The month is coming to an end and I am going to have all four 125×125 advertising spots open.

They rotate on the sidebar as you can see, so everyone will have equal share being above the fold. Pricing is $15 each payable through PayPal. Use the contact page if you are interested. Thanks!

Technorati rank is 170,xxx
Alexa rank is 290,8xx

Both falling rapidly. The CPM works out to be about $1.50.

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 52% [?]

If you haven’t heard of this blog yet, you’ve been living under a rock! WinningTheWeb.comis the king of contests. If you remember before Christmas Gyutae held the a very popular contest and gave away a free review to JohnChow.com, and JohnCow.com. I wish I would have thought of the idea, as it was a great one! You had to subscribe to be able to win the reviews, so he was gaining valuable subscribers and plenty of traffic from the buzz it created. Then he created a contest between him and Tyler Cruz. For this one, if you wanted to enter you had to write a post and vote for one of the two. In the post, you needed to link back to both the blogs however. This gained tons of backlinks for both of the blogs. Whoever had the most votes won and the loser had to pay $100 to three random people who voted for the winning blog. I happend to be one of those $100 winners. I am writing this review to enter another contest he is running, so check it out:

The sites design is very clean and easily navigated. If you notice on the sidebar, he has eight spots for advertising. (I am one of them) He only displays excerpts of his posts on the homepage, allowing more posts to be seen and more pageviews for him. Gyutea is obviously looking to monetize his blog, as he is running Kontera and has plenty of room for advertising.

The content from this blog is amazing! Very well written, long informative posts. If you are looking to get into internet marketing, subscribe to WinningTheWeb.com. Here are a couple of my favorites:

http://www.winningtheweb.com/seo-confidence-increase-competition.php
http://www.winningtheweb.com/marketing-sleepy-man.php
http://www.winningtheweb.com/optimal-seo-wordpress-permalink.php
http://www.winningtheweb.com/get-off-blogging-bandwagon.php

Overall, a very good read! The only thing that I would like to see is more posts from him, as they are always helpful!

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 48% [?]

There are now so many blogs out there that can help you get started making money online. I used to write posts linking other helpful posts every week, and I think I am going to start doing it again. So here is a few really helpful posts that I found about making money online and blogging within the past week.

Gaming Youtube For Easy Ringtone Money- I never got into ringtones. There is so much competition with ringtones I didn’t even want to bother with it. However, this post from NickyCakes.com explains a great method in which you can game YouTube and if done right make some good money!

Uber Keyword Research- Really helpful post for the PPC marketer. Building keyword lists is sometimes hard. This post from UberAffiliate.com really helps with how to build a keyword lists, and how to match those keywords.

Why You Should Change Your Blog to Show Excerpts on the Home Page- Here is one about blogging. Basically explains that you should soon be thinking about showing excerpts of your posts on your blog rather than the entire thing. The best thing about this is it will get you more pageviews, in the end bringing you more cash.

Enjoy

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 48% [?]

The second BlogWorldExpo has been officially announced for September 20-21, at the Las Vegas Convention center. Many larger bloggers attended the first one last November. I was reading alot about the expo and couldn’t wait to hear when the 2008 conference was going to be. No other information has been released yet, such as speakers and what not, however I plan to attend no matter what. Check out www.blogworldexpo.com for more information.

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 36% [?]

Pay per click marketing is probably the easiest way to start an affiliate marketing campaign. You don’t need too much money to start, and it is not too terribly complicated. Here is a simple guide for someone who has never advertised using paid search.When looking for a new campaign to promote, I usually ask my affiliate manager over at Advaliant what campaigns are doing well, and what new ones look promising. Affiliate networks aren’t making money unless you are, so they aren’t going to lie to you. Once you find a campaign that you would like to run, then ask you manager what the conversion rates are and the epc’s across the entire network. You will need the EPC’s when setting your keyword bids.What is an EPC?
EPC’s are the earnings per click for a specific campaign.So you have your offer, and a little bit of data to go off. Next you need to decide to either build a landing page, or send the traffic direct. I would suggest building a landing page! If you are going to advertise via Google Adwords, it is a good idea to build a landing page. The reason you need a landing page is to increase quality score. Quality score is based on how relevant the content of your site is to the keywords you are bidding on.

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 48% [?]

