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wahmaholic's Profile About me ... |
Member since: 8/16/2009 Last login: 7/24/2010 |
I am a Filipina work at home mom crazily shuttling between web content writing, blogging, web design (albeit very basic), taking care of my little piglet, and worrying when my husband will stop smoking.
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Location: Baguio City Interests: writing, movies, music, computer games My site: http://wahmaholic.com My blog: http://randomwahmthoughts.blogspot.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/wahmaholic |
wahmaholic has posted 192 comments with an overall 94.9% helpful rating...
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wahmaholic's comment on Leslie Rohde ...
Love Him For His Mastering PageRank!
The only reason I know of Leslie Rohde is that he is the man behind my all-time favorite product, Mastering PageRank. I may not be a master in PR yet, but I believe I have been helped a lot by his video course, so much that I have started using the techniques that he taught in all the websites that I am working with. I have seen positive results over time, and for that I am very thankful to Leslie Rohde. I haven't met this man in person, and I doubt I ever will, but I already love him to bits. He is not your typical internet marketer in that he doesn't reek of boastfulness. He states nothing but the simple facts, no frills and no flashy words. It is one of the characteristics that first endeared me to him, and I know that whatever products he will come out with next, it will also be a big hit because he doesn't work only for the bucks that his products will bring in, he makes them because he wants to share what he knows with as many people as possible.
wahmaholic's comment on Mastering PageRank ...
One Word: WORKS!
I have been using the knowledge that I have learned from this course on one of my sites and have seen an increase in my PageRank since the last update. For that alone, I am vouching for the effectiveness of this product. But more than that, I learned things that I have never heard of, techniques that will benefit me not only for the next couple of months but for the rest of the time that I intend to blog. I don't want unbelievably high PR, just enough to keep those writing opportunities and advertisement offers coming to my blog. Mastering PageRank taught me how to do that in ways that do not cost so much of my money. They offer a 90-day guarantee, but I never had any need for it. The price is more than worth your every dime. I highly recommend this product to anyone (everyone I bet) who's ever been frustrated with a gray or a zero PageRank. I am working now on my other site to move it from zero (it used to be gray before I used Mastering PageRank on it) to something higher.
wahmaholic's comment on Shopify ...
Shopify + WordPress = Match Made In Heaven!
I set up an online store using the WordPress platform for a friend a couple of months ago, and in the beginning we were looking at a lot products/plug-ins designed to work great with an online store which works fairly well with WordPress. We found it with Shopify and we have never looked back. It's VERY easy to use, and the products look very professional and inviting to potential customers, so the investment made was well worth it. The pricing options are very attractive, and my friend is considering to upgrade in the near future, what with her online business doing great. WordPress has improved a lot over the years, allowing it to also become a powerful e-commerce platform, and Shopify has helped bring out that particular potential of WordPress to the maximum level.
wahmaholic's comment on YouTube Comments Poster ...
Be VERY Careful!
I tried using YouTube Comments Poster, but even after the precautions I took, the YouTube accounts I used with this was still banned from said site. I have no idea what I overlooked, but well, I must HAVE overlooked something, otherwise I wouldn't be banned. Or maybe, there is something innately wrong with YouTube Comments Poster. I am not the one to pass judgment on the technical aspects of a product, as I am clueless on that field, so I cannot say honestly if it was me or YouTube Comments Poster who's at fault. I didn't earn back what I paid for this product, so obviously it did not work for me. I have yet to actually use a product that works 100% like YouTube Comments Poster advertised on their sales page, and for now I'm lying low on using YouTube as a source of traffic for a couple of sites I manage.
wahmaholic's comment on Web Easy Professional ...
Great For MiniSite Owners!
Hiring a web designer can be very costly, especially for a person who is new in the mini-site field. However, a free and professional-looking template is not hard to come by, what with the plethora of free themes and templates nowadays. But if you want an image that people will remember you by, then there are only two options: hiring a professional web designer or making one for yourself. The latter option is what most bosses I've worked for who own mini-sites have opted to do. However, not all of them are experienced (or can be bothered) with making templates, so I always direct them to the Web Easy Professional product. The first time I stumbled upon this, I was amazed at it's potential. More so when I started using it. It is what it's name claims: it's easy to use and it looks professional. The drag and drop feature is a love, plus the fact that it is not resource-hungry makes me love it even more. I would recommend Web Easy Professional any time of the day, if you're a mini-site owner on a tight budget.
wahmaholic's comment on Spin Article Pro ...
One Of The Better Content Spinners Out There
For it's price which is higher than most, I think the service does justice to what you pay for it. As noted at the end of the official review, the end results are not as good as when actual people did it, but I think it's the next best thing. I've tried their services once with their pay as you go system, and what I like about Spin Article Pro is that it replaces chunks of phrases with similar meanings, and not just synonyms of solitary words here and there, so overall the results look more natural than other content spinners I have tried. Google loves fresh content, and Spin Article Pro provides products that Google detects as new, so this service is not only time-saving, it also endears sites to the Big G, too! Top-notch service, every cent is worth paying for it.
wahmaholic's comment on SOS Copywriting 101 ...
Should've Taken Clue From The Sales Page
For a product claiming to teach you copywriting, their sales page was pretty bad. Gotta practice what you teach right? But no. And that was my first mistake. This product was highly recommended by someone my boss knew, now I know that someone must either be the owner of SOS Copywriting 101 or one of their salespeople. There wasn't even a money back guarantee to fall back on, but the boss was insistent, so upon that recommendation, we made the jump and purchased this in the hopes that it can add to our arsenal of training materials for future copywriters. Boy were we so wrong. It's a good thing it's not MY money that went down the drain, otherwise I'd be twice as furious. For a little less than a hundred dollars, I expected at least decent-quality videos even if the contents were so-so. But that wasn't the case. It was pile after pile of useless and poor quality videos. One of the worst tutorials on copywriting I have ever come across.
wahmaholic's comment on UtilBux ...
Was Paid Once But Never Again
It WAS legit. Note the emphasis on the word WAS. It used to pay it's members, I was one of the fortunate ones to experience that, and for a while I thought it was going to last forever. But alas, some things are not meant to be. I knew it was associated with a proven scam site even before I joined, but I still gave it the benefit of the doubt. Very early this year, I tried to request for payout as I already reached the minimum required. It said "unable to send payment" or something to that effect. I tried again a couple of days later, it still gave me the same message. I haven't tried since. It was, after all, just a couple of dollars and there were already complaints left and right about people like me also not being allowed to cash out. So yes, UtilBux is now a scam site and you would be wise to stay away from this one.
wahmaholic's comment on Referral-Secrets ...
Give Me Back My $7!
I suck at getting referrals, so I honestly thought that Referral-Secrets is the answer to my problem. I thought that it could give me something new to improve my skills or techniques at getting the attention (and perhaps the interest) of people I want to recruit. But no. I totally wasted my $7 on this. Even I who is not a genius on getting referrals know ALL of the "tips" contained in this ebook, and know that while SOME of those methods get results, they were meager and cannot be counted as a good way of getting people to sign up under you. Most of the tips offered, on the other hand, were completely useless. I have had the unfortunate experience of trying some of those methods that supposedly work great, but alas, it didn't work for me (or for anyone else I know, for that matter). And because of this I highly recommend that you stay away from Referral-Secrets. As far away as possible.
wahmaholic's comment on WordPress Review Theme ...
Great For SEO!
I design WordPress sites as a sideline, so I know about WP codes and all that stuff you're not supposed to fuss over if you're a newbie in internet marketing. As for the WordPress Review Theme, it is really clean and easy to edit, and comes with the whole shebang, everything you could ever need at the start of an affiliate site. The design itself looks very professional, as well, and for a mere $30, this is quite a steal. You cannot find a lot of great themes priced below $100 nowadays. There's a bit of configuration to be done right after theme installation, but that's about it. How's that for a time saver. So yes, if you want to get started right away with earning money through your site, then I highly recommend the WordPress Review Theme.
wahmaholic's comment on 1 Article A Day ...
Well Worth The Price!
I know I should feel threatened by this product, as it negates the need for writers like me who, of course, charge higher than what 1 Article A Day offers. However, I had to try it, maybe find something to rant about and discourage other people to use the service. But I was wrong about my initial assumption. Being a writer myself, I was pretty impressed with the quality of the articles given from the membership. Admittedly, not top-notch, but hey, we get what we pay for. Still, when you have a lot of sites to maintain and not a lot of money to spend, then 1 Article A Day is your best option. I know some sites who ask for articles to be written by the batch, and this is maybe where the service sources it's articles, and by that, writers like me are not really put out of the spotlight. We are just made to work behind the scenes even more. But hey, whatever pays the bills.
wahmaholic's comment on 10 Day Cash Secret ...
Was Pretty Good
Bought this when the product was still available. I don't know what happened behind the scenes, why this product isn't for sale anymore. All I know is that it is one of the few that actually helped me set up sites for monetization fast and easy. I like the video formats, they are logical and easy to understand, it guides you through from step one to the last step needed to earn money from your websites. Although certainly not the best there is, I think 10 Day Cash Secret is worthy of being lined up with the most useful resources there is in the market. It's just sad that it was discontinued. Although it may not be for everybody, it helped me. And at the end of the day, those products that helped me, no matter what negative feedback it receives from others, will still get the praise from me that it deserves.
wahmaholic's comment on $365K Blog Traffic Formula ...
Precise As It Can Get
This ebook is definitely not for the more advanced bloggers. What I liked most about this product is that it is concise. I don't have much time for reading nowadays and it helps that this ebook is to the point. I found the price a bit steep for what it is offering though, but it is the only price that you have to pay for the benefits that you will reap for a long time to come. I'm impressed that some of the bloggers I idolize have come together in one read and revealed some of their traffic generating secrets, and I'm even more pleased that it is written in such a way that I actually understood the entire product, unlike some of my other purchases, which does little to enlighten my mind on a certain field. All in all, I recommend this product to anyone who's ever had problems with attracting traffic to their sites. Which means newbie bloggers mainly.
wahmaholic's comment on Wordpress Affiliate ...
One Of The Best!
I've worked with dozens of mini-sites that uses this plug-in, and based on the performance of those sites, I can safely say that Wordpress Affiliate really helps in bringing in those precious sales easily. Not only is it price reasonably, everything in the plug-in works like a dream. It may seem a bit steep for those who plan on installing it on only a couple of domains, but if you own tons of site (ten and above), you won't believe how much time this product will save you. And mini-site owners know this very well: the more mini-sites you get out there, the better your chances of earnings. So Wordpress Affiliate helps you achieve that goal in it's little but very important role of helping you rake in those ClickBank dollars. Wise investment to make, in my humble opinion.
wahmaholic's comment on Web Traffic Genius ...
Made Me Love WordPress Even More
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of WordPress. I love the functionality that plug-ins add to the power of said platform. So I am constantly on the look out for those tools that will make life as a virtual assistant easier for me. Most of the mini-site owners that I work for are more than open to suggestions. After all, saved time means more work done for them. Web Traffic Genius is just that. Virtually painless. Installation took very little time to go through, and using it was equally easy. The single price point is attractive, and because it allows for unlimited sites, this is a perfect tool for mini-site owners. Wait, what about the results? Well, three weeks after using Web Traffic Genius, the mini-sites I've worked with saw positive results, as in first-page results. Never have the results come back as fast as when we first used Web Traffic Genius. So yes, this product does work and is well worth forking your money over to.
wahmaholic's comment on Zero Cost Profits ...
Zero Profits, Is More Like It
Okay, first off, I am speaking from the point of view for someone who's been around for some time and who has worked with seasoned and newbie internet marketers, so I have used more IM tools than the average Jane. That being said, I am dissatisfied with what Zero Cost Profits has to offer to me for that price. Most of what I read from the e-book I already know about, some ideas require all but your common sense to figure out for yourself, and the rest is just blah information. What I additionally don't like is that the author fools people into thinking that IM is an easy field to get into. No sir. You can't work just less than several hours a week and earn thousands (unless you're already up there, which by then, you will probably have absolutely NO need for this product). IM does not work like that, especially in the early stages. And the basic premise that you can earn without spending a dime?? With IM, you NEED to spend, even a just a little bit. So Zero Cost Profits for me was not worth my money at all.
wahmaholic's comment on Social Money Magnet ...
Slowly Bringing Back My Interest On Twitter
I'm on my fifth day of trial, and I can say that Social Money Magnet is a serious potential money-maker. The training materials are nothing short of exceptional, it taught me stuff that I haven't seen in any other make-money-with-Twitter schemes I have tried so far, so that in itself is a reason for me to purchase the full version after the trial period. I have given up a while ago about ever making money with Twitter, as I have failed lots of times in the past and no product I tried helped me in the least. All the little things that I thought were not important in generating income through Twitter, Social Money Magnet made me realize that those trivial details count a LOT. So THAT was why I was not seeing any success with this social networking platform. I was blindly focused on just the making money part. I'm glad I stumbled upon Social Money Magnet when I did, thanks to a close friend's recommendation, because now I am all motivated to try my luck with Twitter again.
wahmaholic's comment on Bookmarkwiz ...
One Of The Better Ones Out There
I can't say that this is the best. I've used products that submit to more sites than Bookmarkwiz, but if you are just concerned with submitting to THE most popular bookmarking sites and care for quick results and an almost hands-off process of doing so, then Bookmarkwiz is made for you. Automation is taken to a new level by this product. It not only submits your sites, it also creates an account for you if you don't have one yet in one of the 25 bookmarking sites in their database, this feature of which is inclusive of the one-time charge. This is not the case with other products of the same nature, you have to pay extra to have access to that feature. Which is one of the things I like about Bookmarkwiz. At one price point, though steep, the product is already all in. Unlike others who offer theirs very low, but you have to cough out additional money in order to enjoy all the benefits that come with the tool. The ease of using it is also a love, which makes it recommendable for newbies. Shell out money one time, and this tool will save you tons of time for the rest of your IM life.
wahmaholic's comment on Wufoo ...
Looks Dang Great!
Ever since I tried using Wufoo, I haven't looked anywhere else for building my forms. Not only does it allow me to customize the forms to my liking, it is also very intuitive and easy to use. What more can one ask from a form-builder? The free version is great, but I found that the paid one is even better, so I had no regrets forking out for the extra features that the paid version offers. This service is definitely worth every cent of my money and then some. It manages for me the information gathered by the forms I have made so there's no hassle anymore in deciphering what the data means to me and my purpose as it is all already there in front of me. The ability to add ajax effects is nothing short of impressive, as it aids my potential form answers in filling up the form easier. I do not have to bother with complex htmls and stuff to make it look exactly like I want it to, and boy do the forms perfectly look their assigned part. All I needed to know was what information to gather and Wufoo does the organizing and the presentation part for me. Overall, a top-notch service that I recommend to anyone who has ever been frustrated with the hassles of information collection online.
wahmaholic's comment on 3D Photoshop Actions ...
Saved Me TONS Of Time!
In a previous VA stint I was asked to come up with a cover of the boss's ebook which he is planning to give away to his subscribers. This is the first time I have been asked to, so I was quite overwhelmed by the request. He let me use his recently purchased Photoshop Action Scripts for this purpose, and I must tell you, using the software dispelled ALL my initial apprehension of not doing the cover right. The user interface is VERY easy to manage and navigate through. It is, as advertised, a time-saver. I was able to do what the boss requested in half the time he allotted me, and he was pleased with the results that he wants me to do another one for him. I thought I still have to learn the ropes of Photoshop well before I can create something like I did with my first ever cover, but 3D Photoshop Actions made it possible for me without having to go through rigorous Photoshop tutorials reading. If ever I get good enough to make this as a stable sideline, I will definitely purchase Photoshop Action Scripts for myself because it is well worth the asking price and more.
wahmaholic's comment on Directory Critic ...
Great Resource!
The site itself I have been visiting ever since I learned that site directory submission is one of the most effective ways of link building and sending traffic to my blogs. They have a free directory list, which although takes a lot of time to wade through, is a great compilation in my opinion. I observed that the PageRanks of the listed sites are not always updated though, so the site admin should work on that. I did find that they are constantly updating, true to their claims, and I have never clicked a link from there which landed on a dead page. It navigates like a dream, so there's another plus. I know exactly what to click and where to go to reach the page that I need at the time of my visit. I have referred one of the bosses I had on a previous VA stint to the Directory Maximizer submission service (no commission though, hee hee) and he has been using it ever since. I noticed his sites increased their visibility because of the service, and I commend the people behind Directory Critic for that.
wahmaholic's comment on Super Traffic Method ...
Free Traffic Is Great Traffic
I am not really keen on paying for traffic to my personal blogs since I don't sell anything from them, but I need to maintain their Alexa ranking and PageRank just the same to keep writing opportunities coming. So I look for free traffic when I can. Seventeen dollars for Kris Mainieri's traffic generating system is something I am willing to pay for though. This resource gave me all the possibilities of growing my traffic through free means. Admittedly, it's information that I can get on the internet if I dig deep enough, but there is no time for digging deep for this WAHM nowadays with the bills left and right that need to be paid. So I forked out the $17, hoping against hope that this will not be just a useless waste of money. It wasn't. It gave me the information I need, handy in the form of videos and even handier because I have a hard copy. I needn't do my research on growing traffic anymore after this purchase. All the free traffic I need and where to get it is provided instantly by Super Traffic Method for me.
wahmaholic's comment on BestDollarClicks ...
Unrealistic = SCAM
The only reason I signed up for this was to prove that this is just another scam site. Nobody would pay anyone $1 A CLICK for an advertisement that the clicker is most likely not interested in. I researched a bit before signing up, and when I uncovered that Pratt, a well-known scammer, owns this site, I am more than certain this would be non-paying just like the other $1 per click sites I have tried. But I still signed up. I cannot just write it off as a scam without seeing it for myself. I clicked dutifully for about a month like someone really interested in reaching payout, and even though I didn't reach it because the payout rate was even more ridiculous than the payment per click, I observed from the site all the signs of being one big scam site. It doesn't have a forum, there is no response from my contact to the admin and the owner is anonymous (he thinks). BestDollarClicks has payment proofs, but you can only see them inside the site and nowhere else on the internet. Plus, if you compute how much they charge for running an ad and the amount they say they will pay their members, you will see clearly that the system is simply not feasible.
wahmaholic's comment on Super Affiliate Trainer ...
Super Helpful!
I just finished watching the ten video lessons, and while I already know some of the points that Ewen raised in the videos, most of them I still find helpful as new reference and a sort of reviewing again what I learned during my training days as a beginner virtual assistant. I needed to learn these because those are a part of what I do as an assistant to mini-site owners, and Ewen's videos helped refresh my memory and contributed a lot to polish what I know now. There are even videos for the really clueless, and I went to look at the three-part setting up a WordPress blog video lesson and found them very easy to understand. I wished I was able to watch them back then when I was still WP clueless, but oh well. I'm still glad I was able to get free access to Ewen's resources when I did. I hope you still get your free access, too. For something free, this is pretty good.
wahmaholic's comment on Web Video University ...
Darren Rowse Approved So I Trust It
I read about this product from one of my favorite bloggers, Darren Rowse, and what I read in his experience with Web Video University was enough to convince me that this is the real deal. I am only subscribed to the basic membership, but even from that I am getting a LOT. It is packed full of information for making viral videos which I use with Traffic Geyser, and that combination is a sure win. The resources are amazingly diverse and plentiful, so you won't hear me saying I just wasted my money on this for things that I already know about. It allowed me to go over the course in my own sweet time, and I think I work better that way, as big time information overload does nothing for me. It taught me really small but essential details about web video making, like lighting and video length, for instance. David Kaminski hit the spot right with this one. It is VERY easy to understand and the course follows a logical order so I didn't have a hard time AT ALL going through it. Highly recommended!
wahmaholic's comment on Ready Niche Profits ...
Ready Niche Profits Already Won Me Over
I highly recommend this service if you are someone who is not so keen on spending tons and tons of time on niche site-building activities and just want to provide content and see the results in as little time as humanly possible. Ready Niche Profits allowed me to do just that. I'm a patient person, but me and time are not exactly good friends right now, so I decided to purchase this system. It is quite an ingenious service, so I was floored and made the jump. Even the autoresponders and the opt-in forms are readily made available for you! How much easier can that get? Plus, support is excellent too. I am more than happy with the response rate that the site provides, and I had a lot of questions answered immediately and clearly. The Ready Niche Profits also provide great training resources, which helped a lot in the learning curve. Now my only concern is driving traffic to my niche sites. I say that with Ready Niche Profits and a great system for traffic building, niche sites will earn you a steady amount every month in no time!
wahmaholic's comment on DreamTemplate ...
Great Variety Of Templates!
I love it that they have so many templates to offer. Name a niche, and they got a template for it. There are fonts available for download, as well, to aid you in design. So basically this is a one-stop shop for all my site template needs. And their template codes are quite clean, so there's no need for too much editing in order for them to work the way you want them to. This is important, since you are pretty much left to yourself once you purchase the templates, as support is not exactly their best service aspect. Other than that this is a pretty good place to get professionally designed templates for a small fee. The beauty of it is just you just have to be a member to access to all the template files, unlike other sites where you have to pay PER template that you want to use. $59.95 for thousands of ready to use templates is a steal, I strongly think. There are strict terms and conditions that you have to follow though, so make sure to read them if you're planning to avail DreamTemplates services.
wahmaholic's comment on Nomad's Guide to Make Money Online ...
Opened My Eyes To Endless Possibilities
The cost of paying for this valuable resource is nothing compared to what I learned from Janet Smith. I decided to become a work at home mom after I gave birth to my daughter, so I can always be near her and move anywhere I want to and still earn enough for the family. All I needed was an Internet connection and my computer. I wished I purchased this earlier when I was still struggling to make money online. Now that I am reading it, I cannot believe how valuable the information contained in this ebook could have been to someone like me a couple of years ago. But, even if that was the case, I am still glad I bought this when I did. I have a feeling I haven't explored all the possibilities for earning online, and Smith's ebook confirmed my suspicions. This is 150+ pages packed full of information that anybody who's looking to make money online SHOULD purchase. I like it that it's not flashy AT ALL. It gets down to the meat of the matter after a background chapter, which you should also read for inspiration. You SHOULD NOT expect to buy this ebook and make money poof, just like that. What you SHOULD expect is to use this ebook as a highly informative resource to have in hand when you are in your journey towards making money online. There is a money-back guarantee, but for what I have been learning from this ebook so far, I don't think I will be needing that ever, even after the 90-day period has passed.
wahmaholic's comment on Traffic Eruption ...
Great For Generating Visitors
I don't care for signups or sales conversions since I don't sell anything in my blogs (yet), so when I signed them up with Traffic Eruption, all I was expecting was traffic driven by them. Sign up process was a breeze, so that's a plus. First impression on the site was that it was cleaner compared to other sites I am a member of with the same purpose. The site also navigates like a dream, and I was up and using the site in several minutes after I first logged in. The ad generator was very easy to set up and the process flows logically, so there was no confusion on my part on what to do next, even if it was my very first time using it. Best part is, there was a tracking tool which enables me to monitor my stats on the site, so I readily know if I was getting anywhere with using Traffic Eruption. And I was. Visitors to my site grew noticeably because of TE, so I therefore highly recommend this product to anyone who's looking for traffic.
wahmaholic's comment on PLR Articles Daily ...
