Creating Powerful Friends: Samurai’s Alexa Ranking Challenge
There’s a fun hypothesis saying that you are the average of the closest five people around you. I believe this to be true, do you? What’s interesting about the blogosphere community is that anybody with enough intention can start a website. Some are interesting, some are not, but regardless we can all compete with the ProBloggers and the Huffington Posts of the web in our own niche way!
Alexa is a dynamic website ranking and information company owned by Amazon, which has over 40 million users world wide. The tool bar is free, and easy to download. The Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge is straight forward. If you’re outside of the top 200,000, get in the top 200,000 within 6 months. I can’t even name 100 sites, let alone 199,999 sites. Can you? If you’re already in the top 200,000, get in the top 100,000. And if you’re already in the top 100,000, get in the top 50,000.
There are some who poo poo the Alexa ranking system, and I recognize their two main arguments: 1) The system only tracks visitors who have the Alexa Toolbar installed, and 2) There are cases where some websites with bazillions of users have a worse ranking than sites with less users. We don’t know why, because we don’t fully know what goes into the calculations. It may be because readers don’t visit and just read off their RSS. That said, the Alexa ranking system continues to grow, and is the best system we got. At least 40 million webmasters around the world think so, and there has to be something to it if Google, Facebook, Yahoo and YouTube are ranked #1, #2, #3, and #4, respectively.
Since starting this site, I’ve been rejected as a guest poster, didn’t even get responded to, let alone make it as one of the 7 finalists for one site’s staff writer tryouts, denied admission to a personal finance blog network, and even got my first carnival submission rejected. But through all the rejections, I took comfort in my friend, Alexa, who is always by my side motivating me to keep going. I’m sure many of you have been rejected as well. Here’s your chance to create our own network of powerful friends by joining in on the challenge!
BENEFITS OF BEING IN THE TOP 200,000
* You’ll get to compete for a spot on the top personal finance blogs list (Yakezie Network) and be on the first page Wise Bread’s Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs ranking. I’ve heard some publishers in the Top 100 don’t even bother to associate with others outside page 1. Oh, the snobbery! But seriously, if you’re on page one, opportunities start coming to you, because this list has become the default ranking in the community, and the default ranking in the community uses Alexa. Remember the 80/20 rule. There are 440+ on the list now and I’m sure it’ll just continue to grow. The bigger the list grows, the harder it will be to reach the Top 100.
* Motivation. Unless you’ve got an established blog already, writing gets very lonely and discouraging sometimes when not many people come to visit. You might say you are writing for yourself and don’t care, but if that’s the case, why make your writing public? Witnessing progress is fun!
* If you love books, you’ll get approached by authors and publicists looking to send you tons of free books to review and giveaway. You may even get a catalog of a publisher’s entire library of books from which you can choose from. In fact, you will have opportunities to sample many free products if you so choose. You know how movie stars get all those goodie bags of stuff to sample at the Oscars even though they’re already rich and don’t need more free stuff? It’s kinda like that, a virtuous cycle of people who provide mutual benefits. If you someday wish to write a book, you now have direct access to the very people who reject hundreds of authors everyday!
* Advertisers will flock to you, and ask you to pimp things you’ve never heard of. Some of them, could be gems, but many will be junk traps. The Top 100,000 ranked sites on Alexa (top 0.25%) earn 72% of all revenue, hence you can potentially earn a good amount of lunch money from your site over time. I have been very disinterested in advertising over the past the past six months, but I’ve recently had an “a-ha” moment. Part of the money generated from this site will be donated to charity to help others more in need.
* Other big sites who never bother responding to you, suddenly take notice and give you the time of day. Those comments you leave asking for feedback or help actually get addressed. Cut them some slack though, because I’m sure they get inundated. You can also join plenty of “exclusive” networks if you wish.
* If you want to earn a partial living as a staff writer, you have a much higher chance of getting accepted. Furthermore guest posting and having others guest post on your site will be easier.
