Another free ebook offered up by BloggingTips.com. If you've never been to his blog you really should subscribe. This ebook is called
The Robots Standard Exclusion‘. It's 36 pages and 6 chapters walks you through taking control of the search engine robots that crawl your blog or website. Download your copy over at http://www.bloggingtips.com/2009/09/23/free-e-book-the-robots-standard-exclusion/ You can thank me later. Leave your comments to let me know what you think.
Nicole Dean has put together this free ebook "A Beginner's Guide to Making Money with Affiliate Programs". It shows newbies how to get a blog up and running in five steps. It's yours today and it's loaded with really helpful content. Check it out. Click here to download.
There's a lot of talk lately about the government stepping in when it comes to paid or sponsored ads on blogs and websites, not being clearly labeled as such. What's going to happen at this point is not clear but many bloggers are up in arms at the government taking aim at bloggers and site owners who make a living off of affilate marketing. Watch the video and read over the comments while your there. What do you think?
I just got this from, Ronnie Nijmeh from PLR.me and I had to share it with you. This 69 minute MP3 is full of some MAJOR gems when it comes to owning a profitable internet marketing business.
Listen here (it's free):
http://www.plr.me/id/successcast/msmerle
P.S. You'll want to get signed up to Ronnie's Early Bird list for his Abundance Stimulus Pack.
It's at the bottom of this page:
http://www.plr.me/id/successcast/msmerle
You won't want to miss this PLR pack...
By Merle http://www.twitter.com/msmerle
When it comes to "cool tools", Google is the master inventor. Say what you want about Google, but they know what they're doing when it comes to giving the public what they want and need. Take
Google is giving you the ability to manage all your phones with one centralized number. At the time of this writing, it's only available to those in the U.S., and by invitation only. Upon registration, you'll be given your own phone number that you connect to any existing phone number. When someone calls the Google Voice number, it rings the phone number that you specified. The option of selecting a word for your personalized number is also given.
Now, if all Google Voice did was send phone calls to your cell phone, that would be great all by itself, but the amount of extra tools and features are truly amazing. When a call is received you can answer it, send it directly to voice mail, listen in on the incoming call to decide what to do with it, or start recording the call upon answering. How's that for a few options?
After receiving a call you'd like to record, hit 4 on your phone to start recording. Different states have different laws when it comes to recording calls, so check your current federal and state laws before using this feature. Currently outbound calls cannot be recorded. Google does provide an automated verbal announcement when the recording starts and stops so the person you're speaking with knows they are being recorded. So much for incriminating yourself (LOL)
Say goodbye to voicemail as you know it. When a voicemail is recorded, you can check it by going to the Google Voice website and logging in, or calling your Google number. You can even be notified by email, or text message of new messages needing your attention. The ability to listen in on voice mails as they are being left is a very handy feature. Voicemail messages can be shared with others via Email, even downloaded as MP3 files and embedded on a website or blog. Messages are also transcribed as text and housed on Google's site for later reading, or sent to you by email. When it comes to voice mail greetings, custom messages can be set for groups or certain individuals.
Google Voice is free for use within the U.S., but does give the ability to make low cost international calls to over 200 countries from your phone or Google's site. You'll first need to purchase credits through Google Checkout before making these calls. Rates vary percountry.
Here are some other handy features:
- Phone spam filters which block calls and mark them
as spam
- Conference Calling
- Temporary forwarding of calls to another number
- Access Google Voice from mobile browsers at
http://google.com/voice/m
- Call Widgets- Easily add a "call me" widget
to your blog or site with copy and paste code
located under setup.
- Do not disturb option which sends all incoming
calls directly to voicemail when you don't want
to be bothered.
So what about when you call someone and want it to appear you are calling from your Google Voice phone number? No problem. The ability to make calls that will display your G.V. number on caller ID can be done in three different ways.
1) Hit call from within Google Voice website
2) From G.V. mobile site on your cell
3) By calling your G.V. number and logging into
the system.
Google will call you at the number you specify and connect your outbound call. It doesn't get much better than that.
The technical requirements to use this service are a computer with Win XP, Vista, Mac or Linux, Internet Explorer 6.0 or above, Firefox 3.0 or higher, Safari, Google Chrome and Flash 8.9.
To request your invitation go to https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/
So, if you thought using the phone was outdated, sign up with Google Voice and put some "FUN" back intoan old relationship. This just might be the best thing old Ma Bell has seen in years.
It seems every business these days is placing priority on marketing at online social networking
Three years after its initial creation, Twitter has gradually increased to what is now extreme global popularity. Twitter has the flexibility to allow people to talk about any topic they desire. Some talk about their personal concerns and there are also those who primarily promote their own business. Ordinary people seeking social interaction and communication with peers use Twitter to send tweets to each other. Then there are the many online merchants who place serious resources into Twitter, seeking to generate traffic to their web sites. Right now twitter is regarded as one of the easiest methods for increasing traffic and build a brand.
