Windows Vista On SocialSpark

Recently,I was shocked to see a few Windows Vista sponsored posts on Social Spark.I guess Microsoft wants to create some buzz about latest offers from Windows Vista.Perhaps they want some positive reviews about Windows Vista.Thus they are even offering huge bonuses to good posts.

I'm not sure what exactly Microsoft can gain form Social Spark advertising.Perhaps this is an experiment to see if it works.Blog advertising is much cheaper many other forms of advertising but a company as big as Microsoft doesn't need to worry about advertising budget.I guess blog advertising is very effective in spreading buzz.Another interest could be of driving bloggers towards Windows Vista and convert them into Vista users by exposing them to various offers.They even have $50 posts for bloggers using Windows Vista.If that's the case,the attempt was useless in my case.

When people read articles/posts written by normal people and not Microsoft or their support staff,they believe what's written and understand it properly.Perhaps Microsoft want to reduce the anxiety in people's minds towards Windows Vista.

The New Look

I've just changed my blog template.People with some knowledge of wordpress themes would know that this template is a Blogger adaptation of the wordpress theme,WP Premium by R.Bhavesh.There is a difference between the blogger adaptation and wordpress theme.This version has only 2 tabs in the top of the sidebar while the wordpress version has 3.

I found the blogger version of WP Premium on E Blog Templates.You can download the theme and read the customization instructions on this page.

The blogger navbar is hidden in the theme.This is a very common but dangerous practice as it is against the blogger policies.Thus I decided to make the navbar visible.Here's how to do so.Look for this code and remove it.

#navbar-iframe {
height:0px;
visibility:hidden;
display:none;
}

If you want to hide the navbar in any other theme just add this code to the HTML of the blog header.

#navbar-iframe {
height:0px;
visibility:hidden;
display:none;
}

Comments on my new template and my decision to switch to it are welcome.I have postponed my plan to shift to wordpress on my own hosting.More about it in later posts.

Blogger vs Wordpress.com

When I started blogging,I didn't know about Wordpress and created my blog on Blogger.Ankur suggested me to try out wordpress as it is undoubtedly a better blogging platform.I rejected wordpress at that time for reasons I don't remember.After more than 1 year of taking this decision,I'm proud of it.Although Wordpress is great,WP.com has some restrictions which are a big problem for me at least.Here's a short description of these limitations-

Using your own domain
Blogger allows you to use your own domain for your blog free of cost.This is perfect for people like me,who don't intend to buy hosting for some time.On the other hand,wordpress offers this service as an upgrade and charges a monthly fee for it.Basically,unless or until you can afford/get your own hosting and use WP on it,forget about your own domain.There's no point paying wordpress more than your domain registrar as you will still be subject to other restrictions.

AdSense
The Wordpress policies don't allow a blog hosted on wordpress to have AdSense ads on it,I've even heard of cases where blogs have been banned/locked if they use AdSense.Blogger has no restrictions on advertising(for obvious reasons).

Paid Posts
Wordpress doesn't allow you to do sponsored posts on your blog to earn from it.The point is that when you create a blog on wordpress,the next step is getting your own hosting and shift to it.How on earth are you going to get the money to do that if you can't do paid posts?If you have a blogger blog, you can earn form AdSense and paid posts and get a domain to increase your paid post payout.Later,you can even get your own hosting and shift to wordpress.org,the best blogging platform possible.

WP.org is definitely better than Blogger but if I talk about free blogging platforms,I feel that Blogger is a better choice than Wordpress for those who wish to go further than a free hosted blog on a sub-domain(not that I look down upon such blogs).

Check Out SocialSpark

I've previously made posts about SocialSpark,but this one has a different target.This post is meant for advertisers.If you are an advertiser and are looking for some good publicity,you should check out SocialSpark.com.I've mentioned in earlier posts that SocialSpark is the future of advertising.Its code of ethics distinguishes it from every other advertising network.It is perhaps the most healthy network now.

