Posted 6/4/08 - Kellex


Consistent. Knowledgeable. Reliable. Interesting. Aggressive.

Wondering what the hell those are for? For me, those describe Mitchell Blatt to a "T". I've known Mitchell for just a short time now and have been lucky enough to have him write weekly columns here at the Sports Dollar.

The guy always brings it with every post. Sure he may have a severe case of hatred for certain pro bloggers but don't we all? With his guest writing and wealth of sports blogging knowledge he has helped this blog grow tremendously.

Please check out his personal page for more information and to request his services. (Oh, that sounded a little dirty.)


Did you know you can sell links on your site with Text-Link-Ads?

Posted 5/29/08 - Kellex




Please welcome the newest player in the text link selling business, TNX.net. These guys are really pushing this new system in hopes of taking over the market with some interesting twists on the text link selling front.

With TNX.net, webmasters are able to sell links on multiple pages rather than just on the main page of their site which could be up to 10 times more profitable. They are also allowing webmasters to choose their own advertisements rather than being stuck with something completely irrelevant.

Advertisers should like TNX.net because they are boasting cheap prices and a tool to make their links look "Google friendly". They also have some nice tools to help advertisers rank #1 in Google for highly competitive keywords.

Right they are offering a free links special to people through a post at the Digital Point forums that you may want to check out if you are interested in a service like this. There is also an affiliate program available at TNX.net.

So what is wrong with the service? Biggest problem which could really hurt their business is the fact that their script won't work on Blogger blogs. The code they ask you to add to your site is STATIC and Blogger at this point will not allow STATIC code. Sorry Blogger peeps!

We are definitely not endorsing this product by any means; this is simply a review. Please take all the right precautions whenever you apply to any advertising network!

Posted 5/5/08 - Kellex

We ran a review on the Juiced Sports Blog a week or so ago which you should check out if you haven’t! Well the editor of the site, Mitchell, also runs a weekly post dedicated to what we do every day. As a take off from that post, he also runs the Juiced Sports Blog Forums which are used to talk sports, making money and anything else you can think of when it comes to the sports blog world.

With the forums being fairly new, Mitchell has decided to attract some new people by offering them money! (Not in a bad way of course.) This is sort of a profit sharing idea to attract new users and participation. Since his forums are a part of the YardBarker Network (we are too!) then he gets paid for every post that someone makes. Being the nice guy that he is, he’s decided to share those profits with people willing to post frequently.

These forums are a brilliant idea as this “sports blogging for money” idea is fairly new. I’m hoping that it takes off so more and more sports bloggers will start to share ideas and learn from each other.

For more info, check out his post on “Getting Paid to Talk Sports” and the Juiced Sports Blog Forums.

This post brought to you by the PepperJAM Network and Review ME!

Posted 5/1/08 - Kellex


The Player:

Fantasy Baseball Dugout


The Stats:

Alexa: 1,893,669
Compete.com: 340,990
Google PageRank: 4


The Niche:

A straight up fantasy baseball blog doing its thing.


The Story:

The first impression of Fantasy Baseball Dugout is a very good one. The initial logo of a site does a lot for me and theirs works well in their color scheme and also for their particular niche. (Nice work guys!)

From there as you browse down the page you will find everything you ever wanted to know about fantasy baseball. Anything from the best catchers, pitchers, hitters and news is categorized and easy to find. Not being a fantasy baseball player, I find a little of it to be a foreign language but as a die hard sports fan I am still able to follow what is going on.

The site has been up since January to prep for the season and is now through its first full month of play. For April, and every month here on out, they will give away their Fantasy Players of the Month which is a nice award to see especially if your team is horrible and you need to make a major trade.

As I mentioned before, the color scheme all fits well but I do have some concerns about the overall layout. They have sections for "Categories", "Recent Posts", "Blogroll", and "Pages" but they are not together and you feel like you have to search a little too much to find them. Maybe renaming "Pages" to "Top Pages" may help readers distinguish between this and the "Categories" section.

