There are plenty of Link Roundups and “Mashup” articles floating around these days (I am including a couple in my post) and usually these articles are a list of links with titles and possibly a short description.

I like link roundup articles for a couple of reasons. First, because it is all about Blogger Luv. Linking out to other bloggers helps promote someone else (unselfish) while helping readers to discover a blog they may not be reading.

Usually theses articles are either a list of just links, or a list of links with a couple of words to describe it. I want to try something different with my list and write more like a standard article with more text surrounding the links I am sharing giving a description of the article and why you should read it.I believe in content links have more weight as far as showing “trust” than just your regular list of links (just my theory), and even if it doesn’t I hope it will read easier.
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Some of you that read my articles every day have probably noticed that I have been making frequent changes to the design and layout of this site (as well as a couple of my other sites).

Flexibility:

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try the Flexibility Theme, and I am so glad I did! If you haven’t tried Flexibility, please check it out.
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I have the KeywordLuv plugin on my blog (along with many other plugins) and I noticed some of my regular commentators don’t take advantage of it.

The reason it is there is so you can use keywords next to your name and the actual link is the keyword instead of your name. It is simple to use, and a great way to help get an anchor text link rather than your name for the link (unless you really want to rank for yourname).
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I remember when I created my first site on wordpress.com, it was a site related to fence products and installation methods (I was a sales manger for a fence company at the time), and my reason for starting a blog was purely to promote the company I worked for. I was compelled to do this by a friend of mine Scott Pooler, and he helped to teach me so many things I don’t know if I could ever repay him. Shortly after that, my company downsized and the owner decided to take my job. At that time, I decided to start my own fence company and hired Scott to build my site. This is where my addiction started….
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I have really been trying to “give more than I take” when it comes to blog/site promotion. I do believe that you almost have to spend as much (if not more) time promoting your “brand” as you do creating the “brand”. What I mean is, how much time do you spend researching and writing your articles vs how much time do you spend promoting your articles?

Promote Others:

For some reason so many bloggers don’t realize that to get you must give too. I have written about a challenge to promote others over on BloggerLuv, so I won’t get into this too much. But try to make it a habit to promote others too.
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The best part about being involved in multiple projects, is that I get the gratitude of learning and discovering new ideas, blogs, apps, plugins, etc… and the list can go on forever!

In my latest collaboration, Blogger Luv, I created a Fan Page so our readers can also interact there creating conversations on the wall. I wanted to be able to add the Blogger Luv feed to the page and hadn’t tried that with my own fan page(s). So, I set out on a mission (I had created fan pages for other sites, but never integrated the feed to it even though it has been on my ToDo list for weeks!), and after a couple of hours researching I figured out how to insert a single feed into the page.
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I have known Todd Fratzel for almost 2 years through social networking sites like Twitter. When we first met on a social networking site (Plurk I think it was) there weren’t too many bloggers in any of the construction/DIY/contracting fields, so we communicated with each other often, sharing articles, brainstorming future ideas, and became ‘friends’ on many networks.

Todd is the Principal Engineer for a large construction company in New Hampshire. He runs their design-build division that specializes in custom homes, commercial design-build projects and sub-divisions. Todd is also a licensed civil and structural engineer with extensive experience in civil and structural design and home construction. So, as you can see from those credentials, he writes about something he is actually an expert on.
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Today I wrote my first (and the first official) post for a site called Blogger Luv. This site is the brain child of John Sullivan, who is one of the hardest working bloggers I know. He is also one of the most giving bloggers I know, and will relentessly promote someone elses site if he thinks they are deserving of it.

The writers on Blogger Luv include 8 bloggers (one of which is me, and I am not sure who all the others are yet this thing is so new!) who will freely write on topics of their choice. I have an idea who some of the others are, and I can guarantee you the content will be great!.
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