Firstly, you need to spread the word of your presence on Twitter. If you are an experienced online marketer then traditionally you will have used email campaigns or niche related blog posts. When you do this style of promotion now, include your Twitter account on all your messages, blog posts, and even on your site. In this way everybody will know that you use Twitter. Another good idea is to be active in the use of Twitter and to send tweets out regularly. When your fans see that you are active, it may lead to them visiting your Web site.
Regular tweet updates can attract active followers from your tweets. However, you must make sure that you post personal tweets as well because sending too many business related tweets can result in losing your followers. There are tools that you are able to use to help publish your tweets automatically, but you must be very careful not to misuse such tools.
By building good relations and trust with your fans will help gain sales of your products or services. But bombard your followers with sales promotions and you may lose them. Alternatively, try to post helpful messages occasionally because the social community will appreciate it more. By investing a little of your time and effort in sending informative tweets and responding to those sent to you, it will increase the profitability of your company in the time to come.
Utilizing Twitter is easy and fun. Many online merchants now use Twitter to build targeted traffic on their site, so why don't you try it? But Honestly it is obvious to say not every twitter member who uses it as a marketing tool is going to have success. You see, it requires time, effort and patience to see results that equate to a big reward. Increasing Twitter traffic for your business organization can be done effectively if you know how to tweet correctly.
Listen to Matt Cutts as he tackles the question, "Does Google Value its own Links for PageRank".
Due to the popularity of Twitter many business owners are now trying to cash in on the medium by marketing their businesses. An easy to use interface and the convenience of this online networking community has turned many twitter users into twittering addicts. This in combination with
Twitter Search is a very effective tool to research the current state of play for your business industry. Find out what others in your business industry are saying and learn from them. Look out for feedback from its customers, especially negative comments can be invaluable. With this information you may be able to make some adjustments to your companies products or service if necessary and find new markets that will ensure profitability.
Once you build your own list of subscribers known as followers, put in the work to keep them updated on new developments both personal and business related. This activity is essential if you are going to gain heaps of followers and convince them to hang on every word you say. Also take the time to carefully select the people that you choose to follow on Twitter. They do not all have to be related to your industry profession. There may be those users that are also using Twitter for online promotion and this will give you the opportunity to watch what they are doing and learn new skills from observing them.
Making sure the people that you follow also follow back is another vital task. Once you develop a big group of followers, you will be able to now send tweets promoting your organization but try to mix up the content as much possible, by also sending useful topical information on current events or general social chit chat. Don't forget, Twitter is designed to be a social networking site and is not strictly a promotional tool.
Sending out just a few too many tweets promoting your business will soon result in a sharp reduction the number of followers. Gathering and keeping a large number of twitter followers will give you a higher number of successful conversions because like any form of marketing its a numbers game.
Trying to cash in on the success of Twitter can be rewarding, but only if you bother to develop the right skills and know how to do so. The more you invest and try to learn about this social networking phenomenon the larger the return. Follow the gurus and learn from their experience. If you can keep up to date with the latest occurrences and trends at twitter you will giving yourself the best chance at being successful using twitter for marketing purposes.
By Merle http://MerlesWorld.com
The latest craze sweeping the Net right now is Twitter. This micro-blogging tool has evolved into 
Over the last few years, many have developed third party software and plug-ins that enable users to do more with Twitter. Along the same lines, many have been thinking of ways to profit from Twitter. Of course, since Twitter lets you communicate with people from all over the world, a natural connection is how to advertise to that crowd.
Now, if you asked most Twitter users what they thought of advertising on Twitter, they'd probably give you an evil stare, and no longer wish to associate with you. Yes, the thought of ads popping up on Twitter makes some people angry and does not appeal to the majority of avid
users.
Still, along with the protests, are those that think Twitter and advertising should go together, sort of like birthday's and cake. So what's available if you're interested in Twitter advertising? I thought
you'd never ask.
1) RevTwt- http://www.RevTwt.com
This service offers a variety of advertising options. Publishers can select from CPC (cost per click) ads, CPT (cost per thousand), which you must have a specific number of followers for, or CPA (viewers must perform a specific action). RevTwt supplies the links and you paste them into your Twitter timeline.
2) Adf.ly: http://Adf.ly
A link shortening service with a twist. Shorten the URL, then post it to Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks, and you'll earn money with every click. The current payout for those in the U.S. is about $1.00 per thousand visitors.
3) Adjix: http://www.Adjix.com
Another link shortening service with an advertising twist built in. Twitter users can choose to embed
ads inside their tweets. Advertisers set the rate they are willing to pay for someone to tweet their
ad. Ad selection varies from a random ad to allowing you to target a specific subject area, for example health. An informative video is available at
http://adjix.com/ddew
4) Be-A-Magpie: http://be-a-magpie.com
A variety of compensation modes to pick from, including pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead, pay-per-click, or pay-per-view. Enter your Twitter user name to see how much you can earn. You'll be paid to allow "Magpie" to post tweets to your account. Tweets sent will be matched to the topic of your usual Tweets, so you won't need to worry about off-topic messages. It's up to you how many ads get posted. It can be set at the default, which is one Magpie tweet for every 10 of yours, or changed. You will need a Paypal account in order to get paid.
