Minterest: “3 Best Of The Best Remote Desktop Access Software That Are Free” plus 4 more

3 Best Of The Best Remote Desktop Access Software That Are Free
iCloud Email Address: One Productivity Tip You Probably Didn’t Know (Plus 3 Things About Gmail, Outlook.com, & Yahoo Mail)
Link Building: How SEO Gurus Do It And Why You Shouldn’t Follow Them
Microsoft iPhone. Microsoft iPad. Microsoft Android.
Propeller Ads Review: Pros & Cons And Everything You Need To Know

3 Best Of The Best Remote Desktop Access Software That Are Free

Posted: 13 Aug 2015 08:47 AM PDT

Screen Sharing Image Credit: Flickr

There was a time when I (and probably you) struggled with Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop software on a Windows PC to remotely access someone else’s computer. It was a terrible experience and never worked for me as it involved quite a few network settings and protocols — which I still don’t understand much.

And there were few free and premium remote desktop connection managers like LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, etc. at that time. But I was least interested in trying those remote desktop connection managers as it was of no use to me.

Then, with the advent of the smartphone era, I tried remote desktop apps for mobile like Splashtop, PocketCloud, LogMeIn, Join.me, and TeamViewer, etc. and almost all of them failed to impress me. It was simply not the kind of productivity apps that I wanted or even care about.

My impression completely changed when Microsoft and Google introduced their own Remote Desktop apps for web and mobile a couple of years back. The good thing is… both works perfect and is free without any restriction.

So here is a quick review (plus comparison) of the 3 (and only 3) best remote desktop access software that are free.

1. Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome Remote Desktop is a Google Chrome app that lets you access all your computer(s) from another computer or from your mobile device(s). It can be used for a variety of purposes like to access your own computer from a remote location or to provide (or get) remote support or to securely access your files or software applications on your computer from a mobile device, and so on.

What I really like about Chrome Remote Desktop is that it’s linked to your Google account. So there’s no such thing as an extra user id or special codes to access your computer from another device of yours. And the installation and setup is pretty simple. All you need to do is install the Chrome Remote Desktop app on all your devices (computers, tablets, mobiles) and you’re good to go.

When you open the app for the first time you will be asked to authorize it and it’s a one-time process. And you will then see two functions: “Remote Assistance” and “My Computers”. “Remote Assistance” as you might have already imagined lets you share your computer with someone else to get remote support. “My Computers” lets you add all your computers (Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, and Ubuntu Linux) and access it from your other devices (computers and smartphones).

Chrome Remote Desktop

If you want to use “My Computers” then you need to install Chrome Remote Desktop app on all your computers and enable remote connections. You will then be asked to set a PIN of at least 6 digits and it will be required when you connect from another device or location. When the PIN code is set and remote connection is enabled you can see a list of all your computers added to Chrome Remote Desktop when you open the app.

Chrome Remote Desktop

Now if you have an iOS or Android device then you can install the official Chrome Remote Desktop app for iPhone, iPad, and Android and access any of your authorized computers from your mobile devices.

Note: When you access a Windows computer from a mobile device or another computer you do have the option to select “Don’t ask for a PIN again when connecting to this host from this device.” so that you won’t have to enter its PIN code again. But for Mac OS X, you have to enter the PIN code every time you want to access it (whether it’s from another computer or a mobile device).

Again, if you want to share your screen with someone else to get remote support or anything like that then you can use the “Remote Assistance” feature of Chrome Remote Desktop. Just “Get Started” and you can share your computer with another user by generating and sharing an unique “Access Code”. And you can control another user’s computer by entering the “Access Code” generated by that user. The access codes are obviously for one-time use only.

One more thing… when you enable remote connections, it will automatically download and install the Chrome Remote Host Service (apart from the Chrome Remote Desktop app). It’s a service that runs in the background so that there is no need for Google Chrome to be opened on the remote computer. In fact, you can use Chrome Remote Desktop to access your PC that’s already logged out or locked.

Don’t Miss: Create Custom Search Engines In Chrome To Boost Productivity

Pros

It’s 100% free with no restriction.
It’s super-fast.
It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. And the mobile app is available for iOS and Android.
It gives instant access to all your computers — as long as it’s turned on.
It can be used to access your own computers or your friend’s computer.
It’s linked to your Google account so there’s no need to create another account or generate any one-time codes (unless you’re sharing the screen with someone else).
It can play sound from the remote computer.
It can access any computer on the web without adjusting any network or firewall settings.

Cons

It can’t be used to transfer files from one device to another (let me know if you’ve figured out a way) but you can copy-paste texts.
It doesn’t give you much options other than Window resizing and print screen option when you access a remote computer.
It doesn’t give you an option to turn off audio.
It doesn’t support audio, video, or instant messaging.
It’s not the best remote desktop software for commercial usage.

Download: Chrome | iOS (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) | Android

Don’t Miss: Over 71 Gmail Tips & Tricks To Make You A “Gmail Ninja”

2. TeamViewer

TeamViewer

TeamViewer is perhaps the most popular remote desktop software for personal as well as commercial use. It’s a lightweight application that’s simple, fast, and intuitive — and that’s why it’s a “can’t live without it” kind of tool for network engineers. The best thing? It’s 100% free for personal use. In fact, it’s TeamViewer that showed the true potential of a simple remote desktop client.

But I’m a bit disappointed with its free version as it doesn’t work perfectly for my personal use. Because I was not even able to connect to my own computer for few hours. Of course they have mentioned on their website that it’s free for all non-commercial users and it’s true. The problem is… they will disconnect the session automatically if they think that you are using it for commercial purposes.

