Enkay Blog

I Have a Bone to Pick

As you all know, I am a big car guy and I have test driven a wide variety of cars and I generally critique cars – whether I like them or dislike them – even if I own them.

Now before I start talking about the image above, I just want to clarify that I own a Toyota and I actually like the Scion lineup. The problem that I have is I wonder, I really really wonder why Toyota — or better said, the designers of the xB decided that it might be better to design the car with only one reverse light as you can see from the image above.

As you probably know, most cars have two lights that turn on when you switch to reverse. Well, in the Scion xB you’d think something was wrong when only one light would turn on – which is on the lowest left hand corner. I just think its a really weird set up and its sort of a design flaw in my opinion.

Honestly, I don’t even own an xB and as a consumer I feel that I’m getting jipped off! I just thought it would be interesting today to talk about some things that interest me personally – it might not be a big deal but I still think its something I should get off my chest!

I hope you liked this short post and I just wanted to see what your opinions would be about this – do you think there is a specific reason why there is only one reverse light? or is that just something that needs to be fixed? I just want to see if anyone else thinks this is as weird as I do. Have a good weekend!

Shopping Around with UrbanStone

Recently, I came across a very interesting review request that was actually through Twitter. Interestingly enough, the website is called UrbanStone.co.uk which offers its readers a variety of shopping deals and allows them to compare shopping prices – much like some of the website we use here in the States.

The way the website works is quite interesting, it pulls prices of an item that you select and runs it through a variety of websites to make sure that the price you pay, is indeed the lowest price possible. For example, if I am looking for a Nintendo Wii I can just type in the search box and it brings up a variety of results.

What was interesting was that the results showed not only the one color of the Wii but the other color as a separate item – just in case my search was not as specific. Also, it provides reviews of the product that you may be looking for which is powered through Epinions.com which means that all you have to do to find the best prices and any related reviews is go to one website. The prices for the Wii ranged from 140 pounds to 400 pounds but was found in over 58 stores. Upon clicking the item you get a little description of what you will be purchasing, from what website the item will be purchased and its related price.

You can look up everything from electronics such as blu-ray players to home appliances such as freezers. If you’re like me then you’d probably want to make sure that instead of spending your money frivolously, taking the time to do the research can lead to tremendous savings and this website is just one more way to do just that. Overall, the website is well laid out and quite easy to use and for those in the UK, this might be just another way to find the best prices and reviews for products you want to purchase!

Is Anyone Satisfied with BuyBlogReviews?

I have been receiving quite a bit of emails from BuyBlogReviews recently and I’m actually surprised as to what has happened. I did use BuyBlogReviews a few times and have received one or two payments from them but more recently I have been sticking with Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe mainly because the offers are more geared towards my blog and the advertisers they have are usually high quality if you pick them well or if they come find you.

Whats my problem you ask?
Heres the problem I have and I think its something that you’ll agree with. I am signed onto a few websites – Buy Blog Reviews, Sponsored Reviews, Review Me and Pay Per Post but the most emails I receive are from BBR. About 90% of them are about an opportunity being added and usually the opportunity pays around $2 or $3. I think that adding opportunities at that price point for some blogs, and letting them know about them, is sort of like looking down upon them. Im not saying I’m too good for that, but being at that price level its too low for most bloggers to be willing to accept it and write 200 words about something.

Buy Blog Reviews
I just logged into the BBR system today because they keep sending me emails checking whether im still active and sure enough, lots of opportunities under $4 for things like credit cards, gambling and medical treatments. I just think that having a lot of offers about that kind of stuff doesnt mean that you’re connecting to your bloggers. I just thought it was sort of pointless. I decided that it was time to check on Pay Per Post.

Pay Per Post
I logged into the PPP system today and as expected, it looks a lot like Sponsored Tweets and the majority of opportunities were $3 or lower and the ones that were at $20 or higher level were for lipo treatments, casinos and other adult websites. I’m not really sure where most of the quality opportunities are. I understand that PPP is probably relying on advertisers finding bloggers and thats fine, but I looked at Sponsored Reviews next. They had tons of opportunities that have been in the system.

Sponsored Reviews & ReviewMe
The problem with SponsoredReviews is that their advertisers sometimes never reply back or reply back with a really low counteroffer but they also have a lot of the lipo, casinos and adult type offers but they also have lots of other offers. I’d say its about 40% of those types of offers and 60% good offers. As far as ReviewMe is concerned, they also have offers but its generally mixed. Very rarely do I find the medical type offers and I dont think ive even seen a lot of adult offers. Problem with ReviewMe is that there aren’t that many to pick from most of the time.

