Are You On My Top Spot?
Middle of last year, Jim Kukral, a web marketing strategist and blogger who I really enjoy following created a really cool widget called ScratchBack. At that time, Google had just slammed their hammer down on quite a few icon bloggers for selling text links ads! It resulted in putting the fear of God in quite a few bloggers within our little realm of the blogosphere. Basically, it caused many of us bloggers to question, “How in the hell can I advertise on my friend’s blog without getting them or myself banned in Google?”
Consequently, while all that was happening, there was WordPress plugin floating around that was gaining popularity called, “Buy Me a Beer!” Now, the Buy Me a Beer plugin was neat because it kind of added some spice towards asking your blog readers for donations. The only problem with that plugin is that the people who made the donations got nothing in return for their gifts of money. And that is where Jim Kukral kicked in with developing ScratchBack.com.
Jim Kukral created ScratchBack.com, an alternative towards selling text links ads that doesn't get you banned in Google and a solution that allows for people to donate to blog authors and get something in return.
ScratchBack.com provides everyone with the best of both worlds. Blog authors can make some money by selling ads without fear of getting banned in Google. Blog readers and even advertisers can give blog authors small donations and get their link advertised in return.
ScratchBack.com is written in Javascript, so search engines (especially Google) can not read the code, so the links being advertised are completely invisible. This isn’t black hat either, Google encourages people to make money selling ad space, they just don’t like it when you sell links for the purpose of trying to cheat their system.
So anyway, I am not here to get into a “Paid Links” or a “NoFollow vs DoFollow” discussion. I just want to tell you that I have brought ScratchBack.com back to my blog and you are invited to take advantage of it.
ScratchBack.com is very simple. When you place your order, your link will INSTANTLY be added to my Top Spot. I figured that I would do things right and really make the Top Spot a top spot! My Top Spot is located on the top left had side of my blog. (History proves that this is the sweet spot!)
Your link will remain there until it get bumped off the list by other people. At the moment I have five available slots but I will double that and display ten spots if people are placing a lot of orders. I want to make sure you get good exposure.
ScratchBack.com has been running for about a year and Jim Kukral has collected a lot of feedback from people using it. Studies have shown that the ideal price is $5 dollars. I personally think that is too cheap, but I am going to follow Jim’s advice and offer my Top Spots for exactly what Jim suggested. I value each slot at $25 dollars or more, so when you place your order, you are getting a really good deal!
So that is how ScratchBack.com works. If you would like to get your own Top Spots list in your blog, you can visit ScratchBack.com and sign up for free. In the mean time, you should place your order on my blog because everyone is going to be clicking the links after reading the blog post.
Let’s Keep The ScratchBack Luv Going
On November 25th I included ScratchBack.com on my blog because I wanted to provide readers with an affordable way to advertise their links while also giving me a way to earn a few extra dollars. From November 25th through December 25th I received a total of 20 ScratchBack orders. I...Saying Good Bye To ScratchBack.com
This of course is nothing against Jim Kukral. I think his blog is awesome, in fact, I think its one of the better blogs out here. Time time has come though, I need to remove ScratchBack.com. It’s not Jim’s fault, nor is it mine or yours. Here is the problem...Six Things You Can Do If You Want To Help Me
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You may know Jim Kukral as the individual who created ScratchBack.com. To be honest, that is how I met him, but as it turns out, there is so much more to Jim than just his highly successful website. Jim is a very gifted and talented individual who coaches and teaches...The WordPress WP Super Cache Plugin
For me, it seems that the WordPress WP Super Cache Plugin is a very necessary plugin to have for blogs that have a lot of traffic. Many people fail to understand that running a WordPress blog is much different than running a typical or standard static HTML web site. Running...
Hey Garry, great idea. Look forward to seeing those 10 spots snapped up real quick.
Check out Murray’s last blog post..Cellulite Diets Is Just Like Any Diet You Have To Eat Healthy
Murray
25 Nov 08 at 1:51 am
I have tried to add this widget once in my blog but never succeed. I didn’t get any tip. ;(
Check out Hussein’s last blog post..Blogs That I Read and Enjoy – Part 2
Hussein
25 Nov 08 at 7:12 am
I tried this earlier this year or late last year. Got a few bucks but it was all the rage and not the rage at the same time and quickly got forgotten. Good luck with it. I say anything more than $5 would be too expensive for many bloggers these days, especially around holiday season. So $5 is just right.
