CoolAdzine for Marketers

JustAccountants.co.uk has started offering a new service that will enable business owners to find quality Accountancy Services when they are needed, on a part-time or seasonal basis.

Not only will this service save you money by helping you to find the best service for less, but also you will save time because JustAccountants.co.uk does most of the work for you. Try the service by just completing a short form on the website. Soon you will receive four no-obligation quotes for the services you need.

This is a perfect service for home-based businesses, freelance artists and trade people, a small local business or a PLC. Visit JustAccountants, sponsor of this post, for more information. If you are an accountant, you should register with JustAccountants.co.uk.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Behavioral Targeting Concisely Explained

New highly informative website from Jumpstart Automotive Media on behavioral targeting. Visit What is BT for concise answers to BT questions you may have. The automotive industry were early-adopters of Behavioral Targeting because of its proven ability to identify people in the researching stage of the car buying process, retargeting these same individuals on other non-research websites and then targeting advertising toward the now qualified automotive prospect.

From the What is BT website:

Research indicates that the average car shopper is in-market anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks from the moment they become in-market to the time they make their vehicle purchase. During this time, car shoppers spend roughly less than 3% of their total online time actually conducting research. That means 97% of their time online is spent on non-automotive research sites.

If you have questions about behavioral targeting and want more information, the site has a nice BT resource reading list. Or you may view a collection of articles on BT from CoolAdzine for Marketers.

How Do Women Find the Car of their Dreams?

After my son wrecked my car, I was hard pressed for transportation. I found the car I wanted online, a 2001 Toyota Camry, at a local dealership. I called the dealership and asked if they still had the car; and, if so, could I come drive it. I made an appointment. When I got there, that sales person had to deal with a personal emergency so he had left. This was relayed to me by another sales person, who was not that keen on splitting his commission with someone else and kept trying to sell me a new car.

Does this sound familiar to you? How do women find the car of their dreams, or at least a car that will fit their lifestyle without having to deal with sales people who wish they were anywhere but there and really want to sell you a car you cannot afford? One answer is AskPatty.com, sponsor of this post, a website where dealerships are vetted for their friendliness and helpfulness to women automobile buyers. If they are, they become an Ask Patty Certified Dealer. You may locate these dealerships on AskPatty's Second Life Page. I think this is a wonderful service for women.

The Ask Patty.com, web site is also a safe place for women to get advice on car maintenance and other car issues. Questions are submitted to Ask Patty via email and usually Patty will send you an answer the same day. There is also a paneled women automotive experts, ranging from NASCAR drivers to garage owners and mechanics. Click here to Teleport to AskPatty in Second life to find the information you require to make informed decisions.

AT&T Blue Room streaming Coachella

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is going on this weekend and AT&T blue room has the exclusive live webcast from 3 pm to midnight (PST) each day of the festival. See your favorite acts perform.

To celebrate the blue room’s uninterrupted stream of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 27-29th, the AT&T blue room wants to send one lucky winner and guest to Indio, CA for Coachella 2008! You'll receive 2 airline tickets, a 3 night stay at an exclusive hotel, transportation, and two weekend passes to the show! Register here to win.

April 28th Lineup
03:00 PM Gogol Bordello
04:00 PM Fields
04:40 PM The Cribs
05:25 PM the Frames
06:15 PM Jack's Mannequin
07:10 PM Andrew Bird
08:05 PM the Fratellis
09:00 PM Regina Spektor
09:50 PM The Arcade Fire
11:00 PM Ozomatli

April 29th Lineup
03:00 PM Anathallo
03:45 PM The Feeling
04:40 PM Junior Boys
05:30 PM Fair to Midland
06:05 PM Kaiser Chiefs
07:05 PM CSS
08:05 PM Klaxons
08:55 PM Crowded House
09:50 PM Damien Rice
10:40 PM Amos Lee
11:10 PM The Lemonheads

Friday, April 27, 2007

WhoGets the prize?

WhoGets.com is a new online game site that offers you the chance to win many prizes, ranging in value from $10 to $600. WhoGets.com is free to join. There is nothing to buy, no offers to complete, and whogets.com will not be sending you spam e-mails. Once you have become a member, you can enter each of the hundreds of contests.

The online contest is a two-part process, semi-finals and the finals. The semi-finals last for a week to two weeks, during which time any member can enter to win the prize. For the finals, seven entrants will be randomly selected for the finals.

The contestants in the finals will be write a statement, if they wish, of up to 100 words, explaining why they should win the prize. The finals last for a week or two, during which time the members vote for their favorite contestant. The contestant who receives the highest number of votes wins.

As you may have guessed, the entire WhoGets process is member driven. Without your support, the contests will be extremely boring. So, join WhoGets.com, sponsor of this post, today. Maybe "YouGets" something in return.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Is Your Website Ready for Mobile?

A leading search engine marketing company, iCrossing, released How American Searches: Mobile.

Here are some stats that you might find useful:

43 percent of smart phone users go online daily; 27 percent go online several times a week.
22 percent of other device users go online daily; 23 percent go online several time a week.
27 percent of daily smart phone owners use mobile search daily; 31 percent use mobile search several times each week.
16 percent of other device owners use mobile search daily; 25 percent use mobile search several times each week.
52 percent of mobile owners do not use online search more often due to high-priced data plans.
69 percent of mobile searchers preferred a 3rd party engine to the query box built into the cell phone interface.
90 percent of mobile searchers use Google, 46 percent also use Yahoo and 19 percent use MSN.
84 percent of mobile searchers stated that they expect the websites they use to have destinations designed for mobile users.