When an advertiser decides to advertise through blogs,he wants recognition and a traffic boost and not an artificial PR rise.This is the reason why all SocialSpark links are "nofollow" links.SocialSpark is the perfect network for advertisers and I feel that all advertisers should sign-up for SocialSpark.

I personally feel that there are not enough tech related opportunities in SocialSpark.Having some sports related ones is also a good idea.I wish to see some tech or sport advertisers in the SocialSpark network.This would make blog advertisng more interesting and easier.

I hope that after reading this post,Social Spark will get many more advertisers.I hope to see many tech related opportunities in SocialSpark.I've seen some movie related opportunities too and would love to see more of them.

Alexa's New Ranking System

Recently,on 16th April 2008 to be precise,Alexa changed its traffic ranking system.It is much better now.Earlier,Alexa's ranking system was based on information collected from users of the Alexa toolbar.This was because Alexa wasn't meant to be this big when it was launched.Now,Alexa has understood that the information collected from the Alexa toolbar is not necessarily a barometer of the traffic a page gets.Alexa now collects information from other sources in addition to the Alexa toolbar.The new sources have not been revealed by Alexa and it is likely to remain a secret.Your guess will be as good as mine in this regard.

The reason given by Alexa for this change in ranking system is that they had received too many suggestions from Alexa users for the ranking system to change.Well I think that Alexa has probably given up on the issue of Alexa toolbar as many malware removers call it 'Spyware'.Who wants spyware on their computer just to help Alexa with its ranking system?Nobody sane.

SocialSpark-The Future Of Advertising

Ever wondered how I manage afford my blog?The answer is-via sponsored posts.Sponsored posts are the best way to earn money for serious bloggers.There are many websites which offer you sponsored posts.One website which stands out is SocialSpark.SocialSpark is a website created by IZEA,the organization that created PayPerPost,the first website of its kind.

The SocialSpark Homepage(Splash)

You might wonder what makes SocialSpark so special.The code of ethics distinguish it from Smorty,PPP,Blogsvertise and other competitors.Every post has a 100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure.This means that there is 100% transparency.No guidelines are given regarding the tone of the post.This means that their focus is on 100% real opinions.Let me repeat,you are never forced to write anything.

The next feature which I'm about to write is the most important one for me.All SocialSpark links have rel="nofollow" in the links.If you don't trust me,Firefox users can press Ctrl+U and check the source code.This is great for both the Advertisers and Bloggers.It is 100% Search Engine friendly.Google has no ethical reason to penalize any blogger or advertiser for using SocialSpark as none of the links will mess with Google's PageRank system.

SocialSpark is a paid to blog website fused in a social networking atmosphere.It much more than just paid posts.You can also put blog sponsorships on your blog.Your vistors will be greeted with a nice advertisement when your blog loads and you get paid on a per day basis.I've seen sponsorships that can pay $5.50 to $13 per day.Earning money has never been easier.

Many paid to blog websites pay attention only to the link,the word-limit and the anchor text.The quality of the post and the talent to the postie is not appreciated.SocialSpark offers insentives in the form of bonuses to bloggers with great posts.Your writing skills are recognized and appreciated only by one website-SocialSpark.Nobody has else has ever thought of this idea.I love this fact about SocialSpark.

Doing Sponsored Posts on SocialSpark is a really good experience.You can sort the available opportunities in any preferable order and have a look at them before you accept them.In case you don't find a slot in an opportunity,you can add yourself to the queue.You are sent an E-Mail when a reservation is created for you for a particular post.You have 12 hours to complete the post.This is really nice as 12 hours is a long enough time for bloggers to submit their post even under adverse conditions like power failure.This way the bloggers in queue for the opportunity won't have to wait for a long time which is the case with other sites like Smorty.After completing your post,you can copy and paste the HTML of your post for real-time approval or error detection.You won't have to wait for the error in your post to be manually pointed out.Automated review is optional but I love to use it.

