Over the past twenty years, most of the major technological breakthroughs in consumer electronics have really been down to the same basic process: converting conventional analog information into digital information. This fundamental shift in technology gave birth to the digital camera, and thus, digital photography. It totally changed how we handle visual and audio information and completely redefined what is possible.
Previously the only way one could view their photos taken with a conventional camera is by developing them all off and storing in an album possibly to be looked at every few years. In the early days of digital cameras, one may bring out the computer, upload the digital photos onto the harddisk and huddle family and friends around it while clicking open and viewing hundreds of files one by one.
Digital photography inevitably led to the development of digital photo frame. You can find a variety of them in Digitalframez.com which is an online electronic store specializing in LCD digital photo frames. Now all your fun snap shots and happy memories can be constantly on display in all areas of your home in true color and life-like resolutions. View, share and relieve your cherished memories digitally on the wall of your living room, at the entrance and on the side table in your bedroom on a fashionable, stylish digital photo frame.
All frames from Digital Framez are compatible with multi graphical or media format, users need not go through the hassle of uploading the photos in order to view them. Just plug the memory card into the 5-in-1 card reader that supports CF/XD/MS/SD/MMC cards and enjoy the slideshow with background music played through the built-in stereo speakers.
(This is a sponsored post)
May 31, 2007
Frame up those Memories
May 30, 2007
Mini Blog Reviews - Batch 3
Till date, I have not post a mini reviews in the month of May. So it is a good time to continue the series I left off in April. Here goes (in random order):
Bob over at BobmeetsWorld.com is giving away a free Nintendo DS Lite with a few games because it’s his 30th birthday in May. The Nintendo DS Lite is 6 months old but Bob assures you that it is in mint condition. It is under utilized as Bob prefers his XBox360 much better.
While you’re there, check out some great posts about generating traffic and getting more RSS subscribers. And don’t forget to wish him a happy belated birthday! Better hurry if you want to win hours of gaming fun for free! Contest close 31 MAy 2007. I am making this last minute submission and if I'm lucky enough to win the prize, I'll regift it for my own blog contest.
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Over at Genius Types, Brian Lee is giving away a brand new copy of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Entering the contest is easy, and everyone gets a link back! To enter the contest, just write a post linking to his book review using the book title as anchor text.
Brian is trying to build authority with the keywords “Think and Grow Rich” in the hope that more people will be able to find his review when researching this book (and ultimately buy the book through his affiliate link).
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A full-time Blogger from Southern Leyte, Philippines, Sustines E. Laplana is holding a"Review-Me Challenge" similar to my Review Exchange campaign. To join the challenge, write a review (whether negative or positive) about his blog, from its design, topics, way of writing, or anything you want to say about this blog. Within your post, publish a link to his review exchange post using the anchor text “Join Review Me Challenge and Win“.
His blog focuses on Technology, Products and Entertainment in general. He wants to help people make money blogging so you can expect to find tips on making money, blogging, SEO, Adsense optimization, Product Reviews, product promotions and sales (DVD, Gadgets, Books, Software, Computers…).
He sets an ambitious target for his blog to attain 1 million unique hits per day and also to earn at least $100 a day from blogging.
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My Blog World is a blog with a variety of categories and a discussion Forum, emphasizing environmental issues based on the research done by the "CleanFuture" project.
Blogging with Cultural Sensitivity
Here is a real life example marketing communication without due consideration to cultural sensitivity. It must surely rank as the ultimate nightmare of a marketer. This lesson can be applied to blogging as well.
This is why the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank cannot make it in Malaysia.
May 29, 2007
Review of Masterseek.com
If you are looking for new ways of doing business online or off-line, search for company profiles and/or showcasing your products and services to the global community, look no further than Masterseek.com.
Masterseek is the world’s largest and most comprehensive B2B search engine that establishes contact between buyers and suppliers worldwide. Masterseek’s unique web technology enables companies to obtain detailed information in your own country or worldwide and find business partners, sales opportunities and new avenues to expand your business and increase your company’s profitability.
