I have seen many websites over the years that have been innovative and stood out from their peers.  Some it was due to their design – they were very beautiful and professional looking.  But, the most memorable sites were the ones that took one good thing, added it to another and created something unique.

I had the opportunity this week to come across one of those sites.  I was actually in the process of submitting my site to a business directory when I noticed something different about the site that I was on – it was a link bid directory too!

Now, I might be a bit naive when it comes to these things, but it was the first niche link bid directory that I had ever seen – and it was a really good idea.  What I love about the link bidding system is that you can choose what position that you come up in the results – depending on your budget of course.

I expect to see many more of these niche bid directories come out of this idea – and to the owner of the site, let me just say good thinking!

If you promote your site by purchasing links, you may be familiar with some of the larger marketplaces such as Text Link Ads.

The major problem with most of the link marketplaces online is that if you want to buy links, it is one site at a time.  This can be a time consuming process and you may find that this type of marketing to be tedious.  Tired of wasting all that time looking for sites where you would like your link displayed?

The solution is simple: TNX.net.

TNX takes the traditional idea of purchasing links and simplifies it.  All you have to do is specify the number of links, the backlinks and PR of the sites you would like your advertisements on, and the type of sites you would like to have your advertisement placed on, and they will do the rest – automatically.  No more wasting time finding sites by yourself, rather they take care of it for you.

They also have an affiliate program where you can earn free advertising or cash by signing up advertisers and your friends to this wonderful program.

If you think that this may work out for you, you can try it out for free – I found a post on a forum where you can get some text link ads for free.

Scouring the web today I came across a nice health care services website (a bigger way to say a website of a medical office) offering Primary Care in Ridgefield.

To be honest, I have not personally visited a lot of websites dealing with medical offices.  What really struck me as a first impression was the clean and simple layout.  I was not bombarded with advertising, rather their site seemed geared to tell me what they do, where they are and what experience they have.

Also, in terms of site navigation, all the pages of the site are just a click away.  Having a simple directory structure helps people of all ages find what they are looking for easily and quickly.

We can also do the two minute test:  go to the site, look at it and tell a story about what the site is offering or selling.  Here is my answer:

Family Medical Associates is a medical office consisting of three doctors based out of Ridgefield, Connecticut.  They offer pediatric and general care in a comfortable environment.  From the testimonials on the site, it seems like they care about their patients and make an extra effort to give good service.

It would seem from their site that this would be the place to go for medical care in Ridgefield.  From my impression from their website, I would suggest if you live there, check them out – I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Today, I was pretty busy, but I had the urge to checkout what was going on in the news.  Specifically, I was looking for weird news and the latest gossip in the music industry.

Well, my first stop was at a strange news blog aptly named VeryWeirdNews.com.  Looking through the site, I found that there were a lot of interesting articles and particularly interesting headlines.  If a headline such as "Man gets screwed" doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what does.  The article is definitely not what you would think, rather it is about a man who stole screws from his employer over a period of two years.  The value?  $155,000 !

After reading some weird things that were happening in the world, I went looking for the latest music gossip.  I found another blog that had all the information that I was looking for:  2BlogMusic.com.  I learned the latest about Britney Spears and how that Madonna is being considered for the Music Hall of Fame.  Who knew?

Well, I guess I will have to go listen to the latest Britney Spears song, "Gimme More".  I wonder if it as good as her old music…

I recently came across a new blog online Lyons Leadership.  It is a new blog, just a couple of days old, and already has me hooked.

So far they have talked about stuff online and offline.  From fixing a toilet (that a child plugged) to surfing your favorite sites at school, they have a lot to offer.  Easy to read, and informative, I didn’t struggle to find the articles interesting or relevant to my life.

So check them out.  It is worth the read if you ask me

Let me summarize my life as a webmaster:

Wake up - Write – Promote – Sleep

Is this your webmastering style as well?

One of the tools I use to promote my websites is web directories.  Basically a web directory is similar to a search engine with the difference being that listings in a web directory are approved by a human being.  That being said, usually they have better quality and less spammy listings (notice the use of usually in the sentence).

