Website Magazine is “the magazine for website success”. In the May 2009 issue they have articles like “Traffic without Digg or Stumbleupon” and article marketing. However, the most eye catching for me was Top 50 Affiliate Networks ranking.

So Who’s Number 1?

In the rankings they didn’t rank Google’s Affiliate Network or Amazon, which seems fair enough. The #1 rank was ClickBooth. I’ve never really been a fan of ClickBooth and I’ve had the most trouble with them. Not the company, just trying to figure it out. I think it’s #1 mostly because it’s easiest to set-up your own affiliate program with them, I know many bloggers use it for that reason.

Seeing the list there are so many companies I don’t use and haven’t heard of. OurFreeStuff.net, Copeac, XY7, and RevenueLoop round out the rest of the top 5, with Copeac being the only one I’m a member of. I haven’t liked Copeac much at all, from affiliate managers not emailing me back, to the lack of good offers.

The rest of the networks I use, Linkshare, HydraNetwork, MarketLeverage, PepperjamNetwork, and Logical Media were all ranked. The only one missing was Neverblue, which I was surprised was left off the list. You can read my reviews of each network by clicking on their name.

Find out how your favorite affiliate network ranked.

Free Website Magazine

I breezed through the magazine (it was only 50 pages with quite a few ads) but there is substance to it. On top of that it was free. Get your free subscription by just following that link and filling out the information. Valid for new subscribers only, in the US.

As I join the top 50 affiliate networks I’m not a member of I will be posting reviews as well. As you wait for those here are some great affiliate networks to join:

Linkshare
HydraNetwork
MarketLeverage
PepperjamNetwork
Logical Media

I’ve never really had a big earner with ShoppingAds, I could generate clicks, but very rarely got high paying clicks. Using the ShoppingAds network I’ve been able to make about $250, but most of that has been through referring people to the network. Now that my account has been banned “Due to little or no earnings”, I will no longer receive those referral fees.

Last Payment

I’ve always had problems receiving my payments at ShoppingAds for some reason. I’ve had to go through support, and after that doesn’t work I’ve had to track down emails for someone a bit ‘higher up’ to finally get my payments.

Now, after my account was “banned” I immediately sent emails to support (no answer) to see about receiving my final payment which was $83.59.

With some emails back and forth a very nice person, Eliana Rosenblatt, from ShoppingAds contacted me back, stating she could give me $69.80. This was because that was how much I earned through the last payment period. I did receive the money, and am happy for it…

However I still feel cheated. After referring several people to their network who are obviously making decent money, I am apparently no longer going to be compensated for that.

From the last payment I’ve received, my referrals have now earned me $26.00. Earning me nearly $20 a month, if that holds true that’s close to $240 less a year I will earn due to ShoppingAds, plus possibly more if I chose to continue to promote their program.

If you have this problem with ShoppingAds, make sure to contact them to receive your final compensation.

As I mentioned before, I am giving Social Spark a Shot. So far it’s been okay, but I ran into a problem with displaying Google Adsense in my post. One of my blog is heavily monetized with Google Adsense, with it set to run within blog posts. With Social Spark or PPP you are not allowed to have any other form of advertising within your post. So, after doing a search I found a great way to remove Google Adsense on only certain posts.

Removing Google Adsense Within Posts

Instead of removing the entire Adsense code, you can just modify it so you can display adsense within certain posts.

Go to your single.php file within your theme and find your Google Adsense code. Then use a div tag like this:

<div id=”nogoogleads”>

Google Adsense Code

</div>

After that simply save your single.php file. This is the first step to a simple process.

To have Google Adsense not show in your posts then while your writing your blog post add the code:

<style>#nogoogleads {display:none !important;}</style>

You can always use plugins for this, but I have it set up with a Google Adsense ready theme so it wouldn’t really work with what I’m going for.

Thanks to ThumLog for their great post on this great technique.

A lot of successful blogs have more than one author. Most of the ‘famous’ bloggers I doubt rarely even blog themselves anymore and often open up to guest posters. Just like here at Blog About Your Blog, we’ve never had just one author. BloggersBase has taken that idea and ran with it.

BloggersBase Review

“BloggersBase is a citizen journalism magazine powered by YOU!”

The layout looks great and diving into this website I think it is a great concept. You the blogger rate, publish, and view the articles you want to read on a variety of topics.

You can earn money by being a top blogger as well as referring bloggers to the site. You can of course build links to your own sites in the posts you submit. Of course, you can also read great articles by bloggers.

However, in my opinion, the system is complex and a little difficult to understand, especially if you’re not familiar with a blog like this. Terms like Nuggets and Goldmine are thrown around. Even after reading what they mean I am still slightly confused. I could imagine others having the same problems and not trying at all. Basically you have to ‘prove yourself’ as a blogger before you hit the front pages.  As a newcomer, you can post in any blog that you want a contender post, in a location which is a little out of the way and not very visible. Such a post is denoted a “Nugget”, marked with a golden-nugget icon to indicate its potential and its residence is called the blog’s Goldmine.

