Mona Lisa Million: Friday 3 September 2010

Hello, and welcome to Friday on the Mona Lisa Million Project!

Yesterday was my first day posting after quite a long break. I have much to do to catch up but I’m starting to get through the backlog of emails and promises. Bear with me, it’ll take me a while to get on top of this.

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been busy painting and decorating the house while I’ve been on my little break from the project. The painting is still a work in progress and somehow seems to be a never ending task. I could have done more with the Mona Lisa Project yesterday but I spent a good deal of time decluttering the house.

It feels good to unburden and live a slightly simpler life. I think that will be important when I’m back at work, especially if I’m to make time for this project.

If you’re following me on Twitter and wondering whether I’m ever going to get back there, the answer is yes, I’ll be back soon. I haven’t been there in ages but I think the best bet is just to bounce back in there as if I’ve never been away. Brazen it out!

Thankfully it looks like I haven’t been deserted and actually it seems my follower count is still rising. I’ve just checked and it’s 4,447. Wow, that’s pretty cool.

So on with the business of the day. After the explanation of the project immediately below (for the uninitiated) I bring you news of two new additions to the Mona Lisa: GizmoDad and Are You Receiving Me?

You’ll also find as list of other recently added sites along with a little randomly applied link love for some of first sites to be added to the project.

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What is the Mona Lisa Million Project?

The aim of the project is to create something worth talking about. To that end the goal of the the Mona Lisa Million Project is to raise a cool One Million Dollars! That’s pretty spectacular in its own right but it’s even more remarkable because 25% of the income will be donated to good causes every month.

How will the money be raised? Well, that’s also worth talking about because the money will be raised by selling the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa, to people who want some absolutely cracking promotion for their website or online business.

This is a unique project offering real value to sponsors. It’s not just ownership of a piece of the Mona Lisa, it’s also the in-post mentions as I update the progress of the project on the blog along with the opportunity to have a featured post dedicated solely to you, your site, service or product. Get your site on the Mona Lisa now!

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MONA LISA MILLION STATS

Total Sections: 956
Active : 47
Reserved: 9
Available: 900

Needed to reach $1,000,000: $999,998
Hey! you gotta start somewhere!

Donated to good causes so far: $0
It’s early days yet!! Hang on in there

Top Sponsor: $1.04 but the sponsor hasn’t yet taken up the option – GRID REF: R4/20 SITE: N/A TWITTER: N/A FACEBOOK: N/A

Most Sections Owned (By Site): N/A (yet)

Most voted for page: Feature not yet available

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AVAILABILITY ON THE MONA LISA

I’m still holding off on releasing new sections. There are still plenty of existing sponsors who have yet to be the subject of a featured post. I want to put that right before taking on any new sponsors. But please keep checking back for updates in availability.

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JUST ADDED TO THE MONA LISA

GizmoDad

Darren Cox is a British Dad who brings news and reviews of gizmos and gadgets of interest to fathers and families.

Already with one child and another due imminently Darren is well positioned to share his experience of things like 4D Baby Images (I wish I’d done this for each of my four children) and CYBERMinder Internet Protection (to stop your kids accessing things on the internet you don’t want them to see).

Whether you’re a ‘geek’ or a parent (and maybe you’re both… check out Darren’s site and the GizmoDad Blog and while you’re there why not leave a comment just to say hi.

Are you Receiving Me?

Purplejake is a Briton living in Holland who sometimes feels nostalgic for the old country as evidenced in a post fabulously titled: England, moy England, oo-arrr, Oi loiks it . A mother of two, wife of one and a part time worker – if you want to know more “…you’ll just have to read the posts“.

Darren and Purplejake, welcome to the project!

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OTHER RECENT ADDITIONS

Mona Lisa Missing – The Truth about Vincenzo Peruggia and the Unthinkable Theft of the Mona Lisa

Vegemitevix – A Kiwi expat in the UK licking the Vegemite off life’s fingers

Richard M Potter – Writer, musician, husband, father, and very grateful adopted son of God.

Fluttering Butterflies – 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

Greysqrl – Stunning photography

The Bump Wear Project – There’s more to maternity clothing

Bringing Up Charlie – Another year in the life of a stay at home dad

The Fantasy Decorator – …if money were no object

Cherished By Me – A chocoholic single mother of five children

EarlyQuip – Baby Changing Station and Baby Changing Table Suppliers

Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous – for a gift less ordinary

Mummy’s Busy World, By Me, Little M – all things relating to bilingual and expat families

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TODAY’S FEATURED POSTS

No new featured posts today, but if you have look in the right hand sidebar you’ll see a list of the most featured recent posts. These are posts dedicated solely to one site and anyone who sponsors a section of the Mona Lisa can take up the option of a featured post.

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REVISITED

This is an opportunity to revisit some of the earlier sites to take up residence on the Mona Lisa. I haven’t mentioned the sites by name but if you like the sound of the post title click through and have a look.

SEO as a Business Investment

Let Them Eat Cake

For My Beautiful Sister

Have a free guide to buying a used MX5 on me…

My British Holidays – London in Photos

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GOOD CAUSES

Clearly until I start to sell the sections of the Mona Lisa there’s no income to share with good causes, but that will change, and in this part of the daily update I’ll be inviting you to nominate and vote for whichever cause you would like to see benefit from this project each month. I’ll bring you news of poll results and news of how the donations are being used.

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WHO’S SAYING WHAT?

Maggy, I’ve been hiding away in my cave but I’ll be coming back out to play soon!

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

Like it or not big numbers hold sway with people, and whilst it would be nice to pretend I don’t care whether I have one or one thousand subscribers, it’s not true, I do care. I care because numbers are important to the success of this project. The more social proof people see, the more likely they are to subscribe because they instantly feel there’s something worth subscribing to. And there’s the point… I wouldn’t ask you to do this if there wasn’t something worth subscribing to.

Perhaps you can help by subscribing or asking a friend to subscribe. All help greatly appreciated.

Help me build the subscriber count – Subscribe via RSS or Email and get updates automatically.

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SHARE IT

The more you share this site and the blog, the more people will come and see what we’re up to.

They’ll see the great sites on the Mona Lisa, they’ll see the great sites in the sidebars, they’ll see the great things you say in the comments… and they’ll more than likely follow the links back to your sites!

It would be particularly helpful if you could Stumble, Digg or Tweet but there are a range of sharing options below for your convenience.

Thanks for reading
Dave

Picture Credit

Tagged as: are you receiveing me, gizmodad