Enkay Blog

A Better ReviewMe?

I used to remember the days when ReviewMe could be easily manipulated by some bloggers but lately it seems that ReviewMe has gotten better at catching such bloggers. I recently had a small time zone glitch causing my posts to be delayed and ReviewMe sent me a notice asking me to rectify the problem. Although I wasn’t too happy about the notice, I appreciate them finally getting a little strict.

There were many times when bloggers were breaking the rules and still getting paid for the reviews. I also have to mention SponsoredReviews while I am here since I have received several counter offers on there but it seems as though SponsoredReviews has dug itself in a hole trying to make more money by allowing advertisers to make counter offers. I dont think it was that great of an idea as most of the counter offers are below $10 which may be an insult to some bloggers who have really high ratings.

Im a little surprised with the changes that have come about in the blogosphere in such a short period of time. I used to like SponsoredReviews and it seems like it is time up for SponsoredReviews. I do see a brighter future for ReviewMe as long as they are able to put out offers at the rate they are currently doing so. They are one of the more popular ones out there along with LoudLaunch and Smorty making an occasional appearance. Although Smorty and LoudLaunch are both dealing with not as many offers and low offer amounts, they still have a long way to develop. As for ReviewMe, I dont know if anyone else noticed that they have gotten more strict with bloggers meeting their guidelines. Which are some of your favorite pay-to-post websites out there?

New Online Community!

So theres Facebook, Myspace and even MyBlogLog for bloggers but now there is a new website called 3GB Communities where you can meet new friends, connect with old friends and share photo albums, join groups, create blogs and listen to music. The website has over 1000 members so far and seems to be picking up. The set up of the website in my opinion is a little odd but I am sure that they are in the beta or development phase so things will pick up soon enough. The design is nice and simple and I give them a thumbs up for that. The sign up process did not take but 5 minutes and the user interface is very easy to use and navigate. Each member has a profile similar to facebook where you can write messages and exchange notes. I think the concept may be old but 3GB is trying to put a new twist on it. I really wish them luck with the direction they plan on taking the website in. Although Facebook and MySpace are highly popular, 3GB may be an upcoming community that we will see more about in the future. If youre interested please join 3gb community www.3gb.biz

Need A Loan?

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Their loans are offered with no application fees and no upfront fees. Once you submit your loan application you should expect to hear back within 24-48 hours on most applications. Their service is fast, safe and efficient. They have expert loan analysts and consultants that will help to get you approved. They also have a very high approval rating so your chances on getting that loan for a new car may not be so hard after all. They offer $10,000 - $150,000 in unsecured personal loans and $10,000 - $100,000 in unsecured personal lines of credit.

Their website is well designed and they are even a member of the BBB. They offer 5 different types of loans for personal use, home office, home improvement, business acquisition or business expansion. They even have a toll free number and a guarantee where if you are not approved then their consulting services are completely free for you. Their database consists of over 140,000 lenders so if youre looking for a loan you have a better chance of getting it here!

SweetHacks, Friggin’ Sweet!

Everybody knows who Abdalla Ahmed is, he is the genius behind Sweethacks.com. If you haven’t heard of it, then you have’nt been around the blogosphere yet or you have just been a little lazy to do so. Abdalla is a Chemical Engineering student from UK and his blog Sweethacks talks about technology. Abdalla’s blog recently crossed the 100 feed reader mark and has quickly moved up to over a 130 readers which is a great accomplishment for any blogger. All in all, this is a technology blog so lets take a look at the different aspects of his blog:

Design
First of all, he has switched to a nice new magazine style theme called Revolution and has taken it to the next level by customizing it. Once you browse over to the website it is clearly visible that he has branded it with a great logo setting it apart from others who may be using the same premium theme. Secondly, he has placed two RSS buttons. One is located in the header but is quite small but there is another sidebar widget that displays a button, a feed ticker as well as an email subscription form. The idea of locating the RSS buttons at the top has been a big issue for most websites and that is why I reiterate it during all my reviews but Abdalla has done a good job in that department.

