What You Think Blogging Is & What It Really Isn’t

I have been sharing my blog posts to friends via Facebook since last year, though I have been blogging since 2007 and I guess this has already been a part of my contacts’ everyday lives as they appear on their newsfeeds from time to time. I am just so happy to know that by doing so, I am being an inspiration to some who find what I’m doing, admiring and encouraging.

The past week has been one of those rare moments in a blogger’s life that are worth rejoicing and I can’t help but shout it to the world so when friends saw my stat update about how much I earned just in a single day, I received a number of queries on how I did it and that they are also interested in blogging.

Before I go on, I should warn you though that this is not an expert post, so please bear with me if ever I got some points incorrectly. Just leave some comments and I am willing to clarify things up.

So… Here we go… First, I have some common questions here and I tried to answer them the best way I can.

What is blogging?

For me, it’s a simple online diary where I write just about anything I want. I try to maintain it as personal as possible by writing only personal matters about me, my family, my experiences, and even my opinions.

Where do you blog?

I started in the free blogger platform (blogspot.com) and stayed there until April last year (2010). Then when April came, I learned that there’s another better platform called wordpress, but because I already have my own domains then, I also learned that I already need to pay for hosting. So because I am really into monetizing my blogs, I explored and finally got my blogs hosted.

How many blogs do you have?

When I decided to get serious in blogging, I decided to have a niche on each of my blog so I have a blog for personal diary, for food, for parenting and for just about anything, just 4 all-in-all.

Is Blogging Free?

There are lots of platforms where you can start blogging without paying anything like Blogger, TypePad, Tumbler, etc. But if you’re planning to earn from it or what we call “monetizing your blog”, then free platform is not a good choice.

If it’s not free, then how much will I need to pay for a start-up?

Only $7.50 (roughly P320) for a single domain name renewable after a year PLUS a monthly hosting plan costing from just $1-$3 (P43-P130) per month. I have actually written about it so please please read this first before proceeding: FIRST STEP TO BLOGGING  GET OWN DOMAIN NAME.

Where to buy domain name and hosting?

I buy my domains from godaddy.com and my hosting from moms-hosting.com and sahm-hosting.com.

godaddy.com is a big company, while the 2 hosting companies I mentioned are owned by a very good friend of mine, named Rubz who’s a mother of my pretty goddaughter, Bella and I tell you, she gives 101% customer service as she’s available for consultancy and help almost 24/7. Such a hard-working mom she is.

What happens after buying the domain and hosting?

Once your blog gets live, you can then start beautifying it by installing pre-made themes that will suit your taste. I can personally help you on this, but I bet you’ll want a customized one as you go along so just blog and blog and when you start earning, save up for your blog’s personalized theme and other mommy bloggers named Mommy Kaye and Mommy Carlota can do that for you.

…and finally, what you think it is and what it really isn’t…

Blogging is EASY PEASY!

Yes, it is easy if you are blogging just because you want to. But, it is definitely difficult when you really want to earn from it.

Only those with talent in writing can blog!

Of course not! Yes, it’s a plus points when you can write in good English and good grammar, but it’s doesn’t end there. I’m sure you can write and you can express your feelings well in writing. Never mind those bad spelling or grammar as we have to accept and the world has accepted it – that we, Filipinos don’t have English as our native language, but as compared to many, we are better English speakers and we should be proud of that. And oh, it’s not a crime to write in Filipino. You may do so if you feel like it.

Blogging cannot be compared to a real job!

Sorry, you’re wrong again. It’s actually like a regular job or even more because you really have to work hard to be able to climb the ladder and it isn’t a fixed 9-5 job. You also get to work overtime. Blogging is definitely NOT an “easy money”.

You have to learn how to drive traffic to your site because the more people goes to your site, the more chances for you in getting “that job”. You also have to make friends with your fellow bloggers, sensibly comment on their posts and kindly ask them if you can exchange links with them where you put the name of their blog to your blogroll linking back to their sites and they will do the same for you (see MY BLOGROLL). This way, you are making friends with Mr. Google too who gives you your PR (Page Rank). The higher your PR, the better as it means that your blog has already been indexed in Google. There are lots of terminologies to learn, but you’ll understand them as you go.

It’s not true that we can earn from blogging!

