Mom Central Blogger University

muvee Reveal version 8 half off until December 30, 2009

muvee Reveal is an easy to use video editing program that comes with editing tools like automatic brightness, color correction, rotate image, and red eye reduction. You can also create captions, voiceovers, and add end credits.

I originally reviewed it in my post,  Make your home movies look professional with muvee Reveal. Since then muvee Reveal version 8 has been released. It has special features that bloggers will love including the ability to directly upload your finished muvees to YouTube and Facebook. (Before you had to use shwup.com) You can also branding your muvees with your blog’s logo. Plus, they’ve added music trimming and style control options, making syncing video and still pictures with music even easier.

I have used it several times and found it to be fun and easy to use. Plus, it’s easy to share your finished work not only on YouTube and Facebook, but you can burn DVDs to send to grandparents or even export your movies to your iPod, iPhone, mobile phone and PSP.

muvee Reveal a terrific tool for bloggers, but it is also a great way to make muvees for class projects, workplace presentations or video presents for friends and relatives. You can try muvee Reveal for a free 15-day trial or purchase it for $38.95 (50% off!) until December 30, 2009. After that it goes back to it's original price of $79.95. (And yes, muvee Reveal is windows 7 compatible for all you folks who got new computers this holiday season.)

You can learn more at the muvee Reveal website, the muvee Facebook Fan page or on Twitter @muvee

______________________

Disclosure: I received a copy of muvee Reveal to try out the program for this review.

Amazon Associates affiliate program now integrated with Blogger blogs

Last week, Amazon announced their new program Amazon Associates for Blogger, a direct integration between Amazon Associates, their affiliate program, and Blogger. This new collaboration makes it easier for bloggers to monetize their content by adding relevant Amazon product links to blog posts without interrupting the blog editing process. Amazon Associates for Blogger is now available on the Associates Central webpage.

Sign up is easy

If you already have an Amazon Associates affiliate account, you can use your current Associates ID. If you’re new to Amazon Associates, you can sign up and get your ID right away.

The sign up process for current Associates takes less than a minute and is instantly added to your Blogger blog under the Monetize tab. You also have the ability to turn the Amazon Product Finder off if you don’t like it for some reason. If you’re new to the Amazon Associates program (and yes, it’s worth signing up even if you only make a few dollars a month) you’ll need to give them contact and banking information.

How to use Amazon Associates for Blogger in your posts

The new tool allows you to easily to add Amazon affiliate links and images to you blog posts in just two easy steps:

1. Just type and highlight the relevant text into your blog post. The Amazon Product Finder, which shows up in your posting screen, searches Amazon’s millions of products and recommends the ones that are most closely associated with the text you highlighted.
2. You can then insert a link or image (or both in a badge type ad) to that product, which will include you Associates ID. (When you add an image to your post, there will be a blue lined box around it. However, this will not show up when you post.)

If you use a blog editor such as LiveWriter, you may want to write your post first in that program, then post it draft in your Blogger blog, and use the Amazon Product Finder to add Amazon affiliate links and pictures.

Amazon Associates for Blogger sidebar widgets

Signing up Amazon Associates for Blogger also enables you to show dynamic content in your blog sidebar using a new set of integrated sidebar gadgets, such as gadgets for MP3 clips from the Amazon DRM-free music store, an Amazon Deals gadget, and an Amazon Search box. Just go to Layout, click on Add a Gadget and type in Amazon to find all their gadgets.

Warning: some bloggers find that adding Amazon sidebar gadgets to their blogs slows down page/site load time. I’ve had the problem where their gadgets goofed up the code of other sidebar widgets. Also, I noticed that my readers seldom click on Amazon side bar gadgets, so I don’t use them. No point in letting them take up precious real estate on my blog.

I love how the Amazon Associates for Blogger feature helps you save a lot of time when trying to monetize your content. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Amazon is considering adding similar functionality to TypePad and WordPress blogs.

Monetizing your blog with ad networks

Joining an ad network is an easy way to monetize your blog. There are dozens of blog ad networks with new, niche ones starting every day. Here are a few of the better ones:

• For women and parenting centered blogs: BlogHer Ad Network, MomLogic, Real Girls Media, GlamMedia, JuiceBoxJungle’s Jungle Ad Network
• For foodies: FoodBuzz Featured Publishers, BlogHer Ad Network
• For all types of blogs: BuzzLogic, Six Apart Media Advertising Program for Bloggers, BlogAds, Fatvine Vertical Advertising Network (CustomerForce)

Before signing up with a blog ad network, you should find out:

• Are they signing up new bloggers or is it by invite only?
• What are the network’s requirements – traffic, frequency of posting, profanity, etc.?
• Do they require exclusivity, meaning can you run other ads or ad networks?
• Are you allowed to do sponsored (paid) posting?
• Ad banner placement – must their ad banner be at the top of your blog to count impressions?
• What do they pay? Usually it is $X per CPM (cost per thousand views)
• Who are their clients? Fortune 500 companies or little “mom and pops”?
• Do they run a lot of filler and public service ads?
• Does the ad “disappear” if there isn’t a campaign running?
• Control – can you opt out of a campaign if you do not care for the advertiser?
• What media outlets is the ad network is partnering with?

In my experience, BlogHer Ad Network has been the best paying ad network for my blog, This Mama Cooks! This could be because I’m in a good niche (health and wellness) and a good fit for many of their clients. However, others have told me they didn’t make all that much with BlogHer. Also, BlogHer’s rules on giveaways and reviews are restrictive and have been a turn off for many bloggers, so even if they do pay a better, it may not be worth changing your blog to fit their requirements.

How to get your blog on Amazon's Kindle

You can now publish your blog’s RSS feed for sale on the Amazon Kindle Store and Amazon will share revenue with you for every Kindle user who subscribes to your feed.

Getting started is easy

To start using Amazon Kindle Publishing for Blogs, first create a new account by following a quick three-step process to create your login information, set up your security questions and fill out the Vendor Set Up form.

In the Vendor Set Up form you will need to do the following:

• Provide your contact information
• Provide your payment information
• Accept the terms and conditions

Once you are finished with the setup, you can upload your blog on the Add a Blog page.

Add a blog

To upload your blog for purchase in the Kindle Store you need to follow a short three step process:

1. Fill out the simple one page form
2. Preview your blog to be sure you are happy with how it will be displayed
3. Publish your blog

Add your feed

First you need to validate your blog’s feed URL by using the URL of your blog or its RSS feed by adding it the appropriate field. If your feed is not validated, then please check the following requirements:

• The blog feed should be a full text, well formed XML feed.
• The feed should be a valid ATOM or RSS feed.

Note that if your feed has videos or user-generated links like Reddit, DIGG and Technorati, they will be removed for the Kindle version. Also, if your feed has advertisements and promotional links, they will be removed for the Kindle version. Use the preview functionality to make sure you are satisfied with how your feed looks.