It seems like Tuesdays have been the days for most posts related to the WoBM Anniversary Contest, the Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met Group Writing Project. So it’s no wonder you get to meet the winners on a Tuesday

As I’ve kept you waiting for too long, here’s who won and a list of all entries:

The first place and first prize, a copy of IttyBiz’ SEO School, go to Andrew for his wonderful entry Three Special Bloggers.

The second place and prize, a collection of Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format, go to Joanna Young for her inspirational piece on microblogging and relationships, Why it’s worth sticking with Twitter.

For the third place, we had a tie. So we’ve decided on having to amazing bloggers awarded: Brad Shorr for the Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul post, who will be receiving a copy of Lillie Ammann’s “Dream or Destiny”, and Lillie Ammann with the entry Blogging Friends, but as she cannot win her own book, she will be also receiving the Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format collection.

All four of them will also get 2 hours of free PR consulting, but I’ll send all the details about their prizes in an email.

Thank you and congratulations again to everyone who’s been part of this group writing project:

Brad Shorr – Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul

Sarah Welstead – 7 Rules for Effective Relationship Blogging

Andrew of Good Honest Dollar – Three Special Bloggers

Joanna Young – Why it’s worth sticking with Twitter

CV Harquail – Tweet yourself like the person you want to be

Jacquelyn – How I started the WParent blog

Lillie Ammann – Blogging Friends

Nithya – Building Strength through Support

Alina Popescu – Investing in relationships has excellent ROI

Important Update

As Brad already has a copy of “Dream or Destiny”, he’s donnated his to a random participant. He’ll be enjoying a Depeche Mode collection instead. We played with some numbers and the lucky winner is CV Harquail – Tweet yourself like the person you want to be. Congratsulations!

Yesterday was the last day when contestants could submit entries to the WoBM Anniversary Group Writing Project Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met. Here’s the complete list of submitted entries. The jury will now go behind close doors and deliberate! Not really, but we’ll be back with the three lucky winners as soon as possible!

Brad Shorr – Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul

Sarah Welstead – 7 Rules for Effective Relationship Blogging

Andrew of Good Honest Dollar – Three Special Bloggers

Joanna Young – Why it’s worth sticking with Twitter

CV Harquail – Tweet yourself like the person you want to be

Jacquelyn – How I started the WParent blog

Lillie Ammann – Blogging Friends

Nithya – Building Strength through Support

And my own – Investing in relationships has excellent ROI

If you want to join the WoBM Group Writing Project “Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met!“, you should really do it now. There are only 5 days left until the deadline, February 28. Four and a half if you think today’s morning is long gone. In case you’re wondering what your struggling for, other than your reader’s appreciation and lovely comments, here are the prizes:

1. A copy of IttyBiz’ SEO School
2. Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format (I love them and this particular collection holds all my favorites)
3. A copy of Lillie Ammann’s “Dream or Destiny”

Plus the 2 hours of free PR counseling from me included in each prize. And our cool jury: Loredana, Alex and myself.

Don’t forget to play by the rules in the announcement post!

And if you’re wondering who you’re competing against, take a look at the already submitted entries:

Brad Shorr – Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul

Sarah Welstead – 7 Rules for Effective Relationship Blogging

Andrew of Good Honest Dollar – Three Special Bloggers

Joanna Young – Why it’s worth sticking with Twitter

CV Harquail – Tweet yourself like the person you want to be

Jacquelyn – How I started the WParent blog

And my own – Investing in relationships has excellent ROI

Good luck everyone and don’t forget time is flying by!

Another week went by since my last announcement about the WoBM Group Writing Project “Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met!“. As the deadline is approaching fast, I’m back with some news and the obvious reminder to publish those posts in time and let me know you’re in for the prizes. Speaking of prizes, Lillie Ammann offered to also autograph the copy of “Dream or Destiny”! So here’s a quick list of the prizes:

1. A copy of IttyBiz’ SEO School
2. Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format (I love them and this particular collection holds all my favorites)
3. A copy of Lillie Ammann’s “Dream or Destiny”

Plus the 2 hours of free PR counseling from me which are an extra something for each prize. As I’m sure you remember, winning entries will be selected by a jury whose members are Loredana, Alex and myself.

If you want to play with us, don’t forget the rules!

• Publish an original article on your blog before February 28
• You may only have one entry per blog. If you have more than one blog, lucky you
• Link to the post announcing the group writing project
• Leave the link to your entry on the announcement post

Here’s the list of entries already submitted:

Brad Shorr – Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul

Sarah Welstead – 7 Rules for Effective Relationship Blogging

Andrew of Good Honest Dollar – Three Special Bloggers

And my own – Investing in relationships has excellent ROI

I don’t know if I’ve officially mentioned this, but my entry doesn’t count

Happy writing! Oh, yeah, and the clock is ticking!

