Thursday, May 31, 2007

Week 3 Earning Report

This is my third earning report. This is what I have earned so far:

Google Adsense -- $19.60 (+$1.23)
Blogvertise -- $17.50
Auction Ads -- $ 5.00
MyLot -- $ 0.61 (+0.10)
Selling books on Amazon -- $23.76
CafePress Affiliate -- $6.57 (+$1.65)


PayPerPost -- $6.01 (+6.01)
--------------------------------

Total $ 79.05 (+$8.99)



Alexa's ranking: 275,500 (-17,261)

Technorati rank: 110,158 (-16,491)


I have put more focus on building links than paid posting, and this reflects on my earning report.
Both my Alexa and Technorati ranking has improved a lot.

I will do more PayPerPost this week.



Things to do this week:
1. Add more affiliate links to the blog. (Tasks in my last report)
2. Try Blogitive
3. Add my blog to more directories.

Relate Post: Week 2 Earning Report.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Make Money Online with Kontera

You probably have already noticed that there are some double underlined words in my blog, and when you mouseover the text, a cute little ad boxes will popup with a nice little advertisements inside it. Yes, my blog has been approved by Kontera.



Kontera is an in-text advertising solution that shows ad based on the keywords in your blog. According to Kontera, your blog needs at least 250,000 page impressions per month to qualify. However, Kontera seems to have relaxed this rule recently for smaller publishers who has rich contents on its blog.

Here is my first impression on Kontera:


  • The ad box is really neat and cute. If I havn't heard about Kontera before, I may not realize they are ads.


  • Kontera ad box does not take up any real estate on my blog.


  • It is nice that you can have both adsense and Kontera together on the same page.


  • Very easy to install, and it does not slow down the page loading speed.


I have read several blogs talking about its experience with Kontera. Most reviews are positive, and a few of them saying that it didn't make much money. You can check my Kontera's earning in the upcoming earning reports.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Update: Bloggerwave's Paypal problem seems to be fixed

I signed up to Bloggerwave about a week ago, and was approved within a day. Bloggerwave is another paid to blog program very similar to PayPerPost.

Recently, there is some talk circulating around the blogosphere that Paypal has reversed several payments from Bloggerwave. Someone has even submitted the story to Digg.com

Top 10 Tech Marketing tips has detailed how Paypal reversed its payment from Bloggerwave in this post.

However, on May 27, the owner of Top 10 Tech Marketing tips posts, "I had verified with PayPal’s resolution center that Bloggerwave’s account was now safely in good standing. Furthermore, PayPal no longer feels that Bloggerwave’s account was utilized in a fraudulent manner".

It seems like things are fine now. I am glad to have another alternative for paid posting.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Improve your blog in one minute!

Like many bloggers, I like to check my stat A LOT! Althought this took me only a minute, this will not help me to improve the quality of my blog.

There is a lot of things you can do in one minute to improve your blog:

  • Leave a comment on a Do-Follow blog
  • Submit your blog to a web directory
  • Submit your blog to a blog directory
  • Start a discussion in a forum where you can include a link to your blog
  • Reply a comment
  • Submit a post to a blog carnival
  • Thanks someone for joinning your myBlogLog community
  • Write down any idea that you want to blog
  • Download a free template to try it on your blog
  • Try out different colors on your template
  • Visit a blog in your category

Don't waste your time. Every minute is important!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

What is the hex code of Kumiko pink?

AdesBlog is a personal blog of Abdylas Tynyshov (Ades), who is said to be the first full time blogger in Krgyz Republic. The blog has a page rank of 7. It is currently offering a free PR7 link for a review of its color picker software, AdesClrPicker. A free PR7 link is difficult for me to resist. So, I decide to review AdeClrPicker.

To try out the software, I decide to use AdeClrPicker to find out the hex code of Komiko pink.

Yeah, I know, you can find it out easily by looking at the HTML code, but why waste your time when there is a software that can do the job?

For step 1, I install the software, you can download the trial version in here. It is pretty easy to install. The only warning I got is that Windows doesn't know the publisher of the software. I just ignore the warning, and continue with the install

For step 2, I run the program. A small icon is shown in the system tray, which indicates that the program is running. A small popup telling me that I should use ctrl-alt-a to activate the tool. I then go to Kumiko's cash quest, put the cursor over one of the pink region and hit ctrl-alt-a.

That's what I got.


The RGB code is 255,111,207 which translates to #FF6FCF.

There is no step 3, and I didn't even need to look at the user manual to use it.

Now, I will uninstall the software. I go to the Control Panel->Add or Remove Program. Select AdeClrPicker demo, and click remove. The program will then be uninstalled.