Great Articles
For something relatively cheap, the articles are quite good. I've never had a problem with the grammar or punctuation of what I receive, and it's just pure bliss when you see an article like that which gives you no headache in editing. We all know that Google is all for fresh content, and with PLR Articles Daily, I was able to produce just that. I am basically a word factory because I write for a living, but sometimes, I have a lot of things on my mind or suffer the dreaded writer's block, so this is where PLR Articles Daily comes to my rescue. Besides, plans of putting up new niche sites is on the horizon, and I would definitely be needing the help of Mike Steup's service. I've been thinking lately to, as the official review suggests, repackage them for profit and maybe I'll do that. Mike's newsletters do not spam my inbox, and when they come I always look forward to it because I always pick up something new or stay up-to-date with the guy and his product/s. Bottom line for this service, it is top-notch, it delivers what it says it will do for you, and support is nothing short of amazing. Highly recommend for minisite owners or just those who have a lot of niche sites for profit.
wahmaholic's comment on iThemes ...
Professional Looking and Clean
IThemes makes WordPress sites look very professional, that is the first thing I noticed about using this service. I've had the pleasure of working with sites that use Flexx Theme, and boy, do I love them. Although I wouldn't spend more than $150 or more for a WordPress theme (because I can make one for myself), I would definitely recommend this for those who don't have a clue how to make one yet want to put up a professional website that looks the part. $79.95 for a single theme that you can customize to your liking through the WordPress dashboard is pretty reasonable if you compare it with other services that offer the same features. Besides, the videos on the website makes it one hundred times easier to install and make everything work and look like you want it to. The other price point (which is what the owner of the minisites purchased) is also quite within the reasonable range. I was not surprised that people fall in love with the Flexx theme. I did. The dozens of versions offer one unlimited choices that can be limited only by one's imagination. Top notch service for me!
wahmaholic's comment on Pair Networks ...
Stable And Reliable
A Canadian boss who I've worked as a virtual assistant for quite some time hosts all his minisites with Pair Networks. Throughout the time that I was working with his minisites, there was next to no downtime. If there was, we would contact the host and they would immediately attend to us. That's the best part about Pair Networks, I think. Their customer support. Very knowledgeable, we would ask them something and we would know that THEY know what they're talking about so glitches (which there were virtually next to none of) are smoothed out easily and snap, just like that. The main gripe I have about Pair Networks is their control panel, which, if anything, is very limiting. It is functional, yes, but I've seen better control panels that are more intuitive. Other than that, I would recommend Pair Networks for hosting your business. Their bandwidth allocation is sweet, I tell you.
wahmaholic's comment on MyCashPrinter.com ...
Do Not Fall For This
Even the name itself sounds scammy. Most of these opportunities, when they try to lure you with lower prices if you try to leave their site, are scams. And this one is no exception. The guy doesn't even use his real name. If this system of his is so successful and effective, why the need to hide behind an alias? If I was previously "struggling financially" and turned into a millionaire, I would be proud of it. Privacy purposes. That's a load of you-know-what. I was scammed by this, and although I am not proud of it, I know that it's better to warn people about it by sharing my own experience. So here's mine. I purchased this and found the system too difficult to work with (or maybe it was just full of garbage? I don't know. You decide), so I went to ask for a refund, since it says that I can get one. Well, after several weeks of trying in vain, I have yet to hear from Jordan, or whoever he really is. I have even asked a relative for him to call the number indicated in the website, but no luck on his side still. If this was not a scam and you can really make a lot using this system, then why is every feedback I read about the site scream of SCAM?
wahmaholic's comment on Internet Payday ...
Not Worth It
The trial was only less than two dollars, so I tried it. That was when there was no feedback from the site, if it's just a rip off or what. So yes, I took the plunge and decided to try it out for myself. After all, I can just cancel if I didn't like it, right? Wrong. I didn't even receive anything from them, ANYTHING, so naturally, I canceled, but they still billed me. I was furious, obviously, so I tried to contact them several times. No answer. Wow. Internet Payday is pissing me off big time. I don't know if I can ever get back that money, it's been a while now. It's just sad that the owner chooses to gain money this way, ripping other people off of their hard-earned money WITHOUT even giving them anything vaguely resembling useful in return. I have read their Terms of Use but I guess I should have read it twice. This site is misleading, and you would do well to steer clear from this one. Internet Payday would just frustrate the heck out of you.
wahmaholic's comment on Headway Themes ...
I Love Headway!
There seems to be awesome do-it-yourself themes for WordPress coming out last year, and Headway is one of them. I love it like I love the Thesis theme. The control and flexibility that it gives me is unbelievable, not to mention that it is incredibly easy to use, even for a WordPress newbie. Anyone who can click on their mouse can make Headway work miracles for them. I've seen a lot of lovely templates, and have made some good templates myself, but it was not as easy to make as with Headway. Most do-it-yourself themes for sale you will immediately know that they have the same code, but not with Headway. In no time at all, you can make one (or two or three or any number!) uniquely designed template and your readers will not know that they're all Headway themes. You DON'T need any CSS skills. No sir. Everything is customizable with a click in your WordPress dashboard. I know how to make WordPress templates, but this sure beats hours and hours of poring over codes just to get them to look right. The bar for WordPress theme designers have been single handedly lifted by Headway. Need I say more?
wahmaholic's comment on Minisite Graphics ...
Best Minisite Graphics Guy In My Opinion!
Being a virtual assistant, I have worked with minisites which uses Sean Lowery's graphics. There are already several minisite graphics seller like Lowery, but I don't think anyone compares to him. Not with the services that my previous bosses have tried anyway. Quality and reasonable price is possible with this guy, plus the fact that he is very supportive of his clients, makes me say that this guy is definitely worth your minisite business. ALL of the minisites I've worked on which uses his graphics came out very well, and had higher earnings compared to others who didn't, so I guess that says a lot about the effect of how a website looks and how it fares with customers. Overall, I'd highly recommend Sean as the go-to guy when it comes to minisite graphics. He delivers, and he delivers it fast.
wahmaholic's comment on DIYThemes ...
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!
Anybody who doesn't marvel at the beauty, functionality and ease of the Thesis theme of WordPress has got to be out of his mind. It is one of the cleanest, most professional, and the most user-friendly themes I have ever encountered, one which lets your creative side run wild with the vast options that it offers. Although the personal membership is above my price reach, I took the plunge and purchased it when I saw it used on one of my friend's sites because it looked absolutely stunning! Support is nothing short of amazing, the resources available to help you through the system leaves nothing to be desired. Updates are also free, which is double ya for someone like me. Tinkering with the codes because I wanted a completely customized look took some time in the beginning, but since it has an almost flawless framework, it was easier as I got my rhythm. The dashboard instructions are humorous, and you would know that the people who did this enjoy what they do (and are good at it). How can you not laugh at their green button which traditionally only says SAVE but with Thesis says Big Ass Save Button? I really, really love DIYThemes for coming up with this theme.
Did I say it's awesome?
wahmaholic's comment on Link From Blog ...
Haven't Made Anything From Them
I signed up with them a few months back when I read from a blogger friend that she also signed up with them and has received a sign up bonus, depending on the value of the sites that I will register. So sign up I did. After all, I can never have too much pay-to-post sites to join. First impression was that it was hard to navigate. I found myself lost within the website. And for a site claiming to be an American company, I found too many grammatical errors on their pages, one of the first signs that I should have taken that I am not going to be getting anywhere with this. They seemed to have cleaned up a bit lately though, like they've finally hired a proofreader. Anyway, I was pleased when I was given a $9 sign up bonus, but that was all I got from them. I actively bid on the tasks that came, none were approved. I don't know how other people can earn there, I never had this problem with other pay-to-post sites like this, me not winning ANY of my bids. My blog stats are not sky-high, but they're decent enough for advertisers on other sites to notice. Not with Link From Blog. You could try to sign up, see if you will fare differently, but as for me, I will just focus my efforts on other pay-to-post sites that I really make money from.
wahmaholic's comment on Article Rewriter Pro ...
If You've Tried Other Rewriters Before, Then This Will Feel Lame
I am not saying this is the worst there is in the market. The variety of software that I have tried so far for the purpose are thankfully decent enough and gives me the quality that I expect. But not Article Rewriter Pro. Instead of saving me time, I ended up wasting more of it than if I wrote the article myself. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, that's why I tried it, but it let me down in so many ways that I do not recommend this product at all. Sure, if this was the very first article spinner that I have tried, I would have been satisfied with it, but since it isn't, and added to the fact that I've used the best in the field, then this product sucked big time for me. It has the poorest database of synonyms I have seen and has one of the lowest quality results. It is hardly readable. The product per se is easy to use, but I'd much rather have a passable article than all the user-friendly interfaces in the world.
wahmaholic's comment on Arclicks ...
Don't Even Bother
If you want to earn what you have worked for, then I suggest you look for other sources than Arclicks. It seemed pretty solid at the start, which made me join in the first place. But it went downhill very fast, without even giving us members a taste of earnings first. As much as I would like to complain and demand for my earnings, I can't because the site is almost always down. But even if it wasn't, there is still no reply to my countless emails demanding for payment. I thought the site having a forum was a good thing, it was the first thing I looked for when I first signed up. Now even the forum isn't there, and I don't even know if anybody has successfully contacted the admin and got a reply. I have given up on this site though, and I am not hoping to receive anything from them anymore. I already charged it to experience, and put Arclicks under my growing list of scam sites.
wahmaholic's comment on Eric Louviere ...
Great Adviser!
I can't say anything yet on how his products work, since most of them are out of my budget reach, and the others I have a better substitute for. However, reading Eric's blog taught me a lot of things about running an online business. The content is solid, and his passion about his field is evident in them. It is quite contagious, his attitude towards online business. I can feel that he enjoys what he does and is and can see that he is reaping great rewards from it. I found negative reviews about him scattered around the internet, and I know a boss I respect who wasn't satisfied with his 5 Star Program, so he's not 100% "up there" in my book. He is very active in the forums that is my one of my trustworthy sources of feedbacks regarding IM products and services, though, and from what I read about his posts, he seems a nice enough guy and willing to help out however he can. For that, and the value that he provides in his blog, I'd give him a B.
wahmaholic's comment on 30DayWealth ...
30DayWealth Delivers
This system is not as flashy as most I've seen (and I've seen many), one small sign I took that this one would not turn to be a big scam. And anyway, a friend purchased this a couple of months earlier than I did and already went over it, gave me the go-signal because she was finding it a superb resource. There was a money-back guarantee, to top it all, so I thought, why not. It turns out I wouldn't have any need for that guarantee, as I won't be letting go of this program anytime soon, if ever. Its simplicity is amazing, you will have to be a real dummy if you can't make it work for you. No wonder it's gotten such good feedback. How the program was organized and the depth that it goes to is top-notch. It's targeted at newbies, so more experienced marketers may not find it as dazzling. But it IS a solid resource, the most complete, if I may say so myself, of the information that you need if you want to start selling your own product.
wahmaholic's comment on digiXMAS SEO Tools ...
Fast, Easy And Has A Free Option!
What more can you ask for from an SEO tool? digiXMAS is one of the best products for SEO that I have encountered so far, and that's just not lip service. It is one of the top three rated software these days, and rightly so, because it delivers and it delivers well. I was lucky enough to try for myself the paid version, courtesy of a virtual assistant stint a year ago. It was virtually painless, meaning it took me no time to familiarize myself with how it works, and work it did for me. It is the fastest tool I have tried as well. It is ten to fifteen times faster in fact. This saved me (and the boss who owns it) a lot of precious time.
I was so impressed I went to try the free version for myself, which was enough for me this time. Even the free version was super fast, and has less errors. If ever I will find the need for more exposure for my sites, I will definitely go to the digiXMAS tools for help, and will gladly fork out my money for the paid version. I cannot imagine anything else being better than this product, so that means I will be using digiXMAS for a very, VERY long time.
wahmaholic's comment on Twollow ...
So-So Auto Following Tool
The systems they've set up in place to avoid your account from being banned by Twitter are good, especially the auto-unfollow feature. I've tried using it (for a boss who has it), and it's very easy to use, so that's another plus. It's comparatively cheaper than other Twitter tools so there's another positive point for that. BUT. I've used other Twitter tools as a virtual assistant, and there are definitely better services than Twollow. I also don't like it that they will automatically upgrade your membership if you forget to cancel it before the seven-day trial period. One boss forgot, and it was a long wait for an answer for a possible refund.
Or maybe it's just me being biased. What I really don't like is that the whole system negates the essence of the Twitter site, which is a powerful socializing tool, and not as a marketing vehicle. And even then it is not guaranteed to boost your following, as it depends 100% on the people you follow if they follow you back. Bottom line is, if you want to use Twitter as a marketing tool and you want it to be effective, avoid as much as possible using these auto-follow tools. The organic method is much more preferable, and will give you solid results.
wahmaholic's comment on Template Monster ...
Gorgeous Templates!
Five years back, I wouldn't have dreamed of purchasing templates from Template Monster. There were bad feedbacks left and right for the site then, mostly being that their markup is pretty bad. I had zero knowledge of web design during that time, so even if I wanted to purchase a template I would definitely not buy it from Template Monster because of those faulty errors found in their code.
However, Template Monster has improved a lot over the years, and I must say the several times that I worked (or at the very least, tried to work) on their templates, I found nothing nightmarish about their markup. Not perfect, but easily cleanable. The graphics are top-notch, that much is true. I've never seen more gorgeous templates than on Template Monster. There are free templates available for trial, and even those are eye-poppingly good.
The variety is also great. I think the site has one of the biggest repository of templates available for sale on the net, what with the length of their business existence. Prices would be steep for the beginner IM, but if you compare it to hiring a web design company to do your site for you, Template Monster is dirt cheap. Support could be better. It still takes a while for them to get back to us when we have questions.
wahmaholic's comment on SubmitEaze ...
Stabler and Faster Compared To Competition!
I've used several directory submitters in my time as a virtual assistant, which is why I was able to compare how SubmitEaze stands against competition. I have to say that this product is fantastic, and I prefer to use this more than any other software of the same purpose that I have tried so far. Support is nothing short of fantastic, every time I had something in mind, they answered very politely and quite fast. Up to now, the list of directories is being updated on a constant basis, compared to other software that obviously are dated. I also like it that since I've been permitted by bosses to start using it a year back, I know that their SubmitEaze products have been upgraded for free (major upgrades, at that) a couple of times. This is great because other article submission tools require you to pay money for an upgrade (even a minor one). I cannot say anything but positive things for the interface usability, it is by far the most user-friendly I've encountered. Overall, a great tool to have for individuals who own two or more websites.
wahmaholic's comment on Site Profit Bot ...
Great Automation Tool!
Schoeffel's product is a handy tool for mini-site owners to have, which is why a couple of previous bosses already have them and I am half afraid this product will single-handedly eliminate the need for virtual assistants. Haha. Seeing that there is a lot of work involved in mini-site creation, I think owners saw the wisdom in investing here as well as assistants for faster production of such sites. After all, the more mini-sites one has, the higher chances of earnings. Although content generation is still my duty as a virtual assistant, Site Profit Bot eliminated the need for another person to set up sites, and lessened my time researching for and selecting keywords to use in my articles, which, in my experience, is the most time-consuming process in everything that I do as an assistant (but the most important, hence the time required). The other duties of list building and site monetization was easily accomplished using Site Profit Bot for a first time user like me, so we were able to create a fully working (and earning) minisite in half the time than we used to. That meant more time spared for making even more mini-sites, to the delight of the bosses who used this product. Highly recommended as a long-time investment.
wahmaholic's comment on Textlinks.com ...
Had Glitches In The Start But Now Working Smoothly
An old boss from September this year wanted an easy way to increase his new sites' backlinks, so we surfed around for ways to do that and since money was no object, even the paid ones we looked into. I chanced upon TextLinks.com from a well-known forum that I am a member of, and since they were giving away twenty five free links (lifetime duration) as part of their launch, we took the bait and registered. Or at least, tried to. For some reason, the confirmation email was not coming, so as much as I want to, I cannot log in to the account that I made for the boss. I contacted the thread starter through private messaging and several hours after, I got a confirmation email. I didn't know what was the cause of the glitch, and I didn't bother to know, since we are already in. I loved it that they did not require the boss' credit card information when we first signed up for the 21-day trial period, which is a rarity these days. The sign up process in itself was easy peasy, as well as the link building system. The whole site was user friendly and navigable, and support's response time is fairly fast. The $99 was very expensive for my own taste, but since it wasn't me who was paying, and we saw an increase in page rank in all the sites we registered with TextLinks.com the last time Google updated, I think it was very much worth it.
wahmaholic's comment on SEO Secret Recipe ...
A Real Bang For Your Buck
As part of a virtual assistant training a couple of months back, I had to dig through this tutorial ebook for a couple of days to see if I could learn something new. I have read many SEO tutorials in the last two years because of my job, and I thought I have already seen them all, but SEO Secret Recipe proved me wrong. Although this is targeted for beginners, I found use in it more than most other SEO materials I've come across. The basic concept of promotion is explained here in a way that opened my mind more on the aspects of website promotion than some resources I've read combined. Following the guidelines to a T is the only way to go with this ebook, as you will probably not see any noteworthy results otherwise. Who says there is no secret recipe to SEO? There is, and it's right here in this product.
wahmaholic's comment on Easy PDF Maker ...
As Easy As It Says It Is
This is really as easy peasy as it claims. Although there are free PDF makers out there, I have tried some of them. and their results look horrible. How would those results convince anyone to buy whatever it is that the ebook is selling? It's impossible. So the $17 is a no-brainer investment to make when one of your internet marketing vehicles involves PDFs. It is VERY easy to use (I managed to make it work for me in several minutes after first using it) and although this may not be satisfactory for the more advanced users, it will serve the purpose well of newbies. The features offered are top notch, and I especially like it that it has a security option. What with people stealing content nowadays, it is very important for me to protect my files however possible. With Easy PDF Maker I was able to do that and so much more!
wahmaholic's comment on Frank Salinas ...
Salinas Walks The Talk
I know Frank Salinas primarily because of his Easy PDF Maker, which I have been using for some time now. One time I was converting PDFs and since I had nothing else to do, I visited his site and was led to one of his products, IM Dictionary. It has been a really handy reference for me since, and recommend it to anyone who's just starting on internet marketing. I have been checking out his other sites when I have the time, and is slowly learning from the man. I like it that he is upfront about his beginnings, and I was able to relate to him. He doesn't appear to me as someone who brags about his status in life just because he wants to, unlike other internet marketers who come across as that. What I believe he does is inspire people to pursue their dreams of becoming an IM, as because with the right motivation and hard work, it is possible to get where Frank is also now. He's an inspiration for me, alright, Frank is. As stated in my title, he's not just all words. He walks the talk.
wahmaholic's comment on Twitter Friend Follower ...
Great Way To Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts!
Some of the bosses I worked for get some of their sales from Twitter. I was curious how they actually do it because I have tried using the social site to get traffic to my site with little success. So I asked. And found out a couple of them were using Twitter Friend Follower and are getting excellent results from it. One of them let me test drive, after informing her that I would like to see how it works and if I like it, I will purchase it for myself. She let me handle her Twitter accounts for a couple of days, so I could see for myself. And boy was it impressive. It automates the most tedious chores that I hate doing on Twitter, like constantly purging my user list. I sent direct messages to several friends at a time on Twitter, and I found out that Twitter Friend Follower does this job, too. I haven't purchased it yet, but I definitely will early next year. Overall, an amazing program that works. I've seen it with my own eyes, and I plan on using it to maximize my Twitter experience.
wahmaholic's comment on Youtube Traffic System ...
Plain And SImple. It Delivers
As a virtual assistant, I was more often than not tasked to get mini-sites out there, for the potential customers to see. Harnessing the power of YouTube became a natural choice, as it gains hundreds of millions of views a day, and to even tap to a small percentage of that would mean so much for the mini-sites. So I started looking around for a tutorial which would help me use the power of the site. A former boss recommended Youtube Traffic System. She only has praises for it, so I decided to give it a shot. I followed what all the videos has to say to a T, and found that while there may be a lot to wade through, every single point that it made actually is essential to getting people to click on your Youtube link. So I religiously studied, and made several test videos to see how effective the methods are, and I tell you, I was floored by the results! The mini-sites of the bosses where I used the Youtube Traffic System for saw an increase in visitors, and some of them converted to sales! I haven't been using the system for very long, but what with the results I am seeing (and the delight of the mini-site owners), I will definitely be using this product for a long, long time.
wahmaholic's comment on AstroBux ...
A Stable PTC
I'm still not a huge PTC fan but when I hear of a PTC that's good, I just have to try it so I can spread the word to my friends who are into PTC. One sign I took that this is for real is that it doesn't promise to pay me tons of money just to click. So I signed up, clicked my way to payout (which took me a while since I didn't have any referral and I was only a basic member), and when I finally reached it, tried to request for my earnings, see if they really pay. It turns out they do, I got my payment and I started referring friends since then. The fifteen post requirement is no big deal for me, since I'm always at the forum anyways, checking out the other Astrobux members for their latest experiences about the site. One time I asked for clarification in the forum and the admin came forward to answer it. Pretty cool of them, if you ask me. Overall, a good PTC site to stick with.
wahmaholic's comment on 1 Million Free Ads ...
What You See Is NOT What You Get
Like the other reviewers, I had no illusions of getting 1 million hits even though this was what the site implies upon sign up. I just wanted even several sign ups for a site I helped put up, as a sort of contribution to the owner. I volunteered to look for ways to get sign ups, and I came across 1 Million Free Ads and thought since it was free, then there's no harm in trying. There was no harm alright, but there were no sign ups from the site either. There was traffic, yes, but that's not what I had in mind when I used their free service. I didn't pursue the paid membership, since I was not even impressed with their free services. I don't know if I could have gotten better results with their other membership levels, and I didn't want to risk my money, since when I researched, I was not able to see any genuine testimonials to the effectiveness of the 1 Million Free Ads service. So my experience with them stops there. Seeing the other reviews now, I was glad I made the decision I made, because it seems that there is no value in upgrading, after all.
wahmaholic's comment on Incrasebux ...
Reliable PTC
Unlike fly-by-night PTCs (unfortunately, most of them are), this one I've tested and they indeed pay, even their free members. As mentioned in the official review, them being around for quite some time now was my basis for signing up and trying in the first place. Although I don't click there now, I can attest to the fact that they pay on time, and that even though they are quite strict with their rules, it is only so in order for them to be able to keep paying their members. I would much rather have that than a very loose site which suddenly closes down leaving its members hanging in the air, or does not pay at all. I sense the administration's effort in reaching out to its members, and that's a good sign with any PTC site. My second payout I used for advertising in the site itself, and while the results were not phenomenal, it did bring in some traffic to my account. On both the clicker's and the advertiser's side then, I conclude that this PTC is a pretty solid one to stick with for a long time.
wahmaholic's comment on PTC Sense ...
