Want some extra pocket money? How about $5,000? Not bad, I think! Now you can easily earn $5,000 just by creating a short video. How? Infolinks, the in-text advertising company, is holding a Video contest with a $5,000 grand prize. All you need to do is create a short video expressing your crazy, creative and funny ideas for making money online. Moreover, besides the grand prize, there are two other cash prizes. So, chances are more!

So, this opportunity is really great. Put your ideas into a short video and you could take away $5000. Want a sample video? Take a look at the official video. It is funny, but to win the contest you need to be more creative.

Video Requirements

1. Create a movie clip (live or animation) up to 2 minutes in length, showing your creative and  funny ways of making money online.
2. Finish the movie with the attached slide: “Infolinks Challenge – Final Slide”.
3. Upload your video to YouTube at www.youtube.com.
4. To join, send an email to blog@infolinks.com during the Contest Period. Don’t forget to include your complete name, address (including zip code), telephone number, primary e-mail address and the URL of your video application posted at www.youtube.com.

Judging Criteria

All video applications will be judged based on:

1. Creativity
2. Originality
3. Entertainment Value
4. Performance Level
5. Humor

Prizes

There are total three prizes:

1. Grand prize: $5,000
2. First prize: $1,000
3. Second prize: $500

The Infolinks Video Contest starts on June 22, 2009 and ends on July 31, 2009. So, you have nearly one month in your hands. Start brainstorming today and come up with a unique idea. During the contest period selected videos will be posted on the Infolinks blog for all to view. So, stay tuned to their blog and all the best!

More Info: Infolinks.com

The comment feature of a blog is one of the most interesting part of blogging. Because it is the comment feature through which a blogger interacts with the blog readers or vice versa. That’s why many people thinks that a blog without comments enabled is not a blog. I do agree with that and that’s why I always allow my blog readers to comment on my blog posts.

New in blogging? Want to get more comments on your blog posts? Yes, blog posts without comments looks ugly. Don’t worry the number of comments will increase with time. Just continue producing quality, useful or entertaining content. Though the number of comments basically depend on the content, there are some tricks that top bloggers uses to get more comments on their blogs. No, those tricks are not so tough. In fact anyone can implement them on their blogs. Let me tell you how to do that!

How to get people to comment on your blog?

• Encourage blog readers to leave comments: It is very simple. Write a blog post and ask your readers to leave a comment. Even after enjoying your informative or entertaining blog post, readers may not leave a comment. Because they may have lots of things on their mind and leave the page to find something else. But if you simply ask them to leave a reply, chances are more that some of your blog readers will wait and leave a reply. Why? Because naturally human brains tends to respond to requests.
• Ask questions directly: Ask your readers what they think about your view on a topic or simply ask them to leave their own view on a topic. When you have some questions, it is obvious that you will get some answers too. By asking questions you are also inviting your readers directly to engage in the conversation.
• Write open ended posts: Even if you know everything, don’t share everything! Write a good post with good points, but leave some room for more points. Allow your readers to say something or add something. If you share every detail of a topic, there will be no room for your readers to add in the form of comments. So, whenever possible keep a post open ended and see the comments coming in from your loyal readers.
• Reply to user comments: A response from your side shows that as a blogger you really pay attention to what your readers say or ask. Even if the comment is short or not so interesting, leave a reply. As blog readers are also humans just like you and me, they tend to check back what happened to their conversations. The readers are more likely to comment again if they notice that the blogger promptly replies to their comments.
• Become controversial: Controversies are always good for overnight name and fame. That’s why we read about some many controversies in newspapers daily. In blogging also, it can play a great role. Pick some controversial topic and make a statement on your blog. If you are really good at topic selection, soon the number of comments will increase on your blog. But mind it, there is always a flip side to every issue. Before getting into controversy prepare yourself to stand up for your opinion. If you fail there, the ultimate loss will be yours!
• Comment on other blogs: Find other blogs in your niche and leave good comments on interesting or useful blog posts. This will work like advertising. Not only the bloggers but also their readers will come to know that your blog exists. To return the favor some bloggers will come to your blog. Who knows that could be the start of an interesting relationship!
• You are not always right; admit it when you’re not: You may not know everything or you may not be always right. When you admit it in an interesting way, your blog readers will get a chance to interact and help you. In blogging, comments are the best way to interact. So, more comments on your blog! Many people pretend to know everything and continues to reflect that on their blogs. Just look at some of those so-called expert blogs! This is very harmful for the reputation of a blog and the blogger.

So, those were some basic points on how to get more comments on your blog. I can’t guarantee that you will get tons of comments, but you will definitely get some good comments by implementing some of those techniques. Also there are many more ways to increase blog comments. Take inspirations from others and formulate your own techniques. I am sure that soon comments will start to come!

