The only relavance between the title of this post and the actual post is that the song the lyrics’ from is called ‘Starfuckers, Inc’ and this post is about Starbucks Coffee. Yeah, go figure.

You see, I’m rather excited. I’ve just come across a website selling Starbucks coffee a lot cheaper than it is to buy in their stores. I could drink Starbucks each and every day of my life (and end up loosing the plot like Britney probably since my favourite drink is also her poison - and a quick look on the Starbucks website informs me that a Venti Java Chip Frappe with Whip Cream has 520 calories in it!) and never, ever get sick of it.

I make my own versions of Starbucks Frappes at home, but it never quite tastes the same when it’s made with good ol’ Nescafe so I can’t wait to order some Starbucks coffee to make the real deal, hopefully with less calories than the real-deal.

How is it that I got paid a week ago but I have no money left? I think that after I pay my bus ticket I’ll only have about £40 to last me three weeks! Plus £15 my mum owes me and £30 in my PayPal account.

Grr.. I cannot wait until I’ve paid off all of my debts. It’s really starting to get me down that I have never got any spare cash. I’m going to set up an eBay account and start selling off all this random stuff I found when I was tidying my room. Limited Edition Doctor Who Plate, anyone? Seriously. Where did that come from?

I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m not in my best friend’s situation. He’s got so much stuff to buy for the baby, and baby clothes and things aren’t exactly cheap. His family are helping them out a lot but even still - they’ve both got so much to buy for the little one, I can’t believe how expensive kids are!

Apparently I’m in for a wage rise next month, although going by my bosses it works out at around £35 per pay. Which really isn’t that much, and there’s a good chance that I’ll get less than that because I’m a supervisor and he’s a manager. Hmm, be interesting to find out how much the increase is. I doubt that it will make much difference since it’ll come off in tax and national insurance anyway. I knew I should have bargained for a wage increase when I was moving shops, but I guess I’d have been told to get lost.

Countdown to leaving my shop is 2 and a half weeks and I’m still not looking forward to it. I know that it’s a great opportunity for my career, but I still don’t want to leave my wee shop and all the awesome staff! I suppose I should stop being a spoilt brat about it all and just take this chance and go for it 200%.

I’m fed up reading about other blogger’s going on holiday or planning holidays, I’m so jealous! In the past few weeks I’ve read about Rhys’s American dream, Han going first class to Florida, Jenn & family hitting the beach, Starlet being attacked by evil seagulls in Wales, to name but a few. Lucky, lucky people - you really are. The last time I was on holiday was in 2003 and that was a weekend in Dublin with the boyfriend. Before that I think the last time I was abroad for a proper 2 weeks in the sun holiday was America when my little brother was 4 - he’s now 15!

There’s only one real place that I want to go in the whole entire world - Las Vegas, baby! I’m been fascinated by the glitz, glamour, lights and gambling of Las Vegas for a very long time which was made a hella lot more intense with by my obsession of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

It’s my dream to stay in either Circus Circus or the Luxor before I’m 30. The boyfriend agrees, he’d love to go to Vegas too. And I kind of have it on a promise that if we ever went to Vegas it’d be acceptable to get married - and that’s never, ever going to happen in Scotland!

As always, the problem with going to Vegas is the money. We’re both terrible at saving money even for nice things like holidays and things. Plus we’d need gambling money so we’d have to stay in one of the many other hotels in las vegas that aren’t as famous or expensive as the Stratosphere or the Four Queens hotel just to fund our fun!

Anybody else been to Vegas? Is it really as magical as it’s made out to be?

Guess who forgot to take her site of maintenance mode?

I was all in a tizzy yesterday, my MTP coursework is due in tomorrow and I was still no where finished it yesterday even although I’ve had three months to complete it. So obviously, uploading a new theme was a better priority.

Anyways, course work is now finished (all 10,000 words of it) and I know there’s a few loose ends needing tied up but I don’t want to see that folder until at least…tomorrow when I’m up at head office.

I’d ordered Avon stuff through their website on Friday night / Saturday morning and I thought it would have arrived by now. I got loads of stuff in their special offers section, mostly moisturisers and night creams, along with some bath creme. I can’t wait to try the Avon Invisible Light Illuminating Make Up Base, because I’d like my skin to look all perfect without having to wear foundation. We’ll see if it lives up to my expectations for glowing, soft focus, English rose skin.

I was originally looking for some sort of spot cream as well but couldn’t find anything that fitted the bill. For some unknown reason for the past month or so my skin’s been acting up and going all gross - dry and oilly! It’s a nightmare, especially as I don’t feel comfortable in makeup. I constantly think I’ve got it all wrong, or have a line running the length of my chin where I’ve not rubbed it in properly even if I know I have. Anyway, the boy’s in work take the piss out of me when I where makeup since they’re not used to seeing me in it! I’ll just have to keep a look out for natural acne treatment ideas, since I’m not a fan of chemicals on my face (uh, yes..I know I’ve contradicted myself here but moisturiser is badly required when you live in Scotland, the lack of sunshine and constant horrid weather makes my skin really dry).

If you have any recommendation, please let me know. I’m feed up looking like a teenager again.

I have the theme tune from Bad Boys stuck in my head thanks to the ringtone on my boss’ phone. No matter what I do, it keeps popping on back in there.

For the life of me I couldn’t remember who sang it and when I was searching for it (yeah, couldn’t remember what it was called either. I’m having one of those days) I came across the LA Police Gear website, where you can buy all sorts of Police gear.

