You’ve probably seen the badge on many people’s sites.  And if you use Entrecard or Adgitize, both have the option of uploading your own badge.  Having your own badge is very important to help in “branding” your blog.  Once we’ve gotten the badge made, I’ll run through how to add the “grab my badge” section you see on so many other blogs.  

First step is to pick an image.  Most people choose something related to their blog topic.  For example, I run a website: http://www.cynicalmusings.com-  though it might seem weird, the picture is one red sad smiley face in a bunch of yellow happy ones with the words “Cynical Musings” overlaid.  While odd, it fits in with the sarcastic, cynical attitude that I “show” on that website.  Of course, there is no rule.  You can pick any image you want.  I DO NOT recommend using a picture of yourself.  Too many sites use pictures of people (especially girls) to get traffic.  Even if it is you in the picture, many people avoid visiting sites with people as the badge.  

The second step is to make your image 125 pixels by 125 pixels.  I highly, highly recommend using Windows Paint to do this.  It allows for not only cropping the picture, but expanding and contracting it, meaning you can keep the full image, just make it smaller.  

If you wish to add words “over the top” of the picture, I use PowerPoint.  I would only suggest doing this is you are familiar with Powerpoint, though.  The editing and saving to an appropriate format to then use Windows Paint is a bit annoying.  

Once you have your picture cropped to 125 pixels by 125 pixels, you now have your badge!  

Most places will allow you to upload it from your computer.  If it requires the image to be online, check out the next article about making a badge out of your image.  I’ll run over Photobucket and all that in the next article in this series.
Note: if you upload to Adgitize, there can be NO SPACES in the name.  For example, cynical musings.jpeg has to be cynicalmusings.jpeg.

I've written a few book reviews, and figured I'd throw the links out there in case anyone wanted to read them!  You may notice that the links lead to Suite101.  I have NOT recommended this as a site to write for due to the low amount of income I have received from them.  The income is slowly adding up, though.  Within a month or so, I'll be giving a formal review of the site for you guys. 

I was and am NOT being paid in any way for these reviews.  I did receive the book for free, though. 

"Love Your Body, Love Yourself"
"Your Astrology Guide 2010"
"The Masonic Myth"
"Racing Toward Armageddon"

I am an avid reader and love reviewing books.  If you're an author, I will review any book sent to me (if the book is free, I"m not going to pay to review...ha-ha).  Feel free to contact me via the co

Great content, as stated in part 1, is the most vital part of the blog.  However, the average person only stays on a page for 1 to 5 seconds before deciding whether to click on or stay.  (Figures vary on exactly how long they stay, but it isn’t long!)

Good graphics help with keeping people on the page.  In addition, a well-organized layout will allow the user to easily navigate your content.  A disorganized or unattractive page will actually have a negative impact on your traffic.  There is a website in which I absolutely love the articles, but it so hard to read and so hard to sort the articles from the advertisements that I don’t visit it.  

So, what are some rules for having an attractive and easy to read page:

1) Use colors that don’t hurt people’s eyes.  While blue font on a purple page certainly catches attention, it is hard to read.    Stick to simple fonts also.  While “freestyle script” offers a cute appearance, it is very hard to read.  People are not going to stick around just to decipher what you were writing.   Big bold letters on a pale, colored background (such as lemon yellow) can also be hard on the eye.  The best way to determine what would look best: browse other blogs and see what works.  

2) Layout rules- As with the colors, try to avoid layouts that hurt people eyes.  Secondly, make sure your layout is easy to navigate.  People want to easily be able to browse through older blog posts, find your drop button (if you have one), tell what is ads, and find different pages on your website/blog.  Again, browse blogs and see what works.  You might notice that columns are the easiest and most popular format.

3) Advertisement placement is also another important feature of your website or blog.  First rule: Do NOT place a full-page ad in which people have to click “ignore” just to see your page.  Not only is this rude, most people won’t bother with wasting time trying to get to your page.  Second, don’t overwhelm your content with advertisements.  Some advertisement is probably necessary.  But don’t have more than ¼ of your page (at the very top) as advertisements.

