Blogging Gal

If you’re interested in making money by writing sponsored reviews, there are a number of websites to choose from. I don’t write paid reviews here on Blogging Gal, but I have written lots of them for my personal blog. They’re a great source of income, and the best part is that you’re being paid to do something that you love!

I’ve chosen a few of the popular review sites that I am personally familar with. The list below gives you some basic information on how each of them works so you can better choose the ones you’d like to sign up for. If you’d like to ensure that you always have opportunities available, I recommend signing up for all of them.

SponsoredReviews - SponsoredReviews allows you to browse through a list of opportunities and bid on the ones you find interesting. Bids are submitted to the advertisers, who then select the bloggers they’d like purchase reviews from. Reviews range from $5 - $1,000 +, and you earn 65% of the review price. Once an advertiser accepts your bid, you have one week to post the review. Payment is made bi-weekly through PayPal with no minimum payout.

LinkWorth - LinkWorth is best known for paid text links; however, they also have a program for paid reviews. You set your own review price and then just wait for job offers. You earn 70% of the review price. Once you have accepted a job, you have 10 days to post the review. Payment is made monthly by check, direct deposit, or PayPal. There is a $25 minimum payout.

ReviewMe - ReviewMe is similar to LinkWorth in that advertisers hand select you to write reviews. Reviews pay between $20 and $200 each. You earn 50% of the review price. Payments are made monthly by check, prepaid Mastercard, or PayPal. There is no minimum payout for PayPal, but other forms of payment do have minimum payouts - $25 for check, and $20 for Mastercard.

PayPerPost - When you log in to PayPerPost, you’ll see a list of opportunities that your blog qualifies for. Reviews can range between $5 and several thousand dollars. If you qualify for a job, you can take it. You have only 6 hours to post your review after accepting it. Payments are made by PayPal after 30 days.

Smorty - Smorty is very similar to PayPerPost. If your blog qualifies for an opportunity, you may take it. Review prices typically range from $6 to $100 each. You have 24 hours to post your review after accepting a job. Payments are made weekly through PayPal.

My favorite programs are SponsoredReviews and Linkworth - mostly due to the length of time you have to post your reviews after accepting them. They also seem to have more interesting writing assignments. My least favorite programs are PayPerPost and Smorty - due to the short period of time you have to post your reviews.

The biggest tip I can offer when it comes to paid reviews is to select opportunities that fit with the theme of your blog. Personal blogs allow the greatest flexibility, so if you plan to write a lot of diverse reviews, I recommend doing so on your personal blog. Also, keep in mind that sponsored reviews can damage your Page Rank, so if you’re overly concerned about your standing with Google, you should stay away from paid reviews.

I’ve included my referral links above, and I would appreciate it if you use them if you’re interested in signing up. If you are familiar with programs that I haven’t written about, please leave a comment with some details about the programs. Please leave your referral links as well, and I will use them if I decide to sign up.

Good luck with your review writing!

I’ve gotten several questions in response to my recent Ask Blogging Gal post. Keep them coming! I’ll answer as many as possible.

Today’s question comes from Anca of Megavegalicious.

“I have a niche blog about Las Vegas that I want to diversify. I’m adding things about me (like my likes and dislikes, stories, so on), personal interests like blogging, making money ideas, etc. Do you think this is something that might work , or would you advise to stick strictly to your niche?”

Anca, I think it’s great that you want to diversify your blog; however, I think you’re going about it the wrong way. Adding too much information about yourself will turn your niche blog into a personal site. If your readers are there to learn about Las Vegas, they may be turned off by personal posts. I recommend creating a separate blog for personal posts and keeping Megavegalicious dedicated strictly to Las Vegas. You can certainly diversity the blog by adding new categories. You could write about places to see and things to do in Vegas, important people in Vegas, the city’s history, other Vegas websites, and tips for travelers. Think about a place you’ve never been but would like to visit. What would you ask someone who lives there? Make a list, and then answer those same questions for your readers!