5) TwitterAd: http://www.TwitterAd.com
Built using the Twitter open API, just sign up to post your Twitter account to advertisers to sponsor it. You select the ad duration and price, which can be 7 days, 15 days -even one to three months. Just sit back and wait for the offers to come in. You can accept or deny the ad within 48 hours. The recommended ad size is 211X484 height, 300 DPI for best placement on a Twitter user's background. Payouts are made once your account balance reaches $30.00.
6) PayMeTweets: http://www.PayMeTweets.com
To use this "micro-promotional" tool you'll first need to follow "@PayMeTweets.com”. Watch for tweets you like,then “retweet” (RT) them. You'll be paid a set amount for each one. Payment varies depending on your "influence". Credits you earn can also be used to advertise your own products/services. Payout per tweet ranges from a few pennies up to $20.00 for those Twitter users with heavy influence.
7) SponsoredTweets: http://www.SponsoredTweets.com
Connecting advertisers with Twitter users to sponsor "conversations". All paid Twitter ads contain a
disclosure to such in order to comply with the FTC.To set up an account you'll need to set your price,
then add a category and keywords. Advertisers come to you, and you'll make the decision to reject or accept them.
You'll be paid within 24 hours of posting Tweets, and you must earn $50.00 before cashing out. Ads are not posted to your Twitter timeline, you must manually post them.
As Twitter continues to evolve and grow, the number of advertising supported services will too. Like it or not, Twitter is a powerful communication tool that allows people to connect with each other all over the world, and marketing to that audience is a natural by-product of that.
No matter whether you like the idea or not, advertising to Twitter users is here to stay. I'm not taking one side over the other, just reporting some of the options. As my Mama used to say "Don't shoot the messenger!"
Great News! Today August 18th at 10 am eastern, Eric Tan and Odinn Sorensen opened the doors to their brand-new Graphics Giveaway 2. Last time they ran this in December 2008, the event was a great success and hundreds of people grabbed a ton of nice free gifts in the design and graphics niche.
Join now and get your free gifts At the time I'm writing this, there are 82 Graphics Gifts. You'll even get one free gift right at the door, no signup needed, as a "thank you" just for showing up :-) Here's a taste of what's on offer for free.
- Web Templates
- eCover Makers
- Design Software
- Designer Guide
- Graphic Tools
- Headers- Buttons
... and many more! Join now and get your free gifts
http://graphicsgiveaway.com/members/id/msmerle
Meanwhile the great JV partners are still busy adding even more gifts, so be sure to check back in for more goodies. NOTE: They have a very attractive upgrade offer for members only. You will see it right after you login. You'll be amazed at what you get for just $17 ... Join now and get your free gifts
Have a great day!
P.S. The Graphics Giveaway 2 runs only until September 1st, so you should signup now and secure your free graphics membership in the giveaway, before the doors close to new members. Join now and get your free gifts
There is little doubt the internet has drastically and permanently affected how the communication
This social networking dependency has seen many people wanting to share their lives with anyone prepared to be their audience. Twitter fantastically provides quick and easy communication with friends and family members.
Before anyone can make use of Twitter, intending members need to make a personal profile for their account. Twitter was designed to publish and alert others of updates or short messages quickly. These twitter alerts are called "tweets" and are text based of 140 characters in length. Not many people know you can even use a cell phone to send these updates. The updates are sent to followers from your account user name who choose to subscribe to that Twitter member just as you can choose who you subscribe too and follow.
But is twitter a good to bad thing? Well, that is the question partly answered by its millions of users from all the world who dedicate their time and energy to the site. For the first half of 2009, Twitter ranked third among the most beloved and most visited social network websites, MySpace and Facebook who have been massive successes in their own right. In March 09, after many previous months of increasing traffic, unique hits to Twitter accelerated to grow 131 percent to 9.3 million unique visitors. Success thanks to hollywood celeb “tweeters” and more widespread offline media focus, the site ranked as the fastest expanding web property overall online.
The simplicity of Twitter is the reason for its extreme appeal among people of all different age groups. Users are free to choose how they can receive tweets - by means of RSS, SMS, mobile Web, etc. Specialist web tools such as Twitterific and Tweetie are also popular in helping users keep track of their twittering activities. By means of application programming interface (APIs), you can easily update your profile page without the need to enter the actual Twitter site.
Multiple people use Twitter – actors, musicians, professionals and even political identities. Just about everyone knows that American President Barack Obama used Twitter for his campaigns. Well, in addition to the President,other celebrities such as Oprah, Lance Armstrong, 50 cent and the Jonas Brothers are avid fans of the site. Large companies use the site to promote their products, information updates and client support such as Dell, Starbucks, TheHomeDepot, Ford and Samsung. Even Microsoft, although belatedly, have decided to establish a big presence on Twitter with at last count some 18 genuine accounts which allow consumers and staff to communicate.