Let me get this straight. Individuals who bought a smart phone are going online and searching more than regular cell phone users. Google has wrapped up mobile search. Web designers better get ready for mobile searchers. If mobile users spend their data plan minutes finding your website, you better be ready! Download the mobile search study findings from iCrossing.

Do you have a mobile landing page or other site on your blog or website for mobile users? If not, do you plan on building one? Can we get a widget? LOL

Bid4Prizes : Unique Game Site

Bid4Prizes is a new game site. Win auctions by being the lowest unique bid. Here is what you do. First, you become a member of Bid4Prizes. Then you bid on great products like a Plasma TV, iPhone, ScionXB, game console, computer and other great prizes.

Find a prize you want, but instead of bidding and paying retail, you bid, say 50 cents via cell phone or online. You are notified if your bid is either low, high, unique or duplicate. Using game tips that are sent to you by Bid4Prizes, you try to place the lowest unique bid. If you do, you win the prize. A unique bid is a bid that one player has bid and can be any amount from one cent or more. If you win, you pay nothing except for shipping costs and taxes due to the IRS.

If I bid on a prize and win it from bid4prizes, I think it would be the ScionXB. My son is leaving for college in the fall and he will need a car. If he does not want it, I will keep it. I have never had a new car!

We Love Trade Shows

American Business Media - Face-To-Face

According to a report from American Business Media president & CEO, Gordon T. Hughes, the face-to-face events industry is a rapidly growing, critical part of today's integrated business media environment. Face-to-face revenue has surpassed that of its print counterpart for the first time: In 2006, business media trade shows accounted for 36% ($11.3 billion) of industry revenue; magazines accounted for 35%. Events are the third-fastest growing segment of business media, surpassed only by digital and custom media.

Mortgages, Remortgages and Secured Loans

Buying a home in the UK? You will need to secure a Mortgage , much like in the USA. 1Mortgage.co.uk wants to help you succeed in your goal of home ownership. 1Mortgage.co.uk is a good place to start looking for a mortgage to buy a home or to get a secured loan on your home.

Just as you may find a deal on car insurance by using an independent agent, so you may best be served by an independent Mortgage service, like 1Mortgage.co.uk, sponsor of this post, that can put you in touch with independent mortgage brokers offering a variety of mortgages.

The website is complete with mortgage calculators that show how much you may borrow and approximately what your mortgage will cost and your payment will be. On the website, there are many articles about mortgage rates, advice on mortgages, remortgages information; also information on little known mortgages, such as 100 percent, fixed rate, flexible and interest-only mortgages. Learn about special mortgage programs, such as buy to let and first time buyer programs.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Google: No Paid Links, SPLOGS Allowed

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO » How to report paid links

This blogpost has me seeing red. Google has set up a mechanism to report paid links. Duh. You can usually tell it is a paid link by the underlying language of the link, or the lack thereof as in the case of TinyURL.

Nothing is done about the SPLOGS that populate the blogosphere and they are most often found by search engines. I wrote about a SPLOG network here.

So, the word is, no paid links or you will lose page rank. If you want to get even with someone, just report their blogs as containing paid links. Google must be practicing for when they have a total monopoly over search engine marketing. Not yet, Google...

Looking for Employment? Use MasterSeek

Masterseek is a global search engine that provides free and easy access to company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries.

If you are looking for a job, you might want to use masterseek to discover information about the company in which you are interested. You will make a better impression if you know something about a company and its products.

No More Landing Pages

The battle cry: no more landing pages!

The Ion blog has an article about the beginning of the No More Landing Pages movement. Evidently, this movement is garnering supporters throughout the Internet.

There is actually a dedicated No More Landing Pages blog where you may read the latest news on the revolution. LOL Some members of the movement were protesting at ad:tech and the police made them leave.

Do you use landing pages? If so, what has been your experience? If not, what is your opinion of this movement. Let me hear you...

Coupons Stretch Your Shopping Dollars

eMarketer.com - Shoppers Fuel Japanese Mobile Ads

With gasoline costing $2.75 per gallon and a loaf of bread costing over $1, I have found that my shopping dollars just do not stretch to buy everything for my household. Coupons provide one way to stretch my shopping dollars. I found one coupon site, mycoupons.com, that has almost 11,000 coupon codes from over 3,000 merchants. You may search by keyword, such as digital camera, or by merchant, such as Dell Outlet. The first search returned over jtwo pages of coupons; the second search returned an entire page of results.

MyCoupons.com receives valuable codes from many of their partners that you will not find anywhere else on the web. These merchants give the codes to MyCoupons.com because it is one of the oldest coupon sites on the Internet and does not charge the merchants as much as other coupons sites.

Everyone loves finding a great deal! MyCoupons.com, sponsor of this post, has created an entire community of people searching for and posting coupons to help each other. Social networking and saving money--it is a great idea and a great site!

Stretch your dollars and get full value for your money, at MyCoupons.com.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Bar Codes for Advertising in Japan

6 comments:

Barcode readers in mobile phones are becoming one of the most prevalent new applications embraced by consumers. An NPD Group report titled "Japan Consumer Wireless Study" found that that barcode readers had eclipsed location-based services and radio applications as the mobile features most commonly used by consumers in Japan

Japanese consumers visit four retailers, on average, while researching a product, so Japan has become a leader in developing quick response (QR) code technology, something similar to bar codes.

In Japan, if you see an advertisement for a product in a magazine or on a subway wall, you look for the QR code and swipe it with your cell phone. Later, at your convenience, you may view the information that was embedded in the advertisement on your cell phone.

For awhile, retailers in the USA were talking about using the radio frequency identification device (RFID) to sense and serve ads to you based on what you purchased or what credit cards you carried. No one was happy with the thought of Wal-Mart scanning your wallet as you stepped in the door. On the other hand, QR code technology is non-invasive. You scan/request information that is served to you.