* You cultivate a competitive edge, get inspired and appreciate those who are way up the rankings. I used to think watching golf on TV was extremely boring. After I began hacking it up on my own, I now find watching golf extremely fascinating! Same thing with a website. You truly start to appreciate the marketing geniuses of some bloggers out there, and therefore strive to better yourself.
* Girls or guys, depending on your sex and preference, will love you when you say you have a “top” website at the bars. For a brief moment, you can escape your mundane day job and pretend you are someone really important. You could try saying, “Hi there good looking, I am the the CEO & Editor of X, America’s #1 personal finance site” for example, and you’ll immediately be whisked away into la la land.
TIPS ON BREACHING ALEXA TOP 200,000(Please share more if you have any!)
* Badge & Toolbar. Download and install the Alexa toolbar and put the badge on your site. The Alexa toolbar is fascinating because it shows you so much detail about other sites you visit. The badge will naturally peak interest as well. The ranking is dynamic, and motivating.
* Content. Nothing else really matters, and that includes doing all that SEO stuff. I had no idea what a site-map was, or what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) even stood for the first 4 months. If you write something you feel strongly about, you’ll do great. Try and write with a thesis. Whether you are right or wrong is besides the point. What’s more important is to get readers thinking about the topic at hand. Write what you know, too, because if you try to fake it, people can tell.
* Content Length. Did you know that the average person spends just 7 seconds on a resume? The point is that people have short attention spans, and if you write in huge paragraphs, with no breaks in the post for categories, you’ll likely lose readers. After the 1,300th word, people’s eyes start glazing over, unless it’s superbly written. This post violates this rule with 1,650 words, so I need to practice!
* Personality. Realize that you can’t please everybody all the time. If you write with no thesis, no conclusion, no personal spin, then what’s really the point? The great thing about the internet is that the market place is so huge, if our friends in America aren’t stopping by, maybe our friends from Australia will!
* Frequency. If you can post 2-4 times a week, that’s good enough! You can try posting everyday, but you increase your chances of burn out, and you’re not getting maximum exposure for the articles you’ve written. Notice how comments fade from your post after a new one comes, even though the older article is only a day or two old. Instead, use the days off to visit other sites, comment, build relationships and let your articles percolate.
* Branding. Get an image that one can easily recognize as you. Go to Gravatar.com, and use that image in many things you do. There are a lot of Davids, Johns, and Jims in the community. Instead, sign off as a variation of your site, or your site itself because nobody has a monopoly on your common name, and you may confuse others.
* Read & Comment. Actually read an entire post and get the concept. If the post is too boring, skip it, but if it’s interesting enough, share your thoughts. Comments inspire writers, because it shows that someone is listening. There will be reciprocity.
* Twitter. Twitter is probably the best micro-blogging tool out there, which I don’t do enough because it’s off during the day. I’m amazed how some have thousands of followers, and can also follow hundreds of people as well. Make sure you have a widget that will allow others to retweet your content easily.
* Guest Post. I’ve only done only one guest post, and that was with Wise Bread six months ago. I would have done another, but my second guest post got rejected because it was deemed too controversial. Surprise! Since then, I haven’t guest post for another site and have diverted all my attention here. The rejected article hasn’t been published here just in case you’re wondering, but it will. If you can write quality content on bigger blogs, while producing quality content on your own site, that’s probably the best way to go.
Update: The rejected article is now up: “How To Get Your Super Motivated Boyfriend (SMB) To Marry You”
* Promote Others. If you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel in the rankings, be selfless and promote others relentlessly. Even if you are doing OK for yourself, promote others freely. That includes re-tweeting and highlighting other articles on your own site. The higher ranked sites will be appreciative and eventually return the favor.
* Don’t Think About Making Money. Because it will likely take a year or so if you’re lucky to earn over $1,000/month from your blog, the money you receive may demotivate you. As soon as you start writing for money, you start losing your soul and it’s not as fun. Write what you want to write, and the money will come.
