Do you sell advertising on your blog? Do design logos? Do offer blog hosting? Do you sell anything blog related? If you answered yes to any of these, then you might be interested in a marketplace that has been built just for bloggers!

DoshSale.com has just been launched and is the marketplace for bloggers. Buy and sell everything blog related including:

• Advertising – links, banners etc
• Design Services
• Templates, Themes
• Blog Hosting
• Domains
• Sponsored Reviews
• Content
• Stock Photos
• Lots Lots More!

Use the coupon code “free06” to list for free! Coupon expires in a weeks time. Usually it costs $0.50 to add listing so use the code while you still can! This a great way to expand your blogs reach and I highly recommend you check it out.

To see more content like this and download free ebooks, software and templates, visit my blog at BloggingDosh.com

That’s right, I decided last night to install the Mozilla email client Thunderbird for reasons that I can’t fully explain or understand myself. I asked the question over at QYDJ is it stupid to abandon Outlook when I have a fully licensed copy already bundled on my PC? Am I just making life more difficult purely because I’m drawn to the ethos of the Mozilla people. I completely moved over to Firefox ages ago (god has it been years already??) and it is my browser of choice. There are fewer and fewer pages that don’t work within it and when I’m developing I generally find I’m designing in it and fixing problems in IE.

Is my choice of browser and email client reflective of me as a person?

I’m not a rebel by any stretch of the term, at least I don’t see myself that way. Some time back when free time existed and dinosaurs roamed the earth my wife and I went to see an artist that she really liked. The problem was that because this artist is a little more refined I guess than the local pub (although don’t get me wrong she would’ve kicked ass in a less sophisticated setting!) it was held where they show the opera and theater etc. Because of this people who subscribed to the arts calender were included in the tickets etc.

The venue was ok, not great for this artist but comfortable enough and the artists were extraordinary. No the real problem were the suits. All of these people desperately trying to out dress each other and drown everyone in their expensive perfumes and aftershaves.

Ummm.

We were there to see a gig. I mean really? Evening gowns and black tie?

Now I, realizing that the venue would be a little more sophisticated thought I’d dress myself up a touch and wear a shirt with a collar and *gasp* buttons. After spending several hours being looked down upon I realized that I was not embarrassed about not dressing up enough but more that I wasn’t wearing my Punisher t-shirt under a suit jacket with some splash graphic across the arm. I was angry with myself for even in the slightest thinking about what I should wear to such a place when I knew that jeans and t-shirt were more appropriate even if everyone else didn’t think so.

What this says to me is that in the browser wars and spilling over into the software apps wars I don’t want to always go with the expensive name brand product just because it is expensive or that I in fact own it. I own plenty of formal wear but choose not to wear it the way society may dictate. I own outlook but it’s so vanilla, and I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to use it but I’m not interested, I am interested in this alternative that may be rougher around the edges or it may even just do everything that outlook does. It’s different. Maybe I’m just bored with outlook? I don’t hate Microsoft at all, I have my issues with them and how they do business but there’s no way I would swap my windows for linux (mind you I haven’t upgraded to vista yet so we’ll have to see).

So have any of you used Thunderbird because I would love to hear others thoughts on if it works well or is worth swapping over completely (my archives and a couple of my accounts are still in outlook pending the results of the experiment).

God now I’m thinking about open office…..

Pay Per Click vs Affiliate Marketing

Making money online can be achieved commonly by participating in PPC programs such as Google Adsense as well as AFF programs such as Commission Junction. Both types of programs are very effective; however, problems may arise when you combine both…

Making money online is challenging, fun and very rewarding. I spend a lot of time writing about blogging tips that help bloggers make money online on my own personal site. But from time to time I really like to break away from my site and make guest appearances on other successful blogs. I enjoy reaching out to readers in other communities and niche blogs other than my own. It’s a great way to help even more people and also pick up a few new readers to my own site. And to be honest, that is one of the most rewarding things you get from BAYB. You can help your fellow bloggers out by publishing great content and get rewarded with a little bit of free advertising, backlinks and some extra traffic.

Are you money hungry?