Using their extensive expertise within the area of data mining and search algorithms, Masterseek developed a global search engine that provides quick and free access to, among other things, company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries. These search results and company details are optimised both visually and functionally and are presented in an updated, user-friendly, well-arranged, and easily accessible manner.
Enter your company profile and showcase your company to the world today. Reach the potential of 90,000 unique b2b visitors on Masterseek.com – every day!
May 28, 2007
OMG! What's Going On?
Yeah, exactly WTF's happening to Technorati? Ever since the refreshed version of Technorati was introduced with some other changes (including Technorati Authority) in early May, different problems have been encountered by bloggers.
Mine came in the form of my Fan count. It was hovering above 200 a few days back, but just now I checked, my Fan count was ZERO!
Is it just my blog or has anyone encountered the same problem? I've contacted Technorati via email, but was alerted not to expect a reply from them! Dead-end....
Anyone care to clue me in on WTF is going on?
May 25, 2007
Direct To You via PayPerPost
A certain buzz has been created since PayPerPost launched a new service called PayPerPost Direct. Proponents and critics alike are having a field day blogging and spreading by word of mouth marketing, about this new opportunity which is created to compete with ReviewMe.
PPP Direct makes it possible for advertisers to directly approach Posties to get them to write special blog posts. In a nutshell, you simply specify the minimum amount you want to be paid for these Direct opportunities and stick a widget on your blog, similar to the many blog ads but now you are advertising your own review service! When an advertiser finds your blog and decides they'd like you to write something they just click on the badge attached to the widget and make you an offer.
Now comes the crux of the problem. Unitl now, PayPerPost has not established a publisher marketplace and the lack of this key element makes it extremely difficult for blogs to get stumbled upon by advertisers, let alone get any review orders. With gazillion of blogs out there and no publisher marketplace(yet), the chance of an advertiser stumbling upon smaller blogs to find a PayPerPost Direct button is very slim.
On the positive side, PayPerPost takes only 10% to your direct price as their service fee, and nearly 5% of that goes to PayPal and credit card processing fees. That’s a lot better than the 50% commission ReviewMe takes. There is justification in a markup for making the facilitating of the reviews, match making, customer service processes, tax report and financial processing, but I think a 100% markup by ReviewMe is plain ridiculous!
This is a great new way for bloggers to keep the most amount of money possible while having the safety and security of an escrow-like service that will assure you get paid for your hard work. If and when the publisher marketplace is up and running, this new service will certainly moves and shakes the paid review lanscape.
Transparency is the New Color
I received an email from PayPerPost support team informing that my post has been rejected. The person went on to state the reason:
"PPP bloggers are required to disclose within their post, or on the same page as their post, that they are being paid. You can do this by making a site-wide disclosure policy and linking to it from your post, or by writing something along the lines of "this post is sponsored" somewhere within your post. Please make the appropriate changes and resubmit!"
It then strikes me that I've overlooked to disclose that particular review to be a sponsored post. I went on to googled "disclosure policy" and search result brought me to DisclousrePolicy.org. I've since generated my own site-wide disclosure policy using the policy generator provided.
This episode sets me thinking about the many blogs which I've visited but most of them do not display such disclosure policy on their site. As the blogosphere grown exponentially, so has the financial opportunity it represents. Now more than ever Advertisers, PR agencies, political organizations and bloggers themselves are reaching out to blog owners in an attempt to gain visibility for their products, services and causes. As a reader it has been difficult to identify which blogs are influenced by these organizations.
Disclosure Policies are designed to allow bloggers to self-identify any affiliation, payment or other conflicts of interests that may influence the content of a blog. From banner ads and paid content to free gadgets and travel, disclosure policies allow you to make your own judgement regarding the influence on content you are presented with.
Disclosure does not mean you are changing your voice, perspective, values or persona. You will always be you, and that's why you blog. It is about providing transparency to your readers about the content on your blog.
If you see a blog without a disclosure policy drop them a line and send them to disclosurepolicy.org. Demand disclosure and and help set the right tone for advertising on the Internet for years to come.