The SocialSpark Opportunities Page

Automated review is followed by manual review of the post which is generally completed within 24 hours.Once the post passes the manual review,it is eligible for payment.Payments are made 30 days after you make the post.The payment is credited to your SocialSpark account.You can later withdraw the funds to your PayPal account.This means that the payments will never be delayed and your SocialSpark account will always be credited on time.

How often do you want to post on your blog but run out of thoughts or ideas?There are some opportunities in SocialSpark called 'Sparks'.You don't get paid for them but they are very helpful in giving you an idea about a hot topic to blog about.There's no money involved but think about the traffic you might get for a post on a popular topic.Your alexa rank and real rank can improve alot which means you will be able to earn more.

SocialSpark is not based on useless rankings which are more often inaccurate than accurate.It uses IZEA's own ranking system called RealRank to check the eligibility of a blog.Real Ranks are traffic ranks based on real data and are strictly meant for blogs.Thus the real rank is clearly a better tool to judge a blog.

SocialSpark can also provide you some free conditional publicity.You can select the 'Blog U Back' option and create a spark.A blogger will make the post you asked for.In return you have to make a post about the blogger's blog.This way you can make new friends and also get some publicity.

The SocialSpark Marketplace

Thus I feel it is needless to say that SocialSpark is here and will stay in this industry for a long time.Ultimately,all websites will have to follow the footsteps of SocialSpark and create a search-engine friendly advertising network.SocialSpark is undoubtedly the future of blog advertising.

In short-SocialSpark rules.I love SocialSpark and so should you.

Finally Transferred To GoDaddy

This is a delayed post.I forgot to post this as I was preparing for the AIEEE.As I had mentioned in an earlier post titled 1&1 vs GoDaddy,I was fed up of 1and1 and had decided to transfer my domain to GoDaddy.Read the post for the explanation.

Well,the transfer was pretty simple but took a long time because of 1and1's policies.Transfers from 1and1 always take 5 days to complete.I'll explain the procedure of a transfer.Once you unlock the domain and give the authorization code to the gaining registrar,the registrar send a request to the domain registry.The domain registry sends a request to the current registrar which is 1and1 in my case.The current registrar has 5 days to reply to the request from the registry.If it does not reply,the domain registry automatically releases the domain to the gaining registrar.This is what 1and1 does.It does not reply to the request from the domain registry.Thus I had to wait for 5 days for the transfer to complete.

Here are some tips if you are transferring a domain form 1&1.First of all you should disable Private Whois and set the registration to 'Public'.Then unlock the domain so that it can be transferred.Note that 1and1 does not ask for confirmation to transfer if a domain is unlocked.If it is locked,it denies transfer automatically.Wait for 5 days after the request is sent to 1and1.When the transfer is complete,configure it.The next step is vital.You will now need to cancel your 1and1 package.So login to http://cancel.1and1.com and cancel your package.1and1 has a reputation of charging for empty packages.Make sure the package is canceled properly.That's it,your transfer is successful.If you have any problems,feel free to contact the support team of your previous and new registrar.

SocialSpark-Great for Mommy Bloggers

IZEA has recently launched a new service which is currently in its alpha stage.It is called SocialSpark.It is pretty much like PayPerPost but has some very important points of distinction.It is an integrated website which offers sponsored posts,blog sponsorships and other opportunities called Sparks.Bloggers and Advertisers can create their profiles and the website even works as a social network.The best thing I like about SocialSpark is that all opportunity liks they provide are NOFOLLOW links.This means that Google will not penalize you if you use SocialSpark.

This service is great for mommy bloggers as they can keep in touch with other mommy bloggers through SocialSpark.They can earn while sitting inside their house just by making some sponsored posts.SocialSpark also provides insentives in form of a bonus to the blogger who makes the best and the most convincing post.There's pretty much mommy bloggers can get form SocialSpark.Nothing is more convenient than writing posts and getting paid through PayPal.

