This is a guest post about one of the sponsors of the FamousBloggers CommentLuv $3550 CASH PRIZES Blogging Contest by Stephanie Suesan Smith. Stephanie is a Master Gardener who offers gardening advice based on years of experience and extensive course training.

Anyone seeking to make money on the internet has a love-hate relationship with Google®.  On the one hand, they provide enormous amounts of data.  They wield enormous influence, too, and can make or break a business opportunity with the flick of their algorithm.  Google® giveth and Google® taketh away.

The results obtained from Google© reflect an item’s popularity, as determined by the afore mentioned algorithm.  They do not, however, reflect the item’s contemporary relevance to you.  Some items that are very popular are old information.  These items not only waste your time, they prevent more relevant items from rising to a reasonable level in a search and being found.

Trends are also difficult to forecast since the data is heavily weighted toward long past performance.  However, there is a group of folks who are changing that.  They have built a search engine that both tracks trends and provides results to searches that are a fortnight or less in age.

NowRelevant.com bills itself as the best new search engine in a pun on the search content’s age and the pride of the developer.  Using cloud computing, The Internet Time Machine™ project charts keyword trends across the internet.  Now, lots of programs do that.  This project also charts the results of those keyword searches.

That has two benefits.  If you are researching a particular subject for a paper or project, you get results that are no more than fourteen days old.  You can specify as little as a day old, in fact.

The second benefit is for niche marketers.  If the number of keyword searches on a subject is increasing, but the number of results remains constant, you have a window of opportunity opening up.  Start plugging that opening with content that is meaningful and you have filled a niche. Niches are how you make money.

NowRelevant.com has several programs that let you sign up to advertise on the network.  They also have affiliate programs.  Finally, they are not Google®, for those of you looking for anything else.  NowRelevant even has a video on how they are different from the 800 pound gorilla of the day.

If you want to know what was popular yesterday, use Google®.  If you want to know what will be popular tomorrow, use NowRelevant.

If you enjoyed this article, or even if you didn’t, please head over to my contest entry at FamousBloggers and leave a comment or tweet about the entry with the hashtag #fbclcontest.  Thank you.

This is a guest post about one of the sponsors of the FamousBloggers CommentLuv $3550 CASH PRIZES Blogging Contest by Stephanie Suesan Smith. Stephanie is a Master Gardener who offers gardening advice based on years of experience and extensive course training.

Businesses talk about the importance of buying local. The internet and big box stores make buying globally tempting. Local Proud is a turnkey business model that teaches a business owner how to develop a local marketing co-op.

This model provides all the know-how, you provide the work. The model calls for local businesses to give a discount to consumers who display a card during check-out. The discounts are set by the merchants and can be changed at will. Merchants who do not offer discounts but want to participate can buy advertising on the back of the perks card consumers carry. Essentially, the perks card is a way to provide coupons to consumers without the hassle of printing and processing coupons.

The work part is convincing merchants that being part of this network will benefit them. You build the network. One thing you can tell them is that 70% of the money people spend locally stays locally.

The elements you get with your purchase of this turnkey system are the perks cards, a consumer website that lists all the deals, a merchant site for the merchants to change any deals when needed, signs for the businesses that honor the card, a smart phone ap for consumers who do not want to carry the card but want the benefits, and television shows and commercials. You buy the system for a low cost, then take it and run.

If you are ready to start your own discount card business, you can contact Local Proud now. They have great support and are always ready to help you. Start a business, save local merchants, build community. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Speaking of building community, please comment on my post on the quest for comments at Famous Blogger for the contest.  I would really appreciate it.

This is a guest post about one of the sponsors of the FamousBloggers CommentLuv $3550 CASH PRIZES Blogging Contest by Stephanie Suesan Smith. Stephanie is a Master Gardener who offers gardening advice based on years of experience and extensive course training.

Buying cars can be a frustrating experience, particularly if you are a woman. I drive my vehicle until the mechanic finally tells me there is nothing more he can do to keep it running, or that it will cost more to fix it than the car is worth. Then the search for another vehicle begins.

I admit that I do not know all that much about cars. My main objective is a pickup (I do live in Texas, after all) that runs and gets me where I need to go. Creature comforts like cruise control and a good radio are nice, too. Everything sold in Texas has an air conditioner because riding around in 100 degree F heat without one is dangerous.

In the past, I have had to deal with condescending sales men who though I was stupid because I was a woman. That made buying a car rather miserable. With the internet, however, I can research a car and buy it online. Or, research it and then go to the dealership armed with the knowledge I need to strike the very best bargain possible.

You can go to the website of the car manufacture if you want a list of the features available on a certain model. However, they are not exactly unbiased when it comes to telling you the features of the vehicle and any drawbacks it might have. For that you need a third party site.

Auto Monster Cars Blog gives information about different makes and models of cars and trucks. It is aimed at Canadians, but the information is helpful to everyone in North America. Once you read their reviews and pick out a car or truck, you can look at Monster Auto’s classifieds and find one at a price you can afford.  They have new and used cars.

Buying a car should not be torture. While it will probably never rank right up there on your top ten fun things to do, Auto Monster Cars Blog can give you the information to get the vehicle you need without all the hassle.