Disclosure policy 
transparency
Disclosure Policy
This policy is valid from 24 May 2007
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact betshopboy[at]gmail[dot]com
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
Disclosure policy
May 24, 2007
Pah-rum-pum-pum-pum, Me And My Drum!
To celebrate "MeAndMyDrum" 90days old birthday, the site owner, Mark Sierra, is running a contest to reward readers and drum up(no pun intended) some buzz and of course, more traffic!
A lucky winner stand a chance to win a Google Adwords coupon worth $25(only for new account and must be used within 14 days of its creation) plus a free banner ad space on his blog sidebar for 30days! To enter the contest, just make a post on your blog about MeAndMyDrum, link to the homepage and also link to the contest page. This contest will ends on midnight (central) 31 May. The winner will be determined by a random draw.
In his blog, Mark covers a variety of topics such as blogging tips, technology, politics, humor, and more. In the short space of 90days, MAMD had attained a PR3 ranking, roughly 300k in alexa rank and broken the 3 digit barrier in Technorati authority. These stats are remarkable and are constantly on the up, I'm sure. This blog has got great potential and is worth every minute of my time checking out.
May 23, 2007
A Tribute to Apple and All their Goodness
All Apple fans rejoice! The long awaited debut of the sexy and sleek Apple iPhone is coming to an end soon.
Last week the Apple iPhone was given the green light by the Federal Communications Commission which means it has now passed all prerequisite industry checks and can be rolled out of the production line and into the hands of its millions of gadget-hungry fans.
Now you can create your own iName and stand a chance to win an iPhone!
Make all your friends jealous by showing off your snazzy iName! iNames can be used as avatar's, MSN profile pictures, email signatures, Facebook pictures, MySpace pictures and more!
To get your iName and a chance to win an iPhone, click this link.
Don't forget to spread the word and tell your family, friends, blogging communities and co-workers about my-iname.com!
May 22, 2007
Shawn Knight Review Contest
One mighty Knight over at OverClock Intelligence Agency - OCIA.net for short,had an extension to this tech site by way of a blog and he is offering a lucky reader $25 for reviewing his blog.
I am of course referring to Shawn Knight, who at 24 years of age, is the CEO of OCIA.net(the site name never fails to connect my thoughts to CIA!), who plan on overclocking the world, one PC at a time! That's a herculean task, no less, even for a young knight, i must say.
As this is a review of his blog, I will try to limit my writing about OCIA.net and focus this review on Shawn-Knight.net instead. Shawn started this blog to reveal a slice of his daily life as a tech site owner. It is also a place to for him to showcase some of his photography works(amateur by his own standards), to network / meet new people, post random thoughts and generally just have a good time.
By his own account, Shawn had much experience and had learnt many lessons about Adsense ads in his hardware review site, which he readily shares in his ad-free blog. A most refreshing and rare finds, considering millions of blogs out there trying to "make money online" by slapping multiple ads all over the blog!
Photography posts featured highly on his blog, I sure had a good time, enjoying his many photo postings on "Photo-A-Day" and "Daily Ownage" - check out the Nemo sushi. Besides that, Shawn also shares photography tips and some how-to's tutorial in "Photography", and they do not appear amateurish at all. If photography is not your thing, there's always those hardware reviews to keep you wanting more!
May 20, 2007
Kumiko's Cash Quest
I had blog about Kumiko's Cash Quest earlier, having participated in her "Predict My PageRank"contest, where I boldy predicted a PR6 but narrowly missed the actual result as she got a PR5 in the latest update. I did not win the $30 cash price, nor did I get to guest blog on her blog (priceless), but that is all water under the bridge now.
Kumiko's Cash Quest is one of my daily must-read blog, her writing style is witty and funny, and at times, edging towards being sarcastic. She writes wonderful, flowing posts, offering great tips and resources, useful for newbies and seasoned bloggers alike. Viewing her weekly earnings report is a great source of motivation for me.
I got hooked on Kumiko's blog after enjoying myself reading her post on "6 Lessons Britney Spears can Teach You about Blogging", it's funny and informative at the same time. More recently, her post on "6 Free Ways to Turbo-chargeYour Blog" offered some great tips which I've implemented some, like getting a make-over, installing a favicon and joining the "DoFollow" movment.