You will also notice a ton of advertising. (Not always a bad thing!) Most of it is completely relevant to the topic which makes it bearable, but I still found myself searching around the ads to find some of the great content they have available.

The last critique and maybe the most important is the need of a link leading back to the home page! Most blogs use their logo image as a link back to "home" but for some reason I couldn't find one on this site and I had to keep using my back button and was never really sure if I was back or not.

Overall, this looks like a very well run fantasy baseball site. In its first year, I see a ton of success coming its way. They have constant updates and news which is key for fantasy baseball players that are looking to make last minute waiver deadline moves. Their Compete.com traffic seems a little low for the amount of traffic some fantasy sites see, so they may want to look at more promotion during these early stages.

Great work guys!

Posted 4/29/08 - Kellex


The Player:

Triviality of Basketball


The Stats:

Alexa: 994,468
Compete.com: N/A
Google PageRank: 2


The Niche:

A NBA basketball minded blog that looks into the triviality of the sport by asking some very entertaining questions.


The Story:

Triviality of Basketball is a very entertaining NBA basketball blog run by a 17 year old from the Philippines. This is also an NBA blog I was unaware of until Melvin, the author, approached me. You can tell from reading one paragraph of his work that he truly loves the game. Isn't that something we hear over and over again about the success of a blog? You must genuinely love or be passionate about your topic?

Well the Triviality of Basketball is definitely about love and passion. Melvin looks at the game the way I try to at Le Basketbawl. Rather than reporting average recaps and box scores, he takes a game and forms a questions from it to keep his readers answering. He also takes the time to form original thought that you won't see many places around the NBA's blog-o-sphere. I will always gives "props" to a blog run by a young and driven entrepreneur that will do whatever it takes to succeed.

I have two simple critiques for this blog and that would be for Melvin to watch his grammar just a little closer. At times, you can tell he is young and has not yet completely owned the English language. (Not that we are all grammar pros here!)

The other thing would be for him to purchase his own domain. Right now Compete.com is registering blogspot.com's numbers instead of his actual numbers. (Plus, advertisers tend to shake their heads at blogspot.com or wordpress.com addresses.) I can see the work he has put in, and making the switch earlier will save him much time and anxiety.

Overall, this kid has got a lot of great ideas and skills that should make Triviality thrive. I can't wait to see where Melvin will be in a year from now! Please stop by and drop him a comment; his threads live by reader participation!


Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from the Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!

Posted 4/25/08 - Kellex


The Player:

Juiced Sports Blog


The Stats:

Alexa: 199,183
Compete.com: 332,205
Google PageRank: 0


The Niche:

A general sports blog with some extra hatred for Stephen A. Smith plus a weekly money making post.


The Story:

According to its banner, Juiced Sports Blog has been up since 2007, but without an archive I couldn't find which month it actually started. (Compete.com started registering it in June of 2007 so we'll go with that.)

My first impression of this blog in one word would be, "hmmm...". I think its main goal here is to advertise every inch possible in order to make maximum dollars. This is not always a bad thing but navigating the site became a little awkward as I was trying to maneuver through by clicking on content rather than ads.

Once you get to the content though, you can tell that its author Mitchell, is a solid writer with a tremendous passion for sports. I love the sections dedicated to "Stephen A. Smith" and "Sports Humor". One thing that bothers me with many sports blogger is their lack of a lighter side. You can tell right off the bat that Juiced Sports is here for pure entertainment, which I like.

One section that appeals to the Sports Dollar is the weekly "Money Making" section Mitchell puts together. Each Saturday you are hit with a new tip for social networking, building traffic, or monetizing your site. As a sports/money making blogger, I love to find a different point of few towards the money making field especially when it has sports related references.

Also, don't forget to check out their forums! This is a great place to share blogging success stories or just chat up some friends about current sports topics.

Overall, the Juiced Sports Blog is off to a great start as a general sports blog with their light-hearted approach and humorous content. The addition of their money making section and forums should add to their early success if maintained and promoted. However, if you are scared to death of advertisements, you may want to wear shades or pick up an ad-blocker.

Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from the Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!

