I recently got tagged by an Entrecard user as one of his top droppers. I thought it was an interesting idea. Entrecard has enabled me to get some new readers and also given me some interesting sites to visit.

My top Entrecard droppers:

joanjoyce – Personal blog of Joan Joyce, child, mom, blogger
Money Relations – An interesting financial blog from Canada, aye!
2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R – A blog about the fabulous 2009 Nissan Skyline GTR
Thoughts From Down Under – A blog from Australia
AdToll – Purchase redirected traffic to your website
Saphrym.com – Losing over 65 lbs!
BudgetCents Blog – Tips, Tricks and Free Money Deals
Internet Dreamer – One woman, one dream, one million, one year
artconstellation – An interesting artist and his work
The Truth In Context – Helping to raise the discernment level so lacking in the modern western Church.

Tag your own top Entrecard Droppers

Here is what you need to do.

Post your Top 10 Dropper’s Blogs, and write a little comment about them, which you could use as a recommendation should you choose.

Message them with the Entrecard message system to let them know that they have been tagged, and encourage them to continue the chain. (and thank them for dropping so many cards.

Include a link to the Entrecard Meme article of the person who tagged you.

Include a link to this original post. The Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers Meme @ http://www.yimto.com/the-entrecard-top-10-card-droppers-meme.

Drop your card on your Top 10’s sites, if you haven’t already

Drop cards on the other sites that were tagged along with you if you wish, as they will probably drop back.

Copy these rules onto your post, so that others can easily participate!

Thank you to everyone who has dropped their card on my site and have already subscribed to my RSS feed. If you haven’t already, Subscribe to my RSS or Subscribe via e-mail.

Entrecard is a great way to build up traffic, but you also discover some terrific blogs in the process. Get involved if you haven’t already.

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The winners are:

1st prize (100pts)

Goes to Joe Firo. Joe has an interesting blog with such posts as: I want my MILF airlines, and Absinthe is Legal Again. He has some eclectic and interesting posts. I suggest you check out his blog.

2nd Prize (50pts)

Goes to ContestU. Contestu is a blog about various contests on the web. He won this contest interesting enough with his entry/post about this contest. Has some nice contests on there and he shows you that you do win at very little cost of time. There are quite a few cash prizes as well as the usual iPod giveway.

3rd prize (25pts)

Goes to Mitch @ money news. His blog got nominated for “Best Blog about Stuff“. Go check out his site and vote for him if you like it. I got nominated too so vote for me as well while you’re there.
To claim your prize, please message me as to which account you wish for me to credit in Entrecard. Thanks to all that participated.

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Are you one of the regular people who subscribes to my RSS feed? If so, then thanks. I look forward to sending you useful tips.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then check out this video by Common Craft. RSS feeds are a way to pull information from your favorite websites and blogs effieciently. Just watch.

Now that you know what you’re missing, Subscribe to my RSS feed with your RSS reader or Subscribe via email and have posts delivered to your inbox. Do both to make sure you never miss a valuable stock tip!

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Enter and Win Entrecard points

I’m giving away 175 entre card points to 3 lucky winners (1st: 100, 2nd: 50, 3rd (email rss subscriber) 25).

How to Enter:

1st Prize (100 points)

• 3 Entries – Write a post on your blog and link back to this contest.
• 3 Entries – Write a short post about daxdesai.com and link back using the anchor text “High Return Investing”.
• 1 Entries – Subscribe to the RSS Feed
• 1 Entry – Subscribe to the RSS Feed via e-mail
• 1 Entry- Add to Technorati Favorites
• upto 3 entries: Add to Digg, Stumbleupon, or Del.icio.us

2nd Prize (50 points)

• Drop your entrecard on my blog

Bonus Prize (25 points)

• Subscribe to the RSS Feed via e-mail – This is one of the easiest ways to enter just enter your email address in the subscribe box and click submit. Daxdesai.com does not sell or use your email address for any other purpose. You will receive blog updates via email only.

