HELIUM: You’ve probably seen their ads plastered all over the Web.  Earn between 50 cents and $2.50 for an article depending on your past success and site status.  In order to earn upfront revenue, you’ll need to write in categories that are not “filled,” which means if you write about a mainstream topic, you might have limited options.
Google AdSense revenue split pays the rest.

HUBPAGES: More than just articles, a set of easy-to-use tools allow writers (and novice techies) to embed additional media such as video, audio and polls into text to create “Hubs.”  Google Ads, Amazon Associates and other affiliate possibilities allow you to earn income as you write about topics you choose.  Your mileage will vary, but this writer claims income of over $8k last year thanks to HubPages.

EXAMINER: With coverage in 240 major cities across North America, Examiner is a good way to get noticed locally.  Behind-the-scenes IP interrogation routes people to the Examiner site closest to their hometown, so if you’re looking to be a hometown star, look no further.  The real benefit is a strong Google and Yahoo search presence along with a  lot results turning up on news feeds.  The selection process is a bit more restricted.  You’ll need to prove your expertise by providing writing samples, a summary of your experience history and text explaining why you’d make a good “Examiner” for the topic you want to write about.

ASSOCIATED CONTENT: Editorial review keeps the content on the strong side.  Peruse the assignment desk and get typing.  An editorial team will review your work and offer an upfront publish fee.  Earn assignment bonuses based on traffic.  If your article gets rejected, you can always publish it elsewhere.  I tried out AC back in 2007 and earned around $35 from eight articles.

SUITE101: Write what you want and receive lifelong royalties.  That’s Suite101’s pitch.  Writers commit to weekly posts; contributors guarantee 10 posts per quarter, Revenue is earned via ad-click revenue share.  The site gets exclusive rights to the content for a year.  After that, you can “reclaim” your work for an eBook or other use.  The writer acceptance rate is believed to be at around 20%.

ABOUT.COM: From anime to sugar-free cooking, this New York Times-owned Website get a ton of traffic.  all of those eyeballs means you can earn a decent wage for your expertise and hard work.  Guides receive $675 a month plus additional income based on page views.

Honorable mention:

SQUIDOO: The site allows you to contribute a portion of your earnings to charity.

EHOW: The Writer Compensation Program lets you earn based on the traffic the article receives and the quality of the content.

GardenWeb

If you’re new to the gardening scene, your very best bet is the iVillage GardenWeb. This site full of forums, photo galleries, and advice from experts is the place to begin. This is where you can figure out the basics – like which gardening zone you’re in, how to prepare a new garden plot, and how to grow pretty much anything, indoors our out. Peruse the “Ask the Experts” area for a compilation of the most frequently asked questions on the site, and you’ll learn more than any textbook could ever teach you. Visit the “Blogs” section to find postings compiled from favorite garden bloggers around the Web.

Dave’s Garden

This (self-proclaimed) hands-down favorite site of gardeners worldwide, DavesGarden is filled with how-to articles, videos, and photos. The site’s most popular feature is its “Plant Files,” which is the largest-known plant database in the world, with photos of over 180,000 different plants. Over 100,000 helpful comments by users assist you with plant identification, botanical names, and growing information – like height, hardiness, and planting specs. The “Bug Files” help you figure out what’s eating your plants, or which bugs could be beneficial to your garden.

Cyndi’s Catalog

If you’re unsure about buying seeds and plants from your local big-box home improvement store, visit Cindy’s Catalog of Garden Catalogs to find … catalogs … from every major mail-order seed company in the U.S. and Canada. The site features over 2,000 resources for seeds, plants, bulbs, and more, and breaks everything down into the most common categories under which you would be likely to search. The site also has a ratings system that helps you find the best quality, service, price and selection.

Yardiac

If you’re “slightly crazed about lawn, garden, and outdoor décor” Yardiac is for you. Powered by Garden.com, the site is helping lovers of all things green create outdoor living spaces that are beautiful and inviting. This is the go-to e-commerce spot for everything from the perfect patio furniture to quirky garden gnomes. Got grubs? Shoppers can also find a remedy for anything that ails their lawn or garden, plus stylish attire to wear while killing critters.

KidsGardening

If you’re a parent or educator, go to KidsGardening for great project ideas and educational information to share at home or in the classroom. The “families” area of the site offers quick, easy gardening ideas for tots, plus more difficult ones for older kids. The “teachers’ room” gives educators insight on how to engage kids through science, with a slew of articles on everything from beneficial insects to plant identification. There is also information on grants available to schools and communities. The “store” area helps you find everything you need for successful gardening with kids. The site is sponsored by the National Gardening Association.

Cooperative Extension System Offices

Perhaps the best gardening and yard care resource in the U.S. is the Cooperative Extension System, a nationwide educational network of offices in each state, staffed by experts, that can give you research-backed information on gardening (and many other topics). Each office is tied to a state university, and through federal funding brings special programs and assistance to the communities it serves. Most extension offices have a gardening hotline, and offer low-cost soil testing and pest/disease identification. This is also where you can go to take the curriculum required to become a certified Master Gardener, a program that allows you to become a gardening expert, and give back to your community.

