I am pretty lazy when it comes to blog design, and I am very busy lately, so I am looking for some help.

I have a proposal for some lucky person if anyone wants to do this.

(Note: This is not for everyone, I will require examples of previous work).

I am looking for someone with skills to design a custom theme for my blog.

What I am offering in return ( I am willing to adjust the offer a bit based on preferences if you have any better ideas):

• Your own banner (468×60 max) at the top of my blog or wherever you want for a year (you will pretty much be the only ad on my blog)
• Link to your blog in the footer (Designed by…) or your company’s logo, for as long as I use the theme (Pr4 currently, I am expecting it to go to a 5 or 6 by next PR update)
• Exclusive blog post about the new design
• Your Ad in every RSS Feed for a year
• $250 CASH

Now this is obviously not for everyone as I am looking for someone very skilled to make me a sexy new blog design. If you have examples of work feel free to send me an e-mail with them, then we can talk about what I want and what you can do for me.

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I’ve been banned from Google Adsense for about a year now.

I remember when I got the e-mail from Google the same day I was waiting for my big Adsense cheque to come (it never did). I guess when you earn a lot they start to check all your stats to see if they can find anything wrong to avoid paying you. When I e-mailed them back I was told the reason was because of ‘click fraud’, now I admit I’ve clicked my ads (who hasn’t) a few times but nothing to an extreme where I would call it click fraud. Apparently there was a third party involved which screwed me over but I won’t go into that.

Soon after I got banned and I no longer had ads to show on my websites, I turned back to what I had forgotten from the past, affiliate offers. I started testing different banners and offers that I felt were targeted towards my users, and I started bringing in way more revenue then Adsense ever did. I’ve never looked back and have been focusing strictly on Affiliate Marketing ever since.

I just remembered all this today after reading an article in Website Magazine, where Jeremy Schoemaker talks about “Alternatives to Adsense” or Ad Cents as some like to call it.

Stop selling yourself short with Adsense ads.

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This is most likely going to be my last t-shirt tuesday. I actually pretty much already stopped it then received this shirt in the mail the other day so I figured I would do another. I’m pretty busy with all my marketing right now so this post is gonna be pretty basic but I checked out NewportSEO and they look like a pretty solid company that’s still in their infant stage (although I could be wrong).

When I first saw the shirt I laughed pretty hard, they have a pretty funny tag line. If you read the shirt you’ll see why I did a ‘myspace’ style shot, I felt it was appropriate and somewhat entertaining. Good job on the shirt guys, maybe it’ll go viral, who knows.

About NewportSEO.com directly from them:

We Love Our Job. Just Ask Us.

“Our mantra at Newport SEO is simple: Exceed Client Expectations.”

We are a full-circle, custom-design focused resource for Internet marketing, search engine optimization, web site design and development, search engine marketing and social media marketing.

Here’s how we turn your site into a continuous source of online revenue…

Technical Evaluation

First, we put on a virtual set of shoes and pace through your web site taking note of any hurdles that need to be crossed in order to place your site ahead of the competition on major search engines — a must in a world where more and more commerce takes place on the web. This step requires us to examine a site’s architecture, links and analytics of how real people actually arrive at your site.

Step Into Their Shoes

Second, we literally put on your customers’ shoes — well, almost literally. For example, if you sell high-performance auto parts, we’ll sit in on your sales calls, ensure your marketing coincides with search engine queries and examine the usability of your online store. We’ll find clever ways to increase your conversion goals, recurring customers and ultimately your bottom line. Our focus is on a systematic, all-encompassing approach. The dollars are in the details.

Implementation

Upon completing this meticulous walk through, we will have discovered what steps must be taken to drive your web page to the crest of the search engine queries that convert to real dollars. We then implement the adjustments and apply multi-variable testing to further prescribe the most compelling combination of content and usability. Everything is tracked using detailed analytic tools with results-based, easy-to-follow reports.

Bathe in Success

At Newport SEO, not only do we understand the web — we embody the entrepreneurial spirit that makes a business successful in the near and long term. We would not have experienced the explosive growth we have to date if we did not find a champion combination of technical skill and old-fashioned business know how.

We look forward to maximizing your web-based business opportunities and making your site a more personalized experience for your consumer.

