For those of you who managed to arrive at this blog without any prior knowledge of Drip Feed Blasts (DFB), check out this post about its first incarnation. Otherwise, continue getting your read on.

I was one of the few fortunate enough to invited to alphatest DFB 2.0. Eagerly, I accepted. The enhancements I discovered blew my mind.

In the past, when you thought of DFB, you thought of a user-friendly, convenient and professional Xrumer blasting solution. Somehow, between the span of 1.0 and 2.0, it became so much dang more. Two new major features include:

Social Bookmarking
That’s right. You can now schedule social bookmarking blasts. 100 bookmarks per day, per link unit. I’ll talk more about link units later.

This feature almost made me wet my pants. Never before has it been so easy to give sites/pages a quick bookmarking boost. What’s even better is that DFB 2.0 allows you to input spintax in every type of link blast. That means I can generate UNIQUE bookmarks, time and time again. Holy moly. Titles as well as descriptions can be spun to your heart’s content. Upon viewing my reports, the links were all good. All of them.

Directory Submissions
With the same ease as social bookmarks, you can use DFB 2.0 to schedule directory submission blasts. Yes, you may also use spintax. Due to the nature of most directories, you’re obviously not going to get immediate results like you do with profile links or social bookmarks, but as long as you make your titles and descriptions not look like poo, they will most likely get approved eventually (if not automatically).

And of course, DFB is still the #1 profile link building (xrumer) solution. I wouldn’t leave it to anyone else.

Poor India. First PayPal screws them over, now this. Of course, there are still some worthwhile SEO services offered by the best of the best (Amit aka Red_Virus comes to mind), but for rudimentary SEO work, DFB 2.0 just made everything a whole hell of a lot easier.

How I Use it
Most of the e-mails I get are from novice to intermediate SEOers who are looking for more specificity in how I go about optimizing my sites, particularly in the off-site department. It used to be a long winded, complicated response (which I was often too lazy to provide). Nowadays, it’s somewhat simpler.

First of all, you’re not going to get rich by using DFB alone. Get that delusion right out of your head. However, I will say that it is the ONLY subscription based SEO service that I currently use.

The formula is simple:

1. Good, exclusive backlinks.
2. Support system of DFB backlinks
3. Decent website/niche
4. PROFIT$$$$

Notice the lack of question marks.

Number 1 is of course the more difficult part. That is where your own creativity and social engineering come into play.

Number 2 is only a matter of signing up for DFB.

Number 3 is your problem, bro.

Calendar Scheduling
DFB 2.0 features calendar scheduling as well as regular daily scheduling. Daily scheduling is now referred to as the “loop.” Blasts in the loop will continue running daily. However, if a blast is scheduled on the calendar, it will take priority over the loop. Once the calendar blast(s) is/are completed, the loop will resume.

Oh yeah, link units…

Previously, DFB power users had to manage multiple accounts, which meant logging in and out, multiple usernames + passwords, etc. Those dog days are over. DFB 2.0 incorporates “link units.” A link unit basically serves the same purpose as a separate account on the old system. Each link unit is worth either 1k profile links, 100 social bookmarks, or 150 directory submissions per day. Since there is not an infinite pool of pligg sites or web directories, each social bookmarking blast can only be run 3 times (per URL) and each directory submission blast can be run 4 (per domain).

Also, I would like to add that the new interface is fantastic. Campaign management is about as easy as it gets. I would like to take partial credit for that, as an alphatester. Even though I probably didn’t help that much.

Results
If a service doesn’t provide results, I do not continue using it. That’s pretty elementary. I have been a DFB subscriber for over a year now. I am particularly fond of the new social bookmark system. Every time I schedule a blast a see at least some positive movement for that particular URL within a week or so. Sometimes very significant movement. I typically do two days at a time. Obviously there are a ton of factors and my results are very specific to my own sites, but for whatever reason people always want to hear stuff like that…so there you go.

