25 April, 2009

Top 10 Sites That Pay You to Blog

1. Smorty is a blog advertising service that connects advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers create their campaign and set how much bid per post. In return, bloggers write reviews for the advertiser (either for a product or service) to include in their blog, submit their post for the advertiser’s approval, and get paid when their post gets approved.

You have to register first to be able to submit your blog. It’s free to sign-up and create an account. You can submit a maximum of 10 blogs under 1 account.

Some basic requirements (out of 25 criteria) for your blog before it gets approved and included by Smorty:

- It should be indexed by Google and Yahoo

- It should be more than 1-month old

- It should have no obscene, offensive content (violent, adult, racism contents etc.)

- It should contain a minimum of 2 new post each week.

- It should not have any duplicate post

Smorty considers the blogger’s ranking on Google. Its 5-star rating system is based on the number of (high and low) paid campaign offers the blogger will get. The higher your ranking, the more campaign offers you are likely to receive, including higher priced campaigns. Bloggers are offered paid campaigns starting from $6 up, with some offering $60 and even $100 per article.

Offered campaigns are sent via email along with additional instructions such as task and deadlines. Usually you have to submit your post/review within 24 hours upon receiving the assignment and you’ll be notified within 72 hours whether your post is approved or not.

Some guidelines regarding writing the review:

1. Your review must be unique/original and relevant for that specific campaign.

2. You have to include anchor text in your review that directs to the advertiser’s page.

3. You also need to include only 1 outbound link URL provided by the campaign owners.

4. Post length must between 150 - 400 words.

How do you get paid?

Bloggers get paid weekly through PayPal for their approved post. Commissions from pay-per-click & pay-per-view ads are paid monthly.

Another way to get paid by Smorty is by referring other bloggers to them. You can either put affiliate banners in your blog or “get this widget” link, and you get credit when bloggers click through your links and signup. You can place the Smorty affiliate banners in your blog’s side columns, included in your post, at the end of your post, and header and footer.

You get 5% commission from the total income earned by your referred blogger from Smorty. You only get paid when the post of your referred blogger gets approved. So while he’s being paid for his post, you also get your cut from that. Your commissions are added to your approved post payment weekly (monthly if you’re using Digxa mini store widget).

Blog Advertising - Get Paid to Blog



2. PayPerPost (PPP) is another paid-to-blog service. In PPP, bloggers are called Posties and to date, PPP boasts of having the largest sponsored content marketplace in the world. 
Unlike other paid-blogging services that offer campaigns, in PPP you can choose which particular subject you want to write about. Upon registration, you can browse through the marketplace for “opportunities” posted by advertisers and choose the ones you like – preferably most relevant to your blog.

While pro-bloggers can charge advertisers their rate-per-post, other paid-blogging services usually get a large cut from that because they serve as middlemen between the advertisers and the blogger. If your blog is generating enough traffic, you can opt for PayPerPost Direct, a system which allows the blogger to deal directly with PPP advertisers.
You can put PayPerPost Direct’s widget in your blog.  If an advertiser would want to include a sponsored posting in your blog, they can just click on the widget to be directed to you. It would then handle the requirements for a complete transaction such as negotiation, payment processing and tax reporting for a 1-time 10% service fee. This feature is available for all PPP bloggers for TypePad and Blogger.

For PPP’s referral program, you can get paid when others sign up through your Referral Badge and SignUp Forms. Under the Referral Badge, you earn $15 when your referred blogger also gets payment for his approved post. For the SignUp Forms, when your referred blogger joined PPP through your SignUp form, you get paid when your referred blogger also get paid. The same thing if an advertiser sign up through this form, you get paid after the advertiser made the first deposit.

Payment is via PayPal. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.





Besides bidding for reviews, in SR, bloggers can set their own price as to how much they could charge for their paid post. Starting from $5 up, you can consider some factors such as readership base and site traffic when pricing. Just don’t exceed charge from the suggested price (by SR). Overpricing and your blog can be rejected.  

Another great thing about SponsoredReviews is that you don’t necessarily have to write only positive reviews. Whether positive or negative, bloggers are paid for their honest,unbiased reviews. But take note, your account may be suspended for writing “rude, unconstructive comments about an advertiser”.    More than anything else, SR encourages constructive criticism.

SponsoredReviews also emphasizes to advertisers that buying a sponsored review is a worthwhile investment. It is a great advertising strategy to introduce a new product or service to your target market, facilitates effective link building campaign - increasing traffic to your site and page rank in search engines.  

SR transaction fees can go as low as 20%, meaning advertisers only pay that much for a review. Bloggers on the other hand, keep around 65% of their earnings compared to some paid-blogging services that charges 50%. With SR either advertisers directly search for bloggers or bloggers bid for available opportunities. To date, SR has around 23,000 bloggers and several features such as filters (that easily sort and find blogs), tagging and rating system, and tools for SEO linkbuilders. 

Bloggers receive payment 2 weeks after your review is approved. 

Payment is via PayPal on a bi-weekly basis. 

Blog Advertising - Advertise on blogs with SponsoredReviews.com



4. ReviewMe’s website is pretty straight forward and simple. To summarize, you sign up for a free account and then submit your site. Your site of course will then be reviewed for approval. There are requirements to meetfor a blog to be accepted such as number of traffic, citations, and subscribers, Alexa ranking and number of RSS subscriber. 

