VistaPrint Giveback Giveaway Contest

VistaPrint has begun a contest called the Giveback Giveaway were Twitter followers and email recipients are entered daily in drawings for prizes. The prizes range from a Nikon digital camera and a Dell Netbook to a Toys R Us gift card and VistaPrint products. Recent winners won a Hardcover Photobook from the company. VistaPrint hopes the contest draws attention to their small business and home marketing materials that they provide to millions every year.

Entering the contest is possible through the website http://www.vistaprintgiveaway.com. Once a day, entrants can enter the contest either through Twitter or through emails. In addition to the daily prizes there is a grand prize of an Apple MacBook Pro. On the site, there is a scrolling Twitter update of individuals mentioning VistaPrint and Tweating for the contest.

FastWeb.com Provides the Best Value Colleges for 2010

FastWeb.com is a leader in college scholarship search and has recently presented the top value college selections for 2010. Their investigation has found that many colleges have added to their student aid options in step with the struggles of state of federal economies. Along with The Princeton Review, they looked at 700 different 4 year colleges in the US. They considered academics, costs, and financial aid in their ranking.

The University of Virginia was first among the 700 colleges looked at. Three others were on the list last year and continue to be including Harvard, Florida State and the University of Georgia. Schools that are new to the list in 2010 are the University of Colorado Boulder, MIT, Texas A&M, the University of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Wellesley to name a few. Take a look at the complete list.

© 2010 ISMagazine.com

StubHub Provides a Look Inside 2009 Concert Revenue

The majority of data released from one of the top ticket vendors in the music business provides top grossing tour information along with year-over-year data. Some of the overall trends for the year included increases in revenue for StubHub (40%) and declining ticket prices (16%). Ticket volume shot up 65% for the year as concert goers were able to attend more shows on the reduced ticket prices.

Gross Sales leaders for 2009 included some familiar names with U2’s 360 degree tour leading all time sales for StubHub. Behind U2 was Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Taylor Swift, and Britney Spears. More common names completed the top 10 list with Dave Matthews at 6, Elton John, Jonas Brothers, Kenny Chesney, and Metallica. U2 had the top 9 selling shows in 2009 with Bruce Springsteen coming in 10th with his show at Giants Stadium in October.

There were a number of tickets the common ticket buyer would have trouble purchasing with the most expensive ticket being a $424 ticket for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Benefit Concert. Phish also had a couple very expensive tickets with individual prices in the $300 range for a couple of shows they had in March at the Hampton Coliseum.

© 2010 ISMagazine.com

$5,000 Game Room Contest Begins

If you need a game room renovation or a brand new $5,000 game room, Sears has started a contest that you would be interested in entering according to a press release today. The company has begun the Hit Us With Your Best Shot billiard video contest. Jeannette Lee, the Black Widow, has joined the sporting goods department at Sears to bring one lucky video entry the grand prize along with 5 $100 Sears gift card second place winners. Sounds like a nice deal for the right billiard player.

Contestants need to enter a short video of their best billiard shot to HitUsWithYourBestShot.com before January 17th to be entered. Accuracy, originality and technique will be the criteria for judging the videos. The public will also vote on the videos similar to American Idol. Voters have a chance at a $25 Sears gift card. Get your Flip video camcorder out today and submit your video for this nice contest.

© 2009 ISMagazine.com – Not a Paid Post

Top 50 Websites in November 2009

Compete.com has completed their analysis of web traffic for the previous month and found some interesting trends. According to their press release (see chart) bargain hunting websites saw a good increase in traffic along with sites selling technology gadgets for Christmas. In fact holiday shopping was very active as sites providing online options for shoppers came in third with the best search traffic growth.

Search traffic increased for bargain shopping websites such as Pricegrabber.com and RetailMeNot.com saw increases of 36% each. Technology shopping websites like BestBuy.com, Gamestop.com and NewEgg.com also saw big gains. Best Buy traffic jumped almost 75% while the others also saw big jumps. Amazon.com, WalMart.com and eBay.com all saw good gains as consumers began shopping for Christmas late in the month of November.

Deloitte Warns Consumers During Holiday Season

Deloitte wants every online shopper to be vigilant this holiday shopping season and has provided a number of tips in a recent press release. Cyber Criminals are very active during the holiday shopping season so consumers need to be careful when searching for gifts to purchase online.

The advice begins with being careful who you give your credit card information to when online. Monitor your credit card and bank statements to notice fraud early in the process. Keep your login information current and change regularly. And keep your security patches up to date for Windows and Anti-Virus software installed on your home PC.

Other good tips include not using free internet access sites, don’t respond to rogue virus alerts when browsing the web, simply shut down the browser, sign-up for credit monitoring and be cautious when posting information on social networking sites like Facebook as criminals look for clues of vulnerable situations.

Milo.com Reaches Milestone and Adds Features

Helping shoppers research items online for free and providing local locations to make purchases has helped Milo.com reach one million users a month. Launching from beta, the website has attracted shoppers from across the country looking for the best price on holiday gifts and wanting to purchase the items locally. The site attempts to take the best features of eBay and Amazon and make it all local so shoppers can see and feel the items before buying.

New Features

New features have recently been added to give users even more search capability. In-Stock searches can be selected to only show items that are in-stock. No more going to the local store to find out they do not have the item. Price alerts are based on a single item at a single store within the users local region. When the item reaches the price you select, you are notified. And finally the Hottest Product List (could have been named by Paris), allows shoppers to browse what others have been searching for.

Online Sales Jump 47% for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The combined results of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for 2009 exceed sales from last year by 47% according to Retail Decisions. Black Friday performed better with $3.1 billion in sales which is an increase of 52%. Cyber Monday saw sales of $2.2 billion which is 35% better than last year. The good sales on Black Friday related to the heavy discounting that occurred on the day.

The top performing products online for the two day period included the TomTom GPS, Kodak Digital Cameras, Nintendo Wii, Ice Age 3, and Sony Digital Cameras. Some products popular as frauds included virtual gift cards, XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the Call of Duty XBox game.

The Ultimate Steal: Windows 7 and Microsoft Office

Currently enrolled students have the opportunity to purchase Microsoft products Windows 7 and MS Office at great low prices. Weather enrolled full-time or part-time you can get these brand new Microsoft software products at lower prices than available anywhere else utilizing the Ultimate Steal program. Windows 7 Professional Upgrade is available for $39.99 while Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 is available for $64.00.

Use your college email account to be eligible for this Ultimate Steal. When you click “Buy Now” from the “additional products” menu on the Ultimate Steal Microsoft page, you will be sent an email with a link to the location you can purchase these two products at great discount prices. This new program is an upgrade to a previous Ultimate Steal program that Microsoft launched prior to the release of Windows 7. Digital downloads are available at the prices listed above while DVDs are available for an additional $13.00 shipping and handling charge.

Get Started Now!

Secure USB Flash Drives from Kingston

Kingston Digital has announced the release of a secure set of USB Flash Drives at affordable prices that every business can afford. The DataTraveler Locker+ provides password protection and encryption of data on drives that range from 4 GB to 32 GB. Remember when flash drives were in the MB ranges, memory has consistently become more affordable.

The encryption used for the devices is 256-bit AES encryption. A complex password provides access to the data on the drive for ease of use for consumers. Prices are in the range of $36 to $200. With the 4 GB costing $36 and the high-end 32 GB drive costing $200. All the devices come with a 5 year warranty and customer support.

© 2009 ISMagazine.com – Not a Paid Post.