Concluding from yesterday’s post about music and why you shouldn’t use it on your blog, I am here to talk to you today about Net Audio Ads and general audio advertising on blogs.

This new system was introduced last year when the company first invented the code and website to start this advertising solution up. Basically, you insert code on your website and everytime a visitor looks at your site, a short 5 second ad is played..making you money. Will that annoy visitors though?

The Pros:

• Generates you cash for every visitor, regardless of if they click anything
• Guarantees cash for visitors.

The Cons:

• Could annoy readers as every time they sign on to your blog, they are told the great deals at Taco Bell
• The Conversion rate, would it really be worth it? (Compared to a 200 word sponsored review = $10ish)

In the end, its really up to the individual whether they use this system.

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No. We really don’t have the same tastes of music. Although mine flexes to just about anything, That doesn’t mean I want to hear it when I am visiting your website or blog. Thats what Winamp, Finetune and Itunes are for.. To listen to music while you are at your computer.

An alternative to having music that auto-starts when you load your webpage is to include a button to start the music like I have above, so that the user has an option to listen to the music while they browse. However, Its completely in their control whether they do or not. It’s definately much better than an invisible link that you cannot turn off.

This bring me up to a completely new and relevant type of advertising that is slowly taking the internet by force.. Anyone heard of Net Audio Ads? Find more about them and the major annoyance they cause tomorrow.

Oh what a day this has been! I have been banned from my own website! None of you may of known that I have been stupid enough to forget my password to this blog (trying serveral different possibilities). In doing so, I automatically banned myself on the hosting server list and have been completely sealed off of all contact with Brad Blogging.

So whats a guy supposed to do in a case like this?

• First off, I tried to reboot my computer in case it was software that was blocking my desperate attempts to blog. To my disappointment, It did nothing to solve the problem.
• Secondly, I launched a proxy to see if it was client-side or server side issues and luckily it was just client-side (Meaning the problem was on my computer/network and not the web hosting)

After trying to connect via email, browser and FTP client.. I finally decided that it had something to do with my network as I could connect to any website except the ones that were hosted by my hosting package.

Stumped and getting slightly pissed off, I decided to submit a ticket to Bluefur.com’s support section. This was the actual message I sent:

I cannot access it with my ip (142.46.1*.***) and I think sombody has hacked my .htaccess file. Can you confirm?

WHen I use a proxy service with a different Ip, I have no conflict.

Brad

Expecting not to have a response until tommorow, I decided to surf some blogs that I had bookmarked for later reading. Within 11 minutes, I received a ticket response with the following contents:

Brad,

I removed your IP from the firewall. Please review your .htaccess file.

Thanks
Tina
BlueFur.com Support

Did you Make the Support Top 10? - http://blog.bluefur.com/2006/12/08/top-10-support-questions-of-2006/

11 Minutes?

I could not believe my eyes. I was both shocked and happy that they resolved the problem that fast. Compared to other hosting services I have used before.. This was definitely different. (not to name any services.. you know who you are). Impressed by their speed of service and how easy it was to resolve the problem, I decided to pass it on to my readers.

Everyone has seen the promises about unfortold riches by using the new “Reverse Funnel System” (If Not, Look at the advertiser banner above this post). I have recently been questioning these methods that the people use in this program to make money and plan to review them.

Getting Started:

By visiting http://bradmakingmoney.com (Yes, I have a dedicated domain to this program..) you will be forwarded to a website called, “Thousand Dollar Profits” with a little 6 digit number that informs the website which “Seller” gets the credit. You get introduced to the reverse funnel system by the creator, Ty Coughlin and a small audio clip describing how it works. It just turns out that you have to insert your email address and name into the box to receive more information.

What You Get Inside The Email:

A link to confirm your email and the person who is selling the system to you. Although right after you insert your email, you get redirected to the next page which has tons of testimonials about REAL people and their stories. Skimming over a couple I see that they claim to have made $3 million dollars which I find a little hard to believe, but then again, this entire system is based on how well you can refer people to your link - so this could of happened!

Submitting Your Application:

If this looks like you might want to try this, click on the graphic that says “Submit Your Application”. You will then be taken to a page that states everything you will receive in the full program. They clearly state on the website, “You Profit - Or Pay Nothing” and even offers to pay you $150 if you do not achieve Ty’s goal. This guy must either lie a lot or have money bulging out of the bank account to offer such a weird deal. I was chatting to one of the owners of this website and they said that this application fee was to keep the “Free Riders” out of the program, so they can really see who is interested in this program.

