Popularity: 5% [?]

Yesterday I took the plunge and went head-first into purchasing OIOPublisher.  OMG… why didn’t I do this sooner?  Oh right… I’m stubborn and want to save a few bucks.  In all honesty OIOPublisher for $37 is a great deal if you have WordPress and you’re interested in selling ad space on your site.

Seriously, I can’t be happier with the plugin software. I didn’t realize that you can even have an affiliate program with this thing.  If you’re so inclined to do.  It’s crazy!  I set up the 125×125 ad zone in under 5 minutes… I think it took 5 minutes because I had to create a 125×125 holding image.  You can even add text links, banners, custom zones for ads, inline ad space, reviews, RSS - I would have to say all the major ad spots have been covered.

I also like that they have a marketplace - something extra to push the site forward a bit.

I really am glad I “splurged” and purchased the program - it integrates easily (with widgets for the sidebar) and for someone like me - the ability to add or remove ad spots is great.  I also like that you can purchase the plugin and then use it on multiple sites.  There is no per-site licensing.  LOVE IT.  So I’m going to see if I can get it going on a couple of my sites and see what happens.

It’s not so much getting rid of the middle-man… because selling any 125×125 slots has always been up to me… I just love the easiness of it and the fact that I can no longer say I’m a  totally cheap bastard

Popularity: 7% [?]

The other day I was chatting about the cool program I found called PicApp.  I still think it’s a pretty great idea for the low budget blogger who wants to showcase images on their site without the hassle of copyright laws.  Anyway…

In that last article I wrote about how I was having a hell of a time aligning the image to have the text wrap around it.  Honestly I’d pretty much given up on it and was hoping that you out there who tried it out - were having better luck than I was.

But wouldn’t you know it… I got a comment from Dave - who is from PicApp - who HELPED ME!  I didn’t even ask for the help, he just stopped by to help me out.  It worked too!  As you can tell now the article now wraps nicely around the image.  So if you’re having the same problem I was - then I highly recommend checking out his comment and it will solve the wrapping problem I was having.

I just want to give Dave a little shout out for being really helpful and sorting that out for me.    THANK YOU.  I can’t say that happens very often and when it does happen it sure sticks with me and makes me feel that there are people out there who care about what they’re promoting and what they offer and they’re willing to help you out if you’re hitting a snag.

So check out PicApp and give it a whirl.

Popularity: 11% [?]

I have several sites that need a bit of updating on content - and the more sites I create, that means a big portion of time is taken up writing out content for them and I don’t necessarily mind - but I’m looking for a more time-effective method to get things done.

So after reading a little blurb over at John Chow’s site about creating a site and getting advertisers, etc and then working on getting RSS feeds to populate the site with content it got me thinking.

I could do that.

So I tried out a couple of RSS to HTML plugins for WordPress - found one that worked well and have been trying them out on a couple of sites.

This is awesome for me - I get content on my site.   All links for the info go back to the original authors, etc.    But it does leave me wondering if using content this way is a bit of a rip off for those who wrote the info in the first place.  I think we’ve all been victim of people scooping our RSS feeds to use on their sites.   But I can’t help but feel a bit shady using this method.

I do have original content on the site and use the RSS feeds as a suppliment to the content there.  I just can’t keep up with the continual content that they need.  I guess I could consider it as being a portal to other sites on the same topic.

I guess my question is this - how do you keep content fresh on your site?  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a quite a few sites up and running and keeping things up to date is a bit of a struggle.  I’m trying to find automated ways to keep content coming to those sites that need it.  But at the same time I want to be as legitimate as I can and give credit where credit is due.  I want people to go to those other sites - this isn’t really so much different than what I was doing on my own… or even like the gossip sites use content that has been written before.

It’s a bit of a conundrum… I know because we have RSS feeds - we’re open to this sort of site creation.  I don’t want to be seen as an RSS squatter… of sorts - so I’m trying really hard at being as transparent as I can - as in where I get the info.

Right now I’m in no position to hire ghost writers for these sites, and honestly I don’t think ghost writing is what these sites need.  They need far more updating than the occasional cool article.

So, after all my rambling - how do you keep up with handling content on your sites?

Popularity: 25% [?]

I took a few days off from the Internet. Mostly to catch up with housework - which always seems to make a nice appearance… almost as instantly as it is cleaned up in my house.

This week my plans are to finish up the look of my new fan site. I just can’t get over my fan sites. I’ve got another couple of sites planned in that genre… and then I’m going to start expanding on the idea into other niches. I’m hoping to grab hold of some low-lying fruit (so to speak) and start making a little more in Adsense.

As much as I love my fan sites, they aren’t exactly racking in the money - good traffic and a health does of clicks. But these clicks aren’t exactly scoring me big bucks in returns. I shouldn’t sound like I’m complaining - so far I’ve made more doing this sort of thing than I ever have with Adsense before. I’m just “still” wondering where I can get some legitimate answers on where to find higher paying keywords… or is it just a hit and miss deal - that I have to figure out on my own.

Maybe I need to look more closely at the the trends - you know like the newly released Halo 3. There’s an opportunity, and it might be short lived in the way of the Internet - when the buzz dies down and all that. I know something like that has already come and gone - but I’m thinking I need to figure out what people are talking about. New releases - can build a site around a potential “biggie” and put adsense and CPA offers on it. Do the keyword research - get it out the gates before the majority will do it. That’s the key - that’s the golden egg - but it’s doing it that’s the challenge.

See, I’ve got something that works - but I want to build off that plan and make it something bigger

Popularity: 9% [?]