Supereco is a new site launched by Crowd Fusion, the previous owners of Engadget. Realted to anything and everything green, it bursts out of a hidden shell and is becoming a major site.

Whether talking about all the celebs that are “green” or green tech, you can go to supereco to learn how you can help balance a planet in turmoil. It is really something worth checking out!

Gotta scram!

-The Green Flamingo

I have known Ben for a long time, somewhere in April when I joined Blog Premiere forum, started reading The University Kid, Mooney Quest, Rob’s Blog (It was really called “make money online”, and now redirects to ironblogger.com which I read as well), and of course Big Ben Patton’s Place. This was the time when there weren’t as many “semi crappy” contests that had advertising, reviews, entrecredits, or other not so great prizes, but it was a time where great blogs were on the rise, big and small, and there was competition to dominate and get your foot in the hold so you will not fall out to join all the other bloggers in the graveyard. Well one of these blogs was Big Ben Patton’s Place.

The title may be “Big Ben Patton’s Place”, but the URL is BenjaminPatton .com. This site was started in a time when names were good as domains, and I guess he has a good domain choice but I would not call it the absolute best. The title is phenomenal though and it has become a great site to be around.

Big Ben Patton delivers great and helpful content, always something new and different, a tool that you can use to your advantage, or the extreme power of something like social networking. You will not be at loss when you look for great and helpful blogging content at Ben’s, what you are looking for it wedged in every post!

The design of Big Ben Pattons’ Place flows well, not carrying you off to far, with a good composition of colors to catch your eye but not give you a headache. Much of the site was by Ben himself, but just check the footer and you will see for yourself.

Recently, Ben has had some new designs and additions to his site, new ads designed, a new header, all for his re-grand opening. These you can see in the picture, and I think the new additions by Forest are very well done and very well implemented, for they really bring out the quality of the site and give the great composition of colors that is not too strong but has some distinguishable tones.

Ben Patton is an aspiring blogger, good designer, and great hotel manager. I wish you luck Ben!

I think I have covered pretty much everything, not much else to say, because it would be similar to the same thing.

I have to warn you, most other reviews will be a little shorter, for some of you I do not know as well, and plus I owed him a little something for some designing work he did for me a few months ago on my old theme.

I hope everyone liked this review, look out for more, and hope you are chosen! Remember to subscribe so you can be picked to win the free review!

-The Green Flamingo

Even though it was an idea for a great post, I think I might have to shift the focus of this blog once more anyway. I am trying to provide quality articles that really help you out or show you something, but today Jason made me notice that I am not always unique in content, because 50 million other bloggers are giving the same information.

I could go with more of an opinion on things for my posts, but it still uses the same topic and that can be very boring. I am trying to find an actual “niche” for this blog, I may stick it onto young entrepreneur and Internet marketing while I blog about blogging, but not about “blogging tips.” I think I have some ideas, I will continue later.

I do not need to list all the upcoming things I might have yet, I am going to have a post encouraging suggestions, though I do highly encourage suggestions on this post as well.

I also want to announce the winner of the review, the first of many I hope, and this weeks winner is…Big Ben Patton of Big Ben Patton’s Place! Look for the review tomorrow!

Also, today I spent a lot of time working on my new site, loking for themes and tweaking them, helping the author to write articles, things like that. See you later!

-The Green Flamingo

What is a review?

In the webmaster world, the word review still means review as you know it, only refers to a review of a site/blog. It could be a review of a product, but that would be a product review. The most common thing you will get if you purchase a “review” is a 200-1000 word article describing and “reviewing”(we are getting smart huh?:)) your blog. And, you may have notice I said “purchase,” because of course nothing is free and there is some cost no matter what. You may not have to pay cash, you may not even have to win a contest or subscribe to a blog, maybe you just have to be the first, but if you look at it, that is still a cost.

Today, people will pay a lot for a review, I guess they think they are worth something. I have heard people say like Jason from the University Kid that reviews suck, but it is all an opinion.

Why pay for a review?

You may wonder why you should pay for a review, people figure it is because they have to do work and it is another way to earn money.

What is free to the blogger, may not always be free to you. Though the blogger may not receive money, they might actually ask you to subscribe. Or maybe they do not receive profit, you still might have to do something.

I am wondering why free reviews are not offered more, even if you have to subscribe or comment, I am still in shock that someone thinks they can be abused.

I love to review

I actually love to review things, not always blogs, because I run out of things to talk about, but I really love to critique. Critiquing interior design and architecture are some of my favorite things, and also why I say I love to review. Do you love to review?

I am starting a review “page,” where I might publish the reviews that are selected by email subscribers and win the weekly review.