Twitter maybe far from a perfect all in one solution but it has many good things to offer at absolutely no cost to its members. No doubt twitters creators will also continue to further develop this social medium which can only further enhance its value for everyone. Go on over to Twitter, try it out now and create your own profile page.
can lead to your website's success or ultimate failure. 1st Time Visitors. Let's face it: the first time someone comes to your website, the odds are they're going to be leary and not buy from you right away. By giving them the chance to subscribe to your newsletter you're actually giving yourself another chance to sell to them down the road. Your ezine will givethem multiple incentives to visit your site and make a purchase.
Build an Opt In List. There's a reason why off-line marketers have done direct mailings for years: they work. Collecting email addresses of visitors to your website allows you to compile a list of people who want to hear from you.By signing up for your newsletter, you're given permission to market to these people on a regular basis. Your list will become your most precious marketing commodity.
Establishes Trust. The truth is, your site visitors have no idea if you're an upright business person or some mad hacker in a dark basement out to grab their credit card number. By giving them the opportunity to subscribe to your ezine you'll be able to establish a "relationship" where your subscribers will come to trust and rely upon you. By providing them with helpful information on a consistent basis you'll become someone they turn to when in need of the types of products/services you sell.
Establish Yourself as an Expert. Let's say you're an accountant and I'm considering using your services. How do I know you're any good? Well, if you had been publishing a newsletter with helpful accounting tips and tax saving information all along, you would have established yourself as an expert in my mind.
By sharing your knowledge with others, you'll establish yourself as an expert in your field. An ezine helps you to establish credibility in your chosen subject and distinguishes you from others online who may be working in a similar vein. Be the one people turn to, become the EXPERT.
Sell Back End Products. As long as your newsletter supplies helpful information, you can actually pitch your sales talk softly between the lines. As long as your ezine is not 99% ads, you can use it to plug any product or service you sell. If you don't have your own products/services, you can plug affiliate programs you may be involved with as well. Just try to keep everything you promote related to the theme of your newsletter. If your ezine is health related you should only include health related products to keep it on topic for your target market. As you run sales or specials you'll also want to make your subscribers aware of them. Remember, your ezine is a marketing tool; use it as such.
Drives Traffic. There are millions of websites out there, so what's going to bring me back to yours? An ezine, of course! By emailing your subscribers a newsletter which always includes a link back to your site, you're reminding them to come back again and again -- driving traffic on a consistent basis. How many times have you gone to a website and signed up for their ezine and forgotten about the site? I know I have, but when their newsletter shows up in my mailbox it reminds me of how much I enjoyed their site and usually results in my re-visiting. This is POWERFUL STUFF.
These are just some of the reasons why you need to be publishing an newsletter. A website needs a newsletter and a newsletter needs a website. They just go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. One without the other is a weak link in the online marketing chain. Don't underestimate the importance of your very own ezine. As your list grows you'll have a very powerful marketing tool on your hands, one you can sell to again and again!
Is this video Matt Cutts gets put on the spot when he is asked the question "Which is better for search, Google or Twitter?" See how he answers.
Have you heard about the new deal between Microsoft and Yahoo Search? "Yahoo will become the exclusive search advertising provider for Microsoft’s search engine, Bing" -In this interview Danny Sullivan shares his thoughts on what it all means.
Back in the days when newsletters first hit the Internet, they were usually published in text format because many email clients did not support HTML email just yet. One of the problems many
publishers faced was long URL's being split in half and not being clickable to the reader. To solve this problem, shortening services started to spring up that would take a long URL and cut it down to a reasonable size. With the popularity of Twitter and the confines of 140 characters, URL (link) shortening services are in high demand once again. When you have such a small amount of space to work with, no one wants a long URL cutting into thatprecious real estate.
There are a variety of shortening services to choose from, each having their own specific features and benefits. Most of them do work hand in hand with Twitter, allowing you to Tweet the link once it's been shortened. If you're an avid Twitter user this is a useful feature to have.
Some only offer a basic shortening service, but many allow you to view stats and metrics on your newly shortened links if you register. If you're doing any form of social media marketing, it's nice to be able to see if anyone's actually clicking on all the links you're sending out to the "Twitosphere", or posting on Facebook and other sites. Tracking will give you an indication that you're being heard and that people are actually paying attention to what you have to say.
Another important thing to look for is whether or not the shortening service uses 301 redirects. This is the most search engine friendly, and forces the search engine to look at the destination URL, not the domain of the shortening service itself. A 301 stands for a permanent move, not temporary. What this means is, you want the links you're sending out to be given credit by the search engines, not the shortening service itself. Make sense?
Many allow custom URL's, which allows you to use your name or company name in the links you create. This is great for branding purposes. Think of it as a vanity license plate. Instead of being just a regular URL it's your own special creation.
Let's review a few options:
1) http://TweetBurner.com- A bare bones tracking service which
allows you to shorten any link and then share it
instantly with your Twitter followers or Friendfeed.
Basic stat tracking is available so you can see
how many people clicked on your link.
2) http://Cli.gs - A shortening service which includes full
analytics. You can create links that include your brand
in them. Free to use. It's easy to send your links to
Twitter with one click.