In my opinion SocialSpark has a great marketplace and if it gets going once it comes out of alpha,it can be a great service.My experience of using SocialSpark has been nothing but pleasant.The approval of posts is a quick process and I'm sure payments will be made on time as they were made when I used PPP.

SocialSpark is really special as it is the first blog advertising service which provides nofollow links and actually works.It has many non-Izea campaigns which shows that the bloggers will never fall short of opportunities.

1&1 vs GoDaddy

This was a thought that recently struck my mind while browsing GoDaddy.I registered my domain via 1&1 last year.They had a nice discount on .com domains and also provide good services.I bought namanb.com for $5.99.I think I made the right decision at that time.Now its time to make another right decision.I've noticed that 1&1 rarely offers any good discounts on domains and hosting.1&1 doesn't allow manual renewal of domains and has a package system in which billing is done monthly.This means that there's no possibility of cheap or discounted renewals.Hosting is also charged on a monthly basis.This might be convenient to some people but I find this inconvenient.I've read too many negative reviews of 1&1 and its policies.Basically,1&1's service is unsatisfactory for me.

GoDaddy on the other hand has a great reputation and offers great discounts and coupon codes.They have cheaper hosting and allow manual renewals.I came across an offer which was perfect for me.They are offering .com transfers at $6.99 with free 1-year extension.Every GoDaddy domain comes with free hosting which means I can host my own files.Obviously I decided to transfer my domain to GoDaddy.I'll be doing so very soon.

Conclusion-GoDaddy rocks but you can follow the path I followed for best pricing in case of .com domains.Note that your domain needs to be at least 60 days old for ICANN to permit you a transfer

IZEA Ranks-The RealRank

A few months ago,Google decided to penalize PayPerPost bloggers and advertisers by resetting their page rank to zero.Izea decided that it had enough of Google and created its own ranking system called Izea Ranks or RealRank.Like all other ranking systems,the real rank has its pros and cons.I believe that no ranking system can be perfect so I generally concentrate on the pros.

Izea ranks are based on traffic and just traffic.These ranks serve as a compensation for those bloggers whose PR was reset to zero.You need to add a small bit of code to your blog's template and that's it.Izea will collect traffic information.I feel this system is definitely better than Alexa traffic ranks which rely completely on a Spyware toolbar.

As I've written before,Google can be mean with page ranks.IZEA Ranks is completely based on real traffic and is a fair and transparent ranking system.This post will be incomplete if I don't mention that although Izea Ranks is popular with blogs,its not meant for websites.This is actually a plus point as it provides a traffic ranking exclusively for blogs.

If you are an PayPerPost user who's rank was spanked by Google,Izea has a special website for you.Its called Rank Spank.It's got some badges which you can put on your blog to protest against Google's cruelties.Its a must visit for all victims.

You can also watch the Rank Spank video-

Zookoda Email Newsletters

Email subscriptions is the best way to keep your readers updated with your blog posts.Recently I came across this really good and free service provided by Izea called Zookoda.It provides E-mail subscriptions to your faithful readers on a daily,weekly or monthly basis.This means that your readers will always be in touch with you through your blog as your posts will make their way directly to their inbox.It's a substitute for RSS subscriptions.

If you are not a blogger but a content provider,Zookoda has some services for you too.I would like to clarify that Zookoda has nothing to do with RSS/Atom.It is not meant to replace your blog feeds.This means that you can use FeedBurner and Zookoda at the same time.Do make sure nobody subscribes to both updates as receiving the same update twice can be annoying.

Zookoda has all the features FeedBurner has and perhaps even more features.It even has services to edit or re-order your blog posts.Unlike Feedburner which does not tell you when your updates were delivered and if they were delivered successfully,Zookoda provides detailed real-time reports regarding your newsletter.If you didn't get it earlier,let me repeat,it's FREE.

