Tuesday, December 23, 2008

SEO Blogging and Christmas Season

Releasing the book Blogging from Home, I considered to be one of my highlights this year. Being able to publish a book again after 4 years since the last one felt great. It also challenged me to push things further and make up for anything that was not in the book through other means. One of the things I intend to complete before this year is over is the Blogging from Home Online Workshop.


Last month, I finally got the chance to introduce Blogging from Home to the Adelaide bloggers and social media community. Who would have thought that such get-together would also got me featured in this great Christmas video by Geoffrey Kwitko.



He also asked me to give a pitch as well this January 16 to the Adelaide Startup Club and will see if there will be opportunities to arise as a result of that.



At the moment, my schedule is quite full with the Busby SEO Test competition. It is quite a challenge as winning the competition became equally important in terms of making the blog site grow in the process. Everyday, I've been monitoring the site and it never fails to excite me as to how it is evolving. It is a blog masterpiece in the making. I hope to be able to talk about it someday (content development, traffic generation, and link building) and use it as a case study.

I'm planning to create a blogroll for this site. For those of you who will add Busby SEO Test to your blogroll up to February 2, I will be more than glad to reciprocate it here too. I hope you can also give us a good luck shout out in your blog.

Cheers everyone and Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Getting a Third-Party Blog Hosting Service

I talked about getting a blog hosting service in my column today. In addition to the criteria I mentioned in it, another reason why you will need one is if you have opted to run a blog using WordPress as your platform and use it for commercial purposes such as putting advertisement, among others.

Some of the providers to choose from are:
If you know of other providers, that you have tried for your blog, feel free to suggest here.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Supporting the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit


It is a great pleasure to support the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit. I was a sponsor last year and felt great to continue demonstrating this commitment.

Was once asked what do I get from sponsoring events such as this one. I believe it is all about "walking the talk" and ensure that the little blessings we get is shared and re-invested in developing blogging communities. Especially to areas that are still under development.

Mabuhay Mindanao bloggers and more power to you folks!

P.S. Thank you also to Aice for sharing the winners of Blogging from Home books during the event.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Resellers: Blogging from Home

We are looking for interested resellers of our books, including Blogging from Home. Parties interested can e-mail me at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com.

Some of our resellers at the moment are:

1. Australia

Nationwide

2. Philippines

Online
Alabang
Antipolo
Bicol
Cebu
Davao
General Santos
Makati
  • Fiera de Manila
    Zen building
    8352 Mayapis St., San Antonio Village,
    Makati City, 1203 Philippines
Mandaluyong
Manila
Pasay
  • "The Wedding Library" (franchised by Acclaim Butterflies)
    2nd Floor Entertainment Mall, South Movietime Ticket Center
    Bay Boulevard, SM MALL OF ASIA, Pasay City
Quezon City
San Juan
I'll be updating this regularly. Thank you.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Finding Blogs through MyBlogLog

I am organizing a bloggers meet-up this October 21 (Davao), 23 (Cebu), and 25 (Manila). If you have time, I hope you can join and invite your friends too.

It is my first time to organize a bloggers meet-up in Davao and Cebu. Blogger friends from these areas have been very helpful and some of those who confirmed also blogged about it. As I have a 150 pax allocation for each venue, a lot of effort must be made to ensure that such does not go to waste and this requires inviting more bloggers to participate.

This is where MyBlogLog have proven itself to be very useful. Doing a query on Cebu and Davao yielded user profiles and blog sites that have these keywords. Going down to the detail of the user and finding out where they are based is what makes MyBlogLog helpful as a blog search engine despite being limited to its application users.

By adding them as a contact or visiting their blog, I was able to find out how to get in touch with them and invited them afterwards to the event through the DigitalFilipino.com social network.

Related topic:


Find more videos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network

Monday, September 29, 2008

Uber bids goodbye to users

One of the sites I mentioned in the Blogging from Home book where you can create a blog was Uber. Unfortunately, due to the economic crisis, its investors have decided to stop supporting the site. The site will shut down today.

I think what made Uber interesting are the following:
  • It is a free site like Blogger where you can put advertisements.
  • It is like Multiply as you can add friends, photos, and videos.
Although what stopped me from using it further is its search engine visibility.

However, I am hopeful that Uber will rise again soon.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Yahoo Audio Search Replaces Yahoo Podcasts

As I was updating the podcast lessons in our Blogging from Home online workshop, I realized that Yahoo Podcast is no longer there. It is now replaced by Yahoo Audio Search. What caught me by surprise though is that the old url, if typed, points to an error page instead of being re-directed to the new site. (Steve Souders will likely shake his head for sure if he finds out although he is now with Google.)

The site allows you to submit and search for podcast. I noticed though that its archive of mp3 podcast files (perhaps a link but it was immediately downloadable then) in its old version is no longer there as I tried searching for past podcast episodes in it. The directory entries can be found though especially if you submitted to various sites.

