News Junkie and Flagrant Publicity Blog

Custom T-Shirts Plus

2007-04-16T12:48:00.000-04:00

Recently I started creating Custom Designed T-Shirts and Mugs etc. through zazzle.com. Visitors to my websites started contacting me asking me if I would be willing to research and design something for them as well. These were folks with limited or no graphical design experience, but they were very interested in having something custom made for a relative or friend and just weren't having any luck finding something affordable.

So I started advertising this service at no charge and of course found that my little Custom T-Shirts Plus project started taking off. So considering this is also my Flagrant Publicity Blog, I thought it only fitting that I advertise that service here as well.

You can see below some of the designs that i made on zazzle.com for myself, as well as anyone else who might want an Abbey Normal T-shirt, or actually understands the South Harmon Institute of Technology reference for a Bumper Sticker, Coffee Mug or T-Shirt.

But just the same I am willing and able to help out with a design that you would like created just for you. There's no cost as I mentioned, you simply tell me what you want, and we'll throw some ideas around, once you say it's everything you dreamed of and more, i'll give you the link to buy it through my zazzle account so that I at least get my little commission percentage from those folks.

If you want more details, just shoot me a news junkie email.

View My Custom T-Shirts Plus Website Here

If you want details on having a site like this built for you contact me here.

Thanks for reading and much success.

Ben Cortese

What is Google Pay-per-action?

2007-03-30T13:46:00.000-04:00

In Case you didn't know, Google is in a Beta phase for a new PPC program they are calling Pay-per-action. In my opinion, this program (if implemented with the ppc advertisers in mind) could help advertisers with smaller advertising budgets to maximize their ppc advertising plans.

The idea is that you won't have to pay simply for clicks like in the current and traditional Google Adwords program, but only pay based on a certain action that a visitor took while researching the product or service that you have ad placements for on Google Adwords.

"Pay-per-action ads complement your current campaigns by providing a new pricing model that extends your reach and allows you to pay only when a defined action is completed on your site."

So what the expected result could be for many enrolled advertisers in Google Adwords , is another way to enhance your PPC campaign, but for many also a way to budget their PPC campaigns by only paying when someone completes an actual sale on your website or blog for instance.

Here's how Google is presenting it.

1. You create ads, define actions & track conversions.

Learn More: http://adwords.Google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=61449#campaign

2. Publishers display your ads.

Learn More http://adwords.Google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=61449

3. You pay only for completed actions.

Learn More: http://adwords.Google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=61449

Types of actions so far can include:

1. Leads

2. Sign-ups

3. Site Interactions/Page Views

4. Sales (Always the same Value)

5. Sales (As % of sale with many different values)

6. Other

You can also sign up for the Pay-per-action Beta Test to be considered for beta testing if you are located in the United States at this link:

http://services.Google.com/ads_inquiry/payperaction

Like many of you, I will be waiting to see how this program develops and performs for the smaller PPC budget considering I have paid in the realm of $1.80 for a single click using Google Adwords when I'd be more willing to pay that for a sale and limit the cost of clicks on my ad to more reasonable rate-per-click.

Thanks for reading.

Ben Cortese

Ghost Writer

2007-03-28T18:14:00.000-04:00

In addition to utilizing my website news-junkie.net to help promote your rss feeds if you are an article marketer, I am also an expert author with Ezinearticles.com and currently provide Ghost Writing Services.

If you are interested in having me write articles for you for a specific topic, please contact me at bcortese@verizon.net with some details about your article, just minor stuff, you don't have to expose too much of your article request to me initially, and how much you are capable of paying for your article, and I will return your email as soon as possible.

As always, Thanks for stopping by.

Much Success,

Ben Cortese

RSS Exchange

2007-03-25T17:39:00.000-04:00

I wanted to open up my blog as an rss exchange to anyone interested. I prefer to provide this to anyone who is part of article marketing to some extent as I am, and would simply like to increase their visibility on the internet.

