In case you have sleeping for the past couple of years, Cyber Monday is “celebrated” the Monday after Thanksgiving is the “Black Friday” for online retailers. But is Cyber Monday really the most popular internet shopping day of the year? Nope. However, you can think of it as the kickoff to the holiday internet shopping season. As a result, if you have a blog, you should have your holiday season ad strategy ready by this day.

So you should immediately flood your blog with endless ads and sit back and wait for the sales to come rushing in? Absolutely not. Instead, I would recommend analyzing where your Google traffic is coming from and place some ads on some of your old posts. For instance, about two months ago, I wrote a post about Free Obama Buttons that Moveon.org was offering. The free Obama offer ended only a couple of weeks after I wrote the most, making my post now completely worthless, right?. Not even close. Instead, since I still am receiving substantial Google traffic from those looking for a free Obama button. To capitalize on this, I have added some Amazon ads for Obama buttons and other Obama gifts in hopes of making some easy sales.

To take advantage of Cyber Monday specifically, I would concentrate on promotion electronic goods. I would pick what you think will be the most popular electronic gifts this year such as the Garmin nuvi, Cannon Powershot Digital Cameras, and Samsung LCD HDTV’s. After Cyber Monday, I would start promoting some less expensive items like newly released DVD’s and cold weather related gifts such as Uggs.

If you are ever going to attempt to make some money of your blog or website, now is the time. If you are really sensitive about being viewed as a “sellout,” you can always delete these ads in January.

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Hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving to the fullest and thinks of 10 reasons to be thankful.

Don’t eat too much turkey and use those leftovers to brown bag it all of next week.

BTW I better get some of these T-Giving cards rutgerskevin@redstaplerchronicles.com

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The positives:

1. I currently have over $200 pending in my Logical Media account. I have Logical media ads on my sidebars and have devoted pages to them as well. For instance, if you type in POM clear in a google search, my POM Clear Page shows up in the 3rd position. When someone requests their free trial, I am paid $26.

2. After a VERY slow start, I have made over 50 sales on Amazon. Most of these sales have been small and Obama related (Check out my pages on the right sidebar for examples). However, today I just sold my first digital camera. I am going to spend the rest of my blogging day adding more amazon pages to prepare for Cyber Monday. Maybe I could sell a couple of flat screen tv’s.

3. I won a contest at Mr. Javo’s blog in which I got a free copy of OIO publisher. I have been playing around with it today and feel confident it will generate some extra revenue for me. If it does perform, I will ditch the Performancing Ads (even though I have made about $20 there).

Now for the Negatives:

1. My GPT referral earnings CashCrate and Treasure Trooper) have all but dried up. I am just not generating any new referrals via this blog.

2. Even though my real traffic continues to grow, my Alexa ranking is not “lowering” accordingly. I have read that many bloggers are experienced similar frustrations with Alexa, but this is still annoying for ad sales.

3. My post frequency has been down. Unfortunately, this might be an ongoing trend until after the holidays are over. Working in retail, this is my busiest time of the year and I even start 6 day work weeks next week.

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Okay, you are probably wondering why a GPT site pull such a stunt. Quite simply, they believe that once you check out GetPaidTo, that you will stay awhile and try a couple of their offers. One thing that is makes GetPaidTo unique in the GPT industry is that it gives you “hints” about how to get each offer to approve. The other characteristic that allows GetPaidTo to stand out in the GPT crowd is their 50 cent minimum payments and that you don’t have to wait to get paid–You are paid via paypay the second you request a payout. This is truly unheard of in the GPT industry!!!

You really have nothing to lose by signing up. Give it a try, at the very least you will be fifty cents richer!

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To make this even more fun, I thought I would ask everyone to participate in this lists future makeup. Just leave a comment with your personal top 5, 10, or 20 and I will share a running tally of votes on this post. Your favorite movie will receive 20 points while your 5th favorite will receive 15 points and so on. You do not have to stick with the current movies on your list, you can add one that you think need be on here. I will update this list at least once a day. Let’s have some fun with this!!!

1. A Christmas Story 20 points
–”Deck the Ralls with Ralls of Rolly. . .”

2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas 19 points
–I am NOT talking about the Jim Carrey version!

3. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer 18 points
–The land of the misfit toys really made this movie

4. Miracle on 34th Street 17 points
–Obviously the original version
5. The Night They Saved Christmas 16 points
–Not that many people know about this one, about a family that saves an oil company from blowing up the North Pole
6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 15 points
–Jelly of the Month Club anyone?
7. Twas the Night Before Christmas 14 points
–About a mouse that sends a nasty letter to Santa and almost ruins Christmas

8. Elf 13 points
–”What is your favorite color?”

9. A Christmas Carol 12 points
–The George C. Scott version
10. Love Actually 11 points
–”And at Christmas you tell the truth”
11. It’s A Wonderful Life 10 points
–Of course this had to be on the list

12. Gremlins 9 points
–Includes the worst Christmas story ever with Kate’s father dying by breaking his neck falling into the chimney.
13. Charlie Brown Christmas 8 points
–Great rendition of Hark the Herald Angels sing that will live forever!!
14. The Ref 7 points
–Dennis Leary invades a home on X-Mas eve
15. Bad Santa 6 points
–”I’m on my f**king lunch break!”

