Design issues...

We have blinds on the windows of our house both front and back, but not at EVERY window. If you put blinds in every window, you can make the house look like an office rather than a home.... We have vertical blinds in our Dining room and Living room downstairs, horizontal wood blinds in the kitchen, and flat blinds in the bathroom and one of the bedrooms. We have street lamps shining into the back of the house from a fairly major intersection, so we have gone for black-out blinds in the rear-facing bedroom.
We have retained curtains in two of the bedrooms to keep a homely atmosphere, oddly enough the one room I use as an office actually has curtains rather than blinds...

Can you Digg it?

I have started adding 'digg-it' widgets to all my blog posts on all my blogs and there are several reasons why... Firstly without a doubt, someone will see your post as soon as you digg it (assuming that you might digg some of your own posts to get the ball rolling...). Your post will appear somewhere as the most recently dugg posts and if your title is interesting enough, there is a chance they will visit, if you have done really well, they might digg it too...and so the snowball is rolling....
Secondly, if your visitors are diggers (applies to 'stumblers', 'reddit' etc. also of course...), then you are providing the means for them to easily show appreciation of your story.
I think it makes sense for you to initially digg your own story so that your first digging visitor does not have to go through the rigmarole of submitting the story themselves - I honestly think that Digg expect you to do that....

What I really wanted was for the digg it widget to appear on every one of my posts to make it easy for me to submit and my visitors to join in. I also wanted the compact widget rather than the standard sized one so that it didn't look too prominent. Of course, the blogspot template is not set up to allow this to happen easily, so it means you have to go in there and insert some simple code. I chose to have my widgets at the bottom of the post on the left hand side, but there are options for putting it elsewhere, in different sizes, shapes and colours too.
My advice is to use a title for your important posts that you think will attract an audience, and digg these posts yourself before promoting the post in the places where you normally do your promotion.

How to:

First open up your blogger template (click 'expand widget templates') and locate the "data:post.body" tag. Then get over to Tips for New Bloggers, and choose the code you want depending on what permutation you require.

Fat Burners

I happen to think that the best way to burn fat is to do some vigorous exercise, however, I am getting frequent spam emails from those who feel that I might need to be slimmer than I already am - in my case wholly inappropriate since I have about as much fat as a blade of grass...

Due to the fact that there seems to be a huge market for diet pills and other pharmaceuticals, maybe a guide to the top diet pill would be useful... (though not to me as I have already mentioned).

I try my best to filter out these unwanted emails and can recommend email washer (see my sidebar) as a good way to fight spam.

What about paid blogging?

Paid bloggers must often think: "Why am I writing about this product or service for just a few dollars?" and maybe they think that they have cheapened themselves and their writing skills.
However, it occurs to me that what they do is no different to someone who appears in a commercial. Renowned actors are thought no less of just because they have been in a commercial...

In fact, I equate what the paid blogger does to those who do a voice-over for an advert in that they are not seen, they contribute to promoting a product or service and they are rewarded for their contribution.

Even those actors who do more adverts than actual TV or film work are not thought of as anything other than people earning a legitimate living. In truth, there are not that many paid bloggers who earn a living at what they do, nonetheless, they really should not feel any less of themselves for promoting a product for gain.

Value for money websites

I have always liked practical utility clothing, and discovered years ago, that the best quality clothing of this nature is made in the US. Prices were always good and the products were always first rate.
Even for the frugal shopper, there is a point where good quality represents better value for money, and for the UK buyer the strength of the currency makes the option of buying from the US even more attractive.
I have found products that promise "No Shrinking, no wrinkling, and no fading" such as the 5.11 Tactical Shirts. Since the advent of denim jeans, the Americans have been experts in the production of quality utility clothes, and now is about the best time ever for Brits to be importing US goods.

What happens if you lose PageRank?

