Well, why not?  If you’re a regular reader of Romance Tracker, you know that our philosophy is that you can find romance in just about everything around you . . . and that includes winning prizes!  The Prize Blog was the second place winner of our Romantic Ideas Link Contest, and figuring out ways to make winning free stuff romantic isn’t hard to do.  Any gift can be made to be romantic . . . and The Prize Blog lets you keep track of new contests to win lots of stuff to share with your sweetheart every day.

In fact, let me give you an example.  On The Prize Blog’s front page today, they’re featuring a contest called the Atrium Miami Beach Sweepstakes.  By taking a couple of minutes to enter, you could win:

Grand Prize: (1) winner will get a D&G Sunflower Print Mini Dress $525, Monique Leshman Silk, Beaded Top $418, Tom Ford Andrea Sunglasses $360, Chie Mihara Ankle Wrap $305, Missoni Summer Bikini $165, 6 pairs of Hudson Jeans $1200. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”) of prize: $2973

Now tell me you couldn’t think of a hundred different ways to use those great prizes to add some romance to your relationship!  And it doesn’t stop there, either.  Brian, The Prize Blog’s webmaster, features unique new contests every day, from sweepstakes to raffles to drawings to everything else you could imagine.  Bookmarking it and visiting it every day, like I do, isn’t just addicting . . . it could be very lucrative for you!

In fact, I’m going to enter Romance Tracker into a contest that’s running on The Prize Blog right now, with this post!  If you have a blog of your own, all you have to do to get 20 entries in the contest is post something similar to the following:

 ”Over at The Prize Blog, Brian is having an awesome 6-day blogging competition and is giving away cash prizes, MP3 players, blogroll back links, Bloggeries Blog Directory listings and complete site reviews. This is one of the best blog contests you will ever find!”

And you’re in!  Brian is giving a bunch of cool prizes away, and there’s a bunch of ways to win.  Go check it out!

Well I guess you could, but it would be tough!  We had a lot of blogs enter our Romantic Ideas Link Contest, and I was glad when the Hawaii vacation blog Go Visit Hawaii was randomly chosen as winner of the first prize.  It’s not hard to write a free review about a blog that posts on one of the most romantic vacation destinations in the word: beautiful Hawaii!

The gorgeous picture you see above may look like it was taken in Japan, but it’s actually the Byodo-In Temple in Hawaii, which was built to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to arrive on the island.  The reason I chose that picture was to illustrate the fact that Go Visit Hawaii does’t just focus on the cliche beachfront images and posts that you would expect.  I’ve looked through their posts, and am impressed to see that they’re a one-stop-shop for everything to do with the island, from food to beaches to anything else you’d want to know about Hawaii!

Go Visit Hawaii is run by editor Sheila Beal, a frequent visitor to the islands who knows just about everything there is to know about the place.  She prides herself on giving her readers completely independent and honest reviews of everything about Hawaii, so you can always be sure to get the real story about the best—and the not-so-good—things to do on a vacation to the islands.

And even if you aren’t planning on visiting Hawaii for a while, Go Visit Hawaii is still a great blog to bookmark to learn all you can about the islands for the day when you finally do take that romantic vacation you’ve been dreaming of. And before you go, be sure to email Sheila to ask her any last-minute questions about planning your trip . . . she’s great about returning messages!

A romantic vacation to a place like Hawaii can do wonders to bring you and your significant other closer, and Go Visit Hawaii is the perfect site for anyone who wants to learn all about the islands.  Go check it out . . . and add a little Hawaiian romance to your life!

The following is a Romance Tracker sponsored post. 

Because Romance Tracker is visited by so many people every day looking for ideas on how to add romance and love to their lives, we get a lot of requests to recommend or review Internet dating sites to our readers.  I’m usually skeptical to plug any dating sites, because often the prerequisite to join and search for your special someone is giving up your credit card number and handing over a large fee.  And the impersonal, slicked-up feel of most dating sites just doesn’t seem to jive with a genuine search for the romantic partner of your dreams.