What do you think? Would you use the bar code to shop around and compare?

The Next Generation of ZIP

When you zip a file, you use a piece of software that compresses the file so that it takes less space on your hard drive or so that it may be attached to emails that have a limitation on attachment size. Using a utility or small application to zip a file enables you to send information in a format that can be unzipped by the person who receives the information.

What about secure information? I know that I cringe when I must send personal data, such as my date of birth or social security number to someone by email. Sometimes you just have to do it, but why worry about the security of your personal information? I have found a program that takes the cringe factor down a notch or two. SecureZIP is a new way to protect your privacy, data, emails, attachments and personal information. SecureZIP is a security application that encrypts and locks as well as compresses files.

Protect all your personal information, including tax files, medical records, passwords, social security numbers, bank account numbers, and proprietary data for your business. SecureZIP, sponsor of this post, integrates perfectly with Microsoft Outlook, an email application that is fraught with security problems. SecureZIP will automatically encrypt, digitally sign, and zip email messages and attachments for use with Microsoft Outlook.

SecureZIP is The Next Generation of ZIP

Use SecureZIP for more than securing your email. SecureZIP your files on your computer, so that if your computer is stolen or accessed via the Internet, the data will be useless to the culprit. I downloaded a copy of SecureZIP today, and I zipped up all my spreadsheets and password files.

Visit www.securezip.com and download your free copy of SecureZIP today. This is a limited time free download promotion! So, ZIP your documents, emails and data with SecureZIP. Then, you will not have to worry about your personal information, data or privacy.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Music to Our Ears

7 comments:

In 2006:

total music sales slipped $624 million, despite a $1 billion increase in online sales from 2005;
online music adoption grew 93 percent during same period;
retail music sales totaled about $18 billion globally, down 8 percent;
digital music sales were $1.2 billion and mobile audio sales were about $850 million;
online music represents roughly 7 percent of total music sales (CDs, paid music downloads, and online music subscriptions), up from 3 percent in 2005;
approximately 582 million songs were downloaded, up 65 percent; and,
54 songs sold more than 500,000 digital copies (went Gold) and 11 albums sold more than 100,000 downloads; compare this to 22 songs and three albums in 2005.

So far in 2007, digital song sales have risen 54 percent, while album sales, whether physical or digital, dropped more than 16 percent.

Note: this figures do not count ring tones as music.

Source: Nielsen Soundscan, Maxim Group LLC.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Successful Blogging : What is it?

7 comments:

Comments are the lifeblood of a blog. Anything you can do to facilitate someone leaving a comment will add to your success as a blogger. You must be able to connect with visitors to your blog. The best way to communicate is through comments. Some people use chat boxes, add-a-link devices and guest books to enhance comments. Without interaction, your visitors are just dots on a global map or IP numbers on your statistics page.

Comments present some problems to blog owners. Number one requirement is that you moderate all comments to your blog. This will enable you to allow everyone, including Mr. Anonymous, to comment on your blog. Do not show word verification for comments, as they are not user friendly and add one more step to the commenting process. Do not require registration to comment on your blog unless you are using your blog for a group project and do not want any other comments.

Moderation allows you to view the comment and the link to the commenter’s website, if given, and to approve or reject the comment before it appears on your blog. Always check the link as some individuals will link with keywords like "parenting tips" and the link leads to a website that sells drugs or enhancement products. If a blue comment slips by you can still delete it when you see it.

If you have a problem with too many spam comments, you can always enable word verification, better known as the Turing test. This is your first line of defense. The second line of defense is to disallow commenting by anonymous persons. You may turn these features on and off at will, so try one or the other or both, and see what works for you. Only use these defenses if needed to keep your comments clean.

After you see the comment and approve it, find the comment on your blog and reply to it. If you have several comments on one post, you may reply to them all on one post, but acknowledge everyone. Some bloggers email the commenter in reply, but those emails wind up in spam filters or may make people angry. We receive too much email and rarely want more.

If you wish to do more than comment on their comment, go to the commenter's blog and comment. Just a general comment, like "Just wanted to thank you for commenting on my post at my [name] blog. I have left some information on the subject in the comments for you. Stop by again."

How do you increase comments? Hold contests, host carnivals, ask provocative questions, or make a game out of comments. I believe this is how memes began, but these are more of a chore than commenting. The only memes in which I participate are Blog Your Blessing and Click & Comment Monday, neither of which tag other people to participate. Carnivals are a great way to discover new blogs and to attract new readers to your blog.

One last word on commenting. If you delete the "no follow" tag from your comments section of the blogger template, or add the "do follow" plugin on some blogging platforms, anyone who submits an approved comment will receive a link to their blog from your blog. The search engines will "folllow" the links in the comments and will count these as outgoing links from your site. Moderation becomes even more important then, as you are creating a permanent link between your blog and their blog.

Check Home Biz Blogger blog on Monday for links to all entries in the Carnival of Blogging Success. Please leave me a comment so I know what you think about my idea of Successful Blogging.

Anyone commenting in April on CoolAdzine for Marketers is entered into the drawing for $50 via PayPal. Every comment is an entry. See this post, Comments and Favorites Worth Cash Contest, for more information.

Tags: success blogging, blogging success, carnival of blogging success

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Year of the Dog Award

Now any dog can be Dog of the Year.

Visit PETA today and get your personalized cover.

Save the Data! Save the Data . . .

I lost all my data when my laptop crashed last month. No excuse, I knew I should be backing up my data. I just did not do it and I had to pay someone to rescue my data from my hard drive. A simple solution would have been to subscribe to an Online Backup service.

