Here are the winners of the Market Leverage contest:

1. Mary – iPod Touch
2. Shadowfury – won on ClearlyGaming – $50 Market Leverage gift credit card
   
3. Bunny – $25 iTunes gift card

As for the final 2 winners for $100 each on my last contest, I apologize, but I still haven’t gotten the winners yet.  I figured that most of the participants of that contest only wanted the MacBooks, so there were cheaters.  I have been contacting each participant to find out who is going to be in the final draw.  This should be completed in a day or two.  Sorry about that.

My blog has also been sold for $5,000 if any of you are still wondering.  It’s a lot less than what I expected and I was planning to actually relist it, but $5,000 would due, since all the bills are due.  Anyways, I’ll still be around and guiding the new owner in blogging.  He is NOT interested in making money, so you guys do not have to worry about ads all over the place.  He is going to focus on content

Lastly, I would like to thank Market Leverage, Dina, and Debby for sponsoring a final contest for my blog.  If you guys haven’t already noticed, the team at Market Leverage is super! 

Update: Just 1 more day and I’ll have the final 2 winners of the $100.  Winners will be contacted.

Final two winners of the last $200 ($100 each) are gcfreebies@gmail.com and aipiko1899@gmail.com .  Sorry it took so long, but it’s finally complete.  I was told by the winner of one of the MacBooks that he would take a picture of the winning, but I still have not received it.  I know it’s hard to prove that all this mayhem, but I’m definitely going to get it no matter what.

It’s just like saying blood has been spilt on this blog because of all the work put into it .

Anyways, I wanted to make a few things clear for all of you guys including potential buyers.  All the stats I provided on my SitePoint listing are indeed real.  I have nothing to hide from anyone, but a great buddy of mine (if he still allows me to call him a buddy) have been accusing me of being a person that lies.  It sucks how all this just popped out at the last few days of my blog sale and I was never contacted by this person to begin with.

First of all, I want to apologize for the MacBook Air + $1,000 contest.  The only reason why there has been no proof or that no one has posted about it is because of the nature of the items.  If you check, the prizes are very high end prizes, so I had to keep the winners’ information private.  However, I did promise that I would ask for pictures from the winners, which I totally forgot about.

I hope you guys don’t blame me for all this even though I know it’s pretty much my fault.  After the contest ended was when my wife and I realized that are financial hardships are way too high.  This is what led to me posting the blog on SitePoint.  I did not plan any of this to happen has I really did hope that my wife’s recent job would last, but her boss was just a bitch.

Anyways, back to the previous contest.  As soon as I receive pictures from the winners, I would leave a new post or update the contest post here.  Please don’t accuse me of things if you did not contact me first to get it straightened out.  I hope that after reading this, some of you can put back trust into me (if you doubted me in the first place).  I do not need to lie or will I ever need to lie to any of you.   Please just come forth to me and talk to me.  I have nothing to hide.

The BUY IT NOW for the whole blog is $5,000.  Please pass the word on, but this price would only be posted here.

Remember, there are only a few days left for the Market Leverage contest and sorry for grammar errors (had to speed type).

Stressing occurs almost all the time and it doesn’t matter who you are because you still stress under certain circumstances. If you’re a blog owner, you have probably stressed before or you’re probably still stressing. Blogging seems like a cinch when you’re just watching from the end line, but after you become a blogger, you probably realize that it isn’t as easy as it seemed. Although it may not be as easy, I’ve been seeing a lot of bloggers stressing over keeping the blog alive and I totally understand, but blogging doesn’t have to be stressful at all.

I’m going to start in the beginning to discuss how stressing occurs from the beginning of blogging to the end. As soon as you put down your foot to purchase that domain of yours or sign up for that blogspot account, you have made the decision to start your blogging journey.

Blogging consists of a few simple key points that even the smallest blogger would have to follow the following minimum requirements:

• Design – Come up with something that you and your visitors like to see. Make sure you ask your readers if they would want anything changed.
• Content – Start planning posts/articles to publish for all to see. A reader stays when there is content.
• Dedication – Keep things consistent and don’t slack.

Now you’re probably wondering why I only listed 3 points when there are much more than that. The answer to that is because keeping things simple will let you slide out of the stress causing virus. To tell you the truth, the points above are actually the most difficult things to accomplish, but there’s hope. The only reason why the tasks are difficult and stressful is because you’re thinking too much of the outcome.

The reasons for why blogging causes stress is almost something that you can not get rid of, but first lets see what those reasons are.

• Readership – RSS subscribers seem to be a huge fuss these days and to some bloggers, if this number does raise, it is almost like the end of the world.
• Traffic – Google Analytics, Sitemeter, Awstats (in your Cpanel). All those things tell you how much traffic you’re getting because sometimes RSS subscribers don’t get you unique traffic.
• Comments – Just read my post about “Losing Comments Will Not Kill You“
• Ranking – If you’re not ranked high in rankings such as Alexa, Technorati, and 45n5’s Top 100, it seems like you’re just a passerby as people see your blog.
• Popularity – The blogosphere receives over 10,000 new blogs a day, so gaining popularity is quite hard. Even bloggers like Darren Rowse and John Chow don’t stand out to bloggers in the other part of the blogosphere.