The moment of truth... If you want to know the potential effect of losing PageRank, I have plotted the demise(?) of a website (NOT this blog...) below with relation to visitor figures and Adsense earnings in particular.
First off, it has to be said that each website is unique, with it's own characteristics dependent on it's niche, the CPC of keywords etc...
The trends (actual amounts not specified) from the graph above show the effect on this specific site of dropping from a PR2 to a PR0 at around the date indicated by the red vertical line. Some of these trend lines relate to percentages, some to cash, some to numbers of visitors and it is only the shift in the trends that I am illustrating - I have deliberately steered clear of talking about absolute numbers.
These are my observations on the above figures, bearing in mind that this is just the experience of one example website:

1. Overall, the number of Adsense clicks have remained fairly stable over the period (bottom purple line), but the actual earnings have been rising (brown line near the top) regardless of PR, indicating that the CPC must be rising.... even despite the fact that adsense impressions (light blue at top) seem to be on a downward trend.
2. The percentage of visitors that I get from search engines has been steadily dropping (yellow line) along the same line as the impressions. Unsurprisingly the visitors and unique visitors track closely (pink line and blue line 2nd and 3rd from the bottom), they too show a slight downturn.
3. The most significant result to me is the evident drop in the search results figures (luckily I don't rely on search results for the majority of visitors), and presumably this can be directly related to PR drop affecting SERP (search engine results position).
4. Another measure which I would use to estimate whether the website is performing would be the amount of contact I have from potential clients (almost entirely via email), and I have to say that this has shown no significant drop recently, though this is sporadic at the best of times...
5. The final indicator is the passive earnings through adsense which seems to be growing despite a fall in advert impressions (indicated by the brown and blue lines crossing each other at the top of the graph - ie. impressions dropping whilst earnings are climbing...)

If I had to come to an actual conclusion based on the limited data I have collected, then it is that some things are showing a worrying decline, but the earning potential of the site is actually continuing to grow. I certainly have not been put out of business by the PR drop....and can happily continue to mine this niche despite the Big G's evident disapproval....

Pool Floats

Summer is almost here and the smell of the barbie is wafting across the gardens and back yards. My little one is asking for the paddling pool to be filled, and we have bought some new loungers. All-in-all Summer can be an expensive time when you start thinking about renewing all your garden furniture and for those that are lucky enough to have a pool, your pool toys and pool floats. Come to think of it, if you can afford a pool, you are probably not worried about the costs of the Summer season...

Luxury Items

Every so often you like to treat yourself, everybody does... and we all have our particular weaknesses. Some have a penchant for luxury watches, others might enjoy a fine wine or shoes or clothes. We each of have our own way of rewarding ourselves when things are going well and we have a little extra cash to splash.
Personally, I like to look at watches that I might buy when I am in a stronger financial position (I am not that bothered about clothes and I have enough shoes!). I also have a weakness for good quality pens, for some reason I do like to have a nice pen to write with, but I lose them so often that this is not a good gift to buy me. The last thing on my list of luxury items is sunglasses. Since I started buying relatively expensive glasses, I find that I look after them a lot better than the cheaper ones. The last pair of glasses I bought have lasted me about six years which is better value than buying a pair of cheaper glasses every year...

Pet Supplies for your best friend

If you have a pet, you will want to get the best pet supplies and the best prices, the solution is to shop online. Lower overheads mean that you can get a better deal online for all types of products. Your pet is an important part of your life and you will want to make sure that they have the best that you can afford. Combine quality with low prices by getting your ‘mouse’ to do your pet supply shopping.

Summer Savings

I do everything I can both to save money and make the money we have go as far as possible, in order that the impact of the coming credit crunch will be minimal. It’s around this time of year that I am all to eager to turn off the central heating to keep fuel bills as low as possible. Fortunately in the UK we don’t really have a need for in-house air-conditioning, but most cars will be making use of their air conditioning compressor during the summer. I am always keen to turn the central heating off at the first sign of sunshine, similarly I only use the air conditioning in the car when I have to as this uses extra fuel too. .. (Did some one say mean? I’m just careful…!)
Not only am I mean careful, I am environmentally friendly too, my sweat is saving the planet!

Appeal for help in Beverly Hills

Every so often, the internet in general and the blogging community specifically is able to make a difference to individuals. I hope someone will be able to help with the following appeal:

A sufferer of a treatable condition needs accommodation nearer to Mt Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills. This lady has a form of Leukemia which cannot be cured at the moment since she is pregnant, she has sent an email to a service that normally offers a home exchange vacation service to see if there is anyone who can help - read the full story here...

Knowing how good the world-wide-web can be at getting the word around, I thought I would do my bit to highlight this family's plight... Perhaps others would like to pick up on this story and see if we can help to get a resolution.