You could win 1 or all the prizes. You have 3 chances to win and multiple entry opportunities.

After entering, please comment letting me know of your entries. This contest will run until Saturday December 7 at which time I will pick a winner.

Good Luck,

Dax

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Below are a few people I’ve seen visit my blog in the past month. They weren’t all on this one screenshot. I took a few screenshots through the month and then cut ‘n paste them in with good old MS Paint. Yes I have a PC as well as a Mac.

So here are the results of mybloglog spotting

A. John Cow – The bovine behind the million euro wiki.

B. John Chow – This guy makes crazy moolah (hmmm maybe following the cow biased my language?) showing people how he makes money.

C. Blogcatalog – Well if you don’t know, you should check it out. It is a good site to build a readership and talk to your blogger peers.

Per their site, “Blog Catalog is the premiere social blog directory on the internet. Whether you’re looking to promote your own blog or find blogs on various topics, this site is for you.”

D. Timothy Sykes – I did a book review of his book – An American Hedge Fund. He’s becoming a little celebrity with an appearances on CNBC using models to display stock charts. Cramer never did that!

E. Don’t know who it is, but boy does he look serious, and sleepy. If I wanted my taxes done, he looks like he could do them with some coffee of course. Actually he authors 12 blogs. That’s busy. I’ll plug his Blog of the Day Awards blog because he’s going to add me soon. But then again, maybe the sleepy comment didn’t help get me points. (

F. Josh Mullineaux – Per his blog his goal is “to provide informative articles on business, financial, and personal development. I am also blogging to meet and share knowledge with other motivated entrepreneurs.” Josh owns 2 businesses with his partner Nate (G) and has some nice insights on small business and the entrepeneurial journey. Also I put it in here as a challenge to my spelling abilities. I got it right on the first try. Yes. Dax – 1, Alzheimers – 0

G. Nate Whitehill – Some of you may know him as the man behind John Chow’s blog redesign. Nate blogs about his entrepeneurial journey offering tips to his readers as well as insight into what it takes to be successful. His blog is an interesting read. With his partner Josh (F above), he owns infinFX, a Scottsdale web development company, and The Scottsdale Review, a local business journal.

H. Anamika Desai – my wife. She drops in from time to time to spy on me… errr to support my blogging.

I. Jane May – Was named “hottest female blogger”. Jane blogs about monetizing and promotion on dailywebideas. She sold her former site – Careerramblings.com where I place my first ever text link ad before the site became a PR6 site that it is now. I got a great deal at that time as it was a PR4 site when I prepaid for 6 months. I did so because I recognized the site had good content and would become more popular. It was a “trade” in a sense.

J. This avatar just looked cool so it is here.

K. Google Lady – She’s got a good blog on search engine optimization and making money online. She’s one of the few women “make money online” bloggers I’ve come across.

L. This guy. Nirav, my brother. He’s cool. I mean we share the same parents. I suspect he and my wife are in cahoots and they collaborate via Google Docs taking notes on me via observation of my blog.

M. One Man’s Blog – “Specialization is for Insects.” What else can I say. It is a good mix of commentary, tips, and technology. It is a great blog and it has a Google PageRank of 8 which is beter than Some Guy’s Blog and my own 4.
N. Grace Cheng – She has a website about currency and forex trading. She has some excellent commentary and has some training packages available for purchase as well. Incidentally she was runner up in the “hottest female blogger” ranking.

O. Las Vegas Bill – I think this is the Las Vegas Tourist Board. I’m waiting for them to send me a free Vegas vacation after this plug. Viva Las Vegas! There… Please comment and I’ll tell you where to FedEx the tickets. (Actually it is Las Vegas Bill’s blog about Las Vegas Real estate)

Notably Absent

1. George Bush – President of the U.S.A.
2. O.J. Simpson – former… wait what did he do before he allegedly killed that woman?
3. You – Join my community and MyBlogLog and let other people see your lovely mugshot.