Check out homemom3’s last blog post..What I Wish: A Christmas Tree
homemom3
25 Nov 08 at 7:22 am
I always liked ScratchBack, it is just one of those things that got forgotten along the way, but, Twitter was same way. Started hot, cooled way off, and then made a BIG comeback.
I am on Top of your List for now, just not sure how many times I will have to buy a spot to stay on TOP !!
Check out David Cooley’s last blog post..Disable Magpie Cache in Wordpress
David Cooley
25 Nov 08 at 9:02 am
It’s an interesting well-thought of feature. Like the article Garry – keep it up.
Check out CristianR’s last blog post..GPS Tracking watches
CristianR
25 Nov 08 at 10:06 am
That is sad to hear Hussein. You have a nice blog. I am starting to feel the same. A waitress or waiter receives tips for serving food and drinks. But a blogger who servers good posts does not. Maybe I need to search Google for the WordPress Restaurant Plugin.
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 10:56 am
Yes me too! Thank you for tipping and I hope to get you get a lot of clicks.
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 10:57 am
Thank for your suggestion on the price. It will remain $5 dollars.
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 10:59 am
I agree with you, however, I finally started getting tips on my main site.
The main 2 changes I made that seem to make a difference:
1.) I work through Twitter.
2.) I changed the graphic for the Tip Payment.
Check out David Cooley’s last blog post..Disable Magpie Cache in Wordpress
David Cooley
25 Nov 08 at 11:02 am
ScratchBack is one of my favorites. I really hope that this helps Jim also and more people start using ScratchBack. From what I read on his blog, ScratchBack is doing very well. Its just that make money online blogs were the first to use it and it went as a phase for most. I am kicking myself for not using it all this time.
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 11:04 am
I am glad you liked the article. My back is a little itchy though, so I might need a few more people to scratch it.
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 11:07 am
Yeah…I had this on my blog for a lil bit…like a day or two. But I removed it, when I was cleaning up my sidebar. I do like the idea though, tips, scratchback, whatever….it’s cool. People may not have the fund to support your major products, but may just want to tip you here and there….making it easy for them to do so is a good idea.
I’ll be watching this one Garry, let me know your results in a month or so.
I agree, the $5 is probably key and puts it in reach of everyone that reads your blog. You help tons of folks, but not all can pay for an ad or whatever, a $5 scratchie is a good deal
Check out Normal Joe’s last blog post..How to Penetrate Saturated Niches for Huge Profits
Normal Joe
25 Nov 08 at 11:33 am
Since the links are no-follow Google doesn’t care what you do with them, right?
John's Weight Loss Blog
25 Nov 08 at 12:24 pm
That is correct!
Garry Conn
25 Nov 08 at 12:25 pm
I put stratchback on a few of my blogs when it first launched last year. I got quite a few tips at first but after a while they stopped and nobody tipped anymore, so I eventually took the widget off my blogs. Maybe I will give it another shot.
Trent Brownrigg
25 Nov 08 at 12:45 pm
Garry Sir,
Do you own http://bestcellulitesolutions.com/ ?.
As I am also interested in putting my blog up for nutrition just wanted to know how the above mentioned blog is going in earning money wise.
Email will be preferred if you don’t mind
Many Thanks
Sunny
Check out My billionth hit on website’s last blog post..Share your Adsense Love. Do you think its a good idea ?
My billionth hit on website
25 Nov 08 at 12:49 pm
Hi Garry,
How long will the link ad be up there?
Crisis Cartoon
26 Nov 08 at 12:03 am
Until it gets bumped off the list by new links.
Garry Conn
26 Nov 08 at 2:36 am
Hey, Garry, I’m one of your blogging cohorts at the SEO Hosting blog. Thought I’d spread the good Karma and tipped you.
Check out Wordsmith’s last blog post..Following Do Follow Blogs and Directories
Wordsmith
26 Nov 08 at 10:20 am
Nice. I was not aware of this plugin. Thanks for letting us know!
bigknoxy
26 Nov 08 at 7:02 pm
Thanks for the scratch buddy, I was shocked as hell to see your name.
Check out Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Blog Review: Thou Shall Blog Dot Com
Dennis Edell
26 Nov 08 at 7:57 pm
You are very welcome.
