My Opinion Counts

PayPerPost has introduced PPPDirect. Advertisers who have bloggers, like me, have requested the ability to contact Posties directly. This gives the advertiser the ability to pick who they want to blog about their product. Many advertisers like to be talked about on a blog like mine. My blog is very general in that I talk about lots of different things. Some blogs are focused on a specific topic like cooking or music. Those blogs don't always fit with the type of advertising say, an insurance company, is looking for. With PPPDirect, an advertiser can arrange, through PayPerPost, to have a specific blogger take their job.

Are wondering why an advertiser doesn't just contact the blogger and ask them to write a post for their company? Well, they can. There is risk involved in that type of arrangement. For one, there is no guarantee that the blogger will write a quality ad or that they will write the ad at all. Secondly, there is no guarantee that an advertiser will pay the blogger for writing the ad.

That is too much risk for me! PPPDirect acts as a type of escrow service where they hold the advertisers money until the post is written. Then PPPDirect pays the Postie.

What does PayPerPost get out of this deal? They get exposure. They are beating the bushes to make blog advertising one that is used more and more. They also make 10% of the deal. That isn't much considering 5% of the money goes to pay credit card and PayPal transaction fees. It is actually peanuts compared to what other companies get.

Most of the other, pay to blog, companies like ReviewMe charge 50-100% markup and keep up to half of the advertiser's money. This makes the payment the blogger gets a pretty low percentage of the amount paid. PPP Direct cuts out the massive overhead.

I am proud that PPPDirect asked me to tell you about this new program.

Today was such a fun day. I went to an auction. Auctions are held at our fairgrounds building most every Saturday. Usually I have to work but because it is Memorial Day weekend, I had the day off. I love/hate the thrill of bidding at an auction. My face gets so hot and my hands start shaking. I don't know what comes over me. I love it when I win!

Have you ever thought about where your food comes from? When we would drive through the country, on our way to Florida, it would amaze us to see field after field of orange trees. The smell was awesome. Florida farmers are so important to us as they provide much of the orange, lettuce and other products. In fact, Florida Agriculture is a $87 billion industry providing food to the entire globe. Watch this video that shows the importance and impact of Florida's Farmers. Here it is...Fresh from Florida!

I finished free motion quilting on my sister's quilt. I kept tearing out stitiching because I could not get the tension set correctly on my machine. I also had to slow down and let the stitches not get big or pull. The back side of the quilt looked awful a few times so out those stitches would come. I think I went to bed at midnight again!

Oh wow! Do you see that picture? I just found out that The Police are starting a worldwide tour!!! I love them! I used to sing along the radio as I listened to their songs. I can still remember watching the General Hospital soap opera and seeing Luke and Laura rendezvous with The Police singing Every Breathe You Take in the background. Oh my goodness were those some hot love scenes! Seeing the band reunite on the 2007 Grammys, and how "Roxanne" still sounds amazing for a 30 year old song sets the standard for young bands of today to live up to. The Police commercialized "Punk rock" and made brilliant pop at the same time.

Of course we all know how Sting fared from the success of this marvelous band. When drummer, Stewart Copeland hit the sticks it was crazy! Who can forget the twangy raggae sounds of Andy Summers playing. The new sounds he invented threw us curves just when we began to settle in. Thinking The Police were settling into a niche was plain crazy! Their sound was always changing.

Oh for the chance to see this great band in concert again! An arm? A leg! Right kidney? Pleaaaaseeee!

Look at all these great songs from the police cd! I'll bet I can sing along with all of them. But, uh no, I won't. I promise! But I will be wearing my The Police t-shirt!

The Police

Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara


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Was I the only one who noticed that Isaiah Washington had a public service announcement during last nights show, Grey's Anatomy? It had to do with how words hurt. I never did find out what all the ruckuss was about a few months ago when the media was telling about a fight on the set but didn't give out names. I wonder if he made a gay remark to T.R. Knight. hmmmm??

