You caught me… I didn’t have time to post yesterday because I put off work until the weekend and was totally swamped. Let’s wind back the clock and pretend it’s Sunday, eh? 
I’ve got your top articles.
I’ve got your announcements.
I’ve got your SUNDAY MONDAY LINK LOVE!
It’s been quite a week for pretty much everything moving. The stock market is feeling the effects of one of the largest scale government bailouts of all time and the blogging world almost self-imploded from extreme amounts guest posting (seriously, where is all this coming from?). I even launched a brand new contest when I told you that I wouldn’t! Before we get into all of that, let’s wrap up some of the best posts for the week ending September 5th 2008!
- John Cow – New Look at John Cow dot com and the Reasons For It
- Garry Conn – What Are Tags and Why Are They Important In Blogging?
- Home Biz Bukiki – Adding NoFollow To Any Links Generated by WordPress
- Collin Lahay – Link Building With Podcasts
- Desmond Blog – Get Friends if You Want to Sell Your Blog for a Higher Price
I absolutely love John Cow’s new layout, and I think that it is a #1 example of how monetizing your blog and optimizing the layout can really up the ante. Check out what he did for sure. Garry Conn wrote something useful this week… good work! Haha, but seriously, check out his explanation of tagging on your blogs. It’s something that I DON’T do… but probably should. Home Biz wrote about NoFollow/DoFollow links, something I actually didn’t know how to do before reading. Collin Lahay (formerly Mixed Martial Market Arts) wrote up an awesome post about building links from podcasts, and Desmond posted a creative case study done on the recent sale of MonkeyBlogger.com.
Stock Market Update
The markets are very very volatile at this point in time, and this is basically a theme that has held steady in the third quarter. One thing that has surprised a lot of investors is the fact that the tech sector hasn’t rallied back from it’s lows as everyone naturally assumed they would. In addition, oil and other commodities have continued to sell off as the U.S. Dollar strengthened in the face of poor numbers that came out throughout the week. Construction spending fell 0.6% for the quarter, missing estimates and shaking up the industrials portfolio that I manage. Motor vehicle sales somehow came in above estimates at 10.3 million units sold. Factory orders growth came in above consensus at 1.3% 
on an estimate of 0.8%. Jobless claims came in Thursday above consensus at 444,000 new claims. Basically, a lot of mixed results from the statistical side of things.
The big news for the week happened on Sunday, so I would have missed it if I did do the Sunday Link Love… so there!
The U.S. Government decided to takeover mortgage giant’s Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). The S&P 500 ended Monday up a whopping 2.1% off a late-session surge. Getting back to the bailout, the United States Treasury Department essentially determined that Fannie and Freddie did not have adequate capital to survive on their own. They have something like $5 trillion in assets on their books, and the Treasury will back them with $200 billion in tax payers money. I think that this is a bad idea, but it is up to a lot of discussion whether or not propping up failing organizations is the right thing to do. Will this solve our problem… or simply create more issues further down the road?
On the Blogosphere
Guest posts, guest posts, guest posts…. why is everyone posting so many of them? I think that this may be the theme for an additional week (as it was last week) as a lot of bloggers are in the “back-to-school” mode and don’t feel like taking the time to write up creative material like I do. 
Here are the reasons that I do NOT like guest posts:
- They are never useful. Most typically they are pointless lists that reiterate things we already know
- They honestly don’t generate a lot of buzz or traffic to your blog
- They serve as a distraction from the blog’s focus, which is why we read particular blogs in the first place
I hope you’ll agree that if you are new, guest blogging is a nice way to get some free press. Otherwise, it’s somewhat useless and it trashes established blogs with pointless lists that nobody really wants to read. You might get some sympathy comments, but I feel as though the bottom line is that you are wasting our time by posting them.
Other than the guest posting craze, there have been some pretty interesting articles up this week. Marc from OneMansGoal.com actually made a video post talking about how if he were in the same spot… he would essentially pay $11,000 for the flop website all over again. Who exactly is he kidding? I’m not sure, but this 
was a missed opportunity to admit his over-paying that was lost. Regardless, it’s still a good video that talks about how he made money as a derivative from his blog (or didn’t)… something in which I strongly believe. 
