Net Strife - providing smashing tips on Internet Marketing

The contest is finally over! I would like to thank everyone who participated. Without you, this contest could not have been a huge success. (All right, that may have sounded corny, but I meant it!)

The long wait is over — I have picked the winners through Random.org, and here are the results.

To the winners: Kindly e-mail me using the contact form to claim your prizes. If I do not receive an e-mail from you within a week, I would draw another winner for the respective prize.

$50 PayPal Cash from Net Strife
denise090590 [at] y****

$25 PayPal Cash from Net Strife
qwertyuiop_zxcvbnm_asdf [at] y****

$15 PayPal Cash from Net Strife
sein.ph [at] g****

125×125 ad space on Blogging from Scratch
Cah Kontes

125×125 ad space on Rajaie Talks
Ganesh

125×125 ad space on Rauru.com
Dustin

125×125 ad space on TheNexus.TK
Ganesh

5 x Regular Links on Zigtur.com
shawal, Dustin, Ganesh, Louis Liem (2 links)

2 x Featured Links on Zigtur.com
BBx, topen

3 x “29 Website Tips and Tricks” Video Package from Net Strife
Louis Liem, Wong, topen

3 x “7 Fast Ways [to build backlinks]” Video Package from Net Strife
Cah Kontes, qwertyuiop_zxcvbnm_asdf [at] y****, cruzzo [at] g****

3 x “Affiliate Windfall” Video Package from Net Strife
topen, Louis Liem, pacobhn [at] g****

4 x “Work Smart, Get Rich” E-book from Ebook Rich
Dustin, Rajaie, Louis Liem, AllContests

1 x Single-Use License of the News Friendly Theme from MotionTheme
dvainme [at] g****

2 x $15 Blog Installation Package from WPStart
Louis Liem, Sena

1 x One Year Membership on Elegant WordPress Themes
chie [at] s***-d***.net

3 copies of “Direct Response Templates” from Direct Response Templates
topen, Louis Liem, efayans [at] g****

2 x one hour consultation from Jim of The Net Fool
AllContests, swastik2020 [at] g****, Cah Kontes

One hour consultation from Jason of The University Kid
Sherry

It looks like those who had a lot of entries won a lot of prizes!

As you may recall, I asked you to post some questions for me to answer last week. Well, here are my answers. I hope you enjoy!

Before I forget, there is this blog that publishes nothing but lists. It’s called List Lunatic, and Net Strife got featured as one of the hottest make money online blogs. Check it out, it’s really worth visiting.

The Questions and My Answers

Hussein asked…

Just a simple question.. How many blogs and website do you have?

My answer: As of now, I only have one flagship blog and that is Net Strife, but I do have a few dozen niche blogs which I use AdSense on to make me a decent amount per month. I also have some other static/autopilot websites — around 15 of them, but I am starting to experiment on proxies this month so that adds 10 or more to my portfolio of websites.

www.WebSlicers.com asked…

Are you the one who wrote all the articles in here? Do you do write-ups for other companies/blogs?

My answer: Yes, I was the one who wrote all the articles here. Well, there was this article that my friend and I wrote, half was written by him, half by me. It was done for the sake of having a little debate around here. I do write-ups for other companies, but I don’t do it regularly — just when they request me to do so.

indocontest asked…

Which do you prefer, DoFollow or NoFollow?

My answer: It depends, actually. For my blog comments on here, I’d rather have nofollow because I don’t want Google to see this blog as a link farm or something like that. While it is a good practice to give some love to your readers, I believe that there is a more appropriate way to do so.

Yan asked…

If you were to find one mentor to take you up to the next level, who would that person be?

My answer: It would probably be one of my relatives. Well, I am not comfortable working one-on-one with people whom I don’t really know, so I guess the best mentor that I could have would be someone who I know is good, and someone I can trust well.

Rajaie asked…

Do you agree with the statement “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”?

My answer: I highly believe in individualism — I rarely rely on others to do something for me, so I do not agree with the given statement. While I concur that having a great network is an advantage, it is still very possible to get what you want as long as you know what to do!

Wong asked…

What keeps you blogging? Is it money, being a valuable source to others, or what?

My answer: I have to say that it is my curiosity that keeps me blogging. What would happen if I blog about this? What would happen if I do this to my blog? Well, that’s it! It’s definitely NOT the money — I strongly believe that running an MMO/internet marketing blog without even making some money online is only done by stupid people.

Rarst asked…

How is effect from purchasing blog review from Yan?

My answer: The effect was good, I must say. I got a decent boost in my subscriber count and I was able to think of the blog’s flaws and stuff like that.

Ganesh asked…

From where did you get your inspiration to get started with internet marketing?
Another question : Do you think that patience is a virtue in internet marketing?