3) http://Bit.ly - This is Twitter's default shortening
service and used by Tweedeck.com. It allows you to
track performance of your links in real time. Easy to
share generated links on Twitter, Facebook, even Gmail.
It also offers many extra tools and plug-ins such as a browser
bookmarklet and browser sidebar.
4) http://MyTwitterToolbar.com - Free to download and comes
complete with a massive list of URL shorteners as well as over
50 Twitter tools. Also includes 100 Twitter tips.
5) http://www.TwitClicks.com - A fairly simple service
that allows you to shorten a URL immediately and tweet
it. Can also see complete stats. Detailed stats show
percentage of browsers used and locations of those
who clicked. Check out a short video on how to use
it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ScPeCd6X4
6) http://www.ExpandMyUrl.com - This service takes
a shortened link and gives you the true URL that
it points to. Perfect for the paranoid individual
who wants to know where the shortened link will
send them.
7 http://www.TwitPwr.com - A short URL service
which also includes analytics and stats. Their
home page shows the top 25 users with the most
TwitPwr and also a "hot URL" list of those URL's
that get the most clicks. Free to use.
8) http://1link.in - A multiple link shortening
service. Simply type in a list of links and get
one link back for all. If you click on the newly
shortened link it goes to a page showing details
of what sites that link points to, and asks if you
want to open them all. If you answer yes, multiple
windows will open for each site.
9) http://Go2.me - A different type of link shortening
and discussion service which creates shorter links
which also contain a chat window to exchange comments
with your readers. It's also easy to share on Twitter,
Facebook or email with one click.
10) http://Tw.itter.me - You can customize the
shortened link with your name or company name.
From what I saw no stats are available.
11) http://budurl.com/ - Another popular service
which shows you a real time view of your inbound
clicks. This free service allows you to track
up to 250 Budurl's. They offer 3 pay levels of
service from $4.00 a month to $49.00 a month. There is a
21 day free trial on any paid service. You can
start out free and upgrade your account at any
time.
12) http://Tr.Im - Trim those long URL's and
instantly share them on Twitter. If you want
stats, you'll need to register. Offers many
different tools and extensions to make for
easier sharing, such as a Firefox extension
that allows you to view your tr.im stats and
tweet your new links quickly.
13) http://short.ie - Keeps all your shortened
links in one place. Tracks clicks and allows
you to instantly share your list with friends.
It can also be connected to your Twitter account
for more features. Customization of URL's also
available.
14) http://hootsuite.com: Not really a URL
shortening service, but has the ability built in.
Hootsuite is a "Twitter Toolbox" loaded with
features which are all free. They use ow.ly
as their built in link shortener.
If you've never tried a url shortening service, you'll want to find one that fits your needs and start to really utilize it in your online marketing activities. Finding out who's clicking on your links,time of day, where they're from and other information will be very valuable in your ongoing efforts as an Internet Marketer.
Remember, when it comes to social media marketing T.M.I (too much information) is a good thing,
unlike when your Aunt Ethel wants you to sit with her and go over every detail of her latest
vacation <grin>. One is helpful, the other just downright painful.
Is social media marketing really worth your time? Find out in this enlightening video that tries to answer that question.
Do you Twitter? I have to admit I'm addicted. As soon as I log in online one of the first places I check is Twitter. But I don't log into their site and use the online interface, I use a third party free software called Tweetdeck.
With Tweetdeck I can see everyone's tweets, retweet other people's tweet, send direct messages and more. Tweetdeck makes it so easy to interact with those I follow and those following me. Another nice feature is being able to see my friends updates on Facebook from within the same interface and I can post my messages to Twitter and, if I want, send them to Facebook all at the same time. This is a real time saver. I love it.
So if you're a Twitter user and not using a third party solution for monitoring and posting I'd strongly suggest you download Tweetdeck http://tweetdeck.com/beta/
By Merle
Have you ever imagined getting paid to post to your blog? Yes, you heard me right. Get paid for writing on your blog. There are many bloggers that are making a steady stream of income by
There are plenty of advertisers out there looking for bloggers to write about their products/services. Review websites bring both parties together, usually in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Before choosing a service to sign up with, make sure you read the terms of service to ensure you're picking one that's a good fit. If you use Google's Blogging service, some review sites won't accept you as they'll only take blogs hosted on their own domains. It's smart to read their terms of service first before wasting your time submitting. Research how you'll be paid and also how you'll be notified of new review opportunities.
Remember to maintain your blog's integrity by only blogging about quality products and services you believe in or might use yourself. Be honest in your reviews. You'll also need to disclose somewhere on your blog that some of your postings are paid for. Failure to disclose could possibly get you in trouble with the FTC who are looking at putting new guidelines in place. Take a look at-
http://www.clicknewz.com/1891/ftc-to-regulate-social-media/
Let's review some of the more popular services-
1) BloggerWave.com- http://www.BloggerWave.com
Open an account and submit your blog. You decide what "jobs" you want to take on. You'll be paid via Paypal. Once your reviews are submitted Bloggerwave checks your work. Postings must stay on your blog for at least 30 days.
