The contest is over now; I'm choosing and contacting the winners. Thanks to all who entered and tried to help me improve my blog!
Well, it's 2011 now, and the new year brings new opportunities to improve. Let's be honest, there's quite a lot I could stand to improve, and my blog is at the top of my list. I've already set a number of resolutions involving this blog, which will hopefully enable me to improve my Alexa Ranking, bump up my number of Feedburner subscribers, increase the number of comments I get, and in general, get much more attention for all my writings here on The Amateur Financier.
That's where all of you, my readers, come in. I'm hoping to make some changes in 2011, and want to know your opinions on things like what subjects I should cover, how I should promote my blog, and in general, how I can make this blog more appealing to all of you out there in the blogosphere. (And what better way to learn what my readers are thinking than to come right out and ask them?)
Now, you might be wondering why you should be so generous; after all, marketers, consults, and think tanks can make thousands, even millions of dollars for sharing their expertise. Why should you give away yours for free? Why, for the chance to win valuable prizes of course! I know that if you're like me, you want to know what you might be able to win. So, with no further ado…
What You Can Win
Since it is the new year, it seems appropriate to give you a gift that can help benefit you throughout the rest of 2011. What am I thinking of, you ask? Why, a personal finance magazine subscription, of course! I'm actually a subscriber to numerous personal finance magazines myself, and they give me an different insights into the world of money, provide me with useful factoids to fill my mind, and have even inspired a blog post or two in the time I've been writing.
So, what sort of magazines are we talking about? Any personal finance magazine that costs under $30 for a yearly subscription, including, but not limited to, these*:
–Money Magazine
– SmartMoney
– Inc. Magazine
– Fast Company
– Entrepreneur
– Fortune Magazine
– Forbes Magazine
Or any other magazine you might want to receive, so long as it is (a) related in some way to personal finance (that is the theme of my blog, after all) and (b) under thirty dollars for a subscription. (I'm not made of money, you know; at least, not until you help me to become the King of All Bloggers!)
(What's that, you say? You already have more magazine subscriptions than you can really keep up with? I sympathize; I subscribe to most of the magazines listed above myself, in addition to some magazines connected to my biochemistry background. Here's my solution: if you win, feel free to give away the subscription to a friend or significant other by giving me their name and address. Or ask your local library what magazine they would like to receive; you'll be able to help your neighborhood and still be able to read the magazines whenever you like. Don't let your own magazine subscriptions stop you from entering.)
The Questions
By now, you're (hopefully) starting to pretty excited by this whole plan. If you want to enter this contest, it's pretty simple. All you need to do is leave a comment below where you answer the following three questions:
1) What money related topics would you like to see covered here on The Amateur Financier? Do you want to read more about investing, saving, smart spending, or something else entirely?
2) What methods are needed to successfully pull the marketing of The Amateur Financier up to higher levels? What systems or companies should I approach to bump up my blog's influence?
3) Lastly, what is your favorite type of blog entry? Do you like when I respond to other people's blog entries, enjoy my round ups, or particularly like my discussions of my new worth? Inquiring minds want to know!
There you go, three simple questions, all of which would help me greatly in transforming my blog for the better. I thank everyone in advance who want to help me out in the process.
How to Win
There are three simple steps to enter yourself in this giveaway:
1) Answer these questions: Post a reply to this blog entry that answers these questions as best you can. You don't need to type for hours; a simple answer, as long as it provides me with useful information, can be more useful than a three page long rambling response. Just do your best, answer all three questions, and try to help me out. You MUST leave a response that gives some answer for all three questions to be entered in the contest.
2) Promote this contest: You can increase your number of chances to win by helping me to get the word out about this contest. By including this contest in a round up or providing a link on Twitter, I'll give you another chance to win (or two, for both of these) when choosing some of my contest winners.
3) That's It! That's all there is to it; simple, no?
There will be a total of three winners to this contest, each getting a subscription to the personal finance magazine of their choice for themselves or others; one winner will be chosen as giving the most helpful answer, while two others will picked at random from the other entrants.
Other Notes and Details
-The deadline for entering this contest is January 14th (a week from this Friday); that should give you plenty of time to formulate a decent response to this blog. The winners will be announced on January 17th (two weeks from today).
-Please do your best to answer the questions listed. If you want to provide me with further advice, go right ahead, but at least answer the given questions (as they will be the most helpful to me).
*The links to the magazines that I included are my Amazon Affiliate links; if you opt to subscribe to any of the magazines via these links (and they are pretty interesting magazines), I will receive a portion of your subscription price. Just a warning so you don't think I'm trying to put anything past you.