Simple and easy. Do you think so?


Saturday, May 26, 2007

Sponsored Review: Pingo.com

*** This is a sponsored review***

What is Pingo? Pingo is a prepaid calling card provider. It is a virtual International rechargeable phone calling card service that saves you money on your long distance phone calls. It is a service of iBasis, which is a public company that is listed in Nasdaq (NASDAQ: IBAS) iBasis launches Pingo's service in 2004, and has provided customer with prepaid calling card service ever since.

Right now, Pingo is running several campaigns:

1. Free $25 online merchant shopping mall certificate for sign up

According to the company's site, if you sign up Pingo for a minimum of $20, you will receive $5 in free international calling card calls plus a $25 online merchant shopping mall certificate.

2. Father's day special

You get an additional $5 off with this special. For detail, please check this: http://www.pingo.com/en/fathersday.do

Pingo's site is avaliable in several language including Spanish, Chinese, French and Portugese.

For readers of this blog, if you are looking for ways to make money, Pingo has an affiliate program too. You can find it out from: http://www.pingo.com/en/affiliate.do

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Week 2 Earning Report

This is my second earning report. This is what I have earned so far:

Google Adsense -- $18.37 (+$1.61)
Blogvertise -- $17.50 (+$7.5)
Auction Ads -- $ 5.00
MyLot -- $ 0.51 (+0.04)
Selling books on Amazon -- $23.76
CafePress Affiliate -- $4.92 (+$4.92)
--------------------------------

Total $ 70.06 (+$14.07)



Alexa's ranking: 292,761 (-4099)

Technorati rank: 126,649 (-1182)



A decent week. The pleasant surprise this week is CafePress, which hasn't brought me any income before.

I earn only $0.04 from myLot this week, but myLot has brought me some traffic, and some new readers.

A surprise hit this week is: Earn up to $100 by praticipate in Google User Experience Research.
This short post has brought me many new readers.

PayPerPost has just approved my account. You should see my first PayPerPost review soon.

Things to do this week:
1. Add more affiliate links to the blog. (e.g. TextLinkAds, PayPerPost)
2. Join Kontera
3. Add Google search and other Google affiliate links to the template

Relate Post:First weekly report

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Update: Dormcheck is officially off my list

I try to log into my Dormcheck account today, and I've found out the entire forum layout has changed. Furthermore, my account has been removed. I search all of my old emails, and I have found no warning.

I havn't posted anything on Dormcheck. Hence, I didn't lose anything. I did a search on Google and found JCM of The 15000 dollar mission has some bad experience about Dormcheck.

From his post:

"The dormcheck scammers have redone their forum, and older members have lost their log ins and earnings. (I myself had earned $20 in referrals there) My advice, stay away from Dormcheck."

This is enough information for me to remove Dormcheck from Making Money on the web's list of money making programs.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Increase your Alexa's ranking by Alexa's redirect URL!


I think Maki Dosh is probably the first blogger who mention about the possibility of using Alexa's redirect URL to increase Alexa's ranking in 20 Quick Ways to increase your Alexa rank. Later, Matt Jones of Succesful Online Money Making expanded the idea and comed up with his Ultimate Alexa Redirect Experiment. In one part of Matt's experiment, he replaces his myBlogLog's community URL with the Alexa's redirect URL. This idea has been widely copied. Many myBlogLog's members, including myself, has replaced its community URL with Alexa's redirect URL.

Ever since then, many variations of the trick have been developed. One blog suggests bloggers to use Alexa's redirect URL for comments. This could increase your Alexa's ranking, but you should be awared of two issues. First, if you try to increase your page rank by commenting on "Do Follow" blogs, you will waste your effort. Second, some blogs award its frequent commentators with a top commentator's section. If you are using redirect URL, you will miss a chance to earn a valuable inbound link.

One blog suggests bloggers to use Alexa's redirect URL in directory sites, like DMOZ. DMOZ is a PR8 site. For me, giving up a valuable PR 8 link to increase Alexa's rank is simply not worth it.

Furthermore, if you have adsense on your blog, and 90% of your traffics are redirected from Alexa, will it raise a few eyebrows on Google? I don't know the answer, but it will be interested to know.

