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BloggersBase.com – Get Discovered and Make Money Online

Jason Katzenback — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:00:20 +0000

Looking to Start a Blog? Looking to Actually Have People Read It?

BloggersBase.com is a competition-based discovery platform where anyone – writers, journalists, bloggers – can submit content and get immediate exposure. And the better you are, the more exposure you get. And the higher your ranking, the more cash and prizes you get…and I loves me some cash and prizes.

But seriously, when I heard about BloggersBase, I was intrigued. Formatted as an online magazine made up of multi-authored blogs, covering a variety of topics, BloggersBase is also moderated by algorithm-enhanced reader input, which determines the rankings of the blogs.

The competition runs like this: each category has a limited amount of official bloggers at any given time. Everybody else is in the Goldmine, competing to become one of the official bloggers. There are Timeslots with specific time limits; at the end of each Timeslot, the lowest ranked bloggers are relegated back down to the Goldmine, while the Goldmine posters with the best-rated Nuggets (the name for the Goldmine blogposts) gets elevated to official blogger. And so it goes, with people continually having to maintain the quality of their blogs to stay on top.

And where do the cash and prizes come in? (Cause you know I’m all about making money online. Have I mentioned that before?) You can earn them two ways: either by participating in the Timeslot contests, or by inviting your friends via affiliate links; in that case, if your friends win the competition, you’ll be rewarded as well. Blogs are ranked on everything from professionalism and presentation to value and imagination. As with the bloggers, the readers gain rankings with how accurately they rate, although they’re not regulated by the Timeslot contests.

The system seems fairly intuitive and easy to use. And in going through some of the comments, any suggestions about improving the functionality of the site or ideas for new categories, etc., were responded to quickly. BloggersBase seems interested in what their bloggers have to say and takes their opinions seriously.

And for those of you that already have established blogs that you want to promote, BloggersBase does not require exclusivity, and encourages you to publish all your posts for them on your own sites as well. You can also put links in your profile and your posts to your sites. You’ll reach a new targeted reader base instantly and get critiques and rating to improve your writing. So you can promote your sites as well as win cash and prizes; sounds like a win-win to me.

Go check out BloggersBase for yourself!

Use Virtual WordPress Appliance to learn WordPress

Jason Katzenback — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:44:41 +0000

For anyone who tries to be a blogger or create some sort of information resource, the most important issue is always with high quality of the blog or site. It relates both to design and content. It takes awhile until the design makes you happy, and it can also take few iterations until you’re happy with the posts.

You create the post, and proofreading it, and post as draft, and reading it again. Then you fix few things, post it online. And then you find that you’re not so happy with some phrases, and you change them and post again…it takes awhile until you’re totally happy. All these back and forth iterations are not always convenient – you may have a bad connection. Or you have a hosting with limited bandwidth. Or you’re not sure, or anything else. Or, maybe, you’d like to see how it would look like without actually posting.

Or, you’re just like me. I’ve posted few times already that I’m thinking about moving my blog to WordPress. I want to try WordPress and see how it looks and feels like before I do it on a real blog.

I might have a solution for you. It will help you to do anything you want without actual posting or making design changes to your blog. It is very simple actually, and the magic is in virtualization. It’s hardly a surprise for anyone. Our personal computers are strong enough to be the host for both our own tasks and also for virtual computers. So, what you can do is to create your own virtual server that will only run WordPress (and its all required components, such as web server, database and php engine). You can then work with your local server while you’re trying to verify issues such as design and/or posts, and only after you’re sure – you could post it to your official blog.

Now I will explain the procedure I tested. Just keep in mind that while it shows how to work with WordPress blog engine, the idea can work for any other web or other resource you’d like to use. I looked over the web for all sorts of virtualization techniques, and the one I found to be the easiest is the VMWare image of rPath WordPress Appliance. It is the basic VMWare image of a virtual computer, which includes all required software components needed to run WordPress. Its size is about 130Mb, which is while not that small, is not big either – a connection to DSL would be enough to get it in about half an hour.