Posted 4/24/08 - Kellex


The Player:

Michael Aulia's Blog


The Stats:

Alexa: 201,106
Compete.com: 94,212
Google PageRank: 1


The Niche:

"Tech news, reviews and geek ramblings." A personal blog from Australia with a heavy influence on gaming reviews, Entrecard and life.


The Story:

Before Michael had asked for this review I already knew who he was through Entrecard. You see, if you need a jump start into the world of Entrecard or some tips, Michael Aulia is your guy. His face and 125 card are everywhere and for good reason, he knows what he is doing.

When you visit this page you are not blown away by flashy design and extra wingdings flopping around. (Thank you!) This site is kept neat, clean and purposeful. Michael has really bought into the idea that "content works" and has not wasted his time tricking readers with Ferraris or photos of his Google earnings.

Aulia has been blogging since October of 2007 and according to his last month's stats, has come a long way in just a short amount of time. As you can see the biggest boost in his stats was through StumbleUpon which is something everyone should consider. Many of you need to get off the Digg bandwagon and realize there are others out there that can give you just as good or better results. You may want to ask Michael for some tips!

What don't I like about this blog? You can tell he has read some Adsense tips books because he has some very strategically placed ads that blend into his content nicely. (Wait that is probably not a bad thing is it?)

There is one thing and that is the "Read the rest of the article..." option he uses. I know that many blog use this idea but as a personal preference, I'd rather read the whole damn article on your main page!

Overall I really like what Michael does with his blog. You won't find anything over the top and that is a nice change from most blogs out today. He's not trying to be something he is not with this site and he gives his readers plenty of updates and interesting material. What more could you ask for?

As a techie or gamer, you should be all over this one!

Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from the Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!

Posted 4/22/08 - Kellex

I stumbled across a unique opportunity on Sunday from a guy looking to spread the word on his new website. He was asking for takers that wanted 1000 unique visitors to be delivered to their website or blog. Well with The Sports Dollar being so new, of course I was up for that sort of deal!

The website is called Winive and evidently is some sort of online bidding/gaming site where visitors participate to try and receive prizes. The benefit to people like me is, we are able to sponsor a game which has referring banners and links to our site. From there you don't have to worry about sending the prize or dealing with details. Instead you just sit back and watch the traffic steadily flow onto your site. Did that make sense at all? Go to his site to take a look and it will seem to make a little more sense.

The site is based in Hungary or at least generates a ton of Hungarian visitors so the traffic does not exactly work for my niche. He did mention to me today though, that he is looking for more international participants so if you are interested, you may want to give him a shout.

He asked that I write up a review on the traffic and his site in exchange for the the visitors he was sending. Here are the traffic results:





As you can see, he wasn't lying! I talked to him on Sunday and the traffic started immediately for 2 full days and a little into the third.

Make sure to check the site out and see if Hungarian traffic is something you can monetize!

If you are interested or would like to contact the site owner, please drop me an email. If I just straight give out his info, you suckers may bombard him!

Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from The Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!

Posted 4/20/08 - Kellex


I was tipped on LinkShare.com by a our last review on The Recliner GM. I noticed a Sports Authority ad on their site and thought, "Wow, finally a legit sporting goods affiliate!"

LinkShare has one of the biggest sets of programs I have seen for any affiliate yet. I could sound like a total newb by just finding it, but I've had enough success with PepperJam lately that I haven't been looking for new affiliates to try out.

Besides Sports Authority, you will find programs for Eastbay, Hanes, Match.com, iTunes, Magazines.com, and many more.

LinkShare looks like an affiliate we will stick with for a while as it has enough programs to apply to just about every niche. We were starting to feel limited with others and this was just the breath of affiliate fresh air we were looking for!

Posted 4/18/08 - Kellex

The Player:

The Recliner GM


The Stats:

Alexa: N/A
Compete.com: N/A
Google PageRank: N/A


The Niche:

Baseball, basketball, and football coverage with a heavy dose of Philadelphia.