Jim Kukral has been around the internet marketing industry for a long time. He has worked on countless projects and more recently launched a new project called ScratchBack.

What initially got you started in internet marketing?
[Jim] I started by learning html by hand back in the mid 90’s. My first job at an Internet company… that first day, they handed me a html book and said “learn this”. This was before tables existed mind you. So I did. I was a print designer before that, so I learned how to take my design skills and put them into html form. A few years later, I realized that I was an average designer at best, and found my calling doing online marketing instead.
 
You have been around the internet marketing industry for a long time, do you have a favorite project you worked on?
[Jim] I’ve built websites for Fortune 100 companies, and mom and pop shops. Building websites is boring. Building fun, creative projects and businesses that entertain or help people is fun. My favorite fun project is my www.awesomemillion.com, which never took off as I’d hoped. Still love the concept and it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
 
Could you explain more on what your consulting company does?
[Jim] I help online businesses find success online. By either consulting with them on how they should do it, or actually partnering with them to get it done. Anyone can build a website. Not everyone can market it and use it the right way to drive sales or leads or publicity or traffic, etc… That’s what I do for people.
 
One of your more recent projects, ScratchBack, has made its way to many blogs and it is only in beta. What are some future plans for the project?
[Jim] When we roll out of beta we’ll launch with smaller widget sizes, as well as personalized buy pages. A new directory is coming soon, plus some more exciting features that our users should enjoy.
 
Google is penalizing websites and blogs that are selling links. Was this a big influence in the concept behind ScratchBack?
[Jim] Actually, no. The decision to make SB nofollow was made 9 months before the Google penalties “went down”. I always knew that selling links was not something Google would like, and frankly, the whole purpose of ScratchBack isn’t about passing page rank, it’s about allowing a reader to be able to give back to a blogger in the form of a tip, and get some recognition in return. A win/win for everyone.
 
Do you think blogging is having a good affect on internet marketing?
[Jim] Absolutely. I’ve been blogging since 2001, and I’ve seen it grow from a handful of grass roots bloggers, to millions of people using it. Blogs have become a must strategy when discussing a successful internet marketing campaign. Frankly, if you don’t have a blog now, people are going to wonder why not. It wasn’t that way a few years ago.

 Thanks again to Jim for taking the time out to do the interview. He has a great blog JimKukral.com that everyone should check out!

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 52% [?]

*This is a guest post from my affiliate manager Geofferson Marcy at Advaliant, my personal favorite network. If there is better support from another affiliate network out there, I am yet to find it. Make sure to sign up with Advaliant, amazing honesty, integrity, and support from everyone over there!

As an affiliate manager, one of the most common questions I get asked from my affiliates is “can I get a payout increase on XYZ campaign?” While it’s understandable that everybody in the industry wants to get the max payout on the campaigns they are running, the reality is that most affiliates out there aren’t getting top payouts. That being said, there are some things you “the money hungry affiliate” can say and do in order to get that payout boost. Note: “Because my mom said so!” is not a very convincing reason. So coming from the performance based marketing world I live in, at a CPA network called Advaliant - here are the key things I always consider before approving payout increase requests from my publishers.

1.  Account History – Past performance is a big factor I look at when making a decision whether to give you a bump. If you’ve been getting traction on an offer by producing consistent quality leads, then you are sending positive signals to me that you are a performer and to be taken seriously. Time your request once you have some momentum and stats to back up, and not until then. As long as the traffic you’ve been sending is quality, I’ll always want to help get more volume on it with you. Bottom line: once you have a proven track record, it’s a lot easier to ask for more.
   
