As I was dropping my EC this morning on the SocialCardsters Blogroll I came across one of my favorite Bloggers, Chica and her blog Photo-Projectz. Chica has run into a snag that I bet a number of bloggers have at one time or another. She signed up for a photo hosting account on Flickr and then uploaded a 201 photos which put her over the 200 photo limit. Great! Now What?
Well, like Chica, you have a few options.
Option 1 - Just keep uploading, I mean, who is gonna look at those older photos anyway. (Not Recommended)
Option 2 - You can buy a pro account for yourself at $24.95 for one year or $47.99 for 2 years.
Option 3 - Explore the world beyond Flickr...
If you are on a budget and paying for photo hosting is not part of that budget then you might want to try one of these alternatives.
Buzznet - I've been uploading images to Buzznet since 2003. At one point I got a pro account there and was able to make as many different galleries and folders as I wanted. I still upload my Photo-A-Day to this site because the Photo-A-Day Widget that I created is based on the RSS feed from a gallery on Buzznet. I don't think you have to pay for a pro account anymore and so you can upload a ton there.
Pros - Uploading images is free, you can upload an original full sized image and choose from a bunch of sizes for your blog. You can also easily post to 20 different blog related sites including blogger and myspace. The site is also social so you can give other images 'Buzz' (Mark them as favorites), you can comment on images, add friends, make galleries private and password protected too. I don't think there is a size limitation but there is a monthly upload limit which is 300 images.
Cons - It seems a bit spammy. I've gotten over 400 friend requests from people who are not photographers, who have not photos on buzznet and I think the age range is something like 14-22, so I am an old dog on that network. I upload my one image a day and go.
A Closer Look - You can set specific privacy for your account and if I tighten it up it should cut down on the spammyness, But I am still too unhip for participating in that community.
Zooomr - Zooomr is as close to Flickr as you are gonna get. It looks pretty similar but the major difference is that you have unlimited uploading capabilities. So you will not run out of space, ever.
Pros - Unlimited Uploads, easy geotagging, labeling and you can put a url of a Zooomr image into Pownce and have it show up automatically. You can upload whatever size you would like and Zooomr will make sizes for your blog. You can also generate smartsets of not only your images but other images as well. The site is mainly for serious photographers who want to learn from each other. That is the impressions I get from the place. But that certainly doesn't mean that if you are not hardcore into photography that you can't have an account. Heck you might get some great comments from those hardcore photogs as well.
Cons - No 'one click' posting to your blog. Not many features beyond the unlimited uploads. Yet
Photobucket - I just signed up for this one for this post so I am not as familiar with it. This is a photo hosting site powered by Google, there are a few of them out there, Picasa is another. Once you upload there are a bunch of places where you can automatically post the image. You can sign up for a free account and then you can decide to go pro at $25.00 a year.
Pros - Free up to 1GB of space. Multiple ways to share the image.
Cons - I found the interface clunky. I also just started playing with it today.
As you can see the quality of the image is the same across each hosting site. It doesn't really matter where the image is located. What you have to decide is what features are you looking for in a photo hosting site. There are many other options to chose from when deciding where to host your images. My advice would be to scout them first, sign up for each one and try them out. Upload a few images, see how each interface is, look at the features. What is most important for you when choosing a hosting site for your images? Do you want to interact with other photographers/bloggers. is the hosting site a weigh station for your images before you post them to your blog? Do you post images to multiple blogs? Go through the questions and then decide which one of these options is the best for you. If there are other photo hosting sites that you are interested in please leave comments on this post.
Drew writes four blogs, is an avid kayaker and a Transformers fan, he also does a mean cake plow. He recently completed taking 1000 consecutive photos in 1000 days. You can visit him at The BenSpark, The Wired Kayaker, Read To Me, Dad, Google is not God.