For instance, try to connect to another computer and keep the connection alive for an hour or two. They will automatically disconnect the session by saying that it detected commercial usage.

Pros

It’s free for personal use but with usage restriction.
It’s available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. And the mobile app is available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry.
It’s also available as a web app (you need a TeamViewer account).
It can be used to transfer files from one computer to another.
It can setup “unattended access"so that you can access your computer from another location.
It can send files to your contacts (requires a TeamViewer account) without establishing a remote connection.
It works even if you do not have a TeamViewer account.
It has a built-in messaging feature that also supports audio and video.
It can play sounds and music from the remote computer.
It can establish multiple remote connections at the same time.
It gives you a lot of extra options. For example, you can remove remote computer’s wallpaper or sound , adjust bandwidth, single window sharing, and can even record a session.
It’s perfect for both personal and commercial usage.

Cons

It will disconnect your session if commercial usage is detected (even if you didn’t use it commercially).
It requires a TeamViewer account and the application must always run in the background to access our computer from another location or device.
Its paid version is expensive — starts at $749 (one-time).

Don’t Miss: Over 151 Google Products & Services You Probably Don’t Know

3. Microsoft Remote Desktop

Microsoft introduced their Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android few years back but it’s good for accessing your Windows computers only (home editions are not supported unless you install a 3rd party software to support it).

For example, if your primary computer comes with Windows 8.1 Pro then you can access it from a mobile device (iOS and Android), Mac, or from another Windows PC without additional setup or software.

And it’s totally free without any usage restriction. Unlike Chrome Remote Desktop, the setup process is a bit complicated when you do it for the first time.

Microsoft Remote Desktop

Microsoft Remote Desktop apps are available for mobile devices as well. You need to install Microsoft Remote Desktop on your mobile devices (iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) and computers (Windows 8, Windows 10, and Mac) to remotely access a Windows PC.

Once you install the application, you can add all your PCs by entering its details. You can access computers on your home network only but can follow this tutorial to enable Remote Desktop connections from outside your home network. For additional help, refer this documentation.

Don’t Miss: Over 21 Microsoft Apps For Your iPhone & iPad (And Android Too)

Pros

It’s fast and easy-to-use — after the initial setup.
It’s totally free without any restriction.
It gives instant access to your Windows PCs — if they’re all turned on.
It works best if your primary computer is Windows. But the mobile app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
It doesn’t need any one-time codes or authorization to connect to your own PCs.

Cons

It can be used to access Windows PCs only — from a remote location.
It automatically logs out the remote computer when you establish a connection.
It can’t transfer files from one PC to another but can copy-paste texts.
It’s got no additional options — other than resolution and audio.
It needs a Windows Professional or Server edition to work (unless you installed a 3rd party client to support it).
It can’t be used to give or get remote assistance/support.

Download: Windows & Windows Phone | Mac OS X | iOS | Android

Read: Over 151 Google Products & Services You Probably Don’t Know

Conclusion

As you might have already imagined, this is a list of free remote desktop managers — that’s primarily for personal usage. That is, to access your own computers from another location using another PC or a mobile device. Or, to get or provide remote support.

You should definitely consider the alternatives — like TeamViewer Pro, Join.me, Ammyy Admin, Splashtop, GoToMyPC, RealVNC, etc. — for professional/commercial usage. For me, the Chrome Remote Desktop works best because it’s platform independent. I can access my computers (Windows or Mac) from virtually any other device — without any limitation.

For instance, now I can check the status of a download or can exit or open an application from a remote location using my mobile or tablet or another computer. And the best thing is… I do not have to install and keep a 3rd-party desktop client open all the time to access my computer. Also, I can also use it as a TeamViewer alternative because it supports “Remote Assistance” as well.

So, what is your favorite remote desktop software and why?

3 Best Of The Best Remote Desktop Access Software That Are Free is a post by Minterest

iCloud Email Address: One Productivity Tip You Probably Didn’t Know (Plus 3 Things About Gmail, Outlook.com, & Yahoo Mail)

Posted: 29 Jul 2015 07:24 AM PDT

Apple Cloud

I never blogged much about iCloud Mail or Yahoo Mail as I never find it useful or interesting — except the disposable addresses in Yahoo Mail.

A disposable address lets you create up to 500 temporary email address within Yahoo Mail. You can create a disposable address any time and delete it after use. It’s a good thing if you don’t want to reveal your “real” email address to anyone.

It’s a feature that is really missing in Gmail or Outlook.com but both Gmail and Outlook.com support sub-addressing though it’s not as useful as disposable addresses. Anyway, I didn’t want to switch to Yahoo Mail only to get that feature.

But a few days back I realized that an iCloud email address (@icloud.com) is also useful — and interesting — as it supports both sub-addressing and disposable addresses (sort of).

So What’s Up With iCloud Mail?

iCloud Mail

iCloud Mail was just another email address for me. In fact, I never liked it or used it much as I was absolutely sure that it didn’t have anything much to offer — when compared to Gmail or Outlook.com or even Yahoo Mail.

Recently as I was exploring different options under iCloud Mail Preferences, I noticed that iCloud’s email aliases works differently and it’s actually a combination of Outlook.com’s alias feature and Yahoo Mail’s disposable address.

With iCloud Mail, you can create up to 3 email aliases and what’s really interesting about it is that you can turn it off when you don’t need it. For instance, you can create an iCloud email alias to signup for mailing list (and can set up “rules” to automatically organize those messages) and can delete it later when you no longer need those newsletters.

