Members Project is your chance to join a community that’s passionate about making a positive change in the world. Show your support and vote on which projects get $2.5 million in American Express funding. The possibilities are endless. The decision is yours.

The way it works is that card members submit ideas on how they can have an impact on changing the world for the better. Other card members vote for the winning ideas in a series of rounds. Going though the list I’m thinking, “How do I choose between helping malnourished children and rebuilding New Orleans?” But like the election of 2008, each person must find within their heart what they feel is worth their vote.

So today Amex announced their Top 25 projects, and they’re as diverse as you could ever imagine. I’ve voted for “Rebuilding New Orleans Green” because I feel our fellow neighbors need the support to rebuild that wasn’t given to most of them. I’m sure each of you will find a cause that tugs at your heart strings and ensure your vote. This first voting round is open until September 29. On September 30, the top five projects will be announced and will begin the second round of voting. Voters will choose the number one project that will receive the top funding of $1.5 million.

I have to commend American Express for launching such a project. They don’t have to do it. Of course they will get great press coverage and probably a huge surge of credit card applications, but nonetheless, a few very worthy causes will have $2.5 million in support, making their dream a reality. It falls in the league of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Oprah’s The Big Give. Someone gives a lot and probably makes money off the promotion, but in the end, the world is a slightly better place.

If you’re a card member, go to the Members Project and cast your vote. It only takes a minute, but can have an impact that affects people for the rest of their lives.

Resources: 

• Members Project
• American Express Press Release

I love these kinds of contests, even if they’re not all contests, because people come up with some hilarious pictures. I can win a box of stuff from Michael, which I probably won’t win, but it’s fun just the same to participate.

If you want to try to win his box of stuff, just create an image and follow the contest guidelines. If you created an image already, leave your link here in the comments for everyone else to check out!

Just leave a comment on this thread before 11:59pm PST tonight and I will stumble a post of my choice from your blog as soon as I can (this helps me become more familiar with your blog, and also helps promote your quality articles).

If you’d like to stumble something on my blog as well, please feel free to stumble away! This is purely to help out those of you in the community who visit my blog to get some extra clicks to your site. If you’re feeling generous and want to help out those around you too, come back tomorrow and see who’s stopped by. I’m sure they’ll all appreciate an extra stumble from you as well. Only real blog sites will be stumbled, so spammers, don’t bother leaving your spam comments today.

Thanks everyone! Now let’s have a party!

[Feel free to add me as a friend.]

The questions do pertain to industry workers — SEOs, PPC managers, account managers, consultants, etc. — and are not restricted to SEOmoz members. The only issue I have so far with taking the test is that the “Previous Question” button didn’t work…I know…! SEOmoz, please check your buttons — I’m on a Macbook using Firefox. So I decided I’ll re-take the test since I realized I checked the wrong radio button for one of the answers. My logic is that they state, “The more completed surveys we get, the better our data will be…” so if I didn’t finish, I should be able to re-take the test without negatively affecting the total number of completed tests, right?

Anyway, go take the test! And be careful reading the questions just in case your back button doesn’t work either. Answers will be published for everyone to review on or before March 11.

ShoeMoney has his Free Shirt Friday, so why couldn’t I get some gear for a little free exposure for you guys?

Let me know if you think it’s a good idea. Companies and/or bloggers could send me a shirt, or a hat, or a sweatshirt, and I’ll take a picture in it and write a little something nice about you, unless the shirt is ugly. Juuust kidding…

What do you think? Should I try it out? If you think so, leave me a comment.

[Shirt by ThinkGeek. Because apathy is hard work.]

My buddy Nate Whitehill announced his contest to win a bunch of free stuff he gathered recently at the Pubcon webmaster’s conference in Las Vegas. Here’s a picture of all of it:

If you want to enter his contest to win it, you can see the simple contest rules here.

My Contest: Win an iPod Shuffle!

And don’t forget, Gary Lee, Greg Morgan, and I are running our own contest — for you to win one of three iPod Shuffles.

Join our TTZ Media affiliate network, and you can enter to win not only one of three iPods, but also a chance to win one of two 22″ LCD monitors from John Chow himself. By applying through our program, you have a chance to win one of five prizes.

So how do you make money from TTZ Media? Well the basic principle is that you get paid for each click of the TTZ Media widget on your site. Drive cheap traffic to your site and earn a margin of each click. If you’ve read my PPC posts, you should have a basic understanding of how to set up an online advertising campaign Purchase enough long tail keyword traffic, and you could be paying a few pennies per click, or less.

Sign up for TTZ Media here. Remember, you will only qualify to win one of these five prizes if you have not yet signed up for the program, and your site is approved into the network. Good luck!