My answer: To answer your first question, I got my inspiration from my dream of becoming a millionaire before I reach the “legal age”. Regarding the patience is a virtue thing, yes, I do believe that, but that is not the only thing that is essential in internet marketing. Smart and creative plans are prerequisites to be a good marketer.

Desmond asked…

1.Are you in college? If so, what major are you in?

2. You (like me :-p) produced awesome articles. What inspires you to do so?

3. Honestly, what do you think of my blog and do you think my blog is better than your blog? Explain.

My answer:
1) No, I am not in college yet. I do plan on taking Political Science and become a lawyer someday. I am also considering to be a Mathematics (or maybe Physics) major simply because I am obsessed with those subjects.

2) It must be my curiosity. I am not really sure why, but I can assure you one thing — I’m not doing it for the money.

3) Your blog is great, yes, but I have to say that my blog is better than yours. No hard feelings, as you said. Hehe. First, I have a custom design and that’s a major plus already. Second, while you have published some awesome articles (especially on flipping), some of your posts were amiss, had grammatical errors and such. I am aware that I am not perfect as well, but then again it’s better to check for errors in order to have better (not just good) outputs. Dude, peace out, no offense meant!

Peter asked…

Since you are still studying, just many hours a day do you put in for your Internet Marketing?

My answer: During school days, I spend around two to three hours for internet marketing. On weekends, I try to do some serious research on trends, building sites and doing other things, so I spend at most eight hours.

Ikki asked…

What are your best techniques to drive traffic to your sites?

My answer: Social media has a big role in terms of driving traffic to my niche sites. As people say, content is king and if I have great content, then social media would work in my favor. Basically that’s it, I don’t really rely on SEO for my niche sites. Sounds kind of weird, I know, but that’s just how I do it.

EmmaB asked…

How do you juggle your studies, homework and friends with your websites? Do you make up a routine and have a blog “day off” to spend time with pals and to do any assignments?

My answer: Ah, that one’s easy. I actually don’t spend too much time studying and doing my homework. My homework gets done in school, right after our teacher gives it to us. Heh. It saves me a lot of time. As for friends, well, I do hang out with them every once in a while. I do make up my own schedule but not everyday — only when I think my schedule would be hectic! I don’t have a “day off” or something like that; I just don’t post when I feel lazy and would rather go out with my friends rather than come up with a post.

Ryan asked…

What do you use as your main strategy to promote your blog?

My answer: It’s more on commenting and buying sponsored ads (or sponsoring contests). Sometimes I come up with crazy promotion ideas, but they’re too crazy to give out. Hehe.

Jasar asked…

How much have you earned this year?

My answer: Since the year is not yet over, I will just tell you how much I have earned last year, but not the exact figure. It was at around mid $x,xxx.

Ryan asked…

Do you think it is better to build one big blog or several smaller niche blogs?

My answer: One big blog. One of my principles is to focus, so I guess it’s better to maintain and develop one big blog than have a lot of small blogs.

ZK@WebTrafficROI asked…

1. I am running out of patience, when will the ebook for download be ready?

2. What is the benefit of giving out Wp theme?

My answer:
1) Sorry about that! Sometime this year, perhaps. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

2) I get links and exposure from the themes I give away.

Static asked…

Lucas, I see that you’re really active in the blogosphere. You even comment on my website that rarely gets any visitors. How much time do you spend solely on advertising this website and your brand?

My answer: Most of the time, I spend less than an hour per day to advertise my website. There are occasions when I get to spend more than 3 hours but that rarely happens.

On A Sidenote…

I am sorry if this post looked somewhat catastrophic. It’s just that you guys were so awesome that you asked me too much questions. I’ll be back tomorrow with some tips on website flipping. If you aren’t subscribed yet, do so now. You know you want to.

P.S. Thank YOU to those who asked questions! I had fun answering them, really. (Isn’t it obvious? I was able to come up with a 1,500-word post in 40 minutes!)

Please pardon the lack of activity in the blog. My schedule this week is very hectic due to exams. As a result, I decided to just publish a “question and answer” post today in order to somewhat cover for the inactivity here. Don’t worry, I will post something on Saturday that will surely interest you.

Please post your questions in the comments area. Almost every type of question is welcome, except for very personal questions. I will publish a post with my answers (and links to those who asked) once there is a good number of responses. I’m looking forward to all of your questions!

P.S. If there are people who are interested in guest posting here on Net Strife, would you please send me an e-mail? Thank you!

Hey all. I’m launching Net Strife’s first contest ever as a part of my promotional campaign to establish this blog. This contest is similar to others. Nonetheless, it’s still a contest! Oh yeah, it’s not that extravagant but it’s not too shabby either.