IZEA has been recognized by the 7th annual Horizon Interactive Awards. The Horizon Interactive Awards is a prestigious international competition spotlighting outstanding achievement among interactive media producers; IZEA was awarded in two distinct categories, for two different products:
- RockStartUp:
"RockStartup" was awarded "Best of Category" in the Video-Documentary/Short Film category, ranking higher than even three properties owned by USA Networks. If you've never watched RockStartUp or need to catch-up on the most recent episodes, simply visit RockStartUp.com.
- IZEA Company Blog(s):
The IZEA blog(s) won a Silver award in the "BLOG" category. We strive to make the blogs valuable resources for advertisers & clients, bloggers, and those simply interested in learning more about IZEA as a company. Current blogs are we maintain are:
- Advertiser blog
- Community blog
- Developer blog
- Postie blog
Thanks to all of the RockStartUp fans and blog readers who allow us to do what we do everyday. And extra special thanks to the IZEA Team for being committed to the IZEA brand, showing up with energy everyday, and giving us rich content to feature throughout our various products.
If you would like to read the full press release about winning these awards click here.
I found an interesting post a couple weeks ago that I just have to circle back on. Last month Steve Hall of AdRants.com, a long time paid posting critic, did a review of a Nikon D60 camera. A review in itself is nothing noteworthy, but this isn't an ordinary review. Steve explains that he was provided a free $750 MSRP Digital SLR camera from Nikon "As part of an outreach program where cameras are given to ... ahem ... those with an audience". Steve further commented, "Without sounding like some lame PayPerPost post, the camera is really great".
Apparently MWW Group, a PR firm representing Nikon coordinated the "loaner" camera as a spiff. Now, I don't have any problem with this exchange in concept, I actually applaud it. I am all for product sampling and blogger outreach, in fact MWW Group probably has a very happy client in Nikon. Not only did they get a post with a do-follow link, but Steve is helping to drive sales for D60 cameras via AdSense above his post.
What I do have a problem with is the supposed distinction Steve makes between a spiff and straight cash payment. The bottom line is VALUE. If Steve wanted to use a D60 for a few days he would either have to purchase it or rent it, both of which would cost money and have an associated economic value. Steve states "To be clear, for you transparency types, no money changed hands." But VALUE did change hands and that makes this a paid post. Paid posts aren't just cash based, you can be paid in goods, services or in this case rentals.
Think I am crazy? If Steve didn't feel this was a paid post why the need for the disclosure?
Value is value. The main difference seems to be that the "A-Listers".... those with... ahem....audience...get cameras, cars and computers as spiffs to "test drive" for free, while those participating in networks like PayPerPost and SocialSpark get paid cash. It's no different. The A-Listers engage in paid posting, they are just compensated in varying ways.
Why is this the case?
PR firms can't possibly afford to send cameras and computers to thousands of smaller bloggers for SpiffPerPost campaigns. It's just not economically viable given the cost to execute such a campaign on a large scale. The shipping costs alone would kill the ROI. That is why cash sponsored posts are such a powerful concept. Advertisers can still provide value and incentive to bloggers, but do so on a scale that is impossible with traditional blog outreach. It also allows those without a physical product or paid service to engage in the same type of marketing being used by the big boys.
What's funny in all of this is that the A-Listers are actually getting the short end of the stick. Sure, Steve Hall got a "loaner", but he could have probably made a $1000 or more for that single sponsored post based on his reach. He could have owned the camera and a new lens to go with it, all while maintaining disclosure, transparency and his real opinion per our code of ethics in SocialSpark. You have a great blog Steve, stop selling yourself short!
Speaking of our code of ethics, we require that all links be no-follow. Being as value did change hands and this is a paid post shouldn't those links in that post be no-follow as well?
If you follow our monthly IZEA Loco celebrations, you might remember the awesome team spirit Tina displayed at March's IZEA Loco? No? You don't recall? Then you might want to revisit the post "Ted Murphy in training?" Go ahead, I'll wait.