Baseball Manager 2010

iPhone, download from iTunes, $4.99

Take baseball simulation to a new level with Baseball Manager 2010, an app that can only be described as “fantasy baseball meets The Sims.” Pick your favorite team from two leagues, and then manage their every move from spring training all the way to the World Series (hopefully!). You get to pick and trade your players, negotiate contracts, and choose your lineup game by game. You’ll be thrown the occasional wrench when a player is injured, or stolen by another team. But ultimately, you control the game because you’re privy to detailed info about your players’ skills, stats and contracts. This easy-to-use app gives you a glimpse at every detail of team management, and if you don’t like your current job, you can check out the app’s jobs market to see which ball clubs might have an opening for you. However, play your cards right or your owner can fire you! The app also features…

- Custom training schedules for teams and players
- Ability to negotiate player contracts and manage team finances
- Reports from scouts about other teams in your league
- Reports from trainers on player injuries
- Helps and tips within the game for smarter play
-Real-time stats, scores and more

Baseball Superstars 2010

iPhone, download from iTunes, $5.99

The sequel to the extremely popular Baseball Superstars 2009, this game has improved its batting capabilities, and is difficult enough that it feels like real baseball (virtually speaking). You’ll experience authentic roleplay feel as you bat, pitch and field your way to the World Series. With six modes of play (Exhibition, My League, Season, Homerun Race, Mission, and Match Play), you can experience everything from friendly “promo” games to hardcore bouts. You generate the players on your team – which is fun and creative – but it can take some effort before they perform the way you want. The fun comes when you simultaneously compete in batter and pitcher mode, using two separate players!  Training mode lets you improve your characters’ skills throughout the season. The more you win, the more you improve, but things can go south quickly. The game does not have a Major League Baseball license, so it lacks the excitement of affiliation. This, however, does not diminish the lure of America’s favorite game.

My BaseBall Bat Stats and My BaseBall Pitch Stats

Android, download from Androidzoom.com, $0.99 each

These highly popular apps let you track batting and pitching data and stats anywhere, at any time. Smart and easy to use, the app can store data for multiple games and teams, and lets you change data and view stats throughout the season, letting you track player and team trends.

Whether you’re following your favorite major-league team, or your own little-league player, My BaseBall Pitch Stats lets you keep tabs on batting averages, on-base percentages, and ERAs. The app also teaches you to calculate averages and stats for each player, and alerts you to common mistakes that may be bringing averages down. With this app, you can track a season’s worth of games, or just one game at a time.

Tell us, what apps are you using with the iPhone and the Android to keep up with your favorite ball clubs? Comment below and keep us in the know!

JobPile

The ability to drum up work is essential, but who has time to search job boards? JobPile takes listings from a several job sites –Indeed, Simply Hired, Yahoo!, HotJobs and Jobster – and funnels them into one easily-searchable location. Project seekers find at-a-glance freelance job listings in major cities across the country.

The hardworking Backpack app helps you create an intranet online, where you can create task lists, share files and images, manage production calendars, and collaborate. Backpack also lets you create a secure e-mail system and message board. Signup is seamless, and the site offers a 30-day free trial.

Writing an e-mail address on a napkin, or a phone number on your hand, is sometimes unavoidable. But with HighRise, you can seamlessly manage all your contacts – and create for yourself reminders to stay in touch with clients or prospects. The app helps you easily remember who’s who, what was said, and when you need to follow up next.

If you crave simple organization, Remember the Milk helps you stay on top of tasks. Create tagged to-do lists and then watch your task cloud to quickly see what’s next, or set reminders to be sent to your e-mail, instant messenger, or mobile device. You can even enter the locations of your errands and the site will tell you the most efficient route to take.

Communicate quickly with clients and colleagues via chat or instant messenger with Meebo. The site lets you create a buddy list and then use virtually any IM service to communicate buddies with using AIM, Yahoo!, Facebook Chat, MSN Google Talk, MySpace IM, and many others. Quickly engage in private or group chats, share links, and work in real-time via your desktop or mobile device.

With FreshBooks, account management is easy. This software helps you navigate accounts payable and receivable, send and track invoices online, and enter billable time from your computer or mobile device. You can create a branded system using your company’s logo, which will then be translated onto any form you create with the program, giving your business a polished look.

Collaborate with clients and colleagues via ConceptShare, a tool specifically created for the sharing of print, web and video projects. Upload your work to the site, and then invite others to view and offer feedback. With the feel of a creative roundtable, contributors can mark up designs, make comments, and help drive the direction of the work without time and location barriers.

ProjectStat

Spend less time answering the phone and replying to e-mails, and more time working with ProjectStat, an app that lets you easily enter and update project statuses. Clients can log on and see how you’re progressing with timelines, rather than contacting you directly. The app tracks basics aspects of your projects and gives users simple, no-frills reports.

Visit MorgueFile and pick up a few “has-been” photos. A huge library of high-resolution, royalty-free images is searchable by keyword. The site “repurposes” stock photos that are a little past their prime, but still very usable. Users can download any photo free of charge, view complete portfolios of photographers, and rate images to help improve the archive.