Go to iCloud.com > Mail > Preferences > Accounts to create, delete, or turn off email aliases. You can create up to 3 aliases and can delete or turn it off at any time. And yeah, you can even send emails from all your active alias addresses. But deletion is permanent and you should do it only when you’re sure that you won’t need it.

And hey, all your iCloud email addresses supports sub-addressing. It basically means that you can append a plus (“+”) sign and a keyword after your primary username or any of your aliases and it virtually becomes another email address.

For example, if your primary iCloud address or an alias is apple@icloud.com then all the following addresses — apple+one@icloud.com, apple+two@icloud.com, etc. — belongs to you.

Read: OneDrive vs. Dropbox vs. Google Drive vs. Amazon Drive vs. iCloud Drive

BONUS 1: Sub-addressing @ Gmail & Outlook.com

Gmail was one of the first email service providers to support “plus addressing” and now it’s very common among all its peers like Outlook.com. At Gmail and Outlook.com, your single @gmail.com or @outlook.com address = unlimited email addresses. You can append a plus ("+") sign and any combination of words or numbers after your username.

For example, if my Gmail username is “maheshone” then all the following addresses — maheshone+spam@gmail.com, maheshone+work@gmail.com, maheshone+social@gmail.com, etc. — are valid and all the messages send to those addresses will be delivered to my primary inbox. And it works on Outlook.com too!

Don’t Miss: Over 71 Gmail Tips & Tricks To Make You A “Gmail Ninja”

BONUS 2: Aliases @ Outlook.com & Yahoo Mail

Outlook.com supports both sub-addressing and multiple aliases. But it’s quite different from iCloud Mail as you can’t turn it off. An Outlook.com alias is like an additional email address that can send and receive messages just like your primary account — except that both shares a single inbox.

You can delete it permanently but can’t turn it off. However, you (or anyone else) can register it again when it becomes publicly available.

Yahoo’s alias works in a different way. You can create an extra email address or multiple aliases. The extra email address is like a another Yahoo ID but the alias is an extension of your primary Yahoo ID. It basically means that you can’t receive emails to your alias but it can be used to mask your Yahoo ID on public Yahoo portals like Messenger, Message Boards, etc.

So if you want to create an email account for your work then you need to create an extra email address and if you want to fight spam then you need to create disposable email addresses (explained below).

BONUS 3: Disposable Addresses @ Yahoo Mail

With Yahoo Mail, you can create up to 500 disposable addresses and it can act as a permanent address as well, if you want.

It works like this: You create a new username (known as base name) which is basically the first part of your disposable address and it will be present in all your future disposable addresses (it’s permanent and you CAN’T change it later).

Once the base name is setup you can start creating your disposable addresses. Let’s say, my base name is “maheshone” then I can create disposable addresses like maheshone-facebook@yahoo.com, maheshone-twitter@yahoo.com, etc.

That is, your base name and the keywords are separated by a hyphen and not a plus ("+") sign. And I can even send emails from all my disposable addresses.

It’s nice that Yahoo is using a “hyphen” (and not a “plus sign”) because it looks much more credible than an email address with a plus ("+") sign in it.

Don’t Miss: Gmail vs. Hotmail vs. Yahoo! Mail: An Ultimate Comparison

Closing Thoughts

My preferred email service is (and was always) Gmail though I tried to switch to Outlook.com as well. However, I hate the @gmail.com addresses and prefer an @outlook.com or even a @hotmail.com account if I have to go for it.

But now it appears like iCloud Mail is also useful. What do you think?

Just in case, if I missed another unique feature of iCloud Mail then let me know as a comment below and I will be happy to list it.

Happy Emailing (And Spam Fighting)! ;)

Image Credit: Flickr

iCloud Email Address: One Productivity Tip You Probably Didn’t Know (Plus 3 Things About Gmail, Outlook.com, & Yahoo Mail) is a post by Minterest

Link Building: How SEO Gurus Do It And Why You Shouldn’t Follow Them

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 06:32 AM PDT

Spam

If you’re a blogger then I bet you get a lot of emails from marketers (and sometimes from “guru” bloggers) that says they are a regular reader of your blog and then say “Great stuff!” after highlighting a blog post of yours.

The reality? They are neither a ~~regular~~ reader of your blog nor did they read any of your blog posts. How do I know? Well, essentially what they send is just an email template (it can be copied or a custom one).

You can easily find it out by Google searching a phrase or two from the email message. And they send it to a ton of other bloggers as well — after modifying the name, blog URL, etc.).

So what do they want? Links. More links. And even more links.

And remember, some of them are “guru” bloggers while others are just a representative of another blogger or an internet marketing agency.

Don’t Miss: The Link Building Handbook – 75+ Resources, Tips, Strategies & Tools

There was a time when I used to reply to each and every email that I received. But now I have stopped responding to them. At times, I even replied to anonymous senders (I still do it).

So here, I have answered all the 10 types of emails that I (and probably you) get regularly from blog outreach experts. My answers state exactly what’s in my mind when I get such an email but I do not send it. Some of them do appear natural but they are just templates!

Note: I removed the identity (and email signatures) of the senders to protect their privacy.

Type 1: Check It Out

Hey Mahesh

I was looking for some articles about inbound marketing when I came across your “The Email Marketing Handbook – 101+ Resources, Tips, Strategies & Tools” post.

Great stuff!

Just wanted to give you a heads up that I created a landing page optimization guide you might like.

Let me know if you want to check it out.

Have a great day and keep up the great work!

Oh, you didn’t even include a link to your blog post. You did that to make me curious? No, I do not want to check it out. I mean, there are hundreds of new blog posts published every day and it can be related to topics on my blog. But why should I read it in the first place?

