3 essential pages to include amongst your earliest blog posts/entries. If you're just starting out it's a good idea to start your blog with these and make sure you have them linked to on all of your blog pages, posts or entries (in the top navbar, the sidebar or wherever you may choose).

The 3 Essential pages to have in your blog:

1) About Me Page - This basically could and should be your first ever blog post/entry. It is where you define and set the topic, theme and tone for your blog. Establish its overall theme or topic so that readers can easily discern what you will be blogging about. Tell the reader who you are and what you have to offer here. You may want to list interesting facts about yourself and your background as well as how you became interested in the topic of your blog. Make it creative or humorous. Feel free to use a 10 question Myspace survey as part of it, if that helps give readers insight and ideas about you. The "About Me" helps readers connect with the blog and get to know you more. Pretty much any and every blog has it.

2) Contact Me Page - Make a separate page where you list off your email so readers can contact you with questions, feedback and possibly link exchanges. If you want to get fancy, research how to put a scripted Email form on your contact page, making it easier for someone to message you (works best with a blog you're hosting). Also list off any social media sites, bookmarking sites or blog networks you might belong to that are relevant. Examples include Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Myspace, Squidoo, Facebook, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog and anywhere else associated with blog where you want to network. This may help new people who find your blog join your network on these sites and spread the word!

3) RSS Explained - This one makes sense too, although it really is the most optional of the 3 pages here. On this page you want to put into your own words what RSS means exactly and then include the links for people to subscribe to your blog. Best advice is to drop by the Wikipedia on RSS and put the definition into your own words. Not everyone (self included) had or have the slightest clue as to what RSS means and how it can be beneficial. After the explanation, provide links to subscribe to your feed in a reader or via email. Feedburner provides you with copy & paste code for the "Subscribe to RSS feed" and the "Sign up for Email Updates". Having this page can clue people in to the benefits of subscribing to RSS.

Do you currently have the 3 pages above as part of your blog? If not you should strongly consider adding them into the mix. Try to make the posts dated around the time your blog started. This will serve to make it look like you had them since the start and people have benefited from them, so you won't look like too much of a rookie.. :)

Since this is an experimental blog, The Monetizer has added #2 and #3 in recently. Feel free to check out any of the them above to get an idea what they can look like and then make sure you have them on your blog!