Have you heard?  Kontera is giving away Amazon Kindles through our MVP Rewards Program!
We wanted to take an opportunity to re-introduce our latest promotion:

Entering is simple and only requires presenting some of your Kontera In Text Advertising successes in a post on your site, and then shooting us an e-mail with the link to the post. You can be rewarded with a great prize!  Find all the details here.

We look forward to reading your post and shipping out your new Kindle. 

Hurry up and enter this contest as the deadline is October 31st – increase your chances to get a special Halloween treat from Kontera!

The holiday season is the best time to try out new things.  If you’ve been considering joining Kontera, there’s no time like the present.

To help get the ball rolling, we have a new holiday sign-up offer for you:

Reach $75 in earnings, and we’ll round your balance up to $100

That’s an extra $25 on us!

How to do it?
1.    Join Kontera by Jan 15th.
2.    Sit back and relax.
3.    Reach $75 in your account, and we’ll send you a check for $100!

As a Kontera publisher you’ll benefit from:

• Quick and easy integration;
• Higher CTR & revenues;
• Adsense compatible ads;
• Multiple payment possibilities.

This offer is available for sign-ups through Jan 15th 2009. So, the sooner you sign-up with Kontera the sooner you can start earning.

Happy Holidays!

Become a Kontera Publisher Now!

* You must register through the sign up link on this page in order to be eligible for the bonus.

*Terms & Conditions

You can still join the party and get a $25 bonus for each friend you bring. Kontera’s “Invite a Friend” program was launched last April and has proven to be a great success. We’d like to thank the many Kontera partners who have taken part in the program.

So, what are you waiting for? Invite your friends and receive a $25 bonus from us for each friend who becomes an active Kontera publisher. Inviting your friends is now easier than ever:

1. Log into Kontera’s Publisher Center using your user name and password.
2. Click on the “Invite a Friend” button on the right.



3. Type in your friends’ names and send away. Your friends will sign up through the link on your email.
4. Make sure your friends sign up using the same email address to which you sent the message.

-To learn more about the “Invite a Friend” Program please visit our Knowledgebase.

-“Invite a Friend” Terms & Conditions

We’ve decided to aggregate some of the questions we receive regarding payment terms & methods. The extended versions of the answers below can be found in the Kontera knowledgeBase.
If you’re left with any payment questions after reading this post and the knowledgeBase, let us know, and we’ll gladly expand our guides to include more information.

When do I get paid?

Kontera’s payment terms are Net 30, first week of the month, when balance meets or exceeds US$100.  In plain English it means that payment is issued 30 days after the month in which the revenue was earned, when an account balance reaches $100. For example, if your account balance reaches $100 in October, we’ll send the payment to you in the first week of December.

What if my account balance is less than $100?

If your account balance is less than US$100 at the end of the month, earnings over US$5 (for all your sites combined) is rolled forward to the following month, until the payment threshold is reached.
You can view your account status at any moment by logging into your Publisher Center account and clicking on the reports tab.  Reports date back up to 180 days and any data prior to this time frame can be sent to you upon request.

Can I set a higher limit of when payments are released to me?

Sure.  Some of our partners prefer a payout amount which is higher than $100.  If this is the case for you, simply change the settings by logging into the Publisher Center and selecting the “My Account” Tab. Follow the ‘Payment Method’ link and enter the amount of your choice in the appropriate field.

What are the available payment methods?

Kontera’s available payment methods are as follows:

US Publishers
•    Check
•    EFT
•    Paypal

Publishers from Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland,  and the United Kingdom
•    Check
•    International ACH
•    Paypal

All Other International Publishers
•    Check
•    Wire
•    Paypal

And how do I change my payment method?

To change your payment method, login to your account and go to “My Account” tab, then click “Payment Method” to select your preferred option.  Click to find out more about changing your payment method to PayPal.

To be a successful marketer, one must know how to move with the trend, change with the current fashion. A quick look at the most clicked keywords of any week reveals all sorts of interesting facts on what’s popular these days and where public attention is turned.

As promised, we are delivering the next in a keyword report series:

Not surprisingly, matters of finance and politics are now winning more clicks than at any other time in the past year (though we cannot show the actual number of clicks, we can definitely show rank).
On another note, Beyonce just turned into an ultra popular keyword and a quick look in Google reveals (to those of us who aren’t so MTV savvy) that her new singles are freshly released.  And of course, “Halloween” is climbing its way to the top, no tricks

As we well know, some keywords never get old.  For example, in apparel beauty, keyword “hairstyle” always remains at the top.  “Free downloads”, of course, always wins a place at top of computing category.

The “Top Clicked Keywords” post series is aimed at providing you additional information about the top performing keywords in our network.  For previous posts visit our Top Clicked Keywords Category.

Everyone knows that top clicked Keywords and the current search trends usually go hand in hand. It’s always interesting to see which words get all the attention in a given week. That’s why we’ve decided to publish a series of posts about Kontera’s most clickable keywords.

Of course, the most generic keywords like computer, car, mobile phone, news -are always under the limelight- this is nothing new. But every now and then, we run into some surprises.