This is a guest post about one of the sponsors of the FamousBloggers CommentLuv $3550 CASH PRIZES Blogging Contest by Stephanie Suesan Smith. Stephanie is a Master Gardener who offers gardening advice based on years of experience and extensive course training.

Save 25-30% on AmsOil Motor Oil

Buying oil is enough to drive you to drink!  Not only are there several brands of oil, but there are funny number and letter combination that are supposed to tell you what kind of oil it is.

Why don’t they just use English, instead of 10W-30, SAE5W-30, and all those other things?

The SAE stands for Society of Automotive Engineers.  This group developed the initial standards for automobiles in the United States.  During World War II, these standards spread around the world.

The number is a measure of viscosity, or the ability to flow.  Molasses has a much higher viscosity than water, for example.  So the higher the number, the thicker the oil.  This thickness is measured at around 100 degrees Celsius, or 210 degrees Fahrenheit.   That is the approximate temperature inside a running engine.

Except when it isn’t running.  The W in the oil label tells how thick the oil is before the engine is started.  The W stands for winter.  In the cold, when the engine starts, it is unlubricated until the oil warms and starts flowing.  The longer the time that takes, the longer the engine wears at a high rate.  Too long, and it burns up.

So a 10W-40, which is a popular grade of oil, runs like a SAE 10 oil when cold, and like a SAE 40 oil when hot.  If you just chose a SAE10 oil, that would leave the oil too thin to protect the engine when it was hot.  That, also, wears the engine out too fast.

Car manufacturers specify the grade of oil you put in the car in your owner’s manual.  Most people these days buy synthetic oil because it wears better than non-synthetic oil.  Amsoil was the original synthetic oil, so you can buy Amsoil motor oil if you want the best.  You can specify Amsoil motor oil when you have your oil changed, or buy it over the internet from Lube Oil Sales.  Go with the original synthetic motor oil, go with Amsoil.

This post is part of the Comment Luv/Famous Blogger comment contest.  Head over to my entry on how to obtain blog comments and leave me a comment so I get more points. Post by Stephanie Suesan Smith.

Click the image to See Full Details at DonationCoder

Programmers, coders and application developers are invited by DonationCoder to participate in the NANY 2010 Annual Challenge. New applications must be released by December 31, 2009 and those interested are asked to pledge soon – ideally by this Friday, December 18, 2009.

“N.A.N.Y. stands for “New Apps for the New Year“, and is an event where we try to get all the coders who hang out at DonationCoder.com to release a brand new FREEWARE/DONATIONWARE application to celebrate the coming of the new year. The NANY event is a celebration of software – it’s not a competition and there is no winner.”

My regular readers may recall that I wrote about them previously in my Tools Wanted for Power Bloggers and Social Media Users. There are so many good things I could say about Donation Coder that I don’t know where to start, so I am going to hit some highlights and let you read more about them elsewhere.

• DonationCoder is a site for people who love software who support each others’ work through donations
• 150,000+ members from around the world of which about 6,000 are supporting members
• Founded in March 2005 by Jesse Reichler, a Ph.D. graduate student in Computer Science at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and now run run by a cooperative of friendly moderators.
• Their forum allows app developers to interact with those who interested in new software and applications.
• Comprehensive comparative software reviews

Donation Coder is a huge site where you can find out more About DonationCoder and their philosophy or visit their forums. To really understand how Donation Coder’s site differs from most free software sites and what some of the best free software available there is I recommend dotTech.org’s post The Best (Freeware) Programs to Come Out of Donation Coder.

NANY 2010:

• Calling All Developers for New Apps Event at Donation Coder
• Dottech.org – DonationCoders Annual N.A.N.Y. Event for 2010 is Now Live
• Elite Freeware – NANY 2010 Needs YOU – Yes YOU
• BEC Development Blog – Donation Coder NANY 2010 Coding Event Annoucement
• gHacks.net – Donation Coder NANY 2010 Coding Event Announcement

Additional links to announcements and blog posts about NANY 2010 will be posted in the NANY 2010 thread at DonationCoder.

If you are a freelance coder or want to hire a freelancer, you can connect at RentACoder. Thanks to Web Designer Jake Rocheleau (Twitter), who published this great interview with Rentacoder Founder Ian Ippolito in his dofollow Web Design blog.

Did you know about Adsmarket’s latest promotion for Publishers? The international affiliate network is pushing for it everywhere: the Adsmarket website homepage, theirfacebook fan page, and if you ran into an Adsmarketer at Ad:Tech New York, chances are you picked up a flyer. What’s it all about, you ask?

The FAST LANE promotion is all about speed, people. If you aren’t yet an Adsmarket Publisher, now is a GREAT time to join and start generating some serious revenue, and fast…

Adsmarket is offering one lucky Publisher who registers between November 4th and December 31st, 2009 the chance to win a spectacular European vacation! (Chevy Chase and German frau not included, sorry)

Here are the details. Apparently there is something about a Lamborghini???