Many of you have heard me say that my daughter is a pirate wannabe. It is true! She loves all things pirate. I have wanted to get her a pirate flag and I am so excited because I found a website where I can order one! Pirate flags actually tell a story about the ship they are associated with. The pirate flag, also know as the Jolly Roger or the skull and crossbones, was flown by pirates to induce fear and panic in the ships they attacked. This website has the Jolly Roger in two different weights. The standard pirate flag is made of a durable superknit polyester. The other pirate flags are in standard polyester, which are less durable. The flags are available in different sizes, colors and have different characters like the Deaths Head and the Pirate mouse. I'm picking the heavier one in the Jolly Roger style. She is going to go crazy when she sees this flag!

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Stacy called a few days ago and she was so excited. She got to see their helicopters take off and land in a formation that they rarely do because not all 5 helicopters are usually there. She got pictures with her cell phone. I had just ordered the software to download pictures for our cell phones! I hurridly got the software in the mail to her so I could see what she was all excited about.

I have come across a new type of advertising that is going to change the way a lot of companies get their name out there on the World Wide Web, (the Internet).

PayPerPost has announced the launch of PPP Direct. PPP Direct is the new way of advertising online where advertisers can contact a Postie, a person who writes for PayPerPost, directly and ask that Postie to write special posts on their blogs strictly for them.

Many advertisers have a favorite Postie whose blog fits the theme of their business. For instance, if an advertiser sells guitars he would love a Postie whose blog is all about music or even specifically deals with guitars. What a great match! The blogger who posts about guitars is already reaching an audience who is interested in what he has to say about the ins and outs of finding, selling, using a guitar. The advertiser is going to love being able to have those readers hear about his product through this Postie.

The honest approach in advertising is what makes this a better way to advertise than other ways like text links. We see links and boxes all over people's blogs but we don't really know if the owner of that blog really uses the product or not. If they do use the product we have no way of knowing if they liked it or not.

Another positive reason why this type of advertising is good is that it puts the advertiser in direct contact with the Postie. They can iron out any wrinkles in a post and improve an advertisement instead of paying for something that the Postie is frustrated writing about and the advertiser doesn't really get what they wanted in an ad.

For us Posties, this is a great way to make more money for our posts. When an advertiser uses us by clicking our badge, we are able to keep the majority of the money the advertiser is spending. PayPerPost's PPPDirect cuts out the middleman (including themselves) so that the advertisers get more bang for their buck and each Postie has the incentive to write the best possible post for the advertiser.

Maintaining the transactions through PayPerPost offers the Postie the security of knowing they will get paid and the advertiser is secure in knowing he/she will get what they paid for.

This is such a great program! I know that it will make me strive to become a better blogger so the advertisers will PICK ME! PICK ME!

As a small business owner, we have tried various types of advertising. We have had billboards all over the countryside. That was a treat to see our name in huge letters pasted onto a beautiful teal background. Billboard advertising is very expensive. Without some type of help from the large companies we are associated with, we would never be able to advertise that way.

We had premade commercials on our local tv station. That was an experience as we got comments on how lovely our children were and how shapely my legs were! For one, the children in the commercial were lovely but weren't mine! My children are lovely too. Secondly the legs in the commercial were not mine either. I won't go into a discussion here about vericose veins. LOL TV advertising is more expensive than billboard advertising!

We have had success in newspaper advertising and radio script advertising. How much of our client base is in the listening or readership area of those local venues is hard to tell. We keep plugging along with those types of ads in hopes that many customers will mention they were sent to us because of these ads.

With the Internet becoming more of a fixture in the consumer world, it is time to join those who sell on the web. I am looking into this with anxiety. I hope to be back with an update that says, it wasn't a big deal. I will let you know.

If you want to get more people viewing your blog there are a few things you need to do. In order to obtain more website traffic you need to visit Think Big Sites.com. They have developed a unique blog marketing and inbound linking strategy that helps customers in terms of branding and search engine rankings. This company will help you "Think Big."



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I would like to know how many bloggers use site maps to increase the chance of the search engines spidering your blogs. I am getting mixed views from different bloggers. Please tell me what you do and why. Thanks.