2. Future Potential – I often look at the “perceived potential” of an affiliate to evaluate whether or not they deserve an increase. If I know that you do a lot of business at other networks or if you come highly recommended from a trusted source, I’ll be more receptive to your requests. If you are a new affiliate with me, you might want to prove your worthiness by showing me examples of what you have done elsewhere on other networks. For example; I’ve had affiliates send me screenshots of their activity on their search accounts or network rankings. Not saying you need to do this, but you will have to show and prove some kind potential if you have a weak or non-existent history with me and are basically coming out of nowhere. Bottom line: put yourself in my shoes, and ask yourself what the future potential of “you” is…
3. Goal Oriented Requests - It helps a lot to link your request to a specific outcome. For example, let me know that if I give you a “x” payout bump on a campaign, you’ll be able to likely drive “y” in increased lead volume and therefore “z” more in revenue. Be reasonable and logical with your calculations here in terms of what you are realistically capable of. If you are a search affiliate and have limited budgets for each campaign, let me know how the increase will help you crank more volume. Bottom line: whatever you request, don’t create a big expectation gap or you’ll have an even harder time getting an increase in the future.
4. Campaign Competitiveness – If you know another reputable network has the same campaign at a higher payout, you can use this as leverage in your negotiation with me. We always want to play on a level playing field with other networks out there on the same campaigns. But, I don’t want to hear that some shady network out there offered you a higher payout, when behind the scenes you are getting scrubbed like crazy. Just make sure you compare apples to apples when naming other networks out there with the same campaign. Bottom line: The more information/intelligence you have about a campaign, the better you can present your case to me.
5. Relationship Status – I’m not talking about whether you are single, married or on the prowl here. What I mean is essentially “how good is our relationship together?” The strength of our relationship will play a significant role when considering all of your requests, including payout increases. When the relationship is founded on trust with a longer term focus, I’m more apt to think of the big picture with you. This means I’ll be more willing to fight for you to get whatever you want. It’s not uncommon for my “inner circle” affiliates to get extra things from me – like high level tips, extra focus, more access to me (like my cell phone number and evening support), custom gifts and more! Bottom line: Spend some quality time building relationships with people that have an influence on your success – like your affiliate manager!

Keep in mind, that whether or not you are successful with getting a payout increase, there are other things you can ask for from your affiliate manager. These include better payment terms, custom creative and landing pages, detailed performance data and a genuine kick in the pants. We’re here to help you make as money as you can (in the shortest amount of time) and our success is hinged upon yours! If you ever get the opportunity to meet your affiliate manager in person at a conference or event, take it. (And the bill is always on us by the way!)

All the best this year,

Geofferson M

Popularity: 72% [?]

There was alot of rumors going around on what Apple was going to be releasing at MacWorld this week. One rumor of them creating the thinnest laptop ever, is true! Today Apple released the thinnest laptop ever created!

This thing is small! Check out the specs here. As stated in the online presentation, most companies do compromise on screen and keyboard functions when creating smaller laptops. However the MacBook air has a full keyboard, and a 13.3 inch widescreen display.

The price for the base model is alot less than I anticipated, however there is a big jump in price for the upgraded model. Here are the specs:

You can get your pre-order in now! This machine seems perfect for the businessman who is always on the go, or for the full time blogger who can take this thing anywhere!

Popularity: 38% [?]

I have had the Entrecard widget on my blog for a little over a month now. At first, I loved the idea and thought this was really going to take off. Entrecard has grown significantly since I signed up, and continues to grow daily. It will send you some traffic, however not the most quality of traffic as most people just drop their card and continue onto the next website that is displaying the widget.

I never did understand the whole “bloggers business card” side of the project. In my opinion, it is nothing like a business card as I don’t even look at the cards that have been dropped on me. I simply login only to approve the pending ads then logout.

There are some huge problems with the system however. Some of these bloggers seem to be obsessed with the whole Entrecard idea and drop cards constantly. Sure, if I visit a blog that has the widget I drop mine, why not? What I don’t do is spend hours daily going to every blog that has the widget dropping my card. It is really strange to me that some of these blogs I have never heard of are placing higher than some very popular ones. It seems JohnCow.com is sick of this to, as they removed the widget from their blog.

I am not going to remove the widget, only ranting about some things that Entrecard should look into changing. What do you think needs to be changed?

 Subscribe in a reader

Popularity: 40% [?]

I found this video initially from JohnChow.com, (however it is initially from Gizmodo.com) as he was explaining in his opinion that this gave bloggers a “bad name”. My opinion on this is, I thought it was pretty funny. I then started reading more opinions, and came across a quote by a “real” journalist saying that bloggers are not press, and that anyone can start a blog just like anyone can drive their car fast but they’re not a race car driver. I don’t agree 100% with that, sure anyone can start a blog, but then why have blogs like TechCrunch.com and Engadget.co become so popular? Because obviously blogging does work as press! Check out the video!

Popularity: 37% [?]