There are both free and paid web directories that you can submit your site to.  I am not going to necessarily say which is better, though usually if you pay you can expect your listings to be approved faster than a free directory.  That being said, check out this small selection of web directories that I wish to highlight today.

The 4169 Free Link Directory has been around since early 2007.  They cater to those marketers with a budget and those without a budget (free listings).  The site is reasonably popular and my link was indexed quickly from the site.  For those of you with a budget, you can purchase a featured link for just five dollars and get your listing above the rest.  This is one of the directories I always submit my site to.

Tower Promote Link Directory is the oldest sites of the bunch.  Catering to those who want free listings and those who want to let their site stand out with paid listings, this site has everything that you need.  Since this site is older, search engines tend to rank links from this site as more important, therefore this site gives some special value to those who submit their sites here.  As a side note, if you submit a reciprocal link, your listing will be approved quicker.

Another old web directory I would like to mention is the Mitefind Paid Link Directory.  Now why would you want to submit your site to a paid web directory?  Simply put, your listing will be approved quickly as well in most cases these types of sites also have an advertising budget, so you know that you could get better exposure for your site.  Pricing is very reasonable (less than two dollars at this writing) and links are usually approved within a day. 

That’s it for today.  As I find more directories worth submitting to, I will mention them here.  Have a good day!

I recently came across a listing in a forum I visit for free backlinks from a brand new directory.  Obviously, my curiosity was peaked, and I had to check it out.  I followed the link in the forum post and found myself at:

A Free Directory

My first impression was great, as the site’s template was pleasing to the eyes.  I did some exploring and submitted some of my sites (for free – don’t mind that at all).  I was surprised to see that my sites were approved quickly – in less than a day.  I couldn’t resist submitting more of my sites.

A big thank you to the creator of this sites as I am already showing backlinks and some traffic from my listings.  If you have a website, you should consider submitting your site here as well.

You can find many sites on the internet dedicated to cars.  Most of these are dedicated to the average run of the mill cars that most of us drive.  There are also some websites that are interested in cool cars such as the ones used in F1 racing or NASCAR.  And then there are sites that are a little more unique that deal with supercars – expensive but road racing ready.

One such site I came across today is CoolSuperCars.com.  Full of quality information on cars such as the McLaren F1, Bugatti Veyron, Lucus Plethore, and more, you can find some extremely amazing pieces of mechanical engineering.  Did you know that the McLaren F1 can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds?  I didn’t till today.  Did you know that you can get the Rossion Q1 for under $100,000?  I didn’t either.

Reading the articles on the site, you can tell that the owner is very passionate about super cars.  It is also updated very often, so that there is always something new to read.  Check them out: CoolSuperCars.com.

I’ve gone on a lot of trips in my life.  Most of them were outside of the country.  What I didn’t know is that my regular medical insurance doesn’t cover any of my medical expenses while I am abroad.  Recipe for disaster?  You bet. 

Today I found a website that discusses the importance of travel medical insurance: AllAboardBenefits.com.   

Visiting the site, I found out that travel medical insurance is just like regular health insurance, the difference being that these policies take care of you when you are outside the country.  Talk to you insurance broker about the price and coverage available.  They can cover everything from supplemental insurance (in case your health insurance does cover certain procedures abroad) to full coverage for everything from visiting a doctor down to hospitalization. 

Thanks to this site, I will make the right choice when I go on holidays and get travel insurance.

I found and read two newer blogs today.  They are not brand new, but rather are a few months old but are full of valuable information – I urge you to check them out.

Juicy Lie is a blog – but it is not what you would think.  By the name, I would have guessed it to be some sort of gossip blog – and it definitely is not that.  Rather, juicy lie is slang for a rare shot into the rough, where the ball is lying on the grass.  Just as the definition implies, this site is rare as well.  You don’t find too many sites with interesting, unique articles on their pages – but they are full of creative aritcles.  It is a general blog, so it covers a lot of subjects, so you should be sure to find articles that interest you.

Misty Mountain Online is a blog with a slightly different focus.  Sure, it is still a general blog.  But the writing style is different than Juicy Lie, and they state that they are writing from on top of a misty mountain… from a cabin maybe?  Most of the articles are interesting with some of them teaching you something as well.  This one is relatively new and I look forward to reading it for years to come.