Let me tell you something, if I want to know more about a topic then there’s always Google search for me — if not, then there’s Bing search — and it’s all what I (and probably everyone) will ever need.

Type 2: Updated Version

Hey Mahesh,

I just wanted to say that I'm loving the blog. I actually came across a great post of yours today, "The Internet Marketing Handbook – 101+ Resources, Tips, Guides & Tools" .

As always, great stuff !

I noticed that you have a link to : http://www.example.com/2014/01/17/sample-post/.

I really like this resource, some very valuable content in there. In fact, it inspired me to write an updated version called "His Blog Post".

You can check it out here: http://www.example.net/his-blog-post/. Might be worth adding to your article.

Wow, I inspired you! But you know what? When someone inspires me to write a blog post I naturally link to them to show my gratitude (like this). I scanned your blog post and I didn’t see a backlink or a credit in any manner. I’m sorry but I didn’t inspire you in any way and all you wanted was a backlink.

Type 3: Something Similar

Hi ,

I was checking out some of your articles at Minterest and found this page: “The Definitive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Handbook”.

I noticed that you linked to one of my favorite articles: http://www.example.com/2015/01/17/sample-post/.

Brilliant!

I actually set out to make something similar: "His Blog Post".

It’s like "http://www.example.com/2015/01/17/sample-post/”, but way more comprehensive in exactly how you can become a top blog.

Would you consider adding a link to it from your page if you think it meets your standards?

Either way, I’ll see you around at Minterest!

I suppose I’m linking to one of your competitors. Does that means that I should also link to you? I’m sorry but neither you nor your article meets my standards.

Type 4: Resource Addition

Hello Mahesh,

My name is “Mr. X” from “Y Company”. I'm a big fan of your posts and read them as often as I can. I've learned a lot from what you write, and found it a valuable resource lately especially, when preparing "His Blog Post" that was just published.

That's how I noticed you have a pretty nifty resource list on your site (http://www.minterest.org/the-seo-handbook/), which made wonder whether you'd be willing to add to it. I'm quite proud of how the blog post turned out, and I think it would be a good fit for your list. I’d be grateful if you considered including me as well.

Here is the link: https://www.example.net/his-blog-post/.

I look forward to hear what you think!

Okay, I agree that it does appear real. But I have already mentioned at the bottom of all such list posts that you can suggest your resource as a comment. Do you really read my blog posts as often as you can? :(

Type 5: Guest Posts

Hello,

I am a big fan of your blog and have been a reader for quite a while. Are you currently accepting guest posts? If so, I would be happy to write one for you want – The choice is yours! (The only thing I ask for in return is just one or two do-follow links back to my website.)

I am professional writer with a lot of blogging experience, so you can count on me to produce quality content. As soon as you reply with a topic, I will get started right away.

I saw that you featured some guest posts in the past and I thought the piece was an excellent fit for your site and your readers. Let me know if you'd be interested in reading and possibly hosting and article, I'm excited about the possibility of working with you.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Oh, that was the worst guest blogging pitch ever. You’re a big fan of my blog but you haven’t noticed yet that I NEVER accepted or published a single guest post on my blog? Stay away spammer!

Type 6: Do-follow

Hello,

I hope you don’t mind me emailing you today, I am looking for owners of websites and blogs that might be interested in collaborating on some content for their respective sites in the form of an article in this case for minterest.org.

The article mentioned can of course be written by us if needed or yourself if that’s how you prefer it. We do have a few requirements for posting but we can go over that if you are interested in moving forward.

I am however working with a respected client in the i-gaming industry who would like the article to contain one text link back to their site, blended in with the contents of the article to look as natural as possible.

I would also be prepared to pay you for your collaboration.

If you are happy with hosting content and do not mind the client mentioned please let me know and I am sure we can create something suitable and beneficial for all parties involved.

Many thanks and kind regards.

I know it’s just an automated email and I’m pretty sure that you will pay me. Anyway, I do not accept sponsored links and posts for SEO. Thanks.

Type 7: Broken Links

Hey Mahesh,

Just wanted to start off saying that I love (and I mean love!) Minterest. I came across it yesterday when looking for social media resources. This one was particularly amazing: http://www.minterest.org/social-media-tools-101/. There were so many resources I had to spend a second day pouring through them. :)

One thing, though: a few links in the post weren’t working. Looks like the sites moved or pages taken down. No biggie, just wanted to let you know. Here are a few of the links that didn’t work for me: http://www.example.com, http://www.example.com.

Also, I just posted a few articles recently that covers topics similar those on your page that might be a nice addition.

http://www.example.net/his-blog-post-1/

http://www.example.net/his-blog-post-2/

As a huge fan I’d be honored if you’d consider adding these links if you think they would be useful to your readers. If not, it’s cool. I’ll still read your stuff!

Broken link building strategy is not a bad idea. But telling lies is a bad idea. You DON’T love Minterest and you don’t know me. And I’m well aware of the fact that your email itself is a copied template.

Type 8: Review

Hi Mahesh,

We've been an ardent fan of your blog Minterest and thus reaching out for a few minutes of your time.

A little about us. My name is “Mr. X”. I handle the Digitial Marketing of “Y Company”, an open source platform for t-shirt designers to design, showcase and sell their products at zero cost entry and with tons of benefits other than just revenue optimization.

We have been wondering if we can collaborate with you to tell our story. We'd love to discuss with you the possibility of being mentioned/studied/reviewed via an article on your blog.

Please feel free to get back to us with any guidelines as well as a quote for your comfort zone. We'd love to initiate a long-term relationship with you.