Community Members?

Some of you guys are my community members and I did give some preference to put you on my little list. Others are not. Join my MyBlogLog community and I may put your mugshot up here next time. Hey this isn’t Amex Platinum that I can get you into the hottest clubs in Vegas ok? (Vegas Tourist Board – that’s plug #2 if you’re reading). Seriously though, you should stop buying lotto tickets and just go to Vegas (That’s plug #3).

While you’re at it you might as well Favorite me in your Technorati.

Heck, why not just make my day and also subscribe to my full-feed RSS too?

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So here are 6 things businessmen can learn from the successful blogger:

1. Build Integrity

Successful bloggers have integrity. The community nature of the internet filters out the scammers and conmen. The community tends to gravitate towards bloggers that develop integrity. Integrity builds loyalty. Bloggers that take advantage of their readers usually get shunned by readers. Readers will be quick to point out to other readers the antics of a blogger. They will also be quick to praise the blogger for his good acts. In business, integrity is everything. Just like blogging, it takes time to build and it is easy to lose.

2. Build Authority

Successful bloggers become an accepted source of information. This builds loyalty in their readers. If you are in a business where you are seen as not knowing your field of expertise, you will not build authority. Customers will be less likely to be loyal to a businessman when he never has the correct answers. Alternatively if you have excellent authority, when you don’t know it will be more acceptable. Your customers will be more likely to accept it rather than go to competitors. There’s nothing worse than misinformation. Don’t give misinformation. Be honest when you don’t know, but try to be in the know as much as possible.
3. Build Relationships

Building relationships is the most important part of blogging. Successful bloggers know that without relationships it is difficult to be successful. If you look at the most successful businessmen they didn’t do it alone. They had a supporting cast that helped them get there. Successful bloggers acknowledge their supporting cast – their fellow bloggers and readers.

For example, John Chow has a successful blog on making money online. While he has built good authority on the topic, he still acknowledges his readers and helps his peers by showcasing what they are doing.

Another example is Nate Whitehill. Though I’m not clear on how it transpired, Nate’s company Unique Blog Designs redesigned John Chow’s blog. I noticed Nate’s mybloglog avatar on John Chow’s site often when I read John’s blog. Some time later John got his site redesigned by Nate. John endorsed the work and as a result Nate got other high-profile blogger blog redesigns. He got work by participating in the community and got great results.

So how does this effect me? Well I got exposure to Nate through his viewership of John’s blog even before John purchased work from Nate. I became aware of Nate’s business after seeing his avatar frequently on John’s site. I viewed his mybloglog profile and Nate’s personal blog and thought he had a good value proposition in his blog design work. Then add the ringing endorsement of a customer – John Chow and I am more likely to consider purchasing work from the talented Nate. In fact other high profile bloggers have. There was no flyer, no spam email to convince them. The community – the relationships convinced them that Nate had talent and the value of his product. That’s the power of relationships in business and in the blogging community.

By endorsing your peers and your clients, you help build relationships. Successful businessmen should do the same. Recognize your team, your vendors, and recognize your clients. They are your supporting cast and your bread and butter. Without them you will fail. Relationships also helps you locate the right resources and also helps you find new clients. Don’t go it alone. Build Relationships.

4. You don’t know what you don’t know

Don’t overestimate yourself. Good bloggers know they don’t know everything. When a problem or question arises that they don’t know, they reach out to their network, to their peers, and to their readers. You can’t know everything so don’t fool yourself to think you do. You can have tragic consequences if you do. As a businessman don’t try to be a lawyer. Don’t try to be an accountant. While you may be able to do some things, don’t believe you are smarter than people that have dedicated their professional lives to a niche. Hire help and focus your time/energy on those things you do best.

