The Net Fool’s Outrageous Blog Contest came to a close last week, and Jim from The Net Fool announced the winners on Monday night. 

Fortunately, I was one of the winners!  In return for the points I earned from blogging about the contest and the frequent comments I made on various posts on The Net Fool, I won the following prizes:

  • $500 Custom Premium Blog Design
  • Premium Subscription to DotSauce.com
  • One Buck Wiki Page
  • Beer Stock Page

Obviously, the prize I’m most excited about is the custom blog design.  (I like the DotSauce subscription, too, but I’ll post about that at a later date.) 

Now, a premium blog design doesn’t cost that much money.  I paid about $70 for the design for this blog.  The design is good, but not flashy.  It’s simple, and there’s nothing much to it.  More customized themes go for $150 - $200. 

This prize, however, is worth $500, and it includes the WORKS.  It’s from Pixel Jig, which offers professional design and coding services.  According to Jim from The Net Fool, these guys produce some of the best work around.  They provide clean, professional themes made just the way you want them.  I checked out the website, and they have, indeed, created some A-list themes. 

I’m excited to see what they can do for me and for this blog.  Obviously, that means that this blog will soon go through a makeover.  I’m going to use the custom blog design I won for this blog, and I hope to create a lasting brand with it.  So stay tuned for the upcoming design changes.

If there is anything The Net Fool’s contest taught me, it’s the following two things: 

1) Enter into blog contests.  This is the second major contest I have entered, and this is the second major prize I’ve won.  (I won a $2,000 e-mail marketing campaign from Winning The Web’s contest.)  It doesn’t cost you anything, and it helps you create your own luck. 

2) It pays to invest in a premium or customized blog theme.  The free Wordpress themes that are available are nice.  But no one ever got anywhere being like everyone else.  Content is the most important element of any blog.  But a unique and brand-able theme is a close second.

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