Munny4Hunny

Catching up with web 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Do you remember the fuss about web 2.0? Was it just internet snobbery distinguishing between sites that were up to 'the mark' and those that weren't??

To an extent, I am sure that was true, ie. if you didn't have the right stuff on your site, then you were branded old hat. Now that the fuss has died down, what was it all about, and will there ever be a Web 3.0?
Of course the danger of coining the phrase Web 2.0 which had vague and varying definitions, was that someone would come up with 3.0 and 4.0 which would be equally unhelpful. In essence Web 2.0 was more about interactivity than any other single issue, and the introduction of social sites such as Myspace and Facebook have proved the point about interactivity being where the future of the web should be focused.
However, this does not mean that sites that do not have 'whizzy' embedded applications and scripts are not just as valid for gathering information and advertising services. Those sites that were relatively one-dimensional were made to feel that they did not belong to the internet, and that was where the snobbery came in.
The internet is nothing if not 'democratic' in the truest sense of the word, and there is room for all types of websites within the framework of the worldwide web. Despite the hype, Google does not care if your graphics are flat or if there are no moving images on your homepage, in fact SEO and perceived Web 2.0 aesthetic requirements could be actually diametrically opposed to each other in many cases. SEO is still basically about content and links - if you don't get those right, you may as well stay off the web altogether.

October Earnings

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:39:00 +0000

October has been a good month for earnings, I have had some new avenues to explore and had some bonus posts to do for PU2B which helped to take me well over the $100 mark for the month.
Much of this may be 'one-off' earnings, but hopefully the revenue stream will continue. In the meantime, my 'under wraps' SEO project continues to take up a little of my time, and is now starting to look certain to cover at least hosting charges if not return a small profit at the end of 12 months. I am happy that this project is hitting targets in terms of SERP gained (I am usually in the top three results for my keyword), and am managing to gather a steady stream of traffic. Not only that, but my visitors tend to stay on the site and visit several pages indicating that they are discovering useful information. In essence most of the site is completed, I just have one more area to develop, then next year I plan to buy an 'unlimited' hosting package so that I can repeat the project for similar keywords.
The site in question is monetised through Adsense and eBay affiliates in the main, but I probably won't be able to talk publicly about the actual keywords I am targeting until the rest of the project is in place.
I am looking at how I can streamline my operations a bit and thinking about getting rid of some domains in order to free up some commitments (blogging can be quite a time-consuming commitment) and realise some cash for other projects.

New earnings from Linkworth

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:40:00 +0000

The banner advert sponsorship I sold last month, sadly did not continue into this month. However I had my first earnings with Linkworth (although not enough to reach the $25 payout). Linkworth now offer a very comprehensive range of products for you to use, as well as the 'normal' paid post opportunities, they can provide banners, rotating ads (if you can cope with the scripting), contextual ads, and 'in content' ads (the type that creates links from selected keywords in your site content). I am becoming increasingly interested in how to use Linkworth to maximise earnings, especially now I need a few more dollars to reach payout...
I have been fortunate to find a few more revenue streams this month, plus I have had some bonus opportunities from PayU2Blog which should put me beyond the $100 mark this month.

Work in the bathroom

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:16:00 +0000

You can tell a lot from looking at someone's bathroom, and there is not much good that you can learn from ours... We have been in the house for about 12 years and have hardly touched the bathroom. The little touches I did when we moved in are looking a bit sad now, and the bathroom remains one of those areas of the house that you want to be happy for visitors to use...
Aside from the new ceiling and the bathroom lighting that I fitted, I gave it a lick of paint (much of which is now flaking off) and made a nice tongue and groove bath panel. However I am more than conscious that this is one room that remains in need of a major overhaul.
At least I have renovated the outside toilet this year, so if I did start a major project in the bathroom, we would at least have some relief...

All you want for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:36:00 +0000

The worlds most popular music player is no secret, the iPod is now synonymous with digital media in the same way that the Sony Walkman was with music cassettes. Christmas is coming and you can bet that the most visited sites on the internet will be those offering deals on ipods and iPhones and all the rest of the cutting edge Apple products.
There are so many variations of the iPod including the smaller 'nano' that they have been able to name a range as the 'classic' already... The product is so well developed, that it is already a modern classic in every sense of the word.
Technology and design are what makes the iPod so desirable, and to be honest I believe that the coolly under-stated design probably has more to do with it's popularity than the technology. After all, you can get media players that are more compatible with the all-too-common MP3 format at a much cheaper price. You can bet that Apple will be exploiting this brand-image with newer and better products for years to come - but for this Christmas, we salute the iPod - a truly modern classic.

