Archive: September 2007
Just a reminder that voting for Blog Battle Royale II ends on Monday at noon (EST). If you haven't already, head-on over to the boards to vote for your favorite post!
The top five finalists--along with the Blog Battle Royale I Champion--will be sent a Dell All-In-One Inkjet 926 printer to blog about!
Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royale, Blog Battle Royale Champion, contests, Dell, voting
Something new-and-exciting this way comes...starting next week! Of course, you'll just have to wait and see what it is!
Submissions for Blog Battle Royale II have been received! Thanks to all who participated, and for your creativity! Don't forget, the top five will be finalists, and will be up for the chance to be the next Champion!
Here are the post submissions:
1. ask.com: new and improved!
2. Search Engine Showdown
3. From AskJeeves.com to Ask.com
4. Answer Me a Question
5. Who do I ask?
6. Ask.com: We're on TV!
7. Ask About The Best Online Search Engine
8. Ask Yourself…
9. ASK.com
10. As Good As Google
11. Apostolos Gerasoulis and Ask.com
12. Ask...and you shall receive
13. Where has Jeeves Gone?
To vote for your favorite click here. Or you can visit the "Blog Battle Royale II: Ask.com" thread on the message boards*. Voting will close on Monday, October 1st at 12pm EST.
* You must log in or sign-up on the message boards to cast a vote.
Technorati Tags: Ask.com, Blog Battle Royale, Dell, PayPerPost, Posties, PPP, PPP contests
Hi Posties!!
Are you ready for $1K Tuesday? Between noon today and noon tomorrow, we will be releasing 11 Opp's worth a total of $1K. No segmentation on these! What? That's right - they are open to any blogger with a blog approved for the Marketplace. Let the $1K begin!!
You remember Aesop, right? He was some old guy who used to tell stories about boys and wolves and foxes and grapes and um...the little engine that could and uh...that chicken with the sky falling...no wait...
Well, he had a lot of stories anyway.
I had a slightly different post in mind today. This post was originally just going to be about how many of my longtime blogging friends have now joined PayPerPost. I'm talking about folks who don't know much about page rank or Alexa or search engine optimization. They just like to blog, and they like the idea of earning a little money by taking opps that they are interested in or that they feel fit their site.
And this post is still kind of about that. But it's also about a post I read on a well known tech blog recently containing more negative comments about PayPerPost. Those of you "in the know" or who read the boards regularly know what I'm talking about. I don't really want to link the post. The fellow in question has long had it in for both PayPerPost and Ted, and he's been grinding his axe so long that it must be worn down to a nub by now.
Anyway, back to my old friend Aesop.
Whenever I read one of those negative articles and peruse the comments, many of which are also negative, I have to giggle like a schoolgirl (which is not very manly I know. I'm working on that). Those folks remind me of that boy who cried wolf, or that chicken who said the sky was falling. To listen to those dunderheads you would think that if PayPerPost is allowed to flourish then the world shall surely be rent asunder, plagues will visit the land, dog and cats will be living together--mass hysteria! It is foretold in the Bible, one must merely search in Revelation. And by the way, how do we know it wasn't Ted on that grassy knoll in Dallas in November of 1963?
Give. Me. A. Break.
I probably have more in common with my friends who have recently become Posties than I do with the more hard core Posties. I kind of have one foot in each camp. I am not as savvy as the Colleens and the Tims of this world--during that Saturday at Colleen's house the two of them were discussing topics that were way over my head. Luckily I have perfected the art of looking thoughtful and nodding in all the right places.
On the other hand, I probably know more than the blogger who just wants to keep blogging and earn a little extra money, which is how I think of most of my peeps who have recently joined. So I think I have a pretty balanced viewpoint with regard to PayPerPost and blogging, and you know what?
It ain't no big deal.
Paid blogging is here to stay, and it is not going to bring the blogosphere crashing down around our ears. PayPerPost is not the devil, nor are the other brokers. I think everything is going to be just fine. The sky is not falling, the wolf is not stealing the sheep, and I'm pretty sure Ted wasn't even alive in November of 1963.
Now...let's look into the real travesty in all this. Not a single one of those blogging friends of mine who signed up with PayPerPost did so through me. Where is the love, peeps?