Ok. Was this a good post or not? Let that swim in your head while you are waiting for the next one in a few hours. I have to a cram a lot in because I was gone and school is starting too. The ones I was writing today are going to be backups, not published very soon, so see you in a few hours!

-Note- yesterday I announced I am offering free reviews for my email subscribers, and the drawing is tomorrow. Let me remind you that you must subscribe today to be on the list tomorrow, so hurry and subscribe!-Note-
Rock on! Subscribe and get a chance to win a free review each week!

The Green Flamingo

1. I have started a new site, which seems to be coming along nicely. I am not sure how it will end up, whether I keep it or sell it, but the content is really unique. Only a few people know about this site, and I am going to keep it closed for now. You may hear about it and visit, not knowing it has any relation to me. Also, it is run by an unexpected thing, or the content at least! (Not all the editing and theme work, I have to devote a few hours to that every day).

2. I am having a new theme done for Green Flamingo Designs, and having a re Grand Opening! I am not going to tell you too much about the theme yet, it is sort of a surprise. I am going to say their are going to be new services coming out, free products and discounts! So stay tuned! I anyone would like to help to set up the re Grand Opening and get a very special discount of their own, it would be greatly appreciated. Just contact at greenflamingodesigns (@) gmail.com.

3. Green Flamingo has new bonus features for email subscribers! Every week one special email subscriber will be selected to get a 200+ review the next day! This will start Friday and the review will be published Saturday, so subscribe to stay tuned and win this! Hope you enjoy!

4. I am beginning to get a real sense in what goes on around me in the blogosphere, expanding my knowledge and really becoming a web “master.” I am also finding new ways to make money online, blog, and express myself.

5. I am loosely planning a contest for this blog, I have some interesting ways for you to gain points, probably never seen before, but I am still looking for some sponsors. If you would like to sponsor this flamingo contest, that would be great!

6. I have found some new techniques I have seen other bloggers do I would like to try. Look out for changes! (I should warn you, there will be a competition to see who can spot the most changes!).

Sorry I do not have any “real” content for you today, I have noticed some others do not either (maybe the university kid?). Tomorrow and for a little longer down the week I have some better content planned. I am still recovering from my site going down, so everything is not back to normal yet.

-The Green Flamingo

On August 12th, Jason is releasing a post with some great information in it, and you ask, “Where’s the catch?” The catch is, the post will be password protected, and you have to do one of three things to get the password.

You may not think what you have to do is hard, and really it is not, but the traffic he gains will probably be really big.

I don’t think I am supposed to talk about the post itself, I think I am just supposed to talk about TUK. So I will do so, with true opinion, whether good or bad.

Jason is nice, he is willing to help out fellow bloggers, and has some great ways to do this. Many have benefited off his work, myself included, and I think what he does is very helpful.

All his prizes have a catch, as some think, but you could also say that all things you do have a reward.

TUK is a pretty popular site, great to hang around on, and I have been a reader for a few months now. In May, I dropped away, and only read a few articles, but in June I started up again. July was a great month for TUK, and me, I was proud top commentator.

TUK has released killer posts, and regularly killer content, something that as a good blogger and reader you should not miss out on. I have really appreciated some of the posts, I have improved my blogging ways with them, though some concepts I turn down.

I advise you to run down to Jason’s part of the university, don’t want to miss out on anything!

I hope everyone has a good one!

More Traditional Review

Rajaie is a 14 year old entrepreneur, not much older than myself, owning a unique blog and by age is set apart from other bloggers. Though most sites belong to 16-20 year olds,  Rajaie displays his skills and professionalism through his blog Rajaie Talks, where he gives great blogging tips and very effective methods for improving your blog.

Rajaie Talks combines blogging tips with daily ramblings, having some fun experiments once in a while or a rant or two. I think it continually provides great blogging content that will really boost your blogging,  something that is common in the blogosphere but very important.

The stats of Rajaie Talks can be amazing, I have not looked deeply into them but I know he has 10,XXX inbound links according to Yahoo!. I am surprised how well Rajaie has raised his blog, he really seems to know a lot about blogging!

My Style Review

I think Rajaie Talks is a great site, is brings out the best of himself and the way of blogging. Rajaie’s blog is fun to hang around, maybe it does not have the most upbringing design but it has a very strong and supportive community, and I’m sure you will be able to find help there if you need it.

The site itself is clean cut, gentle, and has a cloudy but refreshing feel. When I first visited I was interested, because I have not seen a design quite like this one before.

When you first step in to talk to Rajaie and his friends, you are greeted by a nice logo, some flashy banner ads, subtle blue background, and best of all: useful and effective content. I like the content part, because to me there is not much special about the design, but with his writing you can really learn something.