Garry Conn
26 Nov 08 at 7:59 pm
Javascript links are great and doesn’t even matters with Google
As long as traffic is coming advertisers should be happy
Check out Keral Patel’s last blog post..Amazon Plugin by Keral Patel
Keral Patel
28 Nov 08 at 12:30 am
Thanks for the kind words but I honestly don’t have good post. Just a fair post. Anyway, I’ve seen 7 links in your widget. That was so fast.
Check out Hussein’s last blog post..Hostgator Web Hosting Best Coupon Code – 75% OFF
Hussein
28 Nov 08 at 7:47 am
Yeah, and I got three more spots to fill and then I am hoping that everyone will go nuts competing for ranking on it.
$5 bucks… you can’t go wrong. I’d hurry too before I raise the price.
Garry Conn
28 Nov 08 at 5:30 pm
Yes
Check out Big Blogger’s last blog post..How To Increase Your Newsletter Subscribers With a Delayed Popup
Big Blogger
29 Nov 08 at 8:37 am
Is there a limit as to how many scratchbacks you can have? It’s certainly an interesting concept, but I wonder if the “unscratched” spots hurt rather than help?
Check out Zippy’s last blog post..WEEK #2 AWAKENING Mineral Therapies Skin Care
Zippy
29 Nov 08 at 2:50 pm
No limit. Once it reaches 10 then the next to order causes the oldest to drop off.
Garry Conn
29 Nov 08 at 5:07 pm
Great idea, I just went live Turkey Day. Need all the links I can get. Gerry, you have helped me immensely with your site. Thank you.
If you have any sugguestions about http://www.babybugpuddles.com
I would be grateful.
Thanks again
JB
Check out Judd Boyer’s last blog post..SLEEPY TIME – HAPPY TIME OR OTHERWISE?
Judd Boyer
29 Nov 08 at 7:39 pm
Hi Judd,
I am glad to discover that my site has helped you. Congrats on the new site launch too. How creative is that? I checked out the site and even told my wife about it. I wish you the best luck and indeed your site is very creative.
My advice to you, if you don’t mind me offering it, is the use of AdSense. When I visited your web site I quickly saw that you were displaying AdSense. And while there is nothing actually WRONG with that, unfortunately, you don’t have much control over the ads that are displayed.
For my wife and I, we have four children, one of which is a new born, and I don’t think I would like my baby’s picture uploaded and being displayed next to an AdSense unit that displays as advertisement reading, “Look Good Naked. I just lost 25LBS and Feel Great. Read My Incredible Story Here”
With a site of this nature, you’d have better luck monetizing it using Amazon.com or even PepperjamNETWORK for that matter. With AdSense, you are simply throwing away your hard earned traffic. Your site is much different than the niche blogs that I build. This is a community site where you want to KEEP the traffic that you land.
I would like you to read this article titled, Beyond AdSense, written by Jeremy Schoemaker and published on Website Magazine earlier this month. Also, if you don’t have a subscription to this magazine, I would strongly recommend that you subscribe to it. (It’s free)
I think your web site is a great idea and actually will do quite well if you play your cards right. Good luck and thanks so much for the ScratchBack.
Garry Conn
29 Nov 08 at 9:10 pm
Garry, Thank you! I really value your suggestions. We are getting good traffic, but want it to be better
.
You Da Man!
Jb
Check out Judd Boyer’s last blog post..SLEEPY TIME – HAPPY TIME OR OTHERWISE?
Judd Boyer
29 Nov 08 at 9:37 pm
I used ScratchBack about a yea ago but I wasn’t satisfied with the results.. maybe because my blog hadn’t enough traffic… Anyway.. I’ll give it one more try..
Ilias
30 Nov 08 at 9:09 am
Thanks for your support Gary. Yes, ScratchBack is doing quite well now. It was designed as a long-tail application. We’re growing it slow and steady.
Thanks everyone for tipping Gary and testing it out. We look forward to continuing to improve the system and help you get tips!
Jim Kukral TheBizWebCoach.com
30 Nov 08 at 10:31 pm
After buying a spot, is there a way to see statistic about views and clicks ?
Big Blogger
1 Dec 08 at 12:54 am
Not unless you use your own URL that has some kind of tracker in it.
Garry Conn
1 Dec 08 at 12:56 am
[...] a reference post titled Are You On My Top Spot by Garry Conn who uses this tipping as a way of giving back to his community and he says [...]
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