PTCSense-less
Take my (and all the other reviewers' below me) advice regarding this PTC. Stay as far away as possible. My sister was scammed by this, and I even helped her out for sometime, hoping against hope that they might pay unlike other PTC scams out there. Even for the advertising services part, this will do your site no good. We've tried contacting the admin for updates on our supposed payout, but there was of course, no reply. We searched for a forum to voice our opinion in the lack of communication from the admin, but there was none to be found. I guess we should have done our research properly before getting our hopes up. One thing I've learned is that NO PTC will pay you $1 for EVERY click. Even if it wasn't a scam and intends to pay its members, it will POSITIVELY go bankrupt faster than you can say payout.
wahmaholic's comment on Minisite 911 ...
A Handy Tool For Minisite Owners
Being a virtual assistant to several minisite owners exposed me to this service. This is quite the staple for minisite owners ever since it came out last year, and is especially handy for those just starting out, as the costs to hire a designer for your planned minisites can make a really huge dent on your budget. Communication with the owner is great. Issues are dealt with as soon as possible. Like the one time when we needed to roll out a site immediately, the turnaround was unbelievably fast when we informed them of our need! And then there was another time when the boss was so picky and he kept changing his mind about the design. The team was very, very patient in dealing with his demands, and even the boss has to admit that in the end it brought about the feel that he wants site visitors to feel. One thing I can say is that Minisite 911 underpromises and overdelivers!
wahmaholic's comment on Daily Cash Jobs ...
Keep Your $10
It will be better spent on resources other than this trash. Yes, that's all it is. I've gotten better information for FREE from blogs of my favorite internet marketers than this junk. I went through the whole ebook in ten minutes, and that was after reading it twice because I was unable to believe my eyes that this was what I paid $10 for. It's VERY short, VERY outdated, VERY poorly rehashed information (seriously, how much worse can any product get?) that I could have easily gotten out of Google in a few seconds without paying anything. It promised me that I will earn $4,000 a week, but all I saw resulting from this experience is my lost $10 and a warning to tell everyone to stay away from this one. Bottom line is you will not learn a single thing from Daily Cash Jobs that you don't already know. So keep your $10 for other products that will really help you.
wahmaholic's comment on Blog Energizer ...
So Far So Good
There will come days when the creative juice just won't flow, and this is where Blog Energizer comes in. I am impressed with the concept of Lynette Chandler's service, and was even more amazed that she offers some of the site's services for free. Although I am practically a word factory, sometimes the dreaded writer's block hits me, and when it does I'm at loss for blogging ideas. I was at first just a free member of Blog Energizer, just to test the waters, but immediately upgraded to paid membership when I felt the need had arisen for the additional benefits that are only offered to paid members. Right now, I am very pleased with the resources that come with the paid membership. They are a goldmine of useful information. And, I have never missed a day without a blog post ever since. Day after day of useful topics are provided for me, and they provide ideas for eye-capturing titles as well (which is my biggest problem when composing articles). Overall, a top-notch service for every blogger!
wahmaholic's comment on EasyContact ...
Easy Peasy Email Marketing
I saw EasyContact on Reuters last July, which was when I decided to try the free version, since the upcoming stint I was to have then involved email management for a beginner internet marketer. He didn't have any idea what tools to use, and asked for some advise from me, so I decided to check EasyContact out to see if it's worth investing money into. I tried the free version first. 100 emails a month is very generous in my opinion, and the service is so easy to use that I decided to recommend it to the boss right away. He upgraded immediately to unlimited, and let me send his first promotional email to his list. It was a huge hit! I know that it was not just the great content we sent out, but the fact that it took mere minutes to create and send was wonderful! The ability to track the emails is also a highly useful feature. Overall, I highly recommend EasyContact for your email marketing needs. It's best to start with the free package, just to test the waters. But I'm sure you will be pretty pleased with the results.
wahmaholic's comment on Push Button Xtreme ...
Steer Clear Of This One!
Three months already and I'm at standstill. I haven't cycled even once during those times, and after reading most of the reviews below me I doubt that I ever will. Other reviewers here saying they cycled at least once did not do anything to boost my hopes up for Push Button Xtreme. I have been getting so much negative feedback from it that it is impossible to hold on to that last strand of hope that I will ever get what they promised that I will get. I got carried away with this opportunity's enthusiasm and it's claim that I do not have to do anything to get referrals, only to find out that everything about it is pure hype. I have tried submitting several help tickets in the site to ask what's going on and why am I not getting the results that they promised, and yes, you guessed it, not a single response yet. If there is anything extreme in this program, that is what I feel for it: extremely disappointed.
wahmaholic's comment on One Week Marketing ...
Pretty Satisfied
I got a hold of this product back when I was just starting to know the field of internet marketing. I found value in it when I was reading it then, since I was a newbie and all. There are points discussed in One Week Marketing that I am sure I would still be doing wrong up until today if I haven't learned it from Jennifer. This guide is very easy to understand, and it definitely helped supplement what little knowledge I had of Squidoo lenses back then. This product also led me to free websites where I could get ideas for a profitable niche, something which I also didn't know where to look for during those early days. However, reading it now after all that I have learned from tons of other resources, I must say that you will find little value in it if you're already an experienced internet marketer. But bottom line is, it worked for me and taught me a lot when I read it. I know that newbies out there will find this a great resource as well.
wahmaholic's comment on 1800Banners ...
I Didn't See The Results I Expected
Having used Adgitize for several months now, I read 1800Banners' concept and thought that if Adgitize works wonderfully at my sites using almost the same concept, then 1800Banners would also work great for me. I was wrong. I hardly got any traffic from the site, and what I received is not what I would call high-quality. It negatively affected my bounce rate, and I don't like to see it that way. But in fairness to the site itself, it looks professional enough and navigation around the website was easy. I personally know some people who saw success by using this program. Some of them even converted to sales. But much as I ask them what is their secret and following it to a T, I cannot get my own sites to experience the same good results that they have been getting. So I gave it up, thinking that it just wasn't for me. It may work for you, and there's no harm in trying.
wahmaholic's comment on My-Data-Team ...
Very, Very Misleading
This is not even what it claims on the sales page! And first of all, if any data entry company asks you to pay them before you can work for them, it is an outright scam. My mom joined this a couple of years ago, back when she and I didn't know better. I was not into making money online then, so I honestly thought that they are what they claim to be, and that money needs to be paid first before you can have any data entry opportunities. Boy, were we so wrong.
The fact that they are not registered (well, at least at the time that we checked a couple of years ago) with the Better Business Bureau should be enough to make you run in the opposite direction. I don't know if Timothy Darwin honestly thinks that posting classifieds is called data entry or the system is really just designed to fool people into thinking that this is the real deal.
Anyway, in the end, we just wasted our money on this one and learned one of the biggest lessons that every individual who aims to make money online doing data entry should know: DO NOT PAY for data entry jobs.
wahmaholic's comment on BlogOverdrive ...
Makes Relevant Content Generation A Breeze!
First time I heard of BlogOverdrive was when a former boss who I worked for as a virtual assistant used this for some of her sites. She used Package 3 back then. I asked for feedback, since she told me about the 99 cent package and it got me interested. She said it was a great service, and I took her word for it. I'm glad I did, because the 99 cents was more than worth it. The generated content from the single RSS feed was more than enough to keep me coming back for more of BlogOverdrive's service.
I also love it because it's web-based, it allows me to reformat the generated content, and I have total control over the keywords that I want from the RSS feed. Support is more than willing to help, and this I think is very important. Their referral system is also very generous, one of the things that I plan on pursuing sometime soon to fund my future package purchases at BlogOverdrive.
wahmaholic's comment on Tweet Spinner ...
One Of The Better Paid Twitter Tools In The Market
The first time I used Tweet Spinner, I immediately fell in love with it and the host of possibilities that it offers to its users. I do not have an account there myself, but as a virtual assistant, I've had the pleasure of working with a boss who had good sense enough to pay for this service and let me handle his Twitter accounts on it most of the time when he's busy with other stuff. The service is highly intuitive, which is the best feature for me. However, Tweet Spinner is definitely not for those who use Twitter for personal micro-blogging only, as they will not find much value in the other impressive features of this service. But for those who use Twitter as one of their marketing vehicles, this is definitely a good investment to make as it will allow you to harvest the full potential of Twitter as an advertising platform.
wahmaholic's comment on 15 Ads Daily ...
I Got My Share Of High Quality Traffic
I signed up for 15 Ads Daily for advertising my site and not for the earnings (which I rarely expect from such sites). I can say that I got my fair share of traffic, most of them of high-quality, thus not affecting my bounce rate negatively. This is one of the few traffic exchanges that gave me that, and for that reason I will be staying with 15 Ads Daily for a very long time. I also love it that it only requires me to view 60 ads weekly in order to get my advertising credits, and for 10 seconds each it is very feasible since I do them in between my other online earning activities. The bonus credits are always a welcome addition too. Sign up was easy peasy, and the site navigates like a dream. I would recommend it to anyone looking for that extra boost in traffic to their sites. It's not a LOT of traffic, mind you, but they're high-quality, so I take what I can get.
wahmaholic's comment on Squidoo Profits ...
A Very Useful Little Resource
In some of my virtual assistant stints, I am asked to write Squidoo pages. Since I don't personally use Squidoo, I had trouble creating lenses in the early days. One of my all time favorite bosses purchased Squidoo Profits for me as a Christmas gift, which I thought was lame at that time because I never really saw Squidoo's potential as a powerful advertising vehicle. But now I'm glad he did what he did, because I've had to do tons of Squidoo lenses since that time and it really helped me navigate the ins and outs of making a lens on said social networking site.
Squidoo has rules, and of course I needed to follow them while at the same time ensuring that the lenses I make can convert great. Bobby Leong taught me how to do that and so much more. Now I'm pretty confident about making the lenses, and it's all thanks to Squidoo Profits, whom without I maybe still fumbling in the dark right now.
wahmaholic's comment on Twivert ...
Slow Earner, But The Contests Every Now And Then Are Great
I haven't earned enough to make payout and I am still very far from there, but I have already received $40 from them because I won their referral contest twice in a row. That's what I'm after now with Twivert, their contests. I couldn't care less for the income from tweeting ads (which I have virtually none of), though I like it that for every U. S. Twitter user that you refer, you get an extra . 20 credited to your account. In fact, I think that's the only way that I can ever reach their payout.
I have 183 referrals in the program right now, and that's a lot by normal standards, but with the rate that the earnings are coming, I don't really expect to ever get a $5 from every one of my referrals that cashes out. The site itself is nothing special, it is bare at best, and navigation is pretty okay. There are banners provided by Twivert for you to promote your account, and I think that's great. There is an advanced report section which does not work, and I think they should take it out if what it always says is "Advanced reports are currently not available".
I'd stay with them if only for the money I get from winning their contests every now and then, but other than that, I'd advise for you to look somewhere else to monetize your Twitter account. Unless of course, you're really, really, and I do mean really patient.
wahmaholic's comment on Ads 4 Earners ...
Great If You Can Refer People
I think this is the only program where I've had the luck of referring people and getting them to upgrade to Pro membership. I had twelve referrals who upgraded, and that's an easy $36 for me. Not a huge amount, but still. The hits are, as other reviewers mentioned, indeed very low, so I don't really hold my breath for majority of my traffic to come from here. Getting credits is very easy though. I get them email ads once in a while which help add up the points. The first few times I logged into the site I got lost, so I think they would be better off improving their navigation. Overall, this site will give you traffic, but it would be wise if you do not put all your eggs in this basket, as there are better traffic sources out there.
wahmaholic's comment on Article Post Robot ...
One Of The Best IM Tools I've Come Across
And I've come across a lot of them, so that's saying something for this product. It saved me a lot of precious time from the very first day that I started using it for the mini-sites that I have worked on in order to submit to article directories all over the Internet. Before, it was the daunting task of manually submitting to the mini-site owner's choice of submission sites, which takes more time than writing the article itself. For me, this is the equivalent of Traffic Geyser, where the latter is about video submissions. These two tools have been my "partner in crime" for the longest time now. I don't know how I could have survived without them. The best thing about Article Post Robot is it's ease of use. I've never used a tool quite as easy as this product, and I'm all for convenience, so this is what's important to me. It has so many options that only need a one-time set-up, and everything is fully automated from there. Technical support is great, one of the other things that I like best about Article Post Robot. Now, exposing articles I have written to the world wide web has never been this easy.
wahmaholic's comment on Not Your Typical Article Marketing Report ...
Not Your Typical Report Indeed
The first thing that convinced me to purchase this report is that it does not promise me that I would get rich quick. I've always been doubtful of products or services who say that, so it's my foremost criteria if I was to buy something. Article marketing has never been my forte. Sure, I can write articles as if I was an automated plug-in or software but I couldn't get those articles the desired results even if my life depended on it. Obviously I needed all the help I can get, information that will unlock the key to me becoming an all-round virtual assistant.
I was drawn to Not Your Typical Article Marketing Report secondly because of its price (which is, in my opinion, too cheap for the quality of information that it provides), and a money-back guarantee to boot. I could have chosen to pay just the $5 and refer three people, but I suck at referrals so I passed that one up. This report gave me a solid foundation on article marketing. I wouldn't know what I know now if I had not read this book with as much interest as I did.
wahmaholic's comment on Black Hat Is Back 2 ...
As Good As Black Hat Can Get
I love it that Howie Schwartz is not at all afraid of incurring the wrath of internet marketers who do not approve of black hat strategies in general. These modules are definitely not for the weak of heart. People who are afraid to take risks in order to earn that extra money will find this a very daring product for them. As for me, I am okay with Black Hat methods, reason why I decided to purchase this on installment (I cannot afford the full price in one payment. Hee hee). It's evil, yes, as most say it is, but it WORKS, and you can't say that for most white hat methods available out there.
It is, admittedly, a LOT of information to wade through, and I have yet to digest everything that is stated in the modules, but I've seen my results and I'm happy with it. Black Hat Is Back 2 definitely took my affiliate marketing to the next level. The affiliate marketing game is a rude field to get into. Once you're there, you either work your heart out (or know the techniques as described in the Black Hat Is Back 2 modules) or lose the game to somebody else not afraid to take risks like you are.
wahmaholic's comment on Dan Zarrella ...
Dan Zarella Is One Of My Social Media Gods
I was reading Brett Borders' blog one fine March afternoon when I stumbled upon one of his posts a month earlier regarding his interview with THE man, Dan Zarella. I laughed at the pictures (not because he's laughable, don't get me wrong) because he seems such a laid back and cool guy for someone who is looked up to in social media circles. From then on, I am a constant visitor to his blog and avid fan of his "teachings". I am using some of his tools (TweetSuite is my favorite) for some of the sites I am working on, and I must say that I am loving the results. He is a no-nonsense person whom I've learned a lot about social media from, a self-proclaimed "social media marketing & viral marketing scientist" and rightly so. I am looking forward to receiving his book that I've ordered from Amazon.com. I ordered it about half a month ago and it'll be another two weeks before I lay my hands on it. I am certain that I will find much value in it because I have always believed in the usefulness of every bit of information that Dan Zarella relays.
wahmaholic's comment on Autoblogged ...
Must-Have For Autoblogging!
I'd have to say that this is the best WordPress plugin for autoblogging that I have come across so far. The features are to die for and are very powerful, with this you would need no other plug-in if you are into blogging on auto-pilot. Autoblogged is also cheaper compared to other WordPress plug-ins who promise to do the same (if not less) than what this software under review promises to deliver. And it does deliver, I tell you.
Almost all the mini-site owners I have worked with who generate automated content has Autoblogged in their list of plug-ins. I like it because I have tried installing it and it's easy. I've found a tutorial online on how to maximize the use of Autoblogged with the least amount of resources, which is doubly great. I would certainly recommend Autoblogged for WordPress-supported website owners who want to create blog posts on auto-pilot.
wahmaholic's comment on WPMixer ...
Pretty Good WordPress Plugin
Autoblogging has been the trend for mini-site owners lately, and since I've worked for several of them, I've had the chance to experience using WPMixer. It is the most feature-rich plug-in for the purpose that I have encountered so far, and it seems that there is a never-ending possibility for generating content with WPMixer. If you know how to use this well enough, this plugin will definitely work to your advantage. However, there is one major problem me and my bosses saw with it: it is very heavy on the resources. Since I do not know anything about editing plug-ins to make it the way we want it, we contracted a programmer who knows his stuff and let him edit this software for WPMixer to not eat up too much of our resources. Overall, a good and stable plug-in to have, but it leaves something to be desired.
wahmaholic's comment on Tezak Traffic Power ...
One Of The BetterTraffic Exchange Sites
The results I've gotten from Tezak Traffic Power are way better than most traffic exchange sites that I am an active member of right now. I love it that there are tons of potential viewers to my site due to the sheer volume of membership that the site has. It has exploded membership ever since it started, and is steadily growing. Even I can feel the growth because it seems that everyday more and more people are being driven to the sites I've joined Tezak Traffic Power with. My experience with Tezak Traffic Power has been an endless delight of innovative features, constant improvement, really supportive administration, and of course, traffic of higher quality than what other traffic exchanges give me.
wahmaholic's comment on Smiley Traffic ...
Nothing Spectacular
Almost all traffic exchanges are the same, to the point of boring. I did not see anything new from Smiley Traffic that I have not already encountered with other sites offering the same nature of service. It is reliable, yes, I have to give that to Smiley Traffic. They are also one of the first, so experience is certainly their advantage. Also, in fairness to the site itself, it is one of the cleanest TE interfaces I've come across.
I didn't like it that not everything is credited and I found discrepancies in my credits. Also, as with most traffic exchange systems, I never received any targeted (quality) traffic. Just messed up my bounce rate in a big way. The referral system might be a good thing for those who have the gift (or the popularity) for acquiring tons of them, but not for me. I couldn't care less about that since I am big-time lousy at referring people and making them stay at the site.
wahmaholic's comment on eReleases ...
Steep Prices, But Gets The Job Done
One of the virtual assistant stints I've had in the past required me to handle communication with eReleases while the boss was in the midst of launching his other sites and he has just started using the PR services of eReleases. He wanted me to monitor what was going on with the press release, how it was faring (he did mention that he was concerned about the rates charged to him, and how he would be seriously dismayed if eReleases promised results to him will not happen), and to let eReleases know what he thinks of the service once the process was through. Fortunately, the whole shebang turned out quite good. It generated leads for him that even I wouldn't have thought possible in such a short time had it not been for the PR he contracted from eReleases. It certainly helped out a lot in making our future dealings with his clients because he was virtually unknown and he direly needed all the exposure that he can get. This is all thanks to eReleases.
wahmaholic's comment on 5 Bucks A Day ...
Tried And Tested
I don't use 5 Bucks A Day now, but I used to, and it delivers what it promises. This is a great guide for a steady income of $5 or more a day, but be warned that the first couple of weeks you will not earn as much as that. I like it that they do not promise great riches (unlike most other marketing ploys) but a stable income that will last as long as you follow the steps indicated in the ebook. It's primarily for newbies, though, I think, as more experienced people will find it too time-consuming and not really worth one's effort. You MUST have patience and persistence for this program to work for you. The points are easy enough to follow. If you give up easily, then you will only be wasting your money by buying this product.
wahmaholic's comment on Get Ref ...
Too Much Yet Too Little
I don't know if it's just me, but I have signed up with more sites that I dared join (and cared to sign up for) with GetRef yet most of the referrals that I got from this program does not stay with the sites I've asked them to sign up for. But this is good enough if you don't want to pay for referral packages and you're pretty patient with contacting your referrals for reminders. I personally know people who have had success with this program and I'm very happy for them, but me and GetRef does not mix well. For the very reason that it is effective for most people I give this a B, but as for myself, I haven't had any luck getting solid, consistent referrals from there who stayed with my sites for a desirable length of time.
wahmaholic's comment on Chitika ...
So-So Service
I used Chitika for a while before I gave up on it because compared to what I am earning with AdBrite, Chitika is just a waste of space on my site. The site in itself (which is user-friendly) and the features (which are innovative) leaves nothing to be desired, buy it's the earnings that drove me away. I like it that they pay through PayPal, unlike Adbrite that hasn't made that move yet and is still paying through checks, and a low payout of $10, but despite all that, I found them wanting. It's just not my cup of tea. You may have success with it, but I've already given up hopes of ever earning decently through Chitika.
wahmaholic's comment on Google Secret Loophole ...
An Effective Affiliate Marketer's Tool
As a virtual assistant, I've had my fair share of affiliate marketing for several bosses who hired me for that exact purpose. I was at first clueless about how advertising with Google works, and did not know where to start. I was advised to try Google Secret Loophole as my foundation. I'm glad I did purchase the product, because I can honestly say that it gave me a great head start into the right direction. If not for Google Secret Loophole, I would still be stumbling in the dark about Google advertising up to now. $47 for something that is packed full of highly useful information is one of the wisest investments I have made in my career as a work at home mom. Now I have no problems dealing with bosses who need someone that knows almost everything there is to know about harnessing the full advertising potential of Google.
wahmaholic's comment on $500 in 15 Live ...
$500 in 15 Live Delivers!
I'm already on my second $500 using this program, so I have proven that this is not just pure hype and marketing bull. I am relatively a Clickbank newbie so at first I have doubts if this course would work for me. A boss who have been successfully using this program urged me to try it and see for myself. I saw for myself how Alex facilitated the course through the free videos I received and that clinched my decision into paying for it. I am so impressed with the results because I got my first $500 under 15 days that I am going to do it all over again! Bottom line, it's NO scam, and if you feel, like me, that you have what it takes to make the course work for me, then go ahead and make that purchase.
wahmaholic's comment on International Incomes ...
So Far So Good For Me
It's been barely a month since I first joined International Incomes (as per advise of a friend and seeing the official IMRC review above), one of the very few survey sites who accept people from my country. It was easy peasy to sign up, that I like. Although it has a fee for activation, I say that it is worth it, as I am already on my way to covering what I paid to them. I did not hesitate because there was a money-back guarantee (and besides, IMRC's review sort of vouched for it). I have yet to try integrating my Clickbank account with the program, so on that aspect I cannot make a comment yet. I think though that 75% is a reasonable enough rate. I haven't heard any bad feedback against them (yet), so I guess I'll be sticking to this one for a while.
wahmaholic's comment on HitsBoosterPro ...
One Of The Few Traffic Exchange Sites I Consistently Use
The thing I love about this site is that it is very easy to navigate, unlike most other traffic exchange sites that I've tired. For me, that counts for a lot since I am all about ease of use. A have a love-hate relationship with its 6 second timer. The promos are certainly good motivators for sticking with the site, and is one of the good points of HitsBoosterPro.