What are your favorite freelance tools?

Although Facebook Chat is very popular, web interface lacks many features you would like to see on your IM client, that’s why we provide you with best and full function Facebook Chat desktop clients for Windows and Mac platforms.

Digsby

Digsby is very powerful client that knows the “language” of many popular social networks and email services. I will name just largest platforms: Facebook Chat, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Talk, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Gmail, Yahoo mail, AOL/AIM Mail and others. It can really become your only software to update all your networks, check email and chat with buddies. Digsby is available for Windows – Mac and Linux versions coming soon (Thanks Mihnea!).

Check out this video to see main features and how it all works:

Adium

Adium is the most popular IM client among Mac users mainly because of features it may offer to mac users. As it is developed specifically for Mac it runs very smooth have native interface. Adium offers large number of services you can integrate together: AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, ICQ, Facebook Chat and others. If you own Mac – try Adium!

Pidgin

Pidgin is great client for Windows and Unix systems, although it doesn’t support Facebook chat by default you can integrate it using this plugin. Besides that you will be able to connect with your buddies on large number of networks and remember plug-ins, they offer almost unlimited possibilities for developers to add new features and networks.

Chit Chat For Facebook

App that is built specifically for Facebook and if you don’t want to get crazy integrating everything in one desktop client (trust me, it can be very annoying) you can go and install Chit Chat. This IM doesn’t have nothing too fancy, but there are all basic features you may want to require for Facebook Chat. Runs on windows only.

Palringo

Palringo have strong focus on mobile devices and if you like to use your phone for connecting to your friends – try this app. Currently it have applications for Android, Iphone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Simbian, Windows mobile and Java application. Also supporting large number of social networks and IM platforms – check out full list on their site.

CoTweet

CoTweet among many other features provides very handy and easy to use tweet scheduler. You will be able to schedule tweets for any date and time without any limits.

SocialOomph

SocialOomph is one of the best apps for auto-following users. As very powerful Twitter marketing tool it has tweet scheduler also. The best thing is that unlike auto-follow tool, tweet scheduler is available for free.

HootSuite

HootSuite is third powerful and feature rich application in our list  that includes also tweet scheduler. It is also very popular, web based multi account twitter client.

Twuffer

Twuffer is application built specifically for tweet scheduling. With this app you will be able to tweet pre-written posts and deliver to your followers remindings of upcoming events/podcasts/videos.

Su.pr

Stumble Upon owned URL shortener with some additional features including link scheduler for future publishing on Twitter and Facebook.

Twaitter

Twaitter actually is very powerful tool that may help you accomplish effective results in online marketing. One of the best features is that you can update all your social profiles as they have Ping.fm integration.

Taweet

Taweet, as they call it, is a social calendar – event promotion application for Twitter. If you are searching for application to do just tweet scheduling, this app is probably the best choice.

Tweet-U-Later

Tweet-U-Later is a small tool for tweet scheduling but I would like to see more features on this app, but if you search some very basic solution this may be your choice.

TweetFunnel

TweetFunnel is a multi user tool for Twitter where you together with your colleagues will be able to manage corporate Twitter account. Built-in tweet scheduler seams to be very standard with all features you may want from such tool.

FutureTweets

Future Tweets – I think name explains pretty well what does this application. This app build specifically for posting scheduled tweets and, with almost half million tweets delivered at the moment, it seams to be popular among Twitter users.

1) It’s no secret that the price of flowers triples at Valentine’s Day. Supply and demand. But if you’re a lover of tradition, order a huge bouquet of red roses over at FromYouFlowers.com. This site was ranked “Best Value Online Florist” by the CBS News, Early Show. Plus, every bouquet they send is guaranteed to be fresh, fragrant and beautiful. Choose from cheery arrangements, pretty plants, and even completely edible “candy-bar” bouquets.

2) If exquisite foodstuff is your idea of romance, Harry and David has you covered with beautiful gift arrangements of fine fruit and gourmet snacks. They also make some of the most beautiful chocolate truffles you can find. Their pre-made baskets are filled with surprises, or build a custom gift box full of your sweetheart’s favorites. You can even keep your honey happy all year by subscribing to the fruit-of-the-month club. Delicious!

3) Flowers and candy can seem too …  cliché … so surprise your mate with sweet sentiment instead. BoldLoft sells romantic gifts that couples can share (actually, they have to share them for the gift to make sense!), including his and hers t-shirts, pillowcases, drinking glasses and more. Kitsch rules with these adorable items that will cause your love to “awwww” over words and illustrations that are both whimsical and touching. And – unlike traditional gifts – these picks are non-perishable (just like your love).

4) If you can type, you can make a movie. Or so they say over at Xtranormal. This fun (albeit time consuming) site allows you to create movies on the fly using nothing but your computer and your imagination. So simple! So why not write your own “Love Story” script and turn it into a romantic mini-flick for your beloved? Add quirky inside jokes and other personal touches for a video your sweetie-pie will geek over for years to come.

