Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Site Examined on Linkreferral.com

Tonight, as many nights go, I was doing the usual statistical research on the site, usually to do with how people are using Linkreferral, and in what fashion, for instance, how many are doing the max 5 reviews, how many are using the internal Linkreferral mail system, what is the communication like between members that have a favorites connection, how often do people come back, etc.... this is done of course to see things are going and where improvements can be made.

and so tonight, my focus was on our new search, first, is the search use increasing?, what is being searched on?, etc... We record the search terms being keyed in, and as you can imagine, quite an array of topics, 'etsy', 'money','scrapbooking', 'country music', 'political buttons'.... the list goes on and on. There was one search term that caught my eye, 'cancer'. A more serious topic than most on here, and I was interested in what the results would be. And so I keyed that search and came up with 146 member sites in our directory.

from the results, there was a listing that caught my eye.

http://shoppingkharma.blogspot.com/
A blog that details my struggles on beating advanced cancer, what good karma is to me, judging others by their heart & soul & realizing the importance of right now. Actions speak louder than words & what comes around goes around.

and so I proceeded to click on site, and found an stunningly raw and honest first person account chronicling the writer's battle with ovarian cancer over the course of several years as well as the impact it has had on family members... my father passed away from lymphoma this past Christmas, and so I have some measure of ability to empathize with the situation. I highly suggest you have a look...

I then proceeded to look at the reviews this member received, shown at,

http://www.linkreferral.com/reviewlist.pl?reviewee=161305&category=&subcategory=&startrow=0

As you can see, many thorough and sincere comments left by the visitors. Obviously it's a little difficult to say how this story is going to turn out, however, we wish her and her family all the very best, and as I'm sure she is aware, sharing her story with the public has most certainly touched and helped the readers who have graced her blog and has done much good.

After reading and sitting back, I also felt a little better about what we do here. If in some small way, we've helped promote a first rate blog such as this for the benefit of our members (and hopefully cathartic for the author as well), it makes up for all the money making and adult sites we have listed ;) Not that those don't have their place, but it's nice to see something a little more laudable in our listings.

Now before I go, looking at this listing from a business/online endeavour point of view, it's a great example of how a site is doing things right, in this case due to a first person account of something people can relate to, and care about. The content is key here (it's interesting to the visitor), and additionally, it's a story that is continuously updated (keeps people coming back - I will probably check back in myself). With these two bases covered, a site owner can get things going. I'll write more about this in a future post.

In fact, this writer had monetized the site with Adsense ads up until recently, Adsense deciding to disable her account due to her promotion of cannabis to alleviate pain from serious illness. Doesn't seem quite right considering her particular blog and situation, the fact it's legal in many countries and U.S. States for that purpose, and doubly ironic as Google is based in the fairly liberal northern California region. Hopefully she'll find an alternative (take a look at http://www.adbrite.com ) and/or they will reconsider their position.

20 comments:

Springbrook Soap Company said...

Hi Mike,

I have to let you know, you have created a wonderful place here at LR, while doing my daily 30/5/1/1 I get the pleasure of viewing some truely amazing sites, that I would have not found otherwise.
This post again reinforced the many reasons I am here everyday, doing my duties, for the ability to find and explore the net in a unique way.
I was truely inspired by this womans blog and my thoughts will remain with her and her family during their battles.
I hope you realize, how grateful many of us are for LR, you do an outstanding job here for all of your participants. Keep up the great work!!!!
Thanks again, Vicki

thaihouse-isaan said...

I fully agree, its been a great help to me, and Ive made some friends as well. LR well done, and thank you.
David

os said...

Hello, LR!
The first thing I want to say! GREAT PROJECT! GREAT WORK! RESPECT YOU!
I have to take your service is already 3 days and very pleased with the work of service and most importantly that the referral system works. I do also have the pleasure of your project.
Well thought out details, it is convenient to use this site and control panels! I like. that the website set such rules 30/5/1/1 it makes no difficulties, actually follow the rules
And I want to continue to use your service! Thank you very much!

ps. you color blog very nice ;)

GREEN SPRINGS BODYWORKS said...