There are some rules, but not many:

The New Publisher who registers between Nov 4th and Dec 31st and generates the most revenue will win the competition. Winners will be determined based on total revenue generated from valid leads in accordance with Adsmarket Ts+Cs. To be considered eligible, publishers must meet a minimum total revenue of $25,000. All prizes are for the winner only, with a free option for an additional person on most activities, excluding flights.

Click on either image for more details and to register for your chance to win.

Any time you see a contest or giveaway that is popular consider that a Maximum Exposure Opportunity. Even if you are not that interested in the prize or feel the odds of winning are slim, never underestimate the value of participating to gain exposure and links.

Perhaps it is the economy or people just love beef; this is one popular giveaway. We found this first contest we’re recommending at Food Renegade where they’re giving away these cuts of beef from the Grass Fed Party Blog:

• 2 La Cense Beef Petite Sirloin Grass-fed Steaks
• 2 lbs of La Cense Grass-Fed Ground Beef, and
  
• A T-Shirt

Entering this contest supports traditional ranching, could teach you something about the health benefits of grass-fed beef, allows you to showcase your latest blog post, and is highly likely to bring you some new visitors from outside your usual circles. If you win you get to try possibly the best tasting and healthiest steak you’ve ever had. TOMORROW is the LAST DAY so enter now.

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Blogging Contest promoted by GrowMap for Executive Gift Shoppe. Win a $50 Gift Certificate plus FREE coaching and promotion of your blog. All entries will be featured with dofollow links in both their blog and ours.

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$100 Cash prize for the best Blog Improvement Review of Direct Sales Web Marketing

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Would more CASH come in handy? Check out Easy Cash Contests for the latest contests Dennis Edell has found for adding more cash in your pockets.  Today there are currently FIVE active contests listed paying from $50 to up to $750 in cold hard cash.

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Win an Amazon Kindle 2 from Marketing Pilgrim by suscribing to their blog and emailing the secret message they’ll post for a limited time between now and April 5, 2009. Follow @AndyBeal at Twitter to get the Tweet that the message has been posted.

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Doodle API Contest To celebrate the launch of the Doodle API, they challenge the Doodle community to develop useful and innovative extensions for Doodle using the API. The contest ends April 14 2009 24:00 CET.

Prizes

• 1st: A trip to Zurich including a meet-up with the Doodle team and some of our friends at Sun Microsystems. We’ll cover the trip to Zurich and 5 overnight stays.
• 2nd: One Conference Pass for the 2009 JavaOne Conference
• 3rd: One Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

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• Win a Free Copy of the Google Slapper System plus one hour of coaching from Jay Deiboldt Best story left in comments wins. (110 entries to date – Deadline ?)

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To give you maximum time to enter these contests and giveaways we’re publishing this post now and will continue to add new entries as we locate them. Come back often – you never know what we might turn up. Something we find could be just what you’ve always wanted.

P.S. Does anyone have a divider image we could use? We often want to make it easier to locate individual parts of a post like this one. Thanks.

P.P.S.  Leave contests you know about in the comments and we’ll add them to the body of the post.

ANSWER: When participants are given FREE personal coaching just for entering. We spend almost all day almost every day online. We share blogs and their posts continually at Twitter, FriendFeed and cliKball. YOUR blog or site could be benefiting from the time we spend online and our connections!

Check out our Twinfluence numbers. Read about how a comment left here can result in your blog being featured like the one in our Pay it Forward post.

We want to feature YOUR blog and send you new visitors. We want your blog to make money too. We’d love to show you how to get quality incoming links.

One way for you to benefit from all of these strategies is by blogging just one post and entering a contest we’re supporting for @ExecGifts. Long time readers of GrowMap know that a friend of ours owns Executive Gift Shoppe, an online gift store that offers an affiliate program. Since almost any blog could offer gifts I’ll use their program in future posts containing tips on using images and how to pre-sell affiliate offerings.

Be sure to read about pre-selling in an upcoming post in our series on making money with your blog. It is the most important difference between those who make money with affiliate programs and those who do not.

If you’re already familiar with affiliate programs I can strongly recommend ExecutiveGiftShoppe as a business worth promoting. Visit the next link for all the reasons I recommend their  business, personal and groomsmen gifts.

Here is a win/win for bloggers. Join their affiliate program, write a creative post about their store or any of their products, and enter it in their Blogging Contest. Even if you aren’t a $50 gift certificate winner your blog will receive traffic from other entrants and be heavily promoted by us. Any blogger who enters will be linked from this blog too AND many will be featured in specific posts and recommended at Twitter and FriendFeed.

This is one of the chances to maximize your visibility and online exposure by participating when someone else wants to promote your links for you. Now is the perfect time to learn how to monetize your blog with affiliate products because we will personally assist you. Ask any questions you have in the comments of this post or contact us at Twitter.

There are NO dumb questions. Not sure how to insert an image? Need assistance finding an angle that fits your niche? Want to know more about pre-selling? Not sure how to use an affiliate link? No matter how inexperienced you are we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity for free personal assistance to take your skills to the next level and start earning money in your blog.

We’re also planning a Case Study on how effectively adding Local Listings increases links, traffic, and sales for businesses.  We’re seeking out businesses willing to be included.  Why not yours?