I just notice her blogging tips mostly come in 6s, does Kumiko has some kind of fetish with the number 6? Then why didn't she get a PR6 for the last update?
http://kumikosuzuki.blogspot.com/
http://www.cashquests.com/
May 19, 2007
Win Court's Paycheck
One of the great blog which I've elected as one of the "Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007" is Courtneytuttle.com authored by Court. He is making waves out there by offering interesting tips and advices free, on how to make money online.
Court is bringing his ingenuity one up by offering you a chance to "Make money online by Taking My Paycheck", literally! If you can guess within $1 of what he earn in May, he will give you all of his earnings for the month! He will PayPal the money to the lucky winner on the first day of June.
If I've pique your interest well enough, here are the contest rules:
Create a post on your blog, copy these rules and paste them into the post.
Make a guess! Link to my homepage with the text ‘make money online $1.00′, replacing the $1.00 with the amount of your guess. Example: make money online $100.56.
Leave this link to the rules page intact.
Use my contact page to confirm your entry by letting me know (make sure to include the URL of your post)! I will find most of them, but let me know to make sure!
Special Rule Through 5/20/2007
If you make your guess before midnight, MDT on 5/20/2007, I will allow you to make 2 guesses. If you want to make 2 guesses, you’ll have to make 2 links. You still only need to make 1 post. If you want to guess twice do it soon!, after 5/20 you will only be able to guess once.
As this post is submitted before midnight, MDT on 5/20/2007, I am eligible to submit 2 (wild)guesses and they are:
make money online $363.63
make money online $414.14
Join the contest now, after 5/20, each post is entitled to one guess only.
Favicon
I won, I won!! I finally win something! Well, I got a free Favicon designed by Ilker for my earlier post about his great graphic design blog. For my effort, I was awarded the above favicon (see url address bar), which means I came in second in the review contest, or did I? I'm still waiting for Ilker's update for the review contest to confirm my placing. I wonder who's blog review won a free re-design of their blog? It's exciting to see how the new blog design will look like.
With a little help and so much patience from Ilker, I've added the favicon to my url bar, THANK YOU SO MUCH, Ilker! So what do you think? Is my favicon cool or what? I wasn't able to view the favicon when I surf with IE7, but when I switch browser to FF, bingo, I saw the favicon. Do you encounter problem viewing it?
May 18, 2007
The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007
I have not been tagged for a meme by anyone before, so what I usually do to join an online movement, was to 'gatecrash' the party! This time, I'm going to gatecrash "The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007" party over at Digital Filipino. It is actually an online election to elect 10 of the best blogs of 2007 (elected blogs must be created from August 2007), a movement started by bloggers, for bloggers.
Janette Toral had turned it into a contest of sorts, where she'll draw 10 random posts about the "Top 10" list to win US$100 each(draw date on Aug 1st). Ever the sucker for online contest, I won't let slip the chance to join this contest, and at the same time, would like to think I've a small part to play in contributing in the spotting of great blogs that are making waves out there!
Here goes my list of the top 10 in random order:
1. GarryConn.com
2. JA KEL DAILY DOT COM
3. doshdosh
4. RYAN SHAMUS DOT COM
5. REALITY WIRED
6. BLOGGING TIPS
7. Courtneytuttle.com
8. Nate Whitehill dot Com
9. SmartWealthyRich
10. Kumiko's Cash Quest
May 17, 2007
U Comment, i Follow
I have removed 'NOFOLLOW' from comment.
COMMENT POLICY:
Fight Spam, not blogs.
I used the tutorial on BetaBloggerforDummies on How to Remove Nofollow From Blogger / Blogspot. Having done that, I'll share with you - Here is a guide on how to remove nofollow from your New Blogger blog.
