Blog Engage---Engage With Bloggers

Hi kids, found a really cool new site and just had to come tell you about it. The site is called Blog Engage and I'm kinda digging it. Why? Because it's got the basic elements of a blogging community, but this one isn't for the average Joe...or Josephine. This one is kinda big-time kiddies. Let me explain.

Blog Engage is a paid membership blogging community. I know, I know. Paying to hang out with a bunch of other bloggers doesn't sound right, but this place is a little different than most. There are some elements that most will recognize, especially anyone who's ever worked an article with Digg. It's much the same as the members of this community will vote on, or Engage, the articles of other members. So, for instance, if I were to add an article about finding free business books online, the other members of this site can either vote the article up or down, (my biggest fear EVER).

So now you're thinking, “Yeah, so why do I have to pay to do this”. Well there's more to it than just getting voted on or getting to vote. There's the idea of having your blog seen by hundreds, or even thousands, of people. Blog Engage sponsors several contests throughout the year and the money collected via the memberships is used toward prizes for the winners of those contests. Throughout the rest of 2011, Blog Engage will be holding monthly contests. First prize is $200, second and third prizes are $100 each, and fourth and fifth prizes are $50 each. Also included in the prize packages are RSS feed syndications and contest sponsorships.

Yeah, okay. So what's all that about? Let me go in deeper. There are 5 different membership packages available. These run from $19.95 per month to $1.99 per month. I'll even give you the run down on what comes with each package. Check it out!!

The Bronze Membership---$1.99 per month
Your articles get submitted into the Blog Engage community every 8 hours, but that's it. Not a bad deal as all your stuff is still getting seen.

The Silver Membership---$3.99 per month
Your articles get submitted to the community every 3 hours, but that's it. A little better than before, especially for those who write multiple posts per day.

The Gold Membership---$4.99 per month
This option gives you 1 niche category as well as submits your articles to the community every hour. Now the site says that there is no contest sponsorship, but I don't think that's right as this month's contest has several Gold sponsors and offers 50 points per reviewed site. So let's just go with that. LOL

The Platinum Membership---$9.99 per month
This package allows you up to 3 different blog feeds and allows you 3 different niche categories. Plus your site will be featured as a contest sponsor and your articles will be submitted every hour.

The Business Membership---$19.99 per month
This is the big Kahuna. This membership allows you to showcase as many as 5 different blog RSS feeds, allows you 3 different niche categories, makes you a contest sponsor, and submits your articles to the community every hour.

One thing I should mention here is that all of the above memberships can either be paid on a monthly or a yearly basis.

So now that you know all that, let me tell you about the coolest part; being a contest sponsor. Once you've signed up and become either a gold, platinum, or business member, your blog will be showcased in the monthly contest.

Each month throughout the rest of 2011, various blogs will be posted for participants to review. The more blogs reviewed by members, the better their chances at winning one of the prizes offered. Business membership sites are worth 150 each, platinum sites are worth 100 each, and gold membership sites are worth 50 points each. Each member of Blog Engage has the same amount of chances to win, it all depends on how many sites each person reviews and whether or not they add the contest ads to their sites. It's best to just check out the contest page and read all the rules and options.

Finally, Blog Engage has just started a new program in which new members don't have to join a set membership, but can pay a one-time fee of $29.99. This is help bring in new members that can help drive more quality traffic to various blogs and their posts.

Seriously, for anyone who's interested in taking their blog and their work to new levels, Blog Engage is the way to go. Whether through one of the 5 membership offers or the one-time fee, it's worth the money to have quality traffic driven to your site and have real people read your work.