Entrecard And SezWho Launch Partnership

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If you haven’t already, go to the Entrecard blog now, and read the article about Entrecard’s new partnership with SezWho.

Although I’ve not previously engaged with any commenting platforms, I’ll install SezWho on Reward Rebel and monitor developments.

This sounds like a new arm of the Entrecard venture that has massive potential to further assist bloggers in their own internet marketing adventure!

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 8% [?]

Shape Up Your Domain Name!

Internet marketing is an extremely broad topic, including too many specialties for anyone to really be an expert in everything. I make no claims to be an expert in anything, however, I’d like to share a few key points with you about domain name composition and structure.

1. The letters and words of your domain name should form a shape, because the eye recognises the shape first, and then identifies the word and meaning.

Letters that sit on, above and through the line create the shape of the words.

The above example is just a block of letters, it doesn’t have a defined shape for the eye to recognise.

However, here’s an excellent example, rewardrebel.com uses letters that sit both on and above the line, forming a spikey shape that’s easy for the eye to recognise and retain.

2. Avoid running the same letters together, as in the first example above - ourownnames – the two n’s running together, makes it difficult for the eye to differentiate the words.

3. Don’t assume that a group of words that makes sense to you, will make the same sense to someone else. When I worked in the hospice/cancer sector, one day a new online publication titled canceri (Cancer I) was launched, and my colleague Ceri asked, “why have they called it Can Ceri?“! Everyone’s perspective has a subjective individuality!

4. Include keywords in your domain name, as this helps improve your website’s ranking by the search engines.

Search engines determine a website’s page rank, in part, by where the keywords appear in the site’s structure. This is why it’s essential that your website has a site map, and you can download Google [XML] Sitemap Generator Plugin here

Enjoy your internet marketing adventure.

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 17% [?]

Entrecard Russian Roulette

No doubt I’m shooting myself in the foot here, but during my absence from posting to Reward Rebel blog, I sporadically logged into Entrecard, and there was always a queue of advertisers waiting for approval to display their little promo box on my site.

Curiously, quite often the advertiser wouldn’t have dropped their card on my site on the day they submitted the request… or at all recently.

Firstly, I’d like to thank those advertisers for their loyalty.

Secondly, however, I have to express my concern about how many of the Entrecard community don’t appear to visit a website prior to submitting an advertising request.

In a sense, it is flattering to my blog that a repeat advertiser trusts the content-to-date to be enough, but if there hasn’t been any new content for weeks, why does anyone wish to advertise on a site that’s dormant?

Hey, I’m not biting the hand that feeds me…. er, I suppose I am, but that’s not the point. I’m inclined to infer from the lack of a card being dropped that the advertiser just couldn’t be assed!

Perhaps I’m going about this the wrong way…. “Hey, amigo, WAKE UP!”.

Why aren’t you checking out the websites where you advertise?

It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve advertised on a website, I check it out before submitting a further request. You shouldn’t take anything for granted.

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed blogs that haven’t posted for months still continue to advertise on Entrecard… as though this is somehow the same thing as maintaining an online business.

Recently, I had to reject an ad request from a website that hadn’t posted fresh content since March! The disquieting aspect was that it was a website dealing with financial markets and their changeability. How can I justify displaying an ad encouraging my readership to visit a site that doesn’t offer anything new for three months… a quarter of a year!

Don’t be complacent, don’t be loyal for the sake of it. If you aren’t involved in internet marketing per se, and participate in Entrecard for the social aspects, you are fortunate that none of what I’ve said here really applies to you, because you have a different agenda.

But if you’re involved in internet marketing and/or blogging to be making money with an online business, it’s all the more important.

You need to constantly monitor where and with whom you advertise, because the internet changes so fast, you may get left behind!

I wish you enjoyable blogging and successful internet marketing!

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 26% [?]

Hey, I’m Back! How Y’All Doing?

My last post is dated 1st June and, incredibly, now the month is almost over. Where have I been? I wish I had a tale of excitement and adventure with which to regale you, but quite simply I had nothing new to say, and the more I pondered blogging, the more I realised that it was taking up much more of my life than I’d planned. And with less going on in my life, there was less to blog about!