2) LoudLaunch.com- http://www.LoudLaunch.com
To apply, your blog must be at least two months old and you need to have a verified Paypal account. Add your blog for review. Once it's approved you can search through the database for available jobs and choose those that fit your website.
3) BlogVertise.com- http://www.Blogvertise.com
Register and submit your site for approval. Once approved your blog goes into what they call the
"assignment queue". You'll be assigned tasks that you can accept or deny. The current payout is $4.00 to $25.00 per posting. Most blogs fall into the $5 to $15.00 range.
4) PayU2Blog.com- http://www.PayU2Blog.com
This service is looking for honest reviews by quality bloggers. Payout every two weeks via Paypal. Blogs must be at least 90 days old. It takes 2 to 3 days for the approval process. If you don't hear from them you were not approved.
5) SponsoredReview.com- http://www.SponsoredReview.com
Looking for honest reviews on many different types of products and services. Bloggers must disclose "sponsored review" somewhere in the post. Advertisers can find you or you can search for advertisers directly. Constructive criticism is encouraged in your reviews and payout is every two weeks via Paypal.
6) Blogitive.com- http://www.Blogitive.com
After the submission process, it takes about two days to find out if you've been approved. Once approved you can log into the site to see what jobs are available. Opportunities are varied and include cost per post advertising and soon ghost blogging, paid RSS and comment moderation.
7) Reviewme.com- http://www.ReviewMe.com
If approved, your blog will be listed in the marketplace and clients will purchase reviews from you. It's up to you if you want to accept those jobs or not. Payout ranges from $20.00 to $200.00 per review. Payout is monthly.
8) PayPerPost.com- http://www.PayPerPost.com
No approval process here. All blogs are welcome. Once in the system you'll begin to get offers. Bloggers set their own pricing, per link, per word. All offers will be emailed to blog owners. If a job is accepted you have three days to complete it. Payout is every 30 days for any monies earned.
9) BuyABlogger.com- http://www.BuyABlogger.com
Advertisers are not charged to use this service. Blog owners decide on what opportunities to take or not take. Once your blog is listed, you just sit back and wait for the offers to come rolling in. Your blogs pagerank and Alexa stats are displayed in your profile.
10) BlogPostsForSale.com- http://www.BlogPostsForSale.com
List your blog and then look through the marketplace for open jobs. You'll be paid via Paypal. If you like, you can add a badge graphic to your blog that says "Hire Me" to quickly find those who want you to write about them on your blog.
11) Smorty.com- http://www.Smorty.com
Smorty offers two ways to earn an income. Bloggers can write an opinion of products and services, or they can publish pay-per-click ads on their blogs. Your blog needs to be over 30 days old to be approved. The approval process takes about 72 hours. Blog owners can list up to 10 blogs under one account. When accepting a job you have 24 hours to write your post. Payout per posts range from $6.00 to$100.00. Posts must be a minimum of 150 words and not over 400. Bloggers are paid weekly via Paypal.
As you can see there are a multitude of services to choose from when deciding to earn some cash by providing paid reviews on your blog.
Remember, don't sacrifice your blog's integrity by blogging about something you really don't believe in. If it's related to your blog, and you think it's something that may be helpful to your readers, by
all means that's the route to take.
Bloggers also need to add to their blog disclaimers that some posts are paid for, or some services require full disclosure from within the posting itself. You want to be ethical and honest, because if you lose your online reputation, you really have nothing left. If your readers stop having faith in you, they'll lose interest in your blog. It can take years to earn a reputable reputation and it can all be lost with one careless post. Just something to think about.
When I first heard that Michael Jackson had died it was on Twitter. The news ran rampant online 
Now let me clarify. I am by no means what you would call a “Michael Jackson” fan. I never went to his concerts or even spent one dime on his music. The only way I related to the man was with my childhood. I remember the Jackson 5 and this young kid singing his heart out. They were cool. They even had their own TV show for awhile and I remember liking their music. It would be many years later that Michael would branch out on his own. So to me, losing him, was like losing a piece of my childhood. Another chapter closed.
It was a different era back then so unlike the hostile cold world we live in today. People watched out for each other. Neighbors kept an eye on the neighborhood children and everyone said hello and called out your name. I don’t think they have “neighborhoods'” anymore. People are so transient and move so much, people don’t even know who their neighbors are anymore let alone speak to them.
Still there was something so sad and strangely moving about this man dying. Why did I feel so strongly about someone I never was a a fan of? A piece of my childhood went with him I guess. I’m sure this will date me, but there’s something sad about watching the people you grew up with slowly dying. It’s as if you realize your own mortality and know your time could come next. When you’re young you think you’re going to live forever. As we age, we start to worry about things you never thought about in your youth. Things like dying and death.
