Way to go Phil!

As we already know, people blog about everything. I blog on Coupons, Contests, and Promotions, my best friend blogs about Crisis Public Relations (Kit's Blog check her out!), and the list goes on. While searching for what to write about today, I came across a very interesting and motivating (at least for me) press release about a fellow blogger. The article, "Contest Blogger Taps into Growing Popularity of Online Contests, Sweepstakes", was released yesterday (March 3,2008) on PRWeb and introduces us to Cleavland-area designer Phil Van Treuren.

It all started when Phil Van Treuren decided to write a blog about online contests. (Wow what a concept!) Now less than nine months later his site, Contest Blogger, is visited by thousands of people a week and has allowed him to reap the monetary benefits. Van Treuren said that he knew a blog about online contests would be something different but did not expect it so grow in popularity so fast. "The idea was to write free reviews about contests that people were running on their blogs and websites," Van Treuren said. "I noticed that a lot of bloggers had started using giveaways as a way to get new visitors and links to their sites, and I thought that a blog that focused on these contests might interest a few people."


A few people? I'd certainly say maybe a little more than a few. Readers were drawn to Van Treuren's unique writing style and honest reviews about the contests. Technorati, a blog- tracking service that currently tracks more than 50 million blogs, even ranked Contest Blogger among the top 5,000 blogs in the world! Van Treuren prides himself on always being sincere and truthful to his readers. If a contest was a rip- off, he would tell them and in turn his readers showed their appreciation by racking up the hits on his site. He also said that he tried to make his blogs fun to read so people would come back and tell their friends. He started by writing reviews about every contest that was sent to Contest Blogger. However, submissions became too large and he decided to transform Contest Blogger into an online forum where people could post about their own contests for free.

Today, Phil still posts every once in a while, but Contest Blogger has become a place mainly for readers to share their own information. You can do anything there from searching and posting about contests to actually entering sweepstakes and receiving free samples or coupons. Although Van Treuren doesn't write as often, he still is able to enjoy the income he generates from advertising on his site.

Now, some of you might be thinking, "Brit, why did you write a blog on someone who blogs about the same things you do? Isn't that your competition?" Instead of being enemies, I would like to think that Phil and I are kind of on the same team, you know? Just two people writing and wanting to share what they love; free stuff. Phil also gives me somebody to look up to in a way. He started just by writing about a few contests and look at him now! Maybe someday I could follow his path to success. So, from all of us here at Coupons, Contests, and Promotions (basically just me), congratulations on all of your accomplishments Phil!