Linkwheel Question

Hey guys.

I've just started working on my first linkwheel.

First of all, what is a good number of 'spokes' in the wheel? 6? 10?

Also, should you target the same keyword, i.e., use the same anchor text for both your own site, as well as the next web 2.0 site?

Excuse my stupidity/ignorance I'm somewhat new to IM

I always do 6-spoke wheels, but I know alot of people go with 10. It would be more links to your money site, but also more work. If it was a high competition keyword, I would go with 10.

As far as the same anchor text, I always use the same anchor text for the spokes, but mix it up a little when backlinking to them.

IE.
Keyword = Blue Widgets
Anchor Text for Spokes = Blue Widgets
Anchor Text for Link to Spokes = Building Blue Widgets, Where To Buy Blue Widgets, etc.

The more properties you create, the greater the chance that you will get a good page 1 presence. Personally, the smallest linkwheel I've ever made was 8 spokes and I only made 1. The biggest so far had 32 spokes. My average is 16, and I would recommend using that number of properties if you want to see success first time round.

Thanks guys. I've made a six spoke link wheel. Let's see how the results stack up - its not a very competitive niche to begin with; I'm on the first page of Google with just a 2 week old site and less than 50 backlinks.