Sneak Peak - After The $50 Fee:

Since I really want you to see what this program to do for you, I won’t go into detail about the four different ways this guy and system makes money. They offer large commission rates on everything that you sell which can only benefit you and your financial situation. I will say however that they do use VERY EFFECTIVE methods and have myself very interested.. Who wouldn’t want $1000 Cheques being delivered in the mail? (Woops )

After Thoughts:

This system looks flawless. If it claims to work how they set it out to be, I think everyone should invest the 20 minutes of their time and see how this program could change their lives. I’m certainly glad I did.

I type in http://ecoinsomniac.com into my web browser and BOOM! I’m sitting in front of a logo that says Ecoinsomniac with a tagline, “An Inspired Change” with options to my right to subscribe to the feed.

Then I see their latest headline and a huge 350px*300px advertisement about organic beer and other eco-friendly alternatives. Tempted by the beer I click it. A New Site Appears… Review Over.

Nah, I’m just kidding with ya. Assuming that the ad didn’t distract me from this blog, I later scroll down to see more headlines and a standard blogging sidebar. This blog design really doesn’t, “WOW” me as it is just a 3 coloumn Cutline Theme, but then again, it doesn’t blast you full of ads and play annoying music.

What Is Done Well:

• An “Environmentally” Friendly Blog - Hosted on 100% Solar Power
• Content is well written and keeps reader interested
• Logo is really simple & easy to remember

What Could Be Improved:

• 12 Different Social Network Icons should be reduced to one or two.. See why here.
• The HUGE advertisement really takes up space that could be filled with the “Recent Posts” and “Latest Comments” functions of a sidebar - Is the cash really worth it?
• The BlogCatalog Widget - Does the reader really care about who saw your site 6 days ago?

Overall, I can’t say that this blog doesn’t have a ton of environmentally friendly tips for everyone but I can say that there are a few changes that this blog could make to really maximize it’s potential. Their content is good and if you write it.. they will come.

When somebody links to your post on any website, usually being a blog… The Wordpress software will explore that post and provide a little excerpt and store it inside of a comment. What I am questioning is the usefulness of them. I mean sure, they are showing your readers that “#” of people are linking to your content (Not to mention the update in your “Blog Links”  inside of your Wordpress administration area).

There are some pros and cons to allowing trackbacks to frolic in your comment area, and we will explore both today.

Pros:

• Shows Your Content Is Worthy Of Others Linking To You
• Increases Reader Confidence and R.S.S Subscriptions (Remember - The More You Have, The Higher The Chance Of New Subscriptions.)

Cons:

• Some May Be Spam Links, Just Including Your Link For “Filler Content” So They Can Make Money
• Could Decrease Visitor-to-Visitor Comment Conversations
• Makes the Visitor Scroll over more Comments To Leave Their Own Opinion

Ultimately, I will still include them on my blog, because new visitors will see that you have some stuff worth linking to, which might be a reason to return. Perhaps popular blogs that have 100 Trackbacks/post will get rid of them (Such as Problogger, Techcrunch, Etc).

What about you? Do You Enjoy Letting Your Visitors See Who Links To You?

When you think of the term “S.E.O.”, almost everyone knows it means “Search Engine Optimization” and is a technique used to gain a good ranking on Google (Usually aiming for #1). Here’s what I was pondering today:

If you rank second or third for the search term “S.E.O.” - wouldn’t you be losing major sales off of your clients because there is somebody out there that has a better technique than you?

Let me know what you think about that. I’m curious as to what my readers have to say.

SEO, Search Engine,

Technorati Tags: SEO, Search Engine,

Your blog is very interesting. You have a nice logo, uncluttered sidebar and good rolling content. If you’ve implemented some of my “previous strategies” to get links and subscribers, I’ve come up with a way to make a website review…..

Interesting Again.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. In that case, I should just post a picture of a youtube video and call it a wrap. Since many of those philosophers were wrong, should we not listen to them? Of course not.. the principal can be taken that much further.

Instead of posting a picture/text review of a website and making the viewer read it, mostly not benefiting anyone except the blog owner thats getting reviewed, why not use a video to convey your message? Not only would it have a cool music background, it would allow you to focus your readers attention on the box, making them all the more interested!!

Be honest, whenever you see a box with one of those “Play” symbols in the middle, you can’t help but to watch it. I KNOW I can’t.