Archive: PayPerPost
A few months ago we crossed the 200,000 blogger mark in PayPerPost. While I am extremely excited about that achievement the tremendous growth has also created some issues for us. Over the past few weeks we have been speaking to many of our advertisers, reading our boards and gathering feedback in general. The single biggest complaint has been as our network has grown the quality of blogs has suffered. I want to formally acknowledge our customers’ concerns and our intention to address them.
Tomorrow we are beginning the first stage of cleaning up blog quality on each of our networks, starting with PPP. We are going to manually audit every blog in our system. Our goal is to elevate the overall quality of our marketplaces and deliver more value to our advertisers. This will undoubtedly leave thousands of bloggers upset that they can no longer participate in the system and I am sorry to be the bearer of unfortunate news to those who will no longer qualify.
Much like a bonsai tree we must strategically trim our marketplace to control its shape and promote proper growth. While I am saddened that we will no longer be to able to work with some blogs, I am confident that we will be providing our advertisers with a better service which ultimately means more opportunities for those blogs that remain.
Every blog in the system is going to be reevaluated with a discerning eye. I want to point out that our TOS provides minimum guidelines, but every blog is ultimately approved or not at our sole discretion. Just because a blog meets the minimum requirements does not mean it is the right fit for us.
If your blog fails the audit you will receive an email notification and will no longer be able to use that blog to take opportunities. You will still be paid for any outstanding posts that are currently in process and pass review. You will not be able to resubmit your blog for inclusion at this time.
If your blog passes the audit you will also receive an email letting you know you made the cut. It’s going to take at least 30 days to complete the audit so please be patient.
I wish you all luck.
SocialSpark is really catching on, so much so that IZEA had to hire another inside sales manager to help manage all the advertiser interest. So here I am! My name is Erin Fox and I was attracted to IZEA's unique marketing platform almost six months ago. Since then I began hanging around the office in hopes that they would break down and let me in already!!! Some might call it "stalking" but I think of it more like being tactfully aggressive :) Well it paid off and here I am. I truly love my position at the company since I get to help our advertisers maximize their social media exposure. What could be better for a UCF marketing major? Being at IZEA truly is a dream job, especially since I get to be a part of something that is creative, unique and cutting edge.
Now for the personal stuff. I worked in new home sales for the past three years and I really became interested in the green movement. The amount of waste that a newly constructed home produces is staggering ( 2 tons!) So that really inspired me to reduce my impact on the world. I have been doing my research and learning about all the new and old ways to reduce, reuse and .....(come on you know it).....recycle!!! I am hoping to get some more advertisers who are a part of that industry to become a part of Social Spark. We only have a few green bloggers right now, so I can't wait for more to join. My hope is that we get a whole channel dedicated to going green. Then all of us "tree-huggers" can find out about the latest and greatest green products and services.
I truly believe that the blogging community has so much insight to offer our advertisers and are becoming a major influence in the marketplace. My future at IZEA looks very bright and I can't wait to see what happens next. Look forward to future posts and your feedback.
What an exciting day for the team! SocialSpark is now available to the general public as a beta site. This picture says it all! We seem to be missing some folks from our team picture; Ted, Randy, David and Travis from RockStartup are out in San Francisco releasing SocialSpark at ad:tech. How exciting for all those attending today and tomorrow. If you are lucky enough to be out there stop by the booth #6163.
ummm the champagne support team?
Check out the site: www.socialspark.com
Read today’s Press Release: here
SocialSpark video overview:
Here are some screen shots:
The Marketplace
Blog Analytics:
Buzz Tracking:
Wow. Two blog posts from me in one day!! The world must be coming to an end!
Ok, I need some help from all the posties out there. I'd ask around here, but the dev team is still extremely occupied with SocialSpark.
As you all know, I am the Controller for IZEA. As such, my background is in the accounting field ... not the blogging/advertising/computer dev fields (although I did minor in Advertising). After working here for well over a year now, I have finally decided to get off my badonkadonk, and start a blog. I just asked Pete for 2 seconds worth of advice, and his response, with a laugh was, "Why do you work here?!?! ha ha. Blog about it and the posties should be able to help you out."