I am now in the process of creating a podcast site and will get to try submitting an entry for it soon.

P.S. This is also meant to update page 20 of Blogging from Home book.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Blogging talk at Y4IT: Relevance of Blogging to the Youth

This video was shown during my talk slot at Y4IT last Friday (September 5).



I tackled the relevance of blogging to the youth and concerns one must be aware of to be effective. But of course, have fun while at it.

Many thanks to the organizers, especially to Dr. Jimmy Caro, for having me at the said event.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Blogs as the new game show


Last Monday, I was one of Miriam Quiambao's guest in her TV program, The Beat. We got the chance to talk about paid blogging with J Angelo Racoma. I've discussed this further in my column today that takes off from what I shared in the Blogging from Home book.

Should I get hold of a video copy of that interview, will post it here.

Let me also share that I take great pleasure meeting Miriam. She is very interested on the subject and won't be surprised if she'll come out blogging in a big way one of these days. Her program is also the 2nd opportunity I got to promote my book. Many thanks to Dine Racoma for referring me as a guest in this program.

More than just getting paid for services rendered and products sold, I believe blogs are gradually becoming the new game show. There are many contests happening online today whose prizes range from cash to valuable items, tangible or not. This created new earning opportunities for both organizers (through sponsorship) and joiners. Even if you lose, the link back and connections you gain for joining are also valuable.

There was a time that I thought of dedicating one of my blogs just to join various contests happening online and record my experience. I still would like to do that one of these days.

If there is something that I wasn't able to do, that would be to take a picture of Miriam holding a copy of my book. I still hope to have that picture of her someday.

On the side, I encourage you to consider joining these ongoing writing contests:

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Donated a copy of Blogging from Home to Charles Sturt Library

The Charles Sturt Library is one of the few institutions that I thanked for the completion of Blogging from Home book. The wide variety of books that I get to review at Influential Blogger would not have been possible if not for the library.

I was able to gain access as well to a wide variety of blogging books in my research stage and define the book's niche from there.


Earlier today, I visited the Findon branch of Charles Sturt Library to donate a copy. Glad that Bruno Colombo was there to receive it. I was told that it will be sent to their central branch. I hope it can be made available in the branches soon.

Trivia: The last correction made to the book, prior to printing, is the spelling of Sturt in Charles Sturt Library. I first typed it as Stuart. Glad that such was rectified for that would have been terribly embarrassing.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Book Buyers at the Manila Book Launch

Last August 13 to 15, I finally had the Manila book launch for Blogging from Home during the 2nd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit.

As I was also tied up doing moderating and speaking assignment, I never got the chance to meet all who purchased the book. Some that I was able to meet agreed to have their photo taken and be posted here.





Many thanks to the following:
Several club members also dropped by at the event:
If you have bought a copy of the book, feel free to e-mail me a picture of you holding the book with a link to your blog. I will post it here. Thank you!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

One thousand books delivered

Earlier today, the book Blogging from Home was finally delivered. I am so excited upon seeing it. At the same time, nervous as this will be released tomorrow.

As you'll notice, the book not only contains your usual text and screen shots, it also has mind maps that can be used as reference before and after reading the book.



Last Monday morning, I also got the chance to guest at Mornings @ ANC Money Matters segment with Ron Cruz. We talked about making money online through e-commerce and problogging. This gave opportunity for the book to be plugged on television. (Thanks Heinz for considering me as a guest)



I also contacted blogger Flowell who works at ABS-CBN and say hi. He just won a free delegate pass for an event I'm promoting.

Usually, ANC guests are given proper make-up and hair fix prior to the interview. Thanks to this, I was able to appear more formal during the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs eyeball event. I was almost tempted to mention before the end of the event, "I'd like to thank the ANC make-up staff for my hair and make-up. LOL!"

I'm not sure how many books I'll be able to sell this week although I'm wishfully hoping to dispose 300 books for cost recovery. We'll see how soon shall I be able to achieve that and post it here.

See you at the book launch of Blogging from Home! this August 13 to 15 at Hotel Intercontinental Makati during the 2nd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Photo shoot at Photosynthesis


I never got the chance to have a photo shoot that can be used as author images for the book. Fortunately, I had one last Monday for the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines at Mario Babiera's Photosynthesis studio. It was raining very hard on that day and just had to do with whatever I had at that time. Here are some of the shots that I really liked.


Mario Babiera's PhotoSynthesis is located at the 7th floor of GMA-Loubel Building, corner Pasong Tamo and Bagtikan Streets, Makati City. Their contact number is 8956828.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Blogging from Home book launch preparations

The Blogging from Home book launch preparations will further escalate this week. As an event like this can only happen once, all efforts must be made to get it done right. This includes:
  • Book delivery settled
    DigitalFilipino.com club members and those who promoted the book last year are entitled to a free book copy. They have to be properly recorded and be delivered. Included also are the early bird book buyers.

