Archive for October, 2008
Written on October 31st, 2008 by Cindy
I am not frugal. Although I was raised modestly, as an only child I was spoiled a bit. I was by no means a brat but if I wanted something, it appeared. My Parents are amazing. But it didn’t really prepare me for the future. I have always spent too much money and until I became a parent five years ago hated the “F” word (frugal!) and wanted no part of it. I never “got” it. Until I read Michael Nonan’s Frugal Living.
In the last five years I have sought out “tips” for stretching my dollar. Very literally, one day I had no dependents and the next day I had a 3 and 7 year old. My dollar, which a week prior was providing me all sorts of “happiness”, suddenly had no value. It wasn’t enough to meet the basic needs of my family, at least not the way I was using it.
So I sought tips and started using coupons. I still thought frugal meant “cheap”. I was on a “temporary budget”. The tips didn’t help me though. I was so unhappy because I felt deprived. At that point my newly adopted children were spitting at me and scratching their own skin until it bled in order to get their way. So I can’t really say that the kids immediately brought happiness because they sent me to bed crying every night. I wanted to buy stuff. I NEEDED to buy stuff to make me happy.
The only reason I even opened Michael Nortan’s Frugal Living is because he is part of the Today.com community and I enjoyed him at the Forum so I wanted to support his blog. Click and go was my plan. We have no personal relationship or connection. I was just doing my community duty. Instead, I walked in and he wouldn’t let me go. I had a complete paradigm shift regarding the word “frugal”.
At Frugal Living Michael talks about a spiritual side to frugality. He paints for me a picture of being in control, living abundantly in simplicity. As opposed to doing without, being frugal because I have no choice. I shared the personal details about my family above to illustrate to you what a strong impression the Frugal Living blog had on me.
So now I have a feeling and a desire to accompany the tips I find in my travels across the internet, from friends, in books, etc. This has translated to success for me. But here’s the thing. I don’t have to travel very far to be enlightened with tips and strategies because I love the way Frugal Living presents its information.
It is tough enough to adapt to a new lifestyle without having complicated steps to follow. At Frugal Living Michael lays everything out so plainly and simply. I love the way everything is short and easy to accomplish. The recipes and do-it-yourself suggestions are actually things I can do myself.
Frugal Living has recently added podcasts to its weekly schedule. I don’t care for podcasts. But since it is Michael I checked it out. Big surprise… I loved it. I wish I had heard podcast #1 five years ago. Or ten years ago even. It further made me think about the way I have lived my life. As an added bonus, Michael wraps up his podcasts at Frugal Living with a sampling of music he wrote and performed. Did he know when he shared that talent with his readers it would inspire people embrace their own skills and artistic talents that otherwise might stay locked in way in favor of practicality?
Much different than last week’s blog of the week, the blog layout is very simple. The guidelines at Today.com put some limits on what can be done in the side bars. But I don’t think that has an impact on Frugal Living’s layout. It’s beauty is its simplicity, just like the lifestyle that inspires it. It’s uniqueness is found in its content. Really GOOD content. Content that satisfies your needs as you search for ways to stretch your dollar and live a fulfilled and joyful life. And as you peel away those layers of information from the Frugal Living blog, you occasionally get a closer look at the interesting man who authors it.
If you haven’t been to the Frugal Living blog, take the opportunity now to see if there is anything you can take away from it. At the very least, next time you’re dropping, spend a few extra minutes there and see what you’re missing.
Written on October 29th, 2008 by Ben Barden
We are now issuing warnings for minor violations of the Blog Quality Standards. This will allow you to update your site without being deleted first.
The length of time between a warning being issued and an account being deleted for non-compliance is not fixed – it depends on the nature of the violation. Usually we will allow up to 72 hours (3 days) for you to update your site before deleting an account.
The type of violation also determines whether an account is deleted or not. For instance, a blog that only consists of links to illegal file downloads or where the owner engages in mass-spamming is likely to be deleted without warning. This decision is at the moderator’s discretion.
Unless a site is clearly not appropriate for Entrecard in any shape or form, we want to help members to bring their sites within our guidelines. We ask for your cooperation in this by ensuring your site adheres to the Blog Quality Standards and that any warnings are addressed as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about a warning that is issued, please reply to the warning notification email.
Written on October 26th, 2008 by Rose
KidTech celebrates his third month of blogging and over 32,000 visitors! He’s thanking everyone for the support by holding a contest and 10 lucky winners will be chosen!
http://kidtechguru.blogspot.com/2008/10/win-prizes-worth-total-of-442-at.html
Ø First –identify the three people pictured in the blog post –5 entries KidTechGuru@gmail.com
Ø Second – Write a post on your blog linking back to his about the contest –10 entries
Ø Third – Subscribe to his free email update –4 entries
Visit KidTechGuru for details on prize packages and sponsors!