5) If the goal is to get a little frisky this Valentine’s Day, help set the mood with a special delivery of something sexy from Pajamagram. With over 100 styles to choose from, you can find an exquisite ensemble that your mate will be thrilled to put on – and take off. Every set of women’s pajamas comes with a keepsake hatbox, a lavender sachet, a “do not disturb” sign, and a personalized card. And the selections are tasteful, not trashy, which will improve your chances of getting more than just a dirty look!

6) Whether you’re new to the romance game, or have been “around the block,” it can never hurt to brush up on your skillz. LoveLetterBox is your go-to guide for love, romance, and even improving “relations.” The detailed kissing guide is plenty of fun, and you can also find answers to tough questions in the Love Q&A, as well as inspiring stories, quotes, and even books to read on finding and keeping love. The Top 10 Romantic List might give you some ideas on where your mate likes to be kissed, fun activities to enjoy with your partner, and even types of love.

Sorry,  Internet geek, being a nerd is no longer an excuse for holding out on your significant other.   Use the Webistes above to land love or keep the one you’ve got.  Share your online V-Day destinations below.

1) Add a little sparkle to a special outfit by renting jewelry and evening bags from BorrowedBling. Three subscription levels – Countess, Duchess, or Movie Star – let you check out two or three items at a time without breaking the bank. And if you absolutely can’t part with an item, you have the option to buy. The gems are faux, but so high quality that many have been used on TV shows, and worn by celebrities. Subscriptions start at $29.95 per month, plus shipping charges.

2) If you dream of Prada, drool over Coach, and covet Yves Saint Laurent, Avelle (formerly known as Bag, Borrow, or Steal) has you covered. This virtual closet is filled with the world’s best designers. Thousands of couture items – handbags, jewelry, sunglasses, and watches – are yours to borrow, with the option to buy. Members also have access to a fashion blog, private inventory sales, and a virtual personal shopper.  Subscriptions start at $5 per month, plus a per-item usage fee based on the value of the item.

3) Choose from over 7,000 video game titles when you rent with GameFly. Members can borrow two games at a time, and control the order in which their games arrive by creating a “GameQ.” Keep games as long as you want, and when you send them back, your next picks are automatically mailed. New and classic titles are available for PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Xbox, Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance. You’ll also get game reviews, cheats and codes, and the option to buy any game. Subscription cost is $22.95 per month.

4) Paper and water never mix, unless you’re taking a dip over at BookSwim, THE place to rent the hottest book titles. A lit-lover’s dream, BookSwim(mers) can browse around the clock for new reads or old favorites. BookSwim will even purchase a book you’re looking for if it’s not already in their inventory. Keep a book as long as you like, and never worry about late fines. And if you become smitten with a borrow, it’s yours to keep with the click of a button. At the highest subscription level, 11 reads can be borrowed at a time, with free shipping.  Subscriptions start at $9.99 for one book a month.

5) If you’re looking for a tour guide in a new city, or a platonic movie friend, find a pal over at RentAFriend. With over 34,000 users in the U.S. and Canada, you can “hire” a friend of any ethnicity, gender, or interest for good old-fashioned hanging out. The site strongly states that it’s not a dating or escort service, and with your subscription you get access to profiles – with verified phone numbers – of everyone registered to the service. But friendship comes at a cost – you pay an hourly rate determined by your new “friend” for the privilege of his or her time. Subscription cost is $24.95 per month.

6) A veritable Ebay for rental goods, Zilok is a clearinghouse for … well … whatever. You can find or offer pretty much anything you can think of (legal, of course) with just a few clicks of a mouse. The site’s top rental offerings include cars, power tools, vacation homes, events and venues – but you can also rent a bounce house or chains for your snow tires. Rental fees are negotiated between the renter and buyer, and there is no monthly subscription fee. As with any site of this nature, buyer beware.

The Redneck Mommy

Nearly swallowed whole by the loss of her young son in 2006, Tanis Miller was saved by her kids and her blog. Writing at TheRedneckMommy.com, Miller is just as likely to dish out pee-your-pants humor as she is to write a heart-wrenching post about finding her way out grief’s foggy forest. She’s sometimes crass, always honest, and doesn’t try to hide her daily struggle to put one foot in front of the other.

Her Bad Mother

Catherine Connors knows parenting can be an experiment. Her motto, “Bad is the new good,” bashes stereotypes about “perfect” mothering. Blogging at HerBadMother.com, Connors is tight-lipped about nothing. Her faux pas, frustrations, and ugly parenting moments are all a matter of public record – along with joyful posts about her family. Connors believes moms should toss out convention and just figure out what works – and more importantly, what doesn’t.

Dooce

Some love to hate her, some hang on every word. Either way, Heather Armstrong over at Dooce.com has it all figured out. Professional blogging, that is. Motherhood she’s still learning. This veteran of the mommy blogosphere chronicles the goings-on in her chaotic living room (and psyche) with hilarious irreverence. Whether she’s talking spit-up or sex appeal, a million readers a month tune in for wit, whining, and undeniably beautiful photos.