If your blog is rejected you can always resubmit after a few months.  When your site/blog is approved, it will now be added to the ReviewMe publisher network and marketplace. Advertisers create campaigns for bloggers and ReviewMe allows them to choose who (blogs) they would like to do the review for their product/website. Bloggers can check the Advertiser Clearinghouse or View Campaign tab for available reviews for their blogs. That simply means blogs will have to wait for offers to come. 

Rates for each blog vary depending on ReviewMe’s calculation using a special program based on rankings from 3rd party systems. Though it’s a sponsored entry, bloggers are free to write an honest review and still get paid, if approved. The review should meet a minimum of 200 words, no “no-follow” links, and should indicate that it is a sponsored post, include the link provided at least once. Rates per review can go anywhere from $20 to $200 or more. The higher the blogger’s rating, the more campaign offers he is likely to receive. Overall rating is based on several third-party rating systems including Technorati, Google, Alexa, and RSS subscriptions.   

Payments are on a monthly basis via PayPal (no minimum payout), check (minimum $25), ReviewMe Prepaid MasterCard (minimum $20). If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.

5. Blogsvertise 

How does this system work? 

Sign up for free to create your account and add your blog to Blogsvertise. Note though that blogs that are candidate for rejection are those less than 1 month old, contains just a few entries or has adult content. Once registered, BV  then assigns writing tasks and emails them for bloggers to work out. You write about it and submit for approval. In BV you don’t need to endorse your assignments (product, service, or website), you can write about it whichever way you want, minimum of 100 words, 2-3 paragraphs, and 3 links to the advertiser’s website. You can discuss about it, or just mention it in your blog. You have to complete your tasks and submit them back within 5 days upon receiving them. 

You get paid for each blog entry approved. Payout (for new accounts) is currently at $4-$25 per approved post. Payment is via PayPal for each blog entry approved (If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here). However, payout rates are not standard; it varies from one blogger to another, largely influenced by other factors such as blog traffic and quality etc. You receive your earnings 30 days after your tasks are approved.   Blogsvertise also has an affiliate program where you can refer new advertisers to join Blogsvertise and get 15-20% commission from all their transactions. Your referral tracking code is available in your account ready for copy and paste.

Online Promotion

6.Blogitive, one of the small players among paid to blog services. There’s not so much buzz about Blogitive but it is an opportunity that pays.  Sign up to create your account; submit your blog and wait for approval. 

Unlike other paid-blogging sites, Blogitive does not require huge rating for blogs to qualify. General rule is that it should be at least 90 days old. Once accepted and your account is active, you can now choose among the available opportunities and bid. Note that these assignments are at random and subjects could be totally unrelated to your blog’s niche. Choose which ones you like.    If you win the bidding, details you would get are the company name, guidelines, web release, and links you would include in your post. 

You base your writing from the web release provided. You are also free to endorse your assignments and indicate it as paid-post. However, the rule is that you cannot post 2 consecutive Blogitive entries; between each paid post you need to come up with 2 non-paid posts of at least 50 words each. That means Blogitive post then 2 non-paid posts then another Blogitive post and so on.  

Standard rate is $5 per post with a minimum of 100 words. They don’t have a referral program though but Payment is via PayPal on weekly basis. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.

7. Another money making opportunity for bloggers is BlogtoProfit

General qualifications for a blog are: that it should be indexed by major Search Engines, at least 3 months old, does not contain adult or offensive content, and are not solely paid ad blogs. Upon submission, you can be notified within 3 weeks time if it is accepted or not, otherwise you can email them again to follow up your blog’s status.   

How does this work?   

BlogtoProfit ads are text links that you need to include in the blog post. You don’t need to endorse it; you just have to mention it within the main body of the post. You have to use the text links exactly as it is given; you cannot edit them even if they are misspelled. Also, you can no longer edit the approved entry itself. 

The post with the links should remain active and stays in your blog for a minimum of 1 year.   The good thing is that you still get paid even if nobody reads the paid post or click the links. BP prefers that you don’t indicate that their entries are paid-posts. Meaning sites that have disclosure policies may not receive assignments. You can also choose which categories you would like to write about and include them in you preferences (you can edit your profile). That of course limits the offers you will receive; only those from your chosen categories. 

Rates per post start at $5 up. Assignments are received under the “Your Offers” page when you login to your account, which usually comes in batches.   Now BP is a bit flexible and considerate regarding due dates for assignment submission. As long as they are still on your account, you can still submit the task even if you missed the deadline. Usually they email to follow up on unreturned assignments. The links are just reassigned to others if you don’t respond within 2-5 days. You can even request for time extension (email them) if you need one for the assignments. Post submissions are then reviewed and within one week you will get feedback through email, either it is rejected or needs corrections and be submitted again. If it is rejected, you can also view your errors in the View Comments column, correct your post and submit again ASAP. If it is accepted, you will just receive the payment schedule in your account.   

Payments are via PayPal weekly. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.

8. Another player in the paid blogging arena is PayU2Blog. It has some special cards on its sleeves compare to other paid blogging services.But before we get into that, how does this system work?   Naturally, signup and register on the site and submit your blog. Upon submitting your blog, wait 2-3 days time for your to be notified if the blog is qualify or not. Assignments are received once weekly. 