As a clicker, it saves me a lot of time from clicking other sites compared to other traffic exchange sites where I usually have to wait thirty or so seconds. However, this also meant that the sites I joined with HitsBoosterPro acquire a poor bounce rate. For those sites that I do not care for readership much, I retained this service but I removed my personal blogs because I want readership there much more than I want traffic.
However, if you want to maximize the benefits of HitsBoosterPro, I suggest you go for an upgrade. But unlike other sites which are only out to get your money and not give you your money's worth, HitsBoosterPro actually delivers what it promises. Free membership is good, but you will be better off with an upgraded subscription.
wahmaholic's comment on Bloggers Payback ...
Tried And Tested!
If this product came out when I first started blogging, I would have been rich by now. Well, okay, not RICH rich, but at least a comparatively bigger income than what I am getting now from my blogs. The six modules that came with the purchase are packed full of information that you are certain to learn AT THE VERY LEAST several things you need to get your blog generating a steady income. There is even a module for site flipping, something which I am interested in nowadays, and of the tons of resources I've read on the subject, this is by far the most useful for me.
The 30 Days to Successful Blog module is likewise a gem. I've been using it for the new blogs that I am building lately, and I must say that following the step-by-step instructions indicated in the module really DOES bring the results that it promises. The videos are also very helpful for those who find that they learn faster with visual help. I've had better and better results by the days since I purchased this product.
I don't mean to sound so over-excited about this product, but heck, it deserves all my excitement and more! If you have a blog, this is a MUST purchase. A very wise investment to make with your money indeed.
wahmaholic's comment on Homestead ...
A Website Publisher's Dream Come True
I've used Homestead's SiteBuilder service several times in the past for building websites and I must say that I am impressed with what they have to offer to their users. They've been around for a while so their experience in the industry is something that cannot be ignored. It's well-designed system gave me thousands of template options which made my head spin just by looking at it and I always find the perfect design that fits my needs at the time.
Support is amazing, in fact, one of the best I've ever come across. The site statistics feature is a very valuable add-on to the service, the drag and drop system proved highly efficient for me back when I was a newbie who didn't have a clue about CSS and HTML. You can even integrate your AdSense account with it (although I am not very hyped up about that since I don't use AdSense anymore).
The hosting side I didn't care for though. There are way cheaper hosts out there now who offer the same (or even better) hosting services than what Homestead has to offer. But hey, their website building solution is top-notch, and that alone is good enough for me.
wahmaholic's comment on WP Robot ...
Great Site Flipping Tool!
As a virtual assistant, I've had the pleasure of using WP Robot for content automation. It is, in my opinion, one of the best content generation tools out there with its high-quality results. As it is a plug-in, it is very easy to install and use as well. The options provided with this plug-in are just simply awesome, as it makes your content more "you". The interface is an eye candy, and it even gave me an option of what to post (Clickbank ads, amazon products, eBay auctions, etc. ) and when to post it, so as not to appear spammy.
As mentioned above, the quality of the generated content is significantly higher than the other content automation tools that I have tested (and in my years as a virtual assistant, I have tested many, I tell you). It worked well with all the blog designs that I put the content into, and it even generates for me the author boxes below the content, which is great!
It is definitely a highly recommended product. If you are into the site flipping business, this is one very wise investment that you can make with your hard-earned money!
wahmaholic's comment on inLinks ...
One Of The Better InText Advertising Systems
Since I've tested Text Link Ads (TLA) anyway (and found them great) and learned that inLinks is also owned by TLA, I decided to give it a shot. First, I have to comment that I hate websites whose in-text links stick out like a sore thumb (I'm talking about Kontera, yes). Or makes the page load really, really slow. So naturally, I would not want to impose such on my own sites, lest I lose my readers. There was some reservations at first in using inLinks, since I was not sure how my articles would look with it, how my readers would react to it or how my loading time would be affected by it. I realized I wouldn't know until I tried, so try I did.
I was impressed. They give me control on what links will appear in my site, which is great. They are, as many claim, tough to detect. I give link love to many people and products that I use all the time without them paying me, so I would know. Granted, there aren't that many links appearing on my site and inLinks commission rate is somewhat high, leading to a really slow journey towards the minimum payout, but I think advertisers are just starting to see the benefits of using inLinks as a vehicle to build more backlinks, and it's passive income anyway, so there's no real need for rushing.
wahmaholic's comment on EasyTypingCash ...
VERY Misleading
I received this EasyTypingCash invitation in my email from one of the internet marketing lists that I am subscribed to. I happened to mention it to my sister, who is way too gullible for her own good. I didn't know that she actually fell for this program until she came to me asking how she can refund her money from EasyTypingCash because she ABSOLUTELY learned nothing of value from it. Out of morbid curiosity, I decided to see for myself what $47 garbage my sister wasted her money on.
The sales page in itself is very misleading. It implies to the reader that you can have access to something really exclusive, when in fact what it has to offer are public knowledge that you would only need Google to know all about it. And it's not even data entry per se. It's an affiliate marketing tutorial, and a lousy one at that. I have learned more from other FREE tutorials than I did with EasyTypingCash.
Trust me, save your $47 for something that would really help you earn money online. There are dozens of good products out there for the same (heck, even lesser) price. EasyTypingCash is all rehashed information. Some of the respectable and trusted IM forums are talking about it in a highly undesirable light. You CANNOT make money THAT big just for "a few lines of data". No sir. Please promise me you will not fall for their promises.
wahmaholic's comment on Pure Silva Banner Maker ...
For Something Free, This Is Good
You rarely find a free service that delivers. And Pure Silva Banner Maker is one of those rare instances. The products of the free Pure Silva Banner Maker can compete with any paid instant banner maker software outputs anytime of the day. The available background images are unexpectedly good, but in case you're picky and you didn't like those, Pure Silva Banner Maker gives you the ability to upload your own. The site navigates like a dream so there's no problem with ease of use.
The major downside is that it places a "banner made at www. puresilvabannermaker.com" at the lower right corner of the banners made if you haven't upgraded to the paid version. This can be a real downer if you don't want people to know that you made your banner using an automated program (but is a good advertising tactic for the Pure Silva site). But hey, it's free. Everything free comes with a disadvantage, so the free version of the Pure Silva Banner Maker is a no-no if you want a really personalized banner to call your own.
wahmaholic's comment on Artisteer ...
Worth Every Dime
It would not be voted Product of the Year for no reason. I have used Artisteer when I didn't know how to design WordPress and Drupal themes by myself. It is, as claimed, easy peasy. You just need to click on the choices in the interface, be it font style, size, color, background image, RSS footer image and you're good to go. It is the fastest way to come up with a WordPress theme so far, and with little effort. It doesn't look as if it was made by an automated system. I love its simplicity and the vast array of choices that it gives to its users. The licensing is very, very lenient, so if you are into making themes for sale, this would be the best investment you can have.
The product is updated very often, so the free upgrade for one year that comes with the purchasing price is a real gem. Now that they support Blogger templates, I love Artisteer even more. They could sell it for double the price and I'd still gladly pay for it, what with the results that it has brought me so far. You could go for the trial version first to see how it performs, but you will only get to appreciate it once you buy the full version, since the trial version results have watermarks splashed all over the graphics used.
A perfect A for me. Definitely the best invention in making web development easier for newbies so far.
wahmaholic's comment on RSS Bookmarker ...
A Wise Investment
Although way too expensive for my taste at first, I saw how RSS Bookmarker was able to generate more traffic for the dozens of mini-sites that I have worked on. It is one of the most effective tools I've come across my various stints as a virtual assistant, who is almost always tasked to bookmark mini-sites so that those sites get added exposure to potential customers, and using RSS Bookmarker made a whole world of difference.
It is easy to use and has the ability to randomize site submissions (the entire site, that is, unlike other software of the same purpose) so that the mini-sites would not appear spammy. The TOS are also pretty well laid out, which is one of the signs that I look for. I cannot comment if they indeed give you your money back if you are not satisfied with your purchase, since I was satisfied when I used it, and the boss has no plans of returning it when he saw the traffic results.
wahmaholic's comment on FlippingSpark ...
Certainly Helps In The Learning Curve
Although I have yet to try my hand at site flipping (I have heard that it IS a daunting task), one of my previous bosses already suggested that I start learning the ropes of it as I will be best armed with knowledge about everything that a virtual assistant may be asked to do. So learn I did, and I started to read FlippingSpark a couple of weeks back. Am I glad this is the first e-book I laid my hands on about the subject. For the money that I invested, 66 pages chock-full of information is DEFINITELY worth every cent.
I LOVE it that it has TONS of screen shots to make me understand better the concepts visually, as being a complete newbie to this field I sometimes get lost in a sea of words that I find difficult to take in at once. The creator of this e-book showed me his personal favorite resources to use in site flipping. Being a successful "flipper" himself, I can say that he's given the right motivation and by following his e-book to a T, I can possibly handle site flipping in the near future.
This e-book is for both beginners and seasoned site flippers. There is something for everyone. When they claimed it is comprehensive, it IS, in fact comprehensive. Blog flipping is something that I am eying because I am more familiar with blogs, and a chapter dedicated to it in the e-book I re-read every so often. The information the author gives is far from being just theories, he has the experience and success to prove it, and his recommendations are more than just your typical e-book content.
wahmaholic's comment on Zoomerang ...
As Good As Free Gets
Although there are paid Zoomerang options, I did not have the money when I initially signed up to upgrade, so I signed up as a free user. So what you will hear from me are the views of someone who has limited access to all the wonderful features that Zoomerang has to offer. However limited, I'm still fully satisfied with the result of the couple of surveys that I created with the site. Signing up is easy and generating your very own survey is just as quick.
The templates are a love, and it is quite easy for me to find something suitable for the types of surveys that I generated. I have yet to create something with Zoomerang for Facebook. I read that it could and I've already seen some around the social networking site, and I have to say that it looks very good. Their version of an FAQ is very comprehensive. I found everything I needed to know without having to wait for support to answer my queries. Overall, top-notch site!
wahmaholic's comment on Bloggerwave ...
NOT Creating Any Waves
I signed up with Bloggerwave because I like to be a member of as many pay-per-post sites as possible, just in case one doesn't give too much opportunities so I can fall back on the others. Well, initially, I was surprised at how quickly my blogs got approved on Bloggerwave. I thought that was a good thing. Trust me, it isn't. The more picky a pay-per-post site is, the more chances that said site has TONS of opportunities for it's bloggers. When it comes to opportunities, they don't come as fast as that at Bloggerwave. In fact, they almost don't come at all.
I'm a realist. I don't expect my sites to be barraged by writing opportunities the moment I sign up for a pay-per-post site. In fact, I like them to come once in a while, just enough for me not to start cramming and my site to look like it's just one big advertising blog. But this is ridiculous. Not a SINGLE opportunity for me? I mean I know I'm not in the top 100K in Alexa yet, but I'm working my way there, and other advertisers are already noticing it. NOT Bloggerwave. I'm starting to wonder if any advertisers come to that site at all.
I MIGHT have something to tell you about how they pay on time (I read one commenting here that they, in fact, DO pay on time) IF ONLY I already have earnings in my account. But so far, NONE. Nada. Oh well. If you're the really, REALLY patient type, then this site might be for you. Good luck on waiting.
wahmaholic's comment on Top Article Directories ...
A Potent Tool For Article Marketing
I've had the pleasure of tapping into what Top Article Directories has to offer through a very recent virtual assistant gig. It's on a discount and the boss saw it worth the risk to purchase it, based on the feedback that he has been getting. Although I do not use it mainly for article marketing, since we have access to automated article submission software, it still provides insightful information as to the basics of marketing through this method.
Being a writer for a living, it helped me in diversifying my knowledge in writing. I especially found the bonuses useful. I was surprised when the proofreading trick I read with the package was the same trick I always used when I was still a proofreader. Which did not let me down a bit. I know the method I used was unconventional, and it did not occur to me that anybody (much less a very good e-book) would suggest it as THE way to proofread. When I read that, I was even pleased.
Anyway, overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone starting out on article marketing, especially if you do not have the resources yet to buy the more expensive article submission software. This is a good place to start, and once you're started, it gets easier as you go along.
wahmaholic's comment on Aaron Wall ...
One Of My SEO Gods
Truly, he is one of the best SEO experts in the field today. I first heard of him when one of my previous bosses who owns tons of mini-sites told me he uses Aaron Wall's tools to enhance the traffic in the sites that he operates. Being that I admire that boss of mine, I got curious enough to check out the man. I wished I had found him earlier, but just the same, I am thankful that I subscribed to his newsletter when I did. Wall's Firefox plug-in I've been using ever since, and it helped heaps in getting organic searches channeled to my sites.
In the future if I start to earn relatively big in the internet marketing field, I would definitely look for his services to guide me and help me earn more. I trust that it would be a worthy investment, as his teachings have proven very valuable to me over time.
wahmaholic's comment on Social Submitter ...
Truly The Silver Bullet That Site Owners Need
As a virtual assistant, I've had to deal with bosses who constantly pester me to look for easier and faster ways to get the job done. More often than not I find the software that works effectively for them, and they pay so that they can use it for their business. I found Traffic Geyser for video submission, and just lately I found Social Submitter for article submission to social sites. I was floored by the amount of good feedback that I've read, so I went ahead and recommended it to my latest boss who was looking for an easy peasy way to submit to social sites.
The best thing about it is that even though it makes work super easy for you by taking over your submission tasks, you are still given control of when to submit, thus avoiding the risk of submissions appearing spammy and thus, keeping out of Google's scrutinizing eyes. The interface is a love, VERY easy to navigate and would have you up and using the product within seconds after you open it for the first time. The built-in synonymizer is a gem, although you still have to check from time to time for grammar.
This is one of your most powerful viral marketing tools. Well worth the price and you would be missing so much if you do not take the jump and buy Social Submitter. The one-time fee is so much more than what you'd gain from increased visibility in search engines. Truly, automation at it's best!
wahmaholic's comment on Push Button Text Formatter ...
Two Thumbs Up!
Marlon Sanders is one of the first people I admired when I started to be involved with online marketing. So when I heard that one of the many bosses I had for several virtual assistant stints is requiring us to use Marlon Sanders' Push Button Text Formatter, I was eager to start work right away. I know from experience that Sanders' software works, and that was yet another chance for me to use one of his exemplary products.
First I have to say that Push Button Text Formatter is a MUST for autoresponders and emails if you want them to look professionally formatted. You would be wise to invest in this product of Sanders' (heck, ALL of Sanders' creations!) because Push Button Text Formatter makes it SO darn easy to use. It would take you no more than several minutes to get the hang of it once you started using it. At least, that was what happened in my case.
My biggest problem is formatting when it comes to writing emails to clients. I can write a good email, but formatting defeats me. This is where Push Button Text Formatter comes in perfect. I feed what I type into the program and voila! Perfectly formatted, ready-to-send emails. The mail templates are a love, trust me. Overall, I'd give this product a resounding A!
wahmaholic's comment on Nominimumbux ...
Don't Even Bother
I joined Nominimumbux because a friend joined a couple of sites under me and I felt like I had to return the favor, so I asked him what sites he's joined so I can be his referral in return. One of them was Nominimumbux. My senses went tingling the first time I went there because like most everybody who commented on this, I read that there is, in fact, a MINIMUM payout, so the PTC name is quite misleading. But I signed up anyway because I made a promise to my friend. So sign up I did and clicked, I went for a month even acquiring a few referrals for myself along the way, which made me reach payout faster.
Well, here I am, several months later after I requested payout, and still no sign of it. Of course I contacted the admin (a couple of times even) and you guessed it, no reply whatsoever. So after all this time, I've already scratched it off my list as a trustworthy site. As for my friend, he still is awaiting payout like me and is constantly apologizing profusely for asking me to sign up. No harm done buddy. Just lessons learned.
wahmaholic's comment on Clicksor ...
There Are Better Advertising Companies For Publishers
I just did a review of AdOnion, which has the same operators as Clicksor, so I might as well review this site too. I tried using Clicksor late 2007 as I was looking for good Adsense alternatives. There was so much hype for Clicksor back then that I was convinced this program might be worth a try. So try I did and sat back to watch the results on my site. They are less scrupulous in rules than Adsense, so I thought that was a good sign. Well, it wasn't.
It's not that they don't pay. They DO. And mostly on time, so that's one plus. But they pay even less than Adsense, and, taking from my experiences on Adsense, that's next to rubbish earnings. Their site per se is decently organized, but I rate their support a D because they are not exactly the speediest supports in town. Also, the inline ads (which I had) takes forever to load. Clicksor in general makes your pages load slower, main reason why I don't like the program and I'm never coming back. I know that was what most irritated the heck out of my visitors, so I removed it because I didn't want to lose my precious readers.
Although I do not abhor this site as much as I do AdOnion, I still wouldn't choose it over any other advertising programs out there. There are better, trust me. If you are looking at contextual advertising on your site as a main revenue source, do not, and I mean, DO NOT even bother with considering Clicksor. If you don't trust my review, try Googling it and you will find yourself faced with hundreds of forums and sites discussing Clicksor and how it's not worth your while.
wahmaholic's comment on AdOnion ...
Used As An Intermediary For Malware Sites! Beware!
I tried AdOnion last year when they were just starting, and boy, the site I used it on is still suffering from that mistake. FYI, they are affiliated with Clicksor, a site which I am not so keen on (euphemistically speaking). I discovered that fact AFTER my site got tagged by Google as an unsafe site, but we'll go to that later in the review. Anyways, if I had noticed that BEFORE I signed up, I would have steered clear from AdOnion. But well, I didn't, so I plunged forward.
They started out okay, don't get me wrong. I loved them in the start when they paid good. The site design is amazing. It looks so professional. Popunders were a great source of extra money, and I thought it was going to last forever. But it didn't. It started going downhill when AdOnion was used as intermediary for malicious adware links. I didn't notice this until a month later of having their ads on my site. My traffic has crashed, and my site earnings as well, because all of my site's organic search engine results were tagged by Google as unsafe. You know, that irritating warning about "this site maybe harmful to your computer" or something like that.
When I discovered that the culprit was AdOnion, it was too late. I resubmitted my site to Google after removing their ads from my site but the site's ratings were not the same. Lesson learned the hard way, huh? I guess it really pays to monitor your site closely to avoid catastrophes like this from happening. As it happens, I was just a beginner then, and I thought once I set everything up the rest will go smoothly from there. But it didn't. I said goodbye to AdOnion (and Clicksor, for that matter) for good.
Also, FYI, the Web Of Trust (WOT) add-on by Firefox also reports it as an unsafe site now, and I'd entrust that WOT with my life, so even if I hear good things from it's so-called members now, I wouldn't dream of going back. I've suffered greatly from this costly mistake of joining (the site I used it on is practically worthless now), but I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Please learn from this experience and STAY AWAY if you value your site visitors.
wahmaholic's comment on SocialOomph ...
The Must Have Twitter Tool!
I've been a SocialOomph user back when it was still Tweetlater, and so far it is the best Twitter tool I've come across, and I don't think any other service comes close. I've tried so many tools that promised to make my Twitter experience a lot easier to deal with but none delivers as much as SocialOomph. I missed having the free features that were turned to paid though. As I am still a free member, I don't fully enjoy all the benefits of being a SocialOomph user. I am salivating for the ability to mute people I'm following which just flood my timeline with spam and ads, although that will have to wait until I find a way to hugely monetize my Twitter and thus make the jump to upgrading for the professional membership.
I love the automatic unfollow feature most as a free user, which means that anyone (who dares) unfollow me will be automatically removed from the list of people I follow. Thus I don't contribute to the rash of people who play the numbers game on the social site. I haven't tried referring anyone to the service, though, so I have yet to see if the commissions are as good as it says on print. I've mentioned it to a couple of friends but did not give my referral link (Oh why didn't I?), both of them are still enjoying the free services like I do.
The site is quite confusing at first. It is hard to navigate because there's so much going on. But once you get settled and come to the site everyday, you will get the hang of it and actually enjoy all that the service has to offer. This site is a real gem if you're a Twitter addict, as it helps you organize your account better and easier. Recommended site!
wahmaholic's comment on Linda Bustos ...
The E-Commerce Goddess!
With an impressive portfolio backing her up, I knew I could never go wrong when I made her Get Elastic site my daily reading habit. I first heard of Linda Bustos through an old boss, says she's topnotch when it comes to building an e-commerce site. Since I've worked with several people who own such websites (all kinds, booming or just starting), it was handy to know all the information that she shares on her site, down to the littlest detail of handling an e-commerce site.
I'd have to agree with the original reviewer. Linda is chock-full of information, some of which no one else shares. She's taught me the importance of personal branding, something that all my professors in college have failed to drill into my brain. I used to see it as just some sort of way to have people recognize you, but I learned from her that it's so much more than that. I love it that she seems personable and is not stingy on sharing information, and that her site is not restricted to educating just Elastic Path customers.
Although with what she's been writing about the product, I think it would be one of the first products that I'd invest in in the near future. I've learned so much from this woman but up to now, I'm still amazed by how much I don't know about e-commerce that she teaches to everyone. best of all, this valuable information comes free of charge, which, to someone with not much resources like me, is truly a gift.
wahmaholic's comment on Content Boss ...
Easy To Use And Actually Works
Being a web content writer, I've had a previous stint whose boss required me to use his Content Boss software from time to time so I can testify that this is one of the better content spinning products out there. Although the the official review pointed out that the spun content still needs tweaking, it IS very minor tweaking when compared to other software designed for the same purpose. Of course it still needs human intervention, after all, these products are not made to work fully automated. So bearing that in mind, I'd still say that Content Boss is great and it works.
It would be a very good investment for mini-site owners who don't care to hire web content writers like me, because as mentioned, the editing to be done when content is fed in this software is very minimal, thus it can be done by yourself if you spare a few minutes of your time to the task. Also, I've noticed that the results are dependent on what you feed Content Boss. I've experimented with several articles, feeding it both high-quality and low quality ones, and the results always come back depending on the quality of the article that it was fed with.
The Content Assistant I barely used because me and the boss felt like we'd do a better job if we we're the ones who found the articles to spin rather than leaving it to source from a database. The word count is a very handy feature to have, as we have quotas on how many words an article must contain. All in all, this is one of the best content spinner out there and you would be wise to spend your money in purchasing it.
wahmaholic's comment on Banko mails ...
Don't Even Dare Join
Getting paid $100 to read a single email might be the perfect job for some, unless you want to be paid an imaginary $100 for your effort. This is one of the first pay-to sites I've joined, back when I was a starry-eyed naive newbie in online earning. I thought this was the solution to all my money problems, the sole key to financial independence. Turned out BankoMails was my first big hit. It hit me hard in the head alright. It was the first time I got scammed by a pay-to site, that I cannot forget.
