The 5Star Affiliate Forum turns 2 on Monday June 25th, 2007 and founder and president Linda Buquet has put up $400 in their blogging competition.

You can check out Linda’s Affiliate Forum Blogging Contest and decide if you meet the criteria and take part in the contest.

I’d first heard Linda on the Shoemoney Net Income radio show.

If you missed it you can listen to the podcast here:

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I remember Linda gave a few nuggests of affiliate marketing advice on the show.

Let’s look at contests for a moment.

Are they worth taking part in?

For experienced affiliates $400 will seem like chump change, but the big payout comes in the form of the intangibles that come with participation.

Let’s look at the spinoffs:

• Visibility: By virtue of participation, you’ll have visitors checking out your contest entry. If you have compelling content, great presentation or better yet a combination of both, you’ll stand head and shoulders above the competition. You’ll build a following, especially from those who haven’t been to your blog yet.
• Social Linkage: Contests, memes and writing projects lend themselves to leading to interaction, particularly among participants. If you don’t already know the big players in your industry, this is a good opportunity to build some bridges.
• Building Social Goodwill: Any community only survives as long as people are willing to help each other. If you are actively helping someone, or being helped, it pushes forward the vicious cycle of kindness. You’ll want this cycle to be as big as possible.

So take part in the contest?

The prize is always compelling, but the payout from participation could be much, much bigger.

If you’re planning to take part, good luck!