CONCLUSION
If you just focus on two things, focus on content and promoting others. We’ve taken the initiative to start something on our own, so we might as well give it our best shot. Like all ventures, it’s not easy maintaining the intensity and team effort goes a long way. If we’re all in the top 200,000 by summer, we’ll be quite an influential bunch! Just think about all the things we can do.
Once you break your particular Alexa benchmark, you can officially call yourself a Yakezie (pronounced yah-KAY-zee, and not to be confused with Yakuza). Fail to achieve your goal in six months and you don’t have to chop off your pinky! Who’s in?
TO JOIN THE YAKEZIE ALEXA RANKING CHALLENGE
1) Install the Alexa toolbar if not already and comment what your current Alexa ranking is, so we can keep track.
2) Write consistently 2-4 times a week on your own site and consider guest posting around the community including on Yakezie.com to raise your profile.
3) Install the Yakezie Challenger Badge.
4) Announce on your blog that you have joined the Yakezie Challenge.
5) Selflessly promote others and build relationships.
6) Stay committed and consistent over the next 6 months! Whether you are a huge blog or a start-up, everybody most go through a 6 month Challenge period to ensure that we build the best relationships possible.
7) Come introduce yourself on the Yakezie Challengers Forum and get to know your fellow Challengers and Members.
8) Once the 6-month challenge is over, let us know how far you’ve come in the forums, on your blog, and via an e-mail. If you’ve developed good relationships, broken 200,000 in Alexa, and are ready for the next step, we will invite you to submit a form and write your Yakezie Member Post and become an official member.
Keiju,
Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”
Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS feed.
All very good tips. Really, the more you give, the more that comes back to you. Think about this when looking for opportunities, guest posting, etc.
It’s tough, but if you stick with it, you will get there! It’s hard to be EVERYWHERE, but that’s what it takes to make it to the op. I would also add to make a list of sites that you like that are related to yours, and visit them at the very least, once a week, and comment often. They will eventually take notice and you will notice your stats go higher and higher.
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Just saw this challenge after reading Budgeting in the Fun Stuff! I’m a new blogger in the PF community, but I’m in! Thanks for the inspiration and continued success to you and all the 1st pagers on the Wisebread Top 100. I hope to be there sooner than later so look out! :)
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Financial Samurai Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:02 am
David, sounds good man. BITFS has been rocking it, showing that anybody can do great if they just stick with it!
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@ David H.
One thought for you is to link to fellow Yakezie’s posts, whether in a round-up or when your write a new one keep the list
http://www.creditcardchaser.com/yakezie/
handy and link to one or two posts that add to your writing.
Since joining, I’ve gone from 191K to 106K, really pleased with the results.
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There are some absolutely great tips here – I too should use twitter more and i had totally forgot about the widget to “re-tweet” – must get on that…thanks for posting!
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Joined the Yakezie challenge a while ago, and it is an awesome motivation boost.
A lot of people are far more willing to help me out because I am a Yakezie member, as well, so it’s an all-around good thing.
When I started, I was a long ways down at 12,000,000 or so. Since then, I moved to 6,000,000, and now, I’m at just over 2 million, and I actually have links in!
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How can I get included with the Yakezie Carnivals?
Thanks.
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Count us in!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Welcome guys! How are things going?
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I don’t know why I didn’t join earlier.
Anyway, here I go…
Starting #1,115,170.
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I am in. I should have joined sooner but didn’t. Starting point 761,131
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Sounds great bsimple! Welcome to the challenge! I think you’re going to find it a great experience and meet a lot of great people. Going to write an updatee on Yakezie.com on Wed, Aug 18th so stay tuned. In the meantime, hope to see you around the network and building relationships!
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Jerret Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Hey bsimple. Nice to see you here. I just joined too.
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Thanks again for stopping by my site, Sam!
I thought about joining a while back but didn’t. I did start following the suggestions though and bumped up my Alexa ranking a good bit. But I’m officially joining now, and my Alexa ranking is at 225,269 today. I’ll announce it on my site this Friday!
