Now that I am using Entrecard quit a bit, I have come across some great blogs, so I thought I would share them with you. This first blog is Saphrym.com.  Saphrym is a father, husband and teacher who is also on a dieting quest. In fact, he has lost over 70 pounds so far!  His posts are well written and interesting.

I was really moved by his post about why he is dieting in the first place. His reasons include being there for his wife and daughter and being able to walk his daughter down the aisle. There are no better reasons, are there?

Saphrym is also hosting a contest on his blog and is giving away $250 and 1000 Entrecard credits.  The contest ends on February 27, 2008.

If you love Entrecard like I do, then you will be interested in an Entrecard contest that can net you 1000 credits. Think of all the advertising that will buy!

This contest is brought to you by You Can Learn Series. The contest is a scavenger hunt. Three clues will be posted on the blog, if you find the page the clue originates on, send an email (three separate emails, one for each clue). You can read the full details of the contest here. There is also a second prize (200 credits) and a third prize (100 credits).

Here is a little personal confession from me - I am a work at home mom.  Now please don’t assume that I am not qualified to do anything else.  I choose to stay at home while my children are in school.  I find that there is sometimes a bias against work at home moms and most of it seems to come from other women.

I actually left a six figure income to stay at home.  I know crazy talk, but with three children, things were getting a little nuts and I wanted to be able to attend school functions, basketball and soccer games and chaperone class trips.  I get to do that all now.

However, I also like to keep my mind active and functioning and let me tell you, cleaning the bathrooms doesn’t activate your mind!  I started a work at home website and then got into blogging.

Blogging is a great business idea for stay at home moms.  Granted, you will probably not become John Chow overnight, but I made about $5,000 last year just from blogging.   If you are interested in getting started blogging, follow these important rules:

1. Find your niche.  Don’t assume that your niche is family or parenting or staying at home.  There are a lot of blogs on these subjects.  Maybe you love gardening or cooking or cake making.  Do you have any hobbies?  Interests?  It needs to be something that you will be able to blog about consistently.
2. Purchase a domain name.  It will take you a while to find the perfect domain name.  Take your time.  DO NOT use free blog services such as blogspot or wordpress.com.  It is best to do it yourself.
3. Read, read, read.  Read anything you can about blogging.  Google it!
4. Start blogging.  Don’t worry if you have the ugliest blog design to start with.  You WILL make changes as time goes on.  The most important thing is to keep blogging.  Try to write at least once a day.
5. Don’t give up.  It will take time to build readership to your blog.

One of the reasons I started this blog is to help others blog as well.  Look for future articles all about blogging and tips to gain readership!

A blog meme is often a series of questions that bloggers answer that involves sharing a personal experience or other experience. A blog meme can help build traffic to your site, especially if you are the creator of the meme.

This meme was developed by Yimto Affiliate Marketing Blog. Simply put, if you are using Entrecard, list your top 10 Entrecard Droppers and give there website a short review. Here are the official rules:

So, here are the simple rules of this Meme:
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1. Post your Top 10 Dropper’s Blogs, and write a little comment about them, which you could use as a recommendation should you choose

2. 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)

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

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

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

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

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

And that’s it! So get tagging!

Here is my entry!

• Mottakaero jDonuts - This is a travel blog about life in Japan. Great pics and interesting articles.
• AdToll - This is AdToll’s blog. AdToll is an advertising service for publishers and advertisers. I have yet to try them out, but they are on my list!
• Computer Tech News - A plethora of computer hardware and software reviews!
• Turnip of Power - Good articles on Entrecard and other blogging stuff.
• CK Marketing - Love this blog about making money online!
• Jokes @ jDonuts.com - another jDonuts blog. This one with lots of jokes!
• jDonuts.com Blog - all about increasing traffic to a blog.
• Latest Free Downloads from iTunes  - Keeps you up to date on what is available for free!
• Fantasy Baseball - If you love baseball, you will love this blog!
• Young Urban Professionals nOOk - Great blog for young professionals or anyone in the workplace.

This was fun!  I am going to re-visit this meme in about three months and see how things have changed!

I previously authored a post about DoFollow and NoFollow and now I have joined a DoFollow blogroll.  All of the bloggers on this blogroll will build links back to your site when you leave a comment.  Read about the DoFollow blogroll and join!