Now you remember? Well, I'm obligated to let you know Tina's at it again, and this time-a-round I'm convinced she's going to not only set a new trend in the fashion industry, but simultaneously bring social media to the forefront of all media formats. I'm not joking! Pretty soon we're going to see women--and perhaps a few men--wearing "Sparky nails all over the globe.
I think it's safe to say Tina loves being a part of the IZEA Team...and she's not afraid to show it! Think you can beat-out Tina with your IZEA spirit? Bring it on! Send us your photos of "Sparky nails" or if you have any other clever ways of showing your spirit. Who knows, maybe we'll add an "IZEA Spirit Wall" to accompany our "Great Wall of Posties" and Postie-cards.
The notes for the latest release of SocialSpark can be found at the Izea Boards following this link.
In January of this year I made a bet with members of our team. The bet was that dollar for dollar the long tail and sponsored posts were a better advertising investment than display ads on an "A-List" blog. I knew what the performance was through our network and had seen what the "A-Listers" were charging for display ads. I decided to plunk down some money and see if I was right.
I first tried to buy advertising on TechCrunch to prove my point, but when Mike Arrington declined I went looking for a comparable property. I thought about Mashable and even Calacanis.com, but we ultimately purchased a one month campaign on the ultra popular tech website ReadWriteWeb.com, of which I a personally a fan and consider to be "A-List" material . We decided to promote the then new IZEARanks.com website we had recently launched. The one month 125x125 display ad ran us $3,000.
We also purchased 220 Sponsored Posts at a cost of $2970 including all the fees an outside advertiser would pay. The PPP Opportunities for this comparison were Run of Network, allowing virtually any blogger to write about us, no matter how small the blog. All posts included in-post disclosure badges and no-follow links.
Here are the results:
ReadWriteWeb.com
Over the one month period our media buy on ReadWriteWeb delivered 725 visits according to Google Analytics.
PayPerPost.com
Over the same one-month period sponsored posts on PPP network blogs delivered 696 visits from the no-follow in-post links, and an additional 136 visits from the required disclosure badge. The PayPerPost total for the same first month was 832 visits.
One of the benefits I have touted about sponsored posts is the fact that they deliver value long after your posts are paid for. I made two purchases on PPP, one on February 5 and one on February 7th. Those media buys are still paying dividends three months later, adding another 105 clicks for a total of 937 clicks so far. When my money ran out on my ReadWriteWeb media buy I stopped seeing the benefits immediately.
This is a graph from SocialSpark demonstrating CPC over time for a Sponsored Post campaign.
If you equate Visits to CPC we can start to compare our two media buys. ReadWriteWeb ran $4.31/click while PPP has run $3.16/click to date (realize that this will continue to go down over time). I will admit, those PPP numbers are some of the worst I have seen in a sponsored post campaign. Typically we see a CPC in the range of $.60-1.20 after the first 30 days, but I decided to do this RON without any segmentation. I should have been more selective and chosen some segmentation.
While creating SocialSpark we recognized that there is a fundamental flaw with advertiser value representation in PPP. We allow advertisers to create opportunities in the system and drive traffic to their site, but only report back clicks received from sponsored posts. The result is a lot of free traffic for the advertiser that is never reflected in their PPP stats or in their site analytics. In addition to the 937 clicks above, a bare minimum of 220 bloggers were exposed to the site (most likely 500+). That adds at least another 220 clicks to our numbers (TOTAL 1157) and drops our CPC lower.
Engaging the Blogger
Clicks are one thing, but engagement is another. 220 Bloggers took the time to write 250 words or more about our Opportunity. They had to visit the site, explore it, potentially sign-up and write an educated post about their findings. Display ads will never drive that kind of engagement.
Engaging the reader
Not only did we directly engage 220 bloggers, but our blog reader engagement was much higher as well. On average a reader delivered from ReadWriteWeb spent 2:58 on our site, with a 38.90% bounce rate. A reader delivered from a PPP network blog spent 5:39 on our site, with a 21.26% bounce rate. This is because people clicking links in sponsored posts have a genuine interest in the site they are clicking through to.