Want to say something or want to add someting? Feel free to leave a reply!

Looking for some cool news ways to make money online? Let me tell you about an unique opportunity that will enable you to earn money from the documents you upload to the web. Called as DocCash, this program will pay you for uploading documents to Docstoc, an online document sharing service. Well, DocCash is not gonna pay you simply for uploading a document. Rather it will pay you 50% of the Google AdSense revenue generated by all your documents.

So, to get started, all you need is a Google AdSense account and a DocStoc account. If you already have a Google AdSense account, just give them your basic account information. And if you don’t have an AdSense account, sign up for one. It is free and will take 2-3 days for approval. DocStoc accepts any documents in Word, Excel or PDF format. But you may not upload copyrighted content for which you do not own the rights or have permission from the owner to share.

As your income depends on the ad revenue generated by your documents, the simplest way to make more money through DocCash is to upload as much documents as possible and share theme via other sites. Upload popular, interesting and useful documents and then add good titles, tags and descriptions to them. This will help you in bringing more visitors to your documents.

You can track your pageviews and income right from your Google AdSense control panel. Note that DocCash split the revenue 50/50 on all of the advertisements that show up on single document pages. For better tracking, set up a channel for DocStoc inside your Google AdSense control panel. Payments will be made by Google as per your AdSense account preferences. Watch the following video to learn how you can make money online by uploading documents to the web.

More information about DocCash: http://www.docstoc.com/doccash/

Looking for a new URL shortener that converts your long and ugly URLs into decent looking URLs? What about adf.ly? Adf.ly is a new URL shortening service that not only reduces the length of your URLs but also gives you an opportunity to earn money from those shortened links that you share online! Interesting, isn’t it?

Adf.ly service is very easy to use. In order to shorten your URL you don’t have to register for an account. Just enter the URL hit the ‘Shrink!’ button. You will get something like this: http://adf.ly/B9. But if you want to make money online by monetizing your shortened URLs, you need to open an account. Don’t worry it is free!

How adf.ly will help you in monetization of your short URLs? Like other URL shortening services, it generates short URLs which users can post anywhere on the web. But the catch is whenever someone clicks on a adf.ly link an ad will be shown before the actual link loads. A portion of the money earned from those advertisements will be shared with the publishers.

According to their website, link publishers can expect to earn anywhere between $0.50 to $5.00 per 1000 visitors. So, your earning will depend on how many people click on your links. They also have a referral program which will pay you a portion of your referral’s earnings for life! You can withdraw your earnings anytime via PayPal when you have earned $25 or more.

Adf.ly is currently accepting advertisers for as little as $0.001 per unique and targeted visitor. If you want to advertise your websites or landing pages, this is a good opportunity. Because your actual website or landing page will be shown to the visitor before the actual link appears. They claim to deliver targeted visitors via keywords and country. As an advertiser, you can start with a minimum deposit of $20.00.

So, what you think about this new service? Do you think that it is a cool way to make money online? Or you will simply avoid it because of the full page advertisement that appears before the actual link. Visit adf.ly to know more and feel free to share your own view.

I always say that affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online. If you are an affiliate marketer and want to make some real money then you must try Motive Interactive, one of the most popular performance-based advertising network. For more information you can refer my earlier post on Motive Interactive.

The Motive Network is perfect for those who wants to deal with the best offers with best payouts in the industry. As a publisher or affiliate you will get tools and resources to promote pre-screened, reliable and top performing offers. They have highly advanced tracking and reporting system which will enable you to easily track and manage all your campaigns.

As a publisher of Motive Network you will get access to a wide range of exclusive offers. Let’s take a look at some of their most recent offers:

Victoria Secret Gift Card
PAYOUT $ 1.50

Pays on email submit. Price changes and pausing can take effect within 24 hours due to quality and may occur often. Pays on unique US email addresses per domain within the last 30 days.
FreeCollegeScholarships.net
PAYOUT $ 4.50

Easy sign-up allows users to enter into a scholarship sweepstakes. First page submit. No incentivization. For search, school names are restricted. Trademarked name or school name can not be used to link out to Free College Scholarships. No trademark, college, brand names etc.
Acai Edge
PAYOUT $ 30.00

New Acai Campaign with very high conversion rates. Pays on a credit card submit. No Incentivization.
Model Casting Call
PAYOUT $ 7.50

EliteMate.com is now casting models, actors and actresses for our upcoming media campaigns world wide. Offer EliteMate.com as a totally free fully privileged member, fill out a profile and submit 3 pictures and video of yourself to qualify for the casting call. Conversion takes on uses signing up for new membership free trial. Pixel fires on the first page on valid non duplicate full name, email, post and phone. No incentivization.
Kazulah
PAYOUT $ 2.40