Dates to Enter: October 20 – November 3, 2008
GOOD LUCK!
Written on October 25th, 2008 by Rose
 Well, it’s Lainy’s birthday and she’s giving a party! Look at all of the great prizes you could win. Just pop over to Lainy’s blog and get the details on how to enter!
FIRST PRIZE:
- Free Blog Lay Out courtesy of Ivy of The Designer Chic valued at $30
- Cash Prize – $20
- EntreCard Credits – 5,000
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 Ad Space for a month @ this blog
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 Ad Space for a month @ AZ Blogging
SECOND PRIZE:
- Cash Prize – $15
- EntreCard Credits – 3, 000
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 Ad Space for a month @ Our Journey to Forever
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 Ad Space for a month @ My Blog Says
THIRD PRIZE:
- Cash Prize – $10
- EntreCard Credits – 2, 000
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 Ad Space for a month @ Kuerdas
FOURTH PRIZE:
- Cash Prize- $ 5
- EntreCard Credits- 1, 000
- Free Blog Exposure- 125X125 As Space for a month @ Random Ramblings
ALL unlucky qualified participants shall be awarded a consolation of 100 EntreCard credits each.
Happy Birthday Lainey! And, good luck to everyone who enters!
CONTEST ENDS: October 28, 2008, midnight. Entries will be randomly drawn on the 29th and announced thereafter.
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Written on October 24th, 2008 by Rose
Since Shanker wants to make the contest even bigger he has contacted others in the blogsphere/internet marekting/theme designing and is excited to announce that they are agreeing to sponsor his newest contest.
His aim is to gain exposure for both his own blog and all of the sponsors of his contest.
He is looking for sponsors for the following prizes:
- Entrecard Credits
- Theme/Logo Design/Header Design
- Blogging Tool / Your Product
- Site Review
- Advertising on your Site in form of Banner, Text link,
- Membership Subscription
- e-Book
- Hard Cash
Entrecard sponsors can purchase any of the following ad spaces with Entrecard credits.
These credits will be designated for this contest and distributed once the prize winners are chosen.
5000-Credit Sponsors
3000-Credit Sponsors
2000-Credit Sponsors
1000-Credit Sponsors
Written on October 24th, 2008 by Graham
SezWho has just released version 2.2, and I recommend that everyone upgrade to it immediately. If you haven’t tried SezWho yet, you should know that you can get Entrecard Credits for some of your comments when you comment on SezWho enabled blogs.
New in SezWho Version 2.2
The feature I like best about this upgrade is that comments are no longer rated on a scale of 1-5, but now the default is a thumbs-up / thumbs-down system, which fits commenting much better. Threaded comments have also been added to this release, along with enhancements to improve the speed and the loading time. They’ve also made significant improvements in the service’s integration with the Blogger platform.
A Change in the Entrecard-SezWho algorithm
We at Entrecard decided to change up the pace a little bit with our SezWho algorithm. We now trigger a credit to be given to people who leave comments that get rated a 2.5 or better, once per day per blog. If you haven’t tried earning credits by commenting yet, install SezWho, activate it from your Entrecard dashboard, and have a blast!
Give the new SezWho a try, and tell us what you think! Hopefully, it’s a little easier to earn credits by commenting this time. You can also check out their official announcement here.
Written on October 23rd, 2008 by Cindy
Hello Droppers! Ordinarily I like to just get my feet wet with something new, but this time I am jumping right in. Although I signed up for Entrecard in July, I only recently been getting busy with the droppin’. And here’s the thing… I am having way too much fun. I finally just installed the Entrecard toolbar and I love it. It makes it so easy to navigate between my multiple blogs but as far as speeding up my drop time? Forget it. It doesn’t matter how lightning fast and convenient you make it for me, I am destined to be a slow dropper because something grabs my attention at every blog! Quit being so interesting Ya’all! (kidding of course!) I guess that’s why I wanted to host a weekly column highlighting the cool stuff that I find in my dropping travels. So here we go!
Have you been to TURNIP OF POWER-SOCIAL NETWORKING? LOVE IT! Here’s what got my attention right away. There is a ton of stuff going on at this blog… ads, interivews, buttons, contests, prizes, links, tutorials, tips, I mean you NAME it, it is there for your pleasure… yet there is nothing overwhelming about it. It is as clean and organized as if it consisted of a few simple components. Super design!
Okay so once I was done being amazed at the wealth of information so easily navigated and pleasing to the eye, I realized the topic is SOCIAL NETWORKING. Just what I need as a fledgling blogger who spends more time reading, taking notes, and signing up for programs than actually blogging or participating. This is part of the learning curve, right? 
