Recommended Resources

Below is a list of some of the various ad networks and online services that I personally use. Since I use them myself, I can naturally recommend each and every one of them. While some of the links do contain my referral link, there is nothing listed below that I haven’t personally used.

I made this resource section on my blog to share these valuable resources with you readers, as well as to help lessen the amount of e-mails I get requesting to know who designed my logo/mascot or my forum skins.

Ad Networks

  • Casale Media - Casale is my favourite ad network for many reasons: they pay out 70%, have a good advertiser base, a great control panel, high-advertiser payout’s, and a referral program which pays out for life. I’d highly recommend them if you can get accepted into them.
  • Google AdSense - If you’re not already a member of Google AdSense then you are either  brand new to making money on the web, or brand new to the planet Earth. AdSense is Google’s famous contextual ad network which revolutionized making money online and helped pushed the web into another boom era.
  • Text-Link-Ads - Text Link Ads is a great network to make money, but be careful with them. Google has recently cracked down hard on paid links, and may be penalizing sites that use TLA. Because of this, you may want to use TLA on your smaller-medium sites, as putting it on your larger ones might be a bit too risky these days.

Affiliate Networks

  • AzoogleAds  - AzoogleAds is arguably amongst the top 3 largest and most popular affiliate networks. They have legendary support, high payout’s, and a lot of offers to choose from.
  • NeverBlueAds - I’m not really into affiliate marketing so I rarely use affiliate networks.
    However, I have reviewed many in-depth for my blog and PublisherSpot, and so I can assure you that NeverBlueAds is one of the best bets you can go with when searching for an affiliate network. Their only weakness is that they could carry more offers.

Graphic Design

  • SOSFactory - You wouldn’t believe how many e-mails I’ve received (and continue to receive) asking me who designed my logo/mascot. Well, this is the guy. He charges $300, but you’ll get the best logo/mascot you could ever ask for. I’ve already bought two from him myself. If you use him, please be sure to drop my name.
  • BannersMall - Banner design company. I cannot recommend or promote this company enough. If you ever need a banner done, use this company. End of story. Read my plug of them for a detailed summary of their company.
  • VBSkins - Probably the best vBulletin design company you can get for quality and price. They did 4 of my forum skins, and I’ll definitely be using them again the next time I need another custom skin. In addition to custom skins, they also sell pre-made skins, and have over 100 free ones to choose from. Read my review of them for a very good overview of their service.
  • TheLogoCompany - One of the best logo design companies around, yet not widely known. They did my logo and stationary for my corporation Merendi Networks Inc. and I’ll definitely be using them the next time I need a logo or any print-design done. They only charge $149 per logo, give you unlimited revisions, and even offer a 100% money back guarantee. Read my detailed post on them here.

Programmers

  • InstantCoding - InstantCoding provides XHTML and CSS programming, and are very useful when you hire a designer who won’t code the design for you. They have very fast turnaround times, code tableless, W3C valid code, and can do CMS coding for platforms such as Wordpress. Their prices are extremely reasonable. If you use him, be sure to drop my name.

Blog Paid Review Networks

  • PayPerPost - PayPerPost is very useful for small bloggers wanting to make a bit of extra cash by writing short and basic posts on various products and services. Most opportunities pay between $5-$15, and so it is really only useful for small blogs. It is worthless for larger blogs since opportunities rarely exceed the $40 range, but small blogs can actually make several hundred dollars a month by accepting a lot of the smaller paid review offers.
  • ReviewMe - ReviewMe is similar to PayPerPost, only they have a smaller advertiser base. Many bloggers offer their paid review services through ReviewMe, but ReviewMe takes an obscene 50% cut. Therefore, ReviewMe is most useful for their small marketplace offers, similar to PayPerPost above, where smaller bloggers can “mass review” many offers at $5-$15 per post.

Web Hosting

  • DreamHost - I actually first started using DreamHost back in 2002. Since then, DreamHost has grown to be one of the largest and most-respected affordable hosting providers. I stopped using them and moved to ThePlanet several years ago, since I outgrew them and required my own dedicated servers; DreamHost offers virtual servers.Their prices are ridiculously cheap. For only $10.95 a month, (or cheaper the longer you pre-pay for) you get 500 GB of space and 5 TB (Terabytes!) of bandwidth, and all the features and services you could ask for such as MySQL, PHP, etc.

    They also offer a lucrative referral program, paying either 10% for life or a CPA of $97, with a 2nd-tier program as well.
     

  • ThePlanet - I’ve been with ThePlanet for 4 years now, ever since moving from DreamHost. ThePlanet is the largest dedicated server company ever since merging with RackShack a couple years ago.I have had some hardware issues with them, but because their size is unparalleled you can’t really go wrong with them. They have a massive support team, huge datacenters, and many servers and options to choose from. I currently have two dedicated servers with them and two DiscSync backup plans.

Keyword Tools

  • WordZe - WordZe is a extremely powerful and useful keyword generation and analysis tool for anyone who does affiliate marketing, PPC arbitrage, or anyone who uses PPC advertising such as AdWords. They also have a very lucrative affiliate program which pays 30% for life and 5% for 2nd tier.

Registrars

  • GoDaddy - GoDaddy is the largest and most popular domain registrar these days, and nearly every person I know uses GoDaddy. Their site is extremely ad heavy and you are bombarded with offer after offer, but once you get used to them, you learn to quickly ignore them. GoDaddy has absolute fantastic support, and their prices are $9.99 for .com’s.
  • NameCheap - While I mainly use GoDaddy, I also use NameCheap since it’s a very popular registrar and many domainers use it. The best part about NameCheap is that domain transfers from other NameCheap members are instant. This is why it’s so popular with people who regularly buy and sell domains. Prices are $9.29 for .com’s.