Lenzr For July: Heat, Water, Hair, and Motion

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OK, I’m really summarizing the July Lenzr contests with this title – in fact, they need a lot more detail to explain what they are – and how you can win big with each.

So first off: What is Lenzr?

It’s a contest – and a skill test.

You enter photos – good photos – and people vote on them.

The end result? If you win, a nice prize, and a lot of recognition.

Heck, you still get the recognition even if you don’t win, since people everywhere are taking note (and making votes) on your pictures.

To see this in action, visit Lenzr, go to a contest, and look at the entries – better yet, take a moment and sign up too while you’re there (I’ll wait).

So, for budding photogs, or veterans who want more exposure, what are your choices?

Here’s the contests for July:

Heat: We’ve had quite a few heat waves this summer – and no one is thinking of their fireplace or furnace right now. But you should, because this contest is for a great house scene using a fireplace (candles or lanterns are fine to). Why? It’s because of the sponsor, a company that wants to remind you that when it’s hot outside, THAT’S when to get your fireplace or furnace checked out. You save a bundle in money and time (that’s why you should buy your fans in winter, too). These thoughtful folks at ZoneLife are ready to help you with your furnace – and they’re ready to help you win a Sony Laptop if you’re the top pic!

Water: A nice contrast to the heat – and around Toronto there is plenty of water to help with that heat! Sponsored by a top-notch downtown (and dockside) Toronto bed and breakfast, this contest is all about Toronto sites – the kind of photos you’d expect (and want) in a sightseeing guide. Make Toronto look better than ever, and you could win a Sea Eagle Inflatable Kayak, perfect for continuing that tour out on the water.

Hair: Wind in your hair, breeze on your face as you’re boating… still thinking of that ‘boatel’? It’s time to change gears and think about hair – and not just any hair. Haircuts and Hairstyles is the contest about hair that you take notice of – unusual, impressive, unique, even beautiful styles. Not surprisingly, the sponsors are known for their Yorkville salon and are leaders in the Canadian hair industry – and your photo’s perfect for that. Fittingly, the winner of this contest ends up with something for their hair: high quality tools from the experts in the hair industry.

Motion: If I told you that this contest is sponsored by an International Air Freight Company, you’d understand how motion is connected, right? And if the goal of your photo was to capture motion (and where it’s going), that would make sense, yes? Well then, get going! The winner gets a Sony Laptop – not too shabby a prize for throwing things around (or watching things move) in front of your camera!

Another four fascinating contests, with photo opportunities for every area. Heat, Water, Hair, and Motion – there’s bound to be a theme for everyone to snap a picture, and the prizes are (as always) amazing – even more incredible when you consider it’s a free to enter contest. Couple that with the exposure for budding artists I always talk about, and this Lenzr contest is shaping up to be one of the best yet!

New Look for BigBizBlog

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Today I switched over to another theme on my WordPress blog – the new TwentyEleven that comes with WordPress 3.2.1

Actually, it’s a modified theme for things like header adjustment and ad insertion, as I discussed with my members on this month’s ActiveBlogging.com report

For several years I’ve been using a custom theme I wrote, but as WordPress features move ahead, I decided to quit updating the theme and let the folks at WordPress do all the work. This particular theme is quite nice, and of course, when I get bored I can switch to another one (I’ve modded the previous TwentyTen theme as well).

Practical Crowdsourcing: How To Fund That Second Novel

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Recently I blogged about crowdsourcing and how it’s changing the way people create. I’m not immune to it – recently I helped my wife set up an event on IndieGoGo, a site that makes crowdsourcing simple.

My wife Gwen Pankhurst is the author of a potential series, called the Plant Lady Mysteries. With one book written, she is hard at work on her second. Unfortunately, as writers know, working solo is a thankless task, and so I set up the IndieGoGo event as a form of encouragement, as well as to gather a fan base.

Whether you’re a fan of mysteries, or a novelist wondering whether crowdsourcing can help you get your novel out, take a trip over to Gwen’s IndiGoGo event. And of course, you’re free to donate – the ‘perks’ are quite nice…

Paypal Protection – Maybe?

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I do a fair bit of shopping on eBay, and I count on that little message in the auctions:

“Pay with PayPal and your full purchase price is covered”

In fact, it was specifically for that reason that I bid on a electronic tool today – even if the seller feedback was zero.

Because, as they say, if there’s any problems, they will make good on it. After all, that’s the reason for the policy – to encourage buying.

Odd thing, though – I couldn’t pay. As far as later purchase, no problem. But every time I tried to pay for that item, I got an error message. So, I checked out their help section, and followed their instruction for this problem (wait 15 minutes and try again). Still, no go.

But here’s the kicker – their next suggestion was to pay the seller directly on PayPal. However, if I followed their advice, I’d void the Paypal Protection, which specifically says I only qualify if I

“Send the payment to the seller through: The eBay “Pay Now” button, or The eBay invoice”

No exceptions – and certainly not direct payment by email.

Put simply, if you follow Paypal’s advice, you end up letting Paypal off the hook if that zero feedback store goes belly up, or sells you junk.

The cynic in me feels this is not an accident, but I’ve emailed Paypal in case the cynic is wrong. However, business is full of examples where a company is happy to have customers disqualify themselves from benefits, even leading them down the primrose path to do it. But it’s still not nice, and if Paypal IS doing this, I hope they change their policy ASAP.

Because I’m NOT bypassing the protection plan in this case. It’s their encouragement for me to buy, and so I did. Now they have to do their part, by protecting me. If they don’t like that, then don’t offer protection – but expect me to buy less in the future.