PureBlogging

PayPerPost recently announced the release of a new product called PayPerPost Direct. This new product allows bloggers to display a badge on their site which when clicked sends potential advertisers to a purchase page where they can buy a review on the blog. In essence, PPP Direct now allows for a more direct relationship between the blogger and the advertiser.

In the past, bloggers had to browse through listings on the PPP website looking for sponsored post opportunities. The result was typically a fee of around $5 to $10 that would never attract the more established blogs. Now, similar to ReviewMe, bloggers will be able to set a price and let advertisers come to them so we may see a few of the larger blogs begin to use the new system.

From the PPP blog:

You have two badges on your site, both for $200. An Advertiser clicks one of them and you make $100 and the blog marketplace makes $100. They click the PPP Direct badge and you make $200 and the blog marketplace makes $20. Why would you ever want to take less money? Why would the advertiser want to give half to the blog marketplace? With PPP Direct the advertiser gets more bang for their buck and you make more money.

I’ve never really considered using PPP mostly because it allows advertisers to require positive writeups and they do not require bloggers to disclose that posts are sponsored. But I have to admit that I am intrigued enough to actually create an account and check it out.

I guess time will tell if PPP Direct will be able to attract larger blogs and be a viable competitor for ReviewMe.

I wanted to wait a while before upgrading to Wordpress 2.2 but with the news that it is a mandatory update I decided to go ahead with the upgrade. I would suggest that all other Wordpress 2.1.x users upgrade as well. If you don’t upgrade, your blog may be vulnerable to malicious hackers because no security updates will be released for the 2.1.x branch in the future.

Other than having to update a few plugins my upgrade went pretty well and as far as I can tell, everything is working as it should. If you spot anything that looks broken or out of place please let me know.

Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekend Links! Every Friday, I reward the active members of this community by featuring an interesting post from the top commentators.

If you would like to see your post featured here, just join the conversation by commenting regularly and next week you just may make the list.

Here’s this week’s list:

• Top 10 Best WordPress Plugins (According To Me) by KidBlogger
• Google Trends by Search Engine Marketing (Don’t forget Darin still has a Nintendo Wii up for grabs.)
• “Dam It” or “Damn It”? by Bobs
• “Eat That Frog” in Your Weight Loss Program by JoLynn
• Creating a great post = massive inbound links by Neo
• Paula Abdul breaks nose, saves Tulip by Roberta Ferguson
• Give your site personal appeal by Community Building Blog
• 10 reasons the Iphone will succeed by jake
• Why It Is Important To Have Title Tags by Grace
• AppleTV Plugin: Watch YouTube Videos by Saman Sadeghi

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello, my name is David and I’m a feedaholic.

There are currently over 300 feeds in my Google Reader and I religiously read probably 150 of those feeds everyday. Funny thing is this is a recent development because until about 3 months ago I had never even used a feed reader. What can I say…? I’m hooked.

The good thing is, my new addiction helps me keep up with a lot of great blogs so I thought I would list a few blogs that I believe can help you become a better blogger. We all know about the established blogs (ProBlogger, John Chow, Quick Online Tips, etc.) but what about the new guys?

These blogs are all less than a year old and have already established themselves as great resources for the aspiring blogger. Take a few minutes to check them out… I bet you’ll be hooked too.

Here are my favorites in no particular order:

• Daily Blog Tips - My favorite blog about blogging. Not only is Daniel a really nice guy but he truly understands what it takes to be a successful blogger and shares that knowledge everyday.
• Dosh Dosh - If you are looking to make money with your blog you have to start with Dosh Dosh. In addition to the wealth of information on blogging, you will also find discussions on affiliate marketing, get-paid-to programs, advertising networks and social media monetization.
• Net Business Blog - Although not specifically geared toward blogging, NBB still provides plenty of tips for bloggers. Matt also provides pointers on all other facets of online business.
• Chris Garrett - Chris is an internet marketing consultant, writer, coach, trainer, web geek, and amateur photographer but somehow still finds time to dispense some amazing blogging advice and internet marketing tips. In fact, you may already know Chris from ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, or one of the many other places where he has contributed in the past.
• BlogTalks - He may only be 17 years old but Thilak Raj, the creator of Tech-Buzz, has already found fame as a successful blogger. At BlogTalks you will find blogging tips, as well as, discussions on Wordpress, Wordpress plugins, and other blogging tools.

What are some of your favorite blogs for bloggers?

It doesn’t matter whether your blog is on the Blogger network or if you’ve opted to get your own domain, you’ll need to spice it up. First things first, though, if your blog is Wordpress based, then have you chosen a theme?

Being that there are a ton of themes to choose from, you should give thought to what you’re looking for in a theme. How many sidebars? Do you need widgets? Does it play nice with Adsense? I generally prefer to read blogs that are very clean looking without a ton of color. Pick a color scheme that you’re comfortable with and go from there. (By a ton of color, I mean if the page is too loud, people will think it’s unprofessional.)

Concentrate on how much work you’re going to have to put into the theme, as well. Themes usually don’t come right out of the box looking just the way you want them, without any edits. A lot of the more popular themes are already being used by a ton of people. Take that into consideration. Of course you want yours to stand out.

Consider doing something nifty with the header image. A lot of things can be done with Fireworks and some free time.

One last thing of mention, of course, are plugins. You can check your Wordpress dashboard to find updates on plugins. These nifty little gadgets will do some pretty amazing things for your blog. And if you’re a PHP novice (like me), then you’ll find that adding these to your blog, is most painless. There are plugins for top commentators, spam-killers, videos, you name it. Have fun with what you can do with your blog, that’s what it’s there for: an outlet.

Let me ask you this: Are you having fun with your blog?

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My name is Roberta Ferguson and I’ll be putting my two cents in here and there regarding the very basics of blogging. Even though a lot of you already know about some of this stuff, some don’t. My normal haunt is music blogging at Earsucker, but what I’ve learned in my journey in blogging, I’ll be telling you here.

What’s the word? The word is your blog is whatever you make it. Meaning, whatever your topic of choice is what you blog about. You’re in control, so if the content is quality, readers will come. Whether it be music, making money, SEO, gossip, or whathaveyou.

If you intend to stick to one topic then tell your readers. If you don’t have many readers, see this post. Some people like to make several topics the point of their blog. This is a great idea and allows you enough space not to get bored with blogging.

Centralizing your blog to one topic does have it’s advantages, though. If your genre is blogging about blogging, then those who do just that, will often link to you, if you are experienced. I consider myself an expert in being a beginner, thus, I’m open to learning everything about everything. (You should see my rss feeds)

What I’m trying to communicate to you now is that if you are an expert on flowers, then blog about it. If you’ve had no experience installing car stereos, could you tell someone how to do it? I could tell you where the stereo should go, but as far as installation goes, I have no clue.

Blog about what you love and chances are, like-minded people will find you. It’s not as easy as linking to big named bloggers and hoping they’ll notice. I’ve went out of my way to find other music-related blogs and am currently trying to fill void in the music community. A lot of bloggers will not go out of their way to find you.

The moral of the story is, be interesting and the readers will be interested

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My name is Roberta Ferguson and I’ll be putting my two cents in here and there regarding the very basics of blogging. Even though a lot of you already know about some of this stuff, some don’t. My normal haunt is music blogging at Earsucker, but what I’ve learned in my journey in blogging, I’ll be telling you here.