    It will be my first time also to market a book in Australia, getting the shipping rate accurately for the book will be important for proper pricing.

  • Spreading word about the activity in various ways gradually.
    • Posted the event invite in social networks, groups, and e-mail.
    • Campaign the book launch through Entrecard and Google AdWords.
    • Send the press release this week and get book interviews whenever possible.

  • Distribution and outlets
    • Get distributor to put book in major bookstores.
    • Find online resellers.
Video complement
Last Wednesday, I shot a Blogging from Home video tutorial series with Buddy Gancenia. Through Justin.TV, partial, raw, and unedited footage was captured that includes outline planning, introduction, anatomy of a blog, finding blogs, creating a blog, keywords identification and Technorati registration, tracking visitors with MyBlogLog, how to use Ping, among others.

Watch more live video from Janette Toral on Justin.tv
I'll be posting the Camtasia and final editions soon. This will accompany the discussion questions that shall be posted online for readers to share their experience and ask follow-up questions.

At first, my idea was to sell the finished videos in a DVD. Got worried though that it might just get pirated easily and re-posted online. With that, the video tutorial materials will instead be posted here to further support the book.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Photobloggers becoming skilled and artistic


Photoblogging is fast becoming a popular hobby among photographers and bloggers. With just a camera, Internet access, and a blog, everyone has an opportunity to share a photo for the world to see.

Juned Sonido observes photoblogging to be popular now and people are more expressive with their photos. He said, "Before you could discern the professional photographers from the rest. But now you see more and more people have become more skilled and artistic. And now it is more diverse. You see a lot of good things from film and digital cameras. Even phone cameras are becoming more sophisticated. But it still boils down to the person taking the shot and not the equipment. One group of photographer friends I have have this saying It's not the Bow it's Indian. And it is true."

How Juned started
Juned started photoblogging a few months after taking up blogging. He recalled, "I discovered photoblogs and a friend of mine was telling me about it - just take a picture of something and put it in your blog (like take a picture of your breakfast and label it what I ate today). I did not really go down that route. At the time I started going out with my nephews to see different places in the Philippines and I began taking pictures and these were the ones I posted on my photoblog. I had a point-and-shoot digital camera and was just snapping away. I selected a few and this got to be posted on my blog and photoblog."

This went on for a few months. And eventually, Juned discovered he really like taking photos or snaps as he would call it. "I use the word snaps because I am not really a professional photographer. I am just a bloke who likes taking snaps. So I was just happy and content taking snaps with my ixus when something happened two unrelated events. We discovered my old SLR and I met someone with a Holga camera."

"In the next few months in my search for a Holga. I came upon the Fisheye2. A plastic camera with a fisheye lens attached. It took the most intriguing photos. Further down the road I acquired more cameras and began accumulating a lot of snaps from film burned directly to CD as jpg. And this eventually found its way to the photoblog."

What motivated Juned into photoblogging includes: (i) the desire to chronicle things, (ii) the desire to share snaps with the others and (iii) a way of giving thanks to family, friends and people he loves.

Copyright or copyleft?
With the popularity of photography, concerns on copyright and plagiarism were often discussed in forums and blogs. Juned advises photobloggers to always safeguard one's work. "Label it as to the type of ownership you want over your work. It's your decision to copyleft, put in the public domain or copyright your work. There are several options available. It would be prudent to check the terms and conditions of the photo-sharing platform uses because there are sites that make your photo available or searchable and you might not like that."

On a last note, Juned also reminds photobloggers to enjoy and be responsible with this hobby. "Enjoy photography or taking snaps, without becoming obtrusive or abusive to your subject or subjects."

Last iBlog4: the 4th Philippine Blogging Summit, Juned shared his experience as a photoblogger. Here's his presentation and talk.

Original content is driving force of a profitable blog

When I made a call for iBlog4 speakers, I'm grateful that Charo Nuguid volunteered to share her experience and insight in this area. Charo started blogging way back in May 2003 at a time when Blogger wasn't yet part of Google and "The Geekette Speaketh" (TGS) was still called "Primitive Types".

Charo used her blog for posting her everyday geek life although its current version has a different target from when it first started off. She believes that blogging is a way to inform other people that there's always something interesting out there. "It means being able to help others understand something that's new to them. Blogging piques the interest and hopefully get them passionate about something you really feel about."

Charo has her own observations of the local blogging scene and on iBlog4, she will be talking about blogging 101 without the commercial pitch side of it. She considers that perspective to be important. "For some reason, it seems that blogging is less about the passion and more about the money. Truth be told, it is SO EASY to turn a blog into a profitable one. The hard part is setting up the foundation of it all. "

"I've seen a lot of blogs that simply do nothing but link to others and ride on someone else's success. While that's all well and good, I find that the really big earners do more than just link. They have something new to add to it. They give a totally different view of the situation. Most of the time they have original content.