I am still pretty new to LR and finding my way around the site, but I had a sale last week from someone who found me on LR! Thanks for all your hard work

Tigiri, Neeka said...

You are really great. I have read through your articles and posts. they are great and it gives me a sense of thoughts.

i am really greatful that some like u are getting along side.

i will get back to you later.
thanks for your blog that are really educative

acer_sage said...

I love what LR has done for it's members.

You have given us a chnace to compete with the big boys and for that i thank you..

we own a auction site and because of LR it has some good views and had a few members join.

again thank you for giving LDBidz.com a chance to fight on the net!

Pilo Gui said...

Thanks for the link to http://shoppingkharma.blogspot.com/
I really admire the way it is presented. I for one would not have done that with such suffering from cancer.
nosle.com todd
http://avialblah.blogspot.com

Oldbuddy said...

Nice insight into my favorite interactive traffic builder in the true Web 2.0 style.

sharvarionline said...

Hi,
I am Madhavi,you have done a great job. We get lots of knowledge and viewer from you which I need very much for earning my site. pls send good veiwer to my site.

MaxiVelasco said...

i just joined linkreferral yesterday and i am really impressed with the so many blogs i have visited.

i am interested to visit that site you mentioned here.

thank you for the information

Brenda Campbell said...

Mike,

I applaud you for highlighting this writer's site as it is a good one. I cannot understand why Google has to be such a hard nose when cannabis is very significant to some to alleviate pain until their day comes. I just lost my grandmother to lymphoma just a week ago (on 9-11-08) so I can also empathize also. You are doing great work here with LR as I enjoy coming here and doing my reviews and have found many sites I would not have otherwise found, like this one you highlighted. You got a great thing going here! Keep up the good work.

Thank you
www.cre8tivekitchen.blogspot.com

Mary of Brush It On said...

Wow....thank you so much for writing about this topic. Being a cancer survivor, I can tell you first hand that communication about the disease and what it does to your mind and your body is one of the most helpful things to keep you fighting. Most people don't know what to say to someone in the biggest battle of their life. If all you can say is: I'm here, that us enough. Most of the time it isn't what is said, its the fact that someone took the time and made the effort to say anything at all. (hope all this made sense as I still suffer from chemobrain!!)

Spotlight-On WM said...

Bummer for that woman, especially since Google has a big "Adult Warning Enter at Own Risk" on her blog, scaring off potential readers. But great that you noticed her site and gave her a plug. Hopefully she'll be able to replace the lost ad revenue with something else so she can continue to fight her cancer. (I'm still trying to work in getting my own 30/5 per day reviews in, but I'll give her a thumbs up.) Thanks for coming up with LinkReferral.

Anonymous said...

L.R.Rocks!

Unknown said...

One of the greatest of Linkreferral feature is allowing us review your site and you review our site.This automatically develop a good communication among us.
Communication is a very important thing to have for any business to get a good success.

Cheers

The Gatekeeper said...

Oh, I'm glad I found your blog. Love Linkreferral, though I don't claim to know all the ins and outs of its services. This blog opened my eyes a little. Thanks again.

Gabbriella Conte said...

It is great to know that people in charge actually do take the time to get to know us little ones out here. The web has been a very healing place for me during my illness & with the passing of my mom.... even if no one reads my stuff it is healing for me just to put my thoughts down.
Thank you for your site!

Unknown said...

Nice blog

syarlilady said...

I am glad you found the 'shoppingkharma.blogspot'. I'm a regular visitor there and it's sad that Google has added the "warning" message before allowing you to enter when her diary talks about her daily struggle with the disease. I can relate to her because my mother was sick with cancer too years ago. It's finding sites/blogs like hers which make me more and more grateful for LR. Thanks Mike.

Homer23 said...

I like the blogg 1st time I have read it but I have been using Link referral for over 5mths now and I have had some good results. I will be keeping a close eye on this bog now I have found it.