The Story:

The Recliner GM is the real deal if you are a major sports fan. It may come with a heavy Philly influence, but its 2 authors Dannie and Pete won't just stop there. In only 3 months in the blog industry, they conjured up a Google PageRank of 4 which is practically unheard of. (Of course they just forfeited that by switching to their own domain. Doh!)

The authors, Dannie and Pete each bring a huge sports background to the table which is obvious in their writings. Dannie played college basketball and Pete worked for the Phillies for 2 years, so from that you can tell these are some serious sports fans. Also take note that Dannie works in the marketing industry and Pete just absolutely is obsessed with sports. The two of those things together make up for a pretty kick ass blog I would say.

Their writing styles at times can be playful but these 2 really give it to you straight. As I said before, a ton of the coverage is Philadelphia influenced but you would never feel disgusted by it. They are true fans but show great professionalism with this site.

A few posts to check out:

• Post Birthday Sports Blogging
  
• The White Boy Report
• The White Boy Report: The 40 Year De-volution

They finally moved to their own domain and are dealing with the issues that brings but don't expect things to change at the Recliner GM. That PageRank and those stats will be up in no time as this is a solid player in the sports industry.

This is definitely a site to throw up in your reader and pay attention to. You can practically feel the great things happening here.

Also look to Dannie's special basketball site, Hoops State of Mind and maybe even another site in our niche?

(Second review in a row with my Entrecard ad on it. Wee!)

Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from The Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!

Posted 4/10/08 - Kellex

What's goin' on people!

I was approached by this great new fantasy baseball site, RotoHog.com. They seem to want to give away a Slingbox to anyone willing to play in their new league through their Golden Referral program.

I know the season has already started but it is really never too late to join into a baseball league. It sounds like a "friend" referral program and you'll need to refer some friends in order to win the Slingbox. Don't worry though, they have a ton of other prizes for you if you place in any league that you are in! Here is a portion of the press release they also have out there on a Cubs fan specific league:

Baseball's Opening Night on Sunday marks the start of the first ever Chicago Cubs Fantasy Baseball League. Chicago faithful will battle it out as they play fantasy baseball at RotoHog.com.

The RotoHog Chicago League is free to play, and participants are also automatically entered into the 2008 RotoHog.com Fantasy Baseball Championship with prizes to the Top 100 players at season's end, including a new 2008 Ford Mustang, Vizio LCD and plasma HDTVs, Nintendo Wiis, Sony PSPs, Sony Blu-ray Entertainment Systems and more. There are also free monthly contests with prizes like Sony PS3s, Slingbox AVs, TomTom GPS Systems or an Apple iTouch.

See! A ton of prizes to give away! Commercials too! Sign up by clicking the banner if you are interested.

Posted 4/6/08 - Kellex

The Player:

The Blue Workhorse

The Stats:

Alexa: N/A
Compete.com: N/A
Google PageRank: N/A

The Niche:

Covering four major American sports including baseball, football, basketball and hockey with some NCAA on the side.

The Story:

The Blue Workhorse, run by editor Shotgun Spratling (yes that is correct), is definitely a sports blog you should keep an eye on. The blog has 5 contributors whom all have amazing sports background and a ton to contribute: two are journalists, three are current coaches and they even have one aspiring MLB umpire!

With such a solid background you would expect solid commentary, analysis and insight into the world of sports. Well folks, they sure seem to be delivering so far. In just over 3 months, The Blue Workhorse has put out some gems on the NCAA tournament with their round by round “Workhorse” rankings and solid MLB divisional previews.

I enjoyed the overall layout of the site with its subtle yet pronounced blue accents. They may want to invest in a header or banner; right now the blog title is simply text. Their Google search box in the top right looks a little awkward but is not distracting in any way. You definitely do not feel overwhelmed by ads which is always a major plus for me, although you will see an Adsense box here or there.

Overall The Blue Workhorse is off to a great start and I’m sure you will be seeing more from its contributors in the future. I’m definitely interested to see how they handle the upcoming baseball season. I think we all know how long and grueling 162 games of commentary can be.

(An added bonus was seeing my Entrecard on their site today!)

Remember to order your free blog or product reviews from The Sports Dollar today! This service may not be free much longer suckers!