5. Market Yourself

Marketing should underly everything you do. The cornerstones of marketing revolve around: price, product, promotion, and location. The difference between an unsuccessful blogger that merely writes well and a successful blogger is that the successful blogger is continuously marketing himself. Bloggers market themselves to their peers, to their readers, and to their sponsors sometimes simultaneously. An example would be a blogger posting about how much traffic he gets and how he is increasing it. This would be interesting to his peers, his readers, and advertisers. As a businessman, you always needs to sell. Selling doesn’t always involve a sales catalog or an ad in the newspaper. Your actions are also part of your product. How you present yourself, your authority, and your integrity are all part of your product. So Market yourself. Know your product, know your opportunities, build relationships, and sell your product.

6. Learn/Change

Successful bloggers change with the times. They use different tools as they evelove. They learn what works and adjust. They get feedback from the community. The community is the most powerful source of knowledge out there. Learn from your clients. Learn from your peers. Read magazines. Just learn. Learn, explore, adjust, and grow. Change with the times. Don’t let fear cripple you. While it may be safer to not change in the short term, in the long-term those that don’t change fall behind and become uncompetitive.

7. Read daxdesai.com

This is a bonus: Be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss a post.

Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve learned so much from the community, from other bloggers, and the readers. Their is no similar platform I can think of that can give the same result. Learning is great, but you have to apply it. The most successful businesses don’t even create their own products sometimes, but they are the ones that apply thought and take action.

Take action. Make money.

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I tried in different browsers, different machines with same result. I’m not sure if it indeed got hijacked or if it is merely my computers, but Google Lady has a nice post about the topic of site-hijacks.

If anyone can confirm, please leave a comment.

** Update ** Site works now. Wondering if it was all a figment of my imagination?

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Myblogcontest.com is a nice site of blog contests and has an excellent, clean layout.

Ironically I just found out about a site on their website that lets winners of contests submit that they won a contest. Basically it is a contest winner list website.

Congratulations myblogcontest. Please email me your ad and I will place it in the sidebar upon approval and will run it for 2 months.

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I recently Stumble’d on Buzzdash a site to generate polls. I registered, created the poll found below in this post, and received the code via email in about 2 minutes. It is very easy to use.

Per the Buzzdash website,

BuzzDash is a site and tool for gauging popular opinion on a wide range of topics – from sports, movies and politics to relationships and philosophy. Built upon individual polling modules called buzzbites™, BuzzDash provides a real-time forum where people can solicit, measure and share opinions on nearly any issue.

With BuzzDash, people can:

 

• View real-time popular opinion on a range of timely issues

 

• Express opinions by voting or commenting on individual issues

 

• Post individual buzzbites to personal web pages, blogs or emails

 

• Create buzzbites for personal use, for submission to BuzzDash, or both.

You can quickly post your poll currently to MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, LiveJournal, Freewebs, Blogger, or Tagged user. For Wordpress you have to get the code emailed to you. It is slightly annoying. Why can’t they just display the code for cut ‘n paste?

Below is a working poll I generated and embeded using javascript.

What’s unique about Buzzdash is that your readers vote along with everyone else who visits the main Buzzdash website and finds the poll or anyone else’s site that embeds your poll. You get a good sample of people to conduct your poll in this manner. For example I posted my poll in the “Economy” category. You can see it here along with other “Economy” category polls. For example, the poll I embeded had 2 votes before I got around to putting it in this post. The votes came from other Buzzdash users finding the poll in the “Economy” category of their site’s polls.

Overall, I think it’s a great service, but the emailing of code to embed is a bit backwards. I’ll probably start using Buzzdash for my blog polls. The polls are clean and easy to embed. I like the fact that others from the Buzzdash website can also vote.

“Jump In. Be Heard” with Buzzdash.

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Who will it be?

John Chow, Shoe Money, ProBlogger, Dosh Dosh, Entrepeneur’s Journey?

It’s up to you.

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