16. Scrooged 5 points
–Bill Murray is great in this version!

17. Home Alone 4 points
–Kevin was no match to the Wet Bandits

18. Frosty the Snowman 3 points
–”Happy New Year!!!”
19. A Very Brady Christmas 2 points
–So corny it was good
20. Die Hard 1 point
–A Christmas party no one will ever forget at the Nakatomi Corporation

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On the first day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . a shrunken 401k

On the second day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 2 Bailout Packages and a shrunken 401K

On the third day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the fourth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the fifth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the sixth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the seventh day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the eighth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 8 neighborhood pawn shops, 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the ninth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 9 Senate Hearings, 8 neighborhood pawn shops, 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the tenth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 10 new soup kitchens, 9 Senate Hearings, 8 neighborhood pawn shops, 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the eleventh day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . .11 Sheriff Sales, 10 new soup kitchens, 9 Senate Hearings, 8 neighborhood pawn shops, 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

On the twelfth day of Christmas, this economy gave to me. . . 12 Bank Failures, 11 Sheriff Sales, 10 new soup kitchens, 9 Senate Hearings, 8 neighborhood pawn shops, 7 Chapter 11’s, 6 straight spam dinners, 5 Golden Parachutes, 4 Calls from Creditors, 3 Survived Layoffs, 2 Bailout Packages, and a shrunken 401K

This post was featured as an editor’s pick in the 180th Carnival of Personal Finance

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Not to worry, I have come up with a nice list that will help you all transition into a non-presidential election world.

1. Build up your foreign policy skills by talking to your neighbors (must live at least one block away to count).

2. Stage your own debates with sock puppets.

3. Use your campaign pins to scrape mildew off from between your shower tiles.

4. Sit back and enjoy all the beer and erectile disfunction ads that will likely replace all the political ads.

5. Read a freaking book.

6. Hold your own election with your pets by putting the same food in separate bowls and labeling them with the candidate’s names.

7. Collect all the campaign signs around your neighborhood and build a sculpture of your favorite candidate. Dartboards and fuel for fires are also acceptable uses for these signs.

8. Call a co-worker a maverick when they come in 5 minutes late.

9. Suggest a “surge” strategy to tackle your laundry problem.

10. Call your local plumber and ask him if he/she have a “Joe” on staff.

11. Watch Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel in hopes of seeing a member of the Palin family.

12. Ask the WWE to set up a cage match pitting Bill O’Reilly vs. Keith Olbermann

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There are some legitimate reasons why these minimum payments exist. First, it does cost the advertising network money each time they cut a check or transfer money via paypal. Therefore, minimum payments can significantly cut into this expense. Next, minimum payments allow publishers to keep their money longer and earn more interest. Lastly, and most importantly, minimum payments (along with delayed payments) allow the advertiser to weed out dishonest publishers (detect invalid clicks and false leads) before paying them.

However, there are certainly advertising networks that have set up their minimum payments for a more sinister reason–to avoid paying out. Some ad networks minimum payments can be as high as $100. For new bloggers, this could take over a year to accumulate. Recently, I decided to discontinue my use of Kontera ads since I figured it would take me 12 years to actually get paid.

In addition, bloggers should practice some “advance strategy” when it comes to minimum payments and maximizing your actual earnings. Consider the following example in which I failed to use this strategy: About three months ago I signed up for RevResponse and I participated in a promo that gave me $50 to write a post on my blog about the network. That $50 allowed me to qualify for a payment since their minimum payment is $50. However, what I should have done was to change my minimum payment (something that some advertising networks allow you to do) to $75 because I was able to make another $25 after making that post. Unfortunately for me, I failed to do so and will probably have $25 in my RevResponse account to the day I die.

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One of the comments left on the MSN blog really got my attention. Someone named “Abe” commented that he “will vote for this guy for president” since he liked my ideas for fixing the economy. Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to run for office this year. But still, it made me wonder how I could try to win a couple of votes. Here is my tongue in cheek strategy on how I would run for president. Of course, I will be running as a candidate representing the newly formed Montgomery Brewster party.

First, I would remind voters that I was on top of the major causes current economic crisis back in late June when the stock market was still in the 12,000’s. If only more people would have read my post, Do We Need a Salary Cap for CEO’s we may have been able to avert this crisis. In addition, I accurately urged my fellow citizens to Stop Complaining about Gas Prices as they really will not make or break your financial situation. Look at the current situation, gas prices are way down, but the economy is at its weakest condition in years.

Next, I would remind voters that back in June I warned that the stimulus package would not work, and instead proposed that the government sponsor Financial Health Days.  Both my opponents have only promised more of the same in contrast to this progressive out of the box approach.  Lastly, I have been all about giving back to my community, even if it just by buying a coke or two.

Other “talking points” for my campaign would include:

–I have the experience and knowledge (see my post about Preparing for a Disaster) to completely reform FEMA.

–As proven by authoring the Bloggers Bill of Rights, I have extensive experience in writing substantive legislation.

–I would not limit myself to taking financial advice from Greenspan and Bernanke and instead even be open to Money Lessons Learned from Famous Movies

–Becoming energy independent would be a major priority in my administration as I detailed in It’s the Energy, Stupid

Alright, I know I am probably not qualified to become president. But I still think that a blogger would make a great president. Bloggers are go for thinking outside the box–after all, we are constantly trying to stand out from the crowd to generate as much traffic as we can. Only by electing a blogger, will we truly see real change and avoid more of the same.

My name is Kevin and I approve this message.

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As of now, my duplicate account has been deleted so that it will not cause any more confusion. My account now seems to be working fine except that my dashboard status still says that “Temporarily disabled.” Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Although the Entrecard support team has been responsive to all my inquiries, there is a lesson to be learned. Who ever is in charge of purging accounts needs to change their mindset. Instead of deleting accounts at the first sign of trouble, they should always assume that there is a honest mistake that led to the violation. In America, we call this innocent until proven guilty and giving the benefit of the doubt. Only after eliminating every possible legitimate reason for the violation should they then purge the account.

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