Reviews - [ ! ] The Sugarbuzz Project Skip to content

[ ! ] The Sugarbuzz Project

A day in the life of an affilate marketer…

Archive

Category: Reviews

Thanks for dropping by! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. But if you really want to be an insider, just join my mailing list (over on the right). You'll even get some freebies to help you make money! Thanks for visiting!

Last year, I was a huge fan of PayPerPost, a company that pays you to make sponsored posts on your blog. According to my 2008 online income report, I made a pretty good amount of money, mostly thanks to PayPerPost. For a long time, I went around telling everyone I could about the service, even scoring a pretty big stack of referrals (even though none of them ever moved past the signup stage, so I didn’t get paid for them).

And then, something changed. One day, I logged in to my account to find that all of the great paying offers (as in, above $5 per post) were gone. Instead, there were tons of offers ranging from less than a buck to maybe $3. To me, that was a bad thing, considering the amount of money I had been pulling down from that site. So naturally, I strayed from them and have done a significantly smaller amout of sponsored posts.

Fast forward to today. IZEA (the parent company of PayPerPost and SocialSpark) has gone live with PayPerPost v4.0. The system is set up totally different than before, and needless to say it has its ups and downs.

The way their new system looks and feels is very similar to other paid-to-post systems, only green (and by ‘green’ I don’t mean ‘eco-friendly’). It is still very easy to use, although I’ve noticed that lately they have been a bit short on offers (probably due to the economy and the transition to the new system).

Another thing that PayPerPost has changed is instead of paying out net 30 (which I believe is how they used to have it set up), they are now doing a minimum payout level of $50. I really did prefer seeing my money faster, especially with the lack of offers available. The fewer offers, the longer it will take to reach that payout level.

Other than the slow business and the high minimum payout, I still feel that IZEA has a viable project on their hands, and I do look forward to giving PayPerPost v4.0 a good test to see how it works. Hopefully I can make money with them again.

This is a sponsored post.

 


If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Anybody who knows anything about affiliate marketing, blogging, or getting attention for just attempting to be cool knows that social media is definitely the way to drive traffic and even draw in that ever-popular buck. For me, keeping up with social media news is kind of difficult (given my job). Fortunately, I’ve found a site that can help with all of that.

Welcome to the web, SexySocialMedia.com! Yes, it is safe for work.

Sexy Social Media is a blog that keeps up with news about, well, social media. While there are tons of blogs out there that do this, SSM seems to feature very well written articles on great topics (not just Twitter, like some sites).

What about that problem of not keeping up with the news like I should? Easy. I just grab their RSS feed and check it when I can. That way, I can read all of the latest articles (without having to click from one page of content to the next). Sure, it’s lazy, but it works.

Anyway, forthe hottest social media news, check out SexySocialMedia.com!

 


If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Buxr.com is a new site that gives users a chance to shop for great deals, save some cash, and even earn money by sharing information with other users!

And yes, when I first saw the URL, my immediate thought was ‘oh great, another bux site’. As it turns out, the only similarity between Buxr.com and those crappy, scammy sites is the name. But hey, it’s awesome (to me) that now when I think of the letters b-u-x, I can think of someone who isn’t out to rip me off. Ahem…sorry, back to the site…heh.

Buxr.com is more than just an average site geared toward the ‘shop and save‘ crowd, that is, this isn’t just a sell-stuff-cheap site. Upon further inspection, Buxr.com is more like a social network site for shoppers, allowing people to find great deals and discuss things in their discussion area (including a recent topic titled, ‘Why things cost $19.95‘, which is something I’m sure we all have pondered).

Another prominent feature of the site is the contest section, where users can win prizes based on  things like submitting the best deal of the day, or guessing the best (or worst) deal of the day. 

Also, Buxr.com is community driven, which means that the users are the ones that get to submit deals, coupons, and stuff to the site. But slow down, all of you affiliate types, they don’t allow you to post referral coupon codes to deals, so that coupon marketing is out (but you may talk to the admin of the site about purchasing the ability to do so…it’s not mentioned, but money talks, right?).

Go on over and have a look around Buxr.com, check out the video tour of the site, and see if they can help you save (or make) money. Oh, and be sure to say hello to the admin. Those of you who are business oriented enough know that allies with websites are good things to have. Otherwise, enjoy!

 


If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

It is beginning to get close to the time that I will start thinking about finding a new host for this site. Yep, I like the company I’m with, but I simply won’t be able to afford to extend it. Especially since they like for you to pay for a full year at once. That’s not happening.

What will happen is that I will be shopping around, and one of the first places I will be looking is WPDesigner.com. They provide a list of the top ten best webhosting companies on the net, in their opinion.

This web hosting review site does not beat around the bush. Their top 10 list is right there, out in the open, so that when the page loads, it is the first thing that you see. This design technique makes using WPDesigner.com a very easy experience. Face it, the last thing you need is a difficult website to wade through trying to figure out which host is the best, right?

Anyway, the site is nicely put together. The only real criticism I have is that their top list contains a few hosts I’ve never heard of. Not that it is a bad thing, but compared to many other top hosting sites out there, it tends to give the appearance of promoting their affiliates over well-known companies.

Hey, gotta love the affiliates, right?

I’m giving WPDesigner.com an 8 out of 10. Nicely done.

 


If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

What can I say? I’m blown away by these speakers.

But I can’t just leave it at that, this is a review, not a Twitter post…heh.

A few days ago I received a package containing the MS21.2 PC speaker set from The Speaker Company. For years, I’ve used whatever cheap speakers I could find for my computer, sometimes even resorting to rigging up an arcane system which included a guitar amplifier. Sure it was loud, but a computer isn’t exactly a guitar, so it didn’t sound that great. I suppose you could say that from the very start, I was impressed with the MS21.2’s.

“Turn it down…the neighbors are gonna call the cops!”

Yes, that was my wife’s first (and immediate) impression when I was giving these speakers a test run. I started out trying a bit of Eric Johnson on them, followed by Roxette, eventually running the gamut of everything from jazz (which I am currently listening to) to death metal (Bolt Thrower).

It seemed that no matter what I played, it sounded great! I just can’t get over the excellent sound quality of these speakers!

I even tried to find something I didn’t like about them (for the sake of fairness). I noticed that when I turned up the volume, I was getting feedback. Then I realized that it was because I had not muted my microphone. Problem solved. After muting the mic, it was crystal clear, even when cranked.

So, tell me about these speakers…

Well, the MS21.2’s are exclusive to The Speaker Company. They push an average 80 watts, and consist of three speakers (two satellites and a subwoofer), and a controller. Setting them up took less than a minute (truthfully, they took longer to unpack than to set up), so I was able to dive in head-first into trying these out.

The MS21.2’s are decently priced (especially for their sound quality). You can get a set for $35.97 (and right now they are offering free shipping. If you would like to see them for yourself, you can go to The Speaker Company’s website.

The Final word.

I listen to all kinds of music. I have always preferred to listen at high volume, but only when there is superb clarity. I would have to say that these speakers definitely fit the bill. My compliments to The Speaker Company on an excellent product, and I would gladly refer anybody to them anytime.

 


If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post