Charo believes that original content still is the driving force of of a profitable blog and cites an example to further explain the point.

"One of my best friends put up a blog with the sole target of documenting his childhood experiences before he grows old and senile (his words, not mine). Just a couple posts later he never expected his blog to be such a hit. But I noticed that he had all the points that made his blog really popular. He had a goal. He had a story. It explains why he is what he is today by telling his past. But he never once thought of making money out of it. If ever he decides to do so, he could very well earn more than me.

That's why I want to talk about the blog "foundations". I want blogging to be a fun experience for the writer. I want to help them figure out how to write their interests and publish them on the web. At the same time let them know of the dangers of blogging and how to deal with it."

Here's Charo Nuguid's blogging 101 presentation and talk at iBlog4.


Learn how to Vlog by starting one

Aileen Apolo started experimenting with podcasting more than a year ago with the Band of Bloggers (BoB) and ventured into video blogging in You Got Tech.

She thinks video blogging is more worth pursuing compared to podcasting. "Because you'll manage to gain a lot more skills when you do it. Aside from content, you have to contend with editing. Both have their uses and both can be used for educating and entertaining people, making videos though allows you to: (1) easily expand the content you want to showcase, having visuals helps a lot; (2) reach more people since the platform is more popular; (3) acquire more skills and grow with the platform (and you can have different styles too); and (4) if you're aim is to become popular, then you have just managed to essentially launch yourself as an internet star."

When Aileen launched You Got Tech, her main objective for making a vlog is to learn how to edit videos . "I've been wanting to do that for several years already, I just couldn't find the right motivation and enrolling in school is quite expensive. I just had to find the right avenue which I would be comfortable doing. At this point I cannot imagine myself doing an entertainment vlog. That's my personal mission behind You Got Tech, to learn and have people learn with me."

For those planning to venture into vlogging, here is what Aileen had to learn to improve her video blogging skills. She had to:
  1. Get over being camera shy and psyche herself up not to be conscious about speaking in front of a camera;
  2. Think about how to present content through video blogging;
  3. Learn how to capture a video properly using a digital camera where she had to tweak some stuff on it; and
  4. Learn how to do video editing. Whenever Aileen is stumped on something, she ask around.
Aileen wishes there'd be more Filipino vlogs and podcasts. "I have been encouraging Choi of Creative Voices to put up a radio-drama-like podcast and a radio station to make their talk shows downloadable. Sana soon!"

In the recent iBlog4: The 4th Philippine Blogging Summit, Coy Caballes (interview) and Aileen Apolo shared their thoughts on vlog and podcasting prospects in the Philippines.

(Presentation about Podcasting)


(Presentation about Vlogging)


(Q&A at iBlog4)

Aileen's favorite podcast and vlogs
Additional info:

Sunday, May 18, 2008

From Student to Problogger

Juan Karlo Licudine is one of the few student turn professional blogger (problogger) in the Philippines. Karlo believes that contrary to popular belief, problogging is not easy. "If you are serious in taking up problogging, you must ready to juggle this and your studies, two equally demanding tasks, at the same time. There actually comes a time when you are forced to choose between the two. In the end, it all boils down to priority."

Karlo got into blogging around 2004. At that time, he was still part of their school’s student publication when a colleague introduced him to blogging. "He told me that it is the best way to express my thoughts and, at the same time, a good training ground for me to improve my writing skills. I tried it out by creating my own personal blog and got hooked the moment I made my first post," recalls Karlo.

For three years, he only used blogging as an avenue for sharing of thoughts and feelings until another blogger inspired him. "Everything changed when I stumbled upon the blog of Darren Rowse, the blogger behind ProBlogger.net. It was there where I learned about the other great possibilities that can be achieved through blogging."

"When I earned my first few dollars, I then wondered how much I could earn if I would get serious with the money making. And so, my life as a problogger began."

Life got a little tougher for Karlo as he has both studies and blogs to take care of. He realized, "What caught me by surprise was the gap that I had to traverse before I could get to the point where I could consider myself as a problogger. Because of this, I learned that problogging is not just a walk in the park, it is a serious business."

Karlo shared his experience at iBlog4: The 4th Philippine Blogging Summit. Here's his presentation and talk.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Blogging from Home book cover

Creating a book cover can take time especially if you are looking for the right elements. For this one, it seems I finally got it.

We are now at the book layout stage and hope it will be complete by this week.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Blogging from Home

Last year, I felt a great frustration when my blogging book project couldn't just be completed. I kept thinking what was wrong with me or the project itself. As if I had a huge writer's block that made me at lost in getting the book done.

In the past few days, I've been reading a lot, trying to get inspiration left and right from various authors. When my graphic artist finally e-mailed the cover of my next e-commerce book edition, I decided to register for an ISBN to get me started.