I demand a full investigation.
We've had some great entries come in for Blog Battle Royale II but I think many of you have been afraid to enter because you think you don't have enough traffic to win. This competition isn't about traffic, its about quality and creativity. Courtney, winner of Blog Battle Royale I doesn't necessarily have a ton of traffic. What she does have is the ability to write a great post. As she says:
"It's not about being popular, it's not about having the readership, if your work is good, it will shine among the other entries."
I agree Courtney, well said. In fact, if I was a lesser known blogger I would see this as the perfect chance to put myself on the map and grab some new readers. The odds of getting into the finals are pretty good as of today. You have a better than 1/15 chance of grabbing one of 5 new printers. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out and make your post.
So...I log in this morning to PPP and the message from Customer Love pops up that we can now take and submit up to three opps per day again. Whoo-hoo! This is very exciting news! I was a little bummed a few months back when the limit was bumped down to two per day, even though I understood why it needed to be done.
But now we are back to three per day, and I couldn't be happier.
Well...for about fifteen minutes.
I can never sustain a high like that. I am always looking for a reason to find the glass half empty. And I found it. I realized that I was going to have to come up with more original posts for my blog if I was going to be doing more paid opps. Now, you may ask, why would that be a problem for me?
Go ahead, you can ask. I'll wait.
Unlike a lot of bloggers who seemingly never run out of topics to discuss because they are always finding cool stuff online or they are very into the news or they like to keep up with pop culture, most of my posts are humor based and I have to pull them out of my head. The problem is, sometimes my head is empty (some wags might opine that it is usually empty). The point is, having to conjur stuff up out of thin air is usually a cyclical process. I will often have a sustained burst of inspiration that enables me to write and store a lot of posts in a few hours, followed by days of looking at a blank screen and wondering why my fingernails seem to grow at different rates of speed.
Wait...that fingernail thing...that might make a good post.
Mrs. Fab and I were at Colleen's house last weekend, along with fellow Posties Tim and Cheryl. Now Colleen, she is more plugged into what is going on around the internet and the world than anyone I know. She never runs out of blogging fodder. And Tim is a man of the world with about 103 blogs and he is the kind of Renaissance Man that I can only dream of becoming one day. And Cheryl, between her dog Snoopy, her love of football, and her lifelong affair with breakfast cereal, also is never without a topic to discuss.
So that leaves me, Joke Boy.
I have actually tried to branch out a little bit more. I've done a few posts on things that tick me off, and maybe a couple on sports. I guess I need to do more of that. I can't always count on reaching back and finding something funny when I need it.
So help me out, guys. Where do you get your ideas? What suggestions do you have for your Uncle Fabby (you know, I kind of hope that doesn't catch on) to prime his pump? I'd love to hear what you guys do when you need inspiration.
Help a brother out?
Posties,
Please tell the blogosphere that today is World Alzheimer's Day! We revised this week's Alzheimer's Association opportunity to reduce the number and complexity of linking requirements. We want to make it easier for you to quickly inform your readers of the importance of helping to end Alzheimer's during the month of September!
Your effort will help raise $1 million that will be matched by the Harrah's Foundation in the month of September, so timeliness is key for this opportunity! Please help us fulfill the remaining 100 posts tomorrow, on World Alzheimer's Day!
The opportunity asks that you please encourage your readers to host their own World Alzheimer's Day "Purple Party" during the month of September, in honor of World Alzheimer's Day! Ask your readers to invite family, friends and colleagues to donate the money they might have spent on an evening out... to the Alzheimer’s Association! Visit the Alzheimer's Association to discover steps to planning your own World Alzheimer's Day Purple Party!
Please take another look at this important and rewarding opportunity to make a difference for Alzheimer's!
Thank you so much!
- Robb
Remember the days of watching the Jetsons on TV? You'd watch them fly around and talk to each other on video.
Well at long last, comes the video phone! Look how far we've come. Packet8 is currently running an opp in our Marketplace. It's called, "Business VoIP".
This opportunity has been revised and is now live. We optimized it in hopes that more of you could enjoy it and participate. The offer is $25 so be sure to grab your post early before they're gone. They won't last long.
