The last week or so I’ve been getting emails reminding me of the $20 Million Super Draw. There is nothing unusual about this apart from the fact that they have been advertising it as some sort of Halloween lottery draw as it is drawn on 31st of October. Perhaps Halloween is bigger in Australia than I’ve given it credit for.

Regardless of that I’m going to have a go at this weeks, partly because it’s worth 20 Million Dollars and partly because I may need the cash to pay for my BMW repairs.

Seeing as how they were advertising it as a Halloween special, I thought that perhaps they had some ‘Halloween Banners” celebrating the fact. After checking out their site I could only find their run of the mill Superdraw banners.

Like I’ve said in previous posts, this is a reputable, fully licensed and accredited Australian lottery site site, who aren’t too fussed whose money they take. They’re even running a special where their giving away 2 free games with your first purchase.

Keeping with the Halloween theme I’ve found two videos that I thought you would like. The first is of a skeleton that has a misbehaving penis.

This next one is a Halloween prank gone wrong.

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For those newbie bloggers out there who may be wondering as to why so many bloggers insist on their link luv feasts where they, sometimes weekly, link to a whole heap of blogs, well I hope the following three points may clear things up a bit.

1. To reward their commentators:  There are many who feel, and rightly so, that this is a great way to reward those commentators who come back time and time again to add their contribution to their posts.
2. Sharing a great find: We’re all mates right? So if we come across a great post, that has inspired us, why wouldn’t you want to share it?
3. Hoping for some reciprocation: I’m sure that even though most bloggers do not actually say outright that they want some link luvin in return, they hope that some of the luv that went out will actually come back in one form or another. Sort of like the old, ‘you scratch my back and I will scratch your back’ mentality.

I would like to point out that point three hardly every occurs when commenting on the so called ‘Pro Blogger’ bloggers. It seems that bloggers like John Chow and Darren Rowse just don’t seem to have the time to reciprocate any favors, heck they don’t even have the time to reply to some of their commentators. Sure they’re blogs are a whole lot busier than ours, but then their pros who have made it to the stage that their blog is their job, whereas many other bloggers have to hold down a job as well has maintaining their blogs.

Still, this post isn’t about a rant at all, I just got side tracked there a bit, it’s about sharing some link luv with those of you out there who have either commented on my blog, or whose blog I have read that had struck a chord in me leading to some link luvin.

Most of you who visit my blog know of Kristi of Kikolani fame, but rather than link to her post about Google Trends I want to tell you about her new venture. It’s her DoFollow Blog Directory and Compendium where you

will find out everything you want to know about DoFollow, and where to find DoFollow friendly sites.

If yours is a dofollow blog and you want to advertise the fact you should check it out, as Kristi plans to make this the best DoFollow resource center on the net, one that goes beyond the normal dofollow posts you will find as it also allows you to mention any addition features your blog may offer, such as CommentLuv, whether or not Keywords are allowed and the presence of the  Top Commentator plugin etc. The fact that she also won Doug’s professional Custom Banner Giveaway Package will ensure that her new site will stand out from the rest.

Trey’s post at Swollen Thumb Entertainment have always been an interesting read, but his A Better Approach To Leaving Comments I found to be a par above the rest. You all know how important I believe commenting is to a blogs sustainability, I’ve been on about it long enough, well Trey has managed to put it in such a way that everyone reading the post will leave a wiser commetator, and if they don’t, well there may be something wrong with them.

Mitch of I’m Just Sharing is an excellent blogger and I am constantly astounded that he is not up there with the big boys. He writes extremely well and is always willing to try something new. Not one to give up, if after giving an idea a good run for it’s money, if it’s not working the way it should be he is willing to change as can be seen from his post, Post#500 Something New For Me.

Now, not everyone is a fan of becoming a dofollow blog, because it sometimes does lead to people leaving stupid nonsensical comments just so they can get a link back to their site. Don’t they realize that there is a spammers hell waiting for them? Luckily Todd of Todd’s Tips has found a plugin that will enable you to Reward  Only Your Blogging Friends With DoFollow Links.

Ever since moving from Blogger to WordPress, on her own domain not that free WordPress.org thingy, I reckon it’s safe to say that Ching Ya has never looked back, as can be seen from the amount of comments she’s getting from her happy readers on 16 Social Bookmarking Plugins to Promote Your Posts.