Treat a Lady

If you want to treat the lady in your life (not your mother!) to some special lingerie, but are reluctant to venture out to buy some from a high street retailer, then shopping online could be the perfect way to get the right products with no embarrassment.
My advice would be to make sure that you get the right size and the right colour, but at least if you buy online, you don’t have the double-embarrassment of having to take the goods back because they were wrong…

The GTA experience

I don’t think I can recall a launch of a game that has been accompanied by as many TV adverts and general buzz as the launch of the latest Grand Theft Auto. GTA4 is now ready for an unsuspecting public and promises more spills and thrills than it’s already highly acclaimed predecessors. Grand theft Auto has claimed an unlikely niche amongst gamers, when the game play was first conceived who could have know the impact that it was going to have on a generation.
Add to the game play, the stunningly realistic graphics and the GTA experience is born. The playing experience is so lifelike now, that just viewing the advanced graphics in action becomes and advertisment in itself. It has both shocked and stimulated as every innovation should, leaving you unsure as to whether it is a thoroughly good thing or a thoroughly bad thing and many people remain divided in their opinions. What you can say , whether you love it or loathe it, is you can’t ignore it, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Spawning a culture of insider tips and cheats, reviews and guides, like a rock-band this rolling monolith of a game keeps a whole industry going and shows no signs of backing down.

dNeero surveys

I have found dNeero surveys to be all of the following:

• easy to complete
• easy to monetise
• fun to do

Compared to other survey sites I have had dealings with, dNeero knocks spots off them all.
I am now officially DONE with Ciao surveys - I don't even open their emails any more. Ciao are in the habit of asking you a whole load of questions BEFORE you take the survey, each of these questions are related to information that Ciao already knows about me... then at the end of 10 questions which include my age, sex, employment status and earning bracket - they have the cheek to say 'sorry you don't qualify'. If they had any sort of system, they wouldn't be offering surveys I don't qualify for as they already know the answers to most of these questions. On top of that their compensation rates are lousy. So the new good guys are 'Pure Profile' (who pay a small amount even if you don't 'qualify' for the survey, and dNeero, who have the simplest surveys, and the best compensation scheme.
The latest dNeero survey is one that I can do as a result of having completed fifteen surveys:

Something with a little sparkle...

I am not a great fan of jewelery, and am very pleased to report that my wife feels the same way (or is that just something they say when they actually WANT you to buy them jewelery..??). There does seem to have been a jewel and trinket explosion on the internet in recent years with many different sites offering rings, gold bangle, earrings and other jewelery. I guess this is because overheads in a jewellery store can be costly, and online services have few overheads especially if they are drop-shippers. My advice would be to use reputable sites and a credit card that offers good insurance if you chose to purchase any costly gifts on the internet.

Commenting for ideas

I have talked about commenting and am a big fan of commenting on blogs for many reasons. I still don't do it half as much as I should, in fact I do it considerably less that half as much as I should, but I have realised yet another reason why commenting is so good.
When you blog on your best themes, your regular visitors will often respond sometimes just to agree, but at other times may take the subject on a different tack. At these times I find myself replying to these comments and I end up writing extensively in the reply... At this point I start to think - wait - there is another blog post here... and I go away and write a future post based on the reply to the comment I have just received.
Coming up with new posts and subjects is not always easy, so listen to your 'audience' for three reasons:

• They will give you ideas that are related to your themes, but ideas that you either missed or failed to expand on.
• They will give you ideas on subjects and themes that they may want to read about
• Interaction is what WEB2.0 is all about, and interaction will keep your readers coming back for more.

...and if you haven't guessed, this post was inspired by a comment that I had recently....

Procurando sobre seguradora?

Um portal interessante que nós visitamos hoje é o www.seguradora.info, uma ótima fonte de informação sobre seguradora. Tudo que você precisa saber sobre Seguros voce encontra neste site: , que publica textos atualizados diaramente sobre Seguradoras e fornece novidades para seguradora. Informação sobre seguradora pode ser às vezes difícil de encontrar na internet porque poucos sites dilvugam informação sobre Seguradoras. Pesquise mais e registre-se no RSS para ter mais novidades Seguros. Faça comentários a respeito do que você leu neste blog, sobre o tema de Seguradoras. Para concluir, afirmamos que o www.seguradora.info é um site completo que vale a pena a todos as pessoas que querem saber mais sobre seguradora.