New paid to post program

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:08:00 +0000

I have recently been pointed in the way of a new service which works in a completely different way to other paid post services. Rachel from the TurnOnePoundIntoOneMillion blog highlighted 'SeoBlogReviews' as a new paid posting service, but initially it is difficult to get to grips with.
I dutifully entered details of my blogs and the prices I would accept. A little later I got some emails which offered some lower prices, so I accepted some and rejected others that I felt were too low. At this point there were no actual opps., but soon after I was asked to accept a specific task. I duly did so, but for ages I heard nothing. Then with no warning, I was paid for the review, and only then did I get the specific requirements (Actually I had already spoken to Rachel about this and she clued me in that I would probably be asked to do 300 words and three links - this meant I had already written most of my review and saved it ready for publication later). There was a time limit attached to the conditions, but what impressed me was the fact that they were confident enough to pay out BEFORE I had actually published a word of the actual review.
Payout before publication takes some beating... I have had two more opps sent my way and have tentatively completed a draft post for each in the hope that I will be paid for those too...
Read my end of month review in about 10 days time for more details on this months earnings.

Bits and Bobs

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:26:00 +0000

If you have ever sold stuff on eBay, you will know that you will get the best price if you articles look good, have the original packing and all the plastic knobs that the item came with. I am in the process of placing numerous objects on eBay, but I like to make sure the goods are presented in the best possible light, sometimes that just means cleaning them up, sometimes it means a small repair or searching the internet for just the right knob or handle to bring the item right back into A1 condition.
I have some baby things to sell including a stroller and a lovely wooden high chair. The major drawback with the chair is that there are some wooden knobs that have come away from their plastic housing, and I think it will need a night in with some araldite or supa-glue before they are ready to grace the pages of eBay.
I have a 100% feedback record and I intend to keep it, attention to the bits and bobs and good packaging is the way to keep your customers happy!

Good posture at work

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:46:00 +0000

I have recently completed a Health & Safety at work course, and although your fist reaction might be 'how dull..' there was actually some very interesting things to be learned. One of the major topics was concerned with the individual workspace particularly in an office environment where the type of office chair used can be very significant, but would apply to a factory worker or even classroom chairs and desks.
I discovered that if you use a PC for a significant part of the day, then because of the positioning and the inflexibility of layout, you should NOT be using a laptop as your main computer. This is something I, and I am sure many others are doing on a daily basis.
One of the first things I am going to insist on once our new H&S policy starts to roll out, is a new chair, a new desk and an independant USB keyboard for my laptop, and maybe even a separate screen too. It is surprising how much your seat, your desk and your desk layout can affect both your long-term health and your day-to-day performance.

Rationalisation

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:14:00 +0000

I have been trying to consolidate my online life into activities that pay and those that don't and am coming to the conclusion that a lot of what I do is wasting time that could be more profitably spent.
I am seriously considering off-loading a couple of domains that do not yield very much to concentrate on those that are a bit more healthy. To this end I may be posting about domain-selling maybe in the New Year...
I am considering jacking in surveys altogether once I have reached payout on the main two that I do, plus there is a (low) paying forum that I spend too much time on. In fact my new long-awaited method of posting earnings should be able to demonstrate those projects that really are a waste of time. A big plus is that I have never sold a domain before, so that in itself may be a bit of an adventure.
My new regime should see me making more through passive earnings and doing more 'background' activities related to SEO. Rest assured. I will certainly retain munny4hunny and continue to post about my online earnings journey...

Christmas is coming

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:30:00 +0000

...And a frugal Christmas is will be, that doesn't stop me dreaming about LCD tvs and a blu-ray player in my stocking though...
What I particularly love about these flat-screened TV's is the way you can have them on the wall or in a place that your old cathode ray tube set wouldn't go because it was just so bulky.
I live in hope that we will end up buying a Nintendo 'Wii' for the family at Christmas, then realise we will need a new telly to play it on as our old one really isn't up to the mark...

Renew your filters!

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:20:00 +0000

There are certain jobs that get left and left, but once you complete the task, you get a great sense of achievement. The modern household is full of filters, furnace filters air-con filters, vacuum filters, water filters, oil filters and keeping track of them can be a tedious task. But when you get around to changing or refurbishing that filter, the air is cleaner, your appliances run better and more efficiently, in general your quality of life is improved just by changing that filter. My recommendation is that you place a marker on your calendar at the point when your filters should be changed, that way you don't have to walk around coughing and spluttering, wondering why the Hoover isn't picking up and dust, the furnace is cold and the air-con smells so bad...

Exercise!

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:48:00 +0000

So you want to get fit and have been thinking about (or even started) a regime of having a run every now and then... along come the chilly mornings and the foggy nights and somehow the attraction of going running gets less attractive by the day. Why not add to your home gym with a couple of treadmills??
If you like a bit of competition with the other half, his and hers treadmills has to be a great way to keep fit without either one of you disappearing over the horizon leaving the slower one eating dust..