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I have tried the 3 blog posts a week strategy on my own private blog yet it still never gets me more visitors! I think blog post titles have a lot to do with people finding your blog and my blog posts must just not be interesting enough!
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Joining the challenge today. I’m at 487k in Alexa.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Welcome Moneyedup! Looking forward to seeing you around the community!
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I joined the challenge today. I’m at 2,012,515 in Alexa. Woo hoo!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Welcome Jerret! Nice picture of your baby! 2 million means nothing but upside!
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Hi, I just installed the badge and I’m not quite sure… Maybe I missed above. This is still on-going, right?
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Hi, I just joined the challenge! Starting at Alexa rank 897,809. My post http://www.everypesocounts.com/2010/08/joining-yakezie-alexa-ranking-challenge.html
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 19th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Sounds good Tim. Welcome! Love your site’s name. See you around the community!
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just an added thought on Alexa – last fall i had the opportunity to attend a google hosted forum for adsense earners in california. the consistent message i heard was that alexa gives you the “rank” of the website or blog within the realm of keywords that it targets. many still think that a rank of 200,000 means their site is the 200,000th ranked site out of the millions online. however, the 200k represents the rank within that website’s niche only. that said, webmasters did mention that achieving ranks under 300k is a solid accomplishment and usually means the site is making a healthy income (if monetized appropriately)
looking forward to participating in the challenge down the road.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:36 am
Those are interesting thoughts Sunil. Basically the goal is to compete in a challenge (Alexa) which has an algorithm that bakes in many variables. There is a correlation to traffic and page rank and all that stuff the lower your ranking goes. Look forward to seeing you around consistently in the network and reaching your goal!
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Hi,
I also decided to join the challenge. Alexa 3 months rank 2,368,510. My post and the badge should be up tomorrow in my weekend’s edition.
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Hey there – just joined the Yakezie challenge. My badge and blog announcement will go up tonight!
My starting Alexa ranking: 2,175,623 – like Sam says – nothing but upside! :D
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Financial Samurai Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:04 am
Nothing but upside indeed! How are things going?
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All roads seem to lead me back to this site! You have done well on promoting the Yakezie challenge. We are just under 200k, as of yesterday was at 185k but our goal is to be well under 100k by the beginning of the year (2011). I know its possible with the pointers you have given! Thanks
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Heya,
I too just joined the challenge and am simply stoked. My announcement will be up tonight.
My starting ranking is: 1,283,063
Thanks for instigating this, what a great idea :)
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Financial Samurai Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:03 am
How are things going? You still rocking it?
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Count me in for the challenge! Starting at 1,091,440 Alexa ranking. Announcement will be on the blog on Tuesday.
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I just started my personal finance blog last month and I am really interested to reach that 200,000 Alexa ranking goal. I think this challenge will really help me. Count me is as well. As of 9/5/2010, my Alexa ranking is at 5,888,869.
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I learned about the Yakezie Challenge from Kevin at Invest It Wisely. I decided to join today. Today I have an Alexa Rank of 1,713,460. I look forward to interacting with everyone and becoming more involved in the challenge.
Mike
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I learned about this recently and think its a great idea! Count me in1
As of today my Alexa Rank is 4,758,048 and while I have a way to go I have been seeing a steady increase in traffic. While my blog isn’t directly a PF blog it is what I would call a tech/productivity lifestyle blog.
What better way to make money than by becoming more efficient and effective!
I look forward to interacting with the network and showing and receiving some “link love” while we share our ideas.
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Joining the Yakezie Challenge today! Count me in! My current Alexa Rank is 1,024,884.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Frugal Guy, how’s it going man? Did you survive the Challenge to Join the Beta Class?
http://yakezie.com/10181/personal-finance/welcome-yakezie-beta-class
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Yay.. I have been watching this for a while reluctantly to join. I wasn’t sure if I could keep up the blogging religiously but I have did it for the last few months. So, I am ready to commit. Publicly. I will still have to work out the badge in the right place on my site.. Alexa 3,517,029
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Welcome to the Challenge! We know you can do it! Feel free to put the badge up on the right column.
