Okay, so I come across this dude named Ashwin Khanna whose blog is showing off one RSS subscriber, a Technorati authority of six, and less posts than I have toes on my feet. And he’s claiming to be running a contest to give away $2,500.
Wait, it gets better. Ashwin, who has titled himself “Another Internet Entrepreneur Trying to be the next John Chow,” doesn’t even have a deadline for his $2,500 ”blog extravaganza.” Which is, to me, more solid evidence that a bull**** card is totally in order for this one.
So, what do you have to do to enter this “blog extravaganza?” Give Ashwin first right of refusal on your next child? Tattoo “Ashwin Khanna Dot Com” on your rear end? No, nothing quite so complicated as that. To win $2,500, all you have to do is copy and paste the following exclamation-point laden snippet on a blog post:
Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!
And that’s it. $2,500 here I come! Never mind the fact that with that much money, Ashwin Khanna could buy more targeted, Page Rank heavy text links, reviews and advertising than he’ll ever get from running a backlink competition.
Yah, yah, I can hear you while I’m typing: Contest Blogger, you’re falling for a scam! This dude posted a bogus, unbelievable contest because he knew it would be great linkbait that would get a reaction—and backlinks—from blowhards like you!
Yup, you’re right. But here’s the weird thing: if this guy really is bluffing, I sort of admire his chutzpa. I mean, it takes a lot of cajones to just flat-out lie about running the biggest cash award blog contest of all time, reap the backlinks, and then never name a winner. I guess this guy’s philosophy is “if you’re going to lie, lie big time.”
Then again, he never really declared a deadline, so I guess he could just say that the contest ends in the year 2315.
And the second reason why I devoted such a long post to Ashwin Khanna’s bogus contest?
Well, that’s simple. If its real, I sure as heck don’t want to miss a chance to have some crazy dude give me $2,500 for a backlink.
UPDATE: After I published this post, Ashwin changed his blog’s motto, added a contest deadline of August 20, and promised that his competition is, indeed, genuine. If it is, more power to him . . . in fact, I’ll even publish a post saying “Contest Blogger is Full of Crap” if he really gives away the $2,500. Scout’s honor.
ANOTHER UPDATE: The Link Bait is betting that Ashwin will declare a friend or some made-up entity the winner so he doesn’t have to really give up any money. I’ll need to see a post from a legit blogger saying $2,500 was put in their PayPal account before I’ll say Contest Blogger is full of crap.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Jason Clark noticed that Ashwin’s About Page gives us the following peek into his mysterious life:
18 year old blogger from the UK, accomplished tree jumper and expert in woven artefacts.
Dude, what the heck is a “tree jumper?” And how do you become an accomplished one? And if you were really an expert in woven artifacts, wouldn’t you at least know how to spell it? The enigma deepens . . .
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Ashwin is changing the rules of his contest yet again. Now he says that there aren’t enough entrants, and that he has to have a minimum of 50 or he won’t give the money away. Fifty links for $2,500 . . . now that sounds like a great deal.
Hey, why not subscribe to the Contest Blogger RSS feed?
