Website Reviews
ReviewMe Plays A Game
Jul 4th
Well, I received my monthly ReviewMe paycheck through Paypal and for some reason the amount seemed off by $5. Yes, its a small amount but I am very particular about payments. If I owe somebody one cent, I will pay it back regardless or whether they ask for it. When I received my payment, I immediately checked the payment details on ReviewMe and it listed the correct amount even though they sent me a lower amount. I felt a little bummed so I decided to write to ReviewMe regarding the discrepancy and after about two days my payment details was “doctored” to reflect the amount that they had sent. One of the reviews that I had written and was accepted was removed from the list. Funny thing is, I never received a reply from them for my email but they did happen to make the changes that they wanted. Either way, it seems like they figured I wouldn’t notice the difference but I decided to write to them again and two days later, I still haven’t received a reply. I really don’t know what they are up to so I figured I would ask you guys if you had anything similar happen to you on ReviewMe and any advice on what I can do about this? Thanks!
Update (July 7th) – They responded to one of my emails stating that there was a discrepancy in the system that calculated the totals wrong. I don’t know how many people are affected by this, but I never received an official letter direct from ReviewMe nor are the amounts corrected as of yet. I’m still going to be hopeful! 
Security Quiz: Are you a Security Wizard?
Jul 1st
If you’re like me then you think you know a little too much about computers. So much that you think your computer is impenetrable by hackers. Recently, Agnitum requested me to do a review for their Security Quiz on ReviewMe and the idea that it was a quiz got my attention very quickly. Before starting to write this review I actually took the quiz myself. I was a little surprised to know that I didn’t even cross the 50% mark scoring only a 14 out of 30. It made me quite depressed to know that I didn’t know as much as I would have though I did but on the other hand it was an eyeopener for me into being more aware. The quiz is very well designed and covers pretty much every aspect of protecting. The questions are worded well and computer terminology is limited for most questions to allow for easy interpretation. Agnitum actually has its own product line of firewalls and security suites and thats why its not surprising that their quiz reflects their knowledge in the area of internet security. I have heard of Agnitum before but never really realized how well designed their software packages were and something a little more surprising was the fact that their software packages were quite reasonably priced. If their marketing would get better then I am sure that Agnitum would be competition to McAfee or Norton Antivirus. All in all, the quiz seemed quite short considering that it only comprised of 15 question and lasted probably 5-6 minutes. Its a good way to see how much you really know about security in order to protect it from harmful viruses and malware. At the end of the quiz it gives you a rating and tells you how well you compare. Go ahead and take the Security Quiz for yourself.
Pay-To-Blog Tips & Suggestions
Jun 27th
Well, I have been a ReviewMe member a few days after I started my blog. I was surprised that they letting me take on campaign offers even though I am not approved for the rankings as yet. Basically, if you aren’t approved for rankings they will keep you in the system and email you once you are approved. Even if you aren’t approved you make decent money ranging anywhere from $10 to $25 out of which 50% is sent to ReviewMe so basically you get $5 to $12.50 per review. If you look at my blog for example, since I started on the 15th of the month, ReviewMe re-evaluates my blog after 30 days and that means that on my 1 month birthday, I was re-evaluated and I wasn’t accepted and thats because I didn’t have a great Technorati ranking nor was my Alexa even close to what it should be. But I am pretty positive that as July 15th rolls around that I should be in the ReviewMe database because I have improved by Technorati authority by 5 times as much already and my Alexa has gone down by a factor of 4! So, here are some tips for not only ReviewMe but also other pay-to-blog websites such as PayPerPost or SponsoredReviews.
Accept Reviews That Match Your Blog Content
I have a blog about technology, business and cars and so my readers come to my blog expecting to see just that. Now, I can’t go around accepting offers on ReviewMe for Birthday Cake Guides or something like the Dating Guide. I would like to for the money aspect, but it really isn’t about the money because you need to make sure that your blog is still able to maintain its focus. Think like you have seen the words “maintain its focus” before? Well, thats right, I had a post about it earlier which you can see here. But, getting back to the subject, you should realize that maybe at the early stages of your blog you may be able to pull of certain reviews but once you start to get established, doing such reviews may actually hurt your readership.
Writing Good Reviews
When someone is paying you to write a Review about their website or software or product then you should write a review that makes them feel as if they got their money’s worth. Yes, ReviewMe lets you get away with 200 words like most other pay-to-blog sites, but thats the minimum. If you accept a Review, make sure that you atleast cover all the bases and that you include the required links and features, etc. You should take your time to include screen shots or images that could better represent the product or service. Images are also helpful in providing your readers with a visual representation of the product and could help them relate to a picture aside from reading your post.
Being Honest
This is a big one. You have to be honest! Just because you are being paid, doesn’t mean that you have to provide lip service but that also doesn’t mean that you can be ruthless. You have to provide constructive criticism if there are things that you do not like. For example, if you don’t like the layout, then you may suggest ways of improving the portions of the layout that you did not like. You have to provide your honest opinion because your readers want to know what YOU thought about something and not how much traffic you can drive. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that if you don’t like a product or service, that you speak well about it, but you can’t totally degrade the product either. If its a website, then you may suggest improvements but you have to provide constructive feedback, otherwise you aren’t really helping them out.
Well, once again, I hope you liked my tips and I hope that you can incorporate some of them into your blog. I apologize for not being as frequent in my posts, however I do try to maintain at least 2 posts a day. I am actually currently at school studying for my final exam which is tomorrow, so wish me luck! Thanks for stopping by!
Convert Images to HTML
Jun 26th
So you saw my post yesterday about this talented guy that can draw using HTML and now I came across a website that can convert any online image into HTML format. What happens is that a table is created which is filled with large numbers of 1×1 cells. Each cell has a background color of the corresponding pixel in the image. So basically its just a large grid of colored cells. Even still, it is quite difficult to do!
Here is where you can go to actually convert any image into the html format.
Build Your Own Chopper Frame!
Jun 24th
We have all seen the fat tires and custom paints, we have all heard the loud engines of the monster bikes that are called Custom Choppers and even more, we all know the price tag some of these bikes carry. West Coast Customs publicized the idea of Custom Choppers on television thereby enhancing their popularity and making it a benchmark for most other chopper wanna bees. Most people would rather just buy their custom chopper from a dealer or bike builder but what if you want to do it yourself? Well, Recently Custom-Choppers-Guide requested a review from me on ReviewMe regarding 9 common frame building problems and how to avoid then. This guide is for veteran and novice bike builders who wish to save time creating their motorcycle frame. Building A Custom Chopper Frame is not an easy task but, if you visit the website you will see that all you need to do is type in your email address and name and you should be signed up to receive installments of the 9 common frame building problems. The tips that they have provided so far are pretty good even though I have a suggestion. The only thing I suggest is to compile the problems and suggestions into an eBook so that it is actually downloadable in one file. Currently, I have received emails with the tips and as of now, there are still 7 installments of the email I do not have. Having an eBook would make it easier to access the information in one file itself. Other than that, its a great website and so far the tips provided are great. Hope you guys have the time to check this website out.
