blog stuff

I know I said I had to go to bed BUT I totally forgot my very exciting news.  Somehow word must have got out this week that my OTH site is half-decent because I’ve had several very cool things come from different PR people just today.

• Rep for Gabe Dixon sent me links to audio of a song that’s going to be featured this week on the finale.
• Rep for Amy Kuney sent me video and info about one of her songs that’s going to be featured this week on the finale.
• Rep for tvguide.com sent me links to OTH videos and asked to do a link exchange…our link is now going to be on the landing page for OTH!
• Rep for Hilarie Burton’s new DVD The List is sending me FIVE copies of the movie to giveaway at the blog.

This has literally all happened today.  I literally was smiling so much trying to tell Heather about the DVDs that I couldn’t form the words correctly with my lips.  And I’m not joking in the least.  How awesome is all that??? No longer am I just copying and pasting info from other sites but now am the SOURCE for a few things!  Awesome!!

OK, how ’bout an actual useful post that’s not sponsored??

If you’re like me, you’re subscribed to more than just a few blogs in Google Reader.  I find it annoying (sorry, I do understand the reasons and do the same with my OTH blog) when authors don’t post the entire post in their feeds and I have to click on to their site to read their full post.  I also find it time consuming sometimes to post a comment on people’s blogs when you have to click out of reader.

Well, I found a Firefox Add-on that has made both issues non-issues…Better GReader.  It has several features but the one I’m loving is the preview in-line.  Just click the title to the post and it brings up that post…in the same window.  No more opening a new tab or new window and trying to find that.  Reading and commenting all can happen right there within Reader!

Check out the site for more details on the features and if you have any other recommendations for Firefox add-ons, I’d love to hear your favorites.

Report on my OTH Blog…for those that don’t know, it started up in December 2007.

Wow, so April was not nearly as good as March. The writer’s strike really hurt. But, wow, numbers are looking up the past few days as OTH is closing in on it’s season finale. May should be a fabulous month! So my hopes are up even those these numbers aren’t!

As it shows, the beginning of April was slow (compared to the 43K high towards the end of March).  You can see we hung in the 15-20K average outside of peak days.  The past three peaks were the past 3 episodes, yesterday peaking right at 40,000 page views…very close to our pre-strike highs.   So you can see we’re on the upswing there.

Wow, I’m sounding all annual report-ish.

So, let’s get down to the mula cause I know that’s what you’re interested in.  These are not exact since today is technically the last day and we still have half the day to go.

BlogHerAds – $400
Adsense – $150
Kontera – $25
Linkshare – $9

That’s a total of $584.  I STILL think I could do much better on Adsense and with over 575K page views for the month, BlogHerAds could have been a little higher but it was better than a lot of other PPI ad systems.

I’m glad I met the $100 threshold on Adsense again so I will get paid next month.  I think I’m finally over the threshold on Kontera so I FINALLY will get paid from them.

Overall I’m happy with the month.  It’s more than I thought because of the strike but honestly I wished for more since last month was so good.  No real complaints though when those checks come in!

Speaking non-numbers though, the site involvement really, really took off last weekend after I added a few commenting plug-ins.  I added the Subscribe to Comments as well as a plug-in to show the top 10 commenters on the sidebar.  For some reason, I think the readers REALLY like seeing their name over there lol.  I’ve also tried to put more of my opinion in the post instead of simply posting news and I think it sparks quite a bit of conversation.  Our RSS readership has also doubled this month, today showing 211 readers!

Oh, oh AND I now have had a reader volunteer to make us a banner for the site and it looks great..it’s up now.  The same person also volunteered to type up the transcripts for this season since NO SITE has them.  I did offer her some compensation for doing it though since I know it will take awhile.  Several people have left info/links to new news I hadn’t posted on so it’s really great people are starting to feel ownership in the site.

We also have been having quite a few links from the fan forums and that ALWAYS boosts numbers.  Some are even referring to it as “oth blog” and most know what they mean…so the word is definitely getting out!

I do have to say that it IS a lot of work.  When we were on vacation this weekend, there was no break.  If you don’t have news up even for a day, people wonder where you are and why you’re not updating.  The Internet is quite fickle like that.  In fact, I think a lot of people are getting interest in this site because we update so frequently and quickly.  There are a few established sites that just aren’t updating as in the past and I would bet their numbers are really suffering.  That being said, you only can do so much.  I’m constantly looking for info for the site and I think I could find some fans that are interested in helping update but I just can’t trust anyone to do it honestly.  If anyone is interested in doing something like this, please be aware it IS a commitment and if you want it to be successful, just like any start-up you have to work at it.

In any case, I’m very excited about next month.  Ownership is up, readership is up, season finale is coming up..which means my $$ will be up!!

I LOVE my digital camera but I’m so bad at getting prints done.  And now, with years and years of prints to get printed, I can’t hardly afford it.  Well, this will help out big time.  I just registered at artscow.com.  For a LIMITED TIME, you can get 400 prints AND an 8×8 book for FREE.  Then, refer friends and get another 200 for each!!

GO HERE TO GET YOUR FREE PRINTS AND BOOK 

P.S. I was not paid for this post but I do get a referral credit 🙂 

Lynellen tagged me…

The rules are:
The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
Each player answers the questions about themselves.
At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago. In April of 1998 I was finishing my sophomore year of college and preparing for my August wedding.
2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Since is 11:36 pm, the only thing on my list to do is finish this meme and go to sleep.
3. Snacks I enjoy: Cheese and crackers, ice cream, cereal.
4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire. No plans for that but I suppose I would make ourselves comfortable, do the same for our families and then give away the rest.
5. Three of my bad habits: not putting dirty clothes in the hamper, leaving dishes out, putting trash on the countertop of the trash.  Can you tell I live with a clean freak?
6. 5 Places I have lived: Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina
7. 5 Jobs I have had: movie store clerk, real estate assistant, ice cream parlor person, computer programmer
8. 5 people I want to know more about: anyone who wants to tell me more.  Sorry, I’m so bad at tagging people.  Please feel free to complete if you’d like.

Taken from Anne @ Bun in the Oven

finish the sentence.

maybe i should be working.
i love the smell of freshly cut wood.
people would say that i’m on the computer/watch tv too much.
i don’t understand why the iPhone doesn’t have mms.
i lost ten dollars yesterday.
life is good.
my past is pretty boring.
i get annoyed when people pick their noses without tissues.
my idea of a good time is being on the computer.
i wish i could quit work.
Breast enhancements are cute when they are someone else’s.
Pepper make me sneeze.
tomorrow i’m going to work, bible study and church.
i have low tolerance for immaturity.
i’m totally terrified of tornadoes.
i wonder why Jesus hasn’t come back yet.
never in my life have i drank alcohol or done drugs.
high school was fun and a lot of work.
when i’m nervous i shake my leg and my stomach hurts.
one time at a family gathering i ate four ears of corn along with my food when i was pregnant.
take my advice: trust God.
Being on the computer makes me happy.
i’m almost always on the computer.
i’m addicted to uh, the computer.
i want someone to let me quit working.

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