I think Rajaie Talks is a site well worth visiting to learn and enjoy. Have fun!

I guess I am done with the review, I don’t know what else to add. If you have any tips for future reviews, let me know, when I do paid reviews I will consult with the client to see what they want in it.

See you tomorrow and good luck!

I have seen lots of weird ways that people link to each other, and patterns, sometimes irrational, but patterns that people go through on the decision to link to another. Many people are different about how they configure the process, but there is something shared in common: a reward.

Money – many people sell their links, maybe not for money but they do trade the links in some way. These people usually never think about linking to some of their favorite sites of their own accord, though they may advertise the paid links with a branding of “sites I like” or a variation on that. These people categorized as the ones looking at the path to wealth and fame, and are not in it with the others. This does not mean that people that sell their links are bad or greedy, in fact I visit quite a few sites that do this. I think that these people are smart, and others look up to them and know what they expect.

PageRank – some people link to others hoping they might get a link back, and those people are usually looking for PR, though they could be wishing more popularity and trying to improve the visitor level. This method is not 100% certain of desired results, as I have seen. There may also be a reason to put or not to put links up for free, I think it has something to do with a Google ranking system and they do not want to upset Google for fear of a bad ranking.

Kindness – there are few people that put links up of pure kindness, but it does happen, usually on a smaller blog, linking to family and friends. You may think this does not fall into the all time category of getting a reward, but the reward in this case is maybe a “thank you” from the friend of family member that makes them feel special inside. A person might link to their favorite site of their own accord as well, though it would usually of someone they knew.

Feeling Important – there are a few of these, usually young entrepreneurs who go out asking if anyone wants a free link on their site. This may be to fit in with others that sell or trade links, and they might be stopped from selling due to lack of a payment method or trade system. They might be really nice too, and just want to please people  by offering a service that doesn’t cost ‘em a cent.

These are my impressions on what the linking incentive is, though this could be false and not be a true categorization, but I think it is, for how could my writing be wrong? If I go around seeing this with my own eyes and I have the words flow through my fingers, I think it is correct!

To bring you a better understanding of these categories and myself, I will categorize myself on these and see what you think. I have linked to people for all of these incentives, but lets’s take last week’s linking and see why I did those first few banner ads.

Feeling Important : I gave those away for I wanted to be like other people I saw, and it was right before I got my paypal account and I thought I might as well. I am glad I gave those links, though the latter ones went on a “you subscribe I link” basis. I think that it was quite successful, but it was hard to bring myself to charge people for it, like all the others were doing. I guess I just need to stay in my lane to fame, and not stop by at any restrooms for a while.

I’d love it if you’d share your categorization, I am eager to see where other people see themselves!

I think Free Rice is a good program for many reasons, which I will reveal.

How it works – How Free Rice works is that you play a vocabulary game to donate rice. You may wonder how that happens, so we take a look behind the scenes.

There are sponsors, rice companies, food companies, grain companies or whatever that actually give the rice. But to make them do that then you have to get a word synonym correct to donate the rice, and this makes them deliver it (after a certain number of grains have been donated).

How the game works - the game is simple, but difficult. I will give you an example instead of trying to explain.

Indigenous means:

type of tree

native

carriage

wise

You would click on ‘native’ of course, and at the top after finished loading it would say ,”Correct! Indigenous = native.” At the right the little bowl would have little grains of rice in it and on the side it would tell you how much you donate. As you travel through the words the words get harder as your vocab improves. You also are assigned a vocab level, and every few times you get  word right the level increases and every time you get a word wrong your level decreases. I have donated over 3,000 grains of rice and reached a level of about 30.

Why I like it – Free rice is helping to raise rice for those who have barely any. This makes me very happy, for I saw pictures of what some families owned all together, some only a few bags or bowls of grain, a table, a shelter, some blankets,  and that was pretty much it – for a family of about six. I also like Free Rice because it will improve your vocabulary, which can be a very useful thing.  I also like that you do not have to create an account to do this! It will remember you though, if you set it to remember certain things in the options. It is also free!

What I don’t Like – what I don’t like about the program itself is that sometimes the game cheats you. Sometimes there are two words that mean the same thing and only one is right. Some of the words are very confusing, and I hate it when I get a word wrong.

Review – I like the site, the project or program, and the site design. It incorporates green into the design and up close of rice. The site is laid neatly, and not hard to navigate around. The project was craftily created, having people have fun and learn something while donating rice to those who have none. It is not one of those things where you pay some money to “help feed this family type of thing.”

How you can help – you can join in this for a little competition, see how many grains of rice you can donate or what level you can get up to. This will help feed someone who barely eats in a week what you eat in three bites.

This is not something I was paid to do, I just felt like sharing this program with you.