Nowadays you can pretty much automate the back up process with Windows Scheduler. IBackup.com, sponsor of this post, offers a scalable solution that will allow you to change your plans as your storage needs increase. Subscribe today for only $9.95 for 5 Gb per month. Or, wait until the fickle finger of fate pushes your button. LOL

We want our downloads for free.

The following post is a follow up to a survey that Telephia and Arbitron conducted.

MediaPost Publications - (Even) Mobile Content Yearns To Breathe (Kinda) Free - 04/19/2007

A study of mobile audio content users (downloads, sideloads, mobile radio, etc.) found that more than three-quarters of them seem ready to swap commercial support for free content. While the carriers hoped that downloading music to phones would register as a value-add consumers would want to pay more to access . . .

Findings of the survey from Yahoo:

Initial findings from the Arbitron/Telephia Mobile Audio Media Study show that roughly six percent of mobile subscribers say they have listened to audio content on their mobile phones in the last 30 days. In addition, the profile of today's typical phone-based audio user is classic early-adopter: 63 percent of these users are men and 71 percent are in the 25-44 year-old age group.

Can you guess what else they found? No one, no matter their age, gender or early-adoption status, wants to pay more for the privilege of paying to download music and videos.

Free Access to Your Bookmarks Forever

If you use BookmarkAll.com to keep your bookmarks or favorites online, you will be able to access them from any computer, anywhere and anytime.

BookmarkAll has added the ability to bookmark RSS feeds! You can create unlimited RSS Topics with unlimited RSS feeds for each topic. One service, one bookmarking site, many options!

To use BookmarkAll, sponsor of this post, you simply create a free account. Then you are ready to store your favorites, bookmarks or RSS feeds. You decide what bookmark topic you wish to use. You can choose to store your links under specific topics like gardening or bills, or you may choose to name a topic for a group of sites you visit regularly, such as daily reads or carnivals. After you name your main topic group, you are able to add links and feeds. Use categories and keywords to refine your selections.

You may also choose to share your links on a specific topic by making one topic public, while all other topics remain private, or allow selected access to related sites, or restrict sites to friends and family. You may publish your favorite links on your website.

Add BookmarkAll Toolbar to your browser to enable you to add links to your BookmarkAll account easily. Grab an extension for FireFox or the plugin for Internet Explorer.

This is an excellent idea and you will always have access to your bookmarks.

What Defines Blogging Success?

Home Biz Blogger is hosting a carnival called the Carnival of Blogging Success.

Check out the Carnival of Blogging Success announcement or submit your article for the Carnival of Blogging Success.

Check Home Biz Blogger blog on Monday for entries. The theme or topic of the Carnival of Blogging Success is the one thing that you think is MOST important to do to be successful in blogging.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Is There Such a Thing as a Car Fetish?

MediaPost Publications - A Guide To AdWords Applied - 04/17/2007

Lately, I find myself haunting eBay Motors and other places that have Used Car Search capability. I keep looking at trucks and vans to pull our trailer, Beauty. The Beast, the black van from hell, does not have air conditioning and I am not going through another Texas summer without a/c.

I love looking at all the types of trucks there are today. I grew up with Ford, Chevy, and International trucks. Now, at Lemon-Free, sponsor of this post, there is even a category for Used Cars Texas. You may have email alerts sent to you when the car of your dreams appears.

After reading this article in Popular Science about future cars, I find myself looking for hydrogen powered pods and expanding trucks. They say they will be out in 2025. I cannot wait that long, I want one now.

Google Me, Guidester?

No comments:

The applications of the Guidester and AdWords models can be extended just about anywhere, though it’s worth following the Guidester approach of deciding under which circumstances advertisers can bid and which ones allow for more “natural” listings.

Guidester provides search technology for retailers’ sites, making it a sort of Google Custom Search Engine for ecommerce. Guidester comes with built-in trademark protection. If a customer has a brand preference and wants to see Sony models under $500, advertiser bids are not factored in.

You should read this article by David Berkowitz, director of emerging media at 360i.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Get the Lowdown on Insurance here

If you are looking into buying insurance for you or your loved ones, Life Insurance Lowdown blog, sponsor of this post, is a good source of information. The entire blog is filled with information on insurance and links to other sources.

For instance, I have never understood the difference between term life and whole life insurance. I was happy to see tags on this site, so, with one click I was taken to a page listing all articles about whole life.

Once I read all I needed to know about whole life, I was drawn to the Carnival of Life, Happiness and Meaning. With that name, you know there is some good information there.

Search Engine Wars

No comments:

Until the Panama update, Yahoo search platform was inefficient in that paid-search results were ranked and displayed based only on the PPC an advertiser was willing to pay. Now, like Google, Panama takes into account an advertiser's relevance as well as the per-click price when it ranks paid search results.

While increasing relevance of ads should add to a positive search experience, the Panama platform has not, as yet, helped to build Yahoo's consumer search share base. Google's 64+ percent versus Yahoo's 21+ percent of consumer-search share describes a system failure on the part of Yahoo.

Looking for Help for a Friend?

7 comments:

One of my oldest friends called me today. She is struggling with a son who is using drugs. She said she is not sure, but she thinks he is abusing prescription pain relievers that he was prescribed after knee surgery last year. She did not know where he is getting the drugs or what to do to stop him.

She knew I had some experience in my youth with drugs and that I had helped others get off drugs throughout my life. Luckily, I had just heard of a new program that has an exceptional success rate of over 76 percent. This drug rehabilitation program is the most successful inpatient drug rehab in the country.

They start with a drug-free withdrawal program, keeping the addict as comfortable as possible while undergoing the actual physical symptoms of drug withdrawal. The addicts move on from this part of the Narconon StoneHawk drug rehab program when they no longer feel any discomfort, have regained their appetite, and are sleeping through the night.