Contest Origin: Become an Affiliate of TTZ Media

John Chow is launching a new affiliate program through his TTZ Media site, and he’s looking for individuals to sign up as, well, affiliates. In order to kick things off and ramp up his numbers, he’s holding — that’s right! — a contest.

Those who sign up for the program, and are approved, receive one entry into his contest. Create a blog post about the contest, like this one, and you’ll receive a second entry. Get additional affiliates signed up under you, and you’ll receive one additional entry per qualified sign up! Each entry that qualifies gets you that much closer to winning one of two 22″ LCD monitors. That means you have two separate chances to win a prize from JC.

How Does the TTZ Media Affiliate System Work?

As a TTZ Media affiliate, publishers display a TTZ Media widget, like the one to the right, that displays product deals based on your keyword preferences. Each time a visitor clicks on the product widget, you earn $0.15. Drive more than 1,000 clicks per month and your CPC increases incrementally.

Become a TTZ Media Affiliate Under Me!

In order to incentivize you to sign up under me, I’m also offering a contest. (Yes, I know “incentivize” is not a real word.) Gary Lee, Greg Morgan, and I have teamed up to make the process easy for you as a publisher. You can view the basic site we’ve created for the program here. If you sign up under our account, you will have access to our site template files to make the publishing process that much easier. Then just tweak the pages however you like. All you need is a domain!

What could you win? We’re giving away three iPod Shuffles to three lucky affiliates! Just sign up here first and make sure to spread the word (i.e. blog about one of our three posts to help us out). Also, we’ll be contacting the three winners at the email address provided upon sign-up, so make sure it’s an email address you will be checking. Follow these rules and you’ll have five chances to win some pretty cool prizes!

Gary, Greg, and I will also be providing helpful tips to you guys on how to use the TTZ Media program to make some money. If you have any specific questions, please leave them in our Comments section.

Our contest is sponsored by American Express Business Gold Rewards Card. Sign up for the card and you can earn Two $100 American Express Gift Cards, money you can use to pay for your pay-per-click advertising!

Mission Statement

The OLPC Foundation’s mission is to stimulate local grassroots initiatives designed to enhance and sustain over time the effectiveness of laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries.

From now until November 26 you can help OLPC achieve their initial efforts of getting these computers to children who can benefit from them by contributing now. Their current Give One Get One program comprises of purchasing two laptops, one for a child in a developing nation, and one for a child in your life. The cost is $399. Of that cost, $200 is tax-deductible, and T-Mobile has also teamed up with OLPC to provide free wireless access for one year to individuals who contribute to the program. That in itself is almost worth the value of your donation!

If You Can, Give

When I was very young, I remember telling my mother that when I grow up, I’m going to be rich so I can help those less fortunate. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to find ways to help people that are either less fortunate or in situations where they need a boost to get out. I suppose that’s why I studied Sociology and wanted to become a Clinical Social Worker in college.

This is why I feel compelled to support OLPC in their efforts, not only for one child, but for two. I’ve just completed my donation, and I have plans for what I’m going to do with the second laptop, but I can’t announce it just yet. It involves papers and signatures and stuff

If you can, please give to OLPC. You can help a child learn, create, and expand his/her vision of the future. This has been a PSA by your friend MsDanielle.

The A-ha! Moment

John Chow was generous enough to invite a few of us bloggers to dinner this past Friday at the Hilton’s Benihana following Mark Cuban’s closing keynote speech at BlogWorld. To my surprise, and delight, Zac Johnson was sitting across the table with his girlfriend Reena, next to John himself. (About Zac) Since the tables were split to accommodate all 15 of us, I didn’t have an opportunity to chat with them during dinner. But I was able to meet Zac and Reena afterward for a quick meet-and-greet. Woohoo!

All of this networking — and especially Zac’s own “about” story — was making me realize that I really need to get in the game as a marketer. I learned some very valuable PPC insight from Darin Carter at BlogWorld, and was so inspired by the range of people who showed up — it dawned on me that attending conferences is really a necessary priority for me.

Upcoming Conferences

These are some upcoming conferences that I figure fit my market, and my goal of becoming a super affiliate. If you’re thinking of attending one or more internet marketing-related conferences in the coming months, check these ones out as options. [If anyone wants to recommend some additional worthwhile conferences for me, please leave them in the comments and I can add them. Thanks!]

• PubCon, Las Vegas December 4 – 7, 2007. For webmasters, SEO’s, and affiliate marketers. Hosted by WebmasterWorld.
• Affiliate Summit West, Las Vegas February 24 – 26, 2008. For affiliate marketers, merchants, and affiliate networks. Hosted by Affiliate Summit.
• CJU, TBA 2008. For advertisers, publishers, and agencies. Hosted by Commission Junction.
• ad:tech, San Francisco April 15 – 17, 2008. For advertisers, agencies, execs, solution providers, and marketers.

