When I did that post the site had a whole 19 members and in just under two years it has grown to a whopping 20 members. Yeah, you can all stop laughing because even though the numbers are low the members are all proud to be a part of Cool Blog Links. Anyway, without further ado here are the current Top Ten Coolest Blogs.

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I’m not even going to do a post about how things transpired last year because I covered that in my last post, A Recap Of 2011 And Best Wishes For 2012. Instead I want to write a post that may reveal a little about myself as well as giving my readers a chance to promote their favourite post.

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Others will set up a spot on the sidebar with an ‘Advertise Here’ heading but all you see are empty spaces. They sit there scratching their heads while crying rivers of tears over their keyboards because no-one’s buying any ads. Well cry no more guys because I’m here to tell you the top 5 reasons why no-one is advertising on your blogs.

• Your Blog hasn’t been around long enough!

• Honestly, if you’ve just started your blog you really shouldn’t monetize it straight away. Your best bet is to build up a good readership first and only then worry about selling advertising space. Don’t be disheartened if things start off slow at first because if you’re willing to put in a lot of hard work into it then it won’t be long before you can build up a respectable readership.Take Patricia of lavenderuses.com, her first post, About Me: All Things Lavender, was posted on March 27th! Yet in only a few short months she has built up a large readership and the amount of comments she gets could leave some probloggers shaking their heads in disbelief.

• You Don’t Have A Contact Page!

• Come on people, it’s not rocket science you know. An advertiser can’t contact you if there’s nothing on your blog that allows him to do so. There are may plugins that will allow you to do this. Personally I use Mike’s Fast Secure Contact Form.

• You’re Not Selling Yourself

• Most people who may want to advertise on your blog will need a reason to do so. You need to sell your blog to them. I constructed a special page that I called Advertise Here just so I can encourage advertisers to drop some of their hard earned cash into my waiting wallet.This is your virtual sales page, where you will list all the reasons why someone should advertise on your blog. You may want to mention your PR and Alexa rating. You could even stress that you are a consistent poster and how this had led to a large readership. This page should be so good that they can’t help themselves but to contact you for an advertising spot. Oh, one last thing, you’ll also want to mention what it will cost them for an ad..

• Your Not Automated

• Let’s face it, we live a busy world where time is money. There are times when an advertiser doesn’t want to go through all the hassle of contacting the blogger and discussing prices. Some will want an automated system that will let then place an ad automatically.This is where OIOpubliasher comes in. This plugin is a professional ad manager that will save you and the advertiser time, and I can vouch that it works. I have some advertisers that subscribe to a monthly rate and some that pay for months at a time. The best thing is that I don’t have to keep track of when they expire because it’s all done automatically! You can get $10 off this month if you use the following coupon XMASGIFT-WASSUP.

• Leaving Empty Ad Spaces!

• At the beginning of the post I mentioned those blogs that have all those empty ad spots waiting to be filled. Now why would someone outlay good money on your blog when he can see as plain as day that no-one else is willing to? Your solution is simple, fill those spots up with affiliate ads, heck you may even make a sale or two from them. If anything just leave one spot with an advertise here link as a juice bait..

Naturally there are other things like increasing traffic to your blog as traffic is a great sweetener for any advertiser. One of the reasons for me purchasing Market Samurai is so that I can build traffic to my niche sites.

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As bloggers we must learn that blogging is about sharing and helping others. We share by writing down our thoughts and we help others by answering their questions, providing thoughtful and helpful articles and also by linking to their blogs.

Phew, that was a long blog post, especially for me. :tongue_rolleye_ee: I hope you guys visit those other blogs and tell them that Sire sent you so that I can get in good with the ladies :smile2_ee:, yeah, yeah, the guys too.

Oh, in case you’re wondering how I did all those fancy colored blocks you can read all about it here.

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I’ve had them all, from newbies to A Listers, one A Lister even comparing Wassup to a Christmas tree. I’m not going to mention his name because I don’t want to be accused of link dropping for the sole purpose of getting traffic. Yep, I was actually accused of that when I wrote my post on why I no longer link to the likes of Problogger and John Chow, a post that didn’t link to either of them.