But instead of finishing the manuscript of my e-commerce book, I ended up tinkering with my blogging book manuscript. I was toying with the idea of combining the two but realized how much has change on my experience in this field. While looking at the supposedly book cover and title, Blog This: How Blogs Empower Every Internet User, I realized that this gave me my biggest writer's block.

I reviewed my situation and experience in blogging, hiring and managing blog writers, blog advertising, recruiting bloggers to be part of my blog advertising network, organizing blogging events and contests, blog advocacy, setting-up blogs for SMEs, among others. All of this done while at home, whether that be in the Philippines or Australia, wherever I am at the moment.

Thus the title, Blogging from Home struck me. I knew that title was meant for this book project when the domain name for it was also available and I purchased it right away.

Right now, the revised cover is being made and manuscript being finalized. An ISBN will assigned to its e-book and printed edition within a week or two.

Will post updates soon.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

29 Lessons from Blogging Heroes

I just finished reading the book, Blogging Heroes by Michael Banks. It features interview with 30 of the world's top bloggers. What I like about the book is that it gives an interesting perspective on how some of the world's top bloggers started and their view on blogging, search engine optimization, interaction with readers, and growth of the community.

What got me disappointed, although not the author's fault - as some of the famous bloggers did not respond to Michael Banks interview request, was the lack of bloggers featured from other blog networks. The book tends to be dominated by famous bloggers from Weblogs Inc. where the perspective on a lot of things tend to be alike, in many ways.

However, each blogger interviewed shared their knowledge unselfishly where it also motivated me to take blogging further such as:
  1. To bring readers to your blog, go to other blogs and engage in discussions. (Dave Taylor).
  2. Comment on blogs of high-profile bloggers (Kristin Darguzas).
  3. Use social networking tools like Twitter (Steve Garfield).
  4. Only a fraction of a blog's visitor leave comments (Deborah Petersen). A blog without comments can be boring (Gary Lee).

    Whenever I make a new blog post, I usually ping Technorati, check on my entrecard to accept ads and place campaigns, plug in Twitter, and update my Google Reader shared items (where updates are posted to various sites such as my Facebook page). Last night, I started going back to all the folks who commented on my last 7 posts and interacted through their blogs and this I intend to do whenever I have a new blog post.

  5. Bloggers have vested interest in making a post interesting and fun. (Mary Jo Foley)
  6. Create a list of ideas (Rebecca Lieb).
  7. Self-promotion is more effective when it includes a value-added element. (Chris Anderson).
  8. Give readers, in the way of information, as a reward for visiting your blog (David Rothman).

    The interaction I'm getting in the Philippine Internet Review has been so helpful that I don't seem to ran out of stories to feature of other people. Reading through the blogs of those who participated in the discussion even opened new story opportunities. At the same time, it allows me to subtly promote our upcoming Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008.

  9. Post useful, original, well-written content (Gina Trapani).
  10. Let content, rather than personality, rule your blog (Frank Warren).
  11. Have passion for what you write about (John Neff).
  12. Get used to creating content (Joel Comm).
  13. Offer readers something of value (Steve Rubel).
  14. Do not simply be an echo of what other blogs are doing (Victor Agreda Jr.).

    Rather than make a blog post out of the whim or for the sake of just posting, having original content is important. The pressure to do well in this field has also forced me to reconsider my postings and question its relevance to readers.

  15. Blogs can be a way to increase your visibility to potential buyers (Ina Steiner).
  16. Consider blogging in a niche (Chris Grant).

    This I truly believe in and that is why I'm using my DigitalFilipino.com Club blog to announce activities and share tips whenever I can. Doing this has also enabled me to attract new club members.

  17. Try to blend advertising in with content, rather than allowing it to intrude on content (Mike Masnick).
  18. Keep advertising low lets you balance content with ads and have happier readers (Ken Fisher).
  19. Don't count on making lots of money right away (Richard MacManus).

    I strongly believe in this. This is also the reason I'm not inclined in having Google AdSense appear at the blog post level, whether on-top or middle-of-the-post, as it distracts the user from reading a post. Paid posts and text link ads should be done in a manner that does not mislead readers.

  20. Put yourself in your reader's place before you write (Mark Frauenfelder).
  21. Don't assume all readers will understand what you post (Scott McNulty).

    This is certainly a challenge as most of the time, we post because we want to share something happening in our lives. I guess in the end of it, there must be a clear take-away or value that is imparted as a result of it.

  22. Good content beats search engine optimization or SEO (Robert Scoble).
  23. Think of what topics deserve coverage (Philipp Lenssen).
  24. SEO is not the ultimate answer to generating traffic (Peter Rojas).
  25. Stay away from darker or unethical tricks (Grant Robertson).