Kazulah is a free download of an exciting horoscope, Tarot card, Love & Relationship, Numerology, Chinese Astrology and Careers & Money guide. Check out the magic fate ball and free gift for signing up. Publisher is paid on valid new free download. No incentivization.
Sell To Us -  One page submit
PAYOUT $ 6.75

Trying to sell your house? We buy Houses!! Pays on a first page submit. No Incentivized traffic.
ID Watchdog
PAYOUT $ 32.00

ID watchdog does so much more then just protect your identity by encompassing ID verification, baseline report, monthly monitoring, ID SnapShot is a comprehensive report that includes police records, driving records, medical history, loan information, and more. Then we can look for “fingerprints,” or data generated by an impostor. Lastly Id rehab, we’ll file necessary paperwork, and follow up to see that your good name is restored.
Publisher is paid on new order with a valid credit card.

So, those were some of the new offers on Motive Network. Join Motive Interactive today and check all of their available offers. There are so many of them that you will easily find some offers that suits both your niche and your requirements. Rest assured that you will get highest payouts in the industry for those offers.

Amazon on Monday announced that they are making some changes to the Amazon Associates Program. As of May 1, 2009, Amazon Associates will not be paid who send users to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, or www.endless.com through pay-per-click ads or other form of paid searches on search engines like Google, MSN, Yahoo etc. It means no direct keyword bidding through PPC ads and if  you do you are not going to earn money from the valid purchases made by traffic you send via direct links from paid search results.

Amazon Associates Program

Well, this term applies to the Amazon’s Associates programs in North America only. For Associates Programs outside of US and Canada, Amazon suggests you to refer the terms ans conditions of the respective programs. Amazon also clearly stated on their FAQ page that Associates who directs a user first to an interstitial page, then to www.amazon.com, www.endless.com, or www.amazon.ca aren’t going to earn referral fees for any vaild purchases. But off course you can use PPC campaigns (without using prohibited keywords) too drive traffic to your site where links to Amazon sites and products are displayed with your content. In that case, you can make money online from every valid purchases made by users who comes to your site via your paid search ad and click through to an Amazon site to make the purchases.

The complete letter that Amazon mailed to all Associates:

Dear Amazon Associate:

We’re writing to let you know about a change to the Amazon Associates Program. After careful review of how we are investing our advertising resources, we have made the decision to no longer pay referral fees to Associates who send users to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, or www.endless.com through keyword bidding and other paid search on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other search engines, and their extended search networks. If you’re not sure if this change affects you, please visit this page for FAQs.

As of May 1, 2009, Associates will not be paid referral fees for paid search traffic. Also, in connection with this change, as of May 1, 2009, Amazon will no longer make data feeds available to Associates for the purpose of sending users to the Amazon websites in the US or Canada via paid search.

This change applies only to the Associates programs in North America. If you are conducting paid search activities in connection with one of Amazon’s Associates Programs outside of the US and Canada, please refer to the applicable country’s Associates Program Operating Agreement for relevant terms and conditions.

We appreciate your continued support and participation in this advertising Program. If you have questions or concerns, please write to us by using the Contact Us form available on Associates Central.

Sincerely,

The Amazon Associates Program

Google is retiring video units feature at the end of April. It means, after April, Google AdSense publishers are not going to earn money from the video units that allowed publishers to show YouTube content and AdSense ads on their web pages. But wait end of video units doesn’t mean end of opportunities for the video content creators.

AdSense for Video

If you are the owner or creator of some good videos, you can still earn some money with the help of AdSense. How? It is AdSense for Video that will help you to earn some money. As a video content owner or creator you can run placement targeted instream video ads (pre, mid, post rolls) and graphical overlays or contextually targeted text ads in Flash players, and the ad revenue generated by your videos will be split between you and Google. The ads are non-intrusive and appears in the bottom portion of the video. And the good thing is that you will also earn revenue when users embed your videos across the web. More information about Adsense for Video here.

Video content creators can also earn money with the help of the YouTube Partner Program, which enables popular content creators to share in ad revenue from their videos hosted on YouTube. As a YouTube partner you can generate revenue from relevant InVideo ads overlaid on your videos and banner ads running next to your videos. Well, to qualify for the YouTube Partner program, you must meet some minimum criteria, including owning the copyrights and distribution rights for all audio and video content that you upload. For more information about the qualifying criteria and to join the program click here.

So, if you have some great videos and a growing audience why not make some money online? Try AdSense for Video or the YouTube Partner program and Make Money Online with your Videos. It is not that really hard. All you have to do is create some interesting and original videos!