Entre também em outro portal que publica informação de seguradora, que e sobre outsourcing!

Procure também em outro portal sobre Seguradoras que pode ser bom também Trabalho casa.

I've been waiting for this...

Blogger has just launched a feature allowing you to delay the publishing of a post to a specific date and time in the future, read the full details here.
This is a feature that I have been waiting for since seeing it on a Wordpress blog. Up until now, blogspot users could choose a future date for a post, but regardless of date, once the post was published it was instantly visible. I am in the habit as I assume other bloggers are, of saving up posts in draft form and then posting them at a convenient point. With the new feature, once you have written a post, you can decide the date and time that it will be published, schedule it and leave it to publish itself.
One word of warning though, the publishing time does not match with the time you have chosen in your settings, it seems to default to CET or something similar... The system works as you might expect, you edit the time of the post in 'post options', choose your time and select 'publish post', the post now appears as 'scheduled' in the edit posts screen, and will become visible at the time selected.
Blogger have also allowed you to make visible a future-dated post. In order to do this, you would publish your post normally with the current time, and then edit the post and amend the date after it has been published. They say that if you have post-dated posts already showing on your blog, then they will remain.
This is a real bonus for when you take a natural break from blogging, but want your blog to remain regularly updated with fresh material to keep your readership interested.

Rehab

Rehab seems to be losing the stigma that it always seemed to carry, almost seen as a measure of success and being the title of THE most successful song from drug rehab frequenter Amy Winehouse... For most people experiencing rehab, I am sure that they would not regard it as a glamorous place to hang out. The origins of the word have almost become lost in it's shortening, but in case you were wondering, 'rehab' is short for rehabilitation.....

Do I need a video card?

For everyday applications running on your PC, the on-board graphics is perfectly adequate. On newer standard PC’s the video chips are integrated into the motherboard, so why would you need a new video card?
In most cases, this would be desirable if you are using some high-end action games with fast-moving detailed life-like graphics, or if you were involved in the production of detailed graphics or digital photography/video. For these types of tasks, most modern motherboards have an ‘Advanced Graphics Port’ – plugging a dedicated video/graphics card into this port frees up PC memory and speeds up graphics production.

Market Research

Before you start forth on your latest commercial venture, you need to be armed with the best available market research. Whether this be as a result of your own observations, or research carried out by a third party, this information is vital to forming your strategy. Why do businesses fail? often through lack of research, why do projects get shelved? same reason....
How should this research be carried out? Firstly identify your demographic, then get a good sample and find out their views. Good research is dependent on asking the right people the right questions. Ever wondered why market researchers only stop certain people on the street? it's because they have a demographic quota to fill, if you don't fit the profile, you are not a target.

From experience, I can tell you that it is easy to write a questionnaire, and very difficult to write a good one from which you will be able to draw any conclusions.... Good research knows who it will ask and precisely how to get the answers it wants - Bad research asks random people random questions and reveals random results. Next time you are set to browse the web to find ways to get traffic for a site or blog, actively target specific keywords and themes and place comments that provoke a response - turn your browsing into research.

April 2008 earnings

April has been a good month for me with total munny4hunny earnings finally surpassing the $1000 mark after a little over a year, and the monthly earnings very nearly reaching the $200 mark for only the second month since starting the blogging to earn experiment. I have had to switch tactics to get the extra revenue, and hopefully using these tactics in the future will build up earning potential. There are now four blogs in the Munny4Hunny 'stable', two of which are niche blogs and are targets for paid text links, I have been using forums to identify possible 'customers' for text links and have brought in a little income via that route. I have also been using 'PayU2Blog' as a service to replace some of the other paid posting opportunities that have apparently dried up for me.
Away from blogging, Adsense is continuing to earn money (just been paid for the second time this year..) on my main niche website although I seem to have lost PageRank for this site for some unknown reason. I hope this will resolve itself, and will be tracking performance to answer the question 'Does lack of pagerank actually have any effect?'. I am looking forward to finding out the answer to this question...
From other projects, a further $300 has come in bringing total internet activity close to $500 for the month with a 40:60 split for blogging earnings against other projects.