As promised earlier in the week, today I’ve got great pleasure in naming the winners of the Great Barrier Reef Queensland Blogger Correspondent competition.

767 bloggers entered the competition. They came from an amazing array of counties (52 in all)—from the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Spain, Malaysia, Belize, Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, Mexico, Italy, France, Brazil, South Africa, Israel, India, Romania, Argentina, Phillipines, Indonesia, Hawaii, Pakistan, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Denmark, Nigeria, Kenya, Thailand, Belarus, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, South Korea, Costa Rica, Moldova, Japan, Kuwait, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Chile, Mauritius, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, UAE, Hong Kong, Ukraine, and Greece.

Interestingly the vast majority of entries were from those in the USA, and from women. This is reflected in the winners list.

Choosing the winners was no easy task. The entries were of a high quality, from some amazing people, and many of the submissions were very attractive to the judging panel who were seeking to find bloggers that they felt were a good “fit” in promoting the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.

We saw some very creative submissions and I myself spent a whole day looking through them all—and loved the experience! But without further ado, here are the winners:

• Rebecca Cooper (Canada) of Simple as That (see her announcement post)
• Tsh Oxenreider (USA) of Simple Mom
• Chantelle Ellem (Australia) of Fat Mum Slim (read her announcement post)
• U Mei Teh (Malaysia) of CC Food Travel (read her announcement post here)
• Katja Hentschel (Germany) of Travelettes
• Stuart Flatt (UK) of Average Joes Blog
• Kara Williams (USA) of The Vacation Gals (see her announcement post here)
• Jodi Friedman (USA) of MCP Actions (see here announcement post here)
• Jackie Hutchings (UK) of Scubadviser (read her announcement post here)
• Elizabeth Hooper Alton (USA) of PolicyMic

Thanks again to those who entered and to Tourism Queensland (connect with them on Twitter here or on Facebook here) for their sponsorship of the competition. This experience has been a lot of fun, and you’ll hear more about it in June when the above crew gather together in Queensland with me to have an amazing five days together.

UPDATE: sadly we recently heard the news that Elizabeth was not able to join us for this trip. The result was an opportunity for us to add another blogger.

We went to the next person on our short list and Australian Jess Van Den from Epheriell Designs was our next target. Luckily Jess was available at very short notice (just 5 days out) – being a local helped heaps!

Congrats to Jess and our best wishes to Elizabeth – hope to see you next time!!!

I’m really excited to announce that the ten winners of the Great Barrier Reef Competition that we’ve been running here on ProBlogger the last couple of weeks have been chosen.

Over 700 entries were received. It was no easy task to shortlist them and choose the final winners because there were some amazing bloggers. As I looked through the entries I just kept saying to myself, “I’d love to have them on the trip!”

In fact, my wishlist of winners probably numbered over 100 so the job the team at Tourism Queensland had in selecting the final ten was a huge challenge.

But only ten can win and I received the list last night from the judges at Tourism Queensland. I simply can’t wait to meet all of the winners in June.

As outlined in the Terms and Conditions of the competition, winners will have received an email in the last few minutes letting them know that they’ve won and asking them to confirm that they are accepting the prize (so if you entered, check your inbox now!).

Winners have 72 hours to confirm that they’re coming and on Friday (Aussie time) I’ll publicly publish the names of those winners so we can all see who is coming on the trip!

If you’ve won, please don’t celebrate publicly yet. We’ll do the big announcement Friday (Aussie time) where you can share the news with your own audience.

If you were not selected, I can only say that I’m sorry you won’t be joining us and that I hope we might do something like this again in the future (tell @Queensland) if you do, too). I also hope you’ll follow along with us as we blog/tweet the trip in June.

Thanks to everyone for entering. This has been one of the most fun things I’ve done so far in my almost ten years of blogging … and the best part is still ahead!

Update: this competition is now closed to new entries. We’re now narrowing down to find our 10 winners who will be contacted and then announced here on ProBlogger on 23 April. Thanks to all who entered!

