bla.sting your way for some money and traffic

Posted by Costa in Archived Articles on June 9, 2007 | no responses |

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When I started this blog, like all my other blogs, I go around submitting it to blog directories, especially those directories that offers free listings. Of course I know if I don’t pay, my submission will be buried deep under those who are willing to pay for front page listings. However due to financial constraints, I went ahead with the opinion that even if my submission do not see the light of the day, it is better than no submission at all. Then I stumbled upon bla.st.

A Free International Web Directory with a Difference.

Bla.st is another web directory that allows bloggers or webmasters to submit and list their sites in their directory for free. The fun part is, instead of the boring blue color text links that you see in most directories, bla.st uses cards that are designed by the site’s owner as their list.

Submitting a card is as easy as any other directories. The only problem some might face is designing a suitable card, but those with some basic knowledge of photoshop or other similar programs should have no problems coming up with a simple card. I did mine in 10 minutes using photoshop. The cards must be exactly 270 pixels wide by 165 pixels high or it will be rejected. After getting the card ready it’s just a matter of following simple instructions.

Pay to stay on top.

Like all directories, bla.st allows you to pay for a front page listing and is calculated on a daily basis. The higher you pay, the better your card will be positioned, but i have to say the rates are pretty attractive and when I am ready, I am going for the paid listing. We can go for as low as 1c per day. That’s only $3.65 for whole year’s listing. Of course then your card wont be as high up as those who pays 5 or 6 cents per day, but then it will be in front of all those free ones. You can also opt for the duration of your card to be displayed. I opted my free listing to be listed for 5 years. After all it’s free, at least for the time being. I can go back and pay anytime when I feel like it.

Make Some Money by placing the Bla.st Widgets in your Blog.

My first intention of placing the bla.st widgets in my blogs was a kind of a reciprocal thing. I felt that since I have been listed for free, the least I can do was to give them some publicity. It also makes my blog looks cool with all the big names like John Chow and Problogger appearing in my sidebar. I did not expect to make anything out of it when I signed for the referral program after I have successfully listed my sites there. I did not even bother to read on how I can make money of of the widgets, so I was very very surprised to receive an email from PayPal yesterday informing me that there was a small payment made to me from bla.st for successfully referring someone who signed up for a paid listing. Now that was a great bonus.

Professional Bloggers are also Listed.

I have seen many professional bloggers like Darren Rowse’s Problogger.net and John Chow’s johnchow.com appearing often in my widgets. I don’t know how much they paid, but this shows that even very successful bloggers are confident of bla.st, so they must be something to it. Even my blog that i submitted first before this one has appeared once or twice, something unexpected for a free listed blog. So am I happy with bla.st? You bet. free directory listing, got some free publicity, and best of all, even made some money. It’s so good I almost feel guilty.