When companies use the internet to showcase their business they rely on the search engines to find their websites. After feeling cheated by some of the search engines because they felt that their websites were not being promoted when consumers looked for their products, a few, inspired gentlemen, went on their own to find a better way. Let's just say they got fired up!

With their technological expertise, they were able to develope techniques to yield the best SEO results for online businesses. SEOhaus Search Engine Optimization delivers honest results and specializes in offering custom online branding and lead generation solutions for its advertisers.

I'm glad when people don't settle and instead make the online marketing world a better one.

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I love Snapfish. I have been a customer at Snapfish for many years and I have remained with their company because it is so easy to work with my pictures at their site.

I upload my pictures directly from my camera and then I can play! I love the share feature. All of my family members have Snapfish accounts. They can go look at my pictures and order what they want. It is so easy!

Not a paid post!

There is a new site that is going to be popular with the kids! Trickster is a new site that lets you pick your characters and mold them into what you want them to be! Just by registering you are open for a world of fun as you take your character into a make believe world where you can fight monsters with the weapons you choose. There are trickster forums where you can ask questions and get help with your game. You can also utilize the trickster online guides.

Trickster.net is going be a lot of fun! Until your kids find out about it and hog the computer!


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When it comes to happiness, the most valuable assets to us are our friends, family, health and laughter.

These were the most mentioned attributes which emerged from secured loan provider Picture Financial's new Happiness Index research.

Money, on the other hand, only comes fourth on the list with just a quarter of people saying that was important to them.

But while it might not be the be all and end all, marketing director of Picture Financial, Julia Dallimore, insisted there was "a strong link between happiness and organized finances".

Certainly, problems in your financial life can take their toll on your health, while potentially leading to over-reliance on friends and family to get by.

As a result, Brits are being urged to frequently review their finances to stay clued up on their situation.

"It is important that people realize you don't need to be an expert to effectively review and sort your money," explained Chris Tapp, associate director at Credit Action.

"We can all become better money managers by setting some clear objectives about what we want to achieve with our money and dedicating some time to regularly evaluate our financial situation."

From The Thrifty Scot
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After, finally, getting a handle on our credit cards, we have vowed never to maintain a balance on our cards ever again. Having a credit card was great when we needed the money at that time and we did earn a lot of reward points that we were able to turn in for cash. The interest we were paying bugged me. I'm not saying that I won't have a Credit Card. I just am more careful with how I use it.

Another reason I am more careful with the use of my credit card is the recent stealing of information that happened through the retailer TJ Maxx. We need to be aware and protect ourselves.

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We get tickets for the Indianapolis 500 race every year. This year hubby has to work so we tried to find someone who wanted the tickets. I was surprised at how hard it was to find someone who wanted to go. We started asking pretty early so I don't think it was a matter of people already having plans. We finally gave them to a couple that are thrilled for the chance to go. I'm so glad it worked out.

Well darn. Indianapolis missed hosting the super bowl next year. I think they said that Dallas got the bid. They have a huge stadium with lots of seats and club boxes. Indianapolis came close to winning. Hopefully next year it will be our turn.

I was looking at digital cameras a week ago. I bought one for hubby for Father's Day. I already gave it to him because he needed it to document his fishing trip last week. While I was looking at the cameras, I came to the conclusion that my digital camera is obsolete. I guess I can't buy a memory card for it now. It is less than two years old! I think I will try to sell it in the classified ads.

ItsMyMarket.com is a free classifieds site, providing free classified ads in my local area. ItsMyMarket.com is fun to check out because they also have a dating service. I love to read what people are looking for in the way of a date. Some of those ads are pretty far out!

It is a great site to check out the weather report and find out what is playing at the theater.

With all the exposure they get I should get a quick response from people who are interested in buying my camera.

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Three people, a bank teller, security guard and citizen, were critically injured on the scene of a bank robbery on the South Side of Chicago this morning. I used to work in a bank and I hate hearing about bank robberies. The people who work in a bank are ordinary people who have families just like you and me. Did you know that the famous cook, Paula Dean, once worked in a bank? It was robbed and she said that was the end of that line of work for her.