As with everything else, I"m going to be honest about money made.  I recently found out about this site, and I am going to include the banner below for one reason: people signing up will get me closer to the $50 minimum required to cash out, so I can find out faster whether this site is legit or not. 

I do not know if it is legit.  I've done research, and I haven't found anyone who claims that they weren't paid, however, this is a very new site. 

If you want to sign up, please do.  As soon as I hit the minimum to cash out, I WILL POST WHETHER THIS SITE IS LEGIT OR NOT.  Your signing up will help us all find out sooner. 

According to site information, you get paid between .03 and .10 to rate an article.  It is easy to do and doesn't require you to spend any money.  So, you have nothing to lose.

Sorry about the few day hiatus.  I've been busy mystery shopping and writing articles!  Whew!  Starting to get tired.  Hopefully, if you didn't already have an Alexa ranking set up on your site, you've done it!  I find it a very helpful tool in "judging" my site. 

Right now I am researching two different sites, one a mystery shopping site and another a "pay to rate articles" site.  I'll be back tomorrow with further details!

In the meantime, DO NOT USE PAYDAY LOANS.  I've seen these advertised a bunch lately, especially on blogs.  A lot of people put the link on their page because they come with a really good payout if someone signs up via the link on your page. 

I have never used a payday loan, but have done some research for a couple of articles.  The fees and interest, no matter how good they look, are going to kill you.  Like they said in the old 80's anti-drug campaigns: Just Say No! 
That's our "budget basics" tip for today!


Jennie

Now that we’ve got the basics of what an Alexa ranking is and why it is important to know your own, we’ll go through how to set it up. 

*The home page of the Alexa site is: http://www.alexa.com/
*You’ll need to set up an account with Alexa.  This is an easy process, though, like many sites, you will have to verify your e-mail address.  
*Once you have an account, go to “For Site Owners” tab on the top of the page.  
*There will be four sections: Manage Your Site, Widgets, Advertise on Alexa, and Developer Tools.
*Under “manage your site”, click on “claim your site”.  Copy and paste (or type) your web address in the box, and then hit the button “claim your site.”  
*It will then give you two ways to verify your site- either by adding a file to the root directory or adding a meta tag to the home page.  I suggest adding a meta tag, as I found it easier, but it is up to you.  
*After you have uploaded the file or tag, click the button that says “Verify my text file” (if you added a file to root directory) or “Verify my meta tag” (if you added a meta tag).
*After Alexa confirms your site and verified that it is yours, you can now view your Alexa rank.  
*To add the Alexa rank widget to your site (which I suggest), use the Widgets section under the “For Site Owners” tab.  

There is a mystery shopping page (see tab at top of page) for those of you who are interested in mystery shopping.  As I've stated before, a good portion of my income comes from mystery shopping.  It is fun, easy, and a good source of a small income.  

Another site from which I get some jobs and from which I HAVE BEEN PAID is KSS International.  To become a mystery a shopper with KSS, please visit the following link: KSS International.

I love my mother and my mother-in-law, don't get me wrong.  I, being a loving daughter, sent them flowers for Mother's Day.  My husband is in the Navy, and our mothers both live states away. 

When I shop online, the first place I check is Quickrewards.  You get cash back for shopping.  Not at any remote future date in which you might or might not get the money.  I ordered the flowers using the link on Quickrewards.  Two days later, my Quickrewards balance increased by the appropriate amount ($5.00 in this case).  If you haven't read my past post about Quickrewards, there is NO MINIMUM FOR CASH-OUT VIA PAYPAL.  Check it out.  You have nothing to lose.

I requested payment from Opinion Outpost a few days ago and got my check in the mail yesterday!  Fast payment. 

I have to say, that Opinion Outpost is one of my favorite survey sites.  If you haven't joined, I highly, highly suggest doing so.  The surveys are VERY well compensated, payment is fast, and the minimum for cash-out is only $5.00.  Try it out!  You have nothing to lose. 

NO, I AM NOT GETTING PAID TO PROMOTE THIS SITE.

I love this site, not so much for business leads, but as a way to check the honesty of sites.  If you hear of a great "make money" site, check it out here before you waste any time or money. 

It doesn't cost anything to join.  It is unbiased and the reviews/grades are written by people who have actually tried the product.