I personally write articles about development as well as financial articles. I admit I've slacked off a bit, but I plan to pick it up again soon as time permits.

If anyone knows of a decent article base website that is more user-friendly for developers as far as embedding code into articles please let me know. I run into problems trying to write technical articles with Ezines and the likes because they don't like to include much html or javascript tags in their articles.

I've managed to squeeze a few ColdFusion articles in, but I'd like to put a few Java and C# articles out there.

Don't hesitate to comment or contact me at bcortese@verizon.net if you have an rss feed that you'd like me to add to News Junkie Blog, or to my website www.news-junkie.net.

I ask in return that you do the same for me and include my article feeds that you can see right on this blog from ezinearticles.com.

Thanks in advance.
Ben Cortese
bcortese@verizon.net

And I thought Monday's were bad.

2007-03-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

Another Friday from H.E. double toothpicks. I swear that everything waits to go wrong at work on Friday. It's the one day that I think might give me a bit of a break for the week considering things are also winding down for the businesses that I develop for.

But of course I keep forgetting that it's not just a regular Friday, it's Black Friday. First I probably should give you a little background, and I mean just a little, I am a web developer and B.A. in the financial industry. That's about all I'm willing to reveal at the moment until we get to know each other a little better.

Jokingly at my place of employment, I am told that I need to add to my resume that I am a crime fighter as well as a fire fighter in addition to being a developer. Because somehow i spend the first 4 hours of any given day (usually Friday) Either addressing and fixing the latest hack coming in from Russia trying to blast our servers or hit us with Sql Injection attacks, or putting out fires with the Project managers and Business Managers.

Today our Network administrator decided to make DNS changes that eliminated Business website demos for 6 of our clients. My Task? Migrate them at the speed of sound to new servers and change the links on all of the websites before the phones started ringing.

I made it just in time with only one client calling and the solution in place just minutes after the call. All of this while addressing yet another change on the network that would not permit incoming http responses containing .csv files.

Well, that put an end to several stock tickers and reports, which was yet another fire I had to put out. Keep in mind that this was all completed before 10:00 a.m. this morning. I still had plenty of day to go.

Luckily, I managed to stay on top of ongoing projects, worked with the design firms on a couple new website redesigns, and completed my website updates for a half dozen clients which is part of my day that I am just waiting to be able to dump off on the developer that I'm currently getting up to speed.

Well, it feels good to get all of that off my chest. Respond if you have similar days. No matter what field you're in. I like to hear stories of how other peoples days go too. Sometimes it makes me feel pretty good about my job and that I should just stop complaining. I felt that way the last time I talked to a Registered Nurse.

YIKES. Sorry, you couldn't pay me enough to deal with what those poor men and women have to deal with. And they are INCREDIBLY UNDER PAID. For heaven's sake somebody do something about that already.

Well I'm spent. Adios.

NCMEC Press release

2007-03-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

Press Release

THE AD COUNCIL PARTNERS WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
AND NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN TO HELP PREVENT
ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

New PSA Campaign Educates Teenage Girls About Potential
Dangers of Sharing and Posting Personal Information Online

New York, NY, March 23, 2007 – The
Ad Council together with The U.S. Department of Justice and National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® (NCMEC) today announced
a new phase of their Online Sexual Exploitation public service advertising
(PSA) campaign designed to educate teenage girls about the potential
dangers of posting and sharing personal information online.

Popular social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Sconex
make it easier for teens to post and share personal information, pictures
and videos, which may make them more vulnerable to online predators.
Teenage girls are particularly at risk of online sexual exploitation—a
recent study by University of New Hampshire researchers for NCMEC found
that of the approximately one in seven youth who received a sexual solicitation
or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls.