• Money – I put this little section below the rest of the list is because I dislike money making blogs with a passion. The MMO niche is overcrowded, so that’s probably why you’re still not making money.

A little thought to why you’re stressing about the above list would make you realize that it’s totally unnecessary. Who cares if you’re not getting a high RSS count, a lot traffic, hundreds of comments, a high rank in Alexa, a lot of popularity, and even a lot of money. Everything has been put there by your own work. Don’t stress over these type of things because it will make you miserable when you blog. Your readers will know how miserable you are by reading the tone in your posts.

Haven’t you ever heard from a teacher, friend, or family member that if you think too much, you end up failing at what you’re trying to accomplish. That’s exactly how blogging is because if you think too much about what will happen if you do this or what will happen if you do that, you’re just going to stress your heart out.

My personal experience to this is that I’ve been stressing a lot about gaining traffic, high Alexa ranks, and a lot of comments. When I think back to it (only a week ago ), I want to slap myself across the face because I was totally stupid to care about all of that. Sure I want to become a bigger more noticeable blog, but I still need to work on things to get there. By typing these shorter, more casual posts, I’ve been able to stress a lot less.

You must work at blogging as if you’re doing your homework. You can’t expect to Ace a class without studying or practice and that is exactly why you need to stress less and work on blogging.

Do you stress over blogging?

I’m sure most of you remember Black Friday, the biggest sale of the year online or offline, and I’m sure you guys checked out my Cyber Monday deals post. I mean, I received tons of visitors for that particular post probably because I gathered up all of it for you guys.

Well, it is now time for another one of these posts and it’s going to be for the After-Christmas sale! Most of you are probably thinking why purchase items now when the time of giving is over, but did you know that these type of sales save you A LOT OF $$$!? There are people out there that purchase items from these type of sales and store them in boxes for gifts and presents when the time calls for it. I’m sure storing the items cost a lot less than paying full price right?

• Toys R Us (PDF file, so download Adobe Reader if needed)
• Sears 12/26-12/29 (PDF file)
• Gamestop (if you missed the Wii, take a look here)
• JCPenney
• Macy’s (additional $10 off $25 coupon in PDF for 12/26)
• Wal-Mart (must visit store, but items are up to 80% off)
• Borders (up until January 7)
• Bloomingdale’s
• Kohl’s

Added 12:18PM PST Below

(Coupons or cashback sites can be found on Google):

• Toys R Us ($20 paypal coupon that can stack with other TRUs coupons!)
• Office Depot 12/26-12/29
• Blockbuster 1 month free 3-at-a-time code: gmc07
• MORE TO COME, SO STAY TUNED OR VISIT SLICKDEALS.NET

Get in early and DO NOT SNOOZE or you’re going to miss out on the deals…and if you do, you probably also missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you forgot about Christmas presents or if you were late, I suggest you take some of these deals and purchase something for your whoever you want to give it to. Remember that it is never too late for the gift of giving!

I see everyone taking a break today for Christmas time with family and friends, so I decided to take a break too. If you guys haven’t noticed, I’ve been posting every single day and it’s hard to come up with content that is unique.

Anyways, I wanted to take this time to say Merry Christmas to everyone around the world. My wife and I…including our pets, wish everyone a safe Christmas and wishes everyone’s dream will come true.

Update: Sorry I’m late on posting this…but it doesn’t matter right? I was going to include pics, but I admit…I’m a noob.

The contest will end tonight, 11/18/2007, at 10:30PM Pacific Standard Time. If you haven’t entered already, please take a look at my post about the contest and I suggest hurrying up

• Bloggin-Ads.com Contest Post

There have only been TWO subscribers via the RSS E-Mail Feed, so here’s a chance for some of you to jump in. I’ll even up the entries of the RSS E-mail feed to 2 (does not include regular RSS)!!!

Today’s Rambling is right below this post!

As many of you have noticed, I’m giving away Advertising Spots on here. The Milk Man, Blogging Contest, and Slyvisions has already plugged my blog about me giving away ad spots, but many of you still don’t know about it. There are still ad spots left, but I’m also giving away 2 Deluxe Packages. The deluxe package includes a full detailed review, video review, and a featured blog link. The total value of each of these packages is $100.

Ad Spots Left (they were on a first come first served basis):

125×125 Buttons – 0 Left (ads posted)

Featured Blog Links – 3 Left (1 taken)

Here’s the contest part you guys have been waiting for:

There is still one 125×125 Button, total of 9 Links left (3 are given away on first come), and the 2 Deluxe Packages.

What’s the Rules?

1. You get 1 ticket for subscribing to my RSS Feed and Email Feed
2. You get 1 ticket for each person you refer here and subscribes to any of my feeds. (You must contact me with the IP of the person you referred)
3. You get 1 ticket for using the submit a post option (detailed posts)

This will end on November 19th, Monday. On the following day, I will put all the names in a raffle and choose the winners. Good Luck!!

Update: The Submit A Post page is now up and running!!!

I wouldn’t have thought The COW man would plug me so quick, so the “Submit A Post” function will be disabled for the time being and I will announce when it will be back up.

As for the the giveaway on my ad spots, I have already received a couple e-mails requesting for it and I will be replying to those e-mails by the end of the day. Thanks for having interest.

You should all be ready, the first MILLION DOLLAR WIKI interview is going to be up in just moments!!