New Threads
First order of business, this site has a new design! For all of you in feed readers, please stop on by.
My old layout got to the point that I cringed every time I loaded the page. As you may be able to tell, I drew a lot of inspiration from Muxtape and Subtraction. My goal was to create a site that used very few images, loaded quickly, was valid, and was easy on the eyes. The design is a modified sandbox theme, and was completed in about four days.
I am considering making this theme available for public release, so please drop a comment it you encounter any bugs, misspellings, or ugliness. Please be harsh.
Traveling
And now for the slightly bigger news. Come October 1st I will start a typical post-college backpacking trip of Europe (and maybe somewhere else). I have one brother who is finishing up what would be considered tech school in England, and another that is entering an exchange student program in Hungary. The plan is to visit them both, see the sites, and possibly take over the world.
This also means that I will be moving out of Philadelphia, and I have absolutely no idea where I will be living when I return.
On top of that, during the last week in August I will be driving from Philadelphia to Seattle with a group of friends to attend the Penny Arcade Expo.
Whew.
photo by TonytheMisfit
If you’re in a hurry, I’ll sum up my experiment with Facebook ads in the words of my brother: EPIC FAIL.
As a part in my endless experiment with the workings of the Internet, I pondered ways to increase the RSS subscribers to Consumer Whore, a little side project I have. Consumer Whore features something cool to buy everyday. On the surface, if CW were to refer waves of people to purchase an item there could be a potential for money via affiliate ads, sponsored posts, and display advertising. So far, the growth of the blog is on par with its age. After a month of being live, there are 8 RSS subscribers (5 of which I personally know). The daily stats:
CW posts every weekday, so the stats dip a bit every weekend.
The Plan
I set off to take an ad out in Facebook. I have had limited (but successful) experience with this, and wanted to try again. On the days I was going to have the ad display, I wanted to make the item of the day an affiliate link.
An affiliate link is a link to a retailer’s product. If you refer them a user that eventually results in a sucessful sale, you receive a percentage of that sale.
Theoretically, this would drive more traffic than usual to the blog on a day where the most prominent item could make me some money. I still had a Commission Junction account from my College v2 days, and signed up to be a part of the Love Sac affiliate program.
I chose Love Sac, because a few of my friends have them and all love their … um … sac.
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