Thanks so much for the question, Anca. I didn’t see an Entrecard widget on your site, but if you’re a member, please let me know which email address to send your 50 credits to. If you’re not a member, you should sign up. You’ll love it, and it will certainly drive a lot of new traffic to your site.

Imagine my surprise to find two great reviews of Blogging Gal today! I just can’t tell you how excited I am.

Mark Sierra posted A Darn Good Look at Blogging Gal on his review site, Darn Good Reviews. In his review, Mark stated, “One of the things I like most about Tish — and I’m sure you will too — is that no matter what she writes about, it always seems effortless, which, for me, makes it just as effortless to read. She can write about anything of any length.”

Hema from Make Your Money Grow posted Parallel Source of Income, in which she introduced Blogging Gal to her readers. She discussed the fact that I am a Human Resources Manager at my day job, and that it was an intelligent decision on my part to maintain a parallel source of income through blogging.

Thank you so much, Mark and Hema! I am absolutely ecstatic to receive such nice publicity!

Chungyen Chang, also known as C-Squared, is a 17 year old student in Lexington, Kentucky. C-Squared is new to the art of blogging, having started An Unsuspecting Notebook just two months ago. A refreshing and delightful read, An Unsuspecting Notebook takes me back to my first days of blogging - when the only motivation was a passion for writing.

An Unsuspecting Notebook is the personal blog of a high school boy who will soon be heading to college. His future is uncertain, but one thing is for sure - the possibilities are endless. C-Squared blogs about whatever happens to cross his mind. There are posts about video games, blogging, and everyday life. There are a number of beautiful poems that he has written. The tone of the blog is both innocent and honest.

Perhaps the best way for me to introduce you to An Unsuspecting Notebook is to share a few of my favorite posts.

OldSchool Video Games: CRPGs - A post about C-Squared’s love of computer role playing games from the 1990s.

Thoughts on My First Few Weeks as a Blogger - A post about the joy and anticipation of blogging.

Tech Tip: How to Strip the Formatting out of a Word Document - If you compose your posts in Word and then find them all screwed up when you paste them into your blogging software, be sure to read this post.

Poem #12 - Thoughts on Bamboo - C-Squared’s entry for a Haiku contest. This post brings a smile to my face. Check it out to see why.

I’m a big fan of An Unsuspecting Notebook, but I do have just a few suggestions to make the blog even better. The content is fantastic, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Once C-Squared is a little more comfortable with blogging, I think he should get his own domain and begin using WordPress, as it offers a lot of functionality not available with Blogger. I also think the Archives need a little work. They are currently set up with a weekly view, which isn’t really a problem for a new blog. As time goes on, however, this will cause navigation problems and unnecessary clutter. I recommend going with a monthly view and possibly a drop down box or a separate page.

An Unsuspecting Notebook is a great read for when you need a little break from the daily grind. Take a few moments to stop by and check it out. I think you’ll be pleasantly reminded of the reasons you first started blogging.

As you know, I’ve been cutting out the advertising programs that don’t work for me and trying a few new ones.  I wasn’t having any luck with Commission Junction, so I decided to give Pepperjam Network a try.  I have only been using it for a few days, but I’ve already made $10 - which is more than I made with Commission Junction in the several months that I used it.

Not only am I impressed with the commissions I’ve earned, but the website is much more user friendly than Commission Junction.  When you log in, you can see which of your Affiliate Managers are online, and you can chat with them right from the website.  There are lots of helpful reports to track performance of your ads.  And the Pepperjam staff is extremely friendly and helpful.  I sent an email to them through their contact form, and a rep called me just a short while later.

The biggest difference I’ve seen between Commission Junction and Pepperjam is in the number of clicks generated from my ads.  I rarely got clicks on my Commission Junction ads, but I’ve gotten lots on the Pepperjam ads.  And naturally, more clicks translate to more conversions.