For people who are interested to use Alexa's redirect URL in myBlogLog. Here is the step:
1. Click "Edit Settings" in your myBlogLog's community.
2. Replace the Site URL with the redirect URL. For example:
my URL is: http://makemoneyonblog.blogspot.com
change it to
redirect URL: http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?http://makemoneyonblog.blogspot.com

By the way, in Matt's experiment, Geoffrey from Alexa leave a comment sayng that using Alexa's redirect URL will have no effect on your Alexa's ranking. But like everyone else, I still use Alexa's redirect URL in my myBlogLog's community.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Earn up to $100 by participate in Google User Experience Research

According to Blogger Buzz, Google is looking for users to participate in usability research on Blogger. The FAQ says that Google "typically pay $75 for each hour that you spend with a Google researcher, either in person or on the phone". It also said that you don't have to live in the Bay Area to participate.

You can sign up from this link: https://services.google.com/inquiry/user_study

Sunday, May 20, 2007

5 things you want to do before you publish your sponsored post

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice.

As blogs becomes an increasingly important media, there is more and more sites devoted to pay bloggers to review an advertiser's site for a fee. Before you publish your first sponsored posts, you may want to consider doing this five things first:

1. Clearly mark your post as sponsored post.

If you got paid for your post, you should always let your readers know. It is not only ethical to do so. According to Directory Aviva, the Federal Trade Commission has published a recommendation for this.

From "12 Laws every blogger should know" of Directory Aviva:

"The Federal Trade Commission published a recommendation that companies who promote their product through word-of-mouth marketing must disclose these relationships. The recommendation applies explicitly to blogging, meaning that bloggers must disclose the fact that they are being paid to promote or review a product whenever that is the case."

2. Get your disclosure policy

Any blogger can get his/her own disclosure policy from DisclosurePolicy.org. I am not a legal expert, and I don't know if having such a disclosure policy will help you in court. However, I think having a disclosure policy will at least show your readers that you are not intended to hide anything from them.

3. Carefully proofread your post

You should proofread any blog's post before publishing it. For sponsored post, you should be extra careful about the wording on your site. If you got the information from your sponsored site, you may want to state that you got it from their web site, such that the readers won't think
your information are based on your own experience.

4. Check the site you review

If you are writing a review for a site, you should always check your reviewed sited. Be alert on any unusal behavior in your browser because it may indicate that your reviewed site has some suspicious scripts. Clear your browser cache before entering the site. Check if you got any suspicious files in your browser cache after. This will give you some idea on what the site installs on your browser. If you have a good antivirus or spybot cleaning software, consider using the software before and after visiting your reviewed site.

5. Don't do evil

If the site you are paid to review is a clear scam, it is better for you to consider other offers.

Or you can do what John Chow did to Seven Days System for Making money online. I couldn't stop laughing after reading his review.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from January 8, 2007.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Friday, May 18, 2007

Free $5 bonus at Auction Ads

Auction Ads is now offering $5 bonus for TextLinkAds users who sign up this week. TextLinkAds is part owner of AuctionAds .

AuctionAds is a cost per action (CPA) program that displays eBay ad on your site. That means you will get paid if your visitors click your ads and perform some actions on eBay. Currently, you will only get paid if the visitor win an auction, buy it now or registered as a new user.


I have just added AuctionAds to this blog.

For detail of this deal, you can check here.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

First Weekly Report

Starting from this week, I will post my weekly earning report every Thursday.

This is what I have earned so far:

Google Adsense -- $16.76
Blogvertise -- $10.00
Auction Ads -- $ 5.00
MyLot -- $ 0.47
Selling books on Amazon -- $23.76
-----------
Total $ 55.99

Alexa's ranking: 296,860
Technorati rank: 127,831


Things to Do this week:
1. Add Adsense in the middle column
2. Improve loading speed of the page. The mid column seems to take a long time to load.
3. Add AuctionAds to this page.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

MacPokerOnline

*** This is a sponsored review***

MacPokerOnline is a poker site that is dedicated for Mac users. The site contains list of online poker sites, and MacPokerOnline rates each site in the order that they believe it is safest and best fit for the user. There are literally thousands of online poker site on the web, but it is difficult for Mac user to find a site for them. MacPokerOnline is definitely a great resource for Mac user who likes to play poker online.

The site also contains tons of information about different types of poker, like Omha, Chicago, Texas Hold them or Five card stud. The site also taught you strategy to play the different types of poker. Even if you are not a Mac user, you may found some of its articles useful for learning to play poker.

If you like Poker, and you are a Mac user, MacPokerOnline is a site that worth your visit. This may be the best Mac Poker site for you unless Steve Job plans to creat "iPoker".

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

The post that starts the Digg revolt


I found this through Google cache which could be the post that start the Digg revolt today!

Digg Revolt

A Digg.com user claims that he got boot from Digg for posting the HD-DVD Processing key number.

The key is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

This has caused quite an outrage among Digg users community.

If you are looking for other digg style applications, you can find a list in here.