It’s Sunday again…
…time for some Link Love!

Good morning readers… it’s that time of the week again, and we are going to get right into the best links for the week after a quick word. Since last week’s mayhem, the week ending November 15th, 2008 was definitely a relief well needed. While I had planned on getting back into posting, I actually ended up having too much to handle after a “hell week” of my own accord. Look for me to resume my posting habits this week, as we wrap up the October Spectacular and head into a new competition yet to be drafted. For now, let’s hit you with some great articles:

Great stuff all around this week, although it seems to me that people in general are posting less frequently. :razz: So first off we have a great spam lesson from Ms. Caroline Middlebrook herself. Next, Franklin Bishop vents his frustration of Aweber’s Lightbox Pop-Up, something I have a problem with as well. Jay from Dat Money recounts some important lessons learned from affiliate marketing. Although he used incorrect grammar in his post title, I’m not going to hold it against him, and I’ve fixed it here for you… haha. Gyutae Park from Winning the Web started up a new “top blogs” ranking service that you should all check out. Finally, Nick from Road 2 Blogging gave us a nice pro/con analysis of spam protection. Great stuff guys, keep up the good work!

Stock Market Update
Another week of big losses here on Wall Street. Where there were gains, there were always more losses right around the corner. So, while we did have our shining moments, the Dow finished down over 3% on Friday and now down 32% since just the end of August… ouch! Bad economic data releases and below-expectation earnings calls left small amounts of hope for gains to be made. Naturally, a lack of bad news in a recessionary environment will send markets downward.

Circuit City officially declared bankruptcy this week, in a move that was largely expected by the market (and myself) as the consumer discretionary names get hammered. Competitor Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) got burned as well, as the leading consumer electronics retailer produced dismal earnings and slashed forward guidance from $3.25 to $3.40 a share, to a measly $2.30 to $2.90 a share. In other earnings news, tech bellwether Intel (NYSE: INTC) lowered their long-term outlook by more than $1 billion in another showing of consumer confidence dragging. Clearly there is a problem with the capital markets headed into the holiday season this year.

Blogosphere Update
So what went down in the blogging world this week? As I mentioned above in the Link Love, Gyutae Park released a new list of top IM blogs, which could be a fierce competitor to the 45n5.com “Top 100” blog list. The Net Fool’s October Spectacular ended last night, so I’ll have those results out shortly. This big contest sponsored by the kind folks at Market Leverage was definitely a strong showing from all of the affiliates. Winner gets a Nintendo Wii, runner up a Flip Mino, and some more random prizes… so stay tuned for that announcement post.

I actually missed this last week, but Blog Rush shut down which was HUGE news across the blogosphere. It’s never to late to read up on what happened there, so feel free to check out the post John Reese (owner) wrote up entitled “The Death of BlogRush.” It’s definitely a great case study on how to effectively run (and end) a website or company.

Other than that, light news on the week overall. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the contest as soon as I get the final standings from Dina, and should have a return of great content coming shortly (lots in the mix!).

Stay tuned for more updates, and stay bullish on the net.
-The Net Fool

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related Posts

  1. Sunday Link Love and Announcements
  2. Sunday Link Love & Announcements
  3. Sunday Link Love and Announcements
  4. Sunday Link Love and Announcements
  5. Sunday Link Love & Announcements