Entrecard Credits

This is interesting. Just like a new toy. :D
Some facts I found about Entrecard tonight: Revenue from the site is not cash. But it gets very close. I think this is what has to happen. You might notice various web sites offering virtual money. Money, actually, since any money is virtual. A paper without any significant value. The value it represents is what stands behind it. The same is with this electronic money on the Internet. There are sites like PayPal, AlertPay, e-gold, and so on, that offer financial transactions. The transactions where we exchange goods and services via some currency.
Entrecard credits act the same. You earn them by performing certain activities, like visiting blogs and dropping your entrecard (virtual visit card), and by other people giving you their visit card. Points are also earned by posting to the blog registered with Entrecard. This is a nice feature since the whole idea is to promote blogging and encourage people to create more useful content.
Now, I wonder how to register all my different blogs. Obviously, nowadays, one blog is not enough. There is so many disparate topics out there that it does not make sense to mix them together. This is something I've been contemplating tonight - to put all my posts into one blog and separate them by using tags. But, then, the site would look like a junk yard. It make much more sense to keep blogs separate with their individual history, search, and other blog features.
If you are a blogger, definitely try out Entrecard.

Entrecard

Entrecard is a new and interesting concept in marketing. It evolved from a typical advertiser/publisher relationship. Many people today are both advertisers and publishers, anyway.
Now, the concept is the following... You have a blog. Then you go and create an Entrecard account. This will give you a code to place on the blog. It is sort of an online business card.
Browsing blogs with entrecard sign on them allows you to drop your card to the blog owner. This card goes into their inbox and they return your visit by visiting your blog.
Droping cards and returning visits gives you credits that can be used to advertise. The ads then get placed into your entrecard space on the blog.

It may sound a bit confusing at first but the concept is new and interesting. People who have been using the service praise it as quite useful. I can't help but to try it out for the sheer fun of it. :)

Ad Networks

Online Business

I'm experimenting with other ad serving networks, besides AdBrite. A very few now seems to use CPM concept (cost per thousand impressions). It appears that more sites are focusing on cost per action (CPA) and cost per click (CPC).
I prefer CPM concept. It was interesting to read today that some sites offer subscriptions and function in a way similar to more traditional advertising space. They sell an advertising place on sites for a fee based on time period (daily, weekly or monthly). This way publishers loose incentive to attempt fraud, as it seems to be quite an issue.

Anyway, you will probably notice in this period that there are a few ads across the web site but that will change soon. I want to see if it is worth at all to implement these on relatively low traffic web sites and blogs. Will post findings after a few weeks, probably.

AdBrite

MAKE MONEY ONLINE

Wow, it is really amazing that people actually make this kind of web sites/blogs and put advertisements on them.
Anyway, as an alternative to AdSense I am experimenting with AdBrite as an ad marketplace. The earnings are extremely low but then, again, so are visits to my web sites and blogs. :)
Having that in mind it is really hard to believe that a blog such as the one linked above can actuall make any earnings from ads. There are only two or three posts and links to AdBrite web site. Probably the owner of the blog is hoping for referrals, in which case he could earn a portion of revenue his referrals make.
I'm starting to get really sick of all these viral and pyramidal schemes on the Internet.

Since I do not own any high-traffic web sites the ads have so far proven to be useless and I might as well remove them altogether. At least they would not spoil the experience of browsing the sites and blogs.

Market Bounce

Sadly, this latest market bounce, according to some technical analysts, appears to be short-lived. The price is up but the volume does not support it as a marker and the money flow indicator points to a selling pressure. This may mean that there is no substance in the latest price rise apart from the SEC commission decision that caused covering the short positions which, in turn, caused the money to flow into the market.
Looking forward to Monday to see how the things turn out further.

Market Is Up

Overnight action in the US pushed Australian market up. Wells Fargo had better than expected results and raised dividends, boosting confidence in financial industry. US Dollar is also up and oil is, naturally, down.
This was a reason enough for the market to bounce a bit more than 1% on the upwards. The two main reasons - the high oil price and the gloomy future of the financials - have softened, allowing the markets to move up again.
Objectively, this could be the perfect time to invest. The future gains are highest at this point. It will be interesting to see how it goes the next couple of days.
ASX has been steady for the first couple of hours during the market hours. Amazing that Australian market is so inert, reflecting what's going in the US.

Wizard Clear Advantage MasterCard

The card arrived in the mail yesterday. It was a new toy for the evening. :) The card can be activated over the phone or on the internet. The phone system is comprehensive. I checked the credit limit, activated the card, and set my PIN over the phone.
Then I registered for the online access. All these things can be done over the Internet, too. The Control Center displays all the relevant information and allows you to change all the mentioned settings and more. The credit limit can be changed through simple request. The approval is automatic and will depend on whether you satisfy the requirements first.
Instead of waiting for the PIN to arrive in a separate mail, I set my own PIN over the phone.
Still haven't used the card but will in the following days. I'm interested to see how will it behave overseas.

BiH Inflation

SEEbiz.eu - Bosna i Hercegovina - Kozarić: Inflacija u maju najviša u deset godina

Inflation in BiH is rising rapidly.

What is going on with Iran?

Hm, looking at the markets, the prices oscillate tremendously over the past few weeks. This was, in part, caused by wildly oscillating price of oil. And the oil situation, besides the rising demand, is now shaken by political developments. That turned my attention to what is going on with Iran right now.
The situation doesn't look good. But, in the media, it never does. The media are generally too sensationalist. I need to spend some time finding and analyzing some valid sources of information out there to see what is this latest confrontation caused by.

Talking to people, it is amazing to find that some of them do not believe that world's major oil supplies are located in Iran. Well, OK, that's something to be checked too...
According to CIA World Factbook page about Iran, the oil reserves are 138.4 billion bbl according to Iranian claims. Saudi Arabia's proven reserves are 264.3 billion bbl (all 2007 estimates) and Kuwait's are 101.5 billion bbl. Russia's, in comparison, are only 60 billion bbl. Just for reference, Australia's reserves are 1.437 billion bbl.
Iran is the fourth largest crude exporter in the world according to Reuters.

At this time in the economic cycle this could be the drop that might cause the glass to spill. Onto some work...
The oil reserves are easy to check. The listed numbers are mostly estimates but that should suffice for now. Another issue is the politics. Israel seems to be afraid for their safety since Iran seems to be working on developing a nuclear weapon. Nothing new, in general, but it's a question whether Israel will undertake drastic measures about it. An article in the Economist is a good general source of information, as usual. There might be other interests involved, as well. What I fear is that Israel might be an extended arm of the Hawks - a society for preservation of Good Old Western life style - firearms and oil heaven. Well, sarcasm aside, here are some interesting information in that regard.
Fortunately, the information from the field indicate that a military intervention is not very likely unless someone goes nuts.

This looks like a covert operation to influence the next year's elections in Iran. :)

Australian Market Volatility Chart

Volatility index chart | Calculators & tools | Vanguard

It might feel better seeing that market corrections occur periodically and that the last one, or current one, is not as bad as some other ones and is about average or better.