How it went was, I dutifully read my way to payout, expecting that even just a single payout would set me good for life. I even settled for the sign up bonus. That alone would've made me the happiest person alive. But it was not meant to be. Getting rich online that easily is yet to come true. The day I reached payout, the payout button disappeared. I tried contacting the admin to no avail. It's been several months since that day and of course, I've lost all hope of ever seeing that money.
There are good things that came out of this experience though. I learned not to trust "high-paying" sites so easily, I know now that getting rich by reading emails is not possible, and I saved my hard-earned money because I did not pay for the upgrade (although my efforts went to waste, but I can live with that in exchange for the lessons learned). Short advice: Don't even dare come near this program. Learn from other's mistakes.
wahmaholic's comment on Twittad ...
I've Yet To See Any Real Earnings
As I am constantly looking for ways to monetize my Twitter account, I have the habit of trying out new advertising programs as they come out, to see if they are worth staying with for a long while. It's been over a month since I joined Twittad, and honestly, I'm slowly losing hope that I will ever earn anything here. I'm not looking to earn big, obviously, but even a few cents in my account would boost up my confidence in them. Sadly, I am still waiting to reach that stage. Like most people who commented, I chose to just post my profile and wait for advertisers to pick it out, since I it's time-consuming to search for existing campaigns.
If I ever want to see tangible results, I guess it's better to just search for campaigns than to sit around waiting for advertisers that may probably never come. But when I compared this service to the others that I already am a member of, the cons outweigh the pros, so I decided to just drop this venture and just focus on the others who are actually bringing me money, albeit very small, it gets me to the payout slowly but surely, which is how I like it. Maybe if I build my following better (I'm just close to a thousand now and in advertising terms, that's still very small) and actually get Twittad advertisers to notice my profile, I might change my mind and use them again.
wahmaholic's comment on Bruce Clay ...
Truly An Industry Standard
Bruce Clay is one of my SEO heroes. My love affair with his site started when I lost one of my site's PageRank because of accepting text link ads in the early days of my blogging (I still haven't gotten back my PR, btw. I guess Google has banned that blog for good). Anyway, I searched for ways to bring back my PR and I landed on one of Bruce Clay Inc.'s pages. It was love at first site. His site looks very professional and is not littered with ads and has a quiet elegance to it that I find really impressive.
I know his strategies work because one of my previous bosses has engaged his services and it did wonders for the boss' sites. I make use of his free SEO tools in my web content writing stints as advised by people I respect in the SEO industry, and to put it simply, those tools work. He works with people that I equally admire in the industry (like Matt Cutts), which makes him all the more authoritative. I've also managed to read some of his products and they are worth reading over and over again. He is one straight forward guy, doesn't just build up hype and he has, in my opinion, produced some of the most useful FREE resources for SEO to date.
To top all that, he is nice to everyone. I've never had a personal, face-to-face encounter with him since I live thousands of miles away, but his reputation as a good guy in the online world cannot be denied. I've read some of his interviews and he exudes this quiet authority that I cannot help but admire. I pick up great SEO tips by reading his interviews, information that other "gurus" would ask me to pay for before I lay my hands on them, but not Bruce. He gives most of them away like it was nothing. But it's everything in SEO, believe me. I guess he got to where he is now by not being selfish about what he knows and by sharing it with everyone.
wahmaholic's comment on Simple Writing System ...
Sets The Standard for Copywriting
I was pleased to learn it sold out yet AGAIN the second time it launched. The first time I heard reviews about it, I was curious to see if it's really as good as everyone says it is. But alas, I didn't have the resources to pay for the program, although I was fortunate enough to have worked with an Australian boss who required that we watch and read the Simple Writing System materials as part of the training. The boss had nothing but praises for it, says it's his best investment so far, which says a lot because I know he's already invested in a lot of copywriting materials in the past.
And maybe this is the reason why my stint with the boss was brief. Which again, says a lot because that means he doesn't need to pay somebody else to write for him because he can write it for himself, thus, savings on his part. Although unfortunate for me. But not totally. Because I've learned so much from the Simple Writing System as well. It may well be one of the best lessons I've received so far, all thanks to my boss. And John Carlton, of course. The Simple Writing System delivers. Plain and simple. Carlton says the program is highly-coveted, which you will doubt coming from another person. But not Carlton. When he says it's good, then it's really, really good.
wahmaholic's comment on You Can Write Articles ...
Hones Your Writing Skills
I purchased this e-book when I was starting out as a web content writer. I've been in academic writing for some time that I was unsure if I can get away with writing marketing pieces, which prompted the purchase. I knew there were some free resources out there, but somehow I felt like I needed to know more about the subject if web content writing is to be my bread and butter. The You Can Write Articles e-book was recommended by my first boss who I worked as a virtual assistant for. He already provided me with training materials but he said that if I wanted to seriously do this for a living, I'm gonna have to learn a lot of stuff along the way. And learn I did. Starting with this e-book.
If you're a complete newbie to the field like I was more than a year ago, then this e-book will really serve you well. I'm glad I bought it when I did, because it helped me jump start in the right direction. If it wasn't for this those early days would have been hard to go through. Avis puts learning the stuff so easy to understand and take in. Not in one sitting, though, as it could be too much information to take in in just one reading. However, reading it now, I feel that it would not benefit those who have been in the league for some time. It would seem too elementary.
Although not THE most comprehensive how-to in writing professional marketing articles, it certainly is cheap and is worth your money and time. So yes, it delivers. And yes, I recommend it for people who are just starting out. I wish they have some sort of an intermediate version. I bet I could have great use for that.
wahmaholic's comment on From Home Data Entry ...
DON'T PAY Money To MAKE Money
I signed up for From Home Data Entry when I was a newbie in earning online and didn't know any of the above statements. Fortunately, since I was just starting, I had no money to "invest" on the site, so I decided to go for the free trial. First red flag? No means to contact customer support. It IS the single most vital sign that I looked for from sites since then. I learned that from this site early on, so I guess that's one thing I have to be thankful to the site for.
It turns out that I didn't have to go very far to have my first brush with a data entry company turn out to be a complete disaster. NONE of the "free" assignments link work. What DOES work is the link to the page where you HAVE to pay in order to get more assignments. Talk about coercing users to pay first. Since I was not even able to do them, that's as far as my experiences go with the site. If ever those links work and someone shows a credible proof of payment, I might just change my mind about them being a complete scam.
wahmaholic's comment on Instant PTR ...
Utter Waste Of Time
The only reason I tried this site is to show people that they are scam. Yes, I seem to have acquired that habit lately mainly because of IMRC. They stink of scam from the get-go. How did I know? Just take that $100 sign up bonus and $10,000 minimum payout. Plus the incredible $10 per email read payment. PLUS the tons of negative comments about them online. And NO credible payment proofs. I mean seriously. You'd think people would steer away like it was the great plague. Think of it. If pay-to sites who pay (or not at all) their members meager cents turn out to be a scam, why should this site be any different, considering that we're talking about LOTS of money here?
So my story is, I signed up for the site, convinced several friends to join under me so I can reach payout faster and prove in no time that this is what I suspected it to be. There wasn't a forum, but I was not surprised. Any decent site that intends to pay their members should have a forum where people can discuss their experiences and share their payment proofs to each other. I stayed as a free member, as $199 is much too big a money for me just to prove that a site is a scam. But because I had referrals, I reached payout in a couple of months. I requested payout once I reached the minimum, not really expecting that they'd pay, and boy did they fulfill my expectations. It's been three months since I requested and I haven't heard from them. $10,300 in my Instant PTR account, just numbers on my screen.
But maybe that's the problem. People are drawn in by promises of lots of money. What with the global economy, I guess it's kind of easy to just believe in a site like Instant PTR, promising you of super easy money by sweating off virtually nothing. But sites like this also open the eyes of the public. I know this sounds too cliche by now, but it still pays to keep in mind that if it's too good to be true then it probably is. And with Instant PTR, it IS too good to be true. If I can give a grade lower than F, I'd definitely give it to Instant PTR.
wahmaholic's comment on NoMinCashout ...
NoMinCashout? More Like NoCashOutAtAll!
I tried this PTC solely because of a friend badgering me to join under him, so out of respect (or maybe just to get him off my back for a while), I joined as a free member and did some clicking for the sake of my friend (who had, by the way, actually believed that he is going actually cash out) but I had no delusions of being paid, as it stank of scam from the get-go.
Aside from being run-of-the-mill, I hated it that sometimes there is a timer and sometimes there is none. Which screamed buggy website script (or just plain scam). The forum could've helped as a first place to go to ask questions, but it being imaginary (as in it doesn't work at all when you try to go there), there is no choice but to contact the admin. Alas, support seems to be imaginary too, as I tried sending a ticket to no avail.
Bottom line is, stay away from not just this site, but these types of sites. It'll just waste your time (or heaven help us all, your hard-earned money, in case you decided to upgrade). I clicked because I wanted to prove to my friend that even after so much clicking, you will not get anywhere near the money that they promised to pay you. I'm glad he finally realized that and learned his first lesson in PTC.
wahmaholic's comment on Built2Go.com ...
Easy Peasy To-Go Websites!
I used the site for a brief virtual assistant stint for someone who's crazily setting up mini-sites. You know the rule. The more mini-sites you get out there, the more chances of earning. Built2Go was a natural choice, since it is website design made easy. Since they are packaged websites, you'd expect them to look lame or else would have limited choices, not Built2Go. With what they're charging for their membership fee, it SHOULD be worth their client's money.
Fortunately, they are worth every dime. Maybe even more, if you think of the money that you otherwise would have spent on expensive custom design. This applies, of course, to mini-sites, as personal sites at least deserve a custom design. The Built2Go site is an eye-candy, a tad confusing to navigate, but that's because they have a lot to offer to members. The FAQ is quite comprehensive and have answered most of the newbie queries that I had in mind back then, so I really cannot comment on the response time of the support people since I never had the reason to contact them.
The scripts worked great when installed (although I heard earlier in the days when they were just starting out their scripts had security holes and bugs all over the place). They are quite strict over people following their rules. I know because the friend of the boss I worked for as a virtual assistant got kicked out of the site as he was apparently stealing the codes and selling them for profit. So overall, I'd recommend this site to mini-site owners. It saves you time and money. This would be a wise investment to make.
wahmaholic's comment on Ciao ...
I Have Good Memories, Just That
This is one of the sites that should've been as strong as IMRC is now, if not for the faulty measures they have set up. When they haven't blanket-banned my region and I was still able to participate, you can easily game the system through clicking cartels. AND you can copy paste reviews from other sites easily, as I've seen tons of people do (which led to the ban of some regions), as well as make nonsense comments, or even OFF-THE-TOPIC comments on the reviews. It was fun when they were paying $1 per review, I mean how much easier can writing a review get, but then they lowered it later to I can't remember the amount now and I couldn't care less since I am not a Ciao member anymore.
It's great because there is a LOT of products to choose from, and they are very easy to review. You can suggest products if you like to review it but can't find it on the database, as well. I've known a few great people by being a member of Ciao, and we still talk once in a while up to now, so I guess that's one other thing that I am thankful to Ciao for. The site itself navigates like a dream, and the community (never mind the scammers) is warm and supportive of each other. They should, as you can only get very far with the help of friends who rate your product reviews.
They are a legit site, that's for sure, as I've been paid by them three or four times while I was still there. They even paid me my remaining balance a couple of months when I requested it AFTER our region got banned, so that shows they still give people what they are due. Not a very fast response time, I admit, but the truth is, I made that request but never expected it to be granted. So, my piece of advice is that if were included in those that are blanket-banned and still haven't withdrawn all of your balance in your account, you can go to the site and there will be a link there to fill up a form and request for it to be credited to your PayPal account.
I can't bear to think that such a good site concept was ruined by lousy anti-scammer measures. They could've done better. But overall, it was good while it lasted. It earned me some money and friends, which is what I will remember Ciao for the most.
wahmaholic's comment on Miguel Alvarez ...
THE Copywriting Guru!
He was the guy who got me interested in copywriting in the first place, so I look up to him above all else in this field. I used to be an academic writer, but I found that I got bored with doing it very easily, which isn't a good thing because it's something I thought I'd be doing it for the rest of my life. I chanced upon Miguel Alvarez' site while looking for other writing avenues. Initially, I didn't even know what copywriting was for and after perusing his site for a while I immediately realized that this could be a field that I would come to love. And what do you know? I DID fall in love with copywriting. And it's all thanks to Miguel Alvarez.
Ever since, I've been a constant visitor of CopyWriting.com. I got more hooked when I got a hold of his e-book "Aim for the Heart". There he talked about copywriting in a way I've never looked at the profession before, that it's more than just putting a bunch of words together. Copywriting is writing to persuade by integrating the right emotions into the text, which could turn into a nice source of profit EVEN without investing a single dollar.
This got me excited about the whole business. After all, I know I can write. So why not write for something that interests me AND make money from it as well? I thank Miguel Alvarez for being that no-nonsense guy who put things in perspective for me. He may not know me personally, and I might not have ever met him in flesh, but I guess this is just one of me saying I am grateful that I knew him when I did, that he made my entry to the copywriting world so much easier.
wahmaholic's comment on Dave Kelly ...
The SEO Hotshot
If I had known way earlier about that one important bit of SEO information (off-page optimization is WAY better than on-page optimization) which I learned through Dave Kelly, I would have made a huge jump start in the right direction. As it happens, I didn't know it then when I started, so I'm still struggling to correct those newbie mistakes up to now. But I'm still glad I found Dave Kelly when I did, because he's been guiding me to the right direction ever since. Not that I personally know him. I've religiously read his Ultimate Search Engine Loophole and was quite impressed by the method put forward by the product.
The reason why I graded him a B instead of an A? I wished the product was cheaper, since you HAVE to buy another product (linkubaiter) in order to fully realize the results of the method that the Ultimate Search Engine Loophole proposes. I bought the course expecting that's all there is to it, but I guess expectations for these internet marketing products come a little short sometimes. I wouldn't mind waiting some time to get ranked, but I would certainly have appreciated if they were straight-forward from the start.
But I guess that's the thing, right? Sales letters sets your expectations too high. And I admit there must be no one-touch solution to the whole SEO business. Besides, Ultimate Search Engine Loophole is still great in itself (as compared to most other products of the same type out there). So, overall, I still think Dave Kelly is a darn good SEO. He's come up with several products that I've tested through web content writing gigs, and they actually work.
wahmaholic's comment on Mieke Janssens ...
LOVE The Girl!
When I first heard of her earlier this year, I thought she was a man! I honestly thought she was until I came upon her blog which has a distinctively feminine look to it and people referring to Mieke as "her". She can design a website, you HAVE to give her that credit. Just one look at her blog and I immediately fell in love with her ability to create such a friendly and welcoming personal space on the Internet. I was doubly delighted when I was looking around her site and found out that she was giving tons of freebies away! What a generous heart this girl has! Even those that she sells, you SIMPLY cannot pass up because of the value that they offer AND their irresistible prices. She knows her pricing strategy, Mieke does.
I came upon this Shoot the Guru game by Alex of HowToSpoter and was delighted when I saw her name there and found out that she won! That endeared her to me even more. She has such a youthful vibrancy, it's infectious. I was following her Twitter account when I heard it was banned, and I was saddened because I have found her tweets so awe-inspiring. She mentioned in a blog entry she was staying away from Twitter because of the incident, which made me even sadder. But, she updated the post to say that she made another new account again, so I'm following her there again and enjoy reading her every tweet.
There isn't a lot of women in the internet marketing field, and fewer are as successful as Mieke Janssens. Fewer still giveaway such excellent products like she does, which makes her a real gem in the field. Even most of the successful internet marketing men cannot compete with what she has managed to give away in such a relatively short time like she did. Overall, I can say Mieke will be here for a long time, and I'm thankful for that because we may never come across such a generous person in internet marketing as Mieke.
wahmaholic's comment on Michael Green ...
The Great How To Guy
I only heard of Michael Green when I was assigned to do a splash page of one of his affiliate programs during a virtual assistant stint, which was highly popular on Clickbank. I was curious why it was such a hit, so I decided to do a background research on the guy. It was kind of hard, really, because there are so many other sort of famous people who have the same name as him. Added to the fact that he is relatively new to the internet marketing arena makes it even harder to find out what other people have to say about him as a person, and not just about the programs that he sells.
I attempted in vain to put up a forum a while back, before I even heard of this guy. I wish I would have known Mr. Green back then, with his "How To Start A Forum" guide, because it would have saved me a lot of frustration. Reading it now, I realized how much I've done wrong which led to the non-effectiveness of the now defunct forum I tried to put up. The guide is so amazingly detailed. He covers more than just successfully launching a new forum. He even goes as far as discussing tips on how to get your PhpBB2 forum indexed by search engines, which is the major problem that most forums have.
His Easy Ezine Toolkit convinced me that he was for real. Not only was it highly informative, he was also VERY accommodating on questions that I had about the product. He ALWAYS answers back my emails, and he is such a super nice guy you would have an idea what spurred his success like this. Overall, Michael Green is worth your money. He has already managed to prove himself worthy in all the books he published so far.
wahmaholic's comment on Mal Emery ...
Inspirational Man
I knew his background from reading it at a handout given to us in a business management major class back in college. We were studying successful entrepreneurs then, and my favorite professor picked Mal Emery as an example of a true businessman who started from the bottom and worked his way very hard to the top, to where he is right now. Since then he has been stuck in my mind, one of the people that I look up to and wish to be. I often think back of his personal story whenever I come across a big hurdle in my life, which somehow fueled me to persist in the face of problems that life throw my way.
He seems to me a genuinely good man. He has a steely focus that is not a usual characteristic of most entrepreneurs today. From what I remember, he was confined in bed for being burned (literally) by his then café business but he did not just lay there useless, he was formulating plans for the future! How admirable is that! I love the fact that he does everything in order to make his family comfortable above all else, money-wise, which means he is a family man all the way. I also idolize him for his heart, as e donates to charities whenever he can.
His information packages are chock-full of information, too. It does not build upon hype, they're easy to understand, and they do not advocate building businesses that will go away in a flash. I was surprised at how methodical yet super fast his methods work, it's almost like magic! If I had money for his consultation fees, I would have no second thoughts of commissioning him for useful advice. He is one man I've come to trust over the years, although I've never personally met him. His portfolio and his feedback speaks for itself.
wahmaholic's comment on Guy Kawasaki ...
You've Gotta Hand It To Guy
Humor is the number reason why I fall in love with Internet marketers like Guy Kawasaki. Guy makes almost everything about business feel like it's easy to do. Which isn't true, of course, but it helps to have a laugh or two while in the process of learning the strategies and what-have-yous along the way. And that's all the while getting ALL his points across. I became an instant fan when we were made to read part of his book in college, entitled "The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything".
I was so impressed by this sort of quick reference guide for small start-ups that I did what I have never done before: wrote an email to the author. I wasn't expecting any reply from Kawasaki. I just felt like expressing my gratitude for him writing such a brilliant book. But guess what. He wrote an email back and thanked me for writing to him. Wow. Does any other famous business author do that? I guess not. With that little action I was deeply impressed with Guy. And made me idolize him even more.
"Make meaning not money" is one of his most memorable quotes, at least for me. It summarizes everything I believe in sales. We are not out to just sell, we should be out to be of help to others by the products and services we offer, heck even change their lives for the better through it. Who can NOT admire him for that belief? I've been his fan ever since that day I read "The Art of the Start", and have been reading most of his books when I can from then on. When I started a Twitter account, he was one of the people I immediately looked for to follow, as I know that I will learn so much more from him through said social platform.
He's smart and has irreverent humor and pragmatic and charming and a great motivator. To put it shortly, he's my type of marketing Guy.
wahmaholic's comment on PollDaddy ...
The Best Of it's Kind!
Okay, so the paid polls might be a tad pricey for the average Joe, but since there is a FREE version which pretty much meets ALL of my simple survey needs, I'm very happy with PollDaddy. I like to know my readers' thoughts on a particular subject from time to time, so naturally, I had to find a surveying tool that I would stick with for a long time. Polling systems before PollDaddy were either too complicated/lengthy to set up or didn't look as visually-pleasing. I've tried Zoho and some WordPress plug-ins that were okay, but then I discovered PollDaddy and was floored by the features that it offers.
What I like most is that it gives you codes to paste on virtually anywhere other than Javascript. I like the widget option best, it's such an eye-candy. I don't mind the small link to the PollDaddy site, since if it wasn't there I would have put it in myself because I'd like for people to discover the power and beauty of this polling system for themselves. Before using PollDaddy, I noticed only a few people actually took the time to answer my surveys. But ever since I've used the PollDaddy service, the response was always phenomenal! And I know it's not just that the survey questions were more interesting lately.
The PollDaddy site itself is a love to look at. Signing up is as easy as 1-2-3 and setting up your very first survey takes only a under minute (okay, perhaps two, if you're really picky about what widget skin to choose, like me). I loved it when Automattic acquired PollDaddy, which meant easier integration with my WordPress site through the use of a PollDaddy plug-in. It was easy enough going to the PollDaddy site to set up a survey, but the plug-in for WordPress made it SO much easier! How much more convenient can it get? They're also constantly rolling out new features, which is just fantastic. I've been using the recently introduced rating widget and I am LOVING it.
Overall, PollDaddy is THE best polling system for me. It's just perfect for my needs.
wahmaholic's comment on Trek Pay ...
Trek Pay Is Worth A Try
As maybe gathered from my previous comments about pay-per-click sites, I am not, and never will be, a big fan of them. However, when I see a good site that needs lauding, I don't pass up the chance since I want as much as possible for everyone to know about the good stuff online. And Trek Pay is one such site. After an initial hiccup with registration, the site did not allow me to register because of my IP address, which, according to their records, already has created an account with them. Obviously it was the first time I tried to register, so I explained to them that I was on dynamic IP and they eventually allowed me in. I finally became a member and was able to enjoy the site as one of the better-paying and legit pay-to-click sites I've ever stumbled upon.
In a member's viewpoint, there are always ads to click, so it is easier to reach payout even without referrals as compared to other PTCs out there. It is comparatively easier to cash out every week, as I have done for every week since I was able to finally join, to think that I only have three referrals and only one of them is active. From an advertiser's stance, Trek Pay offers one of the lowest fees for advertising your sites, and with the number of very active users on the site, there is a higher probability of conversion and thus leading to a very wise investment.
What I like most is that unlike other PTC sites, it doesn't require you to stay at a certain site for a certain period of time. Also, the site navigates like a dream. For someone who always manages to get lost inside a site, this is good news for me. Overall, I like Trek Pay as much as I like another dependable PTC site, that is, Neobux (which is saying much, considering that I don't usually waste my time on PTC sites AT ALL).
wahmaholic's comment on Wealthy PTR ...
If It's Too Good To Be True Then It Probably Is
It was early this year when I heard of the "great" news that there is this new paid-to-read site in town called Wealthy PTR which pays $10 per email. Imagine $5 PER email when most others pay $. 05 or even less! Since I am never the one to upgrade membership on pay-to sites, I took the plunge and told myself, "What the heck, it's only time that I've got to lose, maybe this time I'll get lucky. " Well, ladies and gentlemen, as was expected, I didn't. This turned out to be a load of what remains when you have fully digested eaten food, as in PURE you-know-what.