Jimvesting’s Hosting Bonanza!
Despite initial claims that I wouldn’t be hosting a contest this week… I turned around and got a deal worked out with HostGator to get you guys from free web hosting to win in a random drawing. I use HostGator for Jimvesting.com and BullishBankers.com, and absolutely love it. I definitely recommend their services, so if you’d like to get a chance to win… find out how on the official contest page!
The Week Ahead
This week, I am planning on putting out a post on how I hit in the top page on a term that I was targeting… with a brand new website. It was pretty surprising to me that I was able to do it, so stay tuned to find out how. On top of this, I’ve got a nice sponsored review in the queue to get out (I know you LOVE those)… but make sure you comment to see if the advertiser is attracted to your blog and gets you some revenue of your own. I’m hoping to put out a sort of case study later this week that should generate some solid buzz for Jimvesting on the blogosphere, and with a road game for the Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0), I might have some more time to get posting out this weekend.
That’s it for the link love, stay BULLISH on the net!
-Jimvesting
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it is better late than ever. i too failed to publish the sunday link love….
The past week must have been the Guest post week. i have been seeing guest posts all over the place….
Hugo Santoss last blog post..Really bad weekend
Yet again I’m left out
I’ll get you Jim
Moneybitess last blog post..Selfishness in Affiliate Marketing?
Twitter: @melvinblog
September 8, 2008 at 5:17 pm #
Hmmm.. Seems you do really hate guest posting while on the other hand Jason(TUK) hates the Link Love Post….
Melvins last blog post..Every Kid Who Has A Blog Is Busy Right Now!
Thanks for the Link Love Jim. Better late then never. I really enjoy reading your Link Love’s because it opens my eyes to blogs in our niche that I turn a blind eye too.
Dannys last blog post..GH FEVER // CONFESSIONS – 2.0
I really like John Cows new layout also. I think it is a really great way he can make more money from his site. When my traffic is as high as his then I will also be revamping my site and optimising the way my site makes money. Why waste space when you can make money from it?
Wow. seems like everyone loves my case studies even though I know most probably people will hate me for doing this.
Thanks for the links though.
Desmond – DesmondBlog.coms last blog post..The Power of Mascots and Logos
Guests posts are useful, I get traffic and buzz from mine every time and I have done over 15 of them around the net for my blog.
Shannon Lillys last blog post..Comment Contest Update!
Great post.
I like the gator/tnf image
I’ve never seen yet the new JohnCow’s look. Let me check it.
Husseins last blog post..How To Spam Blog Comments Using Smiley
I don’t like John Cow’s theme re-design. The old one was nice.
Ganeshs last blog post..Sunday Link Love and Announcements
Me too. The old one is better.
Husseins last blog post..How To Spam Blog Comments Using Smiley
I personally like how much more spacious the blog feels
And why all the hate of guest blogging?- I know there has been quite a bit lately but still, don’t hate it
Otooos last blog post..Results Of The Contest
“Gary Conn wrote something usefull”… I guess there’s a first time for everything
Jim,
Great insight with the guest posting comment. I personally skip the blog for the day or ignore the post all together. It’s a shame blogger’s are starting to “phone in their posts”.
Thanks,
ES
I think you’re just a liar… no more contests, huh? I think you should just give me the prizes now
Jay
Jays last blog post..Introducing the “Elite Ninja Flipping Unit” to the Site Flipping World
John chow’s new theme design is not that perfect as I expected.
Haha! I love that HG logo with Jimvesting
SEO Trickss last blog post..Namecheap September 2008 Coupon
I’m sure that my latest post will be in your link love next week.
http://www.blogsmartly.com/john-cow-has-been-cownapped/
What do you think, eh?
Ganeshs last blog post..John Cow has been COWnapped!
I agree entirely with you on your opinion on guest posts. I feel that guest posts are used when the owner of the blog has either no time to write or wants to take some time off or worse, has run out of ideas!
On the bail out, I wish I was the CEO of either of these companies. The only ones who will make some sense out of the whole scene!
Nicole Prices last blog post..Top TV Shows of All Time