“The Internet is one of the greatest technological advances of
our time, but it also makes it alarmingly easy for sexual predators to
find and contact children,” stated Attorney General Gonzales. “As
Attorney General and as a father, I am committed to protecting our children
from pedophiles who troll the Internet for kids. The Think Before
You Post campaign sends a strong reminder to children and their
parents to be cautious when posting personal information online because
anything you post, anyone can see: family, friends and even not-so-friendly
people.”

Another study conducted by Cox Communications shows that 61 percent
of 13- to 17-year-olds have a personal profile on sites such as MySpace,
Friendster, or Xanga. In addition, the study found that half of these
have posted pictures of themselves online and that one out of five teens
reported that it is safe (i.e. “somewhat” or “very
safe”) to share personal information on a public blog or networking
site. Thirty-seven percent of 13- to 17-year-olds said they're “not
very concerned” or “not at all concerned” about someone
using personal information they've posted online in ways they haven't
approved.

“We are very pleased to join with the U.S. Department of Justice
and the Ad Council on the third year of our campaign entitled Think
Before You Post,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. “This
PSA campaign is targeted to reach teenage girls and deliver the vital
message of not posting identity-revealing information or photos of themselves
online that could put them at risk for abduction or exploitation.”

In another study conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s
Crimes Against Children Research Center for NCMEC, of youth ages 10 to
17 who use the Internet regularly, 34 percent had posted their real names,
telephone numbers or home address, and 45 percent had posted their real
ages.

The PSA campaign, created pro bono by Merkley + Partners, includes
TV, radio, magazine and Web advertising. The ads encourage girls to “think
before you post” personal information that would leave them vulnerable
to online predators. The PSAs seek to educate teens that the Internet
is not a “private” place, rather it’s a public place
and social networking profiles and blogs potentially release information
that can be easily found by anyone, including ill-intentioned people.
All of the PSAs direct audiences to http://www.cybertipline.com/ to
get tips to help prevent online sexual exploitation or to report an incident.

Previous work created for the campaign has focused on increasing awareness
of parents and guardians about the prevalence of online sexual
exploitation and on preventing girls from forming inappropriate online
relationships with adult men in an effort to reduce their risk of sexual
exploitation and abduction.

The new PSAs will be distributed to television and radio stations nationwide
this week and can be viewed on the Ad Council’s Web site at http://www.adcouncil.org/.

“The popularity, easy accessibility and social acceptance of the Internet,
particularly social networking sites, among teenagers can put them in a dangerous
situation,” said Peggy Conlon, President and CEO of the Ad Council. “It’s
our hope that this campaign will educate teenage girls and their parents about
the potential dangers of offering personal information on the Internet.”

“We are very pleased with our continuous partnership with the Ad Council,
the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the U.S. Department
of Justice,” said Andy Hirsch, Executive Creative Director/Partner at
Merkley + Partners. “Online sexual exploitation is front page news and
we're happy that we can continue to lend our services to help educate teens
and their families about this potential danger.”

Since launching in 2004, the Online Sexual Exploitation campaign
has garnered over $150 million in donated media support and NCMEC has
seen an increase in reports of online enticement of children for sexual
acts. Tracking studies conducted by the Ad Council found that parents
and guardians who saw the PSAs were significantly more likely than
those who had not to have talked to their children within that past
week about chatting online with people who they hadn't met in person
(44 percent vs. 35 percent).

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative
is a joint effort of federal, state and local law enforcement, along
with community leaders, designed to protect children from online exploitation
and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood
marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend
and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well
as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project
Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department
of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's
congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child
sexual exploitation, has handled more than 419,400 leads. Since its establishment
in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 125,200 missing
child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 107,600 children.
For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline
at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history
of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries
to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced
literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social
issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect,
tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and
saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit http://www.adcouncil.org/.

CONTACTS:

Ellyn Fisher
The Ad Council
212-984-1964

efisher@adcouncil.org

Kimberly Smith

US. Department of Justice
202-514-1155

kimberly.a.smith@usdoj.gov

Communication Department
NCMEC
703-837-6111

media@ncmec.org