Ten days ago I excitedly announced an amazing opportunity for ProBlogger readers to enter a competition to win one of ten trips to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

As I write this post, the deadline for entering this competition is less than 24 hours away, and those of you considering putting yourself in the running for this once-in-a-lifetime trip need to get your skates on!

Since launching the competition, we’ve had hundreds of entries from some wonderful bloggers. Hundreds is a lot, but considering we’re giving away ten trips, those who have entered currently have a one in 50 chance of ending up on the reef with me in June. They’re pretty decent odds!

Since announcing the competition I’ve posted the full five-day itinerary—there are some amazing experiences included in the prize:

1. meet and get up close to some of Australia’s cute (and not-so-cute) native animals
2. eat at some of the finest restaurants in the region
3. participate in two blogging workshops with me (with just ten participants, I’ll be able to give your blog some personal attention)
4. sail, snorkel, and explore the Great Barrier Reef
5. experience one of the world’s oldest rain forests
6. on the last day, you can choose your own adventure and explore an aspect of the region that relates to your own interests and niche.

Plus much more!

While this is a working holiday of sorts, as you’ll be creating some content based on what you see, there will be plenty of time for fun, adventuring, and a little relaxing.

All in all, this is a trip I can’t wait to go on and I’m particularly looking forward to sharing it with ten wonderful ProBlogger readers.

This competition isn’t a popularity contest or just for big bloggers, and it isn’t just for travel bloggers—we’re looking for entries from a range of blog niches and from bloggers from around the world.

Pitch us your ideas for how you’d cover the trip in the entry form, and you might just find yourself winging your way into Queensland (all expenses paid) in June.

Important links:

• Contest announcement post: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/04/03/queensland-competition/
• Trip itinerary: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/04/11/blogger-correspondant-great-barrier-reef-itinerary-qldblog
• Terms and conditions: http://www.problogger.net/queensland-competition-terms-conditions/
• Entry form: http://www.problogger.net/queensland-entries/

Please enter today, and if you know of any other blogger who might enjoy this trip, please do share it with them—they’ll be indebted to you forever if they win!

Update: this competition is now closed to new entries. We’re now narrowing down to find our 10 winners who will be contacted and then announced here on ProBlogger on 23 April. Thanks to all who entered!

Last week I excitedly announced a competition to fly 10 ProBlogger readers into the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. The response has been amazing. We’ve had hundreds of entries and there has been some great interest in the promotion.

With just under a week to go to get your entries in I thought today I might whet your appetite a little by revealing the itinerary of the trip. It’s still being finalised so this may change a little, but here’s what we’re planning to do on the trip so far.

Day 1: Tuesday 5 June

Ten of the world’s most imaginative bloggers arrive in Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and our northern-most frontier city.

Tonight we start our adventure with some up-close-and-personal time with the locals. We’re not talking about the two-legged kind here; we are talking about Australia’s quirkiest and cutest native animals.

After that, we’ll be zipping around the corner to one of the coolest restaurants in town that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Unsurprisingly, the nosh on the menu is fresh Queensland seafood!

Day 2: Wednesday 6 June

At 2600 km long, The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s biggest living organism, and the only natural object that can be seen from space. It’s also on the bucket list of just about every person on the planet with a heart for adventure.

This morning we are getting one step closer to the reef by sailing to a nearby tropical island for a little Crusoe Time—with full Internet access and a private blogging workshop with me. I’ll do a little teaching (based a survey of the winning bloggers’ needs) and we’ll also spend some time workshopping the winners’ blogs together.

After lunch, you have free time to explore the island and get inspired. You may wish to go for a sail, snorkel with the aid of a fun underwater tow jet, take the plunge in a mini-submarine, or laze around the pool with a cocktail in hand. Whatever your story line, the creative juices are sure to be flowing.

Back on the mainland and a little drive north is Palm Cove (one of my personal favourites of the towns along the reef), and the location of tonight’s twilight meal, served with box office views of the Great Barrier Reef through a palm fringed shoreline.