So here I am ... asking for your help. I have my bare naked blog www.thesportsdad.com up and running, with one entry on it. It's run through Typepad, and other than installing the IZEA tool kit, I have absolutely no idea of what to do other than creating blog posts. So I need help with any other aspect of it ... trackbacks, SEO, sidebars, etc ... any advice you all can help me with to help maximize my blogging experience.
Thanks so much!!
I may have mentioned this a while back to a few of you all, but a few years back, when the show was in it's prime, I was a contestant on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" show. (Yes, Regis was the host back then, not Meredith).
It was a long, process to actually get flown to New York, but I'll attribute it to a little bit of skill, and a lot of luck. Basically, you had to phone in every day (only allowed one call a day), and answer 3 computer generated trivia questions. If you miss one, the phone call ends. If you correctly answer all three, then they ask for your SSN, phone number and a possible film date you would be available for. Then comes the luck part. A computer randomly selects 40 phone numbers that answered the 3 correctly. Later on, I found out that approximately 180,000 people called the line a day, with approximately 20,000 answering all 3 questions correctly. So the odds of getting randomly selected the next day are anout 2/10 of oone percent.
I made it part of my routine ever day affter work/school to call in, and it finally paid off. I received a phone call back after answering the 3 questions correctly. I then had to call a private 1-800 number 2 days later and answer 5 more trivia questions. All 40 people randomly selected had to call that number within a 15 minute time frame. All 5 questions were identical, so the contestants that got all 5 questions right (provided there was 10 of them) got a free trip to New York to get on the show. Luckily, I passed that round as well.
I was also fortunate enough to get the final fastest finger question correct on the episode I was on, so luckily I got to meet Regis personally, and get in the hot seat!! Otherwise I would have been rather upset, getting all the way to the show ... in the episode and choke in my attempt to get into the hot seat. I would have never forgiven myself.
On a more personal side note, my guest that I brought was my mother, Linda. I am so happy that I chose her, because 2 years later, she was tragically taken from us in a car accident. This trip to New York, was the last one on one trip I had with her. And we had some wonderful moments I will never forget, just the two of us. It's still a little rough for me watching the video of her, but when I do, it brings back all the great memories we shared.
Back to the episode ... thanks to some help from Travis with the editing, here are the excerpts from the show. It shows all the questions I answered ... including the final one. I am going to ask you all to at least pause the final answer. And see what you would have answered. Please post what you would have answered, or if you answered it correctly, but PLEASE do not post the answer on the comments board, as I want to get an analysis of which answer everyone picked. The question was, "What is the object that has holes or spikes in it, that you put in a vase to support a floral arrangement? A.) Rabbit B.) Frog C.) Porcupine D.) Ladybug. Remember, post YOUR answer ... but do not reveal the answer shown on the video. Let me know if you all were right. Enjoy!!!
We want to thank everyone who completed the Customer Experience Survey. We had a great response, and the information provided was outstanding. We received a lot of great comments on the things that we are doing well, and what we need to improve. I assure you that your feedback has been heard, and we will continue to make every effort to meet your needs.
Thanks again.
On another note, help us congratulate Jerry Russell. He is the winner of drawing for the iPod Touch.
Ready,
1-2-3
CONGRATULATIONS JERRY!!!!!!!
So, while the rest of us are here at IZEA's Orlando headquarters working feverishly hard, our VP of Sales is off relaxing and sunning at a resort in lovely Costa Rica. How cool is THAT?! (Can you tell I'm envious?). If anyone deserves some rest and relaxation, it's Randy, that's for sure! Without him as our fearless leader of sales, we wouldn't be where we are today!
PayPerPost (now one of several online properties of IZEA, Inc.) was founded in July of 2006. Randy was hired in December of that year, and shortly thereafter he hired his first PayPerPost sales employee, the one and only Mr. Joe Vaughn. Today the Sales Team totals 9 people! Randy has more than 27 years of success in traditional and new media advertising sales and management, including former roles as a VP of Sales for MySpace.com, and Director of Sales at AOL.com. We know he's one of the best in the business, and we're fortunate to have him as a part of our IZEA team!
