Loquax- the (Duck) tale of a UK competitions portal

As many of you already know I've worked for Loquax for the last few years. Loquax, in case you didn't know is the UK competitions portal, a great resource for online competitions. (Hey, this is my blog and I can plug if I want to!) As well as competitions, there is a shopping section, a place for offers, bingo area and a busy forum (over 1,000 online last time I checked). As well as the main competition site, there are other websites in the Loquax Ltd family covering everything from broadband, offers, insurance, mobile phones to seasonal Easter and Christmas niche sites.

Now for what Loquax does not do- no incentives, no rewards, no cashback. And again, no incentives, no rewards, no cashback. I know I'm repeating myself, but that seems to be what we are doing on a more regular basis recently. So, just to be on the safe side- no incentives, no rewards, no cashback. I'm sure somewhere in the affiliate world there is a big black book that has Loquax down in the wrong category. Or perhaps this comes from the abundance of win an ipod or similar competitions and websites popping up at the moment which are (very) thinly veiled data collection devices.

Loquax does not sell users data on to third parties and does not charge a subscription so any affiliate earnings are ploughed into maintaining the website. Which takes me to the next point- Loquax is not a charity. The Loquax forum is not a board for other affiliates to boost their businesses- just don't do it. You can post as many offers and personal affiliate links as you like just as soon as you pay for the server bills and employee wages ;-) Plus, if you do do it, you may find yourself handed an invoice for administration charges the next time we see you at an A4U G2G.

Bloomin' Spammers

Honestly, you spend bloomin' ages writing unique and useful content for your websites just for some *insert own sweary comment* to come along and rip the whole bloody site off. So to the lovely peeps who have done just that- thanks for the compliment, but also thanks for copying my affiliate link too!

Blogs - how useful are they?

Blogs, blogs everywhere you look, but hardly any worth reading (including this one, the inane ramblings of a bird who must get out more!). Everyone has got one these days from David Cameron (Webcameron) to Charlotte Church (where you can catch extended interviews from the show not shown on telly!); newspapers eg Guardian Arts Blog and of course a little bit closer to home, a duck related affiliate :-)

So, blogs - how useful are they? Are blogs an invaluable resource on the web, a continual narrative of thoughts, opinions and information? Or do they just contribute more background noise to the already bustling white noise of the internet? Are blogs veritable vocal vomit expelled by willy waving individuals whose partner/workmates glaze over at the mere hint of a rant? *cough* :-)