The Pioneer Woman

Once a sophisticated city slicker, Ree Drummond and her “Marlboro Man” now raise kids and cattle in a life that is blissfully simple. Her blog, ThePioneerWoman.com is Martha Stewart-esque and serves up stick-to-your-ribs advice on making a happy home – including step-by-step cooking instruction (with photos). Drummond enjoys a loyal following with two million visitors a month, and rewards readers with content that nourishes body and soul.

Mominatrix

Writing for The Imperfect Parent online community, Kristin Chase removes “oops!” filters and reminds moms to find their inner sex-pot. No topic is taboo on Mominatrix – a “mature audiences only” blog chock-full of advice on libido, lovemaking and learning to feel sexy post-pregnancy.  Chase pokes fun at everything sex-related. She uses humor to start conversations, and helps moms arrive at their own “aha!” moments.

Fussy

Eden M. Kennedy’s “running-with-scissors” approach has helped her find success at Fussy.org, where she’s been blogging since 2001. Kennedy recounts the mundane with flair, and tells of life’s momentous events – like the time she gave birth in her bathroom – with a fine mix of humor and poignancy. Reading her front-row commentary on family, life, and celebrity gossip feels like coffee with a friend. Kennedy gets even quirkier over at yogabeans!, her site full o’ pics of action figures practicing Ashtanga yoga. Yup.

The Mommy Blog

If you think the name says it all, think again. Mindy Roberts, writer of TheMommyBlog.com, is doing more than journaling about motherhood – she’s meeting moms where they are with timely content and useful advice. A single mom of three, Roberts started blogging in 2002 to capture fleeting family moments. She kept it up and managed to leave corporate life for career blogging. Her witty voice and endearing observations about family, divorce, financial struggle and single parenting helped her build a loyal following, and she’s now influential in both blogging and parenting circles.

Such method can bring you a lot of potential costumers for your business and below you can find some of the best auto-follow by keyword tools – from free to advanced paid systems.

SocialOomph

SocialOomph is really great and very popular tool between online marketers. It will be the only thing you will ever need for managing your twitter account and it offers Facebook integration as well. Sign up for free account and test for yourself - unfortunately auto-follow feature available only for professional version.

AddNewFollowers

AddNewFollowers is one of the most advanced platforms for getting Twitter followers. It is the most complete tool that I have found and seams like it is working great. It can bring you a lot of attention on Twitter. Sign up for free account and try for yourself.

The features include automated tweets, auto-follow by keyword, hot trends chart, stats and many more.

If you are planning to use auto-follow tool for a long period of time it may be wise to purchase AddNewFollowers as it costs $37/$67 which is one time payment.

TwitterMass

TwitterMass is an interesting tool with some very useful features like local follow or clone user. Of course auto following/unfollowing tools included as well.

Twollow

Twollow is among the most popular auto–followers. It is very basic and , in my opinion, lacks different features that may be useful for such tool. But for those who think simplicity is a very important factor may find this tool very useful.

Twollo

Twollo is also a very basic tool for gaining new followers on Twitter. It have cheaper pricing than Twillow that’s why you may want to test this tool together with Twollow to see which can bring better results for you.

InstaFollow

InstaFollow is a free and manual tool for auto-following people on twitter based on your interests (keyword). As it is free you don’t get much but it is a place to start.

Hope these tools will help you to promote your brand. If you have some experience working with some of these tools or maybe you have your own favorite use comment form below to leave us some message!

Here you can find solutions that will cover most of users whatever you work on a PC, Mac or keep your photos online.

Facebook Exporter for iPhoto

Plugin for iPhoto (Mac) that will let you easily export photos to your Facebook account. This plugin have also tag your friends feature.

Adobe Photo Uploader for Facebook

I don’t know why this app is called Photo Uploader because it is pretty solid Facebook client actually, with all necessary features to communicate with your friends. As it runs on AIR you can use this app or PC and Mac. Of course image uploading is made super easy – just drag and drop files in to the uploader and you are done!

Bloom Facebook Photo Uploader

This desktop app is specifically designed to manage Facebook albums and it does it pretty well. Runs on PC, Mac and Linux.

Facebook photo uploader for FireFox

Very powerful FireFox plugin not only for facebook, but supports many different services like Flickr, Picasa, Box, net etc. If you don’t want to install dedicated program on your computer – maybe this choice is for you.

Picasa uploader for Facebook

Handy tool for Picasa users – an easy way to quickly upload photos directly from Picasa to Facebook.

Flickr to Facebook

Very small tool that allows you to upload pictures from Flickr to Facebook. Add this bookmarklet to the browser and use when you need to chare some picture with Facebook buddies.

Feel free to share some cool Facebook tools that let you manage your photo albums in the comment section below!