The number of assignments you may receive depends of several factors such as time frame to complete them, your blog’s completion history, and number of blogs in your account.   You don’t need to endorse the assignments you receive, you just have to write about them but negative reviews are not allowed. So you can say it’s pretty much biased or just skip the assignment if you honestly don’t like it.   

Payouts are as low as $5 per post but bloggers find it a regular source of income as many opportunities are available every week. Assignments are received via email once a week, but generally you can also receive them in your account, including the deadline.   

So what makes it different from the others?   

PayU2Blog’s system readily approves assignment submissions in real time, quickly accepting task as complete provided it follows the guidelines. Otherwise, it will then be reviewed manually.  Moreover, PayU2Blog has its own bloggers’ forum where you can meet and chat with other bloggers in the network. It also offers incentives for bloggers through its online contests. For one, displaying the PayU2Blog banner in your site and you’re qualified for the weekly draw for the cash price. Second is their current contest “Blogging Makes Me Happy”.  

Payment is via PayPal every 2 weeks. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.


Well, this one is a bit new concept from the others. Creative Weblogging is a network of more than 135 blogs supporting 5 languages. It offers 2 things: paid to blog and blog for lease. You can earn in 2 simultaneous ways: Creative Weblogging leases/rents your blog (for a price of course) and you still get paid to blog on your own blog per post. Yes, blog for lease.   What does this mean?   Creative Weblogging leases your blog and your service. This means that Creative Weblogging leases your blog but you still get to post your entries. So naturally you don’t control your whole blog anymore. Creative Weblogging does that, especially with the ads. All your ads, Adsense and other ads, will be taken out.  

What’s in store for bloggers in Creative Weblogging?  

Creative Weblogging offers bloggers $84-140 monthly payment via PayPal or Moneybookers, $7 per blog entry (rate may vary from blog to blog), bonuses for growing traffic ($1 per 1k page views), Creative Weblogging bloggers’ discussion group, marketing & technology platform support. There would be no expenses in your part. Minimum lease term is 36 months. After that, you can lease it again, sell it or just own your blog back. Of course there would be qualifications for a blog to be accepted. You’re a likely candidate if you have a quality blog in English or German with more than 50k pageviews a month from US, Germany, and France. 

10. Bloggerwave is another paid blogging service worth checking out. It is said to be targeting Europe as its market, servicing currently in UK, Denmark, and Germany. And the network is growing ever since. The bigger the network (of advertisers and bloggers), the more opportunities available. Though it’s a Danish company, it supports multi-language sites, meaning it is available to English and non-English sites as well.  

How does this work?   

Bloggerwave’s interface is simple and compact, making it load faster than other similar sites. Upon sign up, there are several areas you could look at. “Profile” is where you can edit your profile details, “Blogs” list down the blogs you own, “Postings” is where you find available opportunities.  You can add a maximum of 5 blogs in your account. There would be 2-3 days waiting time to verify if your blog is accepted or rejected. After that, bloggers get their assignments and submit them back when completed. Bloggerwave then review them for approval. Once approved, it has to remain in the blog for at least 30 days and then you will be paid.  Bloggerwave values honesty and integrity for their bloggers. 

Though they do not control their bloggers’ decision as to which opportunities they should choose, Bloggerwave strongly suggest that bloggers pick out those that are most relevant to their blog’s content. If they find some posting that they (honestly) do not like to write anyway, its best to skip it and give other bloggers the chance. 

Unfortunately, it lacks a referral system. Payment is via PayPal 30 days after the post remains in the blog. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can sign up here.

10 April, 2009

Top 10 SEO Techniques

1. Title Tag

When someone searches for a particular subject on Google, the first item that the search engine will look at to know what the page is about it the title page, thus making it very important to get your site noticed. Consider putting a keyword or two in the title. But don’t overdo it…or your site will look like s spam.

2. Meta Tags

Meta Tags are what people read when your page comes out of Google search. It’s this first impression that makes people decide if they’re going to view your site or not. As with title tags, don’t overuse keywords. 

3. Proper Use of Heading Tags

Specifies what topics are covered on a particular page of your site by breaking down your copy and allows users and search engines to know the location of the major key points of your copy. Proper use of heading tags will help index your site properly making it easier for you to get your page noticed. 

4. Alt Attributes on Images

Using Alt Attributes on your images can give you higher search engine rankings if you provide significant text to your source code that search engines like Google can spot when indexing your site. In addition, Alt Attributes can help the visually impaired access websites by using a screen reader. They will not be able to see the image but because of the attribute, they will be able to determine what your image is.

5. Title Attributes on Links

When you hover the mouse over a link, it will display a little “tool tip”. These little tool tips or title attributes, if provided with proper descriptive texts for your link, will tell not only the users but the search engines as well, what the link is all about—providing more value and visibility. 

6. XML Sitemap

While sitemaps help web surfers navigate through your site, XML Sitemaps will help search engines properly find and index all the links in your site. XML Sitemaps include all pages, posts and what-have-you’s in your site as well as the modification date and the priority number of what you feel is the most important page on your site is to the least. 

