Thumbs Up For Smorty
Smorty is another paid to blog site. It works much like the others. You sign up, which is pretty easy, submit a blog and wait for it to be approved. The approval process is pretty quick. When I first signed up with Smorty it took just over two weeks to get a blog approved. When I added my latest blog it took about a week.
To qualify for Smorty you must have a blog that’s more than three months old and indexed by Google and Yahoo. The blog must be active and not have too many duplicate posts. If a blog is rejected you can resubmit it if you fix the problems. With Smorty, you can add as many blogs as you like.
Once you’re signed up, you login on the home page. When you login, you need to click a little button that says that you’re a blogger rather than an advertiser. I find it a minor annoyance, but I guess it only takes a second. Once in, there’s a very tidy green and black dashboard with panels for your posting record, your earnings, pending tasks and new opportunities. I have to say I love this interface. It is easy to see all the important information at a glance, unlike the dashboards of some of the other blog advertising companies.
Smorty emails you notifications of pending tasks, but the email doesn’t not mean that you automatically get that task. Instead, they notify everyone who fits the bill and you get to login and take one of the opportunities. There are usually lots available, so if you’re quick you could really clean up. Just click on the ‘accept’ link to take a task and then you have three days to complete it. After that it expires and you can’t get it back.
Each post must be between 150 and 400 words long and must contain only one outbound link. Once you have written a post you get paid quickly. Advertisers have five days to dispute the post but this hasn’t happened to me yet. Smorty advises you to write your own opinion, but warns that negative opinions are more likely to be disputed. For my first post, I got paid within a week, which is much quicker than most other companies.
Smorty also has an affiliate program for encouraging people to advertise on blogs, though I haven’t joined that yet. (Update: I joined in November 2007).
Overall, I give Smorty a thumbs up. I think most bloggers will find it easy to use and the number of opportunities available seems to be increasing. It’s another good way to blog for money.
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I’d like to join Smorty but my blog still be new blog I have to wait 2 more months.
Well, it’s not long to wait, GettyCash.
Thanks for sharing this information. I’m new to blogging and already I’ve learned lots of tips from your blog. Keep up the good work and thanks for your willingness to help new bloggers.Mirella
I’ve not heard of smorty. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks Sharon!
I’m glad you find it useful Mirella. You have a great blog, BTW
Got to keep a few surprises up my sleeve, Dana
Sharon,
I haven’t been offered many opportunities through Smorty. There’s usually only one on my dashboard, though once there were two. And the one that’s there currently is one I’ve done recently. I’d been hoping to get more opps through them. I’ve gotten quite a few more through PayPerPost than I have through Smorty. But the fact that Smorty pays weekly is a definite plus!
Very helpful post!
Jeanne
I was in the same position, Jeanne, but lots more opportunities have been coming in through Smorty recently. In contrast, while PPP offers better money, I haven’t had as many opps there recently.
I’ve completed seven opps through Smorty since my blog was approved by them on September 21. I love their interface and the fact that they DO pay and they pay on a timely basis. I wish they had more opportunities, because I really enjoy working for them.
I’ve done 17 posts for PPP and have only heard on three of those (they were approved, but it took forever).
Do you have any experience with PayU2Blog? Many of my friends are working for them, and they really give them good recommendations. I’ve applied, but have not heard back, which means that my blog has been rejected. I’m not sure why, and I’m pretty disappointed, because I’ve read a lot of good things about them.
Sorry, for the long comment
That’s good to hear, Sharon! Perhaps they have a trial period, or maybe the number and price of the opps offered are simply based on Google Page Rank, site traffic, and/or Technorati/Alexa ranking (all of which I’m currently working on).
I believe the reason I’ve had more opps through PPP (though they haven’t always paid more than the low-paying Smorty opps I’ve had so far) is that I figure out ways to present non-writing-related ads to make them as relevant as possible to writers. If I didn’t, I’d have to bypass those opps; and, let’s face it, writers have lives and interests outside writing, too.
Our varied experience with these two sites just serves to show that it’s never a bad idea to sign up with several, which gives us more options. I’ve also signed on with Sponsored Reviews (as I see you have also) and Review Me.
Thanks for your encouragement!
Jeanne
Long comments are great, Misty. Smorty seems to have more opps coming through now. PayU2Blog seems to have plenty to offer - they are on my list of places to review.
That’s a good point, Jeanne. I’ve signed up with so many of these sites that I’ve almost lost track. Some of them have had no opps for ages, while there’s an ebb and flow with the others. It’s good to have choices.
Regarding Misty’s comment about PayPerPost taking forever to approve posts: They are sometimes slow; yet, whether or not they approve your post right away, you’ll have to wait 30 days from the date of the post for payment anyway, so I don’t worry about that anymore.
When I was new to PPP, I was worried that I’d have to wait 30 days from the day my post was approved to receive payment, which made me a bit impatient about their approval time. But once I realized that payment is made 30 days from the date of the post–regardless of when PPP approves it–I relaxed. (Of course, it’s always nice to know your post has been approved so you can count on receiving the payment 30 days after the post went live.)
Jeanne
Yes, that IS nice to know, Jeanne. In fact, I’ve just started doing the occasional PPP post again, because they pay well.
I make about $150 sometimes with smorty a day. My site is also new.
That’s good going, Tracey Ann. My earnings are more modest, but I still like the company,
Wonderful to find a site that will accept Blogger blogs. I just signed up through your link. Thanks for this post!
Yes, so many don’t, Jacqueline, that it’s good to find a few who do. There are a couple of others in my list who accept Blogger blogs too.