Connecting bloggers with sponsors

Blogs are the new marketing medium and Blog Sponsorships are on the rise. There are severla ways that bloggers are earning money through their blogs - text link placement, banner placement, product reviews, etc

BloggingSponsorships.com is a newly launched site that connects bloggers with sponsors, advertisers, and marketers. It has a database of blogs that are interested in receiving marketing and advertising offers. These sponsorship deals are negotiated privately and Bloggers stand to make up to a few thousands of dollars more a year. I guess, the higher your blog popularity, the higher you can demand.

This system also allows sponsors to obtain branding and advertising deals with blogs that fit their specific demographic/niche audience. Thus, it is a win-win situation.

The site also has affiliate incentives, giving out $2.50 - $12.50 for every sign up.

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The cup of life

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is to make milk for my baby son. The second thing I do is to make a steaming pot of my favourite drink - tea. Called the cup of life, I have been a tea drinker my whole life, except for a short period when I was seduced by the yuppie cafe culture. Now I have come to accept the fact that I do not really like coffee. Nowadays when I get pulled to Starbucks by my wife, I will order a cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast.

Grand Tea Stand is an online retailer of fine teas. They have a great range of teas ranging from simple black teas to the rarest of white teas, all of which are priced quite reasonably.

They also sell tea related accessories and tea post. Besides that, they also plan to educate people on the many health benefits of tea. Their "health" page (in pdf format), which you can download is really educational.

I had read about the beneficial effects of tea because of the antioxidants of tea but I didn't know that it helps prevent teeth decay, aids in weight loss, prevents cancer and heath diseases among others.

Sipping my cup of "Darjeeling" as I write this post.
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Buying printer supplies online

Some time back one of my friends who worked for one of the biggest office Supplies retailer in Malaysia, was telling me how their e-commerce strategy had failed. They had spent more than a million ringgit (1 Malaysian ringgit = US$0.28 approx.) in developing a system that met with resistance from their customers. I guess they were a bit ahead of it's time in Malaysia where e-commerce hasn't taken of yet as compared to countries in the west.

I for one wouldn't mind buying a toner cartridge from Databazaar.com over the net.

Databazaar.com was ranked as the 5th largest online Office Supplies retailer in the US by by Internet Retailer in 2006. Their business model serves computer and printer supplies consumers in all three segments - B2C, B2B and Wholesale/Export.

With it's headquarters based in Miramar, Florida, it also has group companies in India and Hong Kong and sells to customers in more than 23 countries around the world. That's really impressive.

Their online store carries printer cartridges and toner from almost every brand and make of printer available.

They are also ranked 5 out of 5 by PriceSCAN.com. This is based among others on the fact that Databazaar.com allows customer to place orders online with SSL security. No phone call is required to complete order. Customers can monitor order status on vendor's website. They also receives tracking number so that delivery can be monitored via shipper (FedEx, UPS, etc.)

The company does not charge the Customer's credit card until order is shipped. Best of all, shipping is FREE on every order.

Check out the great deals at their site.

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Seashells site

Do you what sand dollars are?
Well it does not refer to a new currency but instead they are a group of marine animals that live on top of or just beneath the surface of sandy or muddy areas. People call them sand dollars because of their round flat shape that looks like a large coin. The first time I read about this animal was in a site specialising in selling Sand dollars, seashells and starfish for crafts and weddings. Just check out this popular "Sand Dollar & Dolphin Earrings".

You can also read about the legend of the Sand Dollar on this site.

The site also carries a wide variety of starfish for decorating, collecting, wedding, and craft needs. Also sold on the site are shark jaws, shark teeth and seashell jewelry. Depends on taste but definitely one of a kind.

They do ship overseas but only to 4 other countries at present, namely, the UK, Puerto Rico, Australia and US Virgin Islands.

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Ecommerce site templates

Building a website from scratch can be a really tough experience. It takes time and a lot of hard work. I have always said web site designing is both a science and a art. Besides coding skills, you need to have a sense of colour and design. From my experience I can tell you that images play a very important part in making websites come alive. So if you are going to design a website, you better know how to take nice pictures and edit them too.

That is the reason why web designers charge so much to design personalised websites, especially e-commerce sites. Most people take the easy way out - they use a template designed by the experts and modify it suit their needs. You might have the most amazing back end coding ever (which most people never see) but if your website is ugly and not friendly, it might turn a lot of people off.

One of the best developments in the net was the development and spread of the open source practice (some consider it a philosophy). Software (and other stuff) are distributed for free into the net and people can freely modify them. osCommerce, as the name suggest is an open source ecommerce solution whereby anybody can download and set up an online store. It contains both a catalog frontend and a backend administration tool. The problem is that the design is a bit blend.

Take a look at osCommerce templates. This Irish company allows paid customers to to download as high quality templates and as much as they like (they currently have 70). Customers can sign up for a three month ($89), six month ($158) or one year ($299) membership. This is really a good deal considering that there are others who charge around $150 per design!

The business was set-up by Myles O'Reilly in March 2006. Myles is also the author of the popular book - "The Programmers' Guide to osCommerce".

I guess this site is actually targeted at web designers. Now they don't have to spend a fortune to access different high quality design templates.

Even if you don't have any experience in modifying osCommerce, you need not worry as the site has a tutorial page, which provides information and guidance in editing and customizing their products.

They even have a button generator, which is really fast. The best part is that you don't have to sign up to use it. It's totally free.

Go and check out the site.

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Car parking portal

Finding a parking space in the city can be nightmare, especially on special holidays as I had experienced during my trip to the Bullring in Birmingham during Boxing day. It's not unusual to go round and round trying to find parking and wishing that there was some way we could have booked a space beforehand.