That’s why I was so impressed with Pricelesspartner.com, a new dating service currently in Beta version that really distinguishes itself from the gazillion other paid dating sites.  While other sites require your credit card number before they allow you to make contact with an interesting-looking person, Pricelesspartner doesn’t require you to pay a single cent.

That’s right: you get absolutely free access to cool stuff like compatibility calculators, zipcode searches, direct webcam chats between members, and secure mailing systems just for signing up with Pricelesspartner.  And in the age of having to give up your credit card number for just about everything you do online, that’s a really refreshing detour from the norm for anyone who is searching for that special someone.

So, what was the inspiration for Pricelesspartner?  Its owner, Glen, is a cool guy who got fed up with trying to meet people online and getting squeezed for his credit card number before he could get access to services.  And on the sites that did promote themselves as “free,” the impersonal, automated feeling ended up being a real bummer.  You might know what it’s like to get fake emails from nonexistent “members” pushing you to sign up for paid features on “free” dating sites. 

Well Glen is an online producer who has been in the Internet business for years, and he decided to stop hoping for a better Internet dating option . . . and create one himself!  From the ground up, everything on Pricelesspartner.com is geared toward one goal: to add warmth and a sense of family to the online dating experience.  No robot responses, no credit card numbers required for access . . . just a quality grass-roots community that will help you find that special someone.

Pricelesspartner is still in the Beta version, and as Glen fine-tunes things he’s more than happy to listen to your suggestions for improving the site and making it more convenient for users.  Just take part in the Pricelesspartner forums and you can play a part in making the site even more responsive and user-friendly.

So if you’ve ever thought of joining an Internet dating site, why give up your credit card number and pay a fee for services that you can get absolutely free somewhere else?  Joining the Pricelesspartner community may be the perfect way for you to find romance . . . without paying a cent!

I normally focus on old-fashioned romantic ideas here on Romance Tracker and generally avoid topics having to do with sex or seduction . . . not so much because I’m uncomfortable with those topics, but because there are so many sites out there dealing with physical love that there’s really no possibility for originality.  But while the word “seduction” usually has a negative connotation for people looking to add romance to their lives, is it possible for the art of seduction to be romantic if used correctly?

I believe the answer to that question can, in some cases, be yes . . . and a post I read on a site called Seduction Tutor, which offers readers daily seduction tips, helped convince me even further that romance and seduction do sometimes go hand-in-hand.

First let me say that I don’t think there’s anything even remotely romantic about trying to seduce a person without giving any thought to seeking a romantic, monogamous relationship.  While I don’t think two adults should be stopped from doing what they wish or be chastised for doing so, I also don’t think you should fool yourself into thinking that there’s anything romantic about a one-night stand.

Having said that, however, I do believe that the art of seduction can be a positive influence in a loving relationship with your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, and I don’t think the use of seduction should be limited to people who have just met.  On the contrary, as Seduction Tutor often shows, you can use seduction tips in your marriage or romantic relationship to add new excitement and passion.

One post in particular made me notice the Seduction Tutor blog and opened my eyes to the possibility that romance and seduction really aren’t mutually exclusive.  In the post, the author makes some great observations about romance, including the following:

To me, romance is about showing a softer side of yourself… a more thoughtful side… in a way that is meant to increase the woman’s attraction for you. Like I just mentioned, most guys either try to use romance to create attraction, or they do too many things in an attempt to “be romantic”, and the effect is lost.

And that’s a really great point: if you’re trying to be romantic just to be romantic, it isn’t true romance at at all.  Romance really is a tool you should use to accentuate and focus upon an attraction that already exists . . .  not to create it.  Similarly, the art of seduction can be a great tool to add some more passion to an already romantic relationship . . . but be careful if you’re looking to skip romance and move right to seduction.

While Seduction Tutor may be geared toward people looking to initially attract members of the opposite sex, it can also be a great tool for loving couples looking to add more spice to their relationship.  Just because you’re in a long-term, mongamous relationship doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with passion, sexiness and flirtation with each other!