Login to Blogger dashboard and click on layout of your blog. Then click on Edit Html subtab of Template tab. First backup your template by clicking on the Download Full Template link. Put a check in the Expand Widgets Template Checkbox at the top of the Edit Template text box. This expands the Blog Posts Widget Code within which is the comments code. Then scroll down or press Ctr+F to find rel='nofollow', till you arrive at:
- Delete the words in red in the above code : rel='nofollow' and save the template.
nofollow
fight spamMay 14, 2007
Search Engine Marketing - win a Wii Promotion
Taking a page out of the evil dot com mogul's book, Darin Carter, the Search Engine Marketing guru, is holding a review promotion, where you can get some linklove and also stand a chance to win a Nintendo Wii. Yes, you heard it right, a free Nintendo Wii!
All you have to do is post a minimum 225 words review of his blog linking to his homepage with the Anchor text "Search Engine Marketing". Then email him with the URL of your review post and your preferred Anchor text which you want him to use to link back to your site. Then sit back, and wait for June 11th where he'll hold the lucky draw live on webcast!
Darin Carter is a Marketing Director and he created Darin.CC to educate the public about Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Advertising, Marketing and anything else he is in the mood for.
If you Googled his name "Darin Carter", you will get the search result on the first page. Now Darin wants to get onto Google page one with "Search Engine Marketing", hence, his required anchor text for this Review for link back + Nintendo Wii contest.
Darin CC uses a clean 3 column layout, mostly peppered with Google Adsense ads. The blog's layout design is uncluttered with the usual suspect of ReviewMe ad and Text Link ad banner all in their rightful place, and is easy to navigate. Most of the the posts are written byDarin, with some posted by guest bloggers. Readers must have a basic understand and some interest in heavy topics like SEO, SEM and PPC in order to enjoy his posts. I for one find his posts on those subjects leaning towards the "heavy-to-digest" side.
May 13, 2007
Blogger, we have a problem...
This blog is currently facing some "bugger" problem, all my precious and colorful sidebar widgets are gone, even worse, I'm NOT able to add new elements to the side bar! I've tried every possible rectification which were posted in the Blogger Help group, but to no avail.
I'm at my wits end and had contacted Blogger Support Team, as of now, they are my only hope.
I try very hard to blog as usual, but I really do not know if you will encounter any problem posting your comments. The best way is to try commenting and let me know of the outcome. If anyone knows how I can rectify my current technical "bugger" problem, kindly contact me, or post in comment to let me know - if it still works, that is.
May 12, 2007
Get Paid to Blog on Bloggerwave
Creating an account with Bloggerwave is free. Upon creation of a blogger account, blogger will need to submit his/her blog for approval. The approval process may extend up to 72 hours owing to the immense amount of submissions, but I got mine approved within 24 hours! On approval, I am now ready to take up opportunities.
Various kinds of opportunities are posted by advertisers. They may range from a simple "link back to this site" to product reviews with pictures. Bloggers may select the Opportunities that best suit them and their blog. Once an opportunity is selected, blogger must create a post on their blog base on requirements set forth by the advertiser. The blogger's post must remain live on one's blog for 30 days. The post need not remain on the front page.
After 30 days as well as at random, Bloggerwave administrators will check to see if the blog post is still live and still meets the Opportunity requirements. If the conditions are satisfy, blogger will get paid via PayPal.
May 11, 2007
Review of Career Ramblings
Are you a fresh graduate looking to join the workforce or a seasoned professional looking for a second career choice, or even start your own business? Whoever you are, or whatever stage of your career you are at, so long as you are looking for a job, or to build up a career or start a business, then you gotta check out Career Ramblings. The site's tagline "Your Professional Development: steps to a successful future" pretty much sums up the focus ofthis site.
A quick intro
Career Ramblings is authored by John Anthony and Jane May who have come together to write about their experiences in Corporate America and life in general. They bring to the table an interesting mix of knowledge and experience in hopes of creating an environment where everyone can learn from each other through their posts and readers comments.
They are both successful professionals in their own rights and with such vast experience in their background, readers can rest assured that their ramblingsare not empty talk, they mostly speak (in this case, write) from their own experiences.
From reading some of the articles posted on this site, I feel their target audience can be categorized into 3 main target group, namely:
1. Fresh graduate in transition phase between end of school life and start of work like:
- Graduating from College Sucks, You Have Debt!
