New Mexican Flavor of the Moment: Laura Elena Harring
Mmm, Laura Elena Harring. She is hands-down my fave chica of Mexican heritage. And she is the new Mexican Flavor of the Moment.
Look for more posts on this hispanic hottie.
Smorty owes me referral money: An update
As you recall, Smorty owes me money. Again. This time what they owe me is referral income just shy of $5.00. Not a huge sum of money, but it would feed me twice at Taco Bell.
I called Smorty on their shenanigans of withholding my money from me. They tried to put me off. Then they tried to tell me that they only owed my $0.30. Here are the complete emails that I exchanged with those wankers.
Original message I sent on May 20:
Just wondering how long it takes to get paid for referrals. I have referred someone that I know has approved posts yet I have not seen any referral income. Please advise.
Smorty’s reply that day:
Hi XXXmynamehereXXX,Referral money is paid with normal post payments, it is not paid on it’s own. http://blog.smorty.com/2008/03/referall-commissions.html
Smorty
My reply to them:
According to my records, the payments that I have received have only been for actual opportunities that I took. Do you have a detailed payment history showing referral payments for my account? Thanks
Then they reply:
The referral payments will be noticed with an information sign saying “New payment was increased due to commission and reposted missing posts modifiers” and the net part of the payment will be in green.
Smorty
So, I find the info on my account and verify that I have not been paid any referral payments.
Then, I reply:
I have not received any referral payment and my referral says that her payment history shows a 1st payment date of April 1, 2008. Thanks.
They respond:
You will be receiving your referral payment which is $0.30 with your next post payment.
Smorty
Now, I have no outstanding post payments, and they should know this. But still, I forge on.
I reply to Smorty:
Thanks. And when can I expect the remaining $4.41 referral payment?
They respond:
As you can see from the referal Program section from your admin panel, Your past 4 weeks referal earning is $0,30 which will be paid on our next payment cycle which is on a weekly basis, however Smorty do not have a set payment day. The reason for this is because we pay via PayPal mass pay. The transfer of tens of thousands of dollars through PayPal can sometimes vary in time. As soon as your post has been approved, which takes 5 days, we try to pay for that blog article on the first payment day of that week.
Regards
Smorty
So, then I reply:
I am aware that the referral section shows that $0.30 is due to me, however I am also aware that the grand total in referral payments due to me is $4.71 as evidenced from a screencap sent to me by my referral. My referral has taken several tasks which equal a grand total of $94.20 in payments. And the referral 5% would be $4.71. As of today’s date I have received no referral payments whatsoever. Thanks for investigating this matter.
Douchebags.
They then respond:
You will be receiving the referral payment as $4,71 total but it will be in step by step process. Your referral did not receive the payments one at a time. The system makes the payment to the blogger’s post first then to the referral.
Smorty
So, I reply:
Thank you for your help in clearing up this matter. I do hope it is resolved within the next month as my referral received their first payment on April 1, 2008.
Regards.
And that was my last communication with them on May 23, 2008. I can’t wait to see how long it takes to get the $4.71. You would have thought that they would have gotten tired of my emails and just paid me the money that they owe me. What they do not know though is that I want my damn money! I will give them till the end of month before I email them again. And send the info to The Consumerist. People that want to make money online need to know not to waste their time with companies that do not respect them enough to pay them in a timely manner.
Smorty referral FAQ: (click to enlarge)
Money my Smorty referral has earned: (click to enlarge)
A Smorty update
I emailed Smorty about my referral money that is due to me. In total, it is only around five bucks but still - it’s my money dammit!
Smorty responded rather quickly. They are trying to pay the “we paid you your referral payments with your regular payments” card. I’m not falling for it. Not only do I keep meticulous records of my online income, but they have a payment history tab. And that payment history details the exact thing you were paid for and the amount.
I responded that they still owe me. And now I wait.
The problem with SocialSpark
Not all that long ago I signed up with SocialSpark. I like to get paid to blog about random crap. I also like that all of the links you get for the opps with them are no follow links.
Today I got an email telling me “You have been paid for your post!” and when you open the email it says:
Your post Brand your blog with Zookoda email newsletters has been approved for payout, and your SocialSpark account has been credited. To transfer this money to your PayPal account, please visit the Blogger Payout section on the “Manage My finances” page in SocialSpark.
So, I went to the Social Spark page to do just that. Guess what? It won’t let me cash out. Why?
1 error prohibited this blogger cashout from being saved
There were problems with the following fields:
- Trans amount is Less Than the Minimum of $20.00
Wankers. Thanks for mentioning that there is a minimum amount to get paid for real.