We want you to blog about living like the Jetsons. Who would you call?
Hey Posties!
This is a great new opportunity from the Alzheimer's Association! We did such a great job bringing Team Captains on board for the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk that we have been asked to bring awareness to World Alzheimer's Day tomorrow, September 21st!
Your effort will help to raise $1 million that will be matched by the Harrah's Foundation! Matching is only available in the month of September, so timeliness is key for this opportunity! Please help us fulfill the remaining 150 posts tomorrow, on World Alzheimer's Day! (We even reduced the requirements, so please take a look at this great opportunity to help end Alzheimer's!)
The opportunity asks that you please encourage your readers to host their own World Alzheimer's Day "Purple Party" during the month of September, in honor of World Alzheimer's Day! Ask your readers to invite family, friends and colleagues to donate the money they might have spent on an evening out... to the Alzheimer’s Association! Visit the Alzheimer's Association to discover steps to planning your own World Alzheimer's Day Purple Party!
Thank you!
- Robb
The Marketing department has been busy, busy, busy lately...with various upcoming projects. It's been a while since we've done a video confessional, and we have some exciting updates for both Posties and non-Posties alike, so Britt & thought we'd put a little something together for you. Not the most exciting video ever, but I figure it's a nice diversion from the average blog post.
We've got some news on PostieCon, Blogger's Choice Awards, and a few other things, so check-out these two videos when you have a few moments. (The video cut-out when we were almost finished and rather than bother the production guys to edit the two together, we decided to keep it raw.)
As mentioned in the first video, here is the link for some information on hotel accommodations in the Vegas area: https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=53266. Most are pretty good rates but if you can find something better on your own, by all means feel free.
We're also heading-up to the Boston area tomorrow, for CollegeFest '07. We'll be documenting our trip so be on the lookout for a future RockStartUp episode. And if you're one of our Postie Reporters...we'll see you there!
Technorati Tags: Ashley, Blogger's Choice Awards, Britt, CollegeFest, confessionals, PostieCon, RockStartUp, TAO Las Vegas
Even though you missed out on $1K Tuesday, you may still be able to grab a $50 or $150 Opp now through noon tomorrow. Why?! Because it is WorldWide Wednesday!! Don't tell me you forgot? No way!! Well, let me remind you!
WorldWide Wednesday has been following $1K Tuesdays for a few weeks now. It is our way at PayPerPost to show appreciation to our Posties around the globe. When we released segmentation by location, some folks were concerned all the Opp's would be going to U.S. only bloggers. Well, we've seen that's not the case - while some advertisers do segment to U.S. bloggers due to product or event limitations, many, many Opp's are still sent out to bloggers worldwide. For WorldWide Wednesday, we want to share more love with our non-U.S. posties, too.
On WorldWide Wednesdays we've been releasing 3 Opportunities to non-U.S. posties. Those Opp's include 2 $50.00 Opp's, and the big $150.00 Opp. They can be (and maybe one has been . . . ) released any time between noon on Wednesday and noon on Thursday. Well, gotta get back to it, I have some WorldWide Wednesday work to do!
What?? The $500 Opp hasn't gone out yet? Well, that just means you all still have a chance. Keep checking - only an hour and a half to go!!
:)
The first Blog Battle Royale was fantastic. We saw tons of great posts from Posties both old and new. In the end Courtney was crowned champion for her post (complete with video) "Let's Get Ready to Roomba!!!". I loved how creative this post was, she really went above and beyond and deserved to win.
DING DING DING!
Grab your Mexican wrestling mask, lace up your boots and grab a folding chair. It's time to lay the smack down again!
This month the qualifier blog topic is a review of Ask.com. I'm sure that you have seen the commercials and billboards, they are all over the place. They have redesigned the way the search engine works, complete will all sorts of cool AJAX features to make searching easier. Even though I hate the term, it's very Web 2.0... and very cool.
We want to know what you think about the features and the quality of the search results. Do you like Ask.com more than Google, MSN or Yahoo!? What do you like? What don't you like? What is on your search engine wish list? We want to know.