Take the Sports niche for example: the word “Basketball” always attracts a massive amount of clicks. However, during the last week it seems like the Beijing Olympic Games and Phelps’ astounding performance have turned the spotlight from the court to the pool. The word “Swimming” has surpassed “Basketball”, but even Phelps can’t beat “Football.”

Check out the table below for some of last week’s top performers. We’ve collected the most interesting categories and maybe you’ll find some tips here…Stay tuned for the next posts in this series.

The “Top Clicked Keywords” post series is aimed at providing you additional information about the top performing keywords in our network.  For previous posts visit our Top Clicked Keywords Category.

Over the past few months we’ve been busy developing and updating different tools to enhance and simplify the use of ContentLink™ ads.

With our new Publisher Center, KnowledgeBase, ContentLink plug-ins and additional customization options, we figured it was high time to tie all these tools together and to remind you of all the great options available to you.

So here are a few useful tips to help you make the most out of your Kontera PPC ads:

• Plugins for quick ContentLink implementation- we’ve simplified the Kontera integration and customization even more. If you’re using Blogger, we have a widget that will distribute our ad code to all your pages in one-click! For WordPress, Joomla or Drupal users, our easy to install plug-ins simplify ContentLink’s integration and customization and provide you with maximum control over the ads’ placement on your site or blog.
• Optimization Tips- many factors influence ContentLinks’ performance on your site or blog – their color, number, density, location on a page and more. Check out the ‘Optimization’ category in the Kontera KnowledgeBase and find out how to customize ContentLinks to best suit your site’s design and content.
• Advanced Reporting- Use the Keyword Report , available through the Publisher Center.  Identify your top performing Keywords, add them to more pages on your site and increase your revenues. Use the URL report in a similar manner, identify your top performing pages and then try to implement their attributes on more of your site’s pages.

And one last useful tip; did you know your SEO efforts can go hand in hand with ContentLink optimization? Find out how

We’d love to hear your feedback on any one of these tools so feel free to leave your comment.

On July 1st Kontera launched a hot deal for new publishers:
Sign up* with Kontera during July 2008 and get 100% REV SHARE for the month!

We’re here to remind you that summer is at its peak and so is your chance to earn big cash.  You don’t need to do much, just sign up to Kontera, add ContentLink ads to your site or blog, and we’ll take care of the rest…

With 2 weeks left for the offer, what are you waiting for? Sign up* today and get 100% Rev Share till the end of July!

*Offer is valid only for sign-ups through the promotional page.

A few weeks back, we told you about the new Kontera-WordPress plugin. We were thrilled to get so many great responses and feedback from you. We promise to keep providing you with more great tools to simplify and enhance the use of ContentLink ads on your blogs.

If you haven’t already tried our new WordPress plugin, there’s no time like the present. We’ve put together a short tutorial to make integration a snap:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://blog.kontera.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/wordpress_plugin400low1.swf" height="318" width="400" /]

Download Plugin for WordPress 2.5
Download Plugin for WordPress 2.0

For some time now we’ve wanted to publish a post with marketing and writing tips for bloggers. We thought: who’s better to do it than Kontera’s Sr. Marketing Manager, Jennifer McHugh. With broad marketing and communications experience that spans from online publishing to non-profit work, Jennifer’s advice is a must read for every blogger.

Here are Jennifer’s blogging tips:

1. Pick a Topic and Stick to It- People come to your blog for a reason, they want to hear your opinion in an area of interest you’re passionate about. Whether you’re blogging about cooking, travel or shopping you need to focus on one subject and related topics to keep your readers coming back for more. As soon as you start losing focus, you’ll lose readers.
2. Keep it Simple – Your blog isn’t a place to show off your vocabulary or grammar skills. If you can, choose simple words and keep the word count down to a few hundred words. The more complicated you make it the less you’ll sound like an expert.
3. Post Frequently – Imagine if you rushed home early to watch your favorite show only to find out that it’s not on. When people visit your blog, they expect to see new content. Don’t disappoint them with infrequent postings. Pick a schedule and stick to it!
4. Link, Link, Link – There is no better way to build your reputation within your own niche than to link to other relevant blogs. Chances are they will link back to you which will help increase your traffic, improve your rank in search engines, and drive even more traffic to your website.
5. Make it a Dialogue not a Monologue – In today’s Web 2.0 world readers expect to connect and share information. Add a section to your blog for comments so your readers can participate or provide feedback to keep the dialogue going.
6. Have Fun – This isn’t just my advice for your blog, but for life in general. You should love what you’re blogging about and have fun doing it.
7. Kontera Advertising Solutions – Last but certainly not least, monetize your blog with Kontera ContentLink™ and earn revenues where your users are already engaged, within your page content. Integration is fast and simple. Once you place Kontera’s code on your page, we take care of everything else. http://www.kontera.com/ads-for-site/become-a-kontera-publisher
   

   This is part of our blog series “Kontera’s Backstage Pass”.
   Read more:

   • An Interview with Lori Xeller, Kontera’s Director of Advertising Sales
   • An Interview with Gabi Peles, Kontera’s Senior Product Manager