I’ve been meaning to do this ever since I received an encouraging number of participants for this project through SocialSpark. Take a look at the top of this blog’s sidebar, and you will see a link called Take My Challenge. Read through the requirements before you request for one.

In case you missed my previous post concerning this topic, Take My Challenge is a project I started in SocialSpark as a way to build links to and from WebGrrrl.net. The way this works is that if you blog about and link to a post I made in this blog, I’ll respond in kind. Pretty simple stuff.

In a way, this also prevents me from going through a “writer’s block” — you know, when your brain goes through this weird spasm, and you suddenly don’t have any idea what to blog about? This is a pretty neat way for me to warm up my thoughts and start collecting ideas on topics I’m interested about.

I have tagged my posts as IBlogUBack on those related to this project, so if you’re interested and you like what you see, take my challenge now.

As SunEGrl mentioned in her post and as every EntreCarder knows, EC has partnered with SezWho, thus enabling you to earn EC credits every time you comment on other EC members’ blogs and vice versa. This partnership is a step up from just dropping your EC cards, and would require ECers be more proactive participants in each others’ blogs.

I first saw SezWho implemented on Andy Beard’s web site, and contrary to what SunEGrl claims, the SezWho plugin didn’t slow down Andy’s blog noticably as far as I know.

If you’re looking to increase your traffic and visitor participation, you should definitely try EntreCard and signing up for SezWho.

As for WebGrrrl.net, I don’t plan on installing SezWho any time soon, as my current mission is to increase traffic from search engines instead of just relying on social bookmarks. I’m already using 13 WordPress plugins in this blog, and I don’t plan on bombarding my site with anymore plugins unnecessarily.

I do foresee myself using SezWho on this blog in the future, mainly because it can be a wonderful boost of exposure for commentators on this site, as SezWho not only shows you the comments you made on this blog, but other blogs that have SezWho installed. Makes bloghopping more fun, too.

Sylvie Dixie e-mailed me 11 days ago giving me a heads up about WebGrrrl.net being featured as the Blog of The Day down at FuelMyBlog. It’s a blog-ego boost for me, although I’m not sure what my blog has that deserves the honor.

FuelMyBlog is a blog community slash directory where you can vote for your favorite (or least favorite) blog, enter competitions or simply chat with other FuelMyBlog members across the Internet. Although I visit the site only once in a while, it’s a fun place to get to know other bloggers especially those within your niche.

Thanks, FuelMyBlog. I would have blogged earlier about it if my Internet connection weren’t so unbearably slow.

Since my preferred browser has always been Firefox, I thought I’d give the ScribeFire add-on a try. I would have been posting away with joy if it were not for my lame-slow Internet connection which I have to bear for another week.

Having the tool taking over half of my browser space took a little time to get used to, but it’s worth it for the convenience it gives me. I’m especially impressed with the multi-blog site and platform support, making it easy for me to switch from one blog to another whenever I feel the need to post in either one of the sites I own. I also like the fact that when I need to add a link I have copied, ScribeFire grabs the URL and automatically inserts it in the Add a Link option, then all I needed to do is click OK and the URL’s part of my post’s hyperlink.

I may take Wanderer Thoughts’ recommendation to use DashBlog, though. The part that caught my eye with this tool is its integration with Twitter. Active Twitter users may find this tool convenient for their use.

Despite it being a paid post, I am exactly in the same wavelength as Serial Box.net on using SocialSpark to connect with your blog visitors and increase your web site traffic.

I did blog about my recent attempt to use the Spark ad feature as part of my back linking strategy. What I haven’t mentioned (no thanks to my Internet connection) is that my advertisement was yanked a few days ago by IZEA for violating its terms of service. Specifically, I requested that there is no use of NoFollow on the link back from the reviewers’ blogs to mine, and removing NoFollow is a big NoNo for SocialSpark. For what it’s worth, responses for that short two days since I put up my Spark (after changing the title a bit by promoting my PR) was quite encouraging.

I’m thinking of making the IBlogUBack challenge a permanent one, as soon as I can find the time to put up a page on it. Will keep everyone posted.

Paid blogging is the single most easiest form of online money making I have ever encountered, and I bet almost everyone else agrees with me, even Isaiah of Ezekun.com can attest to that.

However, as I read one of his post about his experience blogging and how he got started with pay to blog programs, it also reminded me that this may not be suitable for everyone. I’ve been pushing my husband, sisters and little brother to get involved with blogging for almost a year now as a way of making money online, since they spent so much time on the Internet playing MMORPGs. However, none of them made a move, or at least not as serious as I. They definitely have some ideas of what to blog about, but my husband told me that he doesn’t really know how.

Don’t know, or don’t care? Let me be honest, ideas are everywhere as long as you have the capacity to think, so that shouldn’t be a reason for you not to blog. And I’m pretty sure my husband knows how to blog because he sees me doing it every day, and he’s a systems analyst.

I finally deduced that he, as well as my other siblings, didn’t care to blog, and I am assuming that’s because he’s not really passionate about writing. If sharing your thoughts and ideas out to the world through writing content doesn’t turn you on (no, not THAT way!), then even when you have started blogging down the road, you won’t last that long because you lack the passion to share in words.

There are ways of making money — offline and online — other than blogging, that’s for sure. But just like getting paid to blog, these stuff take effort. Most importantly, though, is that you have to take action. Stop thinking about it, and just go do it.

… but my crappy Internet connection is making things hard for me to access anything. For those of you who have taken my Spark challenge, hope you can be patient as I try my best to get things going smoothly again.

Update: As of 10 July 2008, this Spark is no longer listed, as it has been yanked by IZEA for violating its ToS. Read here for more.

Since I’ve already posted this in SocialSpark, I might as well announce it here.

As part of a link exchange campaign I’m running, I am looking for personal blogs that are willing to do a 50-word review on any of the posts I have in WebGrrrl.net, with a link back from your blog to that particular post. Your post should look something like this. Once done, e-mail me and let me know of the URL, or if you have a SocialSpark account, accept the Spark. In exchange, I’ll return the favor and do the same thing to one of your posts in your site.

Please make sure the link back is NOT a no-follow and is not published under any sort of sponsored review category. Your review on my site will stay in my site permanently and has a DoFollow so that you can get some link juice back. Take this opportunity only if you own a personal blog. Commercial blogs, or blogs with adult or gambling content will NOT be entertained.

Interested? Then start now!

The political arena in Malaysia is getting more aggressive now since the 12th Malaysian general election this year, so those of you interested in this country’s politics might be interested to read the following blogs that I highly recommend:

1. Tun Dr Mahathir’s Che Det: The longest serving Premier in Malaysia started his blog early this year, and the man himself has been under fire for many of his controvesial critique on the current country’s administration led by his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In just two to three months, his blog broke the 1,000,000th hit.
2. Anwar Ibrahim’s Blog: The former Deputy Prime Minister was ousted in 1997 by the former Premier himself Tun Mahathir for reasons related from s0domy to his inability to run the country effectively. No one really knows what the real reason was till today. He now leads as an advisor for the ruling opposition party in Malaysia, known as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party).
3. Lim Kit Siang’s blog: Another prominent opposition leader since the time of Tun Mahathir from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), he was one of the most controversial politicians and the first Malaysian politician to start his own blog.

No, not on this blog. He actually set up a campaign on my other blog, the one that talks about money making stuff. No, I’m not going to tell you where my blog is, at least not yet. It’s an experimental blog to see whether I can make money off free blogs such as Blogger.

I just find it interesting that he would select a newly established blog such as mine to promote his site via Entrecard, that is all