- Tips For a Successful First Year on the Job
2. Seasoned Professionals:
- 6 Resume Tips for Seasoned Professionals
- Writing a Formal Propposal
3. Entrepreneurial type who want to start their own business:
- How to Start Your Own Business Today!
- Want Free Publicity For Your Business?
If you think Career Ramblings must be a very technical site which only focus on topics about career development, then you are wrong. Other interesting articles can be found, but I'll leave it for you to find out. They even post their answers to readers' questions on the site, sharing their in-depth analysis and offering tips and options for tricky problems.
Career Ramblings has recently received a PageRank of 6 from Google which is considered a great ranking for high quality and high authority web sites. If you own your own web site or business, it can be very valuable for you to receive a link from a Page Rank 6 site
They are holding a simple promotion which will allow you to receive a backlink from a high traffic site that can really boost your Search Engine Ranking and also help you get a higher page rank. Click here for Criteria to get a free backlink.
May 10, 2007
Top 5 video games that should be turned into movies
Besides blogging, gaming and movies are my top 2 favourite pastimes. So what better way to participate in ProBlogger's "Top 5" group writing project than to blog about them.
It's sad but true. Movies based on video games have a well-deserved reputation for being downright suck-tastic. Consider for a moment the film adaptations of "Super Mario Bros.", "Doom", "Silent Hill", "Mortal Kombat", and "House of the Dead", need I say more??
Still, I bet gamers (especially hardcore ones) can't help but want to see their favourite video games and the characters that star in them brought to life on the big screen.
Here are five games I'd love to see made into movies -- good movies, that is.
'F.E.A.R'
F.E.A.R. is a terrifying first-person shooter that captures the sensation of being in wild and desperate firefights like no other game before it, and it's an incredible, kinetic, almost exhausting experience from start to finish. More than that, though, is the fact that it's also one of the most atmospheric and creepy games ever made, and in part, inspired by Japanese horror films.
F.E.A.R. works because it elevates first-person shooter combat to cinematic levels. And while gamers have certainly seen games with movie-quality combat before, you've never seen anything quite like this. Playing F.E.A.R. is like battling through a John Woo movie like Face/Off, because when firefights happen in this game, they're downright glorious to behold. Bullets tear chunks out of concrete and wood; blinding clouds of dust and debris fill the air; bodies are torn apart or slump on the ground; and the deathly silence of the aftermath contrasts so sharply with the sheer chaos that erupted only moments before.
One can't help but be reminded of "The Ring" when the ghostly little girl Alma makes her appearance, right out from the tube! So it seems only fitting that this eerie first-person shooter return to its film roots, bringing chills and bloody ills to theater audiences everywhere.
'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'
With its swashbuckling action, princely leading man and well-conceived story, this game has big budget action-adventure written all over it. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time takes place in a mystical Middle Eastern setting, all bathed in soft, warm light and looking like something straight out of a storybook. Think "Pirates of the Caribbean" meets "The Mummy." This game is simply made for the movies.
'Prey'
One of the best games of 2006, "Prey" offered not only some mind-bending game play but also a solid story with some real character development. Strong characters and great action are a few of the key ingredients of a good movie. And that's why "Prey's" story about a young Native American (Cherokee Indians) man struggling with his heritage while abducted by an evil alien race belongs on the silver screen. In the game, Prey opens with the main character yelling at himself in a bathroom mirror - a scene ready-made for the movies.
HALO
'World of Warcraft'
When it was released in November 2004, World of Warcraft raised the bar for the massively multiplayer genre, and more than two years later, none of its would-be competitors have even come close to matching it. Here is the online role-playing game any self respecting gamer should play, no matter who you are. This is because World of Warcraft brings out all the best aspects of this style of gaming, if not many of the best aspects of gaming in general.
When these qualities gets converted into a movie (at least a trilogy will only suffice), we will be looking at a sure winner, and an epic, no less.
May 8, 2007
Wii Contest @ The Bento Box Review
Lady luck did not smile on me in my earlier "Root of all Evil Nintendo Wii contest". Yesterday, I stumbled upon another chance to win a Nintendo Wii. This time, the "Win a Nintendo Wii" contest is sponsored and organized by Rick Uyesugi over at The Bento Box Review.