    Rather than be tempted in bringing high audience traffic right away, it is best to focus on developing quality content. It brings natural traffic from search engines. This I noticed in some of my blogs, such as Ituloy AngSulong, that even if I don't post as usual, traffic comes in because of being able to write something relevant or useful to a specific audience.

  26. Blog statistics can tell what works and what doesn't (Brian Lam).
  27. If what you write interests people, search engines naturally follow (Eric T.)

    Tracking your blog performance using several tools can tell you which topics are hot and continues to drive in traffic. This can help you decide whether you need to make a follow-up post and explore its potential further.

  28. A blog can support and extend the life of a book (Brad Hill).

    A website or blog can indeed do that. This I have experience in the books DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Guide and Philippine Internet Review.

  29. Criticisms can make you a better blogger (Deidre Woollard).

    User feedback, whether positive or constructively negative, can help in the development of a blog.
The book Blogging Heroes by Michael Banks can now be purchased for only $5.00 (its original price during its launch was $24.99). Ideal for those who wants to get serious in blogging.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Revenue opportunities with Paypal

One thing I realized with the activation of my Paypal last year is the huge opportunity available to its users. Those who don't have access to its receive money feature are missing out on a lot of them. The intent of this blog post is to list as many programs as possible that allows you to generate revenue and receive payment through Paypal. I shall update this whenever I discover new opportunities.
  • Ximmy
    If you like submitting your site to various sites, including this one may also be of help. It provides for compensation for submission, comments, and when your submission becomes popular.

  • Project Wonderful
    A tool that allows you to accept bid auction for ad spaces in your blog. In addition, it allows you to share your website stats transparently to prospective advertisers. (sample)

  • WidgetBucks
    This widget displays various items that can adapt to your blog or site's content (sample). You get paid when visitors click on the widget.

  • aShopFor
    This site allows you to create your own shop (sample) and earn by participating in promos. It also gives you a referral fee if others sign up too.

  • Performancing Metrics
    You use this site to monitor the traffic of your blog. If you regularly give updates about your blog traffic or how you use the service (sample), you can use this as an opportunity to encourage others to use the service as well. If they subscribe in the process, you get an affiliate commission that is sent through Paypal.

  • Revver (sample) and Viddler (sample)
    This site allows video producers to generate revenue through advertising impressions (and clicks) that appears at the end of the video. So whether you produce your own video or just simply show the video of others, there are income possibilities there.

  • Podbean
    Podbean is a free podcast hosting blog where you can create premium content and charge a fee for it. You can also use the site to accept donation (sample) or refer friends through its affiliate program and get commission in the process.
I think the best way that you can maximize the opportunity brought by services like Paypal is to create your own products. For bloggers, this can be a compilation of your old blog posts, revised or enhanced, and be sold as an e-book.

Joining these programs is not just about putting links in your site, you need to put value and promote it. People will only consider the product if you use it or have seen others who benefited from it.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Blogging Activity #35: Job

Getting a job is a primary concern that all of us have in order to sustain our daily living and future requirements. In this blogging activity, share the latest job openings in your community or talk about your experience in getting a a job.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #34: Research

When working on a school project, starting a business, or pushing for an advocacy, research plays a major role in helping us come up with the facts that we can use to make our own analysis.

In this blog, cite a research that you found to be interesting or share techniques on how to go about it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #33: Deadline

Whether in business, work, school or at home, we all have deadlines to beat. In this blog post, share deadlines that you are concern with or others should note of.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #32: Award

Once in awhile, we or our loved ones receives a recognition or an award. This blog post encourages you to share the news and celebrate it with the rest.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Blogging Activity #31: Thank you

We get by to do a lot of things with help from friends, family, peers, and even strangers. In this blog post, let us say thank you to these people and appreciate the things they have done.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #30: List

Do you like list? I do. I find it an easy way to present or explain something. It also helps in getting the information you have on hand thought of and organized in the process.

In this blogging activity, make a list of something that concerns you or things you've discovered or observed.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #29: Inspired

Once in awhile, a book, person, or a recent development gets us inspired and take action. In this blogging activity, blog about such moments and let it serve as reminder for you.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Blogging Activity #28: Help

Once in awhile, we need to reach out to other people and ask for help. This is where we seek for advise, assistance, and direction on what to do next.

In this blogging activity, you can ask or give help.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Blogging Activity #27: Gifts

Every year, there many occasions where we find a reason to give or receive gifts. For this blogging activity, share some gift ideas or those you gave or receive lately.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Week 4: 366 Blogging Activities

Many thanks to the following participant in the 366 blogging activities for 2008 and will get 100 entrecard credit. (will send you the entrecard coupon via e-mail)

Thank you for joining!