One last thing: I was not commissioned to write this post/review. I just appreciate a quality SEO service when I find one (which is not often). You are now excused to check out the new DFB for yourself.

Generally, Affiliate Summit West is the only large-scale conference I bother attending in any given year. However, this month I just needed to get my nerd conference fix. Sure, there is Affiliate Summit East, but that’s in NYC, and I just got back from NYC last month. Also, I needed an excuse to go to Vegas (just a few days after my last Vegas trip). The solution? Black Hat!

True, the conference has pretty much absolutely nothing to do with internet marketing. But…it’s got a lot to do with internet! It would be prudent of all of us to stay up to date with the latest news in cyber security, seeing as how we are all flourishing in this space, right? So, I made the 3hr and 50min drive out to Vegas (got up to 122mph near stateline) and checked it out.

Things that I Liked

Caesar’s Palace
Not the greatest spot on the strip, sure, but it’s up there.The convention area is top-notch. A friend of mine who also attended opened up a tab at the little round bar by the casino one night and we all went nuts. Thanks, buddy. Sometimes you have to make your own open bars.

The Exhibit Hall
My only real basis for comparison is Affiliate Summit. Well, in contrast, the Black Hat exhibit hall is much smaller, maybe a quarter or even a fifth of the size. Unlike Affiliate Summit, there was no beer to be found. Why is this listed under things I like? Well, the people from the various security companies were actually incredibly friendly. Also, the conference issued these little stamp booklets to black hatters which you could use to go to participating booths and get them stamped (in exchange for them scanning your badge). Completed booklets would be eligible for prize drawings. Seemed like a really smart incentive to get people visiting and interacting with more booths. It also seemed kind of fun, since you had to hunt down the booths you needed.

Blackberry Security
You guys were awesome. Even though you couldn’t help me charge my phone, you were still the best booth in the room. I will cherish my flashlight keychain forever.

Lisa @ Lunch
Lunch was provided in one of the conference rooms, banquet style. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. However, a young woman named Lisa that was serving us was phenomenal. She was extremely friendly and helpful. We requested coffee, and even though it was provided already in the hallway (unbeknownst to us), she managed to dig up a pot and some cups for us in the back. The coffee was actually incredible. Someone should give Lisa a promotion. Lisa might actually be my favorite thing about Black Hat.

Things that I Did Not Like

The Dude that Checked me in
…was a dick. Actually he didn’t even check me in, he said I had to come back after 4pm, but he was a dick about it.

Dell/Qualys Party at The Bank @ Bellagio (aka The Absolut Cloud Party)
Their invite system was pretty cool. You had to visit each respective booth (Dell and Qualys) and get a stamp on your little party card, then when you had both stamps, they would give you a wristband. However, the party itself was not so cool. A couple of friends and myself did our darndest to accurately calculate the male to female ratio. Our best guess, and I am being totally honest and not trying to exaggerate in the slightest bit, was about 20:1. That is including club employees. To make matters worse, the bar was only sort of “open.” I first ordered a Tanqueray 10 martini, and was quickly informed that 1) Tanqueray 10 was not on the menu, and 2) Martinis were not on the menu. So, I drank Tanqueray + tonics all night. Still, not the worst drink the world.

I’m not trying to complain about the quality of the free booze. Well, I guess I am. Perhaps I am just spoiled by the excess of Affiliate Summit parties. Maybe that is not a fair basis of comparison…but that’s all I’ve really got! Plus, this thing was in Vegas. How can you expect me to not be confused?

The Badges
They were pretty dumb looking. That is an area that could really use some improvement.

—-

I didn’t stick around for DefCon. From what I hear, it was way better than Black Hat, but I really have no idea.

All in all, it was worth the visit. I can’t say I learned a whole lot about cyber security, but I did win like $850 bucks on craps at the Bellagio. I’d call it a successful trip. I’m sure that those who were spending all day at the trainings/briefings must have been getting something out of it as well.