The concept is simple…

People with money in their PayPal account, may want to pay for something with their Moneybooker’s account, and people with funds in their E-Gold account may want to pay for an item using PayPal. The solution? MoneySwitch.org.

This “middleman” website is up for grabs, and we don’t see it lasting for long. The seller just wanted to see if it could be done and now that’s it’s complete it’s on the selling block:

http://www.sitepoint.com/marketplace/auction/20768

This is definitely a site worth going for. You make money on the reduced fees you charge for the exchange. And, although we don’t go for .org’s often, with the technology in place, it’s easy to land it at a new domain. With a BIN of only $6K, we think that this sale is a real bargain.

Moniker, a trusted name in domains, provides an escrow service for those looking to avoid scams when buying and selling domains. The fee for the service is right around 2.7% which I think is pretty standard.

Before using Moniker’s Escrow Service, beware that they seem to be a bit “new” to the entire domain process where it pertains to providing information to both sides on what exactly is transpiring. Our escrow started in late January, and 14 days later we are still waiting for the domain transfer to take place.

The cause? There was an error in the transaction id which had to be generated through our registrar (we figured this bit out on our own). Even though the error appeared, no notification was provided to either side and we happened to log in to see that an error had occurred. This “oversight” caused major delays in the transfer of a domain.

Also, if you’re selling a website (not just a domain), you and the buyer/seller are responsible for the actual transfer of content. Moniker steers clear of that part.

Customer service was also bad in that the young man we spoke with assumed that you knew how their system runs from the inside. His responses were short when answering our questions.

All in all, I’m sure Moniker’s Escrow Service can be trusted, but they have a long way to go to have us use them again.

We would like to introduce everyone to our free escrow service which is now available at:

http://www.webpermit.net/escrow/.

Avoid being scammed, always use escrow!

If you haven’t jumped into social networking with your own profile page, a network of friends, and joining countless communities of interest, you might want to think about where you were on the social ladder in high school. Social networking is today’s online popularity contest, a chance to connect with like-minded people and promote yourself. Social networking gurus have created their own following with blog posts, active community participation, and attempts to make themselves known. Showing off their roster of friends and people ‘in the network’ are just a few ways to get noticed.

Are you social networking savvy and climbing the ranks? It’s the same game you played (and perhaps lost) in high school; here are a few reasons why:

1. You have to get out there and talk to people. Even if you’re a wallflower at heart, social networking requires active and diligent participation. Keeping in touch with people in the community, whether you know them or not, is how you build your reputation. Be consistent, and you’ll start building loyal friends.

2. Wit and humor prevail. Snarky comments and intelligent banter do matter-it shows you’ve got some personality–so you need to arm yourself with a few witty quips, intelligent quotes, and (smart) commentary whenever possible.

3. You have to show off what ‘ya got. A website, a blog, or a link to something interesting is going to get you the attention you need for your online party. If you’ve got it, learn how to work it!

4. The good looking people usually win. A super-attractive website or blog will be under scrutiny here;although a good picture of you couldn’t hurt either.
5. You get to be a namedropper. Talking about high-profile websites, bloggers, or connecting yourself with other sites is a simple way to boost your status. What you see is what you get, and any links or references to high-profile sites will do you good.

6. Associations make a difference. Being a member of such-and-such.com helps you create a unique online identity; people make instant judgments of ‘where you came from’ so it’s in your best interest to share your best qualities.

Social media has changed the way we communicate, a chance to reach out with our hobbies, interests, and passions and connect with millions of people around the world. Now anyone can enjoy a ‘hey, look at me!’ moment with a few clicks and enter a new community of people with similar interests. Online dating was just one step towards this phenomonen; today, social networking is a popularity contest that can help promote a website, boost business sales, and bump up those traffic counts after a little strategy. If you’ve recently joined a social networking community, consider using some of the tried-yet-true strategies that worked in those pre-college days. . .