Conclusion : The LongTail Rules
While "A-List" blogs may be able to deliver high volumes of display advertising inventory, sponsored posts on hundreds of "longtail" blogs are capable of delivering advertisers a stronger value short term, and offer a long term value not available through any form of display ads offered by the A-Listers.
Well..... Maybe. Here is The Real Question.
The thing I still don't know is what happens when you mix an "A-List" blog with sponsored content. ReadWriteWeb could very well have blown these numbers out of the water with a single post on their ultra-popular blog. Its a great blog with great content, I would probably click on an honest sponsored post with clear disclosure.
If any "A-Listers" are up for a little experiment I would love to hear from you. Robert Scoble, Pete Cashmore, heck.... Jason Calacanis drop me a line. Maybe it's the network, maybe it's the ad unit. Right now we only know that display ads on big blogs suck just as bad as they do on other big sites. I am more than happy to drop $3,000 on a single post and see what happens compared to a $3000 SocialSpark Campaign launched at the same time.
If so you may very well wind up with a cool $250 in your pocket at the end of this month. Here's the dealio. The blogger profile with the most profile views according to their SocialSpark profile page at midnight May 31 will get a cool $250 cash. Not bad eh? Good luck to you all, I hope that traffic drive mores Opps for everyone.
Do you know what Saturday May 10th is? Yes, it IS the day before Mother's Day (so get those flowers ordered now if you haven't yet), but it is also National Stamp Out Hunger day! This event, co-sponsored by Campbell's Soup Company & the National Association of Letter Carriers, is the US's largest single day food drive. Most US Post Offices are participating, but unfortunately not all are able to. If you've received a flyer from your local post office, you know yours IS participating. If you haven't received a flyer, you can check with your local post office to find out if they are.
Now all you have to do is gather food to donate - non-perishable items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Next, leave them by your mailbox before your mail carrier stops by on Saturday May 10. If you're concerned the food will be sitting out too long in the hot sun or on a rainy day, you may also drop the food off at any participating Post Office. C'mon - it's Saturday! You can fit it in somewhere in your schedule of grabbing your morning coffee, picking up the dry cleaning and going to see Ironman! And just that quickly, you've done a good deed for the day :)
The Post Offices will collect all the donations & deliver them to local food banks! If you'd like to pass this along to folks at work, there are some great flyers at the Stamp Out Hunger Site.
The first three weeks of SocialSpark have been absolutely amazing. We have broken every benchmark we set with launch of PayPerPost and then some. Blogger and Advertiser reception has been strong, but I also want to acknowledge that we have a long way to go and there is much room for improvement.
One of the biggest complaints that we have had is about blog sponsorships. Specifically, bloggers were complaining that the bottom bar was too big and the SocialSpark branding was too prominent. That will change with tomorrow's release. We have shortened the height of the sponsorship bar and made the SocialSpark branding less visible. Here is the before:
And here is the after:
We have reduced the bar by 22 pixels which allows for more content on smaller monitors while still putting the advertiser front and center. We always have to balance the desires of advertisers with bloggers and readers, I think this is a great solution.
The other request we had was the ability to require or not require the interstitial (which we call the blog welcome). This feature has been part of SocialSpark for some time, but not every advertiser may know this. You set that feature on the first page of the create blog sponsorship page, section 3.
I hope you all like the new bar. Keep the feedback coming!
There was an error in our last rollout of new code for SocialSpark that affected the ability for new users to create avatars.
A fix was released that corrected a problem where corrupted image uploads did not hang any following uploads for that user. This, however, stopped any new users (more specifically, any user that did not previously have an avatar) from being able to upload images.
After spending most of the night correcting and testing the issue, we have just deployed a fix for this. All new users should now be able to upload an image to use as their avatar.