As I’ve said before, in spite of vicious rumors to the contrary, romance is alive and well in millions of successful, loving relationships and marriages around the world.  If you’re one of the lucky wives, husbands, boyfriends or girlfriends who has found the person of your dreams, you know that there’s nothing as satisfying and fulfilling as a healthy romantic relationship.

But for romantic people who still haven’t found that special someone, it can be tough to find the inspiration to remain optimistic and upbeat while you look for Mr. or Ms. Right.  I recently came across a great blog, Violet Lim.Com, that is a terrific resource full of advice on dating, matchmaking, love and life . . . and it could be just what the doctor ordered for people who are looking to add a bit more romance and inspiration to their everyday lives!

Violet became the first Asian certified by New York’s Matchmaking Institute in 2004 before launching her career as a professional matchmaker.  She was a relationship columnist for one of Malaysia’s leading magazines, and has been featured on international media such as ABC News 20/20.  And her ample experience in helping people navigate the complexities of being in love and searching for romance are evident in each of her posts!

Violet Lim runs her blog from Asia, but her great command of language and a deep understanding of the mechanics of romance transcends borders.  Regardless of whether you’re from the United States, Singapore or the South Pole, Violet’s matchmaking tips will inspire you  with great ideas to add more romance to your life.  Bookmark her blog as a great compliment to the romantic ideas you’ll find every day here on Romance Tracker!  

Here at Romance Tracker, we get hundreds of visitors a day searching for romantic ideas to improve their relationships . . . and something tells me that a large percentage of them have marriage and weddings on their minds.  I’ve been meaning to write a post about romantic weddings, but I’m far from an expert (I haven’t even been down the aisle yet!).  That’s why I was so excited to find a great wedding blog run by real wedding experts: Wedding Fanatic!

A blog about weddings is a great idea, and Wedding Fanatic writer Katie Olson and marketing manager Brandon Laughridge have a potential success story on their hands with this relatively new site.  What makes me think that Wedding Fanatic is going to take off?  Well, Katie and Brandon’s blog has a number of things going for it.

• Wedding Fanatic has some solid writing.  No matter how good you are at website design and search engine optimization, a blog just won’t make it if you don’t offer your readers some well-written copy.  And Katie Olson really delivers with coherent, clean, relevant content.
• Not many new blogs have their own marketing manager, and Brandon Laughridge is already doing a great job at promoting Wedding Fanatic and ratcheting up search engine optimization.
• The wedding niche is lucrative and has a lot of potential traffic if the site ranks for the right keywords.  I notice that Katie and Brandon don’t have any advertising on Wedding Fanatic yet, but if they’re smart they’ll shoot for some contextual and affiliate sales as the site’s visits increase.  And their daily visits will undoubtebly increase if they stick with it!

Wedding Fanatic has a clean, easily navigable layout and well-organized categories that offer great ideas and tips for anyone considering a trip to the altar.  From funny wedding stories to honest assessments of wedding planners,  Wedding Fanatic is a fantastic resource for planning the perfect romantic wedding.

Katie Olson recently started her own wedding planning company operating in Columbia, MO and Kansas City, MO, and Wedding Fanatic is a wonderful compliment to her new business.  Having a passion for your topic is key to creating a successful blog, and it’s obvious that the creators of Wedding Fanatic have the passion and talent to make their site a success.   

Just like anything else in life, one of the fundamental requirements for successfully adding old-fashioned romantic ideas to your relationship is to have a genuine passion for it. Unfortunately, a lot of people lose their inspiration to change their lives in a positive way because they don’t take their initial desire and expand it into real passion. We may recognize that adding old-fashioned romance to our relationship would be a great thing, but without making ourselves truly passionate about it, actually implementing change can end up being a chore. In order to stick with it, you have to really want it!

That’s why I really enjoy Kammie Kobyleski’s blog, Passion Meets Purpose, and added a link to it here on Romance Tracker. Kammie is a life and career coach who has worn many hats and had many experiences in her life, and she’s dedicated herself to helping others become passionate about their talents and goals. She has found her own passion in helping her clients “bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be,” and it’s obvious from her blog that she knows her stuff. Continue Reading »