Here’s something a little different. BetShopBoy won this review of his site and as an avid CashQuests reader he knows that I give my 100% honest opinion on what I think about websites and whether they are worthwhile or not.

So what did BetShopBoy do? He asked me to “be nice”!

Interestingly, he’s actually the first person to ever ask me to “be nice” when reviewing their site. I’m not sure why that is considering that when you’re paying for a review it could be a pretty smart request to ask the writer to give you a favorable review.

Ultimately, you are the customer and it wouldn’t be unreasonable.

The amazing thing is that by asking me to “be nice”, he has shown himself to be a pretty smart guy and smart people usually get positive reviews. All BetShopBoy has to do is not destroy that perception!

Evil isn’t for everybody

I don’t know what it is, but there is something that I really like about BetShopBoy’s blog. Perhaps it’s the photo of his incredibly cute kids or how his About page describes how “the novelty wore off” once with his blog, but the whole site just comes across as very “nice” and a refreshing change from evil online money making world.

If you want to make money – evilness can help a lot – but if you’re just interested in having a blog and enjoying it, there’s nothing wrong with being a nice guy and BetShopBoy comes across as a pretty nice guy. Take a look at his Top 5 Reasons Why I Blog and you’ll quickly realize he’s only doing it for fun, to meet people and the possibility of making a few dollars while doing it.

A little bit of everything

As a blogger who blogs for fun, the posts on his site are quite varied and diverse. There are random posts about his thoughts and daily life combined with lots of funny things that he has found in his travels around the internet.

Some recent posts that I enjoyed were:

• Google Bitch Slapping Spree
• What Kind of Blogger Are You?
• A Streak of Digital Luck
• The 5Es of Essential Blogging

In amongst the posts, there are also a quite a few that appear to be competition entries. He must be doing alright from them because he won this review!

Helping a nice guy make money

I want to see BetShopBoy’s site make money, so I decided to take a look at how it could be monetized better. As it is now, the site is setup to be “community focused” and while there’s nothing wrong with that - it’s not a money maker.

Here’s what I’d do:

• Move the AdSense - I’ve always found AdSense below the fold to rarely get clicks and consume a lot of space for little return. While many larger blogs are moving away from AdSense, it can still be a great earner for smaller sites so what I’d do is put up a 728×90 banner directly below the site’s header to make it more profitable.

• Tweak the buttons - BetShopBoy currently has three 125×125 buttons that he uses to promote some affiliate deals. I’d add one more and create a 2×2 block of buttons that can be placed above the fold in the top-right corner of the site. That would push down the ‘Top Commentators’ list, but it’s a trade-off between community and making money.

• Blend the tech ads - The TTZ Media ads are money makers but don’t have the best blending. It’d be better to remove the border on the TTZ Media ads so they look like part of the site and I’d probably replace the WidgetBucks ads with more TTZ ads too. From my data, TTZ Media is looking like a much bigger money maker than WidgetBucks will ever be.

Finally, every site needs a distinct header. Text headers just don’t cut it these days in terms of branding and creating a memorable site. Something like this would be an improvement:

It’s not art, but more memorable than just text.

It’s just fun

When the rigors of making money online get a little too much and a break is needed, it’s nice to head over to BetShopBoy and see his nicer take on things. He’s a guy who blogs for fun and whether you’re into sites like that or not, it’s often these sites that provide fresh new ways to help you make money.

Click here to visit BetShopBoy

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