So here at TURNIP OF POWER there seems to be everything I need to know and what I didn’t even know I needed to know, to get myself organized and in line with great programs.
Speaking of programs, there is a neat little tab that takes you to Turnips affiliate links. This is a great resource for someone like me who runs across so many programs that “appear” to be fantastic. You cannot possibly participate in them all so it is nice for a little guidance from someone who knows the ropes. And again, kudos for having it out there, so plain to use and easy to find.
Let’s talk about tips for a minute. The side bars of TURNIP OF POWER are filled with good tips. But the first post I read, dated 10/22/08 taught me something when I didn’t even know I had something to learn at the moment. A slight change in name was made, as suggested by another blogger, adding “SOCIAL NETWORKING” to the title, for SEO reasons. Two things hit me right away. 1) it got me thinking about my own titles and 2) how awesome that our community works together like that. We rock at Entrecard!
Although I learned many many things in just ten minutes at TURNIP OF POWER – SOCIAL NETWORKING, perhaps the most enlightening one was found in the “interview” section where I saw the link to an interview with Graham. “Cool” I thought, “that’s the guy that told me I could write this column. He probably knows the ins and outs around here.”
Seriously?!
Now as I mentioned, I am kinda new, right? Over the summer with little kids home I really didn’t even drop much, much less get to know the program. Then September and most of October was spent establishing good habits and routines with my ADHD montsters for school. In that time I was trying to get into a writing and blogging groove… I didn’t even realize I had all these Entrecard resources available to me… the blog, the forum… so how would I have come across the information that Graham was the founder of Entrecard?
Thank goodness for TURNIP OF POWER for pointing that out to me before I did anymore to embarrass myself. “Note to self, do not bother Graham anymore with technical issues or silly texts because you are bored waiting in the parking lot to pick up the kids.”
And thank you to TURNIP OF POWER for giving me such a good blog to talk about and making my first post here so enjoyable.
Written on October 23rd, 2008 by Rose
Contests currently going on this week! Visit each site for more details on how to win these great prizes.
Entrecard Bloggers –Win Free Webhosting!
http://www.secludedhabitat.com/2008/10/06/entrecard-bloggers-a-chance-to-win-free-webhosting
Ends October 26th.
Mr. Javo celebrates the release of his eBook, “The Affiliate Start Guide.”
http://mrjavo.com/mr-javo-20-give-away/
Ends November 16th
Bad Evans Costume Contest
http://badevan.com/costume-contest/
Ends: October 25th
Lainey’s Birthday Bash
http://www.lainyonline.com/2008/10/lainys-birthday-bash-contest.html
Ends: October 28th
Kid Tech Guru Celebrates three months of blogging!
http://kidtechguru.blogspot.com/2008/10/win-prizes-worth-total-of-442-at.html
Ends: November 3rd
Looking For Sponsors For Upcoming Contest
For information please visit:
http://www.momma-wannabe.com/
http://shankerbakshi.com/2008/08/31/winners-of-lets-win-contest-together
Written on October 22nd, 2008 by Graham
As many of you know, we’ve partnered with OIO publisher to let you sell all formats of blog advertising, and accept EC as payment.
A number of Entrecarders have signed up already, offering lots of different advertising options for EC, and you can browse the various formats of advertising they have available here. Any Entrecarder with an Entrecard account and some credits can buy this advertising with their EC.
Since quite a few people missed the boat the first time around, when we were offering a $17 coupon, bringing the price down to $30, we decided to give it another go. I’ve secured another coupon that will get you the same deal, $17 off. The coupon code is entrecard2 -so now everyone who wanted to pick up OIO publisher, but took their time evaluating it the first time around, can do so now at the reduced rate!
We’ve also made a number of upgrades on our end, as well as on their end, and we believe we’ve ironed out all the bugs and even made the whole process a lot easier to set up.
Written on October 21st, 2008 by Rose
Mr. Javo is launching his first eBook, The Affiliate’s Start Guide. To launch his eBook he is holding a contest that includes the following prizes:
http://mrjavo.com/mr-javo-20-give-away/
1st Place
2nd Place
3th Place
4th Place
5th Place
6th Place
7th Place
- Thirty-minutes of blog consultations with Jim from The Net Fool – Value $30
- A blog review, a 125×125px advertising for a month and 1000 EC by Louis Liem – Value $30
- One month of 125×125px advertising on IndoContest, 2500 EC – Value $20
- One blog review on Niessuh.com – Value $20
- One month of text-link advertising on WebTrafficROI.com – Value $10 NEW!
8th Place
9th Place
10th Place
To find out how to enter please visit Mr. Javo’s post:
http://mrjavo.com/mr-javo-20-give-away/
CONTEST ENDS: November 16th, 22:00 GMT