Party time

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:58:00 +0000

Party season seems well under way again, plenty of birthdays, Halloween around the corner and Christmas coming up fast.. The last party I took my little one to, quickly descended into something like a scene from Lord of the Flies with kids turning into savages until someone struck up a game of musical chairs and order was returned to the chaos in a flash. If you are planning something slightly more sophisticated, you might consider having some bespoke party invitations made up to give a certain air of grandeur to the occasion.
Of course, then you may need to hire a master of ceremonies to announce your arrivals in order to do justice to the quality of your invitations...

Earnings September 2009

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:15:00 +0000

This month continues the trend of failing to break the $100 barrier and also the trend of PayU2Blog as being the best earner...
In fact I had nothing from other paid to blog schemes this month at all, the rest of the income coming from advertising in one guise or another. One of my blogs attracted the attention of a potential sponsor who paid for a post which I have categorised as 'miscellaneous', and also for a banner which comes under 'advertising'. Hopefully, this relationship will continue and the banner can earn me a monthly amount. I am (very) slowly building up my latest contextual ads project and hope to be able to report a small profit which will enable me to repeat the trick a few more times building up a residual passive income (not that websites are genuinely passive as they rarely stay entirely static..). I am happy with the 80-odd dollars I have made, and am continuing to think about a new way of posting results which will reflect money that I have received rather than earnings which are due. The new results will (if I ever get round to doing it) reflect all my online activities rather than being limited to blogging.

Car Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:10:00 +0000

Everyone is using price comparison sites to get an auto insurance quote, house insurance and even quotes for utility bills. It is a sign of the times, that we are always shopping around for the best offer to save some much-needed money. As bills such as insurances come up for renewal, it makes sense to try a number of vendors to get a better offer. What the comparison site does though, is gives you all those vendors, and allows you to compare without going to several different sites and having to re-enter the same set of data over and over again.

Appetite suppressants

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:39:00 +0000

I get a bit concerned when I see the term appetite suppressants as opposed to simply diet pills or fat-burners. These are obviously intended to interfere with the bodies natural craving for food and therefore need to be treated with caution and respect. Medications whether on prescription or bought over the counter or over the internet should always be accompanied with advice on how to use them properly.
Always read the instructions and take proper notice of recommended dosages, find out the likely or possible side-effects and above all get good professional medical advice. Most medications available are perfectly safe and well-tested, but many are very effective and should always be treated with proper caution and respect.

TV keeps evolving

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:32:00 +0000

As the UK spends the week frantically retuning their 'freeview' digital TV receivers, we are left to ponder the power of Television and the way it shapes our lives. It is a phenomenon that is ever-changing and all-consuming, providing entertainment and news often in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other. We have welcomed cable and satellite TV, and are now in the process of completely phasing out analogue TV altogether. We have seen the advent of the flat screen, the plasma screen and have plasma mounts specially designed to hold them. Having slimmer TV's and a way to keep them from hogging too much of our living area contrasts the way in which TV is becoming a bigger part of our lives. I reckon probably about 50% of our conversations are informed or inspired by TV, and most of us would be lost without it.

The best fat-burner

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:26:00 +0000

So which is the best fat burner available? Is it a pill or is it the sort of physical exercise that makes you sweat? Everybody has an opinion, and probably the best approach is a combination of factors:

A diet of sensible food, cutting out 'silly' foods but still retaining a reasonable intake of healthy options (raw carrot replacing chocolate, a salad bowl instead of a 'fry-up')
A good regime of exercise - walking instead of using the car, going for a run a few times a week
Medication (in extreme cases and with professional advice) the key to using medication to burn fat is to get good advice about what would be best for you. Self-medicating may be a risky path to take.

The best way to start a weight-loss rogram is to have a 'buddy' who can accompany you when exercising, help you to exercise discipline and ensure that you get the best advice concerning medications.

Using affiliates

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:23:00 +0000

I am not a great advocate of affiliates like some people are, but I do see their value. I have cashed out twice from my favourite affiliate scheme, shareasale.com and just received a 'check' for $53. Actually cashing that cheque proved to be highly problematic and quite expensive. I had to drive to a branch of my bank and spent £3.50 on parking ($5), added to that, the bank charged me £8 (£11) to pay in a foreign currency cheque, leaving about $37 remaining from the original $53.
Never mind, next time I will take the option of a direct bank deposit which costs just $7 if I select the option from my Shareasale account.
ShareAsale have lots of different affiliates on offer, affiliates work best if they are very closely associated with the niche that you are working. Although I have tried a lot of different affiliates, only a few actually come to fruition - the more closely they are associated with your site visitors needs, the likelier you are to achieve some sales and make commission.

