I used to dislike bloggers who sign up to Pay-Per-Post or those paid postings, but I never imagine to become one 
What I dislike about the posts (I registered at Pay-Per-Post once but never taken any opportunities yet), are that most of them are biased. You need to please the advertisers about their offered products/services in order for them to approve the posts. I hated it and decided not to follow to that “evil” path.
I don’t want to be judgmental and judge bloggers that do it (they have their own reasons and they have to put a “this post is sponsored” tag anyway). However I like to mean what I say and I don’t want to be a hypocrite and pretend that I like the product/service just to get some cash. Again, if you are doing some paid posts and you really mean what you say on the posts, then it’s fine with me, no offense at all.
SocialSpark is a new idea from IZEA. It allows you to make some cash from accepting “opportunities” from the advertisers. Read on why I like SocialSpark.
What I like about SocialSpark
SocialSpark offers varied opportunities
SocialSpark’s opportunities are varied:
- Review a product/service
- Mention of a site (This is a good one, as I usually love to tell the world about a good site, if it is worth mentioning)
- Write an article about something (I saw an opportunity about energy saving for the global warming opportunity)
- Write stuffs on how to get freebies (Who doesn’t want freebies, assuming it’s not a scam)
SocialSpark is also a community
SocialSpark is also community based. You can view other bloggers and other blogs from your dashboard. You can send private messages, gives a thumb up on other blogs (a la StumbleUpon), and get to know each other from the opportunities’ comments. I’ve traded a few messages to some bloggers there, but of course, none can beat Entrecard 
You can get a bit of traffic from here as well (as with other online communities).
SocialSpark uses a No Follow link
One of the reasons I didn’t want to go for Pay-Per-Post was that Mr. Google doesn’t really like paid links. SocialSpark has learnt from the past mistakes and decided to use a no-follow link for all paid posts. Meaning, Google shouldn’t get angry about you getting paid to provide a link to another site.
The post’s requirement
The requirement of a post will be the number of words being written on the post, and not about how good the product/service is. I think I read that some paid post programs require you to write good things about the product and the advertiser can reject it if it’s not good enough. Hello? If it’s a bad product, shouldn’t a critic mean a good indication to improve your product’s value even more?
What I don’t like about SocialSpark
It takes some time to be accepted in an opportunity
Sometimes you’ll have to wait for days to be accepted on an opportunity that you requested. In a way, it’s good though, because it means that you are being chosen carefully by the SocialSpark team and not simply some bloggers who just want to rack some cash quickly.
It can be confusing for newcomers
SocialSpark has a great layout and navigation. However, there are a few stuffs in there that require some learning process. It’s currently in beta and you can also see that they are doing some tutorial videos (coming soon), so for the moment, you either have to figure things out yourselves or ask around. There are a lot of nice bloggers there that will answer your questions nicely.
Conclusion
So there you go. I actually have to write only about 250 words about SocialSpark, but I feel like I have to be honest on what I say and what I think about the service. As of now, this is my first opportunity that I take in there. There are a few that I’m interested in, but I need to filter them out.
If you can earn some cash to pay for your hosting and blog’s expenses while blogging, why not? SocialSpark is heading on the right direction and since it’s still in beta, I guess time will tell on how successful SocialSpark can be. Join in, have a play, and see if you like the idea.
Social Spark “code of ethics” :
- 100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
- 100% Transparency
- 100% Real Opinions
- 100% Search Engine Friendly
So, do you hate me for “joining the dark side?”
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Welcome, my friend, to the other side of the fence. Hehe. I signed up with SocialSpark as well right after they sent out that Email Invite. And yeah, you’re right, it takes like forever to get an opportunity. Quoting from one of my commenters, “C’mon, who says its bad, go on blogging.”
roels last blog post..Changes to Bloggista.com and the new Bloggista.net
Hi Michael:
I signed up for SocialSpark about a week ago, reserved lots of opps and so far NOTHING. I am very disappointed even though I still a novice at this. So I just continue to work on my traffic generation via entrecard and decent posts and see what happens.
Ellens last blog post..AARP Renewal
lol roel.. welcome, welcome..
@Ellen: Yeah, it took me more than a week to get approved. I guess there are just too many bloggers applying for the same opportunity. Things should get better as it’s still in Beta, but they are already on the right track, I suppose.
Thanks for dropping by.
I liked your style of writing: smooth and to the point.
About SocialSpark: Signed up, but they reviewed my blog very cruelly; I attacked back. After 3 rounds of attack and reacts they finally apporved my blog. (http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com)
Now what?
NOTHING!!!
dais last blog post..My Comments on New EC Pricing system
fcuk social spark
[Unfortunately, we cannot approve your blog at this time. Blogs must be made up primarily of posts that are at least 3-5 sentences of original, quality content. Blogs that are not made up of standard text content, such as Photoblogs, Videologs, listings, advertisements, recipes, poems, copied articles, jokes, etc. cannot be approved in our system.]
stupid review system
lol
@dal: Thanks for the compliment! You may want to start browsing for opportunities and then wait to get chosen D
@Deimos: My other blog is not approved (it’s full of ads and sponsored contents), but I don’t understand why they won’t approve yours
Ha Ha Look at the frustrated Diemos over on rejections. This is a good opportunity I must sign up with Socail Spark
Gosh, they are so slow with with approving. took them a month to tell me that my blog was not 3 months old. i really cannotbe bothered to do it again. the site is very confusing and tedious to browse. i guess it is because it is still in its beta stage. apart from that looks like a good idea. just wish they would work on the approval system. Oh well.
WFNBs last blog post..Weezy Playing the Guitar to Lollipop
Yeah it can be frustrating to get accepted in the program (my other blog is rejected) and also the opportunities.
As WFNB said, it’ll take you a while to understand what’s what in there
I actually just signed up with social spark and I’m waiting to be verified still. Once I am it will be nice to help make some money to keep my site going and optimized. So I’m happy.
Jeremy Newtons last blog post..New Theme Again
Yeah it’s not bad once you are accepted. You can also use the opportunities there as ideas for posts too. So why not earn at the same time?