Day 3: Thursday 7 June

Pack up your bags, because today we are trading the world’s most loved reef for the world’s oldest rainforest. This morning we venture north to Mossman River and a stunning rainforest retreat in the middle of the Daintree Rainforest. Here we will conduct our second blogging workshop surrounded by the sounds of cicadas and running water. It will be one of the most exotic locations for a blogger training workshop the world has ever seen!

Afterwards, explore the Mossman River with an indigenous guide and then chill out by the water’s edge. You might even like to take a dip if you’re daring!

At night we change our location and head to Port Douglas, a former fishing village turned star-spotting holiday hot spot that has kept its laid-back, beach town heart. Tonight’s dinner is a special occasion sure to be remembered, held at a secret location.

Day 4: Friday 8 June

After all that brain-flexing over the past two days, now is the time for us to relax and head out to experience the Great Barrier Reef in style.

Whether you’re a passionate diver or more of an above-the-water kind of explorer, there will be an option to suit you. We’ll have the choice of a relaxed day of sailing and snorkelling a pristine coral cay, an adventurous outer-reef trip to discover the glorious Agincourt Ribbon Reefs, and the option to take in everything from diving, to fish feeding, and simply marvelling at nature in the underwater observatory on a floating outer-reef platform.

Back on dry land, we’ll mingle with the locals at an iconic Australian pub and enjoy some delicious tucker (that’s dinner to you and me).

Day 5: Saturday 9 June

Today you have the chance to really choose your own adventure!

With four itineraries to pick from, you might find yourself:

• learning ancient art techniques and hunting and gathering skills from local Indigenous tribes
• kayaking along pristine coastline and zipping through the trees in the World Heritage Listed Daintree rainforest on an adventurous tour like no other
• coming face to face with Australia’s cute (and not-so-cute) native animals, and enjoying a true Australian country experience
• really getting the blood pumping as you take to the skies, saddle up a wild steed, and finish off with a trip down the river rapids.

Note: on this 5th day we can attempt to tailor what you do to the type of story you’d like to cover. For example if you’re a photographer you might like to spend the day on location somewhere to capture a shot or if you are looking to see something specific or interview someone about some aspect of Queensland we’ll try to set that up for you.

There will also be some flexibility and free time on most days for you to create content or see things relevant to your niche. We’ll do our best to tailor the trip to those on it (no guarantees).

They don’t call Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef “Adventurous by Nature” for nothing!

Make sure you save some energy though, because tonight we’ll enjoy a final celebratory meal together at one of Port Douglas’s most iconic restaurants.

Sunday 10 June

Is it really time to say goodbye?

Enter today

I still can’t quite believe that we’re running this trip—it really is my dream to take some blogging friends to this destination. We’re going to have an amazing few days together.

This trip is open to all bloggers over the age of 18 from around the globe (including Australia). We are looking for bloggers in all kinds of niches. While some have commented that it is a travel blogger conference, we’d love to receive entries from all niches. You can cover the trip from what ever angle you choose. For example:

• Food bloggers: food will be a big part of this trip. Why not review the places where we eat, and talk about the Aussie food you come across?
• Parenting bloggers: Queensland is a great family vacation destination. Write about the trip for prospective parents looking to visit.
• Photography bloggers: You’ll see some of the most beautiful scenes in the world over this week, and they’re ideal for anyone with a camera to document.

There’s no end to the angles you can take as a blogger correspondent on this trip. So get your creating thinking going and include the angle you’d take in covering the trip in your entry.

There is less than a week to get your entry in, so you do need to act now to make sure you’re in the competition.

To enter simply read the terms and conditions of the competition and then fill in the entry form here.

Update: this competition is now closed to new entries. We’re now narrowing down to find our 10 winners who will be contacted and then announced here on ProBlogger on 24 April (note: I previously wrote 23rd of April but this was my mistake. As per the terms and conditions it is 24th April). Thanks to all who entered!

As a blogger, I get pitched to a lot by companies and organizations asking me to endorse their products. The problem is I have limited or no experience with many of them, and to endorse them would feel like selling out.

As a result, two years ago I created a list of things I would feel comfortable endorsing.  It was a dream list of products that I would love to promote because I genuinely feel a love for them.