Michael Jackson was a master marketer. He fashioned his own life after PT Barnum who founded the Circus. Which we know of today as Ringling Brothers. They say he read PT Barnum’s autobiography and even told his PR people to read it as he wanted to fashion his life after the book. A lot of the strange stories that ran about him over the years actually were put out there on purpose by his PR people. Michael thought any publicity was good. The problem is unlike PT Barnum who promoted “freaks”, Michael slowly became one. I think he had the best of intentions, but somewhere along the way his “plan” backfired. Somewhere along the way his marketing message got skewed and like a runaway freight train once it started moving in the wrong direction, he was powerless to stop it.
There are many that “think” he molested children. I for one do not. I do think he was like a child himself and had a strange fascination with kids since he never got to be one himself, but I don’t think he ever would molest one. He just wanted to be a kid so badly he got wrapped up in the fantasy. When you think about it, it’s really sad. Sad that he never got to be a child. Sad that he was forced to grow up in the public’s eye. Sad that he never knew what “normal” was. Yes, he had a rough childhood and he said his father was strict, but back then parents were strict. My own mother spanked me with belts and paddles. Back then it was acceptable, today she’d be serving 10 years in prison for child abuse. Oh, how times change. What’s acceptable today is not tomorrow.
I know everyone is sick and tired of hearing about Michael Jackson. At least that’s what I hear from those around me. But let us not forget the sheer talent this guy had over decades. He was a master entertainer and a great humanitarian. Let’s try to focus on the good and forget some of the bad things we read in the press over the years. You can’t believe everything you read. He really did a lot of wonderful things and gave to many charities. Even in death he left 20% of his estate to charity. How many people do that?
I watched his memorial on TV which was only suppose to be 2 hours that ran almost 3. It was so touching. I could not stop watching it. I was literally glued to the screen. I’m not a softie and this type of thing generally has no affect on me. But this time it did. If you’re a human being, this service reminded you of what it means to be human. I hate to admit it but it brought tears to my eyes a few times. The powerful people who had such kind things to say about the King of Pop was mind boggling.
To the public he was “Wacko Jacko”, but to his family he was a loving father, a brother, a son. Let us not forget when we idolize people that they too are human and make mistakes just like everybody else. No matter if you hated the man or not, his death marked an end to an era and the world will probably never again see such a talent. It was a tragedy that came about way to soon.
Goodbye Michael, I hope now you can rest in peace without the media hounding your every move. May you find the peace in death you never knew in life.
Photo above courtesy of : http://www.flickr.com/photos/buda_fabiomori/sets/72157604002969010/
"This is video footage of Suryia the orangutan and Roscoe the dog who became best friends upon meeting each other"- Video courtesy of http://www.rarespeciesfund.org/ This really is the cutest video...You have to see it to believe it.
Do you use Twitter? I was a skeptic when I first heard of it but over the months I've been slowly sucked in to the point I can't stop. This micro blogging service is highly addictive and fun. If I need to get any work done I have to promise myself not to open Tweetdeck. You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/msmerle
If you don't know te first thing about it download this free 31 Page PDF guide and learn how to get started. If you like it feel free to pass it on to others.
http://www.merlesworld.com/e-books/Twitter_Fast_Start.pdf
The one and only Social Marketing Gifts Giveaway has just opened it's doors...
... now you can download hundreds of social marketing tools and products for zero, zilch, nada
==> http://www.socialmarketinggifts.com/members.php?id=2277
This year's Social Marketing Gifts event is hosted by 2 of the Top Marketers in this industry: Guido Nussbaum and Stephanie Mulac.
They both have a huge experience in running giveaway events... so what happens when they'll team up? That's what they were asking themselves...
So we'll see if they together can pull out the Biggest Giveaway we've ever seen...
... we'll see...
So make sure you don't miss this one... as you might know, Social Marketing is currently the Hot Topic on the net.
Free ebook for your downloading pleasure "The Winning Way", the ultimate checklist of over 500 Internet marketing strategies. At 118 pages long it's loaded with helpful information to assist you with your online marketing. You will need to subscribe to the newsletter in order to download.
Some of what you'll find inside:
1) How to Optimize your website for the search engines.
2) How to build links to your website
3) Increase your Blog Subscribers
4) Increasing Traffic through: social media, local search, pay-per-click marketing and much more.
Download your copy now.
Wordtracker's new, free Firefox extension - "SEO Blogger" helps you to optimize the keywords in your blog posts.
"With the click of a button you get a mini version of Wordtracker's keyword research tool right in your browser window." So while you're putting together your post you can do your research all within the same window.
Download it and take her for a spin at
http://labs.wordtracker.com/seo-blogger/
Willie Crawford is a successful Internet Marketer. He's been working the net for years and walks the talk. He's always willing to share what he knows with others. He's a helpful kind of guy.
In this 30 minute audio you can download for free "How To Outsource Your Traffic Generation For Free" Willie explains how to build a whole army of people who will send you tons of traffic and new ezine subscribers. Like I said Willie is one of the "good guys" online and if you subscribe to his mailing lists you can really learn a lot about online marketing. I know I have over the years.
"This video explains how the Google Content Network works for advertisers who want to be able to target customers when they browse beyond search."
