Project Wonderful - Update

On April 5, 2008, I created a Project Wonderful account with the goal of selling advertising space on my blog. Today, is May 2, 2008, almost one month since the activation of the account. I plan to keep my account open for a few more months to test things out, but I cannot say that I am overly impressed with the service.


First of all, I have three available ad spaces for sale on my blog through Project Wonderful. (Not to be confused with the ad space I sell direct with payments made via PayPal.) Additionally, I have played around with the daily cost of the ad space to determine the price that will generate the most interest. Currently, I reside at about .30 cents per day which equates to a whopping $9.00 per month... IF the owner of the ad remains on my blog for an entire month. If this were the case, I would be ecstatic. Who doesn't mind making a few extra bucks simply for doing what you love. I would blog whether I utilized Project Wonderful ads or not. Herein lies the conundrum. By using Project Wonderful, I am required to daily check their website for the following reasons:

1. New Ad Approval. To be fair, you can allow ads to auto-accept and populate your blog/website. I am not comfortable with this concept. I may only visit my blog once daily and I do not want ads posting that I deem questionable without my knowledge. Therefore, my Project Wonderful settings state that new ads must be approved by me, while previously posted ads can be auto-accepted and populate my blog. This a great segue into my next point.


2. Ad Turnover. My ad space is bid upon it seems all day long with new bidders outbidding old bidders which requires me to check Project Wonderful multiple times per day to make sure I can keep up with all of the new bidders. My experience, is that not only are originally approved ads outbid by new ads now requiring my approval, the approved bidders often voluntarily remove their ads anytime between 6 to 24 hours.


3. Insufficient Funds. At least twice per week, I have to remove an ad because the advertiser has insufficient funds to cover the cost of the ad.

In light of all of the above activity, I have approved a new ad almost daily, sometimes two or three different bidders within the same day. Within the month, it seems possible that I would have accumulated at a minimum $9.00 in ad sales. Right? Well, let me provide you with the actual statistics:

• Almost 30 days using Project Wonderful
• 8 different advertisers
• 57 ads generated by those 8 advertisers
• Insufficent funds requiring ad removal at least 2 times per week
• $2.01 profit

So, I ask myself... is all of the time and energy worth it? I will decide within the next 60 days. What's your feedback?

Promotional Opportunities

I love creating and often wish I could turn my part time passion into a full time job. I am sure there are many others that create knit products, jewelry, purses, clothing...and the list goes on that wish what many consider a "hobby" was in fact your full time career as well.

Recently, I have stumbled upon various different advertising opportunities for us part time business owners. It truly is a business...all the time spent creating, promoting, blog writing, promoting, taking custom orders, shipping - shall I continue? Never did I realize that this new venture of mine would consume hours of time. Please understand, I am not complaining...just amazed by the amount of work required to be an e-commerce business owner. My venue of choice.

Below I have listed a few promotional opportunities that you might be interested in reviewing and using:


1. Squido - In a nutshell, Squidoo according to the website, is free space on the Internet to use as you wish. Anyone can make a lens (a page like this http://www.squidoo.com/tabihats) and have exposure on the Internet. Anyone. For Free. I'm am not an Internet guru and I was able to set up my own personal Squido page. Click here to join Squido and set up your own personal page... http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/TabiHats


2. Indiego - First let me say that I thought this was too good to be true. And then I tried Indiego for myself. What is it? Well, Indiego, which I pulled from their website, is a brand new advertising network for creative souls, much like yourself. On Indiego, you can advertise your products absolutely, positively for free, with the only requirement that you also advertise other people on your own personal website or blog.

There is no webpage to maintain, just list your name, site, picture, and you are done. Check it out at http://indiego.com/

3. Qassia - Visit Qassia at http://qassia.com/. With all of these weird names - Squido, Indiego, and now Qassia, I know you are wondering... What is this? According to their website, Qassia is a credit-driven intelligence engine coupled to a cascading tag-based web directory. Huh? It means that Qassia will change your life by giving you the ability to add your websites for free, and without having to add reciprocal backlinks. For your techie kind, you'll also get unlimited quality backlinks (as opposed to "no-follow" backlinks). You can also add intel. Short for "intelligence", intel is tidbits of information that you can add about the topics featured on your blog, website, or miscellaneous topics floating around in your head that you consider yourself an expert.

I hope you find this promotional information useful. If you decide to utilize any of the above sites send your feedback and share your experience with other readers. Or share your weblink so we can become internet friends!

Information Overload

Perhaps I was a little ambitious about this felting project. I conducted an Internet search thinking..."this will be great! I'll just find a project I like, pick up some wool yarn, follow the step-by-step instructions, and viola! I will have created a beautiful purse or hat. Just like that!"

Instead I have a discovered a new world of options that I never realized were available to me. There are books for beginners, intermediate, and expert felters, websites and blogs with added commentary, yarn specifications, patterns galore, SHEEP and WOOL TYPES? What am I supposed to do with all of the information? Presently I am feeling overwhelmed...

Can I find everything I need to know all in one place wrapped up in a cute little bow?

Last night I was excited to find yarn that I like, but now I am afraid to purchase it. The massive amounts of information have paralyzed me. I am in unfamiliar territory...once I purchase the yarn I have no idea what to do next. During my Internet search, I happened upon The CraftGossip Blog Network which contains an entire section devoted to felting. The site is an excellent resource, however fortunately or unfortunately I have yet to decide, it contains links to many additional resources. (I am trying to prevent a meltdown, therefore less is more.)

First things first, I will look for information for beginners only...