Read the rest of this entry »

I know that a lot of bloggers who use PayPerPost get slated. I’ve seen it referred to as ‘just like adverts on TV that I flick past’. The person was explaining why they do not read blogs which have sponsored posts; which is fair enough - each to their own. I for one actually quite enjoy reading sponsored posts as they show how great (usually) the blog writer’s imagination is. It’s a skill being able to write a review of a product / service and incorporate it into your blog, personal experience, writing style and making it keyword heavy all at the one time. It’s a challenge sometimes, but that’s why you’re getting paid for it!

As avid readers of my blog (go on, you know you all love me) you’ll probably have worked out that I use PayPerPost from time to time. I made a pact with myself when I signed up for the site way back in July 2007 that I would only take opportunities that were actually relevant to me personally or my blog. I have no interest in garage storage
cupboards or homeowner insurance, so why on earth would I want to blog about them and bore you all senseless with my opinion on something I’ve never used or had an experience with? Unfortunately not all Posties¹ do this, and all you get is page after page of sponsored posts about online gambling, poker websites and weight loss miracles². To date I’ve been paid for just 12 posts, and made a grand total of 80GBP. Nothing life changing but that money has been put towards paying my credit card debt which is getting smaller and smaller by the month. Thus helping reinstating my credit rating, making me a happy girl again. Today I’m amused to see myself on the day’s top earner list. 3rd as well. And only from posting one post, sweet.

Anyway, I digress. And I’m starting to think that this post sounds like a sponsored post. I can assure you that it isn’t, I’m not getting a single penny for biggin’ up PPP, as I’ve already done that and been paid for it.

What I am worried about is that these random, not-so-frequent paid posts are discouraging readership. Don’t get me wrong, my life doesn’t revolve around how many comments I receive or my Alexa rating but I don’t like the thought of pouring so much time and effort into my site, as I have done since 1998, only to be shooting myself in the foot and loosing out on readers (and more to the point, new friends and blogs to read etc) just because I make a few bucks writing about things that people don’t want to read about.

So my question is to you, dear reader, is this. What do you honestly think of PayPerPost blogs. Not just mine, although do feel free to make your feelings known, but any blog that sides on the money making side. Do you have a tolerance level? Do you just skip the posts you don’t want to read or do you delete the blog from your RSS reader the moment a “This posts was sponsored by…” tagline pops up? Or do you not really care and read every post anyway?

I’m actually really interested in knowing what you think, good or bad. Everybody has their opinions so please share yours.

EDIT:This post has had over 200 views and only one comment, so I’ve added a poll for quick opinion posting. I like opinions, please pick one!

[poll=3]

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¹ Posties are the affectionate name for bloggers who use PayPerPost.
²Weight loss miracles do not exist. All you need is portion control and some exercise and commitment!

As you probably are aware if you’re a regular reader of Emerge, I occaisionally post on subjects from PayPerPost in order to make a little cash. In the past couple of months I’ve earned $100, which is £s;49. I’m not an active PPPer as I don’t like plastering my site in advertising but I’m happy with what I’ve earned so far.

It’s enabled me to buy an awesome necklace from This Charming Girl, which a friend runs and an AC Adapter for my Dell Inspiron 6400 from eBay. Hopefully that’s all that is up with my laptop (the adapater which I have doesn’t seem to work..) and I can start using my baby again. I miss my laptop!

My next purchase from my earnings will be a reseller account from somewhere. I have this awesome idea that I want to put into play…nothing to do with this site but a business idea. I’ll post more about when I pull everything together!

Anyway, for fellow posties - what do you spend your earnings on?

When I first started visiting blogs of friends who had signed up to payperpost, a service that allows it’s users (generally referred to as Posties) get paid to blog I was extremely dubious of the whole situation. Money for posting a few links and reviews on your blog? There had to be a catch.

It wasn’t until I was reading Jenn’s blog and realised just how much money she had earned from PPP that I starting doing my research. Surely it wasn’t just as easy as posting an entry on your blog to meet the advertisers requirements? As it turns out it is that easy to earn money!

Unfortuantly for me, at the time, my blog wasn’t old enough to meet PayPerPost’s requirements. So I patiently waited until my blog was old enough, 90 days, in order to register my blog. I considered signing up as an affiliate until my blog was old enough to register but it seemed like I was last to jump onto the bandwagon and everybody had already signed up!

Since I’ve become a member of PPP I’ve made a cool $42 from four posts and it couldn’t have been easier if PayPerPost tried.This money is a godsend at the moment as I’m desperate for a new digital camera which I’ll buy from eBay and since my earnings are paid into my PayPal account I’ll never actually ’see’ the money, it’ll just be put to good use buying things from the internet! My next big purchase will be from eBay also, a laptop. Granted I’ll need to post more than 4 posts to buy that
outright but anything towards it will be excellent since I can’t really afford one at the moment!

If you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash online then I’d recommend PayPerPost - there’s no catch and it’s easy enough to write posts to the advertiser’s requirements. If you’re having doubts - don’t! Sign up now and start reaping the benefits.

Recently, a lot of sites have been popping up with sponsered posts, ie ‘this post was bought to you by RipOFF Real Estate’, even if the blog or post has nothing to do with real estate! I’ve never been a fan of making money online by having ads on blogs, but there is one site that’s caught my eye over the past few months so I decided to check it out and see if it was worth it. The site that I’m talking about it PayPerPost. A lot of the blogs that I read regulary are all ready members of PPP and seem to make a hell of a lot of money this way. The concept is simple, submit your blog to PPP and if you are then approved you can write posts of different oppertunities and advertisers pay you for doing so.

I’ve just signed up and I’m waiting to be approved by PPP so that I can start making some cash by writing about things that matter to me. I won’t be writing blog after blog about some debt consolidation company I’ve never heard of, or a company selling houses in Florida. Nope - I’ll be posting about products and services that mean something to me. I’m not out to make a million, I just want to be able to buy my own domain again and splash out on eBay from time-to-time!

I can’t wait to get started!