Time has the bad habit of flying by and the first two weeks of the WoBM Group Writing Project “Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met!” are now history. You all have a little under three weeks to submit your entry for a chance to win one of these 3 prizes:

1. A copy of IttyBiz’ SEO School
2. Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format (I love them and this particular collection holds all my favorites)
3. A copy of Lillie Ammann’s “Dream or Destiny”

Just to spice up the competition, all three prizes include 2 hours of free PR counseling from yours truly. The winning entries will be selected by a jury whose members are Loredana, Alex and myself. To qualify, please follow the official rules:

• Publish an original article on your blog before February 28
• You may only have one entry per blog. If you have more than one blog, lucky you
• Link to the post announcing the group writing project
• Leave the link to your entry on the announcement post

There already are three early entries:

Brad Shorr – Blogging Relationships are Gold for the Soul

Sarah Welstead – 7 Rules for Effective Relationship Blogging

And my own – Investing in relationships has excellent ROI

Good luck everyone! And don’t forget, the clock is ticking!

OMG! OMG! The blogger in me turns four today! Four breathtaking and amazing years! Too many exclamation marks, I know, but I really cannot describe how happy and excited I am. I’ve started on Blogger, with the first version of Words of a Broken Mirror and that’s been my home for about 3 years. On the side, I’ve launched a photo blog, Views of a Broken Mirror, also abandoned in the mean time. The photos however are still there for you to enjoy. Right now, besides managing this blog, I also have a travel blog, Travel Spells, a great source of advice, tips, reviews and magical recipes to make your trip exactly what you want it to be and I also manage the PRwave Blog.

About a year and a half ago, I’ve been blessed with my own domain, a very thoughtful gift from my great friend and later appointed big sis, Trisi. I’ve started posting here and in time, WoBM has become what it is today, a PR and Marketing blog that I’m extremely proud of. A lot of people have helped ever since: Trisi with the WoBM logo, Mig and Alex with endless WordPress changes (Alex has also designed the new WoBM look) and old and new friends (who you can easily meet if you browse through the comments) with their constant support and cheer.

WoBM Proudly Announces the 4 Year Bloggiversary Group Writing Project

I’ve realized that today was the big day sometime after lunch. I got overexcited and when clicking the “Write new post” option in my dashboard, it hit me! What better way to celebrate these four amazing years, what better way to reward my friends and readers, than a group writing project? I got some prizes ready for you in the spur of the moment, but before tempting you with what you might get, I’d better tell you what you’d have to do to get it

Blogging and Relationships – Write about the wonderful people you’ve met!

One of the best things blogging has brought to me is tons of wonderful people. They’ve inspired, supported and reassured me over the years. So I challenge you to think of those you’ve met throughout the blogosphere and share what you’ve learned with the class. I’ll start the project myself, by posting my entry tomorrow.

Now for the official rules!

• Publish an original article on your blog before February 28
• You may only have one entry per blog. If you have more than one blog, lucky you
  
• Link to the post announcing the group writing project
• Comment on this post announcing your entry, just to make sure I don’t miss your entry, we can’t always rely on trackbacks!

There will also be a jury, including yours truly, and I hope to be able to announce it tomorrow, along with my entry. Until then, behold! The prizes for the best three post*:

1. A copy of IttyBiz’ SEO School
2. Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98 in mp3 format (I love them and this particular collection holds all my favorites)
3. A copy of Lillie Ammann’s “Dream or Destiny”
   

Additionally, along with these prizes, you’ll get 2 hours of free PR consulting from yours truly. As you can see, I’ve selected stuff that I can order online and can be delivered to you immediately. This way, you don’t have to wait for weeks to get your prize delivered from Romania .

What do you think? Will you come out and play?

*At the time this post was publishes, I hadn’t confirmed that all prizes could be ordered and paid for by me and downloaded by someone else. I hope I won’t have to change them though

Update

Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz not only confirmed it was possible to have her SEO School as a prize, she also offered to become my very first contest sponsor and give it away for free! So not only is she extremely funny and great at offering marketing advice that people can actually understand easily and start using it asap, she’s also extremely nice

Hi everyone! As we’re so close to Christmas, a change of roundup would do us all good. So I’ve traded my reading list for a short and sweet goodies list: freebies, contests and promotions.

Are you looking for an awesome WordPress theme? You’re in luck, Alex of Blogsessive has just released version 2.2 of his Simple Balance theme, now with a cool Xmas Edition!

Hurry up to join Tamar Weinberg’s Christmas contest that focuses on making a wish for someone else. That’s a good change from our all to often selfish selves. Comment, tweet, but do join fast!

If you’re into amazingly beautiful, yet very healthy makeup, than you’ll love this! Robyn Bloom of Purely Cosmetics is giving away a set of ten brushes! Just review one of her products if you’re a customer for a chance to win it. If you’re not a customer, it’s time to get converted!

If you have some IT budget left and are in need of spending it on a cutting edge mail server, check out Axigen’s “Happy New Business Year” promotion for all three commercial products. If not, the header graphic is quite cool and fun to watch

And to get you all set up for a complete Christmas spirit takeover, check out what Chris Brogan has accomplished! He inspired a lot of people do to something nice for some less fortunate children.

