In recent weeks we have released an alpha version of Nuffnang 2.0 to selected bloggers and advertisers to test extensively. Both bloggers and advertisers involved in the early stages of the testing have come up with very good suggestions on how we can further improve and our team has since been working hard to implement those new suggestions.

Today , many of the improvements that we have been working on are ready, and we are looking to gradually open up Nuffnang 2.0 to more bloggers for a sneak peak and also to gather more suggestions on how we can further improve.

If you would like to be among the early Nuffnangers to see Nuffnang 2.0 for the sake of curiosity or even for the sake of giving us some valuable feedback, please drop Samantha an e-mail at samantha.wong[@]nuffnang[.]com and she will see if she can accommodate you. We have only very very limited places so please hurry.

Thank you for your patience everyone. We can’t wait to launch.

-Timothy of Nuffnang

One of our earliest clients, Exabytes has returned to the blogosphere, this time giving a small treat to Penang Nuffnangers.

Each of the 10 Nuffnangers will be given:

- 2 Tickets to watch Bee Movie
- 2 Small Popcorn Combo
- A Special Exabyters Gift

Private Movie Screening Info:
Movie Title: BEE MOVIE
Date: 8 – November – 2007
Time: 3pm
Venue: GSC QueensBay Mall

For those interested, please send an e-mail with your name and contact details to samantha.wong[@]nuffnang[dot]com.

All of us at Nuffnang wishes all our fellow Nuffnangers and advertisers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

The Nuffnang team will be taking a short break these few days and our offices will be closed so if you have questions, do e-mail our Help Desk and we will get back to you when we all return to work on Tuesday fresh and energized.

In the mean time, have a great long weekend everyone.

-Timothy Tiah of Nuffnang

It pleasures me today to be able to announce that Jeff Ooi from Screenshots (www.jeffooi.com), one of the largest and most influential bloggers in Malaysia has officially joined the Nuffnang Community.

Jeff’s relationship with Nuffnang does not just start and end as a publisher. In the past, Jeff has been one of the earliest and strongest supporters of Nuffnang and a mentor to the leadership of Nuffnang. Jeff joins many other top bloggers in our community as representatives for the Nuffnang Blogger Community in which the leadership constantly consults in decisions that they make.

Thank you for the support and for the vote of confidence Jeff.

We will not disappoint!

-Timothy Tiah of Nuffnang

Hi Everyone,

At the end of every month, we send out cheques that have been processed and collected 30 days before that end of the month.

At the end of September, we have already sent out cheques for earnings accumulated till the end of August 2007. Many of our bloggers will have already received an e-mail from HSBC with the transaction details and many may have also already received their computer generated cheques.

Here are some things to note.

1) Starting this month, every time a cheque is cashed out, our system automatically deducts RM1 from the cheque amount before it is sent out. The RM1.00 acts as a transaction fee for processing the payment.

Now we all hate transaction fees. Who doesn’t?

But please let us first explain the breakdown of this cost.

HSBC’s Part Of The Transaction Fee

The current automated cheque outsourcing service that Nuffnang has with HSBC today costs Nuffnang Sdn Bhd a monthly fee that has up till today been borne fully by Nuffnang Sdn Bhd. However, each time a cheque is sent out, HSBC deducts a small transaction fee from the cheque to cover their administrative and postal charges.

Nuffnang’s Part Of The Transaction Fee

On the Nuffnang side, we too have administrative work to do.

Say today that you have a blog that an advertiser wants to run an advertisement on.

After a long negotiation process, the advertiser agrees to paying you a certain amount for your ad and this is what happens then.

a) You run the campaign on your blog.

b) Then you issue an invoice to the advertiser after the campaign has ended.

c) After that, you wait for 30, 60 or 90 days after the campaign for them to make the payment to you based on the agreed payment terms.

d) Finally, upon receiving the payment you issue a receipt for their accounting records.

e) Repeat the process for each and every different advertiser that advertises on your blog.

It sounds like a lot of work especially since most Nuffnangers have a day job (even being a housewife is considered a full-time job!).

Now with Nuffnang around, our overworked accountants in our Finance Department handle all that tedious work for EVERY blogger in the Community.

When we first started off, we were only sending out about 10-20 cheques a month to bloggers so we were able to forgo the transaction fee.

Today with so many new campaigns starting on the Nuffnang Community each month and also since we reduced the minimum payout from RM100 to RM50, we have been sending out over a hundred cheques each month.

Each of these cheques have to be accounted for by our Finance Department and because of the sheer number of cheques going out each month, the workload has become immense. This transaction fee will help cover for the labour cost of these accountants that work with us.

This is a necessary step for us since Nuffnang Sdn Bhd, just like any credible company is audited every year.

2) The second thing to note is, if you had already requested your cheque to be sent to you on August 2007 and before, you should already have had received your cheque. If not , please do let us know if you have not yet received a cheque or an e-mail by HSBC so we can look into it.

The best way to contact us is through our Help Desk.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Now I have to go and get us all more ads!

-Timothy Tiah of Nuffnang

Fellow Nuffnangers,

Just in case some of you might have missed it, Friday’s has decided to run a contest and buy dinner for 50 Nuffnangers as part of a contest they’re organizing in collaboration with our Community.

All you have to do is write a blog entry with the title “Why I Want To Eat At Fridays?” and e-mail it to us.

Of the 50 bloggers, ONE blogger will also be eligible to win the Grand Prize of RM1,000 CASH!!!

So don’t forget to check out the contest details here.

-Samantha of Nuffnang.