To compete in the Blog Battle Royale II write your post on Ask.com on your blog and place a link to it on this post via comment or track back by next Monday at noon EST. Five finalists will be chosen from all the submissions by popular vote. The five finalists will then receive a physical product to review and keep. This months physical product is a Dell printer.
In addition, we also send the five finalists a special Postie Pack with a limited edition Blog Battle Royale T-Shirt. To put it simply... as a finalist you are the bomb and we hook you up!
After the five finalists do their review of the Dell printer we will publish the posts for final voting on our site. The winner gets a special champion t-shirt, a badge for their blog and a badge on our blog promoting them as the winner (Courtney's badge will be up soon). They also get a buy into the finalist round for the next Battle.
Since Courtney won last month she gets a buy this month and does not have to write a post about Ask.com to qualify for the physical product review. Courtney will receive a Dell printer when the other finalists do.
Show us what you can do Posties, this is your chance to strut your stuff.
Keep it clean and blog your butt off!
Hey Posties,
It is Tuesday so that means it is $1K Tuesday!!! Starting at noon today, going through noon tomorrow, we will be releasing 11 Opps worth a total of $1,000 in offer amounts to Posties! These Opp's will not be segmented, but open to everyone!!
We usually have a preplanned idea of when we'll be releasing the Opps, but not this week. Hmmm . . . when will they go out - we're still guessing ourselves so good luck!!
Also - just a reminder, if you grab a $1K Tuesday Opp, you'll be automatically benched for 30 days from any other promotional PPP Opps (ie: $1K Tuesdays & Worldwide Wednesdays). You'll still see any other PPP Opps that are started.
Looking forward to your posts!!
Hello, Atlanta. Look out, Little Rock. We’ll see you soon, Phoenix.
These are just a few stops on PayPerPost’s Blog America Tour, a week long odyssey across the southern United States. On the wheels of our custom PayPerPost RV, the tour will cover more than 3,000 miles and 9 states. Of course, RockStartUp will be there to cover it all.
Will Ted and crew make a stop in your town? It could all depend on you. The proposed Tour Schedule is as follows:
1. Orlando, FL - Nov. 1, Noon (office send off)
2. Tampa, FL - Nov. 1, 6PM
3. Atlanta, GA - Nov. 2, 9AM
4. Tuscaloosa, AL - Nov. 3, 10AM (Alabama v. LSU)
5. Jackson/Brandon, MS - Nov. Nov. 4, 10AM
6. Little Rock/Jacksonville, AR - Nov. 4, 5PM
7. Dallas, TX - Nov. 5, Noon
8. Albuquerque, NM - Nov. 6, 7AM
9. Phoenix, AZ - Nov. 6, 5PM
10. Las Vegas, NV (Posties: Jules/Techie) - Nov. 7, 5PM
11. Las Vegas, NV (PostieCon & BlogWorld EXPO)
Now that you know where we’re planning to stop, we need you to give us some local knowledge. Comment on this post with your suggestions about where to go and what to do in each city. We’d love to meet up with as many Posties as possible. But we need to know you’re out there.
We’re still putting our plan together, so it’s a great time to influence what we will do in your town. As soon as we nail down a final tour schedule we’ll be sure to let everyone know.
We’d also like to let Posties hitch-a-ride to PostieCon, but we’re still trying to figure out the details… legal and insurance wise. However, if you’d like to jump on we want to hear from you. Send your request to britt [at] payperpost dot com. Include your name, location and a phone number. No guarantees.
See you on the road!
Are you familiar with the site Delightfulblogs.com? Well, I somehow discovered it about a month ago, and found it to be a great resource for finding new blogs & bloggers. Here's a little about the site:
Launched in June of 2006 (the same month as PayPerPost!), Delightfulblogs.com is a blog directory, of sorts, that searches the Internet for blogs which are written or managed (or feature photos or videos) with a distinctive, original, or unique perspective. And their site is very attractive to look at, too, which is a plus! With nearly 50 categories of blogs it's certainly a great way to find some new reading!
I like the site so much I contacted the webmaster, and...well...now we're running a Marketing campaign with them! It'll certainly be a chance for us to grow our PPP family!