In new year, everything starts afresh and so do bloggers. Aside from resolutions and blogging plans, it’s time to evaluate our blogging progress from previous year. Some of you may not be a fan in tracking stats but in order to plan well ahead, at least a simple review is needed. I don’t plan to bombard you with multiple tools, but some easy, accessible ways you can do for your blog evaluation:

1. Number & Quality of Comments

Most of the time, we are advised to track which post received the most comments as an indicator of its popularity. Truth is, quality factor is equally important as to get 50 times of ‘good post!’ is unable to compete with 40 comments with insightful, continuous discussions. Of course, time factor can affect since newer posts may need longer times to accumulate comments comparing to older ones.

2. Number of Retweets

You don’t need me to explain to you how ‘big’ Twitter is nowadays. If you’re going full force with social media as an publicity tool for your blog, you need to install tweetcount widgets like Tweetmeme (http://tweetmeme.com) or Backtype (http://www.backtype.com/widgets/tweetcount). Their reliabilities are unquestionable. Further more a visible widget earns you 50:50 chance for readers to retweet. Blog author has nothing to lose but a higher chance to get discovered. Therefore make sure you have the ‘WIIFM’ (What’s In It For Me) factor for all your posts, make them irresistible to go viral in various social networks.

3. Social Boorkmaking Submissions and Votes

StumbleUpon (http://stumbleupon.com) and Blogengage (http://www.blogengage.com) are examples of social bookmarking sites that allow people to submit, vote and review on the posts they like. Keep an eye on the voting amount and Analytical details that indicate which bookmarking site sent you the most visitors. This helps in prioritize your focus in certain communities and bookmarking sites that worked for you.

4. Google Analytics

Probably the best, free analytical tool I’ve ever witnessed. You can have all the analytical statistics required to measure blog progress. With Google Analytics you can find out which are your popular posts and traffic source. Knowing which keywords drive in the most visits from search engine is vital. Also, you can even identify and prepare for a follow-up post according to your most visited content.

5. Google Feedburner

Keep a periodic record of your RSS feed subscribers. For example, create an excel file, jot down the feed count in accordance to your published posts. You may think this is troublesome at first but these information and numbers can very well portray how do people react to your blog.

6. Others:

• Other Blogs’ Responses

This including the backlinks received from other blogs. Try to identify whether the links are reciprocal or one-way link? Are the bloggers link to you because of your post quality? Who are they and how did they find your post?

• Alexa and Google Page Rank

Two options you can take into account while measuring your blog success in general. Although it may not be the precise way to authenticate the quality of your blog but bear in mind that some advertisers do take them as references. Be ahead of your targeted group and improve these rankings can be helpful.

• Income & Profit Stats

If your goal is to blog for money, obviously Google Adsense and affiliate programs are what matter most to you. Evaluate your monthly income and identify what you could do to enhance your email marketing and be persuasive in your promotions.

Some of the ways mentioned may not be suitable for everyone, but in general they can give you some ideas how others are responding to your blog. Your blogging goals will affect much how you interpret those data. So what methods do you use to measure your blog success?

Below you can find some of the best tools including South Park and Simpsons character generators. Of course that’s not all – you can find many more apps for this online. Feel free to share your findings in comments!

Simpson Avatar Generator

Face Your Manga

WeeWorld

South Park Avatar Maker

Yahoo Avatars

Portrait Illustration Maker

Download Windows 7 themes

Microsoft

The default place where to search for some custom themes. Besides themes you can find here also desktop gadgets and backgrounds/wallpapers.

DeviantArt

This is my favorite place to get high quality windows themes as thy are created my many creative designers and people who love tweak design related things including Windows. You can search for themes or wallpapers and I can guarantee you will wind real masterpieces that suits your taste.

Customize or Make your Own Windows 7 Theme

You should definitely start by watching this video from Microsoft how to customize your theme. You will find there basic things and maybe it will be enough for you to tweak your theme.

For more advanced users I may recommend this guide made by Ars Technica on how to unlock themes and make your own.

You can also install Rainmeter – powerful desktop customization platform which can help you to do almost everything you imagine with windows look. It is not focused so much on design but functionality – with help of Rainmeter you can keep an eye on your system resources, online data streams (email, RSS) – there are also weather forecasts, tio-do lists and many other features depending on your settings.

Some of My Favorite Windows 7 Themes

Windows 7 Ultimate RTM by sagorpirbd

Win7-Blend for Windows 7 v1.8 by zainadeel

AeroLighting For Windows 7 by neodesktop

Win7-Blend for Windows 7 v1.0 by zainadeel

Shadow for 7 by krissirk

Facebook for Adobe AIR

If you need an app just for Facebook than this is my choice Nr.1 – very easy to use and clean application running on AIR, that has all necessary features to be a great tool for real Facebook addicts. You can download this app here.

Tweetdeck and Seesmic

For me Tweedeck and Seesmic are almost identical apps – looks and works very similarly and if you already use one of those for Twitter than that’s should be your choice. Of course those little things makes them different (to be honest I’m more as a Seesmic dude) and you should try out them both to see which one works for you best. BTW, Tweetdeck have also LinkedIn support.

Fishbowl

Fishbowl is Windows only Facebook client that is directly designed to work with Facebook only. It also looks very interesting from user interface perspective and have all features to become your main tool to communicate with Facebook friends.