Contest Mechanics

The contest will run for one month. The winners will be drawn on 21 September 2008. Participants have to earn tickets by doing things listed below. Each action corresponds to a certain number of tickets. There are some things that are required for a person to be eligible, and there are also optional things that you can do to earn more points. Remember, the more tickets you have, the higher your chances of winning!

How to Earn Tickets

• Blog about the contest with a link to this post and a list of the prizes with the sponsors’ links: 15 raffle tickets - REQUIRED
• Subscribe to Net Strife via e-mail and confirm your subscription: 10 raffle tickets - REQUIRED
• Link to Net Strife using the anchor text “Net Strife Internet Marketing Blog”: 10 raffle tickets (sitewide/homepage links only)
• Review one sponsor on your blog and leave a comment on this post with a link to the review: 10 raffle tickets
• Place Net Strife’s 125×125 banner on your site: 5 raffle tickets
• Compose a short poem for Net Strife and send it to me via e-mail: 5 raffle tickets
• Leave a comment on this post and tell me something great about ONE sponsor (you choose): 5 raffle tickets
• Link to the sponsors using their official site name as the anchor text: 2 raffle tickets per link (sitewide/homepage links only)

Maximum number of tickets one can have: 63

The Prizes

Cash via PayPal

$50 PayPal Cash from Net Strife
$25 PayPal Cash from Net Strife
$15 PayPal Cash from Net Strife

Ad Spaces

One month 125×125 ad space on Blogging from Scratch ($15)
One month 125×125 ad space on Rajaie Talks ($10)
One month 125×125 ad space on Rauru.com ($10)
Two weeks 125×125 ad space on TheNexus.TK ($10)

Text Links

5 x Regular Links from Zigtur Web Directory ($25)
2 x 3-Year Featured Links from Zigtur Web Directory ($20)

E-books and Similar Materials

3 x “29 Website Tips and Tricks” Video Package from Net Strife ($74.85 total, $24.95 each)
3 x “7 Fast Ways [to build backlinks]” Video Package from Net Strife ($74.85 total, $24.95 each)
3 x “Affiliate Windfall” Video Package from Net Strife ($74.85 total, $24.95 each)
4 x “Work Smart, Get Rich” E-book from Ebook Rich ($60 total, $15 each)

WordPress Stuff

1 x Single-Use License of the News Friendly Theme from MotionTheme ($44.95)
2 x $15 Blog Installation Package from WPStart ($30)
1 x One Year Membership on Elegant WordPress Themes ($19.95) Sidenote: This website has got some of the best WordPress themes out there!

Other Prizes

3 copies of “Direct Response Templates” from Direct Response Templates ($111 total, $37 each)
2 x one hour consultation from Jim of The Net Fool ($100 total, $50 each)
One hour consultation from Jason of The University Kid ($50)

What Are You Waiting For?

Hey, stop staring at your monitor. Better get started now to have the chance of winning one of these cool prizes!

Introductions

Ah, at long last, this blog is finally launched. It has been a month since this domain was registered, and I am really excited to share my ideas on internet marketing with all of you. Let’s kick things off by introducing myself. Hi, I am Lucas, in case you didn’t know. I dislike introducing myself a lot of times, hence you may read my first introduction here. My intentions for starting this blog are also there.

Hot Design

One of the first things that you may have noticed upon arriving to this blog is the really hot design, yeah? If you don’t agree that it’s hot, then something must be wrong with you — seriously. I would like to thank the designer for doing his best in order to give me a really great design. Many thanks go to Gary Cao too for porting the design into WordPress for me.

This design is most likely to stay for who knows how long. I will not change it unless new trends rise, so expect to see this sleek red/black theme everytime you visit Net Strife!

What You Can Expect from This Blog

Aside from what I have mentioned in my very first post, here are some things that you can expect from Net Strife:

• Unique articles/how-to’s on internet marketing
• Frequent contests (not like once a week though!)
• Free WordPress themes once I have established a stable readership base
• Fun and entertaining author
• Absolutely NO spam
• Tons of other things that I may have failed to mention here

Blog Premiere Special Contest

Now, I am aware that some of my early readers are from Blog Premiere and I held a special contest there. Whoever subscribes via e-mail will have a chance to win $20 PayPal cash once this blog is launched. Of course, this wasn’t limited to BP members only so all who subscribed via e-mail got the chance to win. I entered your e-mail addresses in Random.org and here’s the result…

Congratulations to the winner! Please send me an e-mail using this page to claim your prize.

“Announcements”

Erm, not really announcements, but I’d like everyone to know that my first OFFICIAL post (i.e., something that can actually help you in your internet marketing life) will be up tomorrow. Please stay tuned!