and the winner is....

Congratulations to Marge from Rock Creek Creations! You won my tote bag giveaway from Lala's Pequenos! Yay!

Stay tuned for my next giveaway coming soon!

:)

Money4Banners

Can I just give a shout out to Money4Banners? I just got paid again and this time it was $27. I'm totally loving this program. In case you haven't heard about them, they are also known as Bucks4Banners (same company). All you do is put up three banners on your site and they pay you $5 a month plus whatever you make in referrals. Payouts are about every 2 weeks or so and their customer service is reliable (I had an issue and I got a very quick response from them). They pay 10 british pounds per referral which works out to about $17. Yeah, pretty awesome right? If you have a site with at least three different urls (let's say a blog, with three different posts) give them a try. I think this is the best and easiest way for any website with little or high traffic to make some money. Oh and did I mention the $10 sign up bonus? Yeah, they rock ;)

My New DaWanda Shop!

Well, I decided to open a DaWanda shop! I'm not totally leaving Etsy, but I hope to clear my inventory out of there soon. I will still feature Etsy artists and I will still shop from there, but selling my stuff there is just too much of a chore for me right now. I'm having a moving sale though so check it out!

Here's my new DaWanda shop, it's still a bit bare but I hope you like it!

Etsy Feature: Smile 4 Katie's ACEO Around the World

Katie from Smile 4 Katie is hosting an ACEO* around the world event. The way it all started is she had the idea to provide one of her ACEO mats (which are awesome btw) and an ACEO of hers to travel through a list of participants from around the world. We each get to keep the ACEO we receive and then send another ACEO to the next recipient along with Katie's mat. I was lucky enough to get on the list and wanted to share my ACEO with my blog readers and also have you check out all of the awesome artists participating at Katie's blog.
*ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals and the only requirements are that they be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". They can be prints of previous artwork, or an original work of art.

VistaPrint now offering Lawn Signs

I've heard all of the complaints and all of the great reviews about Vistaprint throughout the years, and I have been on the fence many a time myself. I have to say though, that overall, my experiences with Vistaprint have always been quite favorable. I don't think you can find business cards any cheaper and their quality is indeed very good. What keeps me coming back to Vistaprint, however, is the fact they are always adding new services and products and they always manage to keep their prices very competitive. I was browsing the site today and found that they are now offering lawn signs. This was excellent news to me because my friends and I have garage sales regularly and sometimes our homemade signs are less than up to par. We can finally get an affordable professional looking sign! These signs would also work great for real estate agents or any other event that needed advertising. They would even work great for the upcoming presidential election. You can show your support for your candidate on a high quality corrugated plastic sign! They've even got a great coupon code you can take advantage of. Simply enter YardSigns25 at checkout to receive 25% Off your Yard Signs order!

No Sales in August

I've been on Etsy since April of this year, and this is my first month without a sale. Yikes! It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I haven't listed or renewed anything in weeks. This further proves my theory about having to stay at the top of the search listings to even have a chance at success on Etsy. I've seriously got to end my crafting drought though, I've got about four projects I need to finish!

On another note, my free shipping sale has officially ended for the summer, so now I have to go alter all my listings. Wow, Etsy needs a lot of improvements. Editing listings is still very cumbersome, but we must make do for now. Little by little it should get better. I hope sales pick up soon too! Although, I know I have to put a lot more effort into that one on my part, lol :)

;

visit now compare products house insurance buy to let mortgage

Pepperjam Ranks High on Fastest Growing List

I already knew Pepperjam Network was a great affiliate marketing network, but Inc. 500 has just named Pepperjam as one of the top 100 fastest growing privately-held companies in the United States. This is big news for Pepperjam and, may I add, highly deserved. I love the ease of use and the great selection of programs that Pepperjam Network offers. The website has a phenomenal interface. Your stats are always easy to understand and everything is updated regularly. One visit to their site and blog and it is easy to see why they are the #1 fastest growing affiliate marketing network.



I highly recommend Pepperjam Network. If you haven't tried affiliate marketing, give Pepperjam a try, you won't be disappointed. The potential for big revenue through affiliate marketing is no joke and Pepperjam Network is well on its way to becoming the leader of the pack.

I Got a Creative Artist Award!

Wow, two awards in one day! I'm humbled. :)

Thank you Kim from laketrees, for this very generous and lovely award. Check out Kim's awesome blog if you get the chance.

Yay!