Meet Us

We love it when our clients take the time to stop by and say hello. Our doors are always open and we are more than happy to show you our facilities. If you have an extra moment, take some time to learn more about our two operating partners, Craig Neil & Jeremy Jennings.

If you’re looking for a company to help your business out you should definitely check NewportSEO out.

Thanks for the shirt guys.

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I was recently contacted by someone who wanted me to write up a review about their new E-book. I was offered a free copy of the e-book and some money. I don’t normally do this type of thing so what i did was I told him to send me a copy of the e-book and I would read it over. If it was relevant to my blog and I thought it was good content then I would have no problem sharing it with my readers.

So I received a copy of the e-book, scanned it over and decided it wasn’t necessarily suited to what I generally talk about and so I declined the offer and thanked him for the consideration. It seemed like a great read for the subject, but to be honest this blog is not here to make me money. I am all for promoting affiliate links when talking about something related to your niche but I’m not going to try to sell something I could care less about.

I try my best to keep my integrity and not be a “sell out”.

Have you ever dealt with a moral issue like this?

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Elite Retreat is so exclusive and so limited that if you were going to attend any event this year, THIS should be it.

The amount of knowledge and more importantly contacts you will gain from simply networking with some of the biggest names around the web is so unbelievable that this event should cost A LOT more.

I have special consent from Jeremy Schoemaker to write about this since he will not be posting about it on his blog until Monday.

I’m telling you, if I wasn’t in College full-time right now I would have my application in already and my bags packed.

I could describe how awesome it is in my own words but who better to give the low down than Jeremy himself, here’s the information straight from the site:

About Elite Retreat

Spend quality time brainstorming with the best & brightest internet marketing pros

Hi! I’m Jeremy Schoemaker (SEM expert) and on behalf of the other Elite Retreat leaders I want to welcome you. We’re inviting you to join a small group of entrepreneurs for two focused days sharing our expertise and helping you learn exactly what you need to grow your business to the next level and beyond.

You’ve probably heard pitches like this before, however, because there are a number of marketing conferences throughout the world that are what we call “pitchfests”, inexpensive events where you get a sampling of experts followed by an exhausting series of sales pitches. Lots of “want to learn more? Just pull out your credit card”.

We’ve been to enough of these that it’s become quite obvious to us that you typically don’t learn much at pitchfests and instead end up leaving poorer, rather than richer. Further, most of them have hundreds of attendees, and while it’s fun to be part of the crowd, it’s a lot more valuable to be part of a small group where you get to actually interact with the experts rather than listen and buy.

That’s what the Elite Retreat is all about.

It’s logical if you think about it. What would be the ultimate in valuable communication with a leader or instructor? One-on-one time. It’s why people mob good speakers after a conference talk: everyone wants to have that few minutes of valuable interaction, that ability to talk about their own situation and hope to gain some insight, even if just a tiny taste. The Elite Retreat. It’s unlike any marketing and business event you’ve ever attended, and it’s going to be amazing.

First off, a warning! We’re capping attendance at 35, regardless of how many apply to join us, so if you’re interested, you need to apply right now so you don’t miss your chance! We will only have ONE retreat each year. You can find out more about this years speakers and agenda here. Cost for participating in the Elite Retreat? $4,950 per person.

If you wanted to sit down in a room and spend even an hour with me, or any of the other leaders, you’d be looking at a multi-thousand dollar invoice and a value far, far above that.

Two days of us collectively exploring your business ideas, vision and plans, helping you crystalize and set up solid partnerships with other attendees and growing your business by leaps and bounds and suddenly seems like the great deal you know it is.

Quite a lineup, isn’t it?

If you’re interested in joining us, you really can’t go wrong. It’s going to be great, and it’s been quite gratifying to see that reaction throughout the blogosphere has been universally that “with these guys involved, it’ll definitely be worth the price!”.

Actually, we like what affiliate guru Shawn Collins says: the Elite Retreat is “a unique opportunity where a motivated entrepreneur could flip that cost into a significant profit.”

One tip, though: we’ve already received quite a few applications for attendance (we aren’t accepting the first 35 who come in the door, we’re really putting in the effort to pull together the 35 best entrepreneurs and business people to make the Retreat the very best possible event we can create). If you want to join us, however, please, apply sooner, not later!

All I know is some lucky people are going to benefit a lot from this and who knows, maybe next year they will have gotten so successful like these guys that they will be speaking at the next Elite Retreat!

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