So instead, the process needs to be a bit more simple. Instead of all of these terms and a long list of how the site works it really can be easier. Similar sites to BloggersBase just promote the articles through the website based on votes. A certain amount of votes can get you to the front page, just like any social network.

BloggersBase is still young and appears to only be a month or two old. I imagine they will find out what works best for them as well as their bloggers. They have the set-up, the quality, and the incentive for bloggers to blog.

Rewards and Referrals

I’m big on incentive especially when blogging on other sites. Whether it’s compensation, or link building, Bloggers Base has both.

The top two bloggers in a certain ‘timeslot’ (I think it’s a week) earn money. First place receives $40, while second place receives $10. On the BloggersBase blog, they announced their top blogger amabaie, won two weeks in a row, cashing in a cool $80. Not bad for a few articles. (amabaie is at it again winning first place and second a few times, bringing his total to $150)

The other way to earn money is to refer bloggers to BloggersBase. Each time one of your referrals earns money you will get a bonus as well. They don’t exactly say how much you will get which is unfortunate and definitely needs to be added. After you earn $20 or more you can cash out with Paypal.

Update: Since this review was published BloggersBase has went ahead and updated their referral payouts. You will be awarded exactly the same money prizes as your referred users do, up to 3 wins per user. So if they person you refer wins as a top blogger, you get the same amount they do.

BloggersBase Verdict

I think BloggersBase has a really good idea and set-up. After this review I may just submit a few articles and see how it goes. Take a look and leave me a comment on what you think of the website.

Join BloggersBase

Kontera is the best in text advertising service out there in my opinion. I have tried others and wasn’t satisfied. They also offer pay per click advertising for advertisers, that I haven’t experimented with. However their staff is pretty great and have alerted me about their newest promotion for new publishers.

$25 Bonus

For anyone who registers to Kontera through the link on their blog, will get the chance to receive $25 bonus cash.

All you need to do is register and place the code on your blog. After you generate $75 in earnings, you will get your balance set to $100 and earn the payout. Usually the payout is $100 so thats a great extra incentive.

You may think $75 is a lot, but there is no time limit to achieve the money. Once you sign-up to the bonus offer you are locked in.

You have until January 15th, 2009 to sign-up. Remember to make sure you sign-up via the Kontera Blog, or you can sign-up directly here.

I was really mad with PayPerPost when they left tons of bloggers out to dry when the Google PR crackdown hit. Many of my blogs (some I didn’t even use PPP on) still are affected.

Does SocialSpark Deserve A Chance?

Whether it does or not, I’m giving it one. First and most importantly, all sponsored posts are disclosed as well as no follow. However that means that the opportunities are lacking, the same problem we saw with PayPerPost. Most opportunities are off topic and could be hard to include into your blog.

So far SocialSpark has worked well with Its All Free Online. For several days I had a sponsorship bar run, which got about $3-4 per day. It was right on topic with my blog so it was great, it looked like it belonged there.

I was also able to take an opportunity about coupon codes, which again, worked perfectly. That makes it about $20+ worth of stuff with little effort. The sponsorship was easy.

The Problems

Well, the sponsor bar was supposed to run for 6 days, but for some reason I didn’t get paid on the 22nd or 24th. That’s roughly $6 lost. We’ll have to wait for support to right back on that one.

With my sponsored post I wrote and submitted it about a week ago, and it still hasn’t been approved or declined. The bigger problem for me is that I need that post to credit so I can get my first cash out. A week is a little long isn’t it? If I have 12 hours to write it, they should have that long to approve it!

What are your thoughts? Unfortunately I don’t see a referral program, but you can still join.

I find myself trying to bring this blog back to life. While doing so it seems like there is even more competition. So how do you compete with other blogs, other bloggers, and the internet in general?

Set Yourself Apart

That is always the key with any blog new or old. Answer the question, why should I read this? If you can do that for your blog, thats important. Many bloggers have run gigantic contests to ‘get ahead’ in the blogging world. However, with so many going on every day, even that’s not enough.

Incentive

Even though there are lots of contests, you should give your readers incentive to read, comment, and share your blog. Whether it’s directly paying them, offering something in return like a service, or just noticing them in a special way.

Build Relationships

This is another important factor. While this blog was thriving I was constantly in contact with other bloggers via email and IM. We’d read each others articles, comment, and share them. I’ve noticed my IM list get smaller, and fewer emails going out. That has directly impacted the traffic levels. Feel free to drop me an email or AIM me at tinka5787.

Motivation

Without it, your blog can die. I haven’t been motivated to post, and I’ve dropped the ball on several projects. Maybe it’s time to lighten your load to get back into the swing of things. I have contemplated selling off a few domains and websites to hopefully get me motivated again and improve this blog as well as my others.

The It Factor

You know, some bloggers, just have “It”. They have the dedication, determination, and motivation to run a successful blog. Some bloggers have been able to surpass my success in less time and done a lot better. They have ‘it’. The internet savvy to really rise to the top, interact and engage readers, and take it to the next level.

Do you have It?