7. Relevant Content

It is necessary that the content in your main page is relevant to the keywords, tags, image tags, etc that you put in your site. If you did a good work with tags and yet the content of your page is irrelevant, it’s a futile attempt to get in the first search page. Keywords should be distributed within the content following the proper ratio so that your copy will not sound look like spam.

8. Link Building

One factor to achieve a high page rank is to have a number of links pointing to your website. Try to avoid using link farms since there are a lot of trustworthy niche directory sites online that you can use to submit your website or blog. Or you might want to generate links with other websites and blogs, you will link their page, if they link yours. 

9. Social Media

Social Media involves networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others. Join these sites and build relationships. Create a network. Before you know it, people are submitting your posts and are voting you on social bookmarking sites. Obviously, the more votes you get, the more you get noticed, the more you go around, the more probability in additional link backs from other sites, blogs, etc.

10. A Few SEO Don’t – Flash and Splash

Although Flash Web sites are appealing (and diverting), it’s not very friendly with search engines for the simple reason that search engines cannot read Flash. So if your website is set inside s Flash Website, it’s good as invincible as far as search engines are concerned. 

Splash pages come in the same category. While it is beautiful as it provides an introduction, it can be very annoying to visitors. And since most splash pages contain Flash, search engines will be blocked and will not be able to continue in your site, unless you made us of XML, which then makes your site invincible.

09 April, 2009

My Top 10 Web Hosting Services

  1. Wikipedia: Free Web Hosting Service 

Where you can find anything and everything about free web hosting. Its outline features limitations of free hosts.  It talks about challenges that may be encountered like bandwidth, and advantages like uptime guarantees. Also provides information regarding different types of hosting services. 

  1. Free Web Hosts 

Online directory which offers a list of web hosts that provide free hosting solutions. You can search by checking the recently added free website hosts or by date added. Check the reviews area to read what people have to say about their web hosting sites. 

  1. The Site Wizard 

Information about free web hosting can be found on the site including the particulars in getting the best free web host. Provides suggestions about free web hosts worth checking out. The author also suggests another article to be read entitled, “All Those Disappearing Free Web Hosts.” 

  1. Small Business Web Hosting 

The site offers tips on when you should choose free web hosts and loads of articles and helpful guides about free web hosting. Also find tips on how to jumpstart an online business with only around $50 on hand. 

  1. Webhosts4free 

An online resource which lists free hosts and explicit information like quality, benefits and drawbacks, with reviews of over 150 free web hosts. You can search using the following criteria: amount of space provided, allowed scripts, upload system and forced ads (if allowed or not).  

  1. Why You Should Avoid Free Web Hosting 

While some are enthusiastic about free web hosts, some aren’t. This article discusses the reasons why you should opt out of free web hosts, challenges encountered with free web hosts, and tips and information to avoid being scammed. They also feature budget hosting. 

  1. LoveToKnow Web Design 

If you want someone to host your photos or a free message board, LoveToKnow can provide the info that you need. Here you can learn what unlimited free space really is and if you’re actually ready for pay for hosting after reading their free vs. paid hosting article. 

  1. Web Hosting Geeks

The "geeks" cover many different aspects of web hosting. Check out their article about free web hosts as they outline the pros and the cons and the limitations of free web hosting. You can also get a list of free web hosting companies.

The “geeks” discusses what free web hosts are and outlines the pros, cons, and restrictions of free web hosting, while covering an array of information about web hosting. They also list free web hosting companies. 

  1. Blog Easy 

Blog is the new fad, and Blog Easy makes it even more easier for everyone to blog (professional or otherwise) by offering the ability to upload a number of items from articles to pictures. If you have any questions, visit their community area. 

  1. Article Geek

This site offers masses of content for your website in different topics such as health, self-improvement and home life to draw visitors to your site. Of course, you need to have your own website first, hosted for free or not. 

Top 10 Internet Marketing Tips For Home Business

  1. Search Engine Optimization 

To get your online business site noticed, you need to have it optimized for spidering and placement. Meta tags and keywords can be of help but you can also start with AddMe to get your site listed on the search engine. Keyword research tool offered by Google can help you spot the best keywords to suit your site. 

  1. Adding Website Content 

To keep people from coming back to your site is a big job. You need fresh and crisp content for your site at least once a week to avoid making your site stagnant. You can write the articles yourself or use The Write Content or Ezine Articles for new and interesting web contents. 

  1. Links 

Create to-and-from links for your site to get noticed. You can check out Top Website Tips to check out some of tips and techniques about linking to other sites. Collect more information from Links Back SEO, which also offers particulars about starting your own business coach that will help you decide the best way to develop your business and participate in internet marketing your home based business. 

  1. Networking 

Find online business networking sites that can help you find resources for managing your home business while helping you amplify your contacts and business performance. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are also worth a look. 

  1. Free Advertising 

One of the many benefits one can get from online marketing is free ads. You can also add your business information to your signature for your outgoing emails. It is also suggested that you visit online forums relevant to your topic and start making worthwhile posts. 

  1. Paid Advertising 

To generate more traffic in your site, you might want to include popular paid advertisements or purchase text links and pay by the click. You can also try putting banner ads on your sites although competitors are not likely to hire you. So make sure your ads are relevant but not competing. 

