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adgridwork is a new site that functions along the same lines as BlogRush. Their mission is to provide free advertising for websites.
The mission is outstanding. As soon as BlogRush launched, bloggers flocked to it by the thousands and they saw a turnout with blogger participation that they most likely did not foresee. The same goes for adgridwork. Bloggers are jumping on the bandwagon with this website because let’s face it, who doesn’t love free advertising? The more people being introduced to your website, the better and I’m no different.
I used to use BlogRush on this website, as well as another site I run and after a trial of 30 days, I logged in to see what my statistics were. Like many bloggers who have used this website, I saw no significant difference in the traffic I was receiving and decided to stop using the program. adgridwork has proved to be the same.
I tested adgridwork out for a trial period of 30 days at my other website, which already does decent with traffic, especially for being a newer website. After the 30 days, I logged into the website to check out my statistics.
As you can see from the summary above, an ad for my website was requested and shown on other websites several thousand times; however, the traffic received from using adgridwork was two hits.
When dealing with advertising, many factors must go into why (in most cases) ads prove ineffective.
First of all, people tend to spend a very large portion of their days online. What they do online includes checking their email. If you use an email provider such as Gmail, such as I do, or any other web platform email, you are seeing ads immediately and ads are displayed during the entire duration that you are logged in.
Social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook are also very large contributing factors as to why people spend so much time online. These websites are great time wasters and also (although MySpace has a much higher ad count than Facebook and other sites due to how extremely popular it is) display ads throughout their websites.
Another grossly large detail in ad campaigns is that almost all bloggers are looking to make money online. Blogging for profit has become extremely popular and those who are looking for blogging to literally pay off are latching onto websites such as BlogRush, adgridwork and many others in order to get free advertising to their websites so they move up in rank and then they fall prey to blogging for money resources such as PayU2Blog, PayPerPost, Text-Link-Ads and a myriad of others. In addition to these obvious-ads people are placing on their websites in order to receive income from their blogs, almost every blog right now has Google Adsense ads running on their websites, myself included.
Due to the amount of people in the blogosphere and those who are looking to get their websites known, once someone sees the same ad set up several thousands of times on several thousands of different websites, your mind become numb to them. The mind simply refuses to register that they are even there because of the amount of times you have already seen them–You simply do not notice them anymore. If you’re not even noticing that ads are on a website to begin with, what makes people think that others are going to click on their ads? To the random person, they are seeing your blog and reading what you have to say but they are not seeing your ads because of the amount of times the same, exact set up has been seen on many different websites.
With taking all of this into consideration, it is no wonder that while my ad had been displayed over 12,000 times, only two people actually saw it and clicked on it.
Another fact to mention is that when looking at ads that were being placed on my website through adgridwork, the same six ads kept showing up over the course of a month. So, perhaps when adgridwork takes the blogging world by storm and more people sign up, more ads will be displayed since that only makes sense, but when signing up with these free advertising websites, we must take into consideration that the outcome of them are most likely not going to be effective, as less than 1% of people are actually clicking on them in the first place.
I am taking the adgridwork ads off of my other website today and perhaps I will test out other programs to see if they prove to be any better; however, I am not counting on it.
The battle between women and breast cancer is one that is fought daily for many women across the globe. One great way for you to join the battle against breast cancer is to join up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, who have given a whole new meaning to the term activism, and participate in the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk.
To qualify for the three day walk, you must raise a minimum of $2,200 for breast cancer research. Afterwards, you join thousands of other women in walking 60 miles in three days (about 15-22 miles a day.)
There are a total of 14 cities participating in the walk which will take place during the months of August through November. After registering you will have access to participator tools and also be sure to check out the calendar for activities taking place in your city. You can also buy some 3 Day gear to get all decked out for the big days!
The reason behind raising awareness for this walk so early is to get as many people as possible in joining the battle against breast cancer and to give the participants the time to train, since 60 miles in three days is no easy task!