I am ready for a vacation. I think we should work one week and vacation the next. Wouldn't that be nice? I have been checking out Hotelshop UK for a Hotel Accommodation in the UK. I like this one that is at Midland Madness. It's an urban heritage park, situated in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the heart of the Black Country. There is a museum dedicated to authentically re-creating the environment, traditional skills and enterprise of the people that once lived in the heart of industrial Britain. That sounds like my kind of place! Their are Bed and Breakfast Inns at which we can stay and get a true feel of the daily life of the area. The discounts through Hotelshop UK are amazing. This might become a reality with their great pricing.

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I have had my dogs get under my feet and just about knock me down. I am very lucky that I didn't break anything the way Paula Abdul did. She tried not to step on her Chihuahua and fell in the process. She took a nasty fall and broke her nose. Ouch!

My mom told me something that infuriated me. A few years ago she had a wreck. She was going through an intersection and a man disregarded the red light and plowed into her. He did not have motor insurance and so her insurance had to pay everything. He insurance paid to fix his truck! It is illegal to not carry insurance on a vehicle. He should have been arrested. The policeman said he didn't know who was at fault so he didn't issue any tickets at the scene. I thought they had to check that a person had motor insurance.

I hope everyone I know has the sense to carry insurance. CIS Motor Insurance is as inexpensive, easy and hassle-free as possible so there is no excuse for not having it. Right now if you buy online you'll get a 10% discount.

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Mercymom at the Day in the Life blog tagged me to tell 7 random things about myself.

1. I don't like red roses. I actually prefer yellow or peach roses. I never say anything negative if I get red ones though!

2. I don't like to put laundry away. After it is washed, I like to look at it sitting there in nice little piles.

3. I let my doggies lick me on my lips. I know. Gross.

4. I hate snakes. I screamed yesterday because I saw a snake skin in my flower bed. I tried to pick it up and it broke in two. That freaked me out and I screamed! The thing is dead. sheesh

5. I have several splinters in my hands from pulling weeds yesterday.

6. I can't listen to music or the tv when I'm on the computer. It gives me a headache.

7. I don't like to talk on the phone.

My son and I had a discussion, this weekend, about the responsibility of musicians and their impact on youth. I think there is so much violence being perpetuated by music that kids listen to. My son said that he listens to music that does have violent lyrics. He is 21 years old and can take the lyrics and not be affected by them. A high school student might be impressed at what a college student listens to and want to seem cool. Thinking that listening to this bad a** music makes him look cool, he listens. His maturity doesn't enable him to take or leave it and finds himself depressed or feeling violent in the way he reacts to things. Constant listening to music with violent lyrics has a way of doing that. I quit watching soap operas because I found that after watching them day after day, I was becoming depressed.

Now, a middle school child looks at the high school kids on the bus and thinks, wow they listen to that music. I want to look cool. I'm going to listen to that stuff.

See where this is going? Parents need to be involved and know what their kids are listening to. They are going to hear the stuff so take the time and talk about it. Let them know that there is stuff out there that isn't so great if listened to over and over.

As I always say, Too Much of Anything Is Not Good. That goes for food, exercise, sleep and yes, music.

SIGN IN A STORE WINDOW


"WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000
AL QAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN"



This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in
Philadelphia .




You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement.
One would think that anti-hate groups from all across the country would be
marching on this business and that the National Guard might have to be called
to keep the angry crowds back. But, perhaps in these stressful times one might
be tempted to let the proprietors simply make their statement . .




We are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest
liberty. And after all, it is just a sign.
You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign?



Answer: A Funeral Home
(Who said morticians had no sense of humor?)

I have always been proud of being an American Citizen. At Sticker Giant, they have custom stickers that I can buy to display this sentiment. I especially like the one that says, If you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet. Now, I'm not sure I would have a place for the one that asks, What would Scooby do?. It is cute though. StickerGiant has over 1100 catagories so I know I can find a great sticker for my new car that says Quilters Are Always In Stitches!

When you order stickers they are shipped within 24 hours and are of the highest quality. They are very durable because they are printed on vinyl stock. The colors are bright and bold. They are so reasonably priced that you are going to go crazy ordering these!

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