Enough is enough
I decided that enough is enough. I could be earning interest on the money that Smorty owes me. Instead, those bastards are earning my interest. So, I shot them off an email inquiring about it’s status. Let’s see if/when they respond.
Here is my polite email:
Just wondering how long it takes to get paid for referrals. I have referred someone that I know has approved posts yet I have not seen any referral income.
Please advise.
Smorty announces new income stream; I announce that Smorty owes me referral money
Smorty is an money making venture that should really be avoided. In fact, I need to take down the link to it that I have in my sidebar. You see, Smorty apparently does not like to pay. It is like pulling teeth to get regular payments. And then there are referral payments. I know I have referral payments due to me. Yet they are no where to be found. I sure wish they would pay up.
Apparently the money that they have been withholding was being used to develop a little something new. Here is the email I just got from them…
Dear Smortians,
We have an exciting new feature! Digxa Mini Stores.
Publish contexual click through advertising on your blog with Digxa Mini Stores. This customizable solution allows you to place both standard and pop up product banners from related words within your posts. For example, the words “mobile phone” may generate a visible link that pops open a banner advertising a “mobile phone” if the visitor places their mouse over it. If this product is clicked on, you will receive a commission ranging up to $0.60.
Login to your Smorty admin panel to get started today for free! https://members.smorty.com/
The new http://www.smorty.com website is also ready. Check it out for all the information you need.
Good luck and happy blogging to you all.
Team Smorty
Douchebags.
Kontera: Money Maker or Traffic Killer?
Since I got my latest Google PageRank spanking, I have been investing other ways to get my income up. One of those things that I am testing out is Kontera. I have added it to a few of my sites so that I can see how it performs for me. From what I have read, it really depends on your niche as to how Kontera will perform for you.
In February, Living off Dividends reported making almost $100 from Kontera in the second month of using it on 3 sites. And just a few days ago, Jim Karter reported making more than $9,000 with Kontera for 32 sites.
I added Kontera to 8 of my sites on April 8th and made $1.73 total. Clearly I am going to need to tweak it a bit to get anywhere near the results that I listed above.
Why I use a free theme for my blog
It took me quite some time to find a free wordpress theme that I was happy with. In fact, I cannot say that this gringo loves this theme entirely. However, it is the closest I could find to what I was looking for.
After my last post you might be wondering why I am using a free theme as opposed to a premium theme.
Simple.
I’m trying to make pesos not spend them.
Granted there may come a point when I take the plunge and buy a premium theme. I’d love to. I’ve seen several by Unique Blog Designs and Adii that I would like to have. But they are close to $100, which is a dealbreaker for this cheap gringo at the moment.
The question is, if I wait to get a premium theme and even a logo will it hurt my branding? It is likely it will. However I am not trying to build an empire. I’m just trying to be a peso millionaire. And none of my blogs that I run have premium themes. However, I have found a new free theme that I plan on changing too. It looks a bit more professional and crisp. The only downer is that it has problems when viewed in Internet Explorer. But I think I can live with that.
Why you should use a premium or custom theme for your blog
If you look around the web at the people who are consistently making big money blogging on the web, they have at least one thing in common.
They all look different.
They might have started out using free themes, but now they are all using custom themes that were designed specifically for them.
Have a premium theme or a custom theme sends the message that you are serious about your blog. It looks professional. It is also a useful way to do some branding. And branding is important. And if you are blogging in a specific niche, then it helps you to look like an authority.
Of course, premium themes cost money. And those coveted custom themes cost even more.
I have several blogs that I work on and I know that at some point I need to move away from the free Wordpress themes. I think that free themes have the same handicap with them that free blogspot blogs have.
Of course, there are people out there with free blogspot blogs and free themes that are making money blogging. But I think that they are far outnumbered by the alternative.
Page rank smackdowns hurts right in the wallet
Well, it was bound to happen. My remaining sites that had a page rank were hit with the almighty Google smackdown. What does this mean? It means a serious decrease in online income for this gringo. That means more hard work on those affiliate programs. It also means trying to beef up posts and content on my pages that have not yet attained a page rank. Damn Google for messing with me and my quest for one million pesos.
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Sponsors
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Progress
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Goal: 1,000,000 MXN
Current: 64,288.69 MXN
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The Donation Piñata
Help this gringo out with a little donation!
I'm trying to get to one million pesos by 12/31/08.
As of March 31, I am at 64,288.69 MXN.
For more on my progress, click here. -
The exchange rate
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The goal? 1,000,000 Mexican Pesos.
Current exchange rate as of 4/15/08 is 1.00 MXN = 0.10 USD.
So, 1,000,000 MXN = 95,350.23 USD.
Check out the Currency Converter at XE.com.
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Mexican Flavor of the Moment
Laura Elena Harring