When it comes to making money with a website, one of the most popular methods is running text and/or image ads on various pages. It's referred to as contextual advertising and “inline 
Probably the largest and most used of the contextual ad programs is Google's Adsense. Google really is a giant when it comes to the Internet, and their talents go far beyond just being a search engine. Adsense is used by many site owners to bring in a monthly income.
If you're interested in running Adsense ads, first you'll need to apply and get approved. Once approved for one site, you can place Adsense on any other site that you own. You can decide to run only text ads or choose from image and text. Various sizes are offered, and you can custom select colors to match the look of your site.Once the code is generated, you paste it on your HTML pages where you want the ads to appear. Simple & easy.
But what happens if you're not approved by Google, or for some reason your Adsense account were to be terminated? What would you do then? There are other ad network options out there and I've gathered some of the best alternatives together here.
Before signing up for any ad program, make sure you read their terms of service and any requirements to make sure it's a good fit for your website. Also, review the payment options so you'll know how and when you can expect to be paid. Let's review:
1) Text-Link-Ads.com: http://www.text-link-ads.com/
Once your site is approved, you insert the code on your
page and they sell simple text ads that appear on
your site. You have final say over any ads being
published. Payments are made via Paypal or Clickbank.
You receive 50% of the sale price for each link they
serve up. This ad network is acceptable to be run
on the same page as Google Adsense as this is not
considered contextual advertising.
2) Adbrite: http://www.adbrite.com/
A variety of ad formats to choose from. You can run
text ads, banners, inline ads or even full page ads.
You can choose to approve or reject ads before they
appear on your site. Pays monthly with the default
minimum check amount of $100.00. Once your site
is approved, ads will appear within 24 hours of your
pasting the code. Adbrite has no policy against using
other ad networks on your site at the same time.
3) Kontera: http://www.kontera.com/
Contextually relevant ads and ad units which are
linked to keywords on your web page. Ads displayed
will match the content of your site. For your website
to be approved it must be in English, be content rich
with more than 50 words per page. You can run text,
image, billboard, and video ads.
4) Quigo.com: http://www.quigo.com/publishers.html
Quigo offers content-targeted advertising to those with
strong traffic. Publishers with 500,000 or more monthly
page views are encouraged to apply. Once approved,
simply copy and paste the code.
5) Yahoo Publisher Network: http://publisher.yahoo.com/
Works very similar to Google's Adsense program. You design
your own ads, choosing colors and formats, then paste
some code on your page. You'll be paid per click. Advanced
ad targeting and display capabilities can sometimes improve
your results. You can choose to be paid via Paypal once
your earnings are $50.00, or a check when you hit $100.00.
6) Chitika.com: http://chitika.com/
A full service online ad network which serves over two
billion monthly impressions across more than 30,000
websites. Chitika ads are not contextual and can be
run on the same page as Adsense. Twenty-four different
ad sizes are available. Payment is via Paypal once your
account is at $10.00, or a check when you reach $50.00.
7) Miva: http://tinyurl.com/oha28n
Miva offers a wide variety of ad formats to choose from:
content ads, inline ads, search ads. You'll be paid on a
per click basis. Payments are made monthly by check
or Paypal once your balance reaches $25.00. You can
also block competitor ads from appearing on your site.
8) AffiliatesGarage.com: http://www.affiliatesgarage.com/
A different type of ad network which allows you to display
affiliate ads in an "Adsense Style". You can run Clickbank
and Paydotcom text ads on your site or blog and earn up
to 75% commission.
9) Bidvertiser.com: http://www.bidvertiser.com/
Display text ads on your website and let advertisers bid
against each other. Ad formats are skyscrapers, banners,
rectangles, buttons. They even have ads for your RSS
feeds. Payout is monthly via Paypal once your balance
is $10.00. This one pays on a cost per click basis.
10) AmaSense Ads: http://www.amasenseads.com/
This service allows you to create Google Adsense
styled ads for Amazon products. Different ad formats
are available which makes it easy to integrate into
your site. Amasense can also be used side by side
with Google Adsense without any problems.
As ads are clicked on, you earn a percentage
of the product which is paid by Amazon depending
on the type of product that is bought. You must have
an Amazon associate account first before signing up.
To get one go to https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
As you can see Adsense is not the only game in town when it comes to running ads on your site. If you have multiple sites, you may want to use one of the services mentioned above, then test, to see which one is a better earning opportunity. You might be surprised at what you learn.
It's against Google's terms of service to run another contextual ad service on the same page as Adsense, but there are exceptions to the rule. Most of the services above will tell you if you can run their ads alongside Adsense.
If your websites are mainly information based, network advertising is an excellent way for you to earn an income with little effort on your part. No matter if you use Adsense or another service, it just makes for good dollars and cents.
"What are your views on 'PageRank sculpting'? Useful and recommended if implemented right, or unethical?"
I have to admit it. I love Google. I mean I really love everything they do. And no they're not paying me to say that. If you sell products from your website and you're looking for a merchant solution take a look at Google Checkout. This page identifies Google Checkout features that are currently in beta. It's very cool stuff Maynard......it get's my "Merle Stamp of Approval".