Fat burners

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Whether you are looking for a fat burner or a 'performance enhancer', the world of internet purchasing is rife with unregulated medication. Whilst many providers of this type of medication are no doubt reputable suppliers, caution should be exercised. Only buy from sites that have a trading history and contact details that include a real address. Only buy products that you have researched and found to be suitable for you specifically - and best of all, get advice from a medical professional.
Don't forget that however good a product may be, there are always some side effects that make it unsuitable for certain people groups. Always check to make sure that you don't have a pre-existing condition that precludes you from using the medication in question.

When will I have the time?

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:04:00 +0000

I have been 'doing up' my house for more than 10 years at not too fast a pace... My lack of speed is not entirely due to my laziness, a lack of funds has also played a significant part. In that long time, I think we have managed to completely refurbish three rooms, leaving us four rooms and the hallway and landing to complete. The current project is the hallway, it has been stripped and we had some tiles laid down to replace the exisiting floor tiles.
The current project has been rudely interrupted when I got distracted by the renovation of our outside toilet which seemed to take up the best of the Summer months this year.
One of the major problems with my method of working is that I am too thorough, not content to replace carpets in our dining room, I ended up taking up the floorboards and replaced the flooring joists too - a task which took me several years to complete.
There is little chance that I will ever complete the house at the current rate of working, so I will need to either speed things up or become a lot more wealthy so I can pay someone else to do all the work.

OpenOffice

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:02:00 +0000

As part of my 'useful free software packages for a fresh PC install' CD that I have made and have given to a few friends, I included the OpenOffice package as an alternative to MS Office. I have just discovered a useful feature of OpenOffice which makes it even more essential. At work the other day a client sent us a MS Excel file which had been created in the latest version of Excel, and as you may know sneaky MS have added digits to their file extensions so that older versions cannot open the files. For instance, the file we were sent had the extension 'xlsx' instead of the old 'xls' extension.
As we have no plans to buy the latest version of MS Office, eventually I fired up OpenOffice which was immediately able to open the file. Not only tha,t but I could export the file as an older format so that my colleagues in the office who didn't have OpenOffice could open the sheet in their older version of Excel - another triumph for 'Open Source'.
This got me thinking, why would anyone even bother with these expensive software packages when free versions are so much more flexible??
For those who don't know, OpenOffice is a freely downloadable suite of programs that replicate all the functionality of MS Office and will seemlessly import most MS Office documents whether they be WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT etc... there are actually six programs in the suite including drawing and database programs.

College Degrees Online

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Hold on... This is not a post that is going to replicate one of those dodgy emails that somehow find their way into your inbox - this is about real colleges that can offer a real Online masters degree from a real highly rated school.
The trouble with the culture that has grown up around online education is that very few quality colleges are offering online qualifications because of the association with scam emails offering qualifications for cash.
Gonzaga University is a real institution with a campus a football team, a student union and every other attribute that you would expect. They also have worked hard to be able to offer some of their courses in an online format for busy professionals who otherwise cannot make the commitment to study in conventional programs.
So if you had given up on online education believing that all online 'courses' are a scam, think again because there is at least one genuine institution out there which can offer you the real deal.

Online purchasing

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Is it despite the current economic climate or because of it, that there seems to be more and more online trading and less high street trading. We are now well-versed in the fact that anything from weight loss pills to new cars can be bought online, but we need to take some precautions in the online trading world.
We are far more susceptible to all sorts of fraud in online trading than we would be using more traditional methods, here is a short checklist:
Does the trader have a good track record?
Is the product offered, also available on the High Street?
Are transactions taking place on a secure server?
Do you have the physical address of the organisation you are dealing with?
Online trading can save you a lot of money as long as you are aware of the potential pitfalls, and as with any purchases, get lots of advice before you buy...

Home-building

noreply@blogger.com (jay) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:37:00 +0000

I have been very pleased with my latest DIY triumph..
I renovated our ancient outside toilet which had become more of a storage space. I was originally just going to clean it up and tidy up the wiring in there (I had previously put in a fuse box to supply electricity to the garden shed). After a bit of thought, I realised that it was no good having a working toilet unless there were taps and a sink for hand-washing. So I ended up plumbing in hot and cold water and a basin with outflow, making the whole job somewhat more complicated.

Of course, we are not talking about a chic stone sink as something very petite was required in order not to take up too much of the small amount of room available. I ended up using a 'hopper' from a rain collecting gutter-system as it was small and happened to have the right sized hole to take a bottle-trap. The end result would not win any design awards, but I felt that considering the small outlay, the finished article is very pleasing. I used tongue and groove panelling to cover all the pipework, and put all of the wiring into ducts and junctions into sealed boxes. The woodwork was stained a dark mahogany and I am pleased to say that the facility has been getting plenty of use as it is always handy to have a spare convenience...

I had one last trick up my sleeve... the hot and cold taps are both the kind of taps that you can connect a garden hose to - that way, when we have a paddling pool in the garden, we will be able to put warm water in there as well as cold water...