While on vacation in Costa Rica, Randy still checks his e-mail and stays up to date on important issues going on at the office. He also sent us a couple of pictures, so I thought I'd pass them along for your viewing pleasure.
Check out this beautiful close up picture of a toucan. (It makes me think of Fruit Loops!)
Being a Mother myself, I adored this picture. Randy told us he adopted the baby. Hopefully he knows how to change diapers!
What an awesome view from his resort room! Can you see the volcano in the background?
OK, let's make note of the Ohio State hat Randy is wearing. He is a HUGE Buckeye fan! Alas, Coach Jim Tressee's team lost the National Championships 2 years in a row now - to LSU in '08 and to Florida '07 - but don't tell Randy (shhhhhh). Here's a pic of Randy doing the Ohio State fight song.
I should probably stop now because if I reveal any more, I may be filing for unemployment in the near future. Just kidding. :-) We're IZEA! We support each other and share each other's successes and passions. This is what we're all about!
Hi guys ... I know it's been a while, but a long, long time ago a few of you had asked for pictures of the new addition to my family, Caden. ( http://www.rockstartup.com/episodes/episode_36.html ). Now that the dust has settled, and the fear of diaper changing has been overcome, I am finally able to post some pictures. He is 5 1/2 months now, and has the lungs of an opera singer. He's enjoying his voice and just screams BAAA BAAA BAAA BAAAA as loud as he can. I guess he gets his tone from his mommy!! He is an absolute flirt with the ladies, and an angel to be around. I am super proud to be his daddy!!
Hi everyone,
I figure now that most of you have probably received an e-mail, or two, or three, from me (and no it's not spam :-)) it may be a good time to introduce myself. So here goes....
My name is Gordon King. I am the Manager of Customer Love. I started the end of November, and what a ride it has been. Working for IZEA has been a blast; never a dull moment. And the fun is just beginning.
We have already implemented several changes in the C-Love department that will allow us to be proactive in our approach to servicing. I guess "proactive" would be a good theme word for the department, as I am always talking about being proactive in our service. How you ask? Simply put, being more involved with the boards, blogs, putting information at your fingertips, and if the information is not at your fingertips, answering your questions promptly and in a manner that "answers" the question. Not only listening to what you are saying, but, just as important, what you are not saying. Hmmmm!!!
A little about me:
I am married (boy did I get lucky; she is amazing), with 2 boys (ages 4 and 12). Man, the teenage years are coming. Pray for me!! lol Both are amazing kids. My 12 year old is a premier league soccer player, and travels quite a bit. And yes, I am the assistant coach. So I spend a lot of time coaching and traveling with him. My 4 year old enjoys doing what 4 year olds do. TEAR THE HOUSE APART!!! jk He is an amazing kid. He really loves sports, and just started taking karate. He gets so excited to show me what he learned. I am a graduate of the University of Central Florida, where I played football. So, I am a HUGE UCF football fan, season ticket holder, and booster. WOW!!! Football season is already over...what to do, now?
In a nutshell, I believe that too many companies place too little emphasis on providing quality service to their customers. I am proud to say that is not the case with Ted, and IZEA.
I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with each of you.
As you know from a post published by Britt a couple of weeks ago, the IZEA team recently moved into our new office space. It's much roomier than our previous area, and there's ample meeting space (we were practically fighting to use the one conference room we had in our old office) where we can come up with new and innovative ideas!
Earlier this morning Britt & I decided to take a video tour of the office, and share it with you guys...our blog readers. A little insight into us, on a Friday afternoon. The video's kinda long because we got distracted by the dogs in the office (check out our Twitter profile for details) a few times but we tried to cover all areas.
In addition to the tour we also talk about important updates to PostieCon.com including:
- Video from each session at last November's conference
- Speaker information
- Blog America Tour blog posts, twitters, and photos
While you're there make sure and sign-up to receive the latest information about PostieCon 2008.
Tour Part I:
Tour Part II:
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