So, why did I remove them? It was because of a woman, and you all know how I love to please my women. Yep, I can still remember the time when I pulled out all the plugs just to please Holly, another of my female commentators. You can read all about that in this post on how to remove InfoLinks from your comments.

Still, that is another story and this one belongs to another amazing woman, Kimberly and her post 31DBBB – Day 4 – Analyze a Top Blog In Your Niche where she honestly reviews three blogger, yours truly being one of them, and guess what what? She refers to the ads on my blog as clutter! So what makes her opinion different from all the others? Was it because she’s of the opposite sex Well, all I can say is that her post moved me to the point where I just had to act, and if it made just one more woman happy then it was all worth while.

Seeing as how I’m talking about advertising on blogs I think it’s a good time to mention the OIOPublisher plugin, a plugin that automates all ad purchases on a blog, including text ads, banner ads, and paid reviews! Whats really good about it is that it frees up your time so that you can devote it to what is really important, writing good content. I think that because it’s completely automated it may allow potential advertisers to book a spot on your blog who may not have otherwise parted with their hard earned money.

While the plugin normally costs $47 you can get OIOPublisher for $37 by mentioning My Coupon: ‘SOLAR-WASSUP’ when purchasing it. This coupon is only valid till the end of August. There will probably be another coupon when that expires but I can’t say how much it will be worth. I know I delayed buying it for quite awhile and I admit it was a mistake because that decision probably cost me some sales.

If you decide to purchase the plugin I suggest that you create some sort of Advertise Here page where you explain to potential advertisers why they should purchase a spot from you. Don’t pay too much attention to my page as I put it together fairly quickly and it could really do with some major work. If you do a great job on this page the prospect of getting advertising dollars is greatly increased.

Pass 350-029 exam at first try using 70-296 study material including 1z0-521 dumps.

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The first goes to the delectable Eleanor who is looking for help in putting together an advent calendar which was suggested by Heather another gorgeous gal who is very talented when it comes to design and stuff, her blog offering a lot of advice on Practical 3D Tips and much much more.

Anyway I was going to past a raunchy video that Eleanor put together promoting the idea but then I figured I’d never get rid of you guys and the whole idea is to get you to visit her blog. So if you want to see Eleanor taking sex sells to a whole new level you should really check out her near naked post.

For those of you not familiar with Eleanor she runs Give A Brick which she uses to raise money for charity, and while there you should read her post where she is asking for Help in the form of a wish list to lighten her load and to help her in her dream of helping the needy. Once I’ve finished this post I’m going to donate a few bricks via PayPal. Donations are easy now that she listened to some blokes advice, something women rarely do, about using PayPal as a medium of collecting money.

If you can spare a couple of bucks you can be assured it will be well received. If you can’t then perhaps you can help in some other small way, the very least by giving those posts a Tweet.

The next link goes out to Gail in her efforts to get Akismet to change it’s algorithm because she feels  it is censoring comments. Personally I feel it’s doing a damn good job of helping to keep this blog spam free but if it can be improved I’m all for it.

Next Mitch is having with trouble with the thought that Americans are getting dumber, to such an extent that he’s been asked to dumb down directives given to patients to a 3rd grade level. He asks several questions including whether or not the education system is failing them. I can’t vouch for the Yank’s system but I have some doubt about ours and it’s not being helped by the education union.

Last but by no means least I want to tell you about what could be the best blogging contest ever. It’s called the Famous Bloggers ComLuv Blogging Contest and if you were ever to enter a contest this would have to be the one because it has over $3500 in prizes which means there are going to be some very happy winners. You will all be happy to know that I won’t be entering so your chances of winning will have increased by a huge margin.

Game-Based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges, and Contests

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Yes, our member base is low but that doesn’t matter because our members are the best of the best and it’s only a matter of time before we will be beating them back with a stick. :tongue_rolleye_ee:

Seriously folks even with a relatively small member base Cool Blog Links has still obtained a PR3 ranking. As in the past I have decided to reward the top 10 members, that is those members that are currently ranking in the top 10 at the time of writing this post. The first such post was published on March 29th 2009 and the second on November 11th 2009.