Uyesugi san is a Japanese but grew up in Vancover in a relatively laidback lifestyle. He could
trace his lineage to an ancient Japanese clan, that of a famous samurai! That makes him a
direct descedant of a Samurai! Is that cool or what? Don't believe him?
Since Rick reviews a little bit of everything on his blog, he finds it apt to name it The Bento Box Review because a traditional Japanese bento box consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. A little bit of everything! On his blog, you will find his thoughts, opinions, and reviews on: Movies, Music, Blogs, Clothes, Cars, Tech gear, random cool things, websites, and other weird and unique things. That’s why its called the Bento Box Review.
Rick even had a video-cast on his blog, which, in my opinion, was so professionally done. Go watch episode 1 where he talks about the disappointments of PS3, and his gaming adventures on the Nintendo Wii.
To pump up some attention and generate traffic to his blog, Rick forked out over $300 from his
own pocket to purchase the Nintendo Wii for this contest, which will run till end of May 2007.
Like he said, he could have use this money to order some ReviewMe reviews on some A-list blogs to promote his blog. But I salute Rick for taking this personalized route and coming up with an ingenius contest to reward loyal readers, and commentators, by virtue of a unique point system. The more points you earn for performing various different tasks, the better chances you stand for the draw. I think this is a brilliant idea, garaunteed to attract many readers and generate tons of traffic.
Here is how you can earn points for the contest.
1 point - Leave a comment on this post or any other posts. Feel free to say what you please in
the comments or in emails. Just be prepared…..NO ONE CAN DEFEAT A SAMURAI!
5 points - offer a backlink from your blog, then email him about
the link so he can verify it and award you your points.
20 points - Review his blog on your site, 150 words or more, and email him with the link to
the review.
For an additional 3 points, you can mention this contest in your review of this blog
Other than giving away a brand new Nintendo Wii to a sole winner, Rick will also spread some
reciprocal link love to all who participate and link to his blog. Oh, one more incentive for all participants, but especially helpful for International blogger outside of US/Canada who do not wish to incur any shipping charges (should they win it - I'm assuming International bloggers are eligible for the contest and shipping charges born by receiver), Rick is willing to send the winner cash equivalent of the Wii via PayPal.
If you've enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my feed
May 7, 2007
Get Your Blog Rated and Reviewed
My humble blog got a brief review from BlogRaters.com, which is a blog designed to review and
rate your blog, for free. In exchange, they ask for a linkback.
The entire site in Blog Raters is about reviews, reviews and more reviews, nothing else!
The reviews are filed into various categories, from Blogging, to Investment, to Sports and
there's even a category on Venture Capital. So you can imagine their reviews covers a wide range of subjects.
Get Your Blog Rated and Reviewed
As the name implies Blog Raters review and rate blogs in exchange for linkback. Blog raters will review almost anything other then sex sites and the like. So if you have a blog about watching grass grow, they will review it. It would probably be filed as "Uncategorized". All you have to do is shoot them an e-mail at Blograters@gmail.com and within a few days they will have a review posted.
You can write an article reviewing this site or write one talking about how you were recently
reviewed by them, which is what I'm doing now . If you have another idea go ahead and do that instead. But if you request to have your site to be reviewed, spread them some link love.
May 5, 2007
Get Paid to Blog - Smorty
I chanced upon Smorty while reading one of the blog I frequented. Smorty who? Smorty is a website which provides a service connecting advertisers to bloggers. Advertisers using this service will pay bloggers to write opinion posts with links back to their site.
Not one to let a money making opportunity pass by without checking it out, I hop over to Smorty.com and after reading up on the FAQs, the processes of how to get started, and the rules for bloggers, I am convince this is a genuine get paid to blog opportunity, and not one of those online scam or get-rich-quick scheme.
Smorty is the most cost effective tool to increase search engine rankings and targeted traffic for advertisers to advertise on blogs. The service is a communication link between the advertiser's site and millions of blogs in the blogosphere. The system is very straight forward to use. Advertisers create blog advertising campaign, Smorty reviews it and delivers it to its vast blogger network.