Like one other commenter here, the day I reached payout was the day my account got deleted. Pure coincidence? NOT. I've been in the pay-to system since time immemorial and I knew right then that there was no way I had violated any of their rules (since I make it a point to read them every so often to see if there are updates), so my account deletion could only mean one thing, scam, with a capital S. Since I didn't pay any money to the site, I was not THAT angry. In the back of my mind I KNEW it would be this way, it was just human nature dictated to NOT pass this opportunity up IF ever it turns out alright.
I even went to send a couple of tickets, which of course, never got answers. I am just sorry for the referrals who joined under me who are still hoping to cash out up to now. I came out of the experience more jaded about these types of programs but wiser, nonetheless. Of course, since it didn't work out, I just have to charge it to experience. So please, if you're reading this, take my word (and the others who rated and commented on this program) for it, STAY AWAY!
wahmaholic's comment on Jason Calacanis ...
Knew Mahalo Before I Knew Him
I was surprised when I decided to comment on Jason and found out that no one has commented about him here. I guess this is one of the cases where the product is more famous than the creator. But with something as ingenious as Mahalo.com, I am still surprised. I work for some HITs at mTurk which require me to use search engines more than I care to, and this was where I first started to like Mahalo. It was always on first page and never failed to give relevant information. It got to the point when my curiosity was sufficiently aroused that I sought the site's creator. Then I heard of the name Jason Calacanis. And I would be willing to offer to become his slave for life if ever I meet him in person because his site made my mTurking SO much easier.
From what I hear and the amount of articles saying not-so-nice things about him (that he can be arrogant and not thinking first before launching into a written tirade), so that made me rate him B instead of an A. Not many of us can say that we have achieved the same level that Calacanis has managed to put under his name in his span of time in the internet industry, although of course, it would be SO much better if he was as nice as say, Chris Brogan. I wouldn't be giving him excuses for his attitude here so I'd just dwell on what good he's contributed and not on his tendency to complain a lot.
If you want to follow him like I did when I first stared use Twitter. You won't regret it, I promise. He tweets out links to interesting articles that I've found joy and knowledge in reading every time. With Jason, I know I can't expect anything less than interesting.
wahmaholic's comment on Chris Brogan ...
A Blogger I Idolize
He's been in the scene for so long that you can't help but be drawn to his obvious experience in blogging and social media. Honestly, when I read Trust Agents, a book he's co-authored with another one of my idols Julien Smith, I know that he is gonna be one person that I will look up to in the blogging world. I haven't personally met the guy, but he exudes such approachability that I rarely see in most successful people I know. This book discussed the basics, but quite surprisingly, it's the basics that I tend to overlook, which made me say that Smith and Brogan are the team to beat.
Most of us go straight to selling, but Brogan and Smith stressed that trust is something that you have to build first before you can actually get anywhere with sales. I've been Brogan's faithful blog reader (heck maybe even one of his biggest fans!) for sometime now, and I admire his thought leadership, his way of writing things that makes perfect sense, his honest approach to self-promotion, and well, I guess I admire everything about him.
He's not just a good blogger, he's a darn good blogger. When I first heard about him, I decided to check if he has any bad feedback but I couldn't find any. Now I fully understand why. He is just ridiculously nice to everyone and is so good at everything he does. I'd give him an A+ anytime of the day. Chris Brogan is THE man.
wahmaholic's comment on Smorty ...
Not ONE Writing Opportunity
I don't know if it's just my sites, or Smorty is just not a popular enough platform, that resulted to me not getting ANYTHING from them since I signed up and my blogs got accepted into the system. Smorty was one of the first pay-to-post sites that I signed up with, so it's been more than a year already and I'm still not getting any. I can understand if I haven't gotten opportunities from the site if I was only a couple of months old in there but more than a year is frustrating. I've stopped going to the site a couple of months ago and gave up hopes of ever getting any opportunity from them.
I appreciate it that they take time to review all the blogs that goes into their system, which enables them to maintain the integrity of their bloggers, which was why I was so proud when my blogs got approved. They also a have post exchange system which quite frankly, never interested me enough to join it. There are statistics of people earning thousands of dollars using Smorty at my dashboard so it must be true that they indeed pay. I just wish there was a link to those people's pages, to have an idea what these people are blogging about that they get so much writing opportunities. However, as much as these people are satisfied with the system, it never seemed to work for me like some other pay-to-post sites did.
wahmaholic's comment on LinkReferral ...
One Of THE BEST Traffic Exchange Program There Is!
I've been with LinkReferral for almost two years now and I am very pleased with their FREE program that generates at least 60 visitors to my site daily when I do my duties there (30 site visits, 5 reviews, 1 favorite, 1 forum post). Sure it takes time and effort (an hour a day, usually) but the beauty of the system is that I get valuable feedback from my visitors, enabling me to know of ways to make my site a better place to visit. The program is for FREE, no hidden charges, no coercions to upgrade as a premium member, no demanding "you-MUST-visit-everyday". It's really up to the member if he/she wants to earn traffic from the site.
Through LinkReferral I was also able to discover a lot of sites that I otherwise wouldn't have known of. I have met a lot of fellow mommy bloggers in there that eventually became close friends, and I am thankful for LinkReferral because the system allowed me to meet them in the first place. LinkReferral allows me to blog hop and read delightful blogs that I eventually follow and become a fan of, while allowing others to discover my sites at the same time. It's a win-win situation.
I have three sites registered with them so far, and all of them have gotten their fair share of traffic from LinkReferral. They have yet to incorporate all my three sites in one account (as they promised), but I am in no hurry. I haven't made the jump to premium membership yet (a one-time fee of $50) because I'm still quite satisfied with the amount of traffic that I am getting in exchange for my daily activities there. But if there is one program that I would gladly give my money to it would definitely be LinkReferral.
All in all, I would give two thumbs up to LinkReferral anytime of the day. This is a highly recommended system that works BOTH ways. If you want to increase readership (yes, not JUST traffic, unlike some traffic exchange programs out there), I recommend signing up for a FREE LinkReferral account. It takes a couple of minutes to sign up, really. And with the site navigating like a dream, you can't go wrong with it.
wahmaholic's comment on Brian Clark ...
Clark Is The MAN!
I've been a reader of CopyBlogger for almost a year now, and Brian still never ceases to amaze me with the ideas that he puts forward in each and every post. His site is an eye-candy, unlike most other "gurus" in blogging that I have encountered who litter their sites with tons of ads and distracting gif graphics. I've been into copywriting since the early days, and I found his site to be one of the best resources about the subject, so much so that I have him on RSS feed.
He releases free reports once in a while, which I immediately grab once they become available, as I know that his are few of the free out there that actually have value and I could learn bits and pieces of valuable information from. His lessons are never boring (unlike your typical English class) and I like it that he doesn't advocate for drowning your page in ads in order for it to have income. He tells us that there is so much more to earning online than just serving ads on our pages, and once I learned that he believes in that, I became an instant fan.
He doesn't profess to be a guru (although he is, in every right, a guru of copywriting and everything else there is to blogging) and I don't need to wade through sticky mud of unwanted advertising at his site to get to the meat of the matter. He is one great guy, and he is doing a swell job over at CopyBlogger. I don't think anyone else can come close to the image that he has managed to build for himself. He has earned most people's respect, and he rightly deserves it.
wahmaholic's comment on David Naylor ...
Impressive Guy. He Certainly Delivers
When my boss, who hired me as a virtual assistant, told me that he is paying David Naylor's Search Marketing team for the services that they offer I was impressed. I only know Naylor because I heard about him and his higher than standard charges from the internet marketing forums that I frequent. I have yet to experience first-hand how he works, if he is really the guru that some people profess him to be. I admit that if not for that stint with my British boss, I never would've had the chance to see the results that Naylor's team brings in, obviously for monetary reasons and for the fact that my internet marketing activities are not half as big as I would like them to be.
Anyway, I have to say this about Naylor: he strikes me as someone who is used to getting what he wants all the time (but that's just me) and has this certain air of superiority about him but you wouldn't care about that so much because he brings results to you AS promised. He delivers and that's the most important thing. Plus, I appreciate his humor and the fact that he still reaches out to a couple of forums I know to share his knowledge for free, which is a real gem every time he comes in and decides to contribute his two cents.
Bottom line is, he knows what he is talking about, he's had years of experience that he uses to train his team with (and excellently, if I may say so, judging from the results that my British boss got from them during my time with him). He is someone that I will certainly look to for help when I finally reach that "mature" stage of marketing. I think no one else can come close to what David Naylor has managed to establish in the SEO field.
wahmaholic's comment on Vic Franqui ...
You Gotta Love His Frankness!
In a field where almost all marketers try to woo you with sweet, promising words, Vic Franqui stands out. He is one brutally honest guy, the best thing that I love about him. Since I love blogging and I constantly look for ways to improve my blogging site, I stumbled upon Vic and have been grateful to him since. His Blogger Unleashed site is one of my blogging Bibles, so much that I have to have my daily dose of Franqui, otherwise my day would feel incomplete. The site has SO much to offer to bloggers, it's hard to click the X button once you're inside.
Unlike other marketers who are still out there scamming other people, Vic has gone good and has now fully rectified himself to become one of the most respected persons in the blogosphere. I LOVE him because he doesn't charge for sharing his expertise, I LOVE him because he's saved me tons of money that I'd otherwise have paid to the self-professed gurus who would have never ever (and I mean not in a million years EVER) helped me in ways that Blogger Unleashed has. I LOVE him because behind that tough exterior of his is a kind and attentive soul who takes the time to answer queries of small-time bloggers like me.
If I had known Vic before I actually started blogging, I would've made a huge head start on the right direction to monetize my site. But although I discovered him a little late, I'm still glad I found him when I did because now I am certain of the steps that I need to take in order to maximize the full earning potentials of the blogs that I own. At the end of the day, it would be Vic Franqui I would give my salute to when it comes to blogging. He is as real and as honest as anyone in the blogging world can get.
wahmaholic's comment on Justin Blake ...
Stay Away!
The only reason why there are a lot of negative comments on this guy is because he is not a trustworthy internet marketer and not because satisfied customers usually don't give feedback. Believe me, they do. If there is anything that I've learned in this field, it's that people are vocal about their experiences and feelings towards a certain product, person or service. If it's worth lauding over, then people are sure to come forward and have nothing but praises for it. Unfortunately for Justin Blake, he does not belong to that category. He is someone that we should be wary of if we want to give justice to our hard-earned money.
Now, I'm not the one who was personally ripped off by Justin Blake's programs. It was a close friend who decided to take the jump and purchase the Accelerated Income program (despite my numerous attempts at warning her that Blake could not be trusted). As I expected, the program was not as advertised and didn't live up to my friend's expectations, and naturally, my friend wanted a refund. The reason why I felt so strongly about this guy is that I was the one who came forward to try and refund my friend's money from them, to no avail. We've been waiting for two months and not a word from them aside from the initial "we're working on it" generic email we received a week after we first filed for refund.
If there's one thing I've learned from dealing with this guy, it's that you shouldn't immediately believe offers of money-back guarantee, even if accompanied with the appealing "iron-clad" phrase. You can't trust mere words off a marketer's splash page. It needs back up from real people with real experience about the product or service. I'm sorry that Blake's system is like this. He could've been better off NOT ripping people off their precious time and money. As for me, I will never personally do any business with this guy because of my experience with one of his systems.
wahmaholic's comment on Brent Austin ...
Brent Austin Doesn't Even Own Automated Wealth System!
According to one of my trusted review sites on the Internet, the system belongs to a certain Mark Jenny, so that alone is enough to make me want to stay away from the product. The site I'm talking about has saved me from buying tons of worthless products and from trusting my money with the wrong people, so I immediately took that information as real. But we're here to talk about the person of Brent Austin. Now Mr. Austin is a pretty decent Internet marketing guy. He's had a couple of successful products to his name, but I also found some credited to him that are just chock-full of hype and is not worth the purchase.
In fairness to this guy, he knows his game, and I'll have to admit he is even an excellent marketer in his own right. I love that he gives away some of his e-books for free, and free is always a good thing, whether or not the contents of the product or what the service has to offer provide little to no value at all. I've contacted this guy once for a couple of quick questions I have about his e-book on writing the perfect salescopy, and he was quick to reply and actually very nice.
I just wish that his marketing genius is directed at products and services that work IN REALITY, and not just on the words that are spoken or written in the promotional materials that they spread on the internet. That being said, I grade Brent Austin a D, which is, of course, subject to change in the future if he actually comes out with a decent product or service worth my hard-earned money.
wahmaholic's comment on Retweet4.me ...
Just Another Run Of The Mill System
This system did not offer anything new to me. I've tried other systems EXACTLY like this one and they didn't work. The 21,000 followers who will follow you in a span of twenty one days that they boast of isn't even half true. It's all chock-full of hype, as with most other systems like this one. The freebies that they offer are even almost the same as the ones offered by the previous ones that I tried already.
And besides, all the followers I got from this system are marketers, whose products/services either don't interest me, or fill my time line with tons of ads everyday. Yes, it doesn't ask for your email address, but it DOES ask for your twitter username AND password, which, if you've been a wise Twitter account holder, you should know well NOT to give it away to just any site who asks for it, as it uses your account to tweet messages without your knowledge, making your account look spammy to your followers.
What I suggest is to gain followers the traditional way instead of using this system. Which means being attentive to people's tweets, tweeting out interesting and useful information, spreading the word of your account from your sites, and such. I have nothing personal against Retweet4. me, but the way those types of systems work. They work for those who made them, but not for those who fall for their sweet promises.
wahmaholic's comment on Dean Hunt ...
You Gotta Love His Humor
He is one of the few marketing geniuses who make me laugh out loud. I've been a subscriber of his blog for some time now, and not only am I learning a lot from his buzz marketing tactics, I am forever grateful for the tons of laughs that he provides when he mixes those boring marketing lessons with his endearing sense of humor. I guess I can relate to him because he is almost the same age as me, he has a youthful charisma that I am drawn to.
He was involved for some time in buying and selling of websites for profit, and I have been toying with the idea since he came out with it so I am hanging on to his every word regarding the subject so that I can learn from him if I want to succeed in what I plan to do. I have even opened my own Twitter account just to follow him there, get more of him other than what I already get from his blog and sites.
I am thrilled that like me, he is also a WordPress worshipper, and he believes in learning everything by doing it yourself (instead of having it taught to you by books or someone else), something which I also strongly believe in. I admire his outlook in life, and agree with most everything that he says. It's like he's reading my mind and putting it in writing (in a humorous way that I never could have done).
I could never get enough of Dean. I even read his interviews on other sites when I get the chance, to get to know more of him. Plus he drops helpful buzz marketing tips during those sessions, so I gain additional knowledge from reading them, too. He is one of the (if not THE best) buzz marketing guru out there today. If I had money to afford his consultation fees, I would gladly give it to him. I know that it would be worth every dime.
wahmaholic's comment on Adgitize ...
So Far So Good
I just recently signed up with Adgitize because of the great things that I heard about the program from friends. I have yet to see it's full potential since I am just a new member. I will therefore make comments from what I have experienced from the site so far. Signing up was a breeze, and even the most clueless can go through it without any fuss at all. I had to be prodded by the friend who referred me to get the code needed for my site and pay the $14 for advertising my site, which I had no interest in doing at first.
But I saw a friend whose Alexa ranking zoomed up to 300,000 from 20 million after a mere month and I was floored because she said it was mostly due to Adgitize. My own sites need a traffic boost, so I decided to take the leap and join in the bandwagon. The Adgitize site itself can be overwhelming with a LOT of links pointing to someplace or another within the site, and it took me sometime to find my way around. But once I did everything seemed straight-forward enough.
I am no newbie in this type of system so it took no time at all to understand how most of the things work on Adgitize. I do wonder about the new feature, though, the Preferred Publishers. I haven't made the decision to purchase the $8 to upgrade to said feature as I have yet to hear from friends if it's worth paying for, and I still have to find out how to upgrade for free since there was no explanation anywhere on the site that I could find, just a mention that you can, in fact, upgrade for free.
I hope I do not lose interest in this like I did on Entrecard. I also hope that it maintains the magic that it holds on users. Being a relatively new program, Adgitize has a long way to go. And with the results that it is bringing, I think I might just make that journey with them as we both grow.
wahmaholic's comment on Blog Advertising Store ...
Used To Be PayingPost.com
I did not realize that this was PayingPost before until I clicked on the link in the official review and was redirected to Blog Advertising Store. My first reaction was that it was a total rip off of the PayingPost site, but when I typed in payingpost.com and was redirected to Blog Advertising Store, I tried logging in with my old account and successfully got through, which finally convinced me that I was in the right place. I have been a member of PayingPost for some time now, and could have appreciated an email from them saying that they changed their name or something like that, just to inform members, but obviously they didn't send anything, or I would not be this surprised.
There are RARELY any opportunities available to me, but it's because they heavily depend on a site's Alexa ranking in doling out the writing opportunities, something which my sites don't rank very high in. What opportunities available, however, have incredibly high requirements (like you need a PR5 for a couple of tasks), which is not feasible for the common blogger like me. The minimum payout is quite high at $50, and I have yet to reach my first cash out at the rate that opportunities are coming to my sites. They pay through PayPal, though, which is a small plus.
I have not tried advertising through this site, and I doubt that I will, as I rarely hear anyone I know in the blogosphere talk excitedly about PayingPost, a bad sign which means that publishers are not as interested in grabbing opportunities there as other sites like say, Social Spark. I also don't like it that they do not have some sort of calculation for the worth of every site. We are left to ourselves to determine the price per post that we want to charge, which of course, lead to MANY sites being overpriced.
All in all, this program may work for some, but it certainly is not working out beautifully for me.
wahmaholic's comment on My Social URL ...
This Got Me Confused
Not THE best social network building and business promoting tool in the world, but hey, it's free. I am always on the look out for new ways to advertise and since this one is free, I decided to try it out. I could find no negative comments on it but maybe it's because it's relatively new, so I just have to try it out for myself. The splash page was pretty generic. It asked a couple of personal details and I was taken to an offer page (one time payment of $49) and since I came there looking for free, I looked for a way out of the page. There WAS NONE. It was like they are coercing people into buying. They should have placed a No, Thanks button in there somewhere. This is the first thing that I hated about the site.
When I decided to shorten the URL to just the mysocialurl.com, I was taken to another member's page immediately, and I thought, wait! I'm not ready to do that yet. They should have taken me to my OWN member's page. I was stuck for a long time, not knowing where to go in order to proceed to my own page. I checked the email that was sent to me and finally and found the link to my own page. When I got there, everything looked simple enough. I just wish the earlier part of the sign up process was like that.
But I think it's a good way to advertise your business. I've gotten a couple of sales because of this and in the end it still depends on how interesting your own business page is. As I said, this is not the best (and certainly not the easiest to navigate around) tool as I have found others that offer the same services for free that isn't as confusing as their sign up process, but you get what you pay for, and if I've come to learn that when a service is free, there is always something that will fail to meet your expectation.
wahmaholic's comment on Magpie ...
No Earnings Yet
I've been with them for almost two months now, and so far, no luck on the earnings. Their system is pretty straight-forward, though, which is one of the things that I like about it. The site itself is an eye-candy and navigates like a dream. Unline RevTwt, it does not require a certain number of followers for the amount of ads to tweet automatically per day. The posting depends on the number of tweets that you post, and you are given the option of when to tweet the ads, whether every 5,10, 20 or so tweets.
I have already placed a support ticket, and even though response time was not phenomenal, my query was fully answered (NOT a copy pasted standard answer to EVERY support ticket unlike some sites that I am a member of). I also like it that the user is given the choice of inserting a line of text before and after the ad, letting my followers know that what I just tweeted was in fact, an advertisement (albeit not paid). When I first joined I thought you wouldn't need clicks in order to earn, but since I have been tweeting a lot of ads for some time now and no earnings yet, I guess it pays per click, after all.
Overall, I have yet to realize the potential of this program. I only tweet one or two ads a day from them so as not to litter my timeline with ad garbage and irritate my followers, and maybe that's another factor why I am not getting enough clicks. But I am in no hurry to earn there. It's virtually an effortless way to earn, so I'm not complaining so much.
wahmaholic's comment on 000WebHost ...
Decent Service
For a free webhost, I can say that 000WebHost is on my top five list. Back when I was not on paid hosting (I was not prepared to take the jump then), I used 000WebHost's services for two personal sites and both worked relatively fine. Down times are, of course, inevitable (even paid hostings have them from time to time), but it didn't affect me so much because they were just personal sites.
Those saying to not use 000WebHost for a site that you expect to have lots of traffic should be a common sense decision to make, especially if you are putting up a business website. But for free hosting, I'd say 000WebHost provides one of the best out there.
Their referral program is another thing, though. $5 per referral is enough to make me want to secure my own referrals in order to get the bonus, but after reading the requirements so that I can get $5 per recruit, I changed my mind.
Rarely does one stay with a free webhost for long? We all learn that we get what we pay for, and if we stay with a free host we WILL encounter significant problems along the way, so I cannot really find anyone who will be willing to stay with 000WebHost for so long.
Still, in the array of free choices, 000WebHost stands out above the rest.
wahmaholic's comment on Instant Banner Creator ...
Heaven Sent For The Clueless
Back in the days when I had virtually zero knowledge of graphics software (except for Paint, which was of course, lame), Instant Banner Creator was my best friend. Making banners, headers, footers, peel away ads, buttons (yes, there IS a lot that you can do with this handy tool) is SO easy peasy I found myself doing banners that I don't intend to use at all! I know how difficult it is to conceptualize something that is intended to be your personal or business brand, so having this Instant Banner Creator solved half my headaches of how to get there at the end result.
Best part is? It's free! Of course, with free comes certain limitations, like I wish there were more templates available to choose from, but hey, this is the next best thing to being your own graphic designer in an instant! Just a couple of quick clicks and you're done! I was even able to play with it more because it gives the option to upload my own images to incorporate in the banner! What could be better than that?
Now that I think about it, Instant Banner Creator gave me the impetus to learn more about graphic design. I saw what the software can do, and I thought I can do so much more with my creations by learning how to do them on my own. And, as if the creation process wasn't easy enough, there are video tutorials on the site which helped me a lot during those early days. Highly recommended free software, this one is.
wahmaholic's comment on SocialSpark ...
Loving It! BUT More Opportunities Would Be Better
This site is the highest paying in the industry, which is the main reason why I love it when I am qualified for an opportunity. BUT, since the payment is high per offer, the slots often disappear in mere minutes after the announcement of a new opportunity comes in the email. So I make it a point best to grab the offer before anyone else takes it. Lately, there isn't any post opportunities offered, and although they offer CPC and commissions per sale, I'm not really into that type of stuff so I focus on just the writing offers.