As you would expect the top 10 blogs change as time goes by and so without further ado I would like to present the latest top 10 cool blogs.

1. Tech18.com: Although a relatively new comer this blog has shot to the top.  It’s latest post, HTML5: What? Why? How and When discusses the enhancements to HTML that will may or may not be the bees knees in HTML? See what Sunil Jain has to say about it all.
2. So, You Want To Be A Banquet Manager: Was the top dog for quite some time but is now running second. This blog is full of entertaining stories about what being a banquet manager is all about. It’s latest post, Hey Sales Chick – Breakfast is Only For An Hour and a Half! is just a sample of the interesting things that can happen when working in the hospitality industry.
3. I’m Just Sharing: Yep, my good mate Mitch has shot to no.3 overtaking his good mate in the process. His blog covers many topics and is always a great read. It seems that one of his latest posts, My Gripe With WordPress.com Blogs outlays some of their short comings.
4. Work From Home Business Blog: Peter Lee has been in the top 10 since day one and that’s not at all surprising seeing how he’s always writing great content in his quest to keep his readers up to date such as helping those who Wanna Know What Google Sees In Your Blog’s Home Page?
5. The Shadows Of My Mind: If my memory serves me Lindsay is a fellow Aussie blogger and his blog also covers a wide range of topics. His post on Final Fantasy VIII – First Impressions also talks about his first encounter with the latest 3D movies.
6. What A Load Of Bullshit:  Yep this is one of mine and it does really well in the SERPS.
7. Wassup Blog: Yeah, there’s no need to tell you anything about this blog
8. Scenic Adelaide: Yep another of my blogs. Imagine that, I have three blogs in the top 10. Not happy with that? The why not join and try to knock me off my perch.?
9. Anne On Life: Anne is the one of two women to make it to the top 10. Way to go Anne. Anne can be hormonal at times as she admits in her post Every Child Needs Love, but then what woman isn’t? Only kidding ladies, you know I loves ya all.
10. Expressive World:  Another lovely female blogger, Ana, owns this site and her blog is all about expression. She loves to post beautiful photos each one accompanied by something meaningful. I particularly like the Your Beauty In This World.

I’ve decided to make this post sticky for awhile so that those listed in this post will get the most benefit from being on the front page of a PR4 blog. Naturally I am hoping that this post will attract more members and there are advantages other than be listed on future Top 10 updates such as being listed on a PR 3 site, not to mention the added traffic that Cool Blog Links will send your way. I’ve just checked my Google Analytic and I was surprised to find that it is the number one source of traffic to this blog, no.2 being Twitter.

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Sire, it was wonderful to read more about you. I love finding out what makes people tick, why they do the things they do. Especially people I know.

Then there is Heather II. I must be totally honest here in admitting that at first I thought that Heather II was Heather I, I just thought that she had changed her avatar. Being the dumb ox that I am it took me quite awhile before I realized that I wasn’t talking to Heather I at all and that another totally new, and much younger Heather II had come into my life. Nothing like a change of pace, wouldn’t you say?

But I digress. You see, whilst leaving a comment oh Heather II’s blog The 3D Student I mentioned how I failed art and had a self portrait that I once painted, and she said how she would like to see it. She also graciously included me in a meme called Sunshine Awards and as I don’t partake in them I’m hoping that this link will suffice.

So you see, this post aims to please both Heather I and heather II, Heather I because she will learn a little more about me and Heather II because she will finally get to see some of my artwork.

One thing you must all know is that I am not the same person that I was when I was much younger. I was always trying to find the path of least resistance. During PE when we were supposed to run a mile around the school, Malcolm, my best friend, and I found a short cut so that we could walk most of the way.

Actually thinking of Malcolm I remember a time when our PE teacher, Bazza, got Malcolm to swim out to the center of the pool and I was supposed to swim out and saved him.I tried to tell Bazza that I couldn’t swim but he made me go out anyway and as it turned out I started drowning and my mate saved me instead. Stupid dumb Bazza, you should have seen the look on his face.