Blogging was an ‘add on’, it was intended as a supplement to my internet marketing, and Reward Rebel blog was supposed to be the reflection of my work. Somehow it started to eat up so much of my time that there wasn’t enough left for me to maintain the projects I already had set up, never mind research new ones.

Well, I’ve had a break, and I’ve caught up on TV – I’m particularly enjoying Battlestar Galactica. In the UK we’ve just reached the midway point in the story, the Humans and Cylons have located and landed on Earth, only to find it dismal and desolate. Who is the final undisclosed Cylon? I think it might be Lee Adama, but most of my theories so far have been dashed, so I’m probably wrong! Ooh, it’s so exciting – have I ever mentioned I’m a massive sci-fi geek?

I’ve also been enjoying Euro 2008. Four years ago, I was in Crete when Greece won the 2004 championship, and it was a total trip! On the night of the match, there wasn’t a bar, restaurant, store, nowhere that didn’t have the match on the TV, and when they won, the entire island exploded into lunacy and revelling unlike anything I’d seen before. It was brilliant.

After watching the match, we went straight out to bedlam on the streets — along with the town’s entire population! There was a pick-up truck driving erratically into the centre of town, halting abruptly every 25 metres or so, to eject a passenger brandishing a shotgun he’d fire wildly into the night sky, jump back in and off they’d drive another 25 - 30 metres, stop and do it all over again!

Ah, Crete. If anything inspires me, it’s my plan to relocate to a waterfront villa on the Greek island of Crete. Nothing fancy mind, just as long as it has a private pool and extensive grounds, I’m not fussy.

Before I sign off, I’d like to thank my beautiful friends online who have enquired about my wellbeing and whereabouts… I felt rich.

I’ll be seeing you around.

Reward Rebel Returns

Popularity: 24% [?]

Will I Miss The 4 Minute Warning?

If the 4 minute warning is ever given, my partner hopes that we’ll be listening to the radio, and not watching TV, as he reckons we’ll miss what’s being said, as I’ll be too busy slagging off the appearance of the newsreader!

It’s true. I’ve frequently realised that I’ve not heard a word said, cos I’m pulling apart the unflattering hairstyle, poorly fitting jacket, badly applied makeup, seizure-inducing tie….. you get the picture.

There was a time when TV newsreaders followed guidelines restricting their attire to outfits that wouldn’t distract viewers from the news itself. Obviously, guidelines or not, people like me are hopeless cases.

Hey, I love fashion and clothes, but I’m a child of the TV age, and I’ve a short attention span. If an item doesn’t grab my interest fast, it’ll go for a stroll!

Of course, I have wondered what I’d do in my final four minutes — if I managed to actually hear the warning message. After all, there’s not a lot you can fit into just four minutes, is there?

Harris Fellman and Brian “Koz” Kosobucki have some tantalising suggestions for what can be accomplished in such a brief snippet of time, and have collated the best ideas into the aptly entitled creation, 4 Minute Money.

4 Minute Money incorporates videos, reports, marketing and SEO tools for each of the money making techniques, which are all clearly explained, including explicit instruction on how to put them into practice. First you get the information, then the tools to implement it, as well as video tutorials to ensure you get it right!

4 Minute Money - 7 Day Trial offers you the opportunity to try before you buy, and you’ll gain immediate access to:

4 Minute Money Guides
4MM Guide #1 - “Give People Money & Get Paid to Do It”
4MM Guide #2 - “Total Reciprocity – Get Paid to Ask for Nothing”
4MM Guide #3 - “The Automaton System: Robots Making You Money”
4MM Guide #4 - “The Insider’s Guide to Instantly Getting Your Own Free Labor, Products, and Money”
4MM Guide #5 - “4 Minute Traffic Tactics”
4MM Reading Instructions

4 Minute Money Tools
XConversions Keyword Tracker
Yahoo Answers Alert
Classifieds Watcher
Link Cloaker
Versus Keyword Generator
Coupon Keyword Generator
Email Form Creator With Stuffer
Coupon Finder
Coupon Link Pop-Up
Cookie Cloaker / Stuffer
Blogger SEO Tool
Gmail Auto Reply Checker

4 Minute Money Videos / Tutorials
Blogger SEO
Cookie Cloaker
Email Form
Keyword Coupon Generator
Link Cloaker
Keyword Versus Generator
Yahoo Answers Watcher

I’m certain this program will introduce you to new methods to substantially increase the income from your online business. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can take it for a test run now, visit 4 Minute Money - 7 Day Trial

I’m experimenting with some of the techniques myself, so let me know how you get on with it.