Ever wondered how to create  a One Page Adsense Site for your niche? Well that link I’ve just provided will take you to Brian’s Exreme Ezine which is full of marketing tips and other little tid bits.

Last but not least I best not leave out Cheryl who’s ‘Marketing Help Blog‘ is a treat, especially her post on how to Get Backlinks Indexed Faster. Also, if you haven’t had Sheryl comment on one of your posts, you don’t know what your missing. When Sheryl leaves a comment you just know what your going to get and I always read them with some trepidation

Well, I reckon that’s enough link luvin for one post, and I know you must be tired from examining all those links, so I would like to leave you with a little video. I may have spatterings of the ‘F’ word so don’t watch it if you find it offensive.

It’s not often that I post a video on this blog, but I couldn’t help myself when I came across this one. This ad has only just started being aired on TV this past couple of days and I was quite surprised when one of the survey companies I’m a member of actually paid me money to view it.

The ad was produced by the ANZ bank and is obviously aimed at the small business owner. Normally you tend to cringe at commercials because so much of them are just crap, but this one is really quite entertaining.

Pretty cool huh. PureProfile, the survey company that sent me the link, is pretty well the only survey company that actually pays me a nominal amount even if I get screened out from a survey. As for this particular ad, they paid me 15cents to watch it, and the funny thing is that I would have watched it for free.

Whether you treat your blog as a business or as a way to express your thoughts the most important aspect of your blog is your reader. The way to keep your readers returning is to make sure that your blog is continually updated with new material, whether it be thought provoking or merely for entertainments sake.

A blog’s success can be determined by the comments that people leave and replying to them in such a fashion that shows you are interested in what they say is another important aspect of blogging. It is important that you treat all commentators with the same respect that you would treat a visitor to your home. This can sometimes be a little difficult especially when you have those obnoxious commentators,  but treating them civilly will only improve the way others think of you.

Actually this is no different than the way you should act when you are in the real world and there can be serious consequences when you forget this, especially if you are in the position of some power. I want to share a story with you that I feel should punctuate the importance of treating others the way you would like to be treated. It all began when;

A Missouri Sheriff stopped at a ranch in rural MO to talk with an old farmer. Rather abruptly he tells the farmer, ‘I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.’

The old farmer says, ‘Okay, as long as you don’t go into that field over there.’

The Sheriif verbally explodes saying,  ‘Mister, I have the authority of the Sheriffs Department with me.’ Reaching into his rear pant pocket and removing his badge. The officer proudly displays it to the farmer.  ‘See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish..on any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?’

The old farmer nods politely and goes about his chores.

Later, the old farmer hears loud screams and spies the Sheriff running for his life and close behind is the farmer’s bull.With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer. The Sheriff is clearly terrified.

The old farmer immediately throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs….. ‘Your badge! Show him your badge Smartass!’

It seems that the global financial crises has hit everybody including the makers of the famous Barbie doll which just happens to turn 50 this year.

Being your average bloke, I am not really interested in Barbie but I reckon this is the best opportunity for me to introduce an excerpt from an email I received today. Perhaps Barbie’s developers are thinking of introducing Divorced Barbie to increase this years sales thereby combating the current downturn.

One day a father gets out of work and on his way home he suddenly remembers that it’s his daughter’s birthday.

He pulls over to a Toy Shop and asks the
sales person, ‘How much for one of those Barbies in the display window?’

The salesperson answers, ‘Which one do you mean, Sir?

We have: Work Out Barbie for $19.95, Shopping Barbie for $19.95, Beach Barbie for $19.95, Disco Barbie for $19.95, Ballerina Barbie for $19.95, Astronaut Barbie
for $19.95, Skater Barbie for $19.95, and Divorced Barbie for $265.95′.

The amazed father asks: ‘It’s what?! Why is the
Divorced Barbie $265.95 and the others only $19.95?’

The annoyed salesperson rolls her eyes, sighs, and answers: ‘Sir…, Divorced Barbie comes with: Ken’s Car, Ken’s House, Ken’s Boat, Ken’s Furniture, Ken’s Computer, one of Ken’s Friends, and a key chain made with Ken’s balls.

The FlexSqueeze Theme gives my blog that professional look. I loved it so much that I bought the developers license. It's the easiest most customizable theme I've come across. See how easy it is to change your theme's appearance! Compare it to Thesis to see how much better it is!

I highly recommend you to get your FlexSqueeze copy today!