Blog Competition MurrayNewlands.com Summer 2009 Blog Competition Update

Hi Everyone! It has been great to see the best and the brightest in the blogging world come to MurrayNewlands.com!

I am happy to say that there were 52 entries- Thank you all for entering and putting in the time and effort to be part of the competition. It has been great meeting new bloggers and seeing all of the great, creative content out there on the web.

Thank you to the generous and wonderful competition sponsors Affiliate Window, Ad:tech London and Market Leverage- the competition would not be possible without you! And a huge thank you to our Competition judges for contributing their time and blogging wisdom to our selection process:

Steve Hall, Adrants and Ad:tech blogger

Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA

Heather Smith, IZEA Network Ambassador and Beautiful British Columbia Blogger

Joe Colburn, Critically acclaimed blogger at JoeTech.com

It is hard to make distinctions in the blogging community as everyone has their niche and perspective, but it is fun to see everyone represent their blog and see what kind of support they get from their readership! And with that…

I am pleased to announce Conny of http://brainfoggles.com/ is the overall winner.  

Honorable mention
http://www.benspark.com/
www.trisha-lynn.com

Category Winners for The 2009 MurrayNewlands.com Blog Competition!

Social Media: Danny Brown: Social Media, PR and Marketing for the Conversation Age http://dannybrown.me/

Marketing: Business Marketing Online: An Article A Day http://www.bmon.co.uk/leadgeneration/

General: The Dreamin’ Demon: Real. Life. Horror. http://www.dreamindemon.com/

Reviews: Live for Films:
“I’m the Dude. So that’s what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.”
http://www.liveforfilms.com/

Fashion: Vintage Gent: Vintage Gent’s Menswear Daily
http://vintagegent.com/

Company: Engauge: 360-degree feedback, employee engagement and HR solutions build real business improvements. http://www.engauge.co.uk

Green: Environ Sustainability: Sustain the World’s Environment http://environsustainability.blogspot.com/

Mommy: Brain Foggles: Forgetting to Remember
http://brainfoggles.com/

Congratulations Everyone!

Top Ten MurrayNewlands.com Summer 2009 Blog Competition Vote-getters:
1. Dreamin’ Demon (General Blogger): 144 votes
2. Business Marketing Online (Marketing Blogger): 87 votes
3. Live For Films (Review Blogger): 43 votes
4. Watch With Mothers (Review Blogger): 37 votes
5. Trisha Lynn (Marketing Blogger): 25 votes
6. Ben Spark (General Blogger): 19 votes
7. Vintage Agent (Fashion Blogger): 17 votes
8. Midnight Movie Review (Review Blogger): 14 votes
9. Brain Foggles (Mommy Blogger): 14 votes
10. Dixon Jones (Marketing Blogger): 12 votes

Blog Competition Sponsors

Affiliate Window

Ad:tech London

MarketLeverage

Blog Competition MurrayNewlands.com Summer 2009 Blog Competition Update

Blogger: Prolific blogger of ConniesView and BrainFoggles, Connie Foggles an Interview Connies View and BrainFoggles.com

Tell me about your Blogs?

I actually author four blogs.
1. Connie’s View is where I write about parenting, family traditions and product reviews. I also host and list other blog giveaways.

2. BrainFoggles is my Mommy blog. I have to admit that this is my favorite blog. Again, I do product reviews and run giveaways but I also write about current events, blogging, marketing, being a work at home mom (WAHM) and other topics that are important to me, like health care and children’s issues.This is where I earn most of my part time income through paid posting and affiliate income.

3. My Chronic Life is my health blog which focuses on chronic illness, disability, diseases and medical information. I’m known as the Autoimmune Queen so I try to add humor and keep it upbeat. My favorite part of writing here is educating other people with health issues about blogging as a way to earn money. I also advocate for various health and disability topics.

4. Mickey FANatic is my Disney blog. I love Disney World so I share tips about travel there, write trip reports and collect news about anything to do with Disney.

What was your first blog?
BrainFoggles was started in April 2007. It began as a personal blog but now has become a Mom blog. The name is a play on the words, “Brain Fog”, which goes hand in hand very often with chronic illness, which I have. Now the term is associated with being a multitasking mother, blogger and internet junkie. You can read about various topics from how to use Twitter to promote your blog to what type of products I use to clean my furniture.

3. What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’ll find that fellow bloggers are some of the most generous, giving people there are. The next tip is to write as often as you can. A post a day is best, but if not possible, then try for at least three per week.