I am thinking about trying Zookoda and if I feel its really good which is highly probable I'll permanently shift to using it.I feel you should atleast have a look at what all Zookoda can offer you.

800+ Hits

This is something which is making me feel great.Its 9:42, 2 hours and 18 minutes to midnight.My blog has already had 800+ visitors today.I have a feeling it might reach 1000 today.Two of my recent posts on IIT JEE 2008 have broken all records on my blog.My post titled IIT JEE 2008 Solutions has already had 365 hits in an hour and believe it or not the speed is increasing rapidly.Yes,its not a typo.I'll post the final visitor count tomorrow.

PS-My visitor count settled at 1908 by the end of the day

AdSense:New TOS-Privacy Policy

Recently,AdSense modified its terms of service.Its is a common tendency to accept the new terms without bothering to read.So,for those of you who haven't read the new terms and accepted them,let me tell you that AdSense now requires you to mention in your privacy policy about cookies and web beacons which are used by AdSense.If you don't have a privacy policy yet,you can have a look at my Privacy Policy.I won't mind if you copy the same thing and just replace namanb.com with your own website.

Although AdSense is not going to check each and every blog for their privacy policy but you never know who might report about your blog.You don't want to be black-listed just because you didn't care to read the new TOS.

Google Search Box-Bloggers Beware

What I'm writing in this post is way too elementary but important.You can find a Google Search Box at the top of my blog.If you want such a search box for your blog,sign up for Google AdSense.You can earn from the search box under AdSense for Search.You can also get it from the official Google site- http://www.google.com/sitesearch

I recently came across this fake website (http://www.googlesearchbox.info ) owned by Alexander Spiteri according to Whois.The domain and favicon suggest that the website is a Google website but don't be fooled by that stuff.The guy plans to earn from other websites.The code provided by him has his publisher id in it.If you check out the footnote it says-

Google do not allow changes to the code so please do not modify any part of the code other then the url of the site search (www.cnn.com above).

It is evident that the guy is going against the TOS.Well,i must say that this guy could have done better than this.He uses eXTReMe Tracking.You can find the icon at the bottom left of the page.

Try Googling 'google search box', the website is the fourth result.Surprisingly, AdSense is the fifth result.Yahoo is better in this regard.While composing this post,I came across another such fraud website-http://www.googlesearchbox.co.uk which is even worse than the previous one.There are many more websites.

Thus it is needless to say that don't use the code provided by any other website unless or until you plan to let someone else earn on your behalf.

Bloggerwave Cares

Recently Google has started penalizing Bloggers and Advertisers for using services like PayPerPost by resetting their Page Ranks to 0.Google says that such services disturb their Page Rank system and the page-rank of the advertiser's website is increased artificially.Different websites are reacting differently to this act by Google.

PayPerPost Izea has come up with a new traffic based ranking system called RealRank.PPP also has provided a one-click option to Advertisers if they wish to allow a "nofollow" tag.But the only service which will benefit from this incident is Google AdSense.

Another such website,Bloggerwave cares for it's members.I've made many posts on Bloggerwave and you can read those later by having a look at my archives.Bloggerwave has added rel="nofollow" to all its links.I would advice you to update all your posts and add rel="nofollow" to all links.

I would also advice you to delete old PPP posts or add a nofollow tag to them.

I'm Mobile

This post is special as it is the first post I've published using my mobile phone-Motorola SLVR L9

MY ADDICTION TO BLOGGING

While surfing yesterday,I came across a cool website http://www.mingle2.com which had a short quiz on blogging addiction.Here is my result-

68%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?


As you see I'm 68% addicted to blogging.All the bloggers and those who read blogs should take this quiz and check their score out.

BLOGGERWAVE HAS EVOLVED

In my previous post on Bloggerwave called BLOGGERWAVE-NOT A SCAM I had included my conversations with Ulrik Svane Thomsen.You might remember(or just check it out) that in his last E-mail,he mentioned that he had signed up with a professional design company to re-design Bloggerwave.Today,while surfing I noticed that Bloggerwave has a new design and layout which is very different form PayPerPost.