Well, there is finally a website, which allows us to do precisely that. Peasy.com (the name stands for Parking made easy) is an online portal for parking spaces in the UK.

How does this work?
Homeowners and existing commercial car parks can join for free and rent out their parking spaces. Customers can register for free and book available parking spaces online instantly. Peasy.com will take a small commission of the rental fee.

It's an easy way to earn money, for home owners with an unused driveway, garage or secure parking space. According to the site, driveways near to train and tube stations, town centres and sporting events are likely to be in the highest demand.

They estimate that in general driveways can be rented out for £10-£60 a week, potentially earning in excess of £3,000 pounds a year.

If you only want to rent your space out for only a few hours each day, no problem!
You can still do that.

Interesting concept.

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Tags: Parking Peasy.com

Find new and used cars

When you are looking to buy a car, either new or used, what method do you use?
I expect most of you to reply, "Car Classifieds".

There are a number of online auto classifieds out there on the web. Lemonfree.com is one of them. However, what makes it different from other sites it that it's online classifieds are 100% free. Yes that's right. They enable users in the US and Canada, to list their new and used cars and trucks for free.

As usual, you have to fill up a few required information about your car. The great part is that you are allowed to post up to ten pictures of your automobile. Most sites allow only one or two pictures. You are also allowed to write as many words as you require to describe your vehicle. That's good for people who really love their car and want to write paragraphs and paragraphs in praise. Well! Now that I think about it, that is probably not a good idea.

I really like their car reviews, which is quite extensive. To go there, click the text link or click here.

So if you are looking for a car or truck, you can go over to the site and search by Make, Model, Year, Country, Price and Mileage.


Tags: Auto E-commerce Classifieds Review

College classifieds

The story of how Walamu.com- The World's Largest College Classifieds Network came into existence, is really interesting.

Unlike some people who are lucky enough to have rich parents or Governments sponsoring their studies, many others have to fund themselves by working or fighting for scholarships.

This blog post here that tells the story of how a homeless student living at the University library had a brilliant idea to create a site which would enable students to save on textbook. This site will allows students to buy and sell books with others on their campus. The major advantage is that the shipping/ delivery costs are not involved.

Reading the post actually reminds me of my own university undergraduate days when I would spend hours in the library photocopying and making my own notes because I couldn't afford to buy books. Wish we had such a system then.


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Tags: Books Review Students Walamu

Top 5 Malaysian Ecommerce Companies

This is my list of the top 5 ecommerce companies in Malaysia.

I have actually made transactions through their websites. So it is based on experience and has nothing to do with the results of the 11th Malaysia Internet User Survey conducted by AC Nielsen last year.

(In descending order)

1. Airasia.com: AirAsia Bhd. (http://www.airasia.com)

It is actually the first Airline in Asia to implement ticket less travel. Passengers make booking directly buy tickets online and just use a booking number to check in. They beat airlines in more developed countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Malaysia Boleh!

It is no surprise that it was voted as the most popular website for online shopping in the survey conducted by AC Nielsen. In fact in March this year, it was reported that about 55% of ticket sales is generated online. (AirAsia: Online sales have eclipsed offline sales, Star In Tech, 8, March 2005, p. 3).

The website is available in seven different languages, including four on its Malaysian site. Registered members also receive promotions online though e-mails. Makes it the number one e-commerce company in Malaysia.

2. Maybank2u.com.my: Maybank Bhd. (http://www.maybank2u.com.my/)

It can be quite funny when people still associate e-commerce with buying and selling products over the net. Online banking also comes under the broad definition of e-commerce and I can say without fear that, Maybank2u.com.my is the most popular online bank in Malaysia.

I love the fact that besides paying bills online, I can also transfer money to accounts in other banks as well as pay online merchants. We can even top up our telephone prepaid cards.

NEGATIVE: I hated it when they started changing fees for transactions but we have no choice. C.K. Hooi pointed out that customers can't use the online service after midnight MST, which is opposed to the idea of online banking as a 24/7 service.

3. Lelong.com.my: Interbase Resources Sdn. Bhd. (http://www.buysell.com.my)

Malaysia’s pioneer auction portal, company has a bit of an identity crisis. Following a rebranding exercise in January 2002, Lelong.com.my was renamed buysell.com.my but I see that it has quietly gone back to using the name Lelong.com.my again.

Never the less, it remains the most popular auction portal despite the entry of the American auction giant, E-bay into the Malaysian Market.

NEGATIVE: Their web is a bit too cluttered for my liking. Could do with a major redesign.

4. Blooming.com.my: Blooming Florist Sdn Bhd. (http://www.blooming.com.my)

One of Malaysia’s first e-commerce companies. Blooming Florist began operations in 1981. They now deliver worldwide through through its membership in Interflora Pacific Unit Ltd.

They allow payment through credit cards or through bank transfers, including Maybank2u. Ordered a bouquet of lilies with orchids for my wife’s birthday recently. She loved it and I am one satisfied customer.

NEGATIVE: The website design is rather plain but I guess it serves its purpose. Could do with a major redesign job.

5. Dominos.com.my: Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd. (http://www.dominos.com.my)

The ‘Malaysian Book of Records’ has endorsed it as the 1st Fast Food online service in Malaysia. Now if you are too lazy to call for a pizza, just order online. The “30 minutes to customer's doorstep” commitment still applies.

No credit card? Don’t worry! Terms of payment is Cash On Delivery.

NEGATIVE: Limited areas of delivery and definitely not in Kedah.

Would love to hear what you think about the list. Please feel free to share your experiences and whether you agree with my list. If you have other companies in mind, tell me.