You can read more about us at our “Y Company” Blog to understand who we are and what we do.

P.S. We've also got a really cool tee which we'd love to send to you as a gesture of good faith.

Looking forward to your response.

Again, you’re not a fan of my blog (In fact, I have very few.) and you don’t have a clue about the kind of topics or products that I usually write about.

Type 9: Infographic

Hi Mahesh,

I'm writing to let you know about an infographic we have published on our blog, titled ""His Blog Post". I think you will enjoy it as you've covered topics like this before.

Here is the weblink to the resource: http://www.example.net/his-blog-post/ and if you find it worthwhile, I hope you will consider sharing it with your readers.

Either way, I'm excited to see what you will post about next as I've found your site a pleasure to read.

Thanks for your time!

You must be kidding as I haven’t published any infographic blog posts after 2012. And I don’t think that I have more than 5 infographics on my blog.

Type 10: Press Releases

Minteresters,

We are a new technology startup who offer shirt printing and shipping fulfillment apps for Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, and Storenvy. I would like to push our press release through your outlet to gain some exposure. We are trying to get people to this page: http://www.example.net/his-blog-post/.

I have included the text of the release below, and have HTML and PDF versions available — if the release isn’t acceptable to publish, could we create some real content for you instead, like "Sample Topic" or something like that? Thanks in advance!

BEGIN PRESS RELEASE

—

::: a 500 word press release :::

—

No questions asked, they just send their 500 word press releases (and sometimes with a YouTube video as well). And I seriously don’t have a clue about what to do with it (and it seems like neither do they).

Don’t Miss: The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Handbook

So what’s the right way?

I don’t know. But…

1. Use Common Sense

I don’t know any guru tips. Pardon me! What you really need here is some common sense and not “guru tips”.

“Email unto others as you would have them email unto you.”

The real source of the above quote is unknown but I first came across it from the latest blog post by @Dharmesh — 17 Tips For Emailing A Cold List Without People Hating You. In fact, it inspired me to write this blog post (but it never “inspired me to write an updated version”). :P

2. Write A Genuine Message

You can use the email or the social media (especially Twitter). Today, Twitter is probably the simplest form of communication (and I love it much more than email). You can easily initiate a connection on Twitter by simply saying “hi” or asking some sort of question or anything like that.

Or, you can share your favorite blogger’s blog posts by adding a custom message (and not by using the original title of their blog posts). I always tend to reply to those who share my blog posts on Twitter with a custom message. It clearly shows that they did read the blog post (or at least I can make sure that they were not using a robot to do it).

Nobody likes to read automated emails or templates. But everybody loves to read genuine emails or messages — good or bad. If you initiated a contact in a genuine way then there’s every chance that they will respond.

In case they didn’t then you can always follow-up after few days to make sure that they did receive your message. And luckily it takes only few minutes to write a genuine email and you don’t need any “guru tips” for that, right?

3. Make A Real Connection

A genuine message creates a real connection. Seriously. It may last only for a day or a month or an year but you can always follow-up when you want to. The good thing is… when you make a real connection, you are not actually expecting anything in return.

For instance, let’s say you’re a WordPress developer and you helped me to increase the user experience on my blog by adding some extra features or something like that and never asked anything in return.

And, what happens after that? There’s a very good chance that we will follow-up via email or instant messaging and help each other. And if the next blog post of mine is about WordPress Coding then there’s every chance that I will link to you (or at least mention you). It’s not so hard to make real connections.

4. Send Your Pitch

Pitching a blogger is a good idea when there is a genuine reason to do so. But make sure that your pitch is short, personal, and relevant — as it makes your pitch real.

Ideally, you should pitch a blogger only if you know them or would like to know more about him. It’s not a good idea to pitch bloggers only to get something in return. It may work — by following “guru tips” — but they (or at least I) will hate you.

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Closing Thoughts

If you’re one of the senders of the above emails then I bet you’re annoyed now. Sorry, but please do bear in mind that I (and probably all your other email recipients) was much more annoyed than you are now.

Guess what? The next time I get another automated email like the above ones I will probably forward them this blog post or Dharmesh’s 17 tips for emailing a cold list. And I really hope it annoys them as well.

What do you think?

Image Credit: Flickr

Link Building: How SEO Gurus Do It And Why You Shouldn’t Follow Them is a post by Minterest

Microsoft iPhone. Microsoft iPad. Microsoft Android.

Posted: 22 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT

Microsoft iOS Apps

No, no, no. Microsoft is not going to launch a mobile device powered by iOS or Android. You bet! Over the past few months/years Microsoft has released a bunch of apps for the iOS platform (and Android too). And they’re not stopping there as they continue launching new apps.

Microsoft’s commitment to the iOS platform is very much evident from their recent acquisitions. Last December they acquired one of the most popular email app for iOS — Acompli. And in less than two months they rebranded it as Outlook for iOS.

Read: Over 25 Email Apps (Free & Premium) For Your iPhone And iPad

It was just a beginning. Later they acquired my favorite productivity app for iOS — the Sunrise Calendar (Hey, it’s not just a calendar but much more than that.). And then a few weeks back they acquired Wunderlist — again one of the most popular to-do list app.

It’s clearly visible that Microsoft want to become the best mobile productivity apps maker. I have recently noticed that a good percentage of apps I personally use on my phone is now made by Microsoft.

Microsoft Inside

So here’s a list of Microsoft apps on the iOS platform — and Android too — for (almost) anyone and everyone. I haven’t included each and every app made by Microsoft. For instance, they have made a lot of business apps and games but I haven’t listed any of them as I wanted to focus on apps that are for everyone (and many of them are my personal favorites too).