Another thing I like about Pepperjam is that they pay out every two weeks.  I looked all over the site and didn’t see anything about a minimum payout, so I assume they pay out your account balance every two weeks, regardless of the amount.  Payment methods include check, direct deposit, and PayPal.

If you’re not yet using Pepperjam Network, I recommend giving it a try.  I think you’ll be pleased with the results.  And if you are using it already, I’d love to hear how it’s working out for you.

Call me crazy, but I just purchased yet another domain name. I have a great site idea that I feel has a lot of income potential if managed properly. But seeing that I work a full time job and already have three blogs, it is going to be difficult to put the amount of time into the new project that I’d like to. Ideally, I’d like to partner with another experienced blogger.

Qualifications for a business partner include:

• A good working knowledge of WordPress
• Exceptional writing skills
• Ambition
• Creativity
• Technical ability
• Experience with site monetization and SEO preferred
• U.S. resident preferred

With the right partner, I think the site could be very successful. If you’re interested and feel that you have the time, energy, and qualifications necessary, please drop me a line through the contact form. I will give preference to bloggers I know personally and have established a level of trust with.

I ended the month of February with a total of $94.54 in online income for Blogging Gal and The Kat House. Earnings came from SponsoredReviews, blog contests, private ad sales, Project Wonderful, Google Adsense, CashCrate, and WidgetBucks.

Total year to date blog income = $242.66.

Google Adsense hasn’t been performing well at all for me lately. In fact, I’m stripping most of the ad units from my sites and replacing them with something more lucrative. I used Project Wonderful for only the last couple of weeks of February, and it outperformed Adsense in half the time.

I have had no activity whatsoever on ScratchBack since early January, so I removed the widget from The Kat House sidebar.

Commission Junction was another time and space waster. I earned absolutely nothing from affiliate ads during the month of February. I just finished stripping Commission Junction ads from my sites as well. I’m now giving Pepperjam Network a try. I’ll keep you posted on the results. So far, I’m very impressed with the program. There are more relevant advertisers in the network, and the site is extremely user friendly. An Affiliate Manager contacted me by chat while I was logged in this morning and gave me lots of great information. I never had that kind of personal attention while logged in to Commission Junction. I’m not sure if their site even has chat capabilities.

For the month of March, I’ll be focusing my energy on Pepperjam and Project Wonderful, while continuing to eliminate the programs that just aren’t performing. I am also giving private ad sales a try here on Blogging Gal. 125 x 125 pixel banner ad spots are available for $10 per month. Check my Advertise page for more information.

I would love to hear how each of you did with your monetization efforts last month. How much did you earn? What programs performed best? Worst? What changes do you anticipate making during the month of March?

Many thanks go out to Andrew of My Blog Rules for presenting me with my first award for this site - the Sweet as Sugar Award.

It sure is a nice change to be called something other than geek or nerd!

I’d like to pass the Sweet as Sugar Award on to the following bloggers who have done super sweet things for me.

Tom of Push Standards - He wrote an incredible review of Blogging Gal and created a beautiful banner for me.

Jim of Blogging Startup - He has given Blogging Gal lots of link love on his site.

Andrew of One Dollar Jackpot - He created a beautiful Blogging Gal banner and is currently displaying it on his site!

Lincoln of The Habitation of Justice - He wrote a really sweet Entrecard recommendation for me. He has also been known to send sweet emails and comments.

Congratulations! I am honored to call each of you a friend. Stay sweet, and pass the award on to those you feel deserve it!

If you’d like to win a 125 x 125 banner ad spot for the entire month of April, here’s your chance! Just subscribe to my feed and leave a comment indicating that you’ve done so. If you are already subscribed, just leave a comment below to get your entry!  A winner will be selected through random.org at midnight on March 31st.  Good luck!

The February contest has come to a close.  The winner is C-Squared of An Unsuspecting Notebook.  Congratulations!  I’ll be posting a review of your blog in the upcoming week.  Please email your 125 x 125 banner to tish at blogginggal dot com.  It will remain on my site for the entire month of March.

Details on the March contest will be posted shortly.