I hope this is enough to convince people that Bloggerwave is not at all a scam and is nothing but a good blog advertising website like all others.I'm sure Bloggerwave will soon be able to provide more opportunities with it's cool new design.Mr. Ulrik,you were right,I really like the new design of bloggerwave.All the best!

BLOGGERWAVE-NOT A SCAM

Bloggerwave is a website which helps bloggers earn money through sponsored posts.Recently people raised a few questions about Bloggerwave and it was thought that it is a scam.But I decided to investigate and today I'll post about my conversations with Mr. Ulrik Svane Thomsen.You can contact him at ust@bloggerwave.com.When I asked him about their tracking system and why they do not ask for the permanent link to the post.This was his reply.

Ulrik Svane Thomsen	Fri, Jun 8, 2007 at 12:22 PM
To: Naman Bagga
Hi Naman, Normally our staff goes through all blogs within 3 days. Regarding the links to the blogs we track the blog through the links we ask people to copy and paste into their review when taking a job. You have the link to the landing page and you have the sponsored by Bloggerwave logo to add to the blog.. We have other solutions in the drawing board, but this is how it works for now. Hope this answers your question, Ulrik

When my post was not approved in 72 hours(I'm really impatient) I asked him why?He replied-

Ulrik Svane Thomsen	Mon, Jun 11, 2007 at 11:15 AM
To: Naman Bagga
Hi, We are currently using a lot of resources on local sites and at the same time selling the idea to advertisers all over europe. It’s a working process and we are doing what we can… Ulrik

Such things happen with PPP too.Sometimes your post is approved in a week.I didn't receive my payment in a month thus I asked him(5 weeks after writing the post) the reason for the delay.I also asked him why their website resembled PPP a lot and about the lack of opportunities.He replied-

Ulrik Svane Thomsen	Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 5:11 PM
To: Naman Bagga
Hi Naman, I respect your honesty and we must admit that the payments is a pain for us. Problem is that some of our advertisers didn’t pay in time and therefore we are forced to drag the payments a little. You should get your payment today at latest. Concerning design we are currently redesigning everything at a professional design company and the new design should be implemented within a month. It looks very promising and I will guarantee you that this will impress the most. We are also coming with new campaigns within the next 14 days. We have just signed a contract with Coca Cola for a campaign so we hope you bloggers satisfy them good. Sorry again for the late payments and hope you continue to support Bloggerwave. Kind regards Ulrik Thomsen

I received my payment 6 days later.Thus from this I can conclude that Bloggerwave is not a scam,its just a newbie in this business.All you people out there should trust Bloggerwave and feel free to sign up because I have cleared Bloggerwave of all charges.

PAY PER POST-THE BEST PLACE TO EARN

Pay Per Post is a good website through bloggers can earn by writing sponsored reviews on thier blogs.It is much faster than Google Adsense.In fact AdSense is one of the slowest way of earning money by blogging.Pay Per Post is a great place for bloggers and advertisers.Earning form Pay Per Post is a very simple process.You just need a 3 month old blog with frequent enough posts.If your blog is a picture blog or a video blog,it might be rejected.Your blog can be rejected even if it is filled with poems.I have tried many such websites like Bloggerwave and Blogsvertise but Pay Per Post is the fastest and has the most opportunities.

Bloggers receive thier payments through thier Paypal accounts,30 days after they complete the post.You may delete the post 30 days later.Now let me give you an account of my earnings through various sources(till date)-

Google Adsense- $13.13 in three months
Blogsvertise- $14 in one month
Bloggerwave- $26 in one month
PayPerPost- $27 in one day

Pay Per Post has the lowest lower limit in terms of number of words.The figures say it all.I've heard from GQ that Smorty payments are made immideately.I'm waiting for my blog to be approved by Smorty.