I hate it when the press and reporters grossly misrepresent the facts in order to create sensationalism. I had it happen to me when I was interviewed by Forbes.com in fact, and although I addressed my concerns to the editors of Forbes after reading the article, I was ignored. And if I had been replied to, and the errors corrected, would they have been corrected in the original article, or in a prominent location? No, of course not. Corrections go in a teeny tiny corner of the website or newspaper where no one will ever read them!

Armand Rousso is feeling my pain right now. He was profiled in a recent New York Times article by Saul Hansell, and the article had several omissions. You can read the Armand Rousso response to NYT story by Saul Hansell on Mr. Rousso’s blog, but I’m sure that like Forbes.com, the New York Times will not admit that they make a huge lapse in judgment by printing the article as it stands now.

Armand Rousso is upfront about his criminal record, and the New York Times feels that he can’t change, and lambasted him in this piece. I can only hope they make right by Armand Rousso.

As you may know, this site has message boards, and we’ve welcomed bloggers there to discuss paid blogging. We have a forum for each of the major paid blogging topics where we regularly discuss opportunities, payments, and issues with each. We’ve always welcome the staff from those companies at our boards, but recently, I heard something a bit disturbing.

One more than one occasion, a member of our board was contacted by a rep from a paid blogging company about something that was posted. The items in question weren’t rude, slanderous, or out of line. I was even contacted asking to delete a thread that was simply talking about a company in a very general way.

I posted a note in each of the paid blogging forums today saying:

I’m posting this in each of the paid blogging forums so that the people who work for those places will see it.

I don’t want to make our paid blogging forums private, but I will do that if our members continue to tell me they’ve been contacted by reps of paid blogging companies about things they posted here. Regardless of your intention, it’s very unsettling for our members and it’s not the best business practice to micro manage the people who do work for you. Many people post things on MANY public forums about your company, ranging from horrible reviews and slander to constructive criticism. It’s the nature of the internet! Please don’t abuse your invitation to be here when our members post helpful advice or light hearted venting about your company / business. Don’t take it personally! It will only prompt me to ban you from this forum if you continue to use it to berate / correct / hassle members who post things here in a public forum.

Despite some of my sites having a PR update a few weeks ago, I don’t think the PR update is complete, which means there is still some time to boost your link popularity and search engine rankings before pagerank updates take place for this quarter. You should also take a look at how search engines see your blog or website. A website optimization service will show you how your website is perceived by search engines and visitors - do your pages load quickly? Is your navigation easy to use? If your content easy to follow, and easy to spider? In addition, a website optimization company will give you suggestions on things to change so that your website can receive higher search engine rankings and more traffic. You need to be on the FIRST page of terms when people search for your site, because in general, people won’t go to the 4th, 7th, or 19th page or results looking for you, regardless of how great your website or product is.

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I have my resume on Monster.com - it’s currently not active or searchable, but I never took it off the site after getting my job 3 years ago, figuring that it would be safe and secure. A letter I got from Monster.com this afternoon says otherwise:

Dear Monster Customer:

Recently, a malicious software, known as Infostealer.Monstres, was used to gain unauthorized access to the Monster resume database. Regrettable, some of the contact information that was captured included your name, address, telephone number, and email address.

The letter went on to state that action had been taken to protect data in the future, and that Monster would continue to review all log ins with access to the account to make sure they were being used properly. (I’m certain that’s true, because in my job, I deal with Monster on the employer side, and I’ve been contacted in the past about compromised accounts. Monster regulates accounts for “non human access”, and when they see hundreds of resumes being accessed in a short amount of time, they investigate.)

Monster also asked that users be on the alert for fraudulent emails that appear to be from Monster.com and ask you to:

• Download software
• Ask for your banking information, or other account numbers
• Ask for a payment of any type
• Ask you to download agreements pertaining to your Monster account or a job

If you receive an email like this, which appears to be from Monster, please forward it, with the full header information intact, to siteabuse@monster.com

Do I feel safe about continuing to use Monster? Sure. My name, email, and address is already out on the internet in various places. You should NEVER put anything you’re not willing to make public, like a social security number, on a resume.

Would you put a GPS tracker on your car? Some may say it’s too much “big brother”, but as a mom with children who will be driving in a few years, I’m all for monitoring where my kids are when they’re out with MY car. Hey, if it’s good enough for Hulk Hogan, then GPS real time tracking is good enough for me! Seriously though, while I can’t see monitoring my child’s every move, it would be a handy tool to ensure that your child is where they say they are, simply because a kid who knows you CAN see where they are 24/7 is less likely to go astray, right? I believe in giving kids room to make mistakes, but I also believe in letting them know what’s expected, and if they say “I’m going to the library”, well, the car should be at the library, right? I know all of the tricks - I’ve tried everything at one time or another…LOL!

