Recently I blogged about using payperpost as an advertiser. I ran a 50$ campaign and got to create 6 opportunities at 5.50$ a piece. Which means pay per post kept 17$ of it. With their high fees, I didn’t get to get as many opps as I would of liked.

If you still want to use PPP there is another way around their fees, and that’s with PPP direct.

The Problems with PPP Direct

There is a huge and major flaw with PPP direct. There is really no way to find a PPP direct blogger. I had to spend quite some time on the forums asking bloggers if they would like PPP direct offers. The PPP direct marketplace is a complete joke, and really a waste of time.

In the marketplace you can only search by category and “tack rating”. Category may be helpful, but you really need more search options. Tack Rating is useless and really means absolutely nothing. I have written about 50 sponsored posts at PPP, and my tack rating is 3 out of 5. Why so low? I’ve only been rated for ONE of my posts. How they decided category and tack rating were most important for the PPP marketplace, I have no idea.

PPP Direct Bloggers Charge a Lot

I’m not sure why some of the PPP direct bloggers think they should charge 20$ for a post on their pr3 blogspot blog. Here they are doing 5$ posts per day, yet charge 20$ for a review. What’s worse is some of them are wondering why they haven’t gotten any opportunities yet. With such a bad marketplace set-up, you really have to make your blog most appealing.

The Results

I was pretty happy with most of the reviews. After spending 100$ in reviews, we received 10 reviews. Of course, ironically, the reviews I got for 5-10$ were much better than the ones that cost 20$.

Would I use it again?

Most likely, not. After running low on funds, to about 10$ I was gonna put in a few dollars so I could afford another review. I come to find the minimum deposit is 50$. That seems like a lot to me. There also is the complaint that you cannot use paypal to buy advertising, you must use a credit card. I don’t particularly have a problem with that, but I could definitely see the issue.

What are your experiences with advertising on PPP? Have any bloggers recieved PPP direct opps?

I have made plans to use off line advertising for our blog, by using t-shirts, business cards, and possibly even flyers. Off line advertising can be huge for any website, and can definitely create some serious buzz for your website. Besides the obvious T Shirt promotion, or business card handout, flyers are also available.

If you print out several hundred flyers, and either pass them out, or spend some time sticking them on cars, your objective can be achieved. I’ll admit I don’t care much for getting a flyer put on my car, but the fact is I do see it, and if it is catchy, I do read it. Axis Flyers can provide that service for you. They generally specialize in night club flyer printing, but I’m sure they could meet your needs on flyers for your website. I also noticed they could print up some business cards for you. For about 50$ they will make you 1,000 business cards.

On another plus side, all of their print products come with FREE UV finish, at no additional charge. Once you order there is a 24-48 hour turnaround. What place do you know with service like that?

When it is going well, blogging is a joy, but when every component of the mix seems to fall apart at the same time, it can get tough. First it was a dead hard drive, and then a weird glitch that wouldn’t let me use my back-up either. And then, writer’s block.

No hardware

Sat staring at the screen of death unable to blog, I likened the last couple of weeks to a pilot without an aeroplane. A place to go, but no way to get there. (Matt was cool, offering me the chance to post the MyBlogLog Sunday feature on this blog, which I could have done, had I had access to a working computer.) Long story short, I eventually got the hardware sorted out, rescued all my data, reinstalled my blog as it was, and started to blog.

No inspiration

I should have been hyped after all that techno nonsense, but to be honest, for the first time, I experienced writer’s block, and found it hard to jump out of serious mode – not good for a humor site. I usually click on a few sites (Google Trends if I am really desperate for clues) and end up with a headful of ideas. But it didn’t work.

I am committed to the Pisstakers blog, and I couldn’t just leave it and do nothing. So, rather than publish articles I knew were sub-par (which is different to posting articles you think are OK but others think are sub-par) I decided to do some work on my side bar. It doesn’t get more exciting than that!

It’s all in the widgets

I had a grain of an idea, but it wasn’t exactly working out until the Eureka moment. Do you know what it is like when you are feeling bad, but the second after you consciously give up, suddenly you see a solution? I think it is a great sensation, to feel your sub-conscious come to the surface and talk to you in words that, for once, you can hear.

Ding, ding, ding, with a sniff of an idea based on my Humor Quotes widget, I revolutionised my sidebar and the system has provoked so many ideas in my mind, that the time away from writing blew away the cobwebs, gave me new impetus, and it is good to be a-blogging again. (As George Carlin said, “I have lots of ideas, but most of them suck!” and I will no doubt be forever tweaking the sidebar.)

And I am glad I was feeling good this morning, because if this were last week, when doom and gloom reigned, the dodgy router I woke up to might have ended up in the yard in pieces. Does any of this sound familiar?

The story goes that if you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with a load of typewriters, they will eventually produce the entire works of Shakespeare. According to author Andrew Keen in his new book The Cult of the Amateur, this is exactly what’s happening with us bloggers. Web 2.0 has finally unleashed us on all those typewriters but we’re producing not great works of literature but a deluge of bad writing and inaccurate information.

Well, yes, we love you too Andrew.

If you’d like to know more about what Andrew thinks about us, what I think about what Andrew thinks, and get a chance to share your own opinions on the matter, then check out the latest post at The Secret Of Life.

Give me a break with all the talk about Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. That seems to be all the news networks want to talk about these days. Here’s an idea for the news networks, how about talking about some hard-hitting news that affects our lives.

You know what while you’re at it stop saying that the war in Iraq is a war on terror. It’s not and never has been. The person responsible for the terror attacks in this country is still out there and we’re always on some kind of alert for fear of another attack. Meanwhile our young men and women are fighting and dying because of some vendetta and other reasons not related to terrorism of the President.

Iraqis aren’t the people that’s blowing up bombs in England and making plans to terrorize the US. So give me a break with us being in Iraq being a war on terror.

I talk more on these issues and more on my blog That Says It All. Plus I say good-bye to a very good lady, Tammy Faye Messner.
Check out my other blogs.
Mike’s Money Making Rants & Raves
My Art Quest
My Art Quest 2

Need another place to expose your blog? Well then check out the forum built just for bloggers, DoshTalk.com

There is also a special section of the forums just about making money online with plenty of tips and tricks to help increase your online revenue.

Registration is free and only takes a couple of seconds and there are plenty of places within the forums to help promote your blog as well as an area for getting your blog reviewed by the other community members.

For more resources for bloggers check out my blog about blogging and making a little extra cash on the side at – BloggingDosh.com

Eco-Handbags have been great to us and decided to sponsor a contest. Let me give you the run-down of the rules, prize and such.

Let’s start with the prize. Want to know what you’re playing for? We will be giving away a Laptop Briefcase. The briefcase is valued at a cool 180$!!

I am also happy to say (like I promised) that our Canadian friends can enter this contest as well! U.S and Canada only.

How You Can Win

The contest will be a linkback competition. By linking to us, the contest, and our sponsor you will be entered to win. We will chose one entrant to be the winner. You have until Tuesday August 7th to enter (2 weeks away).

Example Post

Blog about your Blog is hosting another great contest where you can win a 180$ laptop briefcase from Eco-Handbags. Eco Handbags produce eco-friendly handbags, because they are all made from recycled products.

When linking to our sponsor please use one of the following keywords: eco-friendly handbags, unique eco-bags, fashionable recycled bags, art banners, candy wrappers, good for the environment, rescued materials, or truck inner tubes.

I am really happy to be able to offer such a great prize to our readers. I want to thank our sponsor for contributing the awesome prize. I hope you all enjoy and participate in the contest!