  1. Viral Marketing 

To keep people from coming back to your site is a big job. You need fresh and crisp content for your site at least once a week to avoid making your site stagnant. You can write the articles yourself or use The Write Content or Ezine Articles for new and interesting web contents. 

  1. Newsletters 

If your business has a newsletter, it would be of great help if it can be viewed online. It’s a much cheaper, easier and faster way to reach an online customer. If you want a professional feel and transport, try sites like Constant Contact, iContact, Jango Mail and Garp Newsletter. 

  1. Buy Reviews 

Sponsored reviews are also fast becoming a fad. You get a site who will review your site with charge. Recommended for new businesses where there aren’t any customer testimonials yet. 

  1. Blog Networks

Blogging can help your online business since blog networks can spread by word of mouth about your content. If you can create an interesting blog and got noticed, chances are your site’s traffic will increase thereby, allowing your online business to swell. 

06 April, 2009

Top 10 Ways to Make Money on the Internet

  1. Affiliate Marketing 

You can earn through affiliate marketing in two ways: first, if you already have your own website, you simply add affiliates and start earning through the traffic or visitors that your site generates. Second, if you don’t have your own website, try creating one which emphasizes on your interest and expertise that you can offer.  Then, go to affiliate sites to find “affiliates” that corresponds to your content. Usually, there are features (like forums) offered by these affiliate sites for starters that answers general how-to questions. 

  1. Blog Owner 

You can earn a good chunk of change while blogging. Pay per click advertising like Google’s AdSense is one way and another would be by selling banner ads on your websites, or offering subscription area with additional content. Creating your own blog from sites like Blogger and Live Journal can also earn you additional cash. 

  1. Business Consultant 

      You can jumpstart your consulting firm or business online. If you have an expertise pm a particular field and could serve as a business consultant, all you have to do is crate your own website to advertise your services. You can also join companies like Elance and GloLance that provides new participants on the business information and workshops to maximize their area of expertise and start their own consulting business. Entrepreneur.com also provides articles that cover topics about becoming a freelance business consultant.

 

  1. Content Producer 

Website owners don’t always have the luxury of time to write fresh and crisp contents for their websites. This is where you come in. Content producers write articles for different websites that need crisp and up-to-date content for their websites. You can work on contract for one website (or more) that needs a number of articles per month, or sell articles through your niche through sites like Associated Content and eHow. 

  1. E-Book Publisher 

A lot of big publishers are getting into e-book publication. But small e-book publishers can still get into the industry by finding a niche those readers fancy and you can sell your own book or sell other’s. Sell your books at FictionWise, Amazon’s Kindle, your own website or storefront. You can also look into Lulu.com and iUniverse.com. 

  1. Editing Services 

If you are proficient with your local language or English, you can be a freelance proofreader or copyeditor. Editing services are in demand by print and e-book publishers, websites, companies, magazines and businesses. Some assignments will also include proofreading college thesis, dissertations and books written by others. To know how much you need to charge for your service, monitor your competitors or check out the recommended rates online. 

  1. Online Auctions 

Online auctions are fast becoming a lucrative business online. It’s where you can find good deals or unique product offers. A lot of online auctions sellers make an honest living by selling their stuff online. eBay, Webidz and Bid-A lot are some of the popular auction sites online. Some sellers find products and set-up to have the items drop-shipped which means no inventory or overhead expense for the product. You just order the item when it sells and the manufacturer ships it to your customer. All you have to do is collect money. 

  1. Virtual Assistant 

Good typing skills and a penchant for detailed work are in demand right now. Virtual assistant is a job that you can easily do at the comfort of your own home while earning a decent income. Of course it would take time to build up a client base but once you are able to achieve it, everything flows easily. You can try the sites Hire Virtual Assistants, eVoice Receptionist, or check the site Virtual Assistant Jobs to look for jobs or you can work independently. 

  1. Web Hosting 

Hosting resellers help people find a space for their own website for a reasonable price. A lot of web hosting companies do offer reseller accounts. You can set up an affiliate link where you earn when people sign up for hosting a specific company. Or, you can create your own hosting account which has a certain number of domains that can be resold. The latter is better because you can set up your own prices. Of course, it would also require a little technical knowledge, so you need to keep yourself updated every once in a while to stay on track. You can search multiple hosts at TopCheapHost.com. 

  1. Web Design 

You can also earn extra cash by designing websites. Some web designers make between $30-$60 per hour. A regular client can guarantee a steady income, like sites that need regular updates weekly or monthly. You just need to familiarize yourself with some of the available software by taking additional courses online to see which one best suits your clients. By far, the most popular web design software is Dreamweaver.

 

My Top 10 VOIP Providers

1. Skype

An internet telephone that allows users to call anyone anywhere in the world using a computer and an internet connection. Compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux and even Pocket PC. PC-to-PC calls are free while calls to landline and mobile phones comes for an additional charge. 

2. Yahoo! Japan 

Japan’s Softbank group markets its consumer broadband services under the Yahoo brand that provides excellent VoIP service via BB Phone.  Phone calls between BB phone users are absolutely free as long as it is connected using the BB phone server. Offers reduced international call rates although calls toll free numbers, emergency numbers (police, fire, etc), etc. are unavailable. 

3. VoiceGlo 

VoiceGlo products are easy to use and is perfect for small businesses. It transforms your computer into a fully functional telephone including features like voice message, conferencing, 3-way calling, speed diallig, global portability and others. 