Also, most of the apps that I’ve mentioned here are also available on the Android platform as well. So I’ve linked to it wherever it’s applicable.

1. Outlook

Outlook for iOS is designed exclusively for the iOS (iPhone and iPad) platform. Your hunt for the best email app on iOS should end when you try it. Outlook lets you add all your web accounts (Google, Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, etc.) and offers a unified view of email, calendar, contacts, and email attachments. The best thing? You can add files from your cloud storage services (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) in few clicks.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
Download: iTunes | Android

2. Sunrise Calendar

Sunrise Calendar is the best (free) calendar app for iOS (iPhone and iPad). Period. It works with a ton of services like Office 365, Outlook.com, Google, iCloud, Todoist, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, etc. and can also connect with social accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
Download: iTunes | Android

3. Wunderlist

Wunderlist is now my most preferred task manager app. Sorry Todoist! Although I have tried Wunderlist before it did not become a favorite as I loved Todoist. But recently I gave Wunderlist another try after Microsoft acquired it. And then to my amazement I realized that it’s got 10x more user base than Todoist and offers a lot more features (that are premium at Todoist).

For instance, you need a premium Todoist account to activate notifications and labels feature (or tagging). But it’s free with Wunderlist and actually you don’t need a premium Wunderlist account to enjoy most of its features. However, you need a premium Todoist account to enjoy even basic functions like reminders or labels.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
Download: iTunes | Android

4. OneNote

OneNote was my favorite note-taker until I tried Evernote. OneNote is still awesome and so powerful but the problem is it’s not simple. I would say it’s for hardcore users (or business users) who require a lot of premium features like handwriting and collaboration features (Evernote has those features too but not so advanced like OneNote).

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
Download: iTunes | Android

Read: What Is Evernote, Anyway? 51+ Tips To Make You An Evernote Ninja

5. OneDrive

OneDrive was my primary cloud storage service but I recently migrated to Dropbox. I’m now using OneDrive as an archive as it’s got 1 TB free space (thanks to Office 365). OneDrive — like Dropbox — is also a cross-platform service as it’s available on all platforms and it works best when your primary computer is Windows.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
Download: iTunes | Android

Read: OneDrive vs. Dropbox vs. Google Drive vs. Amazon Cloud Drive vs. Others

6. Xim

Microsoft Xim is a photo sharing app that lets you ‘Xim’ your photos to your friends' devices — even if they they don’t have the Xim app installed on their phone. You can even invite your friends and share photos with them — and only one person needs to install the Xim app to share it with everyone.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch), Android
Download: iTunes | Android

7. Office Suite

Office suite is a collection of office productivity apps for iOS. It consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sway, and several other business apps like Lync. It’s truly magical on an iPad and is good on iPhone too. The best thing is… it’s free for basic usage but you need an Office 365 subscription to enjoy all its features and to get that full Office experience.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
Download: iTunes (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sway) | Android (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

8. Office Lens

Office Lens is a scanner app that you can use to digitize documents or whiteboards. It can even convert the scanned images into Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or PDF documents. You can even save all your scanned documents on OneDrive, OneNote, or another cloud storage service.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch), Android
Download: iTunes | Android

9. Microsoft Remote Desktop

Microsoft Remote Desktop is one of my favorite remote desktop apps. It’s so fast and is probably the best way to access your Windows computers from a remote location. However, I had to switch to Chrome Remote Desktop as Microsoft Remote Desktop is meant for Windows PCs only. You can’t access your Mac on your Windows PC by using this app.

With Chrome Remote Desktop app, you can access all your computers (Windows and Mac) from any of your mobile devices (or another computer). Again, when you access your computer via Microsoft Remote Desktop app it locks the screen but with Chrome app you can work on both devices simultaneously (if you want).

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
Download: iTunes | Android

10. Skype

Skype is my preferred messaging app though it’s not the best one — that is, if I compare Skype with its peers like WhatsApp, Google Hangout, Viber, etc. Skype is available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch too.

And if you’re a Skype addict who loves mobile messaging then you might also like the new Skype Qik (a video messaging app for mobile devices).

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
Download: iTunes (for iPhone) | iTunes (for iPad) | Android

11. Bing Search

Bing needs no introduction. Bing Search is the official Bing app by Microsoft for iOS devices and it lets you search things by typing, speaking, or even by using your phone camera. Of course, you can earn free rewards as well. Bing Rewards is not available in all locations. Anyways, I’m not using this app as my preferred search engine was (and still is) Google!

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
Download: iTunes (for iPhone) | iTunes (for iPad) | Android

12. Xbox Music

Xbox Music lets you play songs on your OneDrive (oh yes, you can play it offline as well if you want) in your iPhone. Let’s say, you are an Office 365 user and you got over 1 TB cloud storage space. Then it makes perfect sense to store your entire music library online and play it using Xbox Music.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch)
Download: iTunes

13. MSN Suite

MSN suite is a collection of MSN apps that are basically individual apps for — News, Money, Sports, Food & Drink, Travel, Weather, and Health & Fitness. I’m not sure whether they would pull Food & Drink, Health & Fitness and Travel apps from the AppStore as they’ve discontinued it this month.

Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
Download: iTunes (News, Money, Sports, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness) | Android

Conclusion

You might be wondering about why I wrote this blog post. Actually, it’s the quality of these apps that made me write this. In fact, most of the above listed apps works better on an iPhone or an iPad than it does on Android or Microsoft’s Windows Phone itself.