But once again I digress. You see, to save time I used to borrow ideas from other sources, usually novels, for my school artwork. That one of the skull you see above was adapted from a John Wyndham novel, and happens to be my favorite piece.

This next one had pretty well the same background but the subject matter, as you can see was a city in flask. I reckon I must of thought that was what the world was heading for, and it was way before global warming and probably had more to do with Russians and nukes.

This background for this next painting was pinched from another novel, yeah I know I was a bad boy, but you have to remember that at that particular time I had shit for brains. Anyway, it was supposed to depict the fight of good over evil.

One of the artists that I admired was Wassily Kadinski, a Russian painter, and this next one was a painting that I tried painting in his style. Nope, this time it was part of the Art course as we had to do something in the style of a famous artist.

Next we have a painting of the Stonehenge, don’t know how this one came about but it did.

That was pretty well it for school. Some years later I decided to do another painting and seeing as how I liked Wassily Kadinski so much I decided to do another one using his style, only this time I used oil paint as a medium.

That same year, 1984, I decided to do my final painting, a self portrait and  once again in oil. I found working in oil was a whole lot better than acrylic.

And so my dear Heather I, Heather II and readers, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more of what lies behind Sire the blogger.

Fortunately there was lots of wood for a fire around our camping ground, and the presence of some wild apple trees made the gathering of some fruit quite easy. After starting the fire I took out some slithers of salted kangaroo meat a plopped them into the pan greased with pig fat. While that was sizzling noisily I deftly sliced some of the apples and threw them in with the roo meat, keeping the rest for later.

Just before breakfast was ready I started to whistle loudly, hoping that the tune “When the Saints Come Marching In” would wake Jandoram. To my reckoning, waking up to my lousy whistling was a whole lot better than being slapped around the face, something my dad was prone to do.

To my surprise he got up instantly, most likely hoping I would stop my infernal whistling. I stopped long enough to tell him to wash up at the creek, and then continued whistling aimlessly out of tune as he set off. I was just spooning my concoction into the plates as Jandoram sat down, all the while toweling his face dry. It was pleasant watching him shoving the food greedily into his face, and I thought to myself how nice it would be to have some company for a change.

After breakfast I showed him how to wash up and pack our bags so that they were evenly balanced which would make traveling that much easier. We then set of for Bloggersville, at town some 14 days away. We walked almost in silence as he was probably still brooding over what happened with the other day when I beat his stepfather senseless. I decided to get the ball rolling by kicking a lump of dried turd.

“Did you know that there are men, famous trackers, who could look at this bit of animal dung, and after examining it they would be able to tell you lots of information about the animal that left it. Things like the type of animal, how long it’s been sitting there and even the sort of food the animal ate. But in the end no matter what they are able to tell you about it, it’s still just a lump of shit.”

Jandoram walks silently by my side for awhile and then says, “Why are you telling me this Sire? Is it important in some way?”

“OK, let’s look at this in another way. There is many a man who does nothing more than boast of his great achievements; This could be the men he’s killed, the women he’s taken to bed or even the money he’s allegedly made. But when it all comes down to it, he’s usually just full of shit. The true hero does not need to shout his accomplishments for all to hear. He normally does not want his escapades to be known as it will draw unwanted attention to him.”

“But what has this to do with that lump of shit we left behind” says the exasperated young boy.

“Nothing much”, I replied, “just that one lump of shit is pretty much the same as the other. You know Jamdoram, not every story has to have a meaning, sometimes they’re good to just pass the time of day.” As I burst out laughing, thinking that after 600 odd years I would have stopped laughing at my own stupid jokes,  he threw me a puzzled look and then said, “Where are we going Sire?”

“Why, to Bloggersville of course.”

“Really? I didn’t think I would ever get to go to Bloggersville. What will we find there?”