How Will I Get There?

John Chow recommends going to conferences for free as media, but I’m not as popular as he is, so for now I’m assuming I won’t qualify as media. [But it doesn't mean I can't try!] PubCon is most likely a bye. But Affiliate Summit West (ASW) is a viable option for me. And it’s expensive. $949 to be exact, for the full conference pass. Yikes! In any event, paying my way to get there is one way to attend, although I’d rather go for free.

A second way for me to get there is through Zac’s own Free Affiliate Summit Pass contest. Wouldn’t that be awesome if this wannabe could go for free by winning Zac’s contest? He’s already given away one pass, and there are two drawings left. I’m crossing my fingers the next winner will be me, of course.

Another way is through Ian Lee’s contest for ASW passes. Yep, that’s right. Ian Lee is also giving away two chances to win a full conference pass. (Ian held the Affiliate Networking Dinner where John Chow won the Zune that I ended up giving away!) I know I’m risking a lower chance of winning by actually encouraging you guys to enter, but all’s fair and it should go to an affiliate marketer who really wants to go.

So why am I entering? Well, I too would like to be a super affiliate and be able to spend my off days as Spiderman or some other super hero. I’ve been working on my affiliate site pinkdeals.net for some time now, and am in the process of overhauling the design through UniqueBlogDesigns. I know what small affiliates know about the market, but I don’t want to be small time anymore. That’s why I’m a Zac Johnson wannabe. Cross your fingers for me. Zac or Ian, send me to ASW for free!!

The Consolation

There is of course a chance that I won’t win the contest. If you’re interested in going in for a group rate with me ($711), leave a comment in the comments section. If I don’t win, we can get a couple hundred dollars off. If I do win or am able to go as media for free, the rest of you can attend as your own group and get a discount!

[Photo courtesy of John Chow. Thanks again for dinner, John!]

The guys over at JohnCow.com recently put out a call for guest bloggers, and guess what, they had no problem filling up a week’s worth of space. Looks like it was a great experiment for them. Guest blogging benefits both the publisher and the contributing author, opening up each other’s audiences. See if you like the content they picked!

I also had two guest bloggers appear here on MsDanielle last week, which I’d like to highlight and thank the authors for their contributions. Jason from j2fi.net and Chris from chrisblogging.com contributed the posts “Quick Tips for Conquering Writer’s Block” and “Beware the Dark Site.” I encourage you to check out their blogs — I really enjoy their writing styles and their content is always informative. (Thanks, guys!)

Nate Whitehill and Josh Mullineaux have published a series of video podcasts which have really taken off quickly. They’re concise, informative, well-edited, and they create a realness to the blogs that connect them to their readers. Check it out and leave them some feedback on what you think.

Blog Contests

Yes, the never-ending stream of blog contests continues into September. Check out some of the latest:

• CashForComments: Win a LG 24″ LCD Monitor
  Some people have remarked that he’s just copying John Chow’s latest contest, but hey, it worked for John and it will work here too. Stop griping, and enter the contest — you could actually win the monitor! The contest is sponsored by the Sneaky Bastard (get paid to comment!) and Elite Baseball Training.
• Ed Lau and Michael Kwan: Win Two iPod Nanos
  Help Ed and Michael come up with a name for their soon-to-come hockey blog collaboration. Think it’s easy coming up with a good non-taken domain name these days? Try your domain naming skills and see if you can win!
• Romandock: Win a Ham Radio Manual and 25 Bucks
  This has to be one of the most unique contests I’ve seen to date. In an effort to bring more reader interaction to his blog, Nick is giving away some materials to help ham-radio newbies get their license. It’s great to see a niche blog giving away a niche prize. If one of you win, you could start your own KBLOG!
• Darin Carter: Win a Nintendo Wii
  This one is sooo gonna be mine. I was pretty upset when I didn’t win the Wii from JC, but I have a good feeling about this one! Darin’s search marketing contest ends August 31st, so I barely made it by six days. Darin does know his stuff, as you can see from his PPC Management series. The only critique I have about his content is his frequent use of “….” Then again, this is coming from the daughter of a teacher. [Darin, like how I linked to your category page?] Congrats as well to Darin for making it to #9 on page 1 of Google for “search marketing.”
• Gary Lee: Win an Apple iPhone
  Gary hasn’t announced his contest end-date yet, mainly because part of his contest is reliant on Google’s Page Rank update, which seems to have mysteriously vanished. [There might be updates on the, uh, update, but I have been out of the loop for a few days.] Since Google is slacking, take advantage of the opportunity to enter his contest — a free iPhone is never a bad thing.