If you are one of the few hundred blogs that I visit often, then that answer must be yes! And that is great! I encourage people to try to make money online by blogging. There is nothing wrong with that at all. But there is a right way and a wrong way when going about this. Additionally, there is a smart way and a *not so smart way too…

This article isn’t going to be long and drawn out. I am quickly learning that people like articles that jump to the point. I want to carry a point across to you that may help you in your venture of making money online. It is something I learned about a year ago and I want to pass it down to you.

Pay Per Click vs Affiliate Marketing

Well, this isn’t really a competition or a fight to see which method of generating money online works best. They both are excellent ways towards making money online. Where problems surface is when bloggers use both at the same time. My advise to you is to choose one or the other because running both types of programs on the same pages can actually cost you money in the long run.

If you have a blog that promotes Amazon dot Com products and you are trying to make commission based sales by writing posts about products being offered in Amazon.com but also display Google Adsense ads at the same time… you could be throwing away money because you are sending your customers to other sites to buy the same product you are trying to sell. Granted, you do get paid for the clicks. But if you are trying to sell a $1000 dollar computer through the Amazon Associates program or the Commission Junction program and your potential customer clicks on a Google Adsense ad, you don’t make the commission based sale. What you get, if you are lucky, is about a dollar for the click compared to the $25 to $50 dollars you would have made if you got the customer to make the purchase through your affiliate link.

The Pros and Cons of PPC vs AFF

You really should choose one or the other. Both have benefits as well as some disadvantages.

With PPC you don’t make that BIG SALE!!!! But you are guaranteed a constant flow of money coming in… sort of like having a drippy faucet.

With AFF you don’t have the security of having a steady flow of money coming in… but eventually you are going to land a sale and score some dough.

However when you run both PPC and AFF on the same site at the same time, you can tend to over extend your resources and spread your money out too thin. The common effects of doing this is NOT MAKING THE MINIMUM money needed to get your regular monthly payout.

Choosing to put forth focus on one program will also help you stay focused on improving your successes with the program. Bloggers can sometimes get overwhelmed with the available money making resources available. And if you keep things simple, and run with one program per site, you may find that you actually start to make more money than you ever did before. At least that is happening for me. I run quite a few different sites. Some sites take advantage of the Google Adsense program and other take advantage of the Amazon Associates and Commission Junction type programs.

Good luck and I wish you continued success with making money online by blogging.

Yesterday I started a 50$ campaign as a test run to see if I would want to use PayPerPost when buying sponsored reviews from bloggers.

In that campaign I got to create 6 opportunities at 5.50$ a piece. That comes up to only 33$.

Where did the other 17$ go?

To PPP of course. Out of that 17$ I could have had 3 more bloggers blog about us. I understand everyone needs to be paid, but 17$ out of 50$ is quite a lot.

From an advertisers standpoint that is a lot of money to pay to have an opportunity listed.
Would I use PPP advertising again?

Most likely, not. I can’t afford to have 35$ taken for every 100$ I spend. I believe I will stick to sponsored reviews when advertising our blog.

Sponsored Reviews is more advertiser friendly, because out of the money you pay the bloggers, part of that goes to SR, not the other way around. On that site I could receive my full 50$ worth of posts, however the bloggers get cut from that.

What are your experiences as a PPP advertiser?

Blogging is becoming one of the most popular ways to make money online. There are so many ways you can make money by blogging. Putting ads on your site, selling your goods and services from your blog and writing reviews are just a few. I am finding writing reviews is a very good way of making money from blogging.

With sites like PayPerPost, Blogvertise, Smorty and others can bring in some good cash for doing what you are doing anyway. PayPerPost has been very good to me since I joined them. Even though it’s only been three so far, their payments have always been on time. I’ve only done a couple of posts a piece for Smorty and Blogvertise and they don’t seem to have many advertisers at this time, but both have paid me and add to my blog earnings.

I just got into this blogging thing a bout four months ago and I have a long way to go and a lot to learn. But it’s good to know that I can make money along way.
Check out my blogs at:
Mike’s Money Making Rants & Raves
That Says It All
My Quest to Make a Living as a Comic Book Superhero Artist
My Quest to Make a Living as a Surrealist Artist

Do you breeze into a room and everyone turns and looks, or do you feel like you are up on the ceiling and noone has noticed you? When you blog, do you feel like the biggest baddest blogger on the planet and everyone should read your post, or do you write and hope for just a tiny reaction, a single comment, a backlink on another brand new site, or a place at the end of a mighty long blogroll? However you feel, the bottom line is, if you blog you need to be in there networking and attracting people to you and your blog. If you are a shy flower, read on for some inspiration.