Cities participating the Breast Cancer 3 Day:
- Chicago – August 8-10
- Boston – August 15-17
- Cleveland – August 22-24
- San Francisco Bay Area – September 5-7
- Seattle – September 12-14
- Twin Cities – September 19-21
- Michigan – September 26-28
- Washington, DC – October 3-5
- Philadelphia – October 17-19
- Atlanta – October 24-26
- Tampa Bay – October 31 – November 2
- Dallas/Fort Worth – November 7-9
- Arizona – November 14-16
- San Diego – November 21-23
If there is one thing that I am absolutely crazy about, it’s coffee. This love of mine started at a very young age and has fueled two prior full-time jobs of mine in cafes as a barista and the greatest caffeine tolerance I’ve come to know. I love coffee in all of it’s precious forms, flavors, consistencies and blends and am always interested in new flavors and concoctions that can be made from the comfort of my own kitchen. When a friend of mine hooked me up with Senseo, I was ecstatic, to say the very least.
Senseo is a sub-company of Sara Lee and makes an excellent coffee pod system that literally transformed the way I have my coffee every day.
The Senseo system makes absolutely delicious (and delightfully strong) single serving amounts of coffee with their innovative system that is so easy to use that once I took it out of its box, I was using it within minutes. While brewing my first cup of coffee, I realized that the Senseo actually made foam each and every single time automatically, which makes the coffee that you are brewing at home stand out even more so than a regular cup of coffee you would purchase at any coffee shop.
The coffee that the Senseo produces is also quite different than your average cup of regular coffee. The Senseo cup seemed to go down a lot of smoother than normal coffee does, even my boyfriend, who usually can’t stand coffee and its gritty behavior going down, will drink it if it is made with this machine!
One of the best things about the Senseo that I was also surprised to find is that the entire thing is set up so that it is an absolute dream to clean. There are no small crevices that you simply can’t get your hands into to clean, the back of the system comes right off so you can fill it up with water and sits right back onto the machine with ease. Best of all, the system uses individual coffee pods that the water goes through so they have completely eliminated the horror of coffee grounds winding up in your mug and also the grounds that tend to go everywhere during the cleaning process. Within just a short amount of time using the Senseo, I gave my fully-functional, almost brand new typical coffee pot to a friend of mine because I hadn’t used it once since using this this machine.
There are a variety of different coffees and even teas that are made specifically for the Senseo coffee pod system, so each and every coffee and/or tea drinker out there will benefit from this machine. You can order the Senseo coffee pod system as well as coffee and tea pods at their official online store, Target, Wal-Mart, or even Amazon.
For a special promotional offer Read more
This past year has easily been marked the year of the blog. Not only does virtually everyone keep a blog, whether it be on their own domain, their MySpace page or LiveJournal, but it is also the time where more and more people are realizing the amount of money that can be made by blogging. But here’s a tip for anyone looking to create their household income by blogging: It isn’t as easy as it looks.
There are many bloggers out there that are pulling in annual six-figure incomes. Some aren’t making as much, but quite a few are able to live a decent lifestyle by what they make through their websites. Darren Rowse of ProBlogger is one of the top people in the blogging world right now; just look at the domain name! His website is dedicated to blogging for profit and teaching others how to benefit from blogging. Amanda Harris of Pajama Mommy is another person who not only makes a significant amount of money from her website, but her business posts go into more detail on how to do so. Another one of my personal favorites is Courtney Tuttle, who is the blogging bible as far as internet marketing goes. So how are they doing it?
Each and every successful website has a webmaster behind the scenes who has spent hours upon hours (I cannot stress the amount of time enough) marketing their websites. When thinking of your new website, think of it as practically raising something. Your website needs a lot of love and attention and if you let it go for even a few days, you have potentially lost a great deal of readers.
It takes months to build up an audience for a website and when you succeed in doing that, you cannot stop. One of the drawbacks of the internet and the society we live in today is that we 1: want instant gratification and 2: have the attention span of a gnat. Your website must bring a lot to the table that appeals to a wide variety or a large group of people and always keep in mind that there are trillions of websites on the internet today–Why do these people want to read your website? What do they get from reading your work?
If you’re thinking about blogging for profit ask yourself these few questions:
- How much time can you wholeheartedly dedicate to your website?
- Does your website appeal to a large group or wide variety of people?
- What makes your website different than the trillions already on the internet?
- If this wasn’t your website and you happened to stumble upon it, would you visit again?
