Popularity: 6% [?]

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% [?]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately on how I can take steps to make my online life a little bit easier… a little bit more automated and I got to thinking about ad sales and how that can end up taking quite a bit of time to set up and then the way I set it up is manually and if someone buys from me it’s all manually done and that can lead to me missing things and lead to less revenue. So I’m on a quest to find something that will work with what I’m running - which is mostly WordPress.

So I’d heard about OIOPublisher before and to be quiet honest I thought spending $37 on a product when I could do it myself seemed silly. Now I’m thinking I will be investing in the program to give it a whirl here. I took a walk through the demo and I’m glad that I did. I had no idea how versatile the program was - seriously I thought it only did 125×125 placements on a site. But this program will do more than that, it will put ads in your RSS feeds, in posts, under posts, etc. Seriously a very versatile program.

I’ve also seen other “big” names out there using the program too - which is a good guide to see what the more successful bloggers are doing to monetize their sites and how they do it and keep their sanity in the meantime

So in the next week or two I’ll be implementing OIOPublisher on this site and we’ll see how it goes. I’d love to get some advertising going - where I’m supporting other affiliate bloggers and their sites or projects. I’m really looking forward to opening the door and getting people’s names out there - even though currently I’m not a “big” name in the industry… maybe I can help get people’s names out there - and their ideas. So fingers crossed!

… and we’ll get the good times rolling and a little more time saved to do things that will get me more productive!

Popularity: 9% [?]

For the past week I’ve been debating with myself (and it was a lively debate!) about dropping EntreCard from my sidebar.  At the beginning it was a great way for me to find other sites that were similar to mine, and get to see sites that I normally wouldn’t ever have stumbled upon.

But checking my stats, I’m wondering how many people are like me - you know drop a card, click that link, drop a card, click the link, etc - and don’t really hang around to take in the sites, but just bounce from one site to another.  I have to say that there are A LOT like me who do that - judging from the bounce rates I see in my stats.  That’s nice and everything - thanks for stopping by for 2 seconds - love ya… kiss.kiss.

I’m now thinking that EntreCard has run it’s course here and I won’t be accepting new cards.  I’m not saying never again - but it was a fun experiment and I’m looking to try new things.

I was never quite sure what the rage was to get/earn entrecard credits - I mean apart from trying to advertise on the “big name” sites - but whenever I tried, they were always booked.  So my entrecard credits just sit there.   I would spend them on the lower credit sites, and then they’d build back up and try, try again I never had any luck advertising on the big names.

John Cow has also given up EntreCard - you can read what he has to say about that over here.

So the one side of my brain that said “drop Entrecard” won.  No more requests will be taken.  Once everyone has advertised that is still in the queue I’m taking it down.

C’est la vie!

Popularity: 12% [?]

I’ve been using EntreCard for a few weeks now and it’s been an eye-opener.   I seriously didn’t think that because it was a free service, and that the site(s) I’ve got in there aren’t crazy and out to lunch I would get too many rejection notices.

Lately I’ve been getting a lot.

WTF?

I’m not exactly advertising my card on strange niches… I think people are becoming more competitive.  LOL.  I guess I’ll have to whip the boot out and start punting right back.  The strange thing is -  one such character advertises on my site - then I try to do the same on his.  He then goes on to REJECT my ad.  What an asshole.  But I guess I can’t get too bent out of shape - since it’s a free service and all… but damn.  Now people are starting to play this a little more.  One rejection punted my “business card” because I had requested too often - I did it twice.  Maybe it was two in a row.  Heaven help me.  But I got the boot from there too.

I’ve actually been approving everyone up to this point.   Maybe I need to get picky.  But currently I just don’t see the point.  It’s a free service.  If you have a site that isn’t complete shit then I’ll approve you.  What the hell.  Someone out there reading this site, might click and actually enjoy it.

Whatever.  Get over it.  I’m moving on

Popularity: 12% [?]