Fourth of July Celebrations Begin

Beginning this week, Americans across the country will begin festive 4th of July celebrations! In my town, the annual picnic began last night and runs through Sunday. The highlight will be a 30 minute fireworks display held at the rec field. And, three of my immediate neighbors are hosting all day parties. One doubles as an 8th grade graduation party; one has a pig roast; and the last features a water balloon contest. Needless to say, everyone will be going from house to house!

Then next weekend, on the 4th itself, our immediate family will celebrate with a chicken barbecue at the family farm. The setting is quite spectacular, and we will be treated to two separate firework displays from nearby towns.

For us, this is one great week of eating, drinking, and socializing with the most treasured family and friends one can have.

During this time of economic and political turmoil, the Fourth of July offers a welcome relief and a sign of better times to come.

Here's wishing you an enjoyable 4th as well. Be safe and enjoy!

Adding AdSense to your Blog - revisited.

 Last week when I was on vacation, I received a comment on a very old post titled: Lets Begin by Adding Google Ads. This was from a new blogspot blogger asking for help on adding AdSense to her site.  Unfortunately, this request was placed on the day that I left, so I wasn't able to respond immediately.

Gwen said... I hope you can help me. You make it sound so easy. I signed up for an adsense account but when I try to do anything inside my blogger account it says there is an internal error. After looking through tons of forums and trying to do work arounds I still get an error and an ugly box shows up on my screen. A lot of people said I should "grant access" through the Adsense-My Account section. My account section doesn't say anything about granting access. Please help! June 5, 2010 9:28:00 AM PDT

Once I approved the comment, I then followed the commentator's profile to their blog:

Adventures with Grandma

Once there, I discovered that the owner already figured out how to place Google AdSense ads on their sidebar, meaning: Problem Solved!

However, I realized that many other newcomers to the blogging world may also be experiencing problems similar to Gwen's, so I thought that I would provide a link to the most useful Google pages that addresses AdSense questions:

AdSense Help Page

This Google page provides a well organized index of useful topics, describing the AdSense program, applying to be a publisher, how to place ads on your site, getting paid, and more. Remember, once you apply, Google will send you mail informing you of your acceptance. If there is a confirmation link in this mail, you must follow it to activate your account.

The first thing that isn't apparent is that: Once a ad grouping is placed on a page (whether a web page or  blog), it usually takes some time before Ads are actually displayed. I've found that this delay can range anywhere from 1/2 hour to about 4 hours.

The second thing to consider is whether you are trying to add the AdSense code directly to a blog, or using the Blogger Monetize tab. For use on a blog, you should always use the Monetize tools to Add, Remove, or Customize the appearance.

Another important item to remember is that you must earn $100 before you will receive your first payment. At that time, Google will send you mail prompting you to provide your taxpayer information. It may also request telephone contact confirmation. If so, follow all their instructions in order to receive payment.

Lastly, and most importantly:

Never Click on your Ads

and

Never Ask Someone to Click on your Ads

If done, you will promptly and abruptly removed from the program.

From my experience, the AdSense program the best publishing program around. Displaying Google ads is a privilege, not a right. If you follow their rules and don't abuse the privilege, you will be rewarded in time.

Adgitize's Summer Sizzlers

Perhaps my favorite advertising network is:

Adgitize

because I can basically advertise my website for free.  To do this, you must first join the network, upload you widget image, install advertising widgets on your site or blog, and then purchase a $14 monthly ad (for 31 days).

Then, to get your money back, all it takes is to write a blog post and click on 51 member widgets a day!

Each day you'll be credited with a small network proportional income. At the end of every month, your earnings will be totaled, and credited to your account. Active members have always received a minimum payout of $14, thus paying for your advertising costs.

Now, Adgitize introduced an exceptional Summer Promotion (running until July 31, 2010) and a:

Discounted Purchasing Plan!

Phase 1 of the Summer Promotion guarantees a minimum daily earning of $0.47, or $14.57 for a full 31 day month for those members who earn at least 300 points a day.

Phase 2 targets lesser active members, and guarantees payout of $0.34 per day for advertisers scoring over 200 points a day.

But, the discounted purchasing plan allows members to buy:

• a 6 month ads for $13 per month; or
• a 1 year ads for $12 per month.

Together with the Summer Promotion, advertising members of Adgitize and guaranteed to earn a profit! In my opinion, these are indeed noteworthy

Summer Sizzlers!

And remember, Adgitize accepts both websites and blogs as members.