The download includes WordPress version 2.2, so you will need to update it if you want the latest and the greatest. After the download is complete, unzip the file, and start VMWare Player with the file inside extracted folder. It will start the virtual machine. Here is the example of how will the login look like after the start. I have a DHCP server running on my network, so the appropriate IP address (the picture is clickable):

Then, go to {IP}/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php in your browser (IP will be written on that login screen, user: admin, password is: password) – it will allow you to update the MySQL database and now you will have the WordPress installed. To update it to the latest version from rPath, go back to the virtual machine, and do the following:

login as root, no password needed.
execute “conary updateall”

After all updates are done, the appliance will be updated to WordPress 2.3.1. Another way to update, is to follow the standard WordPress Update procedures.

After the update, go to {IP}/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php again – and then you have the up-to-date WordPress with basic installation.

Now, you’ll be able to “play” with themes, plugins and design without hurting your live site. You can try out and build your new site. You can post here and fix those posts until you’re happy. And after you are, you can post it on your live blog. Here’s the example of my “possible” blog after few tweaks – I imported my own blog there just to see how can it look like (click to see larger picture):

This technique allows to do all sorts of experimenting while your live site is still very untouched, functional and working. It is also very helpful if you don’t have a WordPress blog yet and thinking about the move. It would allow you to play with it and to test it and to decide whether it worth the effort.

Enjoy being your own webmaster!!!

I have my own technology blog at www.thetechandcents.com. There I review all the variety of effects that technology has on our lives.

The Art of Making a Deal Online

Jason Katzenback — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:28:12 +0000

After spending quite a few years online, you tend to learn a few things about the internet- such as marketing, networking, and of course, making money. I have done my fair share of it all. My favorite activity, believe it or not, is making deals with people online. Why do I enjoy it? Well, who doesn’t love to negotiate? Haggling is a great way for both parties to get what they want under their own terms and standards. One of the best aspects of negotiating is that you do not have to be wealthy in order to get what you want; you simply need to drive a good bargain.

Although it can be fun, there are some rules to making the deal. Let’s face it- you may not know who is on the other side of the computer screen. You need to watch out for scammers, liars, and crooks. Unfortunately, I have had my fair share of dealings with these folks. I’m sure that I’m not alone in loving to negotiate and barter for goods and services. So, I’d like to take a minute to share some tips based on my own experiences with any like-minded individuals out there. When you want to conduct a deal, you should:

1) If you want to strike a deal with someone you met in an online community, the first step is to check their status within that community. Even if you’re a little familiar with the person, it’s also best to seek out some objective opinions before making your final decision. If you have never met this individual before, then ask them for some references; an honest person won’t mind taking a few steps to reassure you.

2) Get to know the person you are interesting in making a deal with. Visit their website or blog. Comment and contact them if you have any questions with anything that they are currently doing. Research is the key to forming an opinion of this individual; remember, you may want to conduct business with them again in the future.

3) Nobody wants to get the short end of the stick, so make sure that your deal is fair for all parties involved. Do not ask for too much and make sure you offer something just as valuable in return. I always make sure that I have something to offer someone, even if they do not want anything in return. It’s all about playing fair and sharing. If you can do both, then not only will they want to work with you again, but it will also leave them with a positive impression of you. They will remember you as being trustworthy and for caring about the person that you are negotiating with.

4) Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and jump the gun. Before you contact another party with your proposal, make a checklist so that you won’t forget any pertinent details. You’ll want to let this person know who you are, a little bit about your background, what you’re looking for, and what you are able to offer in return. Once you’ve reached out to this person, don’t pester them for a response. Wait a suitable amount of time before attempting a follow up. Nobody likes to feel harassed; it can definitely ruin any potential deal.

All kinds of people make deals online and everyday: Internet Marketers and Affiliate Marketers have Joint Ventures, Bloggers ask for Reviews and Guest Posting, and even Work At Home Moms trade products or services. Just remember to keep it honest and fair in the process. Not only will you build a new relationship, but it will be win-win for you both.
Jackie
http://www.jackiesbizblog.com