Monday, January 28, 2008

Blogging Activity #26: FAQ

Depending on your line of work or advocacy, there are questions where we get asked quite often. This is an opportunity to create a frequently asked question or FAQ blog post where you can list all questions received and answer them.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Blogging Activity #25: Elections

We usually have elections in our country and even of organizations we belong to. In this blog post, talk about the elections or share your insight in relation to it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #24: Country Day

Every year, various countries has a special holiday commemorating an event such as independence, freedom, among others. In this blogging activity, you are encouraged to write a blog post about such an occasion giving information or simply share what you did on that day.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Week 3: 366 Blogging Activities

Many thanks to the third batch of participants in the 366 blogging activities for 2008. The following will get 100 entrecard credit each. (will send you the entrecard coupon via e-mail)

Thank you for joining!

Blogging Activity #23: Disappointing

Every once in awhile, we get badly disappointed. This can be about ourselves, a person, product, service, or developments happening in our community.

In this blogging activity, talk about your disappointment and what lesson learned you gained from it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Blogging Activity #22: Piracy

Piracy has become something common for a lot of us. We get exposed to it almost everyday from fake imitations to copies of copyrighted works. In this blogging activity, you are encouraged to write about your perspective on piracy. You can also share some news or findings in this area.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Blogging Activity #21: History

History plays an important to what we are and what we have today. In school, we study history to understand our ancestors and what happened back then. Some parents take time to record their family history and pass on this information to their children.

In this blogging activity, write about history. It can be about your family, a project, your organization, among others. Almost everything around us has history behind it. Be creative!

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #20: Work

We all need to work in order to afford the things we want in life. In this blogging activity, write about your latest work accomplishment or experience. You can also give some tips on do's and don't at work. You can certainly write about this topic from many perspective.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #19: Love

There are many ways that we get to experience in love. It can be for a person, place, cause, among others.

For this blogging activity, write about someone or something you love. Cherish it in your writing for such peak feelings are rarely experienced. You can also tackle those people or things that you loved in the past. As these feelings of love can hurt as well, you can also write a guide on how can a person handle or manage it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Blogging Activity #18: Teacher

A teacher is a person whom we owe a lot our knowledge to. We value the lessons they passed on to us whenever we attendschool. Later on in our lives, we assume that same role as well, although informally, to a younger sibling, children, and to other people when the opportunity arises.

In this blogging activity, write a post that focuses on the teacher, whether this is you or another person. If you are into this profession, you can also come up with an article series that can be of valuable reference to aspiring teachers.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #17: Reunion

Once in awhile, we get the chance to participate in a get-together or reunion of sorts. In this blogging activity, share a reunion story or affair that turned out great or boring or a disaster. If you are the organizer type, you can share tips on how to set-up one.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Week 2: 366 Blogging Activities

Many thanks to the second batch of participants in the 366 blogging activities for 2008. The following will get 100 entrecard credit each. (will send you the entrecard coupon via e-mail)

Thank you for joining!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Blogging Activity #16: Unforgettable

We all have our unforgettable moments and experiences. I believe these are developments in our lives that we should record in order not to take them for granted or forget about them. There's a euphoria experienced in these moments that can hardly be re-created that makes it important to capture or record the experience.

In this blogging activity, record an unforgettable experienced by you or someone else. Make it memorable.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #15: Buying

We all buy various products and services online or in the traditional manner. In this blogging activity, you are encouraged to share a purchase experience or give a guide on how to buy a particular item.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Blogging Activity #14: Music

Music plays an important in our lives. It is the first thing that we get to hear through lullabies from our moms. As we grew up, music was used by our teachers as tool for learning. Later in our lives, our joys and pains can be expressed through music.

In this blogging activity, write about music in anyway you want. There are so many ways you can play with this topic.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Blogging Activity #13: Travel

Once in awhile, we get the chance to travel by land, air, or sea. In this blogging activity, you are encouraged to share your travel experience. Another way is to share tips in relation to travel.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Blogging Activity #12: Plans

We all make plans for the future or heard someone else's. In this blogging activity, you are encouraged to write about your plan or share that of another person. You can also talk about plan creation of a variety of activities focusing on areas where you are good at.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Blogging Activity #11: Birthday

If there is anything certain in life, that is we get older year after year. In this blogging activity, you can greet, share what you think, or experienced during your or someone else's birthday.

Take it any slant you want as there is so much that can be discussed about this topic.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Blogging Activity #10: Events

There are so many events and conferences that happens around us. In this blogging activity, blog about an upcoming event or one that you attended recently.

Give a perspective on why are you plugging the event. Does this have any special connection to you or what do you like about its concept, or undesirable incident that might have happened, among others.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Blogging Activity #9: Contests

There are so many contests, raffles, and other gimmicks that we get to read, watch, and even participate. In this blogging activity, you can share information or observation about these promotional activities.