Wish you all happy shopping if you haven’t found all those perfect gifts yet!

Disclaimer: I work with Axigen, Alex is my friend, I’m addicted to Robyn’s stuff, and I’m a huge fan of Tamar and Chris. Yet none of these are the reason for this post. You, my readers, and what you might need or find interesting or useful, are!

If you do, publish a post about it and besides impressing your readers with the techniques and strategies you put into building your blogs success, you’ll also have a chance to win some really cool prizes!

Alex Cristache of Blogsessive is hosting his very first group writing project and is offering a prize with a branding twist: it’s basically everything you need design wise to build a powerful online brand. And yours truly is in the jury!

On to the Rules

• Your post must be new.
• To be valid, you must include the a specific paragraph mentioning the sponsors.
• Recommended: link back to the announcement post.
• To submit your entry, use Blogsessive’s contact form. Choose ‘Group Writing Project’ in the subject, fill in your name, email address and use the Website field for your , entry’s permalink. Give a short description about yourself in the Message field.

I imagine some of you might have a problem with linking to the sponsors, but Alex got some really cool prizes from those two sponsors for you and we should be supportive. To improve my argument here’s the prize list:

1. One identity package – logo, business card and letterhead design – by Alex
2. One “Personal licence” for the Edge premium WordPress theme, created by Blog Design Studio
3. 500 business cards printed using your newly won design by U Printing

All these goodies will go to the contest winner. Also, there will be 2 consolation prizes, each of 250 business cards by the same U Printing.

Deadline: September 30, midnight

To find out more about this group writing project, read Alex’s announcement entry.

Good luck everyone!

We all love to play games. It’s probably our mind’s way to stay connected with the inner child we keep nurturing. But we like playing, most of us love challenges and when it comes to prizes, we’re all in!

I’ve recently had my eye caught by a contest and a nice little game that I’ve become addicted to. And I am referring to the SecondBrain contest and the Stay.com trivia game. Both had an interesting idea, different approaches and cool prizes.

Two Successful Recipes

In case you don’t remember, SecondBrain decided to reward great content added by their SecondBrainiacs. They offered a MacBook Air, game consoles and loads of other prizes. Users needed to add content of great quality, use collections to better organize it and make it all sound really, really interesting.

When they officially launched the 2.0 Beta, ten great profiles were chosen and they were brought in front of the community. SecondBrain chose 10 winners, letting the public decide what each of them should win. So they have combined the search for quality with the need of popularity and of involving the entire community.

Stay.com has a different approach. They mix beautiful travel photos with a count down timer. The show you photos of a city and you have to guess it. Then, based on your score, you get a chance to win. As they are not a community builder per se, they also award points when you send out the game to your friends.

Now, the Stay.com game is fast! It’s catchy and plain addictive. And it comes with a weeklong stay at a nice little hotel somewhere in a big city. Who wouldn’t fall for that? I know I did and kept playing each day, several times a day for about a week. I’d still play, but I forbid myself.

I do hope on July 15, when the gaming contest ends, they will release the names of every city they used. I would like to know where to plan my next trips, as the photos were truly amazing.

What Have We Learned From These Recipes?

These are quite successful contests with people letting their friends know and inviting them to join the fun. But we all came across about dull contests that no one was interested in and which failed in their mission. The aim of such a game or contest is simple: get traffic, awareness and eventually sales. So what should we do so that we don’t stray from our path to success?

1. Select the Prizes According to Your Target

The prizes of both contests make me believe SecondBrain and Stay know their audiences. SecondBrain chose a cool laptop, game consoles and some gadgets. What else would someone who’s online enough to have content spread everywhere need? Stay took what’s supposed to be common knowledge for a passionate traveler and turned it into a game. Then chose to reward it with hotel stays in touristic cities around the world. What better way to capitalize on a passion for travel and promote your great services at the same time?

2. Spread the Word

You might have the greatest contest ever, if no one knows about it, there’s no real point in trying. Start by promoting it on your website, on your corporate blog, through friends and loyal customers, send out details in your newsletters and then pitch the mainstream and social media. Mainstream can definitely help and social media can make it all go viral.

3. Find a Way to Get More People Involved

There is a limited number of winners in any contest. But you still need a lot of players and cheerers to get the best out of your contest. So get more involved through awarding points for referrals or through a voting system. One caveat however: stay away from popularity only contest. Pageants are great, but the after-feeling in most is not that nice.

4. Don’t Keep Players or the Audience in the Dark

If there are more stages to your game, let those involved know. You might not cont all the media for each step of the contest, but you can let players and those close to the competition know how things are going. Again, your blog, your site, newsletters, anything you want can broadcast your message.

In the end, like everything marketing or public relations related, nothing can guaranty a victory. You also need some luck, to a good moment (which gets extremely difficult to predict if your targeted audience is from around the world, not a specific region) and some influential evangelists. That is why you should plan and perform everything on your side as good as you can, so that the factors you can’t control play a less important role in the overall result.