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 29% [?]

My Time Is Valuable ~ Are YOU Wasting It?

Blogging is one aspect of my internet marketing business, and not a hobby or leisure activity. I have used Entrecard to promote Reward Rebel, and consider that it’s made a significant contribution to the site attaining its Google page rank.

Were it not for Entrecard, there wouldn’t have been anything like as much traffic, as many backlinks, or comments. There have been occasions when a comment has triggered an idea for a further post, too.

Reward Rebel joined the Entrecard Community back in November 2007 and although the degree of involvement has fluctuated, for the most part I’ve continued to network with individual members and drop cards routinely.

Recently, I’ve been ‘outsourcing’ card dropping duties to my partner! LOL But, most days I do a ‘personal’ batch of drops, commenting here and there as and when a post snags my interest.

Many sites display the Entrecard widget above the fold, or nearby, ensuring that it can easily be located and clicked.

Sometimes a blog will load without the widget materialising and, when this happens, I try to be kind, and click ‘reload’ but if it fails a second time…. ‘hasta la vista, baby!’

Sadly, too many blogs don’t appear to have given any real thought to the positioning of the Entrecard widget.

When I’m online surfing blogs and dropping Entrecards, it’s as part of the overall strategy to promote my website. My time has a financial value, and I don’t enjoy, nor intend, throwing away my potential earnings while I’m chasing around a website looking for the Entrecard widget.

It’s vital to position the widget where it’s easily – and quickly – located. I’d recommend you position the widget above the fold (on the opening screen, without scrolling down), and

1. Do NOT position the widget in some obscure spot down the page somewhere. Don’t delude yourself that it’ll entice people to read your articles, all it’ll do is make them click out, so not only do you lose that Entrecarder’s drops, you’ll gain a ‘bounce’ on your site traffic stats!

2. Do NOT position the widget amongst a cluster of 125 pixel square ads making it difficult to spot.

3. Do NOT fail to monitor how quickly your site loads – it should not take half a lifetime.

I personally loathe Blinx Ads obscuring site access, and they have instant B-O-U-N-C-E power!

Am I being too harsh? Do I sound like a bitch? If you think I am and I do, I’m certain that you aren’t involved in blogging as part of an internet marketing business.

Anyone managing an online business, or trying to make money online, will appreciate that every moment spent hunting for widgets to click is time that could be spent more productively elsewhere.

So, if you’re wasting my time, or anyone else’s, Stop It! My time is valuable and so is yours! Use it wisely and productively.

Happy blogging.

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 34% [?]

Blogspot Comments Settings

I’ve encountered quite a number of Blogspot sites on which the Comments settings remain as per the default, and this means that many people are unable to contribute to the topic under discussion.

The default setting for Comments on Blogspot sites is for ‘Users with a Google account’ (Blogger ID), however, this is frustrating for those of us who do not have, or do not like to use, a Blogger ID.

If you’re uncertain how your blog’s comments are set up, I’d like to recommend that you follow this exercise.

Sign into your Blogspot dashboard, and select Settings tab, then select Comments. For the second option down, ‘Who can comment’, you need to select the first option – ‘anyone’.

[Click image to view enlargement.]

SAVE your updated settings, and you’re away — it’s that simple.

Hopefully, you should now receive more comments to your blog than previously, so be prepared to respond to them all!

Of course, if you have a Blogspot site and don’t want any ol’ Tom, Dick or Harry commenting on your posts, you can completely ignore this.

Happy blogging.

Reward Rebel

Popularity: 39% [?]