About The Site
Shutterstock has been around for a number of years and has millions of users around the World. Each one of these users pays either a subscription to the service or on a per download basis and the site manages the whole relationship and ensures that your images appear in the search and also that your pictures are not used without permission (All the images are watermarked). The amounts payable vary from a few pence up to about £15 but if you are a photographer with a large portfolio of original images you could potentially earn a significant revenue from the site.

What We Think
Although selling your images directly may generate significantly more money the fact that Shutterstock is used by designers and news agencies around the World means that more people see the images and potentially the earnings could be significantly higher particularly if the photographer is slightly more imaginative or captures the right image.

We’d recommend any photographer with a good portfolio of images to sign up the Shutterstock and if you want to find more visit their website and look at the affiliate programme.

We recently sent out a request for PR agencies to tell us about new sites and this one came through and to be honest it’s quite a nice idea. The process is fairly simple – You go to the site and list on it what you are looking for (e.g. An XBOX) – you then say what you want to pay and how much you will tip the person who gives you the lead. Fairly simple really.

What we like about the site is that you set the price your willing to pay and then wait for the offers to come flooding in. If you go for the deal then you pay the tip – hence www.tipatipa.co.uk.

On the downside we don’t think the home page tells you enough. At first look we thought it was another ebay copy but it is definitely not. I am sure that in the near future more content will be added so this might be something worth considering.

We can just see this site been used by some very competitive ebayers clearing stock – a good way to stop users having to trawl through lists and lists of rubbish and get to the real deals.

All in all a good site – three stars at the moment as it’s only just got going but when more people use it we’re sure it will catch on especially as if you spend time on the internet you know where to find deals and could make quite a profit. Another credit crunch busting idea.

Times are tight, it’s official. With rising bills and falling property prices, we’re all being told to tighten our belts, rein in our spending and prepare ourselves for a recession.

But what about those must-have items and essentials that we simply can’t do without, but now simply can’t afford? Well an innovative new website, ‘TipaTipa’ has just hit the internet that promises to help find the best bargains out there.

Completely different to price comparison sites, TipaTipa works by real people helping each other to find real deals. The sort of ones that price comparison sites simply can’t find.

TipaTipa.co.uk works by people listing an item they’re looking for such as a TV, computer console, or even a car or a holiday, and the price that they’re prepared to pay for it. A community of bargain hunters then use their skills and expertise to find you the best deal. It could be someone who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, or a tradesman with great offers at their fingertips, or simply someone who knows how to haggle, or are just happy spending hours scouring the internet for the best prices.

At the end of the listing, which can last from a matter of hours up to a week, the user can choose from the best bids, and if they’re happy with what’s been found, they can leave a discretionary tip, thanking the ‘tipper’ for their services.

Dave Dixon, TipaTipa Director said: “It seems an ideal time to launch TipaTipa, with the credit crunch, everyone is counting the pennies and trying to spend as little as possible. What TipaTipa does is take all the effort out of searching for that bargain, as the old saying goes, time is money – and that’s something people don’t have to spare at the moment.

“The internet is already awash with price comparison sites but TipaTipa is different. Often you’ll find that these sites just have headline offers that aren’t the real deal, they’re outdated and only focus on a limited number of suppliers. With TipaTipa it’s real people, searching for real bargains, in real time, like a network of personal shoppers.”

The site already has hundreds of users registered with listings ranging from DVD series, to LCD televisions, holidays and laminate tiling.

It’s free to join and create listings and all users are asked in return is to rate bids and consider leaving a discretionary tip to fellow users that help save time or money. Tips are paid through Paypal but users can also use the messaging service to agree an alternative payment

We’re going to be cruel to be kind – another social network. Yes this one has been built by one person and its nice and neat but in all honestly I’ve forgotten more passwords than I can remember for similar sites.

Vorolo has all the usual features for social networking tools you’ve come to know and love. You’ve got user profiles with messaging space and favorite videos. It looks OK and actually may do well as it is quite simple (You don’t get bombarded by widgets) but social networking is really busy and without a kickstart this may not do very well.

We’re giving it just one star at the moment – sorry – but you never know we may come back in the future when it is fully online.

If you are anything like me and the rest of the team here we are always changing mobile phones. Every time I do I have to go through the task of remembering to copy numbers from my phone to SIM card and then from the SIM to the phone and vice versa and invariably I loose a few numbers. Being too lazy to connect the phone to my computer (and to be honest already having too many gadgets attached!!) I really wanted a simple way to do this.

Mobyko basically takes this pain away and I’ve got to say I am a great fan.

I first came across the site in 2006 and to be honest it was a bit clunky and the technology sort of worked but not very well. Since then the guys have done a fantastic job.

What you need to do

• Visit the site
• Sign up
• Follow the instructions

That’s it really – within a few minutes you receive a text with relevant connection software and you then back up your numbers and anything else you want. I personally don’t use all the features but if your life is in your phone get on this site quickly. What’s more it’s FREE.

Hopefully the guys at Mobyko will give us a few words in the future to add to the site to give you the full low down on the solution.

This is definetly a Four Star site.

ad#ad-banner]