4. Free (France) 

Free is, in effect, an Internet Service Provider that offers a second line with VoIP service. Provides free calls to other Freebox phones and to most France Telecom lines. They also offer reduced international rates to their customers using this service.

5. Vonage 

Provides excellent telephone service via a broadband connection. It allows its subscribers to choose any area code regardless of their residence, and also allows its subscribers to maintain their keep their existing phone number and use their current home phones to call using VoIP.

6. FastWeb (Italy) 

Internet phone provided by Italy’s premiere ISP that offers free peer-2-peer communication via VoIP. As with other internet phones, calls made within Fastweb users are free of charge while international charges apply at a reduced rate, offering better savings for its consumers. 

7. Cox 

Cox Digital Telephone, while it uses VoIP, is unique because it doesn’t require a broadband connection. It currently boasts of its current 2 million subscribers enjoying low call rates (local and international) and full phone features like three way calling, conference, voice message, etc.   

8. Time Warner 

Time Warner provides its consumers who currently have DSL service to take advantage of AOL Phone which allows its user to telephone via internet access lines and DSL (using their existing telephone) and the computer does not have to be switched on. Phone calls between AOL Phones are free while also offering additional phone features like mailbox, call forwarding, call display, etc. 

9. Cablevision 

Offers Optimum Voice—a digital home phone service that allows its subscribers to call keep their current phone number (or get a new one) and unlimited calls within US, Puerto Rico and Canada. Offers no per-minute fees, full 13 popular call features and an flat monthly rate. International calls are also available in reduced rate. 

10. Neuf (France) 
Neuf is an ISP in France that taps on the power of the internet to allow its users to make calls via the internet. The internet phone connects to the Neuf box and allows its user to call anywhere in the world at a fraction of a cost using regular phonelines. 

31 March, 2009

Top 10 Most Useful Project Management Tools


In our effort to automate project management scenario, ten top applications needed in synergizing user requirements capture, output assessment, quality criteria evaluation, work breakdown structuring, milestones, risk and dependencies analysis, were congregated to provide intelligent solutions to freelancers especially those who doesn't have the full luxury of staff to lean on. These applications open a doorway to what would seem to be an exponential proponent of managing broad projects without the lavishly elaborate number of staff working for you. Brace yourself for the tools that would pave way to an efficient project execution and measure, the top ten applications expedient to the critical chain involving all levels of project programming.




This is probably the most worn out expended application when it comes to developing projects. It is probably because Microsoft occupied 95% of the entire software user population. With that
being said, all applications sprouting in the market implicitly hinged on the Microsoft platform.
With Microsoft Project, you can create slots for resources and assign them to tasks as simply as entering data in a spreadsheet. The latest round of project management software is able to consolidate multiple projects, do comprehensive calendaring with schedule conflict analysis, support multiple work calendar formats, manage product life cycles, and integrate it all into the existing software base. 




One of the hardest part of project initiation is the imposition of form operations, data entries, proposal reviews, and document consolidation. This is where Project Management Bundle comes in handy, to deliver the most scalable, easy to use document templates, featuring an automatic table of contents, page headers and footers, and interoperable pre-defined sections, tables,
charts, an approvals page, and much more.

Bundles feature the following contents: Project Standards Policy Kit, Statement of Work Process Kit, Project Planning Roadmap, Project Planning Checklist, Risk Management Process Kit, Troubled Project, Project Review Survey Kit, and Project Communication Process Kit.




One of the hurdles of every undertaking, whether big league corporate objective or a simple project, is the illustration of the of the conceptual framework, idea imaging, and task abstraction, Mindmapping software plays an essential role in transcending these ideas into visual diagram.
Openmind 2 Business functioned as a designer application to mirror the brain’s natural thinking process. This resorted to stir creativity and critical thinking, and speed up decision-making expedient to business urgency.




With an intuitive user interface to boot, Mindmapper 2008 continues to be one of the most dependable, formidable software that aids any enterprising professional handling big projects.

Unlike some of the mindmapping applications out in the market, the Mindmapper 2008 works a wonder by making use of keyboard shortcuts. The colored tabs were a welcome addition to an already array of features it has. Plus it comes with instructional videos all splattered with animation and frills for a visually captivating demo video.




Primavera has continued to be the leading trailblazer when it comes to the industry-level, edge-of-your-seat project portfolio management application including: (Primavera P6), Portfolio Selection and Management (Primavera ProSight), Enterprise Resource Management (Primavera Evolve), Document management, job cost and project controls (Primavera Contract Manager), Project Analytics and Risk Management (Primavera Pertmaster) and Cost versus schedule performance (Primavera Cost Manager).

A Project Control Specialist can tap its superlative feature in leveraging Primavera's more advanced tool capabilities to manage documentation, communication, contracts and to implement process standardization and automation.




Probably the best Java based report and analytics tool, Reportmill 8 provides powerful developer framework to create dynamically generated, well-formatted content for internet application servers. ReportMill is currently being used at many large scale corporations and customer sites, delivering comprehensive content kits such as: business forms, financial statements, itineraries, invoices, and product catalogs.

Easy to access, faster, and in Java engine-only form, making it less resource-starved application available to provide and integrate completely new 3D graphing application for project analysis and measures.