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Just took the decision to join the Yakezie challenge with 3 of my blogs.
Since I have never considered Alexa ranking, this will be a great challenge!
Here are my numbers as of today:
The Financial Blogger: 163,498
The Dividend Guy Blog: 256,261
Green Panda Treehouse: 263,187
I definitely have a lot of work in front of me!
Thx Sam for putting us up for a great challenge!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 13th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Welcome Mike! That’s a lot of blogs! That would be great if you breached 150,000 or 100,000 on all three! I’m sure current Members and Challengers would really appreciate your blogging business insights.
Good to hear your story on the Public Forums! http://yakezie.com/forums
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Hi,
Here’s an update from us.
We’re continuing to move up the rankings and are now at position 1,758,000. Obviously still a long, long way to go but at least we’re headed in the right direction. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our site.
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I am very excited to join the Yakezie Challenge. I think I am the only blogger from the UK.
As of today my ranking is 1,440,340 and I am sure we can do better than that.
Onwards and upwards!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Viviana, how are things going? Haven’t seen you around recently.
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Really need a push to get me out of my comfort zone and i believe this challenge will do. Have been watching it for a while but i finally gave myself the needed push to join. Am in and as of today my Alexa ranking is 7,802,396 and my Yakezie badge has been installed. I’ll do a post soon on my blog
I know i have a lot of work to do but am really excited to be part of this.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 20th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Sounds great! I’m sure you will do well if you try over the next 6 months. Feel free to introduce yourself to your fellow challengers!
http://yakezie.com/forums/yakezie-reader-insights/yakezie-challengers-forum
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Thanks for starting this challenge. This is great motivation for me, and I’m sure for lots of other people. My current rank is #10,374,175. With a little hard work, I’m sure I can get that below #200,000 in six months.
Wish me luck everyone!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 20th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
No problem man. That’s a great video you did. Who sang??
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Kevin @ Thousand-aire.com Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 4:44 am
That was me singing. Took me a whole weekend of audio editing to take it from awful to acceptable. :)
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 5:46 am
Very well done! I can’t hit those high notes, and therefore stay in baritone :)
http://cdn.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/5stringserenadessamuraiFINAL1.mp3
I am in as of today. My rank is #342,592. Looking forward to networking with some fellow pf bloggers!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 29th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Welcome John! Come introduce yourself in the Yakezie Forums to your fellow Challengers! http://yakezie.com/forums/yakezie-reader-insights
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Hello everyone!
WE – http://www.YourSmartMoneyMoves.com – have officially joined the Yakezie Challenge as of today! Our current Alexa rank is 202.397. We look forward to meeting, interacting, sharing and growing with all of you!
Sincerely,
Ted Jenkin, CFP®,
AWMA®, CRPC®, AAMS®, CMFC®, CRPS®
Co-CEO and Founder oXYGen Financial, Inc. & YourSmartMoneyMoves.com
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I am extremely late to the party but I’d still like to join if you’ll still have me. My blog ranking is 981,046.
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Thanks to Forest over at http://frugalzeitgeist.com, I am joining the challenge and very excited about it. I have done the basic steps and my current Alexa ranking is 1,585,180 and looking forward to cracking the 200K mark! Let’s go get’em!!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Congrats on making it man! It is great that you have joined mate. Looking forward to reading your Member Post!
http://yakezie.com/10181/personal-finance/welcome-yakezie-beta-class
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I just started my blog last week and right now I am at “no rank.”
Is there any other way to start a challenge?
I just put Yakezie badge on my blog. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about personal finance and blogging for me.