The list was short and was made up of companies and products that I’d drop everything to work with. On the top of my list was something that I have a lot of experience with—something I promote at any opportunity and something that I’d always dreamed of showcasing on my blogs.

That thing was Australia

I’m an Aussie and I am regularly asked if I’ve considered moving overseas to further my business. While the idea has occurred to me a few times, I can’t imagine ever leaving Australia for more than a short trip.

One of my favourite parts of this enormous country is Queensland—Australia’s holiday playground, and a regular vacation destination for my family. It’s also home to one of the world’s natural wonders: the Great Barrier Reef, a 2300+ kilometre stretch of 2900 individual reefs and 900 tropical islands. It’s over 350,000 square kilometres in size, and the only living structure on earth that can be seen from outer space!

Aside from this natural wonder, Queensland is known for many things. It has a tropical climate, beautiful beaches, a casual atmosphere and the options to either relax or do something adventurous (check out the 5 regions of the reef here). It’s the antidote to routine and it’s one place that Aussies go to recharge and rejuvenate.

My dream came true

A year ago I was in Queensland for a conference and, sitting at the airport, I had the crazy idea that we should run a ProBlogger Down Under competition. The idea was simple—we run a competition to bring a group of bloggers to Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef and also do a little blogging training. I tweeted the idea and was inundated by people wanting to enter. I also received tweets from some tourism organisations.

To cut a long story short, today I’m ecstatic to announce a competition to bring ten highly creative bloggers from all corners of the globe to Queensland to become Queensland Blogger Correspondents. Lucky winners will not only experience the destination first hand, they will get to blog about it plus become a guest blogger for Tourism Queensland’s own blog later this year.

Win a trip to Queensland (and get some personal ProBlogger training)

From June 5 to June 10 this year, Tourism Queensland and I will bring ten of what I think are the most intriguing bloggers from around the globe to Queensland to meet me and experience the Great Barrier Reef as Queensland Blogger Correspondents. You could be one of them.

The idea is simple: I love Queensland and I want to showcase it to the world. I also believe in the power of blogging and social media. So the best way to get the message out about this tropical playground is to invite people like you to experience it.

As part of the experience, you will be required to report about your adventure on your blog and social networks. The content will later be added to Tourism Queensland’s new blog. It’s going to be fun, but there will also be a little work (if you call blogging “work”) involved. A working holiday of sorts.

Plus—as an extra bonus—during the trip I’ll be running two exclusive training workshops for the ten winning bloggers. We’ll spend four or five hours—perhaps on a tropical island or maybe under the canopy of the world’s oldest rainforest—talking about the principles of successful blogging and workshopping how you can improve your blogs.

Prize details

Ten lucky bloggers will win a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to Queensland, Australia including return economy-class air tickets, accommodation, excursions to some of Queensland’s bucket-list attractions like the Great Barrier Reef, meals, and two close-encounter workshops with me. The event will run from June 5 until June 10, 2012, not including travel time.

In return for seeing some amazing sights, tasting some modern Aussie tucker (food), and meeting some wonderful characters, we’ll put aside time for you to create content (a minimum of two blog posts complemented by tweets, videos, photography, status updates, or podcasts) for you to share with your audience. The content will later be featured on the Tourism Queensland blog.

Please note that this prize is open only to bloggers over the age of 18 and I can assure you that we will be busy! As such we will be unable to cater for partners, family, or friends. For more information about the Tourism Queensland ProBlogger Great Barrier Reef Event prize and the terms and conditions, click here.

UPDATE: here is the 5 day itinerary for the trip.

How to enter

For your chance to win a spot on this exciting trip we want you to tell us why you would make the ideal Queensland Blogger Correspondent.

We will choose ten winners based on how you would cover the experience. How you would get the word out about what you’re doing. What kind of exposure you could bring to the destination. What creative methods you would use to share your story.

But hurry, the competition closes at midnight April 17, 2012 (AEST—that’s Australian Eastern time) with the announcement of the winners on April 23, 2012 (AEST). Please note that Australia is a day ahead of some parts of the world!