Check out Delightfulblogs.com when you have a few moments. I'm sure you'll think it's a pretty great site!
Have a super-fantastic weekend!
Technorati Tags: blog directories, Delightfulblogs.com, directories, PayPerPost
The first-ever Blog Battle Royale Champion has been named, and the title belongs to Courtney and her Traveling Thoughts. The blog post that received the most votes is titled "Let's Get Ready to Roomba!!!", and Courtney gets the most awesome-ist badge to post on her site:
If you happened to miss the post where voting for the finalists occurred you can view it here. And here are the final votes:
In addition to the brag badge (thanks, Marty!), Courtney will also receive a rad Blog Battle Royale Champion t-shirt signed by the PPP Team, as well as automatic inclusion on the next Blog Battle Royale & PostiePack.
Details of Blog Battle Royale 2 are coming soon! Stay tuned!
Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royale, blog contest, PayPerPost, Traveling Thoughts
Well, obviously we all like opps that pay well. I mean aside from that, what kind of opps do you like best? I am curious.
I think we are all naturally drawn to opps that concern products or subject matter that we feel we have a special affinity for. I worked for many years in finance, and so while others may not find opps that deal with credit, loans, or mortgages very appealing, I tend to take every one I qualify for because the subject matter is interesting to me and I can write about it easily and comfortably. As an avid moviegoer, I also tend to gravitate toward opps that publicize the release of new films
Aside from that, I really like opps that are interactive and enable me to be creative, such as the one where you made your own sandcastle, or the more recent one where you designed your own sneaker. I had so much fun with that one, and got so caught up in the competiton and voting that I did a completely different post about it on my other blog just so I could direct more people over to vote for my shoe.
I didn't win. And so my dream of becoming a sneaker tycoon crumbled like the crazy pipe dream that it was.
But those opps were fun, they were out of the ordinary and they gave me a chance to show a little creative flair. I also get excited about opps that introduce me to a product or service that I end up being crazy about. The most recent example of this was the Cellfish opp. I use Cellfish all the time now to upload pictures to my cellphone. Cables and transfers and software may not be confusing for you, but they are for me, and the Cellfish application makes the process trouble free.
And this isn't a reason why I take an opp, and this may seem silly, but I always appreciate opps that where you can include an image or a video or something. I don't like a blog to have too many posts with just text. It feels like I'm reading a textbook. Ha! Get it? Text...Textbook?
Okay. I'll stop now.
So...what kind of opps do you like?
Live music, hanging with celebrities, pictures with the Playboy Bunnies… all in a days work, right? PayPerPost wants to give you an all-access Media Pass to cover CollegeFEST in Boston on Sept. 22-23. This is a tremendous opportunity to promote your blog and have a blast doing it! And by the way, there’s $500 in it for you courtesy of PayPerPost.
Show the world what it means to blog like a rockstar. Apply by email to britt [at] payperpost dot com. Please include your name, phone number, PPP user name and blog URL. Already approved Posties only. When selected, you’ll get full media credentials for the event. The rest is up to you. There are a few Opp requirements, but nothing you can't handle. You're a rockstar, remember. Deadline for consideration is Tues., Sept 20. So, apply now!
PayPerPost has a booth at CollegeFEST that you can use as home base. As part of the gig, you’ll also get featured in a RockStartUp episode and in the Oct. Advertiser TACK.
You don't want to miss this unique opportunity.
Hey Posties! $1K Tuesday went great - got some good posts submitted. For the non-U.S. Posties, it continues. We are 1/2 way through Worldwide Wednesday, and there are more Opp's to go! Keep watching for 'em!
Update on the "Blog Battle Royale Champion" voting:
I'm not quite sure why but the voting widget isn't showing-up on the post on the front page. Strange. However, the post appearing on the "Postie Blog" appears just fine. So...if you would like to vote for one of the finalists simply click on the "Postie Blog" tab on the left-hand side of the page, or click directly on the link below:
http://posties.payperpost.com/blog/2007/09/the-1st-ppp-blo.html
Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royal, contests, iRobot Roomba, PayPerPost, sweepstakes
Below is where you can cast your vote, for your favorite post. You may only vote once! PLEASE take the time to review each of the posts prior to voting! Each finalist has put forth time-and-energy to come up with something creative, and they all deserve a read! You will first see the link to the post, and directly below the voting tool with the posts listed in the same order as the links.