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Hello all! Modern Tightwad is joining on the Yakezie Challenge (I’m always last to the party). My alexa rank is 1,537,024. I’m very much looking forward to working and visiting with everyone. I’ve been writing on Modern Tightwad for a little over a year now, but am excited to actually start working on the blog. We need your anti-burnout support! :)
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Don’t forget to sign up! http://yakezie.com/10181/personal-finance/welcome-yakezie-beta-class
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I announced my joining of the challenge 2 weeks ago on my blog (http://community.careonecredit.com/b/straight_talk_on_debt/archive/2010/09/28/i-m-all-in-yakezie.aspx) and have just finished all the steps to get started. I have been following many of the challengers for the past few months and I am so excited to be able to connect and share with everyone! My current Alexa ranking is 53,244
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I can’t remember when Control Your Cash joined the challenge – certainly within the last 6 months – and right now we’re sitting at a tantalizingly close #202,489.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
October 14th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Nice. Feel free to upload your Member Post after your 6 month period, and we’ll put it up!
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Hi Everyone (and Sam),
I love the idea of the challenge and accept, if you’ll have me. I’m more on the travel lifestyle side of blogging but have started talking about the money side of my site/lifestyle more http://www.toddswanderings.com
My current alexa ranking is 134,020 and this is perfect motivation I need to help me make the push below the 100,000 mark.
Looking forward to meeting the community here.
Cheers,
Todd
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Financial Samurai Reply:
October 29th, 2010 at 6:02 am
Hey Todd! Good to hear from you mate. We’d love to have new Lifestyle Bloggers as part of the mix. Welcome to the Challenge! Feel free to introduce yourself in the Yakezie Public Forums to your fellow Challengers! http://yakezie.com/forums/yakezie-reader-insights/yakezie-challengers-forum
Looking forward to seeing you around.
Best, Sam
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Todd | Todd's Wanderings Reply:
October 29th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Hey Sam, great! I remember you telling me about this earlier when I was just getting started earlier this year. Great to be a part of this group and I’ll introduce myself and the challenge this week.
Cheers,
Todd
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This takes me back. When we first started out 6 years ago we installed the Alexa Tool Bar and very quickly it almost took over our lives. Desperate to get into the top 100,000 we threw everthing at it we finally manage to get to about 98,000 but then as nothing really changed when we got there, we kinda just lost interest and gave up worrying about it.
However, I might start watching it again as a bit of fun.
Thanks for injecting a bit of fun back into this sometimes tedious occupation!
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I’m joining the challenge today. Gotta get to at least 200,000 in 6 months. I’m starting at 1,790,984.
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I write mostly bank reviews about CD Rates. I occasionally will impart some “wisdom” on the economy. Does the site in my sigline qualify? Let me know. I’ve visited some of your blogs over the years and commented.
cd :O)
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I’m totally in. What a fantastic idea. =)
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I’m in. I’m making my announcement on my blog tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be a challenge to grow from 13,268,504 to under 600,000 in six months, but I’ll see what happens.
Romeo
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Romeo, you’ve come a long way since November 13th. We’re going to get your Member Post up in April or in the Gamma Class!
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Romeo Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Thanks, I’m doing my best by writing for fun. You have made blogging more interesting, though, Sam. I really appreciate the extra motivation by which this challenge produces. I wish I were more involved with Yakezie; I will after the book and grad school is complete in May, trust me.
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Fantastic idea. Count me in!
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Well up for it! You can count me in too!
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Okay, so I’ve tried to register for the forums 9 different times now. Every time I do it says that I’m entering the Image Validation in correctly. There is no way that I am – 9 times. So I don’t know what to do. =(
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Romeo Reply:
November 16th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I have also had the same problem, so you’re not the only one.
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Here we go! We just launched our blog over the weekend with 7 articles. I have now gotten my (woeful) Alexa rank – over 23 million! Time to pull those socks up. I have the Yakezie icon on the site now and i’ll write a post tonight. Glad to be on board! (just need to figure out why I can’t create an account – the verification keeps failing for me)
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Sustainable PF Reply:
November 22nd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Fixed now – thanks for the super fast response!
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Today’s Alexa Traffic Rank is 2,402,110 as of December 5, 2010. I’m in. Love the concept!