If you are planning to organize one, go ahead! The nice thing about contests is that you can learn a lot from it in the process. You can compare performance and understanding which did well and not. You can also establish a niche and be known for it in the years to come.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Week 1: 366 Blogging Activities

Many thanks to the first batch of participants in the 366 blogging activities for 2008. The following will get 100 entrecard credit each. (will send you the entrecard coupon via e-mail)
Thank you for joining!

Blogging Activity #8: Expansion

There comes a time in our activities or projects where we need to expand. It can be the expansion of your blog, house, service offerings, markets to be covered, among others.

In this blogging activity, you are encourage to share a recent development where you are taking an effort to expand or tell someone's story in relation to it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Blogging Activity #7: Entrecard

A growing number of bloggers and website owners are joining Entrecard seeing it as a means for alternative advertising. In this blogging activity, you can write about your experience, list interesting blogs you have discovered through it, what you like and don't like about Entrecard.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Blogging Activity #6: Partners

We often get to do activities in school, personal, and even at work with another person, often referred as partner (sometimes team mate). Use this blogging activity to share a story about your partner, how to look for one, what you went through, among others.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Blogging Activity #5: Goals

We all have goals in our lives either on a personal level, project-based, or even for our blogs. For this blogging activity, share your goals. It can be your goals for the year, goal of your blog, or an upcoming project, among others.

Writing down your goals also helps you in exploring the subject further and serve as a checklist on how you are doing.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Friday, January 4, 2008

Blogging Activity #4: Hiring

We all have experience of hiring a person or service provider. In this blogging activity, share some tips on your hiring experience and enlighten someone who is planning to do it.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

4 Tips in Hiring Bloggers and Writers

Since I launched my advertising program for blogs and recruitment of part-time writers or content developers for some of my blog projects, I often get asked on how to go about hiring bloggers and writers.

Here is what I realized for the past 12 months.
  1. You can offer a per article fee or a fixed monthly rate.
    For fixed monthly fee, there can be a target number of stories that have to be done during the period, among other tasks. For part-time writers, a per article fee is the usual arrangement and this is negotiable. In my case, the rate I give is one hundred dollars (US$100) for twenty articles.

  2. Will the articles be opinion based, research based, or interview based?
    I note that some bloggers are not suitable for some tasks. Like some don't like to do interviews. This is one area where I encountered problems as some bloggers are not as flexible.

  3. Another thing you have to consider is whether you are giving them a byline (authorship recognition) or not.
    For those who have full time jobs, some would prefer to blog or write anonymously. Others do want a byline right away.

  4. Give all applicants a one-week trial period
    This allows you to see them in action and observe their turn-around time for every assignment. In my case, articles approved are considered as to be paid.
Feel free to share your tips too or ask a question.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Blogging Activity #3: Friends

All of us have friends or is a friend to someone. This blogging activity encourages you to write about "friends". It can be a celebration of friendship. You can also vent how you missed a friend who you got kinda "disconnected" since he or she started having a "partner". Take it any angle you want!

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Blogging Activity #2: Coming back

Most of us have experienced something in our lives or visited places that we have taken time and effort to visit or coming back again.

This activity encourages you to share your experience on "coming back" as a theme.

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

What is a blog?

A blog is like a website but in a journal format and arranged according to date. Whereas a website would usually appear with content presented by category, like DigitalFilipino, blogs on the other hand get presented according to date, although some would have categories, making it appear like a journal or diary.

Blog owners normally post articles or short notes that has the information they want to share, personal or otherwise.

Companies use blogs as a means to disseminate information and keep in touch with their customers. Although blogs can also be used to act as a website by itself where information on products and services being offered by companies can be presented through it.

Blogging Activity #1: Internet censorship

Not known to many, an increasing number of countries/governments are taking steps to censor the Internet to protect children from pornography, violent / hate websites, and fall prey to cybercrimes.

What is your take on this topic? Are you in favor of Internet censorship? Why or why not?

Please post a comment with a link to your blog post and will add it here. I look forward in reading your post.

Posts about this topic:

366 blogging activities for 2008

One of my blogging challenges is finding a topic that I could blog about. There are times I get encouraged to join a discussion to share my thoughts. Later on, I just don't have the mood to blog and even if I got it back, I'm not sure where to start. Well if you experienced any of the above, this activity is for you.

This is the 366 blogging activities for 2008 series. If you blog daily, it is like your one blog post a day kind of series. However, you can also pick and do the ones that you like.
The benefit of joining an activity like this includes:
  • Exchange ideas with people interested in the subject.
  • Discover new blogs to read.
  • Attract new readers to your blog.
  • Our give-aways for now includes:
    • Every week, seven (7) participants will get 100 Entrecard credits each that you can use to place ads to other sites within Entrecard. The first batch will be announced on January 9.
    • Should you be interested in becoming a give-away sponsor, just e-mail me the prizes you would like to give out at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com.
Here's our weekly winners post so far:
Your topic suggestions are more than welcome. I hope you can join and have a great 2008!