Voting for the champion closes at 12pm EST this coming Friday, 9/14.
1. Let's Get Ready to Roomba!!!
2. It’s not Civic Doody, but Roomba does its Duty!
3. My Dreams Did Come True
4. iRobot Roomba 416 Vacuum cleaning robot.
5. Are You Ready To ROOMBA???
Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royal, contests, iRobot Roomba, PayPerPost, sweepstakes
Don't worry if you haven't gotten a $1K Tuesday Opp yet. You still have a chance. We have one hour to go and not all of the Opp's have been released yet. Keep watching . . .
Hey Posties!
Have you noticed yet that we try to kick off each $1K Tuesday a bit differently? Blogging throughout the day on some, mixing up the rate and order in which the Opp's are released? Oh yeah - we're mixin' it up!! Predictable is the last thing we want to hear related to $1K Tuesdays! So . . . has anyone grabbed any of the Opp's yet? Have they even been released yet? Man, what if we released them all at once . . . hmmm . . . There is nothing more fun that giving away $1K to our Posties.
Here's the deal: $1K Tuesday started today at noon EST, ends tomorrow at noon EST. We will be releasing 11 Opp's that have a total offer amount of $1K among them. Ten of those Opp's will have $50 offers each (yep, that's $500), and one will have an offer amount of $500 (and there's the other $500! Bam!). The Opp's are open to all ranks, categories and locations - no worries about segmentation here. Seems like some of the comments on our prior postings for $1K Tuesday / Worldwide Wednesday had some folks thinking the $1K Tuesdays were U.S. only, or North America only so we wanted to clear that up - these are ALL LOCATIONS. These Opp's could have any topic / title. We try to be creative. Lots of folks here at PPP have offered suggestions on topics. You as a Postie won't know that it is a $1K Tuesday Opp until you click through to see the full description.
Be sure to follow directions in the full description. These posts are reviewed just as any other post, and we don't want to send anyone rejection notices (in case you ever wondered - we don't like those either).
Finally, if you grab one of these promo Opps, $1K Tuesday or Worldwide Wednesday - you are benched from promo Opp's from PPP for 30 days. Any other Opp's PPP releases that are not contest or promo related will still be available to you. Again - just trying to reach as many Posties as possible. Good luck, Posties. We can't wait to see what you have to submit this week for $1K Tuesday!!
Um...hi. Everyone okay?
I admit to having been away from the boards for a little bit. I had a difficult Labor Day weekend, for various reasons, and then the short work week was crazy, and I fell behind on a lot of things, chief among them staying current on the boards.
Wow...I missed a lot! Specifically, the whole "interim post" sturm und drang.
Now that the dust has cleared and the field has fallen silent, I (perhaps against my better instincts) feel compelled to weigh in with my two cents. Once I had read through the various threads and discussed the topic with my peeps Tim and Janna, I felt I had a pretty good handle on the whole situation.
Someone is probably going to take a shot at me for this...
I completely agree that there should be at least one interim post between paid postings of any kind. I have always done it that way, right from the very beginning. I understood when I started doing PPP opps nearly a year ago that I could put a PPP opp next to another paid opp, there was nothing in the TOS preventing that, but I never considerd doing it. I have always separated my paid posts with at least one of my own. For one thing, I always considered that to be the courteous way to operate as far as the advertiser was concerned. For another, I would be afraid that multiple paid posts back to back would not only tend to turn readers off but would cause my blog to cease having my voice and my imprint and my personality.
I know that a lot of peeps had trouble with the initial tone set by PPP on the boards regarding the issue, and I don't necessarily disagree with that, and I can understand that there is some resentment about feeling like people are being told what to do with their blogs. However, I truly do feel that multiple sponsored posts in a row are really not in anyone's best interests.