Socialite

Socialite is very powerful social networking tool unfortunately for MAC only. It isn’t limited to Facebook only – it bay also be your RSS reader, Twitter client, Flick uploader and much more. And if you are looking for great native MAC app you should defiantly go with this one.

Hey, we also have our page on Facebook – check it out and become a friend!

Twitter

Chromed Bird – Really cool twitter client integrated right into your Chrome browser. You can also try Chrowety, Tweetings or some other built-in Twitter client.

TwitterBar – easy to use plugin for posting to twitter – no unnecessary features just type in and post.

Fast Twitter Search – this extension adds Twitter search button to the toolbar so you can quickly find something on twitter.

What the trend – very interesting plugin to see what’s are the top trending topics on Twitter right now.

TwittMark – small extension that let’s you to post bookmarks directly to twitter.

Facebook

Facebook for Google Chrome – extension for quick access to your Live feed and notifications. Using this extension you also can quickly update your status.

Facebook – this extension offers more functionality than previous one and if you are communicating a lot on Facebook maybe this suites you more.

Facebook Adblock – very simple but useful plugin that hides ads on Facebook and Facebook Lite. To me ads on Facebook isn’t big issue but maybe you have other thoughts. Check out also AdBlock.

Alwittizer Facebook Enhancer – only one Facebook beautify extension that actually makes things better not worse. Probably the smartest thing is to use Facebook as it is because installing plugins like Beautify Facebook actually makes things look worse.

Feel free to check out these great Chrome extensions and if you know more cool and useful tools others may use – share your thoughts in comments.

Well Mr. Boring, STFU!  We all have guilty pleasures.  So what if they are rooted in the destruction of other people’s lives!  Heck, they get paid inordinate sums of money; so we have the ‘right’ to watch them rise and fall under the media microscope.

To get your celebrity fix, check out these hot gossip sites:

Perez Hilton – The self-proclaimed “queen of all media” doodles “cute” and “OMG” over tabloid pics of stars from the A to the D list.  Perez has built up a media empire of gossip.  He’s rude, disgusting and not for everyone, but if you can only check one site, this is the one.

Oh No They Didn’t – Hilarious commentary about celebrity life and travails.  The comments are as funny as the posts.

Dlisted – Dirty language, embarrassing photos and celebrities looking their worst.  This is not the site to see glamorous photos of your favorite stars, but it shows a little more restraint than some of the others.

The Superficial – The name says it all.

TMZ – The main source for “wardrobe malfunctions” and other steamy photos, TMZ pays for tips and scrapes the gutter for all the gossip and tips you hate to admit you love.  Thirty Mile Zone

Gawker – The flagship of the Nick Denton media empire, Gawker is a little more high brow then the rest.  It covers Hollywood and NYC celebrities, and it’s sister site Deadspin covers sports and athlete-gossip.

Page Six – Celeb photos and canoodling spottings.  Includes thought-provoking questions such as “Would you watch ‘Idol’ without Simon?”

E-online – The grandpa of the gossip Website domain, the TV stations companion delivers breaking news, A-list scoops, and an active readership who is willing to comment on just about anything.

PopSugar- The gossip arm of the Sugar network garners millions of page views a month and delivers juicy dish targeted towards young women.  A nice balance of snark and  paparazzi photos keep readers engaged, and if the site lets you down, the Sugar Web is sure to lure readers in.

The higher they rise, the harder they fall.  So which Hollywood starlet will die at the hands of a prescription drug cocktail?  Which husband will beat the sh*t out of his wife and come out squeaky clean?  And who will come out of the closet after 30 years of heterosexuality?  The new year is just getting started, and that means a 365 days of dirt.  Stay in the know with the sites above and add your favorites in the comments section below.

Treehugger – The go-to site for everything green.  It has sub-blogs about going green, environmental politics, green jobs, travel tips and more.  It also has a healthy sense of humor.  With tons of new content everyday, Treehugger is easily the top sustainability site on the web.

Grist – Time Magazine called Grist “the Colbert Report of climate change, the Daily Show of deforestation, the Oprah of oil dependency — except with real reporting and analytical journalism.”  We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

The Daily Green – A useful site for greening all parts of your daily life, from your meals to your lightbulbs to your shopping.  Comes in digestible little bites like the “One Easy Thing” feature and green gift buying guides.

Worldchanging - A fascinating blog about the people and ideas that are driving green innovation.  For the people who want to stay two steps ahead of the curve.

Environment Guardian – The Guardian, the UK’s version of the New York Times, has an incredibly comprehensive green feature.  The audio, video, opinion, green lifestyle guides and news give readers many avenues to learn about green news around the world.

The Green - The website of the Sundance Channel’s green show has video about animal mating habitats, how to be a lazy environmentalist and other interesting topics.  For the visual learner.

EcoGeek - What’s the real story of the latest solar panel technology?  Are lithium deposits in danger of running out, thus hampering the growth of hybrid vehicles?  EcoGeek is a great site for those who really want to get into the science of sustainability.