Earlier this week, I posted that my D List (of blogs using a “do follow” plugin) is still going strong, and that I continued to weed out comments that I felt were only being left for the link love from the plugin.

It’s probably a bit easier for me to tell when this is happening, because I have several blogs. This afternoon, for example, I got a comment on my 3DayMom blog, followed by a comment on BuyMeBlog, and then a 3rd comment here on GeekySpeaky - all left by the same person, of course. Gosh, what are the chances that he’s going down a list of do follow blogs, in alphabetical order, no less, leaving comments for the link back?

The comments left on 3DayMom and BuyMeBlog were at least of some substance, but by the 3rd comment, left here, the person wasn’t even trying anymore:

This is exactly the kind of comment abuse and PR theft that turns bloggers off from using the D-List. I’m sick of getting comments from people who don’t even leave a real NAME, just a business name. I’m not stupid, and I can see comment spam coming a mile away.

I was fired up enough to send an email to this spammer, saying:

I’m assuming, that since you’ve hit 4 of my blogs in a row now, that you’ve come across the D list and are leaving comments in hopes of promoting your own site.

FYI, your comments will not be approved.

Why waste my time, or his? I’d normally take this a step further, by visiting the site listed in the comment, and contacting someone there to make them aware of how their site is being promoted. I realize that legit businesses are being taken in by people who promise to promote their website via comment links, and those businesses need to be educated. In this case though, the site doesn’t appear to be a legit business, just a website with links to mortgage companies.

Don’t let spammers ruin your blog - stop them in their tracks by letting them know you won’t tolerate D-list spam and PR theft!

Edited to add: I just got a nice comment on my post about Facebook Pirates on another blog. Too bad the person put the name of a large financial website as her user name and in the URL field…but used a completely different Yahoo email. I emailed her back and said sorry, babe - no approval! What’s it going to take for comment spammers to stop?

When you’re looking for directories to submit your blog and website too, you should start with the highest ranked directories. My directory has a main page which is PR5, which is good, but the main URL for this blog directory is a PR6, which is even better! The sub folder is unranked for now, but with it’s parent page being a PR 6, it should earn a nice pagerank of it’s own in a matter of time. The directory offers deep link submission options, which most blog directories don’t, and a lot of blog categories. Both standard and featured listings are available, for a yearly or permanent fee.

Did you hear about the teenager who hacked an iPhone and traded it for a car?

I guess that’s reason #1 I wasn’t in line for an iPhone - all it took was a 17 year old to hack into the phone and unlock it so that you can use it with networks other than AT&T. That doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence in the iPhone. George Hotz traded the modified phone for a car and 3 8GB iPhones. The project took him 500 hours - he’s been working on it for about 8 hours a day since he got the iPhone. Not bad for a summer job - I’m betting most teenagers can’t work enough over the course of a single summer to get a new car out of the deal!

One of the easiest things you can do to boost your PR is to submit your site to web directories, like the one I run here at GeekySpeaky. Most of these directories have very simple standards for submission, and with just a few clicks, you’re done. Submitting to ANY directory is good, but the very best kind of directories to submit to offer one way links. That means that the directory links to YOU, but you’re not required to link back. Some directories do this for free, others, like mine, charge a small free for a permanent one way link. Finding out who offers free one way links can be a little tricky, but I found a great list of web directories offering both free and paid one way links.

But Colleen, who really uses web directories to FIND websites? Don’t people use Google?

True - most people won’t browse through a web directory looking for sites. The whole point of most web directories isn’t to send traffic to your site, it’s to give your link popularity added wait. When Google does a pagerank update, the more ONE way links you’ve got pointing to your site, the higher the chances are that your PR will improve! Adding your site to web directories is a great way to give your one way links some “oomph”, and with this site showing you a ton of free web directories you can submit to, it’s easy! If you want to make your directory submissions even easier, check out this free directory submission tool I found - it will keep track of what directories you’ve already submitted your site to, and which directories remain. (Trust me - it’s irritating to input all of your information into a submission form only to be told your site already exists in the directory!) If you’ve got multiple websites or blogs, no sweat - the tool will keep track of those too, and tell you what link title you used as well.

This is a sponsored review.