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I finally got around to joining — should have done this long ago. Current rank is 1,772,811. As you say, nothing but upside potential!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Matt, don’t forget to sign up for the Beta Class http://yakezie.com/10181/personal-finance/welcome-yakezie-beta-class
Also, looking forward to reading your new book!
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Matt Bell Reply:
February 28th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Sam, I haven’t quite cracked the top 200,000 yet. I started at 1.7 million in December and am now at 400,000, so I’m moving up quickly, but I’m not there yet. So, I assume that means I should wait before signing up for the Beta Class. Is that right? One of the application questions asks when you broke through the 200,000 barrier. Please advise. Thanks!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 28th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Hmmm, tough one. If you have been actively interacting with the other Members, linking back to them with wrap posts, commenting on their blogs and such, you should be able to crack 200,000.
Give it a final 1-2 month push! Should help with your book too.
If everyone commenting here visited each others website, there would be huge growth in Alexa rankings!
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Great post! I wish I had started my personal finance blog sooner so that I could have participated! Oh well, I guess its better late than never — will get there on my own eventually, but this post has given a lot of inspiration.
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Launching a new blog next week and will definitely be taking the challenge.
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Yay, I’m so excited to join the Challenge! I just started my blog last month. I didn’t know what my focus would be until I found this place. Current rank is 14,093,680.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 30th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Welcome, and come introduce yourself in the Yakezie forums on Yakezie.com! Also, today is the last day for the Scholarship voting, so please come vote and share your support for the kids!
http://yakezie.com/forums
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I’m in. Current rank is 998,110!
Why didn’t I join sooner? :)
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Well, I just ran across this site and post and felt like it would be a good idea to join the challenge since I am wanting to increase my Alexa rank. I was hoping that I could get in the top 500,000 by the end of 2010 but that didn’t happen. Now as part of the Yakezie challenge, I am striving to move from a rank of 648,006 to be in the top 200,000 by the 1st of July 2011. Wish me luck and thanks for the inspiration.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 8:34 am
Hi Kidgas,
Welcome to the Challenge! The most important part is getting to know your fellow Challengers and future Members. Introduce yourself in the Yakezie.com forums is a great first step. Cheers, Sam
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Joining in today from 6,945,180. Ramping up my focus on content and building relationships should get be to 200k in the new few months.
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Happy to be part of the challenge at my blog.
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Should have added that my current rank is 1,255,607
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Yikes. I have a ways to go, but ever optimistic. I joined a while ago, but got pulled away. Committing NOW to 6 months of blogging, helping others. Can’t list my rank here until it gets better. ;-)
Come visit me at http://www.upsideofmoney.com or on Twitter (@upsideofmoney) and let me get to know you as well (leave a comment, tweet, what have you).
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I’m late to the party and far behind! Anyway I’m at #4,593,526.
Let’s just say there’s room for improvement :)
Just wondering, should I move from Blogger to my own domain?
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Financial Samurai Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
I definitely recommend you go on WordPress and get your own URL if you want in for the long term for great glory! :)
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Roy Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Thanks for the advice Sam. I did the first (easiest) step and got a URL.
Just shopping around for a host. Have been recommended Fat Cow, Blue Host, Hostgator, Stablehost and Dreamhost. But then when I google for complaints there seem to be loads of complaints for all. So confusing! Your thoughts?
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Roy Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 6:32 am
Correction. Just got my own domain so I’m now at #9,453,473. Ouch!
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Hey I’d like to join! Current rank 7,307,986. Been blogging since July ’10 but made a clean start with a new domain at the end of December. I’ve been checking out tons of other blogs, so cool! I had no idea there was this whole community of PF bloggers out there!
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Eventually, I am not working with Alexa because the competitions are high there. I have my own blog, which is ranking good in Google but I have seen it’s also in good positions in Alexa. I have never thought so much about it. But, I obliged to tell you that after reading this article, I would like to start optimizations via Amazon. Thanks for the inspirations.