Furthermore, I like that he has incorporated videos into his blog in the manner that he has. You have some really great articles in the middle, a video right next to it followed by product reviews below it. I think that if you have always wanted the Magazine style theme then you need to check out Sweethacks because most people usually get a magazine style theme but their blogs do not fit into that category but this one surely does. I like that the Google Adsense adblock is integrated the way it is because at first, you really do not notice it. He also has a nice header ad which is a great location for that ad because it doesn’t bother you.

Content
As far as content goes, Abdalla always has had some really good posts and the way he writes the posts makes it entertaining. I really like their review posts such as the one about the USB Missile Launcher which I have wanted to get for quite a while now. Their post that talked about a t-shirt able to detect wifi signals was also quite interesting to me. His style of writing is different from what you see and thats mainly because apart from being informational Abdalla puts personality and humor into most of his articles which makes it that much better for his readers. I really don’t see any suggestions in the content area as far as his posts go. I have to also mention that he has a Make Money page which is a good resource for those of you who like making money online.

Pros:
- great content with excellent integration of personality and humor
- good placement of RSS ad
- really nicely customized revolution magazine theme
- nice inclusion of videos along with posts
- the categories are neatly organized and do not overlap
- an about us page that tells us about the author but I would like to see a picture too

Suggestions:
- I think that under the “Our Friends” sidebar widget, there needs to be a little rearrangement in the sense that one of the banners needs to be spaced and moved to another spot. Below is a visual that describes that change. The reason to move that is so that people will notice it more since there are two black banners followed by another black banner. If the ads are moved, it will create a color break making it better for the advertisers.

- I also believe that eNews & Updates needs to be changed to RSS and Email Subscription so that it is easier for readers to follow.
- Secondly, I believe that more of the daily updates need to be added to the Featured section but it all depends on the subject matter of the daily updates. If they do not match, then the Featured section works well as it is.

Conclusion
So that wraps up my review of Sweethacks and I want to thank Abdalla for this opportunity. For those of you interesting in buying some adspace, definitely check out his Advertise page as he has some really good prices on banners, rss and text link ads as well as reviews.

CellWare Reviewed!

I recently reviewed an offer from Cellware to review their website. This offer was placed through SponsoredReviews and so I decided to check it out. Most of us use a cell phone and every so often you want to liven things up with new ringttones, wallpapers, videos, games or applications and Cellware allows you to do exactly that. Cellware claims itsself to be the first mobile social networking website that offers content geared towards cell phones. I haven’t been around the mobile website market as yet so to me, it seems like it is the first of its kind. I browsed around to their blog and found out that they were launched less than a month ago in New York City. I have seen several mobile content websites on the internet but I have to be completely honest, these guys seem to be very professional about it.

The reason they call it a “social networking website” is because they actually allow their members to make money. If you are a little creative and you can create a ringtone, wallpaper, video or anything of that sort, they allow you to benefit from the revenue generated by that particular item. Whenever someone downloads your content, you receive the revenue. I think thats a really neat system. They also have their own facebook application that you can check out here.

I also happened to check out their forum and one thing bothered me a little. Don’t take this as a negative because it could be a database glitch or a glitch in the forum itself, but it states that they have over 28,000 registered users but only 10 posts in total? Those numbers don’t make sense but the forum is also well put together.

They offer all their services without any monthly charges compared to other providers who offer a few months of free service followed by $10 a month contribution requirements. They provide the free service and their website isn’t highly ad supported. Actually, I was only able to find one ad on some of their pages and that too, it was an Adsense ad.

The one thing that you will notice as you browse around is that every aspect of the website follows the main design very well. Overall, I actually enjoyed reviewing Cellware and I wish them the best in the future. I would like you all to check the website out and even if you don’t purchase your mobile content online, have a look at the design and the setup, im sure you will be impressed!