The process of detoxifying the body of drugs includes long periods of time in a dry sauna, literally sweating the toxins out. Changing to a proper diet, exercising, and taking supplements to help the body overcome the effects of toxins, it is once again possible to move toward becoming drug free.

Dealing with life without drugs is the next step in a successful drug rehab program. Narconon offers several life skill classes that help teach the addict how to deal with life without the help of drugs or alcohol. Helping someone recognize their addiction and giving them the ability to end it and to take their life back or make a new life is the ultimate goal of any drug rehab program.

I gave my friend the website address and phone number for Narconon Stonehawk, sponsor of this post. She is going to read the information on the website and call in the morning to see what can be done. I told her that, without intervention, her son would probably not get off of drugs. She said she is going to cash in part of her retirement to pay for a drug rehabilitation program.

I wished her luck and prayed that she and her son would find what they needed at Narconon Stonehawk. Addiction can be a one-time affliction or a lifelong handicap. She will call me again when she decides what to do.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Winner of TurboTax $25,000 TaxRap Contest

Intuit, maker of software TurboTax, offered $25,000 to the person who created the best rap video about TurboTax. The winner of the TaxRap contest, hosted and judged by rapper Vanilla Ice, has been announced.

The winner is Christian Pulfer, a 28-year old man from Brooklyn, NY. He won $25,000, less tax. LOL

FlickrCash Makes Selling Your Photographs Easy

FlickrCash turns Flickr into one of the largest stock image marketplaces, by helping buyers to find mages and to purchase them.

Buyers may use the simple search or an advanced multi-parameter search, which fills their screen with thumbnails based upon their search terms. Here are the results for photographs returned by the search, Orange Flowers - found by FlickrCash, sponsor of this post.

Buyers and artists may also save searches, share search results within light boxes so that others can heart or hate their selections. Another feature of FlickrCash that is extremely handy for artists is the automatic watermarking of all images by all artists on Flickr. Artists may install light box grids and generate slide shows to help market their photographs.

adtech : People's Choice Awards

Everyone in the advertising industry is invited to vote on finalists in the ten categories for the People's Choice Awards:

Best Display Advertisement
Best Large Display Format Ad
Best Use of Rich Media
Best Overlay Ad
Best Interactive Broadcast ad, Best Next Generation ad
Best B2C Marketing Website
Best B2C Transaction Website
Best B2B Marketing Website
Best B2B Transaction Website

Make your nominations and cast your vote online . The People's Choice will be awarded on April 25th at ad:tech San Francisco.

Metastatic brain tumors and treatments

CoolAdzine for Marketers blog

As success rate for treatment of primary cancer progresses, there has been a decided upswing in the number of metastatic brain tumors. Approximately 10-15 percent of all patients detected with primary cancer will develop a secondary cancer in the brain, with metastatic brain tumors affecting about 200,000 people a year.

Most of those people will have some type of brain tumor treatment. New types of cancer demand more specialized tools and surgical techniques, such as the gamma knife used with stereotactic radiosurgery.

Radiosurgery is the precise delivery of a single dose of radiation to a specific area of the brain. Thus, the radiation will kill the cancer. In stereotactic radiosurgery, the gamma knife is used in conjunction with a 3D reference frame that is attached to the patient's head during the procedure, resulting in acceptable ranges for mechanical, radiological and clinical accuracy.

Go to braintumortreatment.org, sponsor of this post, and read about this fascinating topic. Your live may depend upon it.

D-List, Do Follow, Lead On ...

6 comments:

The lovely Suni from Bucket O' Bulletz tagged me for the D-list. Actually, I asked to be tagged and she graciously agreed.

The D-List is a group of bloggers who have decided to give link backs to comments on their blogs. They have either installed the do follow plugin or manually changed the HTML of their blog to allow this to happen. Most blogs are moderated to catch the spam, so it will do you no good to spam comments. A thoughtful comment, however, will earn you a link!

***Begin Copying Here***

1.Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra link back.

2. Copy the list of originals below COMPLETELY and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.

3. Take the adds from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals” list.

4. Add at least 1 new blog that you KNOW is using the DO FOLLOW plugin to the list in the “My Adds” section. (Add no more than 5!) Let the people you’ve added know, so that they can keep the list going!

5. Leave relevant comments on the blogs listed and get a link back to your site thanks to Do Follow!

My Additions:

ChaCha

Internet Serious Business

Don't Fear the Truth

The Originals:

Bucket O Bulletz

My Thoughts

Thoughts Out of my Head

Feeding Time at the Zoo Fiber of Life

Tiptail - From Agility to Zen

Whatever I Feel Like

My Dandelion Patch

The Hockey Dad

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Go Canadian : Get a Home

Some Canadian friends of ours phoned the other day and told us they were Buying A House With $0 Down. I told them that the only thing around here like that was a mobile home. Evidently. they are working with some gung-ho mortgage brokers that specialize in the No Down Payment Mortgage in certain areas of Canada.

We started fantasizing about moving to Canada. Michael, my husband, lived there after he got back from Viet Nam and I have visited there. British Columbia was gorgeous: Vancouver, Vancouver Island, so many places we did not visit. I guess we could move there and spend winters down here in Texas. I have always wanted to be a snowbird. LOL

If you need help with a Canadian mortgage, you must visit Canadian Mortgage Brokers, sponsor of this post. They have regional offices in the largest cities in Canada and they want to help you buy a house for zero down. Sounds great to me.

Do You Have a Do Follow Tag?

8 comments:

Below is a list of bloggers who have taken the "no follow" off the comment sections on their blogs or have installed a "do follow" plugin. This means that when your comment is accepted, you will receive the link back to your site.