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I’d like to join. Thanks for all the good work you are doing. Current rank: 4,272,822
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Welcome to the Challenge! Look forward to seeing you around for sure. Love your blog’s name! Cheers
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I just joined today! We’ve got a long way to go 11, 650, 860 is our starting point. Nowhere to go from here but up!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Good stuff LaTisha. I’ve been seeing you around Yakezie.com with your comments! The Yakezie Forums is a great way to interact with others, so please feel free to spend time there too.
Cheers
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I love the Yakezie mission. I’m in. Myself and Power Spending co-authors are joining the challenge. Creating a blog section of our site today.
Current alexa: 655,630.
200,000… here we come!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
Eric, sounds good man. I really appreciate your insight and comments here and on Yakezie.com so far. Feel free to utilize the Yakezie Forums for further networking and more info!
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Seldom am I IMPRESSED. To tweet this is not doing it justice. Though I think the greater focus should be on your sales conversions regardless of your alexa rankings. I do respect the detail you provided to bloggers around the world. I am going to email you.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Darren, did you ever e-mail me mate? Are you impressed?
The Alexa Ranking is just a barometer. What’s more important are the relationships we will build and have built within the Yakezie Network.
Thanks
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Darren Scott Monroe Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
I sure did the same night. I take it you forgot all about me LOL
I just resent to your gmail.
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I joined the Yakezie challenge today and introduced myself on the forum. My question is where do I find the articles of the other Yakezie members/challengers to be able to promote them. I see creditcardchasers has a spot on their site with a list, but is there anything else?
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
We’ve got a great site at Yakezie.com. Take a look at the top right hand side of the home page. Thx
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I’ll join too – my current ranks is just shy of 6 million – got plenty of work to do! Might bring the fun back into SEO!
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I just joined the challenge, but have to admit I am still a little confused. Perhaps some who have gone through it could shed more light on it.
Also, I would love to swap guest posts. if you might be interested, head on over to my blog and check it out – http://www.thesinglesaver.com
The Single Saver
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 20th, 2011 at 10:33 am
What things are you confused about? Cheers.
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I joined the Yakezie challenge today and currently sit at 8,726,187 which means I have a long way to go, but i’m up for the challenge you can see my post about the challenge at http://www.mmanit.wordpress.com the name of the blog is I’m Not Sure. looking forward to reading and learning along the way. Making some friends and being part of a community of people with like minded goals and topics.
Very excited to start this process.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Welcome Tina! You may want to consider buying a URL domain name. It helps with the audience and with potential future partners if and when you grow!
Cheers
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Late to the game, but ready to win! Starting at 1,290,448 and inconsistent posting schedule, which ends today! Good luck to all participating!
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I’m ready to start the challenge!
My current Alexa rank is 273,454.
I posted about it here http://www.networthjourney.com/joining-the-yakezie/. I’ll be heading over to the forum now …
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I am joining the challenge! My blog is at http://www.moneyinthe20s.com I am starting with a ranking of 8,007,006. I have a long way to go, but this will definitely be a great motivation for me! I look forward to learning from all of the others participating.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
March 21st, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Sounds good Dave. Visit the Yakezie Forums and introduce yourself. Good luck and hope to have you rocket to the top in 6 moths!
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I’m joining the challenge with an Alexa score of 1,671,450, so I too have a ways to go! I’m looking forward to the challenge with my blog about being a working mom at http://www.theultimatejuggle.com So here we go!!
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Starting the challenge! Current Alexa rank of 2,017,539. Hopefully this challenge will help pull my site up into the top 200,000 in Alexa. That would be great!
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I’m joining the challenge! My current Alexa rank is #2,703,660, but I’m looking forward to getting in the top 200,000! See you all there!
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Hi there Financial Samurai!
Thanks for the challenge. I’d love to participate. My current Alexa Ranking is 836,277. Thank goodness you didn’t ask my age. ;) See you at the top!
Muwah!
Diva
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Financial Samurai Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Welcome! Straight to the top, I like it!
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Hi there! I’m really looking forward to this challenge. As of today, my Alexa rank is 1,346,605. I can’t wait til that number has fewer commas in it!
Babybluewater
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