Project Managers require data in real-time, comprehensive, and drawn from an easy-to-acquire business intelligence server. Journyx provides information-on-demand projects scheduling and mapping tools that would provide billable time reporting, repository data management, and a whole slew of cost accounting system. Analyst and executioners would definitely love to have this especially that this one comes in freeware version as well. It’s a must have tool to expedite expense approval processes and accurately handle employee schedules and accruals.



This will serve as your concierge cum personal information management software in a box. If you are embroiled on a complicated task of keeping aligned with your contacts, prospects, and devious projects, you may want to get this. You can use it to enter every last thing on your to-do list, as well as upcoming appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, or other commitments or important events.

Coined as a database software at your fingertips, it continues to serve project managers to record notes, send letters, send e-mail, schedule and track events. Or even retrieve the letters that you have sent before. You can also create reports or contact charts for your next client presentation.



‘Forget it not’, that will be the new buzzword of the project manager who is always on the go, but has his smartphone as a tool he can’t leave home without. Managing contacts has never been easy with few taps and clicks, Agendus ratchets up the PIM capabilities of your Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Blackberry devices to make it easier to schedule and organize your life in a way that intuitively makes sense. It offers a plurality of customization options to choose from, from color coding to icon cropping, it seamlessly dazzle and untangle complex contact index into a
simplified order and categorization.




With Microsoft’s immense popularity when it comes to software development, resisting an indulgence to the MS Office 2007 like a denial to civility. It’s by far the best selling productivity suites, for professional and personal use, for project management and for lifestyle mainprise. Office 2007 is quite a new interface, highly customizable contextual tabs and style
galleries and the almost-top-of-the-line Enterprise edition includes all five main applications under one bundle- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Groove, OneNote, and Access, all of them are geared towards easy collaborative features handy for project implementation.


/JRC



My Top 10 Tutorial Videos

1. Google Adsense Tips


2. SEO Tutorial for Newbies



3. HTML and CSS for Beginners



4. Newbie Photoshop Tutorial



5. Ruby on Rails Demo



6. Drupal Tutorial - Ubertcart Intro



7. Excel Tutorial - Pivot Tables



8. MS Word 2007 - How to Track Changes



9. MS Project Tutorial



10. How to Edit and Enhance Audio Using Audacity


30 March, 2009

My Top 10 Freelancer Gadgets for 2009


To say that herding together the top ten gadgets for 2009 freelancers used is a break-sweat job is an underestimation. For one, the difference between a freelancer and a regular waged earner employee is nothing sort of the regularity of the pay, although an over-the-edge industrious freelancer may contest otherwise.

Essentially, both artisans perform similar role, the full-timer, chartered by the company he works for in a regular pay out, while the freelancer is contracted by companies of varying scale and remuneration clauses. And since both may share the same purpose, I would rather compile the ensembles of these gadgets out of the adjunct of mobility, all and sundry.

It would be so, because freelancers solely rely on the spry impositions of their handiworks, often
achieved by the handy assimilation of their tools and technology. They are the road warriors of today, the shapers of tomorrow, and a stickler to anything light, compact, and versatile.

Let’s see the gears that move their dexterity:

1. Apple MacBook Pro
While the MacBook Pro lacks score cards in the minuscule department, its sheer computing power is sure to wow the freelance graphic artist, photographer, and multimedia artists.

Sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express, and a fast SATA technology, it prevailed to be one of the “must have toys” of the performance imperious graphic artists. And not only does it perform well, it also has the following output to boot: ExpressCard/34 slot, Dual-link DVI, VGA adapter, FireWire 400 port,
two USB 2.0 ports, optical digital and analogue audio I/O. Not compact enough, but still portable, MacBook Pro redefines mobility without compromise in its performance.


2. Samsung NC110

This is a top notch technology for mobile mavericks, all because of its outstanding mobile feature, a high-capacity battery that could stand the entire day of computing use.

The one-upmanship of having practically 10hours(9.3hours, to be exact) of battery usage is claimed by Samsung amidst the whole slew of low-powered netbooks in the market. This 10.1 inch screen wonder continued to enthrall freelance writers due to its 93%sized-keyboard, dodging off the gripe of most compact sized netbooks.

Samsung NC110 is powered by Intel Atom CPU and incorporated with 1.3megapixel webcam for you to have video conversations-cum-brain storming with the entire editorial board, while you are away and have a comforting sip of coffee at a Starbucks corner.

And you needn’t worry about battery life after, you still have an ample of them for you to revise, over haul, or rewrite your article before the juice runs out.












3. Olympus E-420

Coined as the small wonder in the family of digital SLR’s, the Olympus E-420 is sure to stun heavy wallop in terms of performance delivery. This is probably one of the smallest, if not the smallest, dSLR in the world, yet despite its frugal size, it manages to yield a 2.7inch LCD into the
camera. Having a professionally aristocratic, textured finished build quality, it provides exorbitant of comfort to the hands of freelance photographers.

Rafts of features includes 10.0 megapixel sensor, True Pic III processor, face detection and shadow adjustment technologies, a Live View monitor function that permits composing and capturing images, manual controls as well as auto and 18 pre-programmed scene modes, and a 100-1600 ISO sensitivity range.