To enter, please read the competition terms and conditions and then head to the competition entry form.

There you will find a form that asks you for a range of information about you, your blog, and how you’d cover this trip.

We need some basics like your name, blog URL, traffic, your social media accounts, etc., but also want you to tell us how you’d approach covering this trip as a blogger correspondent.

Note: This is not just about finding the biggest blog to award the prize to. We will consider audience size, but we’re also extremely interested in hearing about your audience, how you’d cover the trip, and how the trip relates to your audience, as well as reviewing quality examples of your work.

This competition is open to bloggers anywhere around the globe (including within Australia) and we’re interested to hear from a range of bloggers from different niches.

Please ensure that you carefully read the terms and conditions of this competition before using the entry form.

Good luck to everyone – I look forward to spending a few special days with 10 of you on the Great Barrier Reef in June!

UPDATE: we’ll be using the hashtag of #QldBlog on Twitter to track this conversation.

In May of 2008, ProBlogger the book (yep, the real hard-cover book) was released. It was a collaboration between myself and co-author Chris Garrett, and published by Wiley Publishing.

The goal of the book was to summarize much of the writing that Chris and I had been blogging on our blogs—to present bloggers, particularly those at the start of their journeys, with a logically ordered guide to blogging for profit.

The book did really well—it was in the top 100 books on Amazon for a while—and Wiley immediately began to talk with Chris and I about an updated edition.

In 2010 we released the second edition. There were a hundreds of small updates through the book but we also added a case study chapter that walked readers through how I built Digital Photography School up to be my biggest blog. There was also an added chapter on social media.

Today I’m pleased to announce a third edition has just been released. You can grab your copy today on Amazon here as a paperback for $16.32 and here for Kindle for just $9.99.

The third edition again has loads of small updates, including updates on the case study chapter to bring it right up to date on the last couple of years (particularly updates on how we’ve made a transition to selling ebooks as the major source of income).

There is also a new chapter on building community and deepening reader engagement on your blog.

Lastly we’ve added a chapter on going beyond your blog, which explores using your blog to open up other opportunities including book deals, consulting, speaking opportunities, landing a job, new businesses, membership sites, and more.

This new edition is now around the 300 page mark—loads of content, much of it new, particularly for those of you with the 2008 first edition.

Bonus webinar for early-bird buyers

If you pick up the Kindle version in the next week, we’re adding a special bonus: a webinar.

The webinar will take place on Tuesday March 20 at 7pm US Eastern Time, and will last an hour. It will feature myself and Chris Garrett, and the topic will be The Pillars of ProBlogging.

In the webinar Chris and I will walk through four key areas of successful, profitable blogging, and will give some practical tips. We’ll also open up for questions at the end.

The webinar will be recorded for anyone who can’t make the live webinar (or if those who register exceed 1000 in number) but it will only be available to those who buy the book.

To register for the webinar

Here’s what you need to do to register for the webinar:

1. Purchase either the paperback or kindle version of the book (grab the paperback or kindle versions here).
2. Email our publisher, Wiley, with proof of purchase. You can email them either a scanned receipt or a screenshot from your computer of the email confirmation if you buy online. These need to be sent to Wiley at [email protected] before midnight on Sunday 18 March.
3. We will send you details of where to register for the webinar in the lead-up on 20 March.

Looking forward to seeing you at the webinar!

Here at ProBlogger HQ we’re gearing up for a big year of blogging. Central in our focus is a desire to make ProBlogger as useful to bloggers as we can. After all if we’re not helping you to improve, we’re wasting everyone’s time.

To help us achieve this goal, we’d love to find out a little more about you and your blogging and have put together a short ‘census’ survey to do just that.

Please take the survey here.

Note: information gathered in this survey cannot be tied to individuals and will be used solely for the purposes of improving this blog and serving you better. We may report on some of the statistical information we gather about blogging platforms etc., but nothing you share will be used for any other purposes, and your anonymity is assured (unless you include personal details in one of your answers).

Thanks for taking the time to participate—I’m looking forward to a great 2012!