The best analogy I can come with is the use of seatbelts. I always use my seatbelt. Using my seatbelt makes sense and is proven to be the best way of surviving or reducing injuries in a car accident. Then the state comes along and says "You have to wear your seatbelt". Well, I'm a pretty liberal fellow and a bit of an iconoclast, so I don't really care for being told to do anything. But I've always done it anyway, because I know it's the right thing to do. It is in my best interests to wear my seatbelt. And it is in my best interests to keep interim posts between sponsored posts. That's the way I feel, and to some degree I was a bit surprised to feel that not everyone was of that opinion.
I always try to write a little ahead, to have some posts saved up in case I do a number of sponsored posts in a relatively short time. That way I can just plug them in when I need them. There is certainly no shortage of topics to write about, and I usually have little trouble plucking something from my fevered little mind.
So...still friends?
I did a post on Argus this week that left some Posties with questions. I will do my best to answer those questions, however please recognize that I still can't disclose much of what will be released in Argus.
Anon
PPP will not have control over your blog. Whatever non-public (things like Alexa score are public) information you provide is strictly voluntary.
Lori
You should be excited! I wish you luck getting your PR score up, but one of the great things about Argus is that it's not as much about PR anymore. It's about overall quality of blogs. Advertisers will have more visibility into individual blogs, they won't have to just rely on an arbitrary number.
Tina Silva
This information will come from PPP Tools which is why it is important to have the ability to install it.
The Man
I am not sure what you mean by "normal opps". What I can tell you is that there will be an exponential increase in the Opps available.
Richard
Correct, if you have PPP Tools already installed you won't have to change a thing.
Ghosty
I think Techie did an excellent job of answering this concern. Great Job Techie!
Karmov
Thanks, I believe it is the right move as well. NEW NUGGET - In Argus there is no concept of an Advertiser or Blogger, just users that assume those roles. As such users will be able to toggle if traffic information is public (for logged in users) or private. That will be your choice to make.
Lucynda Riley
To some advertisers links are valuable, to others it is the content, blog and reach. Advertisers will value blogs in different ways and we will provide the tools necessary to do so.
CyberCelt
I agree with you.
Lilian
It is feasible that the rich could get richer. Those with more traffic and quality content could build themselves into a force to be reckoned with. But I think it is also true that the niche could get nicher. Ok, that was goofy. What I mean is that smaller, niche blogs will get exposure based on keyword relevance. NEW NUGGET, advertisers will be able to easily find blogs based on keyword tags.
Loretta
Well said.
Techie
You da man. Nice answer for Ghosty.
There is so much in Argus I want to share with all of you, many "secrets" that nobody outside of our office has seen (the focus group just saw enough to wet the appetite). There are even a few things that Pete and I have shared only between us.
It will be worth the wait.
If you haven't already noticed the banner ad above, PayPerPost will be attending BlogOrlando on Sept. 27-29 at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. We're also a corporate sponsor and encourage anyone interested in attending this FREE event to register here. Not only is it free, but you get an event t-shirt (PayPerPost logo included) as a bonus.
BlogOrlando is a grassroots event. No companies doing hard-sell promotions; only serious bloggers and industry veterans sharing their ideas, concerns and predictions for the future of social media.
Shel Israel, CA - Global Neighbourhoods, will be the keynote speaker. Shel recently conducted a 10 week global survey of the state of social media on behalf of enterprise software giant SAP. There should be some great insights shared during his talk. Session tracks include Marketing, Media and Technology... something for everybody.
On Saturday, there is an organized group outing to EPCOT. You'll need to buy your own park admission, but it should be worth the money. It's Food & Wine Fest at EPCOT, so you can talk a little bloggin', drink a little wine and sample foods from around the world. Now that's my kind of social network.
Please note, register only if you know you can attend, as event organizers need an accurate count to make things go off without a hitch.
See you there!
Yesterday afternoon I received another contribution to The Great Wall of Posties. Actually, it came all the way from a Postie in Sweden! I had to do a little research because there was no blog url included in the package, but I managed to track it down. It's titled "My Journey to Freedom" and it's at http://www.andreasbard.com/blog/.
Technorati Tags: blogging, PayPerPost, Posties, The Great Wall of Posties
Hey Posties!!