Whoever thinks size is a trade off of decent professional camera should think again.


4. Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive


Toshiba, an indomitable, powerhouse name in the field of computing once again brought us the finest of its array of products. This time it’s an external portable drive with a rugged antishock aluminum casing to withstand normal wear and tear in the life of a freelance multimedia or content management specialist.

Available in capacity variants such as 100GB, 120GB, 160GB, and 200GB, it can already support OS’s Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X 10.3.9.

Ideal for those freelancers stern in archiving their works while constantly on the go, the Toshiba USB 2.0 External Portable Drive is housed in a semiruggedized casing, with internal air-filled bladders cushioning the drive mechanism and isolating it from the outer metal casing, taking the beating of a daily run and use.

5. Nokia E71


Nokia has the uncanny ability to churn out model after model every quarter or two, getting us snowed under an avalanche of their newest after the newer offerings. But who could ignore such a lovely, professional looking QWERTY thumboard phone. With an arresting metallic seduction slapped into its slim body, this is probably one of the thinnest and sexiest Nokia phone to date.

Notable features include320x240 QVGA display for a sharp-splendid view even in outdoors, a 3.2megapixel camera if you’re taking random shots on moving subjects, in cases of cursory moments.

It also has a GPS, WiFi, and A2DP Bluetooth, for every connectivity access that you need, whether connecting directly through the web or wirelessly synchronizing to your workstation. And being a business centric device that it is, it also comes with the whole gamut of PIM(personal information management) functions such as office application and email. Indeed, this phone has got all the superlatives of features needed for all types of freelancers.


6. Planon Docupen RC805


This nifty device would probably make James Bond spy gadgets a
run for their lives.

This latest breakthrough from Planon is a second iteration of their
first monochrome handheld scanner, this time offering the public
with full colors.

Accordingly, RC800 is capable of storing 100's of pages into its memory and it takes just seconds to scan a page with different scan modes to choose from: black and white, standard color or high 24bit color and the resolution from 400 to 600 dpi.

Now you need not bring the entire newpaper and crop the needed material/article at home, you can easily scan it and just download the scanner’s memory to your laptop through USB port. You can easily scan color documents, pictures and import them into Paperport software, included in the software.

How cool and neat, isn’t it?


7. Canon PIXMA iP90v

Coffeemate to your coffee, milk to your cereals, and a Canon PIXMA iP90v to your laptop, wirelessly bound to each other.

This printer is compact and lightweight for you to tuck it into your laptop bag’s divider pocket. This PictBridge compliant printer has the ability to instantaneously print while being connected to your digital camera on a USB cable. But if you prefer wireless method, it also is IrDA and bluetooth-enabled.

Apart from the compact, handy exterior ideal for freelancers who are always mobile, it will also produce amazing print out results: pleasing color saturation, smooth gradients, and impressive details in the
photo elements.

With Canon PIXMA iP90v, not only you’ll be taking your specimens with you, you’ll also be bringing the convenience of your darkroom as well.


8. Swiss Army SwissFlash USB

MacGyver move over, will lyeah.

This is a freelance electronic technician’s best friend. It’s a pretty much straightforward multi- purpose tool that has the auxiliary premium for saving schematic diagram and any data through its USB drive.

This is a proliferation of technology, practicality, materials, and quality design, rolled into one.
What’s worth mentioning is the skillful integration of the high-output white LED light which is extremely bright, and due to redundant LED design does not generate any heat.

Now you don’t need to grope and rumple your way to the dark spots of your working area just to look for that missing screw, just flash the light, seek and you shall find.

9. Garmin nüvifone M20

There’s more than meets the eye of this snazzy device.

The powerhouse union of the two of the best devices in their respective worlds
now brought us the powerful device of tomorrow. Asus, known for their excellent
rudiments of pocketpc phones espoused Garmin, the pioneer trailblazer of the
best GPS navigational systems in town, bringing this equally formidable force to reckon with.

It’s a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional phone that has a dual-band 3.5G/tri-band GSM phone with Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11 b/g) and Bluetooth. Coursing in a 2.8 inch display with VGA (640x480) resolution, built-in microphone and speakers, built-in 4G/8G My Storage, and ActiveSync for Outlook, Microsoft Office, and multi-media synchronization, this is a perfect mate of those freelancer whose office is practically wherever that leads him.

Lost? Can’t get your way to your client? Worry no more, it comes with preloaded maps and points of interest (POIs): hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, malls, bars, fuel stations.
It’s a concierge, albeit digitally at your fingertips.


10. SmartBro USB Kit

Station locally, but operate globally.

That would be the favorite motive and a guiding principle of today’s
freelancers, as they can virtual propose their service portfolio to the other
parts of the world via SmartBro 3G/HSDPA/GPRS Modem kit. It comes with post paid and prepaid plan, what good is a laptop with the seamless
connection to the world wide web.

What’s laudable with this tool is that it isn’t geographically dependent to the
location of the access point. As long as there is a Smart signal, there is a channel for data packets available for you to use. The USB modem itself has read-only storage, so the drivers for Windows and OS X (Tiger and Leopard) are included. Just plug it to your USB port and run the SmartBro software in your laptop and you’re good to go.

It’s an on-demand broadband service, wherever, whenever.
/JRC