One of our sites, StartupIsrael, has a new design. The graphic designer is the same one we used for ExpressCard-Info (through the eLance system). I think it’s pretty good!

Here’s a quick update on my graphic-design project in eLance.

I have got 12 project bids. Ranging from around 70$ to over 500$. The nice bit is that you can have companies from India, Pakistan, US, UK and Belgium. And they all bid on price and quality.

I have chosen a designer (which I liked the work, and the price was good). The work was completed quickly, and I already paid, got the graphic files, and the ExpressCard-Info site is updated with the new graphics.
So the eLance service is given the thumbs-up!

I decided to upgrade the graphic design of the “smaller” sites in the Metalgrass network. It’s pretty simple work, and I decided it was a good time to try to find a freelance graphic designer through the web.

I chose eLance as the freelance search platform. I have heard good things about them. I posted my project requirements, and started to get bids. Interestingly almost all of the the companies come from India. I guess it makes sense - they can offer much lower prices than companies in the US (or Israel for that matter). Kinda sad how this world works. We (my wife and I) have been to India on a 2-month trip in 2005, and indeed it’s a different world. I hope the internet will help some individuals there - for example by offering freelance work at high prices compared to their local market. AdSense is also a tool that can bridge across nations - you earn the same from your web site if you target a worldwide audience - and it doesn’t matter if you write it in New York or New Delhi.

I’ll give more updates when I have chosen the company.

Amazon has a new feature for their associates - building a mini store, called an aStore. It takes a few minutes to setup your store, add categories and products and design it (colors, mainly).

You can then embed it in your own web site, or have Amazon ‘host’ your store. They are trying to promote this new feature, so they give you extra bonus on sales generated through your store.

It’s an interesting concept. I have implemented an aStore in OLED-Info - check it out. It sells products with OLED displays (MP3 players, mobile phones, cameras, etc.) and books.

Hello,

This is the first post on the Metalgrass blog.
So what’s it gonna be about?

It’s gonna be a business blog. Mainly, of course, about our Software products. And also about our web site network. Google AdSense will probably be featured quite heavily, as we use it ourselves in our site network, and also because of our main product, AdSenseLog which helps you maximize your profit from your AdSense account.

One promise I make - no cats (It’s not that I don’t like them - but I’m allergic, you see).