I was watching a cat the other day and was amazed at how in a matter of days it had turned from a timid little townhouse kitty, afraid of its own shadow, into a cock sure cat with its nose in everything in its new rural surroundings.

When the doors were opened on a new garden and a new outdoor world, it was the first to run out and roll and jump and play with flies and stalk butterflies, while its killer older brother stood and just looked around from the door, lost and overwhelmed. The little guy also walked straight up to a dog and said hi while his brother, the bold one (haha), stood transfixed with arched back, claws out, spitting like a sailor.

As a life-long supporter of the underdog, this revitalised little cat is right up my alley. And what struck me was how its timid naivety was its greatest asset. Because unlike its more aggressive brother who made no bones that it was aggressive and stand-offish and street smart, this little thing took its “adversaries” aback by appearing so nonchalant, thereby gaining immediate acceptance. You know, you can just imagine the dog thinking, Bloody hell, this cat must be a tough ‘un coming up to me like this, I better be nice else I am going to get a good hiding.

But the reality is, that cat is so naive it doesn’t really understand where it is at or what could happen to it. Luckily it has enough innate survival skills to know when it is time to step back, but even then, it does the opposite of what you expect from most other big bad cats. It doesn’t act all big and then turn and run like hell, it just moves backwards and then huddles, staring at what it is supposed to be scared of, apparently not fased, just giving some space for tempers to cool down.

I don’t know, maybe I am humanizing this thing too much or misreading the signs, I am not a cat whisperer, but what it made me realise was that the internet is a great platform for the shy folks in life to really shine. There is no need to feel daunted by anyone because at the end of the day, all the internet is is a digital world, and if you can write and make a case with words, hell, you don’t need to have good body language or know how to posture or any of that more complicated real life interaction stuff.

So blog about what you want, and who you want, and make a good case. And then, when it is time to network and promote the post, remember the cat and don’t be afraid to email some of these big boys and tell them they are the focus of one of your posts, and they should check it out. What is the worst that can happen? They ignore you, or worse still, blog about you in a negative way. There is no such thing as negative blogging when thousands of people read what you have to say!

I am going to go through all my past posts on The Pisstakers and just make sure that the people I have linked to are aware of their mentions, and see what happens. The good guys will get back to me and the lesser bloggers won’t. At least then I will know where I stand with the network I am a part of up to now. And then I can appraise and move on – a little more street smart.

There is money to be made with taking surveys. There are tons of online survey websites that will pay you for your opinion and time.

Find the Right One

There are the survey websites out there that are scams. You are the best judge as what is a scam. Is it too good to be true? Yes? Then it’s a scam.

Once You Find a Good One…

Stick with them. Many survey sites will reward you with more survey opportunities. Some even offer special promotional surveys given via mail, or products sent to you so you can take a survey on them.

What I Recommend

My girlfriend, Emma, makes about 30-40$ per month taking surveys. The best result she’s had is through SurveySpot. SurveySpot has a minimum payout of 5$ and they will send you a check in the mail.

Now that she has been using Survey Spot for quite awhile now, she gets the chance at many surveys as well as higher paying ones. Yesterday she received one in the mail (a cd survey) and completed it in 30 minutes, for 15$.

What You Can Earn

You can expect anywhere from 1-5$ survey offers from different websites. Some surveys as I mentioned can get you 10-15$, and many do promotional surveys where you are entered to win extra money.

I’ve received surveys in my email in which they were from 2-5$ and the money was sent to my paypal. Surveys generally take 5 to 30 minutes to complete, and most of them pay you based on length.

Another survey website I have found is GlobalTestMarket, and I have just received enough points to get the 50$ payout. Now all I have to do is wait on my check!

I will do a complete review of both SurveySpot and GlobalTestMarket and you can decide if they are for you or not.

Update: Another survey website service is SurveySavvy. Whats unique about this one is they offer an affiliate program. You can get paid for referring your friends. You get $ for every survey they complete!