Comments on many sites, including CoolAdzine for Marketers, are moderated, which means they must be approved by blog owner first. This is done to avoid spam comments. Thank you and Thank Tricia: If you would like to join the Do Follow Blogroll, please post the blogroll on your blog and visit here and leave a comment for Tricia at Tricia's Musings.

Futures, forex and options, oh my!

I think that I understand the commodity futures market. I could be totally wrong, so I do not invest in futures. Below is my explanation of commodity futures trading. Please comment if you wish to take me to task for my explanation.

For those people savvy enough to fully understand and track the commodity market, there is something called futures trading. Basically, you are investing today to offset future prices of a commodity. If you buy x-quantity of y-futures at $1.39 per pound, and the price increases to $2.39 per pound, you may take delivery of your x-quantity of commodity at $1.39 per pound. You do not pay brokerage commissions or full investment value until you take delivery of the commodity.

There are usually two basic groups of futures traders, hedgers and speculators. Hedgers use futures for protection against increases in future prices of the underlying cash commodity. The rationale of hedging is based upon the tendency of cash prices and futures values to rise and fall together. Hedgers are usually companies that deal in the underlying cash commodity. If prices rise, the company must pay more for the commodity. For protection against price increases in the future, the company hedges, or buys enough futures contracts, to cover the amount of commodity the company expects to buy at the lower ($1.39 above) price. Since cash prices and futures prices usually rise and fall in price together, the futures position will profit IF commodity prices rise enough to offset cash commodity losses.

Speculators are the second major group of futures investors. These individuals include independent floor traders and investors. For speculators, futures have important advantages over other investments. If the speculator knows what s/he is doing, s/he can make more money in the futures market more quickly than in real estate or stocks, because futures prices tend to change more rapidly than other investments. However, futures markets can cause greater losses because futures are highly leveraged investments. The trader only pays up a small fraction of the value of the underlying contract as margin, yet rides on the full value of the futures contract as it moves up and down. The actual value of the contract is only exchanged when delivery takes place. Commission charges on futures trades are small compared to other investments, and the investor pays them only after a futures position is liquidated.

Global Futures Exchange & Trading Co., Inc., sponsor of this post, has many tools to help you with your account. They offer 24/7 live customer support and a live simulator that you may try before you invest. You may to start your account with a minimum of $250. If you are interested or want more information, please e-mail GlobalFutures@GlobalFutures.com.

Note: There is risk of loss trading futures, options and forex.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks

Musing from a Saturday Afternoon

A day without sunshine is like night.

99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,
“What the hell happened?”

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

Remember, half the people you know are below average.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse
gets the cheese from the trap.

Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear
bright until you hear them speak.

What is the speed of dark?

What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

Eagles may soar, but weasels do not get sucked into jet engines.

When everything is coming your way, you are in the wrong lane.

Life is not like a box of chocolates . . it is more like a jar of jalapenos.
What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

To see all entries in the Carnival, visit Metablog of The Blogging Chicks or just click to join The Blogging Chicks.

Friday, April 13, 2007

AT&T blue room : stay one click away

Join a growing community of USA Gymnastics, USA Track & Field and USA Diving fans and download the 2006-07 Communicator and the 2006-07 USA Screensaver for your sport.

With the 2006-07 Communicator you will always be one click from the latest news and information from your favorite sports' athletes including U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls.

Tags: USA Gynastics, USA Track & Field, USA Diving, 2006-07 communicator, one click away

Transparency? Disclosure? Become Opaque

Transparency Schmansparency: It's Not the Business of PR : Marketers Pay Us to Tell Stories, Not Bare All Advertising Age Posted by Eric Webber on 04.10.07

The basic idea floated by transparentists (I made up that word) is that the PR industry has to adopt a position of full and total disclosure, driven by the innate openness and accessibility to information available on the Internet.

Mr. Webber disagrees with transparency, opting to use the term translucent. I would have to say that some PR firms are downright opaque, dishonest and unethical. I would not say anything, except it is the same folk who blast blogging for pay. What do you think?

Tears and Trauma : Tax Time in Texas

Taxes! There was supposed to be a reduction in paperwork and time involved in understanding and preparing taxes. You could never tell it by my household.

Schedules: A, C, D, EIC, K, SE
Forms: 1099S, 1099R, 1099Misc, 1098, 4562
Returns: my husband and I, my son, estate of my son's grandmother

Questions: What is an NOL and why do I need to carry it forwards or backwards? How does my son make more money on investments than I earn? Why are nontaxable benefits noted on about three different forms if they are nontaxable? When did sales tax become deductible again? What is the Federal Excise tax on phone service and why are they not paying interest on that money they held? How can it not cost me a penny to donate to the presidential re-election fund? May I donate the same amount to the opposition party with same rules? Does anyone come out ahead on the energy savings tax credit?

Taxes. Friday the 13th. It figures. Have a special day!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Would You Like to Earn 6 Percent on Your Savings?

Would you like to be able to get the highest interest rate for all your savings and money market accounts? With access to the Internet, it is now quick and easy to find banks and other entities that offer direct-to-consumer online banking products, like high-yield savings and money market accounts.

Did you know that rates for some savings accounts are as high as 6 percent? Some of the banks that offer these great interest rates require a large deposit or monthly minimum balance. Yet others have no minimums and no monthly fees. Most of us are earning much lower interest rates because we have become complacent (and used to the low interest rates).

SavingsAccounts.com, the sponsor of this post, is a new service that researches, compares and posts the particulars for the best savings and money market interest rates. Compare online banking savings accounts and find a new savings account or checking account that earns more interest today with SavingsAccounts.com.

Every industry is competitive. Why should banking be any different? Banks should work for our business and we should be able to transfer our money easily to a different bank offering better service, less fees, and higher interest.