Clicksmart

I came across an interesting website called Clicksmart. Clicksmart helps connect consumers with small businesses. It is the largest directory site of its kind. By certifying small businesses who are experts in their field, Clicksmart takes the guessing out of choosing the right real estate agent, insurance broker, or other professional. For example, if you needed a landscaper in Raleigh, North Carolina, you would simply search under raleigh landscaper and you would be supplied with a list of landscapers in the area of Raleigh. Everyone is prescreened for quality and experience. This concept is something that is sure to take off and Clicksmart seems to be ahead of the curve. The site is well organized and easy to navigate. If you are a professional in any of the above fields it might be fun to get certified through clicksmart. It may just increase your business, which is always a good thing.

Brillante Weblog Premio Award 2008

Yay! I've been given my first web award! Thank you TravelTurtle and TeamSquidEtsy for nominating me!

My 7 nominees (in no particular order) are:

1. Stardust Creations
2. My Life in Words
3. PaperGirl Productions
4. Travels in Watercolor
5. Simply Shiny
6. Waterrose Handcrafted Obsessions
7. gLp Designs

Here are the rules for the next recipients of the Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008 Award, established in 2005:

l. The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog.
2. Add a link to the person who you received the award from.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Then add their links to your blog.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on to in the comments section of their blog.

Affiliate Marketing ~ My Top 5 List

Affiliate marketing is basically the sharing of revenue. As an affiliate you drive traffic to another site in hopes of producing them some revenue and thus collecting a commission for yourself from that revenue. It is a pretty straightforward concept and there are lots of affiliate networks out there to choose from. I've joined many in the past, not for use on this site but for others, and I've compiled a Top 5 list based on my experiences. For anyone looking to get into this type of marketing for your website or blog this list is, in my opinion, the best of what's out there. They are all free to join, it won't cost you a penny. If you have any other networks you'd like to recommend, by all means, leave me a comment. I am by no means the end all and be all authority on affiliate marketing.

So here we go, (in no particular order):

1. Pepperjam Network
2. AffiliateFuture
3. shareasale.com
4. Commission Junction
5. LinkShare.com

Now, in order to make the most out of this type of marketing, you must make sure to only place ads on your site or sites that are relevant to your content or at least tie into it in some way. I also like for the ads to be attractive. For example, I'm a sucker for anything with bright colors, especially pink!

Blog Giveaway ~ Lala's Pequenos ~ Win a Bag!

My first giveaway was so much fun, I decided to do another one! Yay! The prize this time around will be a beautiful tote bag from Lala's Pequenos. It is a tote perfect for the gym, library, or spa. It measures 14"h X 14"w and has 14" straps. Colors on the outside are purples and lavenders made from designer batik fabric with an over sized wood button. Totally lined with a soft lavender linen on the inside. It also has a pocket sized for a cell phone or keys. To enter, simply visit Lala's Pequenos shop and pick your favorite item. Post a link to your fave back here in a comment and make sure to leave me your e-mail or website so I can easily contact you in case you win. The winner will be drawn Aug 31st, so check back then! Woo-hoo, here we go!

and the winner is...

MidwestMommy! Congratulations to MidwestMommy, the winner of my first ever blog contest. You have won a $25 credit towards anything at FlakyFriends Shop.

Yay!

Blog Money

I decided last month to try and make some money off of my blog. I figured, why not? Etsy has been slow so might as well try to supplement the income a little. I'm happy to report my first month of earnings have not been too shabby! I received $20 from PayPerPost, $10 from Money4Banners, $10 from Pepperjam Network and $12.65 ($25 payout) from Scratchback! That's $52.65 for a newbie blog. I'm super excited about this and am now addicted to finding more fun money making gigs for my blog. I have to say, my favorite so far is Money4Banners, they pay you a $10 sign up bonus and then $5 a month for placing a few banners on your blog and keeping them active. The awesome thing is you can place them in old posts so that you can't even see them when visitors come to your blog's main page. What could be easier?

So will I become a millionaire? Probably not. Will I get some fun money? Heck yeah! So if you've thought about monetizing your blog, don't hesitate, just do it. It's fun and, let's be honest, who couldn't use a few extra bucks?

My First Blog Giveaway! FlakyFriends

Yay! This is my first blog giveaway and have I got an awesome prize up for grabs! The winner of this giveaway will receive a $25 credit good towards anything at FlakyFriends. You will adore this shop, they have the most adorable plushies! Ok, so you're still probably wondering how to enter. Well, it's easy as pie! Simply visit FlakyFriends Shop, pick a favorite plushie, and post a link back to it here in a comment. PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU. So many people forget to leave their e-mail! I don't want you to miss out on this awesome prize. I will pick the winner on August 15th and post it here, so check back then to see. Good Luck!