This is just the very tip of the iceberg but I plan to dissect blogging for profit in several steps so check back frequently!
When it comes to women and fashion, there are simply no words to describe a feeling a woman gets when her eyes fixate on the perfect item that she knows will compliment her style and wardrobe to a T. There is definite swooning involved and even some cases of putting a store’s number on the speed dial to check on the price of the item weekly–I’m pretty much the same way when it comes to bath and body products.
The world of high fashion, as seen through the eyes of top fashion magazines, sometimes baffle me. I can’t necessarily get into the big feathers, the high and sometimes obnoxious collars, the crazy skirts…the list can really go on for a while here. And in the eyes of high fashion, Barneys New York has put together some items that make me look at that item then at the price and wonder to myself “Why?” or “For what?”
And that is exactly what happened when I stumbled across the Jennifer Ouellette Satin & Feather Knot Headband.
This $85 hair accessory would compliment…what, exactly? The matching white feathered boa and matching skirt you have tucked away in the back of your closet waiting for that one, special occasion? This headband comes in the black and white shown here and also dark green and black.
What do you think of the satin and feather headband? What do you think of the price?
For many people who are worried about aging, wrinkles or laugh lines, Botox and plastic surgery have been quick and easy fixes for most on the path to looking their best. But now, for those who are petrified of needles (such as myself–it’s a phobia,) don’t like doctors or don’t like the idea of plastic surgery, yoga enthusiasts are now swearing by a new way to not only look younger, but to fee younger and better about your appearance.
Facial Yoga has been deemed the natural Botox and is being used by many yoga enthusiasts as a daily exercise. By making theatrical expressions and stretching and training your face in your daily exercise routine, in your spare time or while doing household tasks, within as little as a few session you can start to see not only the lines on your forehead and under your eyes fading, but you can also see the stress that most people carry in their faces cease.
Annelise Hagen, author of The Yoga Face: Eliminate Wrinkles with the Ultimate Natural Facelift, conducts weekly facial yoga classes and developed her own facial yoga techniques that she teaches to her clients.
Hagen’s facial exercises include the Smiling Fish (purse your lips and smile slightly), the Marilyn (blow kisses while keeping your forehead smooth) and the Satchmo (puff out your face and transfer air from cheek to cheek).
Not only can yoga make you look and feel better about yourself and your appearance, it has also been used to train injured faces to move again after an injury or stroke and is also said to help sharpen your mind by Rose Hong Tran, a yoga instructor in Houston. Above all, it can help bring out that inner child in you that doesn’t get to come out and play very often. Making theatrical and hilarious faces in the mirror can do wonders for your spirit.
Very few people actually read the list of ingredients on the box of a cosmetic item. If you’re animal-friendly, you may check to see if there is a line that reads “not tested on animals,” which is most of the time at the bottom of the box, but besides that not too many people read through the list printed on their beauty products. In the same respect, what do all those grossly large and confusing words mean anyway?
If the word squalene [or squalane] seems familiar to you, it probably is. Squalene is a very common emollient used in beauty products such as lotions, creams and glosses and is used by big name companies such as L’Oréal Paris. However, squalene is being phased out of cosmetic products as of late due to the vast decline in numbers of deep-sea sharks.
Squalene, which has been an in demand ingredient for beauty products is found in large quantities in the livers of deep-sea sharks and due to the sharks being caught and killed purely for this ingredient, cosmetic companies are seeking the aid of olive extracts to replace the deep-sea shark liver oil. However, if all companies switch to olive extracts, simple supply and demand may be in trouble, as there are only so many olives to go around to big companies.
In 2006, L’Oréal eliminated squalene from their skin care products replacing it with a plant-based substitute and plan to eliminate the ingredient from 12 other lipsticks that they produce. Asian-based cosmetic companies may not be going the same route, though, as shark squalene still remains in very high demand.
So the next time you’re picking up your favorite skin care item, lipstick or gloss and you see squalene listed in the ingredients you can now say you not only know what it means, but know that the company has decided to continue to use deep-sea shark oil in their product and have not opted for either olive extracts or plant-based substitutes. Help eliminate the cause for concern over the dwindling numbers of deep-sea sharks.