I won’t get into the whole quantity versus quality debate here, but PayPerPost announced yesterday they’d be hitting 50,000 bloggers at some point during the day. Even with all of those bloggers, there have been a huge number of opps being dropped lately (my list says 162 available right now) and it’s been easier than ever to make a little cold hard cash. If you want to make money online, PayPerPost should be one of the first sites you check out - forget pyramid schemes and selling useless crap to your friends and family - getting paid to blog is where it’s at, kids!

Referrals have been a big thing on the internet for years. You can earn points on MyPoints for referring new members, other sites promise you a free iPod if you get 5 friends to join, and so on and so forth. Now there’s a new concept banking on referrals, and it’s called FREEshopping.com. Any ecommerce company or online store can jump onto this new patent-pending way of making more sales, while saving your valued customers money. The first company to take advantage of it was FreeBlinds.com, and they’re currently looking for more merchants to go live with the system.

FreeShopping.com works by allowing shoppers to refer their friends to an online store, and earn a % back on whatever their friends purchase, up to 100% of what the shopper originally bought.

Rewards Program Example: You make a $300 purchase and then you find 3 referrals that each purchase from that same merchant. If each of those 3 purchased $500 in product you just got 100% of your product purchase back! $500 x 3 Referrals = $1,500. $1,500 x 20% Referral Reward = $300 back to you!

Not to bad for something you were planning on buying anyway, right?

Despite some people (who I refuse to link to) attempting to sabotage blogs using “do follow” by selling others comments on those blogs, I’ve not removed the do follow plug-in from any of my blogs. I’m extremely vigilant in deleting / moderating comments however, and I’ve been known to edit the email / URL from a great comment before approving it. That eliminates that commenter from being able to get his next comment automatically approved, but still allows their thoughts to appear here.

If you’d like to join the list of blogs using do follow, just jump onto the D List train here.

If you’re using do follow, I’d like to hear what steps you’re taking to keep spammers posing as interested readers from taking over your blog comments.

I’m a big time procrastinator, so each month when the 1st rolls around, I make a last minute trip to the local big box electronics store and pick out 2 new contest prizes. I probably end up paying more than I should for things I’m giving away because I’m not shopping around and comparing prices, or buying the prizes online and using coupon codes. It occurred to me that with a little bit of advance planning, I could improve on my current practices, spend the same amount of money, and offering bigger prizes…right?

All I need to do is shop online in advance and use coupon codes to buy neat things to give to all of you. Why should I pay full price for prizes from Circuit City (and waste my time standing in line to buy said prizes) when I can use Circuit City coupon codes to get the same items shipped right to my house? (I briefly considered buying the prize AFTER the contest ended and shipping it from Circuit City directly to the winner, but then I worried about out of stock items and such, so it’s better for me to get it shipped to my home in advance.)

The site doesn’t just offer electronics coupons - they’ve got free online coupons for all sorts of major stores selling clothing (Old Navy, Target, Kohls) home and garden items (Bombay Company, Home Depot) and hundreds of other retailers. All of the coupons are rated by users of the site, so you only see the best coupons available for what you want.

Firefox users - the site offers a bookmarklet for Firefox that can give you one click access to coupons for any page! Obviously, they realize Firefox users are a shrewd, money saving bunch of people who only buy the best. LOL!

This is a sponsored review.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the real world (you know - outside, with the other people, and the fresh air?) were like the internet? What if people at a board meeting acted as if they were commenting on blogs? Video is NOT work safe, but probably will make your coworkers crack up.

I wish I could go to board meetings like this. My humor would be appreciated!

There are certain situations where using an excuse makes you look like a lazy ass. For example, if I came in to a conference call 5 minutes late and was asked a question about the discussion that occurred before I was on the line, it’s completely appropriate for me to say “I’m coming in late to this conversation”…and ask to be brought up to speed.

When you receive a chain of 7 or 8 emails in a single day, and you’ve been copied on each email, it is NOT appropriate to say “I’m coming in late to this conversation”…and ask to be brought up to speed. All you need to do is open your eyes and read the emails that 4 or 5 other people have sent to educate you. I had to bite my tongue (fingers?) to refrain from telling this jackass to READ his emails - but instead I copied and pasted to “bring him up to speed”.

Seriously - how hard is it to go through your inbox and READ emails before sending something like that? It’s not as if this person wasn’t copied on the earlier emails - he was! Duh.

Thanks to everyone who visited the site and entered our GeekySpeaky Giveaway in August. The winners have been randomly selected tonight, so please join me in congratulating the following people:

The winner of the Western Digital 80GB Portable Hard Drive is Charity.