The only thing I actually like about a Windows Phone is its UI (especially the start screen). Other than that it’s got plenty of flaws! I really hope things will change with Windows 10.

Happy App Hunting! :)

P.S. No, Microsoft didn’t pay me for glorifying their iOS app ecosystem. :D

Microsoft iPhone. Microsoft iPad. Microsoft Android. is a post by Minterest

Propeller Ads Review: Pros & Cons And Everything You Need To Know

Posted: 21 Jul 2015 06:30 AM PDT

Google AdSense is the biggest (and the most popular) ad network with millions of advertisers and publishers. Thanks to Google’s huge AdWords ad inventory.

However, it doesn’t really mean that AdSense is always the best way to monetize your website. There are a dozen other ad networks that are willing to pay a higher CPM for your traffic. Propeller Ads is one of them.

CPM (Cost Per Mille) stands for Cost Per 1,000 Impressions. CPM networks pays for every 1,000 impressions you generate. If a CPM ad network is paying you $1 CPM then it means that they’re paying you $1 for every 1,000 page views you generate.

Over the past one decade I’ve recommended AdSense and only AdSense — on my blog posts, blog comments, email enquiries, and everywhere else. And it was simply because… AdSense has got an ad inventory that’s unmatched by any other ad network. So, I imagined that no other ad network can beat the CPM offered by AdSense.

Read: How Much Traffic Do You Need To Make $100,000 With AdSense

But the problem is… we can’t predict the AdSense income. As you can see… I’m not longer monetizing the blog with any of those ad networks and the reason is none of them gives guaranteed income (except private ads network like BuySellAds.com).

I used to average around $0.50 per click on AdSense for several years and then it suddenly dropped to $0.05-$0.15 per click for few months and then it started giving over $1 per click. However, it didn’t last for long and I pulled off all sorts of ad networks on the blog and started selling selective private ads only.

Why Propeller Ads

Propeller Ads

Propeller Ads is an ad network based in U.K. that promises 100% of your international traffic and the highest CPM possible. Traffic from the following countries generates the maximum CPM: U.S. & Canada, U.K., and Australia.

Unlike Google AdSense, Propeller Ads is a CPM ad network which basically means that it pays for every 1,000 ad impressions you generate. So it doesn’t matter whether the users are clicking your ads or not — you get paid! And that’s why large publishers prefer CPM networks over CPC ad networks (like AdSense, Bing Ads, etc.).

If your traffic and its quality is stable then CPM ads can generate guaranteed income every day and every month. Have you ever noticed the way some of the high-traffic websites display content as 10-50 slides? Yes, it’s to increase the number of pages views per visit — and eventually the CPM.

Propeller Ads: Types Of Ad Products

Propeller Ads offers you a variety of ad products and that’s one space where Propeller Ads outsmart other ad networks — including Google AdSense. So it doesn’t matter what type of your blog or website you own — there will always be an ad product for you.

But that doesn’t mean that you can send them fake traffic (autosurf, traffic exchanges, etc.) and make a lot of money. It won’t work that way. Obviously.

Here are the different types of ad products offered by Propeller Ads:

1. OnClick PopUnder Ads

OnClick PopUnder Ads is perhaps the most effective ad product by Propeller Ads as it offers the maximum CPM rate (up to $10). It’s because you get paid for each ad impression (it works on mobile devices too!).

According to Propeller Ads, entertainment websites (music, movies, photo, downloads, games, viral content, etc.) gets the best CPM for pop-under ads.

Here is what can you expect from a:

Gaming Website

Viral Blog

2. Mobile Ads

Propeller Ads offers two types of mobile ads: Mobile Dialog Ads and Mobile Interstitial Ads (apart from the regular mobile banner ads).

Here is what can you expect from a:

Music Website

Mobile Dialog Ads

Dialog Ads is a kind of an alert that show users as a dialogue box. So it’s almost certain to attract user’s attention and that should result in higher click-through-rate and thereby CPM.

Here is what can you expect from a:

Music Website

Mobile Interstitial Ads

Mobile Interstitial Ads is a full screen mobile ad. It’s one of the top performing ad product by Propeller Ads because of its higher user engagement.

Here is what can you expect from a:

Entertainment Blog

3. Classic Banner Ads

Banner ads are still popular as it’s the easiest way to reach out to a massive audience at minimal costs. The best performing banner ads by Propeller Ads are ad units of sizes: 300×250 and 728×90. Other available ad units are: 468×60, 120×600, 160×600, 800×600, 800×440, and 320×50.

You can check out their best practices for banner ads placement here. According to Propeller Ads, entertainment blogs and download sites tends to perform better than other niche.

Here is what can you expect from a:

Movie Website

Mobile Apps Review Website

Gaming Blog

4. Layer Ads

Layer Ad is a banner ad on steroid as it loads banner ads over the website content. You can choose any of the available banner ad units but a bigger ad unit such as 800×600 or 800×440 is recommended.

5. Slider Ads

Slider Ad is again another kind of banner ad that fades in at the bottom of a web page. Unless the user decides to close, it’s always visible even if he/she is scrolling up or down.

6. Direct Ads

Direct Ads (or Direct Links) is a unique ad product in which publishers are given a URL to promote. You can promote it by creating your own banner ads, text link ads, buttons, or even redirects.

For instance, you can monetize your 404 pages with a direct ad — without hurting user experience. According to Propeller Ads, it works best on a downloads website (ebooks, music, apps, wallpapers, movies, etc.)

Here is what can you expect from a:

File Sharing Website

Video Sharing Website

7. Video Ads

If you want to monetize your video content then can try Video Ads. Propeller Ads offers three video ad spots: Pre-Roll, Mid-Roll, Post-Roll, and Pre-Game.