“Ah yes, Bloggersville is filled with many wonders and delightful people.  Why, I remember hearing a story of a woman who resides there, I believe her name is Louise, who has in her possession the magical and much coveted Lottie Moon Cook Book, the recipes of which has brought some of the strongest of men to their knees as they begged to savor some of the delicacies it’s produced.  Then there is Holly who just happens to be the most ethical person in Bloggersville. Few will dare to cross her path while throwing ethics to the wind, as it has often been told that Holly can flay the skin off anyone who came within twenty feet of her limber tongue. Why there is not a word in existence that Holly can not put to good use when castigating those who get on her wrong side.

Then there is Heather the fumbling one who once put a magical potion in a cupboard that almost blew four homes into oblivion. Now let’s not forget Anne, formerly of Buttsville, who has devoted her life to finding a toilet seat that is warm to sit on. There are rumors that once she solves this problem she will devise one that lowers automatically once it has been raise.”

“But Sire, surely Bloggersville is not filled with women. Are there no men of valor there?”

“Surley Jandoram, but did no-one ever tell you that behind every great man there is a great woman? One should never discount the importance of a woman when it comes to shaping the world. But you ask of the men of Bloggersville. Let me see…..ah yes! There is the very hardy Jim,whom  many have said has traveled far and wide just to see how far in the known universe a blog will reach. Of course there is Zorlone who is well known for his wondrous cures as the city’s doctor, but I have heard that he would rather be a bard and poet, and that he frequents the bars telling far fetched stories of alien worlds where there exists the mystical Avatar.

But enough talking, lunch draws near and we need to catch some food.

Other posts in the Sire, The Wandering Bard series.

• Sire’s Big Moment A Total Flop
• Google The Tyrant, A Tale Of Old
• In Search Of Fame And Fortune

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There are many ways that we can help other bloggers, some of which I would like to outline below.

1. Comment on their blog. This is a win win situation, as you are building their morale as well as helping to build your presence on the Net.
2. Reply to comments left on your blog. Not everybody does this, and that’s a shame. Stand out from the crowd by showing your readers you appreciate their comment by replying to them wherever possible. Does not mean that you have to reply to every single comment.
3. Share some link luv. Again, a win win situation as this will inform others of great content that you’ve found and may well earn some brownie points with the one getting the link luv. If it doesn’t, don’t sweat it because it’s always better to give than it is to receive.
4. Promoting Blogger Projects: Let’s face it, most of us are pretty green when it comes to marketing, but imagine how much help it would be if we were to help when we come across a blogger who has a special talent but is finding it hard to market their products. It could be an eBook, arts and craft, a forum or whatever. Wouldn’t it be great if we could give them a little boost.
5. Affiliate products: Almost every blogger is promoting one affiliate or another, but when we’re in the market for purchasing a product, do we remember to support one of our blogger mates?

These are just a few ideas that I’ve come up with, and I was hoping that you guys could contribute to this small list. As to what day we should use for the Global Helping Hand For Bloggers Day, I reckon it shouldn’t be limited to a single day. It should be left open, for we never know when you come across someone that you can give a helping hand.

OK, just to get the ball rolling I would like to mention a few sites. Sheryl has been a loyal reader of this blog and she seems to have a liking, probably helped by her talented daughter Cait,  for those cute fluffy animals. Well, they’ve decided to turn their love of fluffies into an online store called Fuzzy Wuzzy Anipals! These cute fluffy toys would be great for any special occasion, especially Christmas.

Just today I’ve happen to come across a talented artist called Jay Zuck, who is displaying some of his artwork on his blog.  Honestly, you should hop on ever and check them out. While there why not enter his contest to win one of his great works of art.

Then there’s Holly, another talented blogger that I’ve only just met. Not only a blogger, Holly is an author and you could win an autographed copy of her A Guppy Not A Puppy children’s book.

Finally, I’ve been having a little problem with the software that scans my email for spam and shit, as it’s allowing way too many spam emails through. I’ve decided it was time to update, and low and behold Mitch just happened to do a post on Mailwasher.  Just yesterday I decided to take the trial offer, but honestly I was so thrilled by it that I’m going to buy it from Mitch’s post, all the while hoping he will make something from it.