Carnival of Blogging Chicks this Sunday

The carnival this week does not have a theme.

There are now 700 blogs in The Blogging Chicks. Would you like to join The Blogging Chicks? You must be female, have a blog and be willing to keep the updated blogroll on your blog. Click here to join Blogging Chicks.

If you are familiar with Feedburner Advertising Network (FAN), then you may want to ask for an invite to the ad network as well.

Please join The Blogging Chicks and come back here to see the carnival on Sunday.

Ethical Banking Just Makes Sense

I found a cool Internet bank called The Co-operative Bank. They have all the standard checking and savings accounts, investments and loan products. However, they are taking banking to the next level with ethical banking and lending practices, positive impact investments, and the support of human rights and the environment! The Co-operative Bank offsets all their current carbon emissions plus an extra 10 percent.

The investment products of The Co-operative Bank will not support any business or entity that:

fails to uphold basic human rights;
manufactures or transfers armaments or implements of torture;
uses irresponsible marketing practices in developing countries;
manufactures tobacco products;
engages in currency speculation;
develops genetically modified organisms (GMOs);
has negative impacts on developing countries;
patents indigenous knowledge;
clones animals for non-medical purposes;
engages in any activity contributing to global climate change (production of fossil fuels);
produces chemicals linked to long term health issues and that remain in the environment;
supports unsustainable harvesting of natural resources including timber and fish;
uses animal testing for cosmetic or household products or ingredients;
engages in intensive farming methods like caged egg production;
supports blood sports or the use of animals or birds to catch, fight or kill each other; or,
involves the fur trade.

Their The Co-operative Bank investment products and services will support:

fair trade;
labor rights in their operations and supply chains in developing countries;
cooperatives;
credit unions;
community finance initiatives;
recycling and sustainable waste management;
renewable energy and energy efficiency;
sustainable natural products and services, including timber and organic produce;
the pursuit of ecological sustainability;
development of alternatives to animal experimentation; and,
farming methods which promote animal welfare like free range farming.

Visit The Co-operative Bank, sponsor of this post, and support banking with ethics and social responsibility. Well done!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Mud, Thy Name is Don Imus

Procter & Gamble, PetMed Express, General Motors Corp., American Express, Staples and Bigelow Tea are just some of the big name advertisers who have pulled their advertising from Imus in the Morning. This is after MSNBC and CBS Radio pulled the plug on Don Imus.

Imu is dealing with a two-week suspension at this time for remarks that I cannot believe were made on the air. This guy needs to take an extended seminar in gender, cultural and racial sensitivity or retire. "It is more than the Rutgers women's basketball team. It is all women's athletes. It is all women," said Stringer, coach for the Rutgers team. I agree.

I would also like to say that all the attention that has been focused on this team as a result of this man's remarks is ridiculous. These athletes do not need to hear the racial epithet repeated on every TV news and radio show. I find this almost as offensive as the original remarks. I guess the vultures have stopped circling Nicole now and are looking for fresh meat.

Socialcardsters Blog Roll

Social Cardsters Blogroll

The Reviews are in on Bloggerwave !

Have you heard about a new consumer generated buzz/advertising site called Bloggerwave? I recently joined and am very happy with my experience so far. Bloggerwave is a program for sponsored posting, buzz blogging, link building, and program review.

I like the professional website interface, the quick approval of blogs, and the pay rate for the opportunities. Most of all, I love the realistic expectations of Google page rank, Alexa rankings and Technorati authority statistics.

Some people have compared Bloggerwave, sponsor of this post, to another paid to blog program. I would agree that it is as the other program was in the beginning, before ranking and segmenting its business and its bloggers to distraction. There is always room for another great program that delivers what it promises to the advertisers and the bloggers. I think we have a winner! Join today, won't you?

SEO Angst and Google

On the forum at WebmasterWorld, there has been lengthy speculation about a change in the Google ranking algorithm. The last tweak left a lot of web pages classified as supplemental results. The good news is that Google may change the rankings, based on new quality criteria.

The new quality criteria? Why, it is the same old criteria. Title tag, keywords, keywords in description of website, keywords in first level of headers at least. Bold or highlight your keywords so that Google knows you know what is important on your website. Make felonious use of your alt tags. Watch your keyword density--too much is worse than too little. Use various keywords and optimize different pages on your site for these keywords. Buy, steal or kill for those links! Both incoming and outgoing.

Got a new boss, same as the old boss. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Personally, I think I am going to keep holding contests and keywords be hanged. LOL

Monday, April 9, 2007

Sidebar Wars?!

Read an interesting blogpost on Read/Write Web by Bilal Hameed, a guest blogger.

The Sidebar Syndrome is not, as I would have guessed, about all the widgets and blogrolls we put in our blog sidebars; but rather about the highly coveted space in our browser sidebar for which social networking sites and instant message services are competing.

So, techies, if you build a plugin for opening more than one sidebar in IE and FireFox, you will probably be hired by Google. LOL

Coupon Chief is Your Source for Deep Discounts

I love a bargain. I never want to pay retail for anything, and I will not, as long as CouponChief.com, sponsor of this post, keeps posting those online coupon codes.

We have been looking for a GPS for our road trips, but could not decide which model. I just searched the CouponChief website and was rewarded with two different Dell coupons, each with a sizable discount on a nice GPS unit.

There are more than 1,000 coupons on this site, so you may always find a store relevant to your needs. There was a woman on the PPP forums today asking about a computer. I found a Fujitsu coupon for $50 off a $1000 purchase. That was the exact amount of what she was going to spend.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Looking for Blog Content? How About Video Clips?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

For a Good Car and a Great Cause!

