Bloggers for Dollars

Yesterday I wrote about Shoemoney being banned from MyBlogLog.com.

Today he has been unbanned and an apology has been issued.

The unbanning isn't nearly as exciting as the banning! Okay, I have a warped sense of humor.

Oh my gosh, I don't know which designer over at Snap invented the snap previews that I'm seeing ALL over the web not but I'd like to find them and kick them in the butt!

I find them distracting and intrusive and they really get in the way when I'm trying to read some text on a page somewhere.

I'm just joking about boycotting them because I'd be better off just turning off the computer and walking away if I don't want to see them. I'm sure they are here to stay.

Fie on you snap previews! Fie! Fie! Fie!

Shoemoney, a notable blogger in the affiliate marketing world, has been banned from MyBlogLog for revealing some of the methods people have been using to exploit MyBlogLog.

He detailed the way to impersonate someone and surf the MyBlogLog community as that person. He showed how to add some of the well known bloggers to your community to give yourself more clout. He showed how to get free keyword targeted links. I believe it was revealing the impersonation expoit that ultimately resulted in Shoemoney's banning. ««« Continue Reading »»»

There must be a billion websites and blogs on the topic of monetizing blogs. People are getting rich right and left (if you believe what you read, lol, I don't believe but about a third of what I read on the net).

What I'd like to know is where all the money is coming from? Is there a well where money flows instead of water? Who is in control of this well? *jumping up and down to get noticed by the well caretaker* Will the well ever run dry or is there an unlimited amount of money to be made by monetizing a website? Is it just a circle of money that flows from one persons pockets to another and back again and so on? Inquiring minds want to know. Okay, I want to know.

I read about Explode! over at Techcrunch who read about it over at The Social Web and went to take a look at it myself.

Explode is a simple way to connect to all your friends regardless of their network, which I think is a pretty cool idea. It doesn't matter which blogging platform or software you use. If you are running a regular website and not even blogging at all you are still able to use Explode! to build up your social network. ««« Continue Reading »»»

Last week I didn't even know who John Chow was. Now I'm a frequent visitor.

The first time I had heard of John Chow dot Com was in this post on the Digital Point forums. At that time I just shrugged and didn't bother checking to see what his blog was all about. My mind is on information overload as it is now and I wasn't looking for yet another crowded, ad-ridden, jumbled up mess that so many of the revenue blogs look like to me. (And if you read no further please realize John's blog is anything but those things.) Edit 03/14/07: His blog is now a jumbled up mess, sorry to say. I don't mind ads but his blog is just too busy. I still read it though. heh

John's blog is what I call an "easy read". Since I surf the web a lot I don't like to spend a lot of time on confusing websites trying to find information. I like to get in, read, and get out. Except in the case of John Chow Dot Com, it seems like I get in, read, and read and read and read. I eventually get out but not for long as I keep coming back for more.

If you have never visited John Chow Dot Com his Top Posts lists is a good place to start. There is a lot of good information there on all aspects of blogging, such as monetizing, promotion, content and just about anything else regarding blogging. Some of this information is invaluable for a new blogger such as myself.

There has been speculation regarding the reason(s) for John's success and I believe it is his personal way of interacting with his visitors. But wait, maybe that's not the key to his success at all! Maybe it is his "Fine Dining" category! Personally, I think taking pictures of the food you eat and then posting the pictures on your blog is a bit bizarre, but hey, if it works for John Chow maybe it will work for me! Here is what I had for lunch today, yum yum. :)

I'm in the process of setting up a links list but having a hard time with the Drupal links modules. Until I get the module working I'll just make a blog post for any links I like.

Here's a neat blog directory I just ran across. Grokodile is a regional directory which is different than most of the directories I've run across lately.

I added myself to the Tampa, Florida area because that's where I live. Why not add yourself to the directory too?

I still think Adsense is nutty for placing romantic, political and religious ads on my site because (except for my posts complaining about it) I really can't see why they are picking up these topics.

I just thought that if I kept writing on the subjects I'm interested in that sooner or later Google would pick up some of my topics and start serving ads on the things I'm writing about. Wrong! One question I never asked myself is "what if there are no ads on my topics?" ««« Continue Reading »»»

I have no idea where Google got the idea I was running a dating or romantic site! I only have one simple banner at the bottom of the page at the time of this writing and the majority of the ads seem to be for romantic sites.

I understand Adsense is content generated, but by golly I'm sure I don't have any content here pertaining to that. Er, *gulp* until this post. The ads will probably go hog wild with the romantic stuff now. I've also seen some political and religious ads which to me is just wild. If nothing else it is entertaining for me to see just what is going to pop up next.

Marketing my site is my biggest weakness. I don't know why I don't like that part of site building but it honestly just leaves me cold. If anyone has any tips or strategies to share I sure would like to hear them.

Now I have to start all over but I think it will be worth it. I'm back to square one when it comes to finding a nice 3 column template that I like so it is back to the old drawing board for me.

I've decided to make a post every month or two whether I have anything to post about or not! Haha, just kidding! I have been involved in another hobby of mine (an MMORPG) and let this site slide for the last few months. ««« Continue Reading »»»