The winner of the Wedding Singer DVD is Jade.

Congratulations to you both!

The August GeekySpeaky Giveaway ends TODAY! This is your last chance to enter to win a sweet (ass) 80 GB portable hard drive. I’ll be picking one lucky winner this evening, as well as a booby prize winner, who will receive a copy of The Wedding Singer on DVD.

Sometimes when I sit in my office and hear the buzz of my co-workers behind me, all I can think of is the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. If you’ve never seen it, it takes place in a real estate sales office where the workers are obsessed with leads. That’s it - the whole premise of the movie is sales leads, and the robbery of the sales leads. My business revolves around leads as well. We’re constantly prospecting for new customers to sell to, and that’s why a CRM software offering lead management is so important to so many in sales. If you can’t maintain your leads, then you can’t sell. Following up with people at the right time is critical! Lead aggregation companies will be particularly interested in this new lead management CRM software from AIMpromote, because it allows for just ONE type of software to sell leads, manage accounting, and run reporting on leads and campaigns. With a price per user cost of just $33, and no set up free, you can’t beat this software. Compare it to the competition - you’ll find more features, and a huge savings, as well as the option for a 14 day free trial to decide for yourself before buying.

PayU2Blog is a new and growing sponsored blogging company attracting the attention of a lot of people. I’ve been working with them since the beginning, and their growth has been solid. Bloggers can’t say enough good things about these guys!

About:
This is as straight forward as they come - you’re assigned links / anchor text to place into your blog postings.

URL:
http://www.payu2blog.com

How it works:

The guys over at PayU2Blog review each and every site they get - they even read our blogs after the fact. Novel concept, eh? Most blog posts you’ll do for PayU2Blog will be a flat rate of $5 per post. You receive assignments with the link and anchor text to use, and you create a blog post. The post does not have to be about the product / site you’re linking to. As long as you work the phrase into your post and link, you’re done. That’s why they’re so successful with bloggers - it’s quite possibly the easiest way to get paid to blog out there!

Rules & Requirements:
Blog posts must be 60 words long, and will contain 1 link Your PayU2Blog posts do not have to be separated by a non paid post. You will be paid every 2 weeks, at the rate of $5 per link.

Disclosure:
No disclosure is required.

Pros:

• You’ll always get assignments from these guys - and you can earn a regular paycheck!
• You don’t have to review a site. Simply work the phrase into your post, add the link, and you’re done.
• PayU2Blog recently started product reviews, and they’ve been offering their bloggers all sorts of free things to try in exchange for a review, from lockets to sneakers.
• The company also does a weekly drawer for $100 of their bloggers
• No spammy links - I haven’t seen any plastic surgery, cash advance, or other spammy terms from these guys

Cons:

• You are only paid $5 for most reviews. If you have a high PR site, you can make more elsewhere.
• You can’t turn down links. You’re obligated to take what you’re given. (In rare cases, PayU2Blog will make an exception, however.)
• They’re so swamped with blogs to approve, that if you don’t fit the bill, you may not hear back from them at all.
• You will get similar assignments from time to time. Don’t be surprised if you get Orlando vacation homes more than once. (Although, this does give you the chance to be creative!)

Thoughts:
These guys are SO nice, it’s hard not to like them. They seem to really value quality work and take an interest in their bloggers. They’ve made it very personal and a lot of bloggers appreciate that all of the blogs accepted are written by quality bloggers.

Our Ranking:
Definitely worth your while. When you submit your blog, tell ‘em Colleen sent you! They get 5 out of 5 smiles

When we bought window blinds for our house, we spent about $500 at a local home improvement store getting what we need. I sure would have liked to been able to shop for free window blinds instead of forking over my hard earned cash to the store! FreeBlinds.com gives you the chance to get your blinds for FREE when you send your friends and family to shop at their website. You submit your order and receive a unique code from the website, which you can give to people who would like to shop at FreeBlinds.com - every time someone uses your code, you receive a 20% refund on your original order. Your friends and family who buy using your code also get their own code so that they can earn back their money. What a gimmick! In fact, the concept is SO unique, site founder Joe Mehm has been awarded Patent Pending Status for the concept by the United States Patent Office.

“Why shop anywhere else? What’s better than free?” And, since we sell our products at the most competitive prices on the Internet, even if you don’t earn a single Reward, you will still save money. That’s reason enough to shop at FREEblinds.com. Then giving customers the opportunity to earn back 100% of their product cost, is just icing on the cake!”

It certainly makes me wish I needed to order some blinds! Isn’t technology grand?