Ask The Lantern – Paper or plastic?  Should I leave my cell phone plugged in all night?  Is beer or wine better for the Earth?  Readers ask the green lantern questions about green living, and the lantern answers them a couple times a week.

Veggie Meal Plans – The single biggest thing you can do to reduce global warming is to adopt a vegetarian diet, or at the very least, dramatically cut down on meat consumption.  Factory farms emit tons of ozone-depleting methane and grow calories very inefficiently.  It takes thousands of gallons of water 16 pounds of grain to produce a pound of beef.  Livestock production emits more greenhouse gases than all cars, trains and planes combined.  Veggie Meal Plans helps you plan a tasty meal plan from the grocery store to the cookbook, and makes going veggie easy.

Ecorazzi - Who is the latest celebrity to go vegan?  Who is driving a hybrid?  Ecorazzi bridges the green and gossip worlds.

There is much more out there, but this is a start.  World leaders failed to reach a meaningful accord in Copenhagen, so it’s up to us to lead the way.  Any green sites you’d like to share with fellow Rotorblog readers?

Planning a party is hard work.  From music to snacks to drinks, you’ll have plenty to do – so invitations should be the last of your worries.

Evite – Evite has been the default party invitation service for years, and it’s terrible.  The invitation does not have the address of the party, forcing you to click on the site, where you are bombarded by ads.  What else is out there?

Pingg - Puts all the info you need in beautifully designed emails, and lets you RSVP directly from the website.  For a few bucks you can send postcards or even text messages to your guests as well.  Easy to use, good looking site.

MyPunchBowl – A clean site that gives you all the basic functionality and allows you to text invites.  The cool feature is that yo can let the guests vote on the start time and see how they respond.  If 10pm gets more votes than 9pm, you know when to start the party.  You can also upload photos and send them around afterward as an after party feature.  Depending on the party hijinks this may or may not be a good idea for you.

Shindigg (beta) – Allows text message invites, after party photo sharing and gives each party it’s own site.  You can also link to photos from Flickr, MySpace or anyplace else.

Socializr – Founded by the guy who started Friendster, Socializr brings the 2.0 to party planning.  Has all the features others do, plus allows you to publish and share party info on Facebook, Yelp and other social networking sites, allows contact importing from all big email services and gives users the option of customized URLs.

PurpleTrail – Gives the basic functionality of the others and allows you to send printed invitations for a small fee, either through them or by printing them at home.  Unlike some of the others which have google ads on their free versions, PurpleTrail is ad free.

Crusher – If you are a committment-phobe who can’t be bothered with signing up for Websites, Crusher is for you.  Keep an open guest list, poll friends for information and design custom announcements – all without ever parting with your e-mail address.

Smilebox - Unlimited photo uploads and custom skins will bring you one step closer to bringing your online friends offline.  Create unique groups and seek out ‘partygoers’ with similar interests.

Zoji - Choose from tons of invitations, add your photos, videos, words, and music.  Then you have the option to e-mail, blog, or print your invites.

We here at Rotorblog are still waiting for our invite.  Don’t you dare tell us it got lost in the (e)mail!

This post is written by Niall Harbison

For people who are just starting out in the world of blogging one of the most frustrating things that crop up is the lack of blog comments that you receive. This even happens to more established blogs who suffer from a lot of lurkers (people who read the blog without ever announcing themselves) rather than people leaving comments. If you are lucky enough to get comments they can be the lifeblood of your blog and a great source of additional content and go on to be a whole new element to the blog on their own.

So what can you do to get more comments on your blog? I wanted to share some tips that have been very effective for me during the course of building all the blogs that I am involved with…

Reply to comments

This might seem pretty obvious at the start when you are only getting a couple of comments here and there but you should always take time to try and interact with people who have taken the time to share their thoughts on your post. People will begin to expect your replies and leave more comments in return and a real sense of community will develop on your blog.

Pose lots of questions

Although you may think that your opinion is the only one that counts there will be lots of topics that you cover that you don’t know every last thing about so it is good to ask your readers for feedback in the comments. Another good tip is to always finish a post with a question as that will provoke the natural instinct of the reader to answer your question immediately.

Write controversial content

You don’t need to go totally crazy on this one but do write content that polarizes people and makes them think about what they are reading and stirs the passion inside them to comment. Don’t forget that people don’t always have to agree with you and say “great post”, some of the most commented posts I have had are when people totally disagree with what you say.

Comment on other blogs

You’ll often hear people tell you to comment on blogs in order to grow traffic or increase the amount of subscribers you have but the real value here in my opinion is the amount of comments that you get in return. Rather than just fire hosing comments all over the place stick to a good batch of about 20 blogs and start building relationships with some of your fellow bloggers through the comments. Bloggers are after all the sort of people who like to have their voice heard and write so they are the most likely to comment.

Build a community

You have so many tools available to you these days to help you build your community from Twitter to Facebook and forums and you should be using these to leverage the amount of people coming to visit your blog. The key is saying interesting things on these other platforms so as you build a community and people feel compelled to come to your blog and comment.

Guest post:

Written by Niall Harbison

Niall runs social media agency Simply Zesty.