Note: All the earning screenshots are collected as part of the research (with majority of them shared by Propeller Ads itself on request). I do not run Propeller Ads on my blog as I prefer selling private ads only. I’ve included as much screenshots as I can — from different industires — so that you can use it as a benchmark to find out whether your earnings are on par with other publishers.

Propeller Ads: Pros & Cons

First things first. Propeller Ads is not exactly an AdSense alternative. Google AdSense is a pay-per-click ad network and Propeller Ads is a CPM ad network. It basically means, AdSense pays for each click-throughs from your website and Propeller Ads pays for every 1,000 ad impressions.

Read: Over 40 Google AdSense Alternatives To Make Money Blogging

Google AdSense works best when your website is in a competitive niche with majority of traffic from organic search (that is, from search engines). If you have a high traffic website that’s in a non-competitive industry then the AdSense earnings could be terrible (especially when its organic traffic is less).

Again, AdSense is a good choice for file sharing websites, forums, downloads websites where the traffic quality is low but the page views/visits ratio is very high. Luckily Propeller Ads (and similar banner networks) works very well on such websites.

Pros

It’s super easy to get started as all accounts are activated instantly. You can login to your publisher account and add all the domain names that you wish to monetize and you will be notified via email when it’s approved.
Propeller Ads share 80% of their ad revenue with publishers. But it’s not a good idea to compare two advertisers based only on their revenue sharing percentage as we don’t know the real size of their total ad inventory. An advertiser with a massive ad inventory can easily beat the CPM of a small ad network with just 50% revenue sharing.
The reporting of Propeller Ads is pretty simple. It shows your earnings in a tabular way or on a chart. And the best thing? It’s real-time!
Propeller Ads supports the following payment methods: Wire Transfer, Payoneer, Webmoney, and Prepaid Cards. The minimum payment amount will be $500 for Wire Transfers and $100 for all other payment methods and is based on a NET 30 terms. That is, if your total earnings at the end of January is $300 then you will be paid in the first week of March.
Propeller Ads accepts all websites irrespective of their traffic as long as it doesn’t violate their terms and conditions.
It generates the maximum CPM for entertainment websites (including downloads, music, movies, viral blogs, etc.).
As a publisher you can refer other publishers to Propeller Ads and can earn 5% of his/her future ad revenue — for lifetime.
You can even monetize your 404 pages with a full-screen ad. No more wasted traffic!
You can run Propeller Ads along with ads from other advertising or affiliate networks — like AdSense, Infolinks, CJ, etc.
If you are a new publisher and is looking for some personal assistance then you get direct one-to-one support via email or Skype. Also, if you have a high traffic website then you get a dedicated account manager who will assist you to optimize the traffic.

Cons

Poor user experience. Your visitors may find full-screen ads, pop-under ads, push ads, etc. as annoying.
Do not support PayPal payments. It’s really a big turn off because even almost all top AdSense alternatives support PayPal.
Once again, the minimum payout is also on the higher side. And I suppose it’s because they do not support PayPal payments.
The best performing ad units are not traditional banner ads or mobile ads — it’s pop-under ads and full-page ads. But users (including me) hate it. However, if you have a high traffic file sharing website or a downloads website or a maybe even a forum then pop-under ads could be the right choice.
It’s true that Propeller Ads is accepting all sorts of publisher websites (unless of course it doesn’t comply with their terms and conditions) but it appears like if you want to generate handsome income then you need either a high-traffic website or a website with high-quality traffic.
If your traffic quality is low (it means you get few traffic from U.S., U.K., and Europe) then Propeller Ads may not be a right choice unless you want to try pop-under ads, full-page ads, etc.
Again, Propeller Ads considers conversions as well when calculating CPM. A CPM network is supposed to pay a fixed income for every 1,000 pages views irrespective of conversions. But Propeller Ads offers more payment models to advertisers like — CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPA (Cost Per Action). So your final earnings depends upon the type of ad inventory too.
Your CPM could be extremely low if the traffic quality is poor. Of course, AdSense also do not pay much for low quality traffic but at Propeller Ads it’s much more worse. Here’s a screenshot of a popular Spanish tech blog that receives no meaningful traffic from English speaking countries. Its CPM with Google AdSense was around $0.20 but as you can see Propeller Ads’ banner ads are not even generating a CPM of $0.05.

Conclusion

Propeller Ads is not another network where you could fake traffic and money. Like AdSense or any other reliable publisher network — you need real traffic to make real income.

Google AdSense do not accept all publisher websites (especially new ones) as they have strict guidelines. In fact, publisher websites are required to comply with Google’s AdSense Guidelines as well as the Webmaster Guidelines. It basically means if you’re doing black hat SEO or is selling text links on your website then they can disable your AdSense account.

So should you consider Propeller Ads over Google AdSense? Well, it depends. If your website (or blog) is new then there’s every chance that Google will deny your AdSense application and you can consider Propeller Ads.

Again, if you have a small or large website that’s already running AdSense ads but is not making enough — even though majority of your traffic is from English speaking nations — then it makes sense to give Propeller Ads a try.

Or, it’s a good idea to supplement your existing AdSense income with pop-under ads by Propeller Ads (as it offers the maximum CPM). Just make sure that your users won’t be annoyed about it.

Happy Monetizing! :)

Disclosure: This review was sponsored (?) by Propeller Ads. However, it hasn’t influenced my views in any way as they paid for my time and not for a biased positive review.

Propeller Ads Review: Pros & Cons And Everything You Need To Know is a post by Minterest

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