4. What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
When advertisers want blog posts written, it’s best to give bloggers more leeway in what we write. If you give us a script, you’re going to get cookie cutter posts. I also would prefer they would engage with us more – chat with us on our forums or Twitter to see if we have any suggestions for them. Not only do we blog for them, very often we purchase their products. This is starting to happen, but it would be more beneficial it happened more often.

5. What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
Reading blog posts and then saying something on Twitter about them instead of posting a comment. I wish that bloggers would take the time to comment,
especially if they took the time to read a post.

6. Where do you see growth in the blogging field?
This may be because I’m biased, but I believe that the Mom or Mommy Blogger is going to continue to grow. I think that that there’s always been Mommy bloggers
but we just never had a title before. We were here even before there were blogs. We had bulletin boards, free websites, online game sites and then we moved to MySpace, Yahoo 360 and LiveJournal. Now we have blogs and advertisers know that we still socialize, get advice and opinions from each other and want to be the first to know about new products. We love getting freebies and sharing them with other people. We are a gold mine of advertising and we’re worth every penny we earn.

7.What do you do to improve the world?
I’m a volunteer at my daughter’s elementary school, online for the Disabled Online Users Association (DOUA) and am an advocate for people with health issues, especially those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. I volunteer every year for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week online and if there’s a cause that is important to me, I lend a hand.

I also mentor members of DOUA on blogging and have just begun to do free blog coaching for people who want to learn how to monetize their blogs. I get a lot of joy from seeing people reach their goals and believe in paying it forward. Please see my Earn Money Blogging page.

8.What do you do that is green?
I do my best to recycle, use green products for cleaning, use less packaged products, bring my own totes to the grocery store, use less electricity, gasoline
and water and write about green living on my blogs.

9. What is one thing about you that not many people know?

I’m pretty open about my life on my blogs, but people may not know that I grew up in the Bronx, NY. Even people who know me in real life may not know that because I have totally lost my accent. When I first moved to Florida, it was so thick that people didn’t understand me. Now I sound like I’m from the south, at least I think so.

10. What’s your favorite book?

This is a tough one. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. It’s a toss up between My Name Is Asher Lev and The Bluest Eye – total polar opposites, but that’s me.

11. What is on your iPod?

I’m on an 80′s kick right now – The Proclaimers, Queen, David Bowie. I listen to Lady GaGa, Steven Curtis Chapman, TobyMac and Elton John. Totally depends on my mood.

12..What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?

blogs: http://brainfoggles.com

http://conniesview.com

http://mychroniclife.com

http://mickeyfanatic.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ConnieFoggles

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=545661226&ref=profile

13. What events do you go to?

So far I haven’t been to any large events. I’ve met a few bloggers in person and take part in Twitter parties. I am going to IzeaFest in October this year and am looking forward to this.

14. Who would you recommend, and why?

Jenn who was one of the first people to help me with blogging and continues to be a friend and a supporter – http://blog.everydayrandomness.net/

Lori Falcon from http://acowboyswife.com/  who is an inspiration to me for her success and her ability to remain true to herself. She has been a mentor to me
in many ways.

Linda is an outstanding blogger and photographer. http://mouseski.blogspot.com/

Cindi who works full time, watches her grandchildren, and is a prolific blogger and Social Media Magnet. http://moomettesmagnificents.com/blog/

Lisa from http://mythoughtsideasandramblings.com/  who always finds time in her busy life, being a wife and mom of two, holding a job, running 3 blogs
and being an Izea Insider, to lend a hand or an ear.

Kat, a single mother, who has serious health problems, but manages to write 2 blogs and reply to every comment and email you send her. http://www.mysinglemomlife.com/blog/

Kerry Ryan-Kuhn from http://www.lemon-aideonline.com  whose words touch and inspire me.

Shirley who has multiple health problems and has overcome her fear of writing to have her blog since November of 2007. http://www.shirleysdelight.com/blog/   

Maureen from http://beingchronicallyillisapill.blogspot.com/  who battles every day yet shares her insight and love of life.

Jyl Johnson Patee and Carissa Rogers from Mom It Forward http://momitforward.com/  who empower women through their blog and through their GNO parties on Twiter.

What is one thing people can do for you?

Visit my blogs and don’t forget to leave a comment!

Blogger Thanks: Thanks to Connie Foggles, prolific blogger of Connies View and BrainFoggles.com !