Another reason why I graded this an A is because they do not give emphasis on the PageRank of a site, but instead on it's RealRank, which to me, is a much more reasonable way of judging a site's value. I love it also because there is an actual community of bloggers that you can interact with inside the site, unlike other pay-to-post sites out there where you just go to bid on projects or log in to read the instructions for a task. I've found a lot of mommy bloggers in the site which helped me build my network, which is great.
The writing instructions are always clear cut, and they are strict about every article passing the system and the client's requirements, which is how I like it. It maintains the integrity of the system, I think. The interface couldn't be more beautiful, this is the best looking online earning site I've stumbled upon in ages. They offer an option to become a VIP member, but what I get for free is okay for me, so I think I wouldn't be upgrading to VIP anytime soon.
The people at IZEA are not hard to like. They're the friendliest bunch of people I've had the pleasure of working with, and they give us tons of opportunities that are simply hard to miss. These guys make me want to be a better blogger, not only for the high-paying opportunities, but also for the warm and welcoming community that they provide to it's members.
I imagine advertisers think twice before securing their services. SocialSpark, after all, demands a high payment for their bloggers. But seeing how only the advertisers can choose only the best people for the job, the investment is worth every dime. If I had enough funds and was advertising my site for profit, I would definitely go to SocialSpark for my advertising needs, as I have seen how effective they carry out their campaigns.
This is my most favorite pay-to-post site to date, and I'm not about to change that choice anytime soon. If you haven't signed up already, I highly recommend that you do. Two, heck, three thumbs up for them!
wahmaholic's comment on Treasure Trooper ...
100% Legit!
I'm not a big fan of the types of activities that are being offered by Treasure Trooper (like completing offers and surveys) to earn extra money online. The earlier programs like this that I joined are all scams, I was not paid by any one of them after all the time and effort I've invested, so I was cautious in approaching Treasure Trooper at first. BUT, once I got to know the system better, I found out that there is SO much more to Treasure Trooper than meets the eye! The time I spent being a member was actually fun! And I'm earning all the while, so what's not to love?
I don't shop online a lot (if I do it's mostly on Amazon) so up to now I still have not taken advantage of their cash back shopping scheme. The games and bonus prizes are a delight, though. At first I was overwhelmed by how much I needed to do in order to cash out, but after a while I realized it's not plausible to make money quick through this system, so I took my sweet time and before I knew it, my first cash-out!
Them being one of the most trusted GPT sites out there is based on the fact that they actually pay, they pay on time, they offer so many ways for the members to earn, the response time of support is reasonable, and there are already a lot of members who have posted payment proof online, one thing that is enough to convince a newcomer to the site that it is definitely not a scam.
wahmaholic's comment on PayU2Blog ...
They Actually Care About Their Members
I've been with PayU2Blog since I started blogging a year back, and although they could pay a bit better than what they do now, I'm still glad I signed up when I did. What's great about this site is that you are not coerced into reviewing the product or service that's offered to you to write about. You can just insert a link of the product or service anywhere in your article (of course, it HAS to make sense, otherwise the whole article will seem ludicrous) and you will be paid.
I don't have high PageRank for my sites, so I'm not complaining about the rates they give me. Compared to a couple of other sites, PayU2Blog still has a higher offering per post. Once you're given a link to incorporate into a post, you can't turn it down. But who wants to turn down an opportunity to earn right? It's just about making the link fit into the whole scheme of the article that you are going to write.
They have the best support people in the world, I swear. It's hard not to like the people behind this service because they're just so concerned about their members (and their advertisers, as well). Their blog is updated often. They want to hear the bloggers' thoughts on their service and how to improve on the current system. In short, they make an effort to reach out. I think this is the best feature of the site, something that's missing on most pay-to-post sites nowadays.
Overall, a thumb up from me! I know I won't be leaving them anytime soon.
wahmaholic's comment on LinkBucks ...
High Traffic Gets Your Decent Earnings
I've signed up for this program a couple of years back, and although it hasn't exactly made me rich, it brings in a nice amount every month. The basic premise is that I make money from my outgoing links, and how much I make depends on the traffic my site gets (they pay per a certain thousand impressions). The sign up process couldn't be simpler. A bit of information (about the ads you want to see) and you're done. They pay through PayPal, and always pay on time, but if you have epassporte, they have that payment option, too.
What I like most is that the referral system goes three levels deep. That's good for someone who does not have much referrals in the system like me, because some of my referrals are actively recruiting their own people, which means I still benefit from the people that they recruit into the system. A nice passive income, if I may say so myself.
The terms and conditions are one of the things that I read in a site before joining them, and the LinkBucks TOS seems to be pretty well laid out, that's why I decided to join in the first place. I think I was one of the first among my friends to sign up, which is why I had reservations at first, but it worked (and is still working) for me, so I think that's good enough.
I have to stress that this program will work beautifully for you if you have a high level of traffic on your site. My site gets it's fair share of traffic, but I wish it was higher because then I could benefit more from using the LinkBucks system. But overall, I think I'm sticking to this program for a long while.
wahmaholic's comment on Michael Gerber ...
My Partner During My University Days
I had to have my daily dose of Michael Gerber during college. I was a business management student, when his E-Myth series was introduced to me by a professor friend who equally admired the guy. I found that reading through his text gave me knowledge beyond what was taught inside the class, so much that my management subject instructors wonder where I was getting all those business information from. Blame the Gerber guy, I always say. While almost all of my other classmates are reading novels (it was a trend in the university back then), I was busying myself with The E-Myth Revisited and The E-Myth Manager.
Gerber highly recommends franchising, which to my mind is a practical choice when starting out, given the statistics for success as compared to ordinary small-business start-ups. This is not to say that he's asking would-be business owners to buy a franchise license from another individual or company. What he asks his readers to look at is establishing a business that could be franchised, so that in the long run you will not have to tend to your business as much as when you started out because others are doing the work for you while succeeding in their own way, too.
Before I graduated, he came out with the E-Myth Mystery, which I managed to finish before I found my first job. I know he came out with Awakening the Entrepreneur last year, which I have been planning to buy ever since but haven't gotten around to doing. I know that like his other books, it will be packed full of information for small business owners or those that are starting small in the business world.
I have nothing but praises for this guy. I like it that he does not advice for small business owners to make their venture the center of their lives, which is exactly how I think that business should be handled. He also makes his every book light to read, not your typical boring business books. I'm not surprised his first book has been in the bestselling list for a long time now.
wahmaholic's comment on BuyBlogReviews ...
TONS of Opportunities!
That is the thing that I most like with BuyBlogReviews. They never run out of opportunities for the blogger, you just have to log in to your account and bid on the jobs in order to have a chance to write them. The instructions are always clear cut, there are no gray areas left for misunderstanding. So it is expected that the bloggers carry out all the requirements to a T. They don't have a minimum payout, which is also great. They pay you every month and they pay on time through PayPal.
My biggest gripe about the system is that it pays too low. $1 for most 200-word reviews (not even, because BuyBlogReviews takes away a certain percentage from your earnings for their own), which is not usually an opportunity that I would grab unless I really like the product or service that the advertiser is asking to write about. The price that you can bid on depends on how popular your blog is (Alexa ranking)
Now on the side of the advertiser, this is a great place to go if you're on a tight budget. Imagine you can have lots of backlinks for a lower price than if you were to go, say, on SocialSpark. Although of course, you get what you pay for, as I noticed that most bloggers here can get away with wrong grammar and spelling in their posts and get paid. But I guess it's because the advertisers who go here are not so strict when it comes to those things.
Overall, I highly recommend this, especially if you're a blogger with high Alexa ranking, as it is the requirement for most of the writing opportunities there. If you're an advertiser, you'd do well to use BuyBlogReviews because there are lots of members who are willing to write for a lower rate, thus more exposure for your product or service.
wahmaholic's comment on Sponsored Tweets ...
I Have Yet To See
I have faith in this program because it is owned by my favorite companies, IZEA, who also owns SocialSpark. I was one of the early birds who signed up for the system. I think it was a month back when they started recruiting Twitter account owners who want to make money by tweeting ads once in a while. They promise to pay as much as $1 per tweet, but so far, no email has come to my inbox yet asking me to tweet an advertiser ad. But I'm not holding it against them. I assume they are still in the process of securing advertisers in the system, thus the lack of opportunities.
The interface is pretty smooth, the FAQ is not as comprehensive but it takes time to build one so I expect them to increase the items in their FAQ as time passes. They pay through PayPal, but as I said, I haven't been offered any opportunities yet so I have not been paid. I hope an offer comes soon. They said they will email me once I need to tweet an ad, so here's crossing my fingers for that.
Overall, I am pleased that I joined Sponsored Tweets when I did. Although there is no solid proof yet that the program works, with IZEA behind the scenes, I have full trust that this program will both be highly beneficial for bloggers and advertisers alike. Advertisers, especially, as it is known that Twitter has turned to be one of the most effective advertising platform nowadays.
wahmaholic's comment on Blogsvertise ...
Opps Are Few And Far In Between
Like everyone else above me said, don't hold your breath for opportunities to come knocking at your door. They come, yes, but they are so scarce earnings would take time to build up. Blogsvertise does not have a minimum payout though. The ONLY time that I was able to cash out (not even $10), I had to wait 30 days after my post was approved before they credited the money to my PayPal account. If you don't have PayPal, then you better get one if you want to become a member of Blogsvertise because that's the only payment option that they are offering right now.
They are strict about bloggers getting opportunities. You HAVE to pass it before the due date or your blog status will be set to probation again and you have to email them telling why you was not able to accomplish the task and asking for another chance at setting your status to "approved" again. It happened to me with my first assignment. I missed the deadline and I was on probation for a week. Thankfully, they set it back to the approved status after I emailed them.
The website itself is pretty straight forward and easily navigable. Nothing fancy here in their interface. What I like about Blogsvertise is they do not force their bloggers to endorse the product or service that they are writing about. They leave it to the blogger's discretion about what tone to use when writing the article. The FAQ was not as comprehensive as some other pay-to-post sites out there, but the response time of the support people is okay. I have not tried using the system for advertising yet, so I cannot give any feedback on that. Overall, Blogsvertise is okay since they DO pay, but if you're looking for many writing opportunities, you won't find it here.
wahmaholic's comment on Website Submitter ...
Does Exactly What It Promises!
I hesitated at first to purchase this product because I know other website submitters that are free of charge. I asked around and found several trusted friends who say that this is worth every cent, so I went ahead and purchased it. The results are amazing, to say the least. Now most of the mini sites I created land on either the second or the first page of Google results! Which is what I am targeting if I want a high conversion rate. Plus, it dramatically increased my backlinks within several weeks!
Compared to free services, this Website Submitter software has higher quality compilation of search engines and directories, so you can be assured of better ranking in more popular search engines. The support for the product is phenomenal, as well. I had a couple of pre-sale questions, both of which were responded to promptly. I still have questions every now and then (despite their FAQ being VERY extensive), and I am still pleased with the response time. The interface navigates like a dream, so it was pretty easy to use. The software is always being updated to ensure that new search engines and directories are constantly included in the list. And it is not only the software that impressed me, it was also the resources that came with the package.
Although there are other submitters out there that do almost the same job (quality and quantity-wise) and for free, not a single one of them is automated. Which is one of the outstanding features of this software. Not fully automated though, just partial, as it is not possible (right now, at least, to fully automate the service). But still, it takes a huge amount of time off your hands that you can spend on other more essential things. So I can say that investing in the $47 is worth it if you do not have much time in your hands. Partner this with Traffic Geyser and you have two of the most potent internet marketing tools in your hands. They aren't free, but quality of service does not come cheap.
wahmaholic's comment on Ad Toll ...
Just OK. Could Be Better
I WAS an Ad Toll publisher several months back. One of the things that I like about Ad Toll is their Peel Away ads. This is one of the newer technologies that Ad Toll was quick to adapt. It is very innovative and eats up very little space on your site (only on the top right hand corner), but at the same time achieves maximum visibility (it is the top part of your page that viewers first see when they land on your page, after all. ). They also offer a host of payment options, and I'm thankful that PayPal is one of them since most of my other online earning activities also pay through PayPal (I like to keep my funds safe in one place only). They likewise pay on time, which is another plus. I've cashed out once so I know.
Why did I switch to another program, you ask. Simply because like AdSense, it does not generate as much income for me as I would like it to, so I switched to AdBrite (a BETTER alternative, trust me). What I don't like about this program is that they only pay on a CPC basis, thus lower chances of earnings. Also, their minimum payout for PayPal is $20. I would have preferred $10 (other ad program's minimum is only $10) so I can cash out more frequently. Their support people are not as friendly and prompt to answering queries compared to other programs I've joined, which sucks, because as a newbie I tend to ask a lot of questions that are not in the FAQ.
Overall, an okay program although it could be better in a lot of ways. I'll give them time I guess, to improve on their current system. But still, if you're looking for alternatives to AdSense, it is definitely worth a try.
wahmaholic's comment on Neobux ...
Stands Out From The PTC Crowd!
It's not your run-of-the-mill PTC, I tell you. PTC sites generally bore me to death, so I usually stay away from them. Neobux was one of the PTC sites that I tried in the early days of trying to make money online and I am impressed by their timely payout and the anti-cheating measures that they put in place. You can tell by the F. A. Q. s that they make an effort to ensure that members get the best out of the system, because it is ACTUALLY helpful (unline the newer PTCs that spring up today by the dozen). The T. O. S. is clear cut, there is no gray area, so if you violated one of the terms, there is no saying "that wasn't clearly stated in the T. O. S. ).
They do not ask for personal information, which is great, as it protects my privacy and lessens my worry of what they might do to it (i. e. , sell it), and when you reach minimum payout, you do not have to request for it like most other PTCs because you get it instantly. Renting referrals is also worth your money because the referrals are active! Which makes you reach payout faster. The forums are also a chock-full of information and help! I always felt welcome and never failed to find answers to my newbie questions when I go to their forums. Letting me have access to detailed statistics about my clicks is also one of the features that I love about the site.
I say, if you're planning to dive into the PTC field, then Neobux should definitely be on top of your list!
wahmaholic's comment on Hits4Pay ...
It's Been More Than A Year But I Haven't Cashed Out Once
Despite the $10 sign up bonus, it still very hard to reach the $25 payout unless you have TONS of ACTIVE referrals (which I don't have). The emails came more frequently in the start, but now it dwindled to just two, sometimes just one email a week. There were also weeks when I didn't receive an email from them. The reason why I'm still sticking to the site is that I personally know people that have been paid already, and it doesn't demand much of my time. I will be notified that there's a new email, I click on the link, wait for a few seconds and it will be credited to my account after that.
They DO pay one of the highest per click in the industry, and the advertiser websites are not annoying at all. No unwanted pop-ups, just creative splash pages that (sometimes) merit a full-length read. The referral system is pretty impressive, too, as (correct me if I'm wrong) I think it goes two levels deep. I'm a bit concerned about them suddenly asking to fill up a tax form (they didn't before), but what worries me more is how long should I wait for me to reach payout at the rate I'm going right now!
I just wish there were more emails to click on, so I can reach payout already, but as it happens, there are not so many nowadays. It's either that they have less advertisers on the system now, or my demographic just don't fit. I haven't talked to anyone in the U. S. about this program to compare if they get more emails than those of us living in other parts of the world, so I couldn't claim that it's because of my location. But, bottom line is, this site should've gotten a Pretty Good rating from me had it not been for the fact that emails are as frequent as rain on a desert.
wahmaholic's comment on RevTwt ...
Holds So Much Promise!
I am impressed with the anti-cheating measures that they've put in place. Understandably, this will not deter 100% of those who are trying to game the system from cheating, but what they have does a pretty good job of preventing click fraud. They are pretty strict about members following the terms of service, which is great because it reflects fairness on their part. I first signed up with RevTwt a month ago, and sure, the earnings are slow, BUT, I like the fact that they also pay per a certain amount of impression on my Twitter page, unlike the other Twitter advertising programs that only pay per sale or per click.
RevTwt offers a host of ways to earn for the Twitter account owner (there's CPC, CPA and CPT), not a feature of the other programs that I am also a member of. They are fair about giving offers. You have to gain your share of followers before you can realize the full potential of the program, which is only fair for those who work hard (or pay good) in order to build a huge following. It gives you the liberty to set the posting of ads on auto-pilot or you can manually approve them, like I do (because I never post an ad that is not even remotely interesting to me).
They also offer earning through Facebook through an app that you have to install, as well as Twitter Greetings which enable you to send greeting cards to your friends on Twitter while displaying your ads at the bottom. They also have an Elite program which is only for those who have tons of followers, I'm afraid. But we'll all get there, so. I have not tried advertising with RevTwt (yet), but it seems that like other Twitter advertising programs nowadays, advertisers get more out of the system than publishers, so it might be a good idea to get your ads published through RevTwt, seeing that they have the most number of publishers in the field. Overall, a highly recommended program!
wahmaholic's comment on MoreNiche ...
Competition is HUGE!
There are clear advantages to being with the MoreNiche affiliate program, for instance I see high-ticket items worth as much as $175 per sale, they pay through means other than a check (epassporte, good for international members like me), their interface is professional-looking and you can feel they really make an effort to appear trustworthy to members and lookers, and the community forum is always warm and welcoming to everyone.
However, as mentioned in my title, you would not believe the amount of competition in the program! I hardly make anything because of that! Being just the average affiliate person that I am, I find it hard to make a decent sale every now and then because of the amount of competition. And although the system looks easy to implement, it is not. Well, at least for me. The help section was not much help, I'm afraid. The learning curve was pretty steep, and once you get there, I don't think it's even worth it.
Faced with more seasoned affiliates, newbies will not survive very long. The costs killed me, and to be confronted with a humongous amount of competition is somewhat disheartening. I've lain low as a MoreNiche affiliate, thinking that it just isn't the affiliate program for me. I guess for some they are able to make huge money out of it. But as for me, I've seen better programs and I'll be sticking to those for now.
wahmaholic's comment on Project Wonderful ...
A Darn Good Blogger Advertising Program!
In my early days of blogging, I had a Project Wonderful widget in all my sidebars and it brought in a steady amount each month to my PayPal. Admittedly, not much, since the payment to you depends on how well you rank in Alexa and a host of other stuff (basically just how popular your blog is. Don't they all measure your blog that way?) and my blog is not as popular back then.
When I needed to boost my blogs' traffic, I used the power of Traffic Wonderful to advertise my site to other blogs that I feel would get them the most clicks. It's great because compared to other pay-per-click programs out there, Project Wonderful is competitively cheaper. There are tons of other programs that are unreasonably expensive and brings lesser quality results than what I get from Traffic Wonderful.
Advertisers get more out of this program, that's my overall observation. As an advertiser, the program has not let me down, but as a publisher, I have seen better earning opportunities than what Project Wonderful has to offer. But still, the merits of the program far outweigh it's drawback.
wahmaholic's comment on Twitter List Builder ...
Just OK. But Maybe It's Just Me
I am certainly not the world's greatest recruiter, and I've built my Twitter following into what it is now (which is not even that large a number of followers) out of pure persistence. So maybe I'm the one to blame why this Twitter List Builder didn't work out for me as advertised by Derrick VanDyke. I was impressed by the innovative approach proposed by the system to build my Twitter list, so I decided to try it out for free. After all, if I intend to monetize my Twitter account and drive more traffic to my blogs, I needed a decent amount of followers, right? So I tried Twitter List Builder in the hopes that it will help me accomplish just that.
There are two things that you need to know about this product: one, that it in fact, increases your Twitter following. Now how MUCH you want it to grow depends largely on your ability to recruit other people in the system. If you're like me who's not born with it, you'll get a decent enough following, but nowhere near the numbers advertised on the ad page of the software. Second thing is that you WILL be following a lot of people that isn't in the same circle of interest that you're in, so you'll end up having tons of useless tweets that you could have done better without.
But I have to stress that I'm only on the free version, so as some of the commenters already mentioned, maybe the paid version will give better outputs.
wahmaholic's comment on Darren Rowse ...
THE Blogger Guru
Being a blogger first and foremost, Darren Rowse is THE guy that I look up to when it comes to tips and tricks on how to make money through my blog. This great guy behind ProBlogger should be every blogger's role model, as he got to where he is right now through pure blogging genius. He gives advice to bloggers like me, from writing my About Page, designing my blog, blog advertising optimization, to everything else there is to know about monetizing one's site. No wonder he is a great Internet marketer.
His success in IM stems from the fact that he can so easily relate to people, that he is a generous soul, ready to give every blogger, newbie and veterans alike, his thoughts and ideas on how to make money from your blog. I've been a subscriber of his ProBlogger site ever since I started blogging a couple of years back, and I'm still grateful for the new ideas that he publishes every now and then. I even follow his Twitter account, for more updates on him. I hold on to his every word like a religious man holds on to the words in the Bible.
If I was into photography like some of my friends are, he would be my mentor in that field for sure. The wonder of it all is that he didn't even spend so much in advertising his blog to get it as famous as it is right now! How can you not admire a man who is so ingenious like that? This guy's the real deal. If I had money to pay him for consultancy, I would be glad to do it because I know that it will be the wisest investment that I can make as a blogger. He is so wonderfully nice, too, even to people he hardly knows, and I love him all the more for that.
wahmaholic's comment on Freelancer ...
Great Site IF You're Experienced
You would definitely stand out from the hoards of freelancers who are member of the site if you have extensive experience, which will make taking jobs from there so much easier. However, if you are a newbie to freelancing, not having any or little feedbacks would be a hindrance to landing that job you bid for. You can pay for premium membership, though, in order to get noticed first by contractors, but it has been my rule to NOT pay money to earn money, so up to now I'm still a free member, and up to now I haven't won any bids. Not that I raised many bids already, most of the projects I see there for web development are beyond my experience in web dev.
While this feedback system can be challenging to deal with for freelancers, it is a good measure for contractors. This way they can be assured that who they will be giving their project to is a highly qualified person or group who does the job well. For contractors who want to get the best value for their money, GetAFreelancer is definitely the site to post your jobs. There are thousands of members just waiting on the right opportunity to be offered to them, so you will be faced with vast choices, thus better chances of finding the perfect person to do your requirements for you.
Another thing that I like about this site is their recently rolled-out interface. It makes it so much easier for freelancers to find the right type of job that they can bid on. I rarely went to the GAF site with the old interface. I often got lost before this new look. But with the new design, I think I will start going there more often to try and win my first bid.
wahmaholic's comment on Entrecard ...
Entrecard User No More
I used to have an Entrecard widget in all my blogs, but not anymore. Not only does it take a huge amount of time if you want to have a decent enough traffic coming from the system, I also had the problem of people staying at my site for just a couple of seconds, in order to only drop their EC cards. I want targeted traffic, people that read my blog and not just scan it for where I put my Entrecard widget so they can do their duties and hop to another blog to do the same. The whole "dropping" thing just don't work for me. It used to be a fun task, dropping my Entrecard to sites while reading their contents but honestly, it's just too time-consuming for someone like me who constantly needs to multi-task.