Have you grabbed any of the Worldwide Wednesay Opps yet? If you missed Ted's original post about Worldwide Wednesday, here's the news: Advertisers can now segment their Opportunities by location. We realize we are a U.S. country, with a good number of our advertisers also in the U.S. focusing their Opportunities on U.S. bloggers.
Still, we are an international platform, and want to let our Posties know we appreciate having a great base of international folks!! To celebrate that, we have Worldwide Wednesdays, with Opportunities especially for you! We will have (or maybe have had one or two already . . . ) a total of 3 Opportunities before noon tomorrow that are only for bloggers living outside the U.S. These three special Opp's include 2 Opp's for $50.00 each, and 1 for $150.00.
Watch for 'em!! They could look like any other Opp out there - we try to be creative with the topics. Good luck, Posties!!
Here is a little peek at the difference between a listing for a blog with PPP Tools installed on an indexable (by comscore, google and alexa) domain vs. a blog and with no PPP Tools installed on a non-indexable domain in Argus. Please note that the top domain is also eligible for a special program denoted by the P because it is an indexable domain and meets some other requirements.
As you can see there is a big difference between the two listings and most advertisers will opt to learn more about the top blog. For more information about PPP Tools and Argus click here.
This is only a small portion of a REALLY COOL page with all sorts of features but it is enough to give you some flavor as to where we are going. Hmmmmm... I wonder what those check boxes are for.
Hey Posties,
I just wanted to check in with you to say thanks again for taking a fresh look at existing advertisers who have taken steps to optimize their marketplace campaigns based on Postie feedback, both in-post and on the boards.
One such advertiser is Cellfish.com, who recently re-launched their opportunity to appeal to those bloggers who are most enthusiastic about their service! Cellfish.com allows bloggers to publish all sorts of media content to their blog post and make it available for easy download to mobile phones! Bloggers can also upload from their phones to the web for easy content sharing!
So, if you enjoyed the original Cellfish.com opps, please take a look at what's new. You can also help clarify how changing your Cellfish.com locker settings allows you to have complete control over exactly how this free sends new content notification. If you have already signed up for Cellfish.com and enjoy the service, then the new Cellfish.com opp is made for you!
Thanks!
Well, not so far anyway. And I really have no reason to believe that my opinon will change, regardless of how many Posties I meet.
In the two years I have been blogging I have met quite a few of my blogging peeps, and I have always been a little surprised at how easily we hit it off right from the bat, but perhaps I shouldn't have been. I suppose we get a good sense of our blogging pals from their posts, which really makes a blogger meet-up more like a reunion of old friends than a first encounter.
I hadn't met any fellow Posties until the focus group a few months ago in Orlando, and while I knew Colleen and Kat from their blogs, it was my first time meeting Cheryl and Tim, but within ten minutes everybody was very relaxed and joking around and it was as if that had been our tenth meeting instead of our first.
And that makes sense, because as Posties we have that extra bond that goes beyond just regular blogging. I can't wait to meet more Posties. I know there must be a lot more around here in Florida. A few of us are getting together for a barbecue in a few weeks and I might be walking on Colleen's team on October 6 at the Alzheimer's Walk in Orlando (she's been on my case about it, but gee whiz, it's a four hour round trip drive for a walk that will last an hour. Have a heart, Colleen). And after that...Vegas, baby!
I am SO stoked about Postie Con and finally getting to meet so many of the Posties that I have only known from their blogs. Mrs. Fab and I will be staying at the Vegas Hilton ,which is adjacent to the convention center. We stayed there last year and really enjoyed it (plus they had the only casino at which I won any money). I am expecting it to be one huge Postie lovefest (not in that way, Ted, don't worry, I haven't forgotten where I am.
Have there been any Postie get-togethers outside of Florida? I'd love to hear how they went. If you have never met up with other bloggers before, trust me, you'll like it.
Now, I know that once we are in Vegas I promised someone I would buy them a lap dance, but I can't recall who it was...
I received another photo today to hang on The Great Wall of Posties. This one came from user AmandaAcuna, and her blog is mommymandy.blogspot.com. Drop by her site if you have a chance!
Thanks, AmandaAcuna! I'll drop your PostiePack in the mail in the next couple of days!
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