For bloggers, creating an account with Smorty is free, registration is simple and fast. As Smorty pays via Paypal, make sure you get a Paypal account before you sign up at Smorty. Once you've created an account, you'll be asked to submit your blog url where Smorty administrators will review it for approval. There are over 25 criteria for each blog to be approved, here are a few examples:
- Your blog must be indexed by Google and Yahoo
- Your blog must be older than 3 months
- Your blog must not contain any violent, hate related or adult content Your blog must be active and have a history of minimum average 2 new posts per week
Although it was stated in the FAQs that "It can take up to 72 hours to have your blog approved", I got mine approved in less than 12 hours! I was a satisifed customer, as the fast approval means I can start accepting opportunities and posting my opinions to get paid for blogging.
Each approved post will bring you a minimum of US$6 and the Pagerank of your blog determines whether you receive higher paid ad campaigns, up to even $100 per post. Another important point to note, unlike some other websites which have minimum payout of US$100, Smorty does not and it pays out weekly! Simply put, Smorty helps you get paid for blogging.
May 4, 2007
Review Lifewg for Backlinks
Lifewg (Life with Google), hosted by Jack, is offering 3 free backlinks from his 3 blogs, 2 of which have PR3 rankings, to any blogger who review his blog with at least 200 words. He admitted he got this link bait idea from John Chow dot com, but is doing it with a slight twist.
Through his blog, Jack offers tips and tricks (in the context of Google services) on how to make money on the internet. His post here offers some good fun tips on what to do should your Google Adsense account get disabled. In case the unthinkable happens to you one fine day, it should not be the end of the world, but you should follow Jack’s advise and do this and make an appeal to Google Adsense Support who will then re-review again your site and their log data base of their Google Adsense Algorithm. But according to Jack, usually, 99.99% of the time, the answer is still "You Are Banned!"
Before you accidentally let the unthinkable really happen to your account, it is good to know why others got banned and how to take good care of your Adsense account.
Lifewg was just started about a month ago, besides those posts about Adsense mentioned here, other interesting tips about blogging can be found, I'll leave it for you to explore for yourself.
The blog is mainly text based, with very little photos and zero videos in the blog posts. The only photos available are those of Kumiko, which makes Jack a big fan of her, I think.
May 1, 2007
Get Paid to Review my post - PayPerPost
After getting my Google PR ranking in this latest round of update, the first make money online programme I joined was PayPerPost. I could have joined PPP long ago, but I waited as I think a higher PR ranking then zero would fetch me more and higher value opportunities. Getting paid to write about Web sites, products, services and companies. That's awesome!
Besides advertisers' opportunities, PayPerPost has also introduce a new Get Paid to Review My Post program! You can invite new prospective Posties to review your blog posts and both of you get paid! When someone clicks on the "Get Paid to Review My Post" badge (below) and signs up with PayPerPost, a special opportunity is created JUST FOR THEM! The $7.50 opportunity asks them to write a post in their blog reviewing a post on YOUR blog.
This is a great opportunity for you to earn money and grow your sphere of influence. You can generate thousands of links back to your site and earn money for each link! As soon as the new Postie gets paid for reviewing your blog you get paid $7.50!
So wait no more, I know it's not $100, but $7.50 for a 10 minutes job, where else can you get this kind of opportunity? So go on, click on the badge below, blog about my blog and let's get paid!
April Reflection, Recharge for May & Beyond
The first day of a new month, I wanna take a pause and recap April's activities on this blog.
An exciting and eventful month of April has just concluded, cummulating and climaxing with the beginning of the long awaited Google Pagerank update. Thanks to all the link love from fellow bloggers, this blog got a PR2 ranking. Thanks everyone!!!
The link love have come from my "review exchange and link swap" campaign started in March, but most of all, I must attribute the huge part Technorati Fave train played in attaining my current ranking. This online train was very very successful, helping many of its pioneers reach the Technorati Top 100 ranking. At the end of April, this train had sent this blog to rank under 52,000 and favourited by 148 Technorati members.
link swap 
review exchange 
google pagerank