Did you know that every 30 seconds two children become orphans? There are more than 100 millions orphans worldwide. There are an estimated 65 million orphans in Asia alone and another 10 Million in Mexico.

Did you ever equate buying or selling a used car with helping homeless children? The owners of AutoCity101.com did just this. Christian and Stefanie Sanchez based their business model on funding a private charity while providing a no cost service to the buyers and the sellers of automobiles.

AutoCity101.com allows you, me or the largest car dealership in Texas, to list and sell vehicles at no cost throughout the USA and Canada. The website will generate income by selling advertising, which will provide marketers with access to members of highly coveted segments of an extremely active market.

What makes AutoCity101.com and their Free Used Car Classifieds site so different is that the business was established to benefit Natalia's House, an orphanage founded this year by Christian and Stefanie Sanchez. The plan is to dedicate 70 percent of all site profits to buying the land, to building the orphanage, and to providing food, clothing, education and a safe place for many children in Mexico, then Asia, then the world.

So, make a difference today. Use AutoCity101.com, the sponsor of this post, to buy and sell your automobiles. If you want to advertise to this market, you may purchase advertising on the website. Either way, you will be assisting Christian and Stefanie Sanchez in helping others.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Boomers Rule

Boomer Boon: 'Crazy Aunts and Uncles' Spend $1.7 Trillion : Try Telling That to a 24-year-old Media Planner in Advertising Age (4/02/07).

The ad business is woefully out of touch with baby-boomer buying power. Young ad people think older people are stuck in their ways, so it's a waste of money to try to get them to change brands. But at the What's Next Boomer Business Summit, AARP's chief brand officer said 60% of people over 40 research different brands before making decisions...

Interesting article as follow up to Boomers and Third Age (see last post).

Barron's estimates a prime-time TV show with most of its viewers in the 34-to-49 range can get 30% more per ad minute than one that caters to people 55 and older. Yet consumers age 50 and up already spend more than $1.7 trillion on goods and services a year, and the 78 million baby boomers are richer than any group in history...

We may be wrinkled and old, but we have more money than any other generation before us. And y'all thought we were stuck in the 60s.

Do You Collect Stamps?

iTaggit is a new online collection management system and website that helps you to catalog, manage and share your collection online. Taggit has the tools to help you determine the value of your collection, especially important for purpose of insurance. In addition, iTaggit protects your data and information with the use of leading edge software including firewalls, virus scanning and authentication services.

You may build relationships with similar collectors or hobbyists, or exchange expert opinions using forums, blogs and user-created mailing lists. Special research links take you to auction, trade and shopping Web sites to facilitate selling, trading and purchasing of new items for your collection.

iTaggit protects your privacy, while securely storing your personal data and collection information. An active online community may evolve around specific collectors or series of collections. Join free and organize your Stamp Collection, Antique doll inventory, Depression glass pieces, Baseball Card selection or Art gallery. It is easy to use! Visit iTaggit, sponsor of this post today!

Boomers and the Third Age

Beyond the Numbers: Boomer Marketing Summit, a research study conducted by ThirdAge Inc. and JWT BOOM, was conducted online at www.thirdage.com.

Over 1,210 adults 40+ years of age were surveyed to help marketers learn the interests, preferences and habits of Boomers and their use of online media. Some surprising statistics were unveiled by this study.

Today in the USA, close to 108 million people are 45+ years old. Boomers comprise over 40 percent of the population. They control $9 trillion, which accounts for 70 percent of the net worth of USA. In the next 15 years, the 50-64 age popular will grow by 50 percent and the 65-plus population will grow 32 percent.

Boomers are Wired

82 percent use desktop computer to connect online
17 percent use laptops
73 percent use Broadband to access the Internet from home

Internet Use by Boomers

99 percent E-mail
95 percent browse web
92 percent research background information
91 percent read online articles
90 percent stay in touch with family and friends
85 percent conduct product research before off line purchase
73 percent shop online
82 percent seek information on health and wellness

Word of Mouth Marketing and Boomers

This age group is one of the most active groups in the viral marketplace. They share their thoughts and opinions with friends in numbers that should make any marketer pay attention.

96 percent share information and details about new discoveries with their family
84 percent with their children
83 percent with their spouses
71 percent among their co-workers

Integrated Marketing to Boomers

Research points to the fact that marketers would do well to understand the value of a diverse, yet integrated, marketing plan when marketing to Boomers.

92 percent visit an online Web site after reading about it in print article
89 percent visit a Web site after seeing a print ad
83 percent visit a site after seeing a television ad

So, do not cancel the TV spots and magazine ads. Follow up print campaigns online.

For more information, please read press release: Its Official: Marketers Can’t Afford Not to Build Relationships with Boomers : Latest ThirdAge/JWT Boomer Survey Busts Myths About Boomer Technology Habits

Monday, April 2, 2007

Click & Comment Monday

Here is how I use click & comment Monday. Start on a blog. You are here, how about my blog? If you like a post on my blog, leave me a comment.

Visit one of the blogs on my blog roll or the BlogLog. Leave a comment somewhere on their blog. Click a blog on their blogroll and comment on that blog if you like it. Repeat.

You can skip blogs, leave comments on more blogs, follow a blog roll or just Stumble around the Internet. Try to click and comment on at least 5 blogs if you have time. I guarantee you will find some cool blogs and you will increase your readership if you do this on Mondays, but only if you want to find new blogs. To be added to the official C&C Monday blogroll, visit Cat.

Please comment and gain one easy entry into the Comments & Favorites Worth Cash Contest. You will be entered into a drawing for $50 via PayPal.

Tags: Click & Comment, click and comment Monday, visit blogs and leave comments

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Organic Search Engine Optimization