Why am I picking on BBR?
Basically, what I’m saying is that, its easy to have tons of offers and none of them be of any use. Sponsored Reviews has lots of everything but it can be a while before you hear back from an advertiser. ReviewMe has more quality offers but there aren’t many to pick from and PPP and BBR have offers but their payout is too low to even consider. What makes this post focused on BBR is the fact that I receive lots of emails about offers being added to the system even though the offers are really not quality at all.

I want to know your thoughts if you use BBR or if you are a member and you get tons of emails from them. I think it would be nice to know that im not the only one receiving all these emails!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2010 and I hope all of you had a wonderful start to the new year and for those of you who celebrated a little beyond what you could handle – I hope you made it home safe and had a good time nonetheless. So, whats so important about the new year? Am I going to tell you that this year is going to be different? No, I probably wont. The only reason is because the year is not going to be any different if you dont try or want for it to be different.

Stay Motivated!
What I’m getting at, is that yes its a new year and yes, you probably have a lot of goals but, if you aren’t motivated or don’t try to achieve your goals then nothing will be different this year. You have to stay motivated and maintain the initiative to bring change about. It is you who can change your future and you can do it this year if you put your mind to it.

Do What Ian Says
I’m going to keep this post short but basically I wasn’t going to tell you what some others have told you. You can change your entire year if you start off on the right foot. This morning, I received an email from Ian Fernando and he said exactly what I’m saying in this post. Ian’s email stated the following:

“I hope you have your whiteboard ready with new goals which you will tackle and be persistent throughout the year and not just for the month of January. ”

He couldn’t be more right. You are the decider for your life and you can set your goals but you have to run after them – nothing comes to you! Make sure you do your part this year and stay focused and everything will pan out for you if you did all the right things. Stay persistent, motivated and maintain your initiative – dont give up! Happy New Year everyone!

New Years Resolutions

Every time around this year people make fake promises to themselves about the upcoming new year – resolutions. I’m just kidding.. As you all know the New Year is just hours away and we look upon the past year and think about some things that we would do differently or we would have liked to do differently.

For many, this is a time to decide to quit smoking, work harder, lose weight, etc. But how many of these resolutions actually come true. I mean, honestly, how many people even remember their resolutions after the first week or two of January have passed by? Not many, I’d imagine.

Well, either way, I think it would be a great idea to actually write out a few good resolution ideas and maybe some of you guys can chime in and tell me what you feel. These are just random suggestions dealing with life, your career, etc, so dont take these personally – these are merely for fun and entertainment. Also, I am doing the first 4 as what we should do more vs. what we should do less and the last is something we should try and maintain.

1) Learn More – Being a student, this sounds like a funny first thought, but think about it. The economy is kind of suffering and the competition for new jobs and even existing jobs is high so if you learn more, you will become more qualified to either retain your job or you may be one of the lucky few who actually receives a promotion. If you’re in the job market, then it will show your employers how motivated you are to learn and this will eventually help you get that job you’ve always wanted.

2) Worry Less – Some of the most enjoyable moments in life can be ruined or forgotten because you worry too much and carry too much stress on your shoulders. I know its easier said than done but staying positive an

3) Earn More – I think this is probably the most important for us MMO bloggers but earning more money should not be more important than improving yourself through learning and enjoying the moments of life more by worrying less and thats why this is third on the list. You have to realize that money isn’t everything however, having more money in the future years will only be another way to prove to oneself that you can do what you dream and you can make things happen if you really want them. Trying to earn more isn’t only about the money but about the feeling of achieving success.

4) Waste Less – With poverty being so prevalent, it is our duty as human being who have the basic necessities in life to try and waste as little as possible – whether its food, money, or anything else. There are people who starve every day around the world and the less we waste, the more they will have. The less money we spend on food that we won’t eat or finish completely, that money could go to a better place. We have to realize that our actions have an effect on such people and we can help reduce that by reducing the impact our lifestyles have on people who are less fortunate than us.

5) Maintain health and happiness – When I say maintain, my assumption is that you are already healthy and happy or striving to achieve a little more of both. In this sense, it is important to keep our health in mind and always remember that our health is very important – no matter what the cost may be. Remaining healthy will result in a more prosperous future. In addition, its important to stay happy and look at the brighter side of things as it will always help in making any situation better.

I hope these resolutions are ones that you can relate with. These are just a few of my suggestions however it would be nice to see what you have in mind for the upcoming New Year!