If you wanted to just up your Alexa or RealRank, I would definitely recommend using Entrecard, but if you want real people reading your contents with interest, drop it like a hot potato and go look somewhere else for the type of traffic that you want. That's what I did, and I've never missed NOT having the Entrecard widget on my sidebars.
wahmaholic's comment on Terapeak ...
Excellent Mini Site Partner!
One thing that I've learned in the mini site business is that the hardest part is knowing what exact keywords to include in your write-ups so that when people search for your products/services, you will get a hit in top search engines and land in the first page result. Terapeak has been my ever-reliable partner to doing the aforementioned task, and it makes it a SO much easier task to do, at that! I LOVE the wealth of information that I manage to pull up every time I use the software, it never fails to land me on first page! Plus, when I am at loss as to what products/services to make a mini site on next, all I have to do is use Terapeak and in front of me are tons of choices that consumers are dying to have one of!
I am not an eBay seller (yet) but I personally know some very successful eBay sellers who use Terapeak as their weapon of choice when choosing what hot new items to sell or just to improve their existing listings. It is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful tools that you can invest your money on if you're in the mini site business and/or an eBay seller. Heck you can even use this as a blogging tool, if you want to know what readers are looking for in the Internet. Overall, a top-notch product!
wahmaholic's comment on Dragon Download Protector ...
A Must-Have For Every Digital Products Seller!
This product single-handedly solved my download protection problems! It is definitely one of the wisest investment I've made so far. It has a 60-day money-back guarantee, so when I saw what it promises to do, I took the plunge and thought, what have I got to lose? I just wanted a solution to my big problem of people downloading my templates without paying, a problem so big that it was crippling my small business! It turned out that I didn't need the guarantee at all, because when I started using this system, ALL my download protection difficulties were solved! Now I can rest peacefully at night, knowing my downloadable products are safe and sound, away from any hacker's reach.
Friends have suggested other solutions like SmartDD, but the latter costs $97 unlike Dragon Download that cost me only $47. Why would I buy something that is more expensive when all I need to handle ALL my downloadable products are provided by Dragon Download? The real beauty of this product is that it is a breeze to set up, which is one of my main criteria for anything that I purchase. Looks like I am going to be using Dragon Download for a very long time. I AM loving it!
wahmaholic's comment on Chris Malta ...
An Honest-To-Goodness Man
I was easily able to relate to Chris Malta because when he was just a beginner, he saw a lot of other people got scammed by companies and individuals trying to make a quick buck. He learned the hard way, and he learned good, because he is now making millions because of those experiences. I look up to him as my main trustworthy source of information on who and who not to trust online.
His "Starting Your Internet Business Right" has been a before-bedtime companion for the last few weeks as I am planning to start my own business together with some friends, and I find it a rich resource of what to avoid (scams, mainly) to help us get started. Having correct and reliable information at hand during a time like this is vital, as it will determine the direction that our business is going to take, whether we will make or break it. Since we don't have much capital to begin with, this e-book has proven valuable because in it Malta gives valuable tips on how to start a low-cost business. Overall, I highly recommend that you go to this guy for Internet business advice.
wahmaholic's comment on Ryan Deiss ...
THE Continuity Program Guy
He is young, he makes seven figures a year, he's a self-made success, what's not to be impressed with? I was first introduced to Ryan Deiss' Continuity Blueprint by a friend who asked me to help him build a membership site. I had absolutely no idea how me and my friend would go about doing such a thing, that is, until we devoured all the Blueprint's contents. From there it seemed easy. Well, it WAS easy, looking back. If we hadn't purchased that Internet course we wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Of course we already know the basics of internet marketing, but in this field, just knowing the basics doesn't cut it. Armed with the basics of IM coupled with Deiss' program, the learning curve was much less steep. And my friend's site wouldn't be as profitable now if not for the guidance of Deiss'. His no-nonsense way of putting things have helped us build what is now a highly profitable continuity program. A tad pricey, yes, but hey, considering the gain, the investment is worth every dime.
wahmaholic's comment on Charlie Page ...
The Legendary Charlie Page
Charlie Page is the person I look up to when it comes to copywriting. He is excellent in that area. Fact is, his sales letters are to be avoided if you are determined to say no, because I'm sure you will find his sales pitch HARD to refuse. Not that you will be sorry for purchasing his products (or grabbing some of his free offers), especially his Directory of Marketing. He has a knack for simplifying things that you sometimes wonder how can he explain such technical stuff to newcomers in the field where other so-called gurus have failed.
His How To Write Killer Ads in Under 10 Minutes is 17 pages of purely useful information. It has been my reference for so long now that I cannot imagine how the internet marketing arena was like without him. He's been in the business for decades that you just have to respect how much he knows about it. You won't find a negative review on this guy because he simply does not merit one. He's one of the best internet marketers I've stumbled upon, and one of the nicest, too! You can't beat nice.
wahmaholic's comment on Blogger's Paycheck ...
112 pages of Pure Awesomeness!
I am a blogger, first and foremost. Everything else that I do online takes a backseat compared to my blogging. Imagine my thrill when I discovered that I could earn with what I like doing best, and with that I started looking around for a great resource which can help me on my way to getting my blogger earnings. I stumbled upon John Yeo's Blogger's Paycheck because it was one of the most recommended products created for the exact purpose that I am looking for. And I must say, ever since finishing reading all the 122 pages of highly informational content, it has helped me focus on the essentials that got me earning through my blog in no time!
I haven't reached the thousand dollars a month that Yeo promised that I would make once I started following his advice, but at the rate I'm going right now, I'm pretty sure that I will reach that target in no time at all! Easy-to-understand with screenshots every important step of the way, this ebook has chock-full of resources about everything you need to get started in earning through blogging! Highly recommended!
wahmaholic's comment on Donkey Mails ...
Slow But Sure Earner
I've been paid once, so I can attest to this site's legitimacy in paying it's members. However, it took me a long time to get a decent enough amount of money, so there's a big downside. There's not much you should do to earn, though. Like Hits4Pay, Donkey Mail sends you to advertiser websites which you should view for a certain amount of time in order for payment to get credited to your account. The contests which are a constant presence in the site is also a good source of increasing (albeit in a very small amount, as well) your account balance. It pays through PayPal, which is important for an international member like me, plus you can request for a payout anytime, which is also great as you can cash out anytime you want without needing to reach a certain minimum amount before you can actually get your money. I also like the new paid to review section, which I have not tried yet but since I am interested in doing those type of tasks, I might try it soon. If you like a small but steady income on the side, then I recommend Donkey Mails to you.
wahmaholic's comment on Harrison Gevirtz ...
He's Successful and He's 16 Years Old!
What more proof can you ask for? Most sixteen year old kids I know are still worrying over what they will wear on their next date, while here's this whiz kid already earning 6 figures A month! Most everything that I've ever read about him only says good things about the boy, and why would they not? His site at CPAShare has one of the most useful tips and tricks around if you want real affiliate marketing advice. Lately he's changed the theme of his blog to pay-per-click marketing, which I have religiously read just in case I am missing something about this whole pay-per-click thing (since I myself, am planning to jump into that bandwagon).
Some people talk him down because of his age. I want to ask those people this question: Were YOU as successful as him when you were 16? Should age matter when it comes to success? Isn't it that the younger you start in life, the better off you will be? No matter what they say about Harrison Gevirtz, only one fact remains: he is way more deserving to be called a guru than most other men/women double, triple or even four times his age.
wahmaholic's comment on Affiliate Marketers Handbook ...
If You're A Newbie to Affiliate Marketing, Then This Could Be Useful
Otherwise don't bother reading it, as you probably won't find any earth-shaking information that could help you progress in your career as an affiliate marketer. In fairness to the author, this ebook is easy to understand for anyone new in the field. If I had gotten a hold of it when I was still fumbling my way around the world of affiliate marketing, I would've cherished it as my Bible. Now, with experience, I can say that what Martell has to say is nothing new. We've all read of the techniques mentioned in his ebook before (how to optimize your web sites in order to be search-friendly, for one).
His suggestions, as I most emphasize in this review, is for the newcomers in the field. And also, just in case you get your hopes up with his promises of several hundred dollars a month EACH site, do not get excited too fast. Each site will take time to even earn one hundred dollars a month, so don't expect too much. What Martell promises may be for some (as in those born with the knack), but definitely not for everyone.
wahmaholic's comment on Hostmonster ...
Highly Recommended for Personal Hosting!
I've used HostMonster for a personal website some time back (although I switched later on to a much cheaper web host) and found it to be a pleasant experience. Never a down time in all my six months of being under them (I guess it's because I never exceeded my bandwidth during that time). Support is great as well. They never failed to reply to my queries within 12 hours, which is rare for web host support anywhere. No hidden costs to jump at you from nowhere as well. What is advertised at the site is what they will charge you.
But I found an offer that's less expensive than HostMonster's package and almost the same service (a local web host) so I switched to it. If only the prices of HostMonster were a little closer to that of my current web host, I would definitely switch back because HostMonster has never given me any problems. Price aside, I think HostMonster has one of the most reliable web hosting services around!
wahmaholic's comment on Jonathan Budd ...
This guy's the real deal!
Budd is one of the first internet marketers that I have stumbled upon during my early days as a struggling beginner. I found his advices easy to follow, suited especially for newbies like me. Unconventional approaches sometimes, yes, but we need to break away from the mundane every now and then in order to get where we want in life. Sure, he sports a fancy car and markets himself as most flashy marketers do, but he delivers. That's the bottom line. His courses have helped me through a lot, particularly his free 7 day 'Online MLM Secrets' Video Boot Camp. Come to think of it, he gives a LOT of freebies which is great for someone who is not quite ready to take that giant leap of faith but is curious enough to try internet marketing. Overall, Budd's one of the gurus I look up to.
wahmaholic's comment on Clixsense ...
Worth The Effort IF...
You spend all day in front of the computer with nothing better to do than click ads. It pays too low to be even worth considering as a good income source, as with all other PTC sites out there (unless you have tons of referrals, that is). I've tried Clixsense in the early days of my earning online ventures, and like all of the PTCs I've signed up on back then, stopped doing them after a month or so. I've reached payout once, and yes, they are legit because they pay they members, but seriously, there are higher paying paid-to sites out there that wouldn't bore you out of your mind.
wahmaholic's comment on WP Affiliate Pro ...
Should be on top of Every Marketer's Must-Have list!
If you're using WordPress (WP), that is. Now I haven't personally bought this, but work for someone who does have it in his sites, and I use it all the time to insert affiliate links on the articles that I am asked to write and publish on WP. The beauty of this plugin is that it is compatible with all the existing advertising platforms that we have (yes, including Google).
Plus, it virtually doesn't require any technical knowledge to install and use! For small fishes like me, $97 for a plug-in may seem a tad pricey (the main reason why I have not bought a copy for myself. Yet.), but I know that this will be number one on my list when I make the decision to jump into the IM bandwagon full time. But for already established marketers? $97 is a no-brainer for what this plugin has to offer. The perfect solution for higher conversions!
wahmaholic's comment on Matt Cutts ...
All Hail Matt Cutts!
I swear this guy is the bomb! If it wasn't for the fact that I'm in a domestic partnership already and he is already married himself, I would definitely ask him to marry me. Or if the laws allow it, I'd absolutely love marrying his brain. Or if he advertises for a slave, I would apply in a heartbeat. THAT is how much I am thankful for this guy's existence on earth.
His blog is my online Bible, his articles have helped me out in more ways than he could ever know. His SEO tips and advice on how to please Google are heaven sent for anyone who's interested in making one's blog popular (thus enabling to attract advertisers and other money-making opportunities along the way). To top it all, he is nice. What more can you ask from a guy? He is very well-respected, and deserves every ounce of that because he earned it.
wahmaholic's comment on InterAdMedia ...
A Breath of Fresh Air
After wading through tons of paid-to-search sites, finally here is one that actually works. I am an mTurk worker and do HITs that require me to use Google and Yahoo at least four hours a day, so InterAdMedia paying by the minute is actually a good program to use for me. I was annoyed at the other site (yes, I am talking about MyHomePagesFriends) because after almost a year of using the site, I still haven't reached payout and have been twice deducted earnings because of "low quality" search queries (which basically translates to "You're nearing payout and we must not let you achieve that"). But with InterAdMedia, I am almost at my second payout only after four months of membership!
But I wish the FAQ was not so misleading and they did not change their rules so often (they've actually changed it thrice, I think), but hey, they've already paid me, and without me making so much effort, just a couple of extra clicks and on to my usual surfing. So based on that alone, I am glad that I became a member when I did and will continue to use their services for as long as they stick to their word of paying the span of time that I use their site.
wahmaholic's comment on Free Lunch Room ...
One Of The Better Biz-Opps Nowadays!
I'm just a new member at the site and I must say I'm pretty impressed with how the forum is run by the administrators. There are LOTS (and I DO mean LOTS) of opportunities for making-money posted there by fellow Free Lunch Room members, most of whom are very helpful to newbies at the site like I am. I say "one of the better" because it is actually a community where everyone benefits from everyone else and not just a one-way agreement (as is the case with most programs out there). I LOVE the freebies sections. When I first came in there I could not believe how much free stuff is up for grabs. Being a freebie maniac, of course I was happy!
I've already tried several of the offers at the site under the "Paying For Referrals" thread and have already been paid by most of them, and I am planning to trade for referrals when I do get the chance to settle down. Over all, I admire the site creators for coming up with such a fantastic idea of sharing through the concept of referrals. Everyone benefits, I tell you. And no, you don't get rich quick. But that's part of the authenticity of the site. It doesn't promise you that you'll get rich immediately, but you build your earnings through time. And that's exactly how I like it.
wahmaholic's comment on Viral Tweets ...
One Of The Most Effective Twitter Tools Out There
What's great about this product is that it is free and uncomplicated to use. It has given me the possibility of harnessing the full monetary potential of my Twitter account in just under a week of using it. Retweeting, as possibly the most effective form of advertising through Twitter, is the main feature of this product. With Twitter as the most used platform for social networking, Viral Tweets showed me how to turn that feature into something that benefits me personally, by BOTH growing my number of followers and getting the word out about my services. Best of both worlds, what else is there to look for?
wahmaholic's comment on Wordpress Goldmine ...
Worth Every Dime!
I heard of this product through the recommendation of James Jones, the brain behind the highly effective Micro Niche software and thought, hey if Jones thinks this is good, then that's all I need to know. WordPress is hell for those who do not know what they are doing. But reading Thompson's ebook coupled with the videos helped jump start my WordPress experience.
Every little thing you need to know on how to monetize your WP site is there, but if you still have additional questions, an ongoing support is available. In the long-run, you will realize (like I did) that the investment is not as high as it first seems with all the stuff that this product has to offer to customers. All in all an excellent buy!
wahmaholic's comment on Micro Niche Finder ...
This Is The Best Thing That Happened To MiniSite Owners!
I cannot imagine a life without Micro Niche now. Before the advent of this great innovation, I always look at the task of finding profitable niches with dread. With Micro Niche's super friendly user navigation and interface, plus very helpful support people and constantly updated software, how can minisite owners go wrong with using this tool by James Jones?
A must-have for every individual aspiring to succeed on the minisite venture. It does exactly what it promises customers to do, and offers SO much more in return for a small investment!
wahmaholic's comment on Get Paid to Draw ...
Chock-full of Hype, but still
I didn't like how the product was presented, personally. As with most other products or services, if it promises to give me hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings in a short period of time, then a little red flag is already waving in front of my eyes. After overcoming the initial doubt with me and my husband's desire to earn through his skill in drawing, we took a leap of faith and decided to try it out.
If it seems too good to be true, then maybe it is. I think it applies to this product. But although it did not deliver as LARGE an income as promised, it's still a pretty good source of income for us. And maybe with more time invested on producing artworks and a better grasp of Illustrator and Photoshop, I see this site as potentially being able to provide a great future for us. Me and my husband were also impressed with the amount of resources available and the bonuses that came with the purchase, so all in all, it's a pretty good investment to make if you are serious on monetizing your artistic skills.
wahmaholic's comment on Push Button Marketer ...
Great For Productivity Freaks!
For the price, this software is essentially identical to Macro Express, except of course, that Push Button Marketer is geared towards making the life of internet marketing people a whole LOT easier. It's scope is so extensive it will initially make your head spin just looking at the interface, but after the preliminary shock, you will realize that it comes bundled with all the imaginable uses that will simplify your IM life and so much more.
One of the things that I wish it could do is the ability to incorporate automation of blog (plus all it's plugins and several other options) uploading as one of it's pre-built macros. Still, it's a lot better than iMacro in my opinion, and comparatively cheaper, too.
wahmaholic's comment on Create Your First Website by 3:45 This Afternoon ...
Finally A Good One For The Newbies
These video courses are a chock-full of information, I tell you. Even the seemingly trivial details are explained at length, and in terms that even non-techie people like most of us can understand. What's good about the course is that it doesn't attempt to gorge you with information (something that newbies seem to be inclined to do). What it does is it guides you through the steps of website creation while raising points along the way of how you can earn money through it (gently, if I may say so myself). Anyone who has been frustrated with being confronted by highly technical stuff since day one will find this course (and the free ebook, as well as the free “Success Grenade” newsletter)a satisfying breath of fresh air.
wahmaholic's comment on Easy Video Producer ...
Viral Video-Making Has Never Been This Easy!
This FREE software is every online marketer's dream come true. One look at the demo and the very idea floored me, so I wasted no more time by trying it out myself. First impressions usually don't last (at least in my case), but the Easy Video Producer was one of the very few that proved me wrong. I'm a sucker for user-friendliness, and the software navigates like a dream. I am liking the built-in autoresponder feature as well. But what about the loading time? Trust me, it's a love. Of course, you can't have everything perfect. The templates are somewhat duh, but hey, it's for free and you can always create your own, something that suits your desired message to a T.
AND, did I mention that it's totally FREE?? Why pay for $300-$500 worth of software (and that's the price range of the least expensive ones) that gives you almost the same features when you can get it for free with this Easy Video Producer? I just hope that it will continue to be offered for free. The software has SO much to offer and has humongous potential if one knows how to use the system wisely. This right here is classic viral marketing at it's best.
wahmaholic's comment on Traffic Geyser ...
I LOVE How It Saves Me Precious Time!
Do you know that love at first sight also applies to internet marketing? Because I experienced it with Traffic Geyser (TG). And no, I am not the official TG marketing officer (I am sure the real marketing officer will do a MUCH better job lauding the merits of the site). I'm just a happy customer. For someone who values user-friendly navigation so much (because I can't be bothered figuring out where the heck am I supposed to go if I want to know/see something on the site. I mean, who can?), TG is a dream. Everything is so well-placed that I have managed to find my way around mere minutes after our first ever encounter.
This is not to mention the tons (and I do MEAN TONS) of video resources that will help you through the initial shock of how much TG can do for you. And they provide LOTS of free resources for making the videos as well! I'm talking background music, mainly, which is such a treasure because after all, a video is not a worthy video until it has superb background music. AND they make sure their customers understand the finer art of video submission by putting in measures between the process which ensure that the videos submitted will not appear spammy. I could rave on and on about the merits of the site all day but you have to experience it first hand in order to fully appreciate the beauty of Traffic Geyser. NOW I'm sounding like their marketing officer, so I'm going to end this review now.
wahmaholic's comment on Text Link Ads ...
Definitely NOT for Newbies.
As the two other commenters above me mentioned, Text Link Ads (TLA) requires that your site has a decent enough amount of traffic before you can get offers from advertisers there. Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for my Page Rank, as TLA was the reason why my PR3 was taken away from me), I already had decent traffic when I applied, so I immediately got two offers, both of which wowed me, being a newbie and all back then.
Unlike other pay-per-click advertising programs, TLA pays me a fixed amount of money whether or not my readers are interested in the links or not. So every month I got a pretty good cash out from them. I have no TLA at my site at the moment (just in case you bothered to look) as the advertisers have withdrawn already after months, so I am still waiting for new offers. But hey, I've had my fair share of income from them and I know more will come, so I'm in no hurry. Overall, I like the program because it's unobtrusive, it pays well and it doesn't ask so much in return.
wahmaholic's comment on SponsoredReviews ...
One Of The Better Pay-To-Post Sites Out There
I've been with Sponsored Reviews for some time now and I've enjoyed the money that I make with them (albeit not THAT much). Admittedly, much of the opportunities there are for established bloggers only, and the advertisers who pay a bit better than the rest require a high Page Rank (that big issue that bloggers have been struggling to deal with ever since the concept came out), but you can find good stuff to grab there from time to time. The directions are always clear cut, the site navigates like a dream, the support people respond immediately to user queries and they always pay on time. Like most other pay to post sites out there, my only gripe with the site is the emphasis that it gives to Page Rank. Other than that, Sponsored Reviews will get a thumbs up from me any time of the week.
wahmaholic's comment on ReviewMe ...
It Has Potential For Being A Serious Money-Earner BUT
There are some things that hold me back from grading the service with a B or even an A. First reason is that they rely HEAVILY on a site's Page Rank, which (to me at least) shouldn't be the main basis for giving bloggers a number of writing opportunities. OTHER sites have grown so much by NOT using a site's Page Rank as the sole justification of how much opportunities a publisher is entitled to. Second reason is that the site navigation is not very user-friendly. I often get lost inside the site. But I like the site still, for the freedom that it gives bloggers to write in the language that they are most comfortable with.
wahmaholic's comment on Pay Per Post ...
Still Not Getting Any
I've been a Pay Per Post member for more than six months now, with two blogs approved and opportunities emailed to me as frequent as rain on a desert. And even if the emails came telling me that there are paid posts available, they either pay too low or feature some product or service that I can't write about without feeling guilty afterwards. Now SocialSpark (SS), which is another site of Izea, is the opposite of Pay Per Post.
Now if the latter was more like SS, then I would've been prouder of being a member. But as things stand right now, I guess you won't be hearing words of laudation from me any time soon. But in fairness to the site, they are trying to reach out to the bloggers by asking them of their opinion on how they can make the program better.
wahmaholic's comment on Adbrite ...
AdSense? No Thanks, I'll Take AdBrite, Please
After putting up with AdSense for so long, I decided to try the next online advertising company on the list, AdBrite. After just several days of setting it up on my site, I have earned more on it than I ever did on Google AdSense in the length of time that I stayed on the latter's program. So maybe I'm just dumb and don't know where to place Adsense ads where they are most likely to be clicked, or have no clue about the perfect color combination that will make the ads stand out, but with AdBrite, I didn't have to worry so much about those just to earn a few cents a day.
The interface on the site makes it so easy for even the most clueless bloggers like me, and the fact that it offers so much more (full page ads and inline ads, to name a couple) convinced me that this program is worth sticking to. Not to mention that it doesn't penalize me (or more specifically, my PageRank) for accepting text link ads from other sites.