Well, let me just share this with you… I have bought my hubby a 64G with 3G iPad and I still have more than the actual price of it as savings, only from my 2010 blogging earnings. Hey, this is not to brag about my earnings, but this is just so you have an idea how much you can earn from blogging.

…convinced? Now let me give you some tips on how you can do all these…

How do I start earning from it?

You have to make at least 20 posts within 3 months. After that, you can submit your blogs to different paid to post companies like payu2blog.com, payperpost.com, blogsvertise.com, sponsored reviews.com, to name a few. Once you got approved and advertisers chose your blog to advertise into, those paid to post companies will inform you that you have to write something and you need to include the specific keywords they will give you with the link to the advertiser’s site.

How do I get paid?

If you have a PayPal account, then everything goes in there. If you are in the Philippines, you need to apply for an EON account (as that what many PayPal users use – I just can’t elaborate it here as I don’t use EON, but surely there are lots of info about it on the web.)

You said you earned $500+ in just a day, how on earth did you do that?

Ok, let me tell you this. That $500+ has been rewarded to me in a single day, but the whole process definitely didn’t happen overnight. I have been working on my blogs to have page rank for a year, drive traffic and all. It just so happened that there were direct advertisers that day who found my blogs interesting and so they bought a space on each of them to place their advertisements for prices I never imagined possible. So you see? You reap what you sow. Just work hard and everything will pay-off in time.

How will I drive traffic to my site easily?

This is actually not the easiest way, but it’s definitely a great way to drive traffic to your site, at the same time, to earn friendship in the blogosphere. Look at my side bar, to the right most column, you’ll see the “WEEKLY MEME” logos. You may click them just so you can have an idea what they are. But to simplify, it’s some kind of a community of bloggers with the same interest and every week, the hosts of those memes give themes for the bloggers to talk about on their own blogs. When you’re done publishing your share on your blog, you link your blog up to the meme and you visit the other’s entries, read their share for the week and comment sensibly on the topic just as how you comment on your friend’s Facebook posts. That way, they will visit you too. Just read the mechanics for every meme you find interesting and feel free to join and introduce yourself.

Memes are also a great fillers when you start posting paid posts (sponsored/advertised posts) to your blog as too much paid post is not good for your blog’s health. From time to time, you need to have paid-post-free entries in between those paid-post.

Also, mind the blogging community logos beside those meme logos. You may visit them and see how you can join. All those can help you in your blogging journey.

It’s time consuming! How do I keep up?

As for me, since I’m a stay-at-home-mom (just like most of the mommy bloggers I know), I work more than the time spent by those with regular jobs. I need to attend to my family, do the house chores, work as a virtual assistant, and find other means of earning. But since I count myself as a certified blogger, I always find time to blog and I maintain a calendar on my PC that reminds me of what to do at a particular time.

So… It’s for you now to decide if blogging is for you or not. As I always say, blogging is not easy. It needs dedication and passion. Goodluck!

Tags: blogging 101, tips in blogging

Not Ready for Monday

I was about to make a shout out on my FB stat about this, but thought of just putting it on my blog – at least here, those who doesn’t read my blog and who really doesnt care won’t be disturbed. I actually find posting stats on FB to be so disturbing to others as that’s how I feel when others do. I hate it when all I can read are rants and bad mouths (through words of course) of others to specific persons they just can’t name.

Right, so what do I wanna shout then? Uhhhmmm, rant as well! LOL! At least on my own blog. Ready???

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!! I’m sooooo NOT ready for Monday!!!

• I have a house that is too messy and I just can’t clean it today.
• I have loads of clothes to fold and my laundry basket is so full that I can’t wash them yet since I don’t know when I can hang them up after.
• I will be out today as Alyssa has an appointment with her dentist and the dentist’s clinic is more than an hour travel.
• I haven’t done blog-hopping to all the memes I joined last week.
• I have jobs to do as a virtual assistant and how to do it before 11am strikes is something I find impossible.
• I have this problem from last week that I still don’t know how to resolve. It’s just so difficult to solve a problem most especially when you know you can hurt others feelings.

I know Monday will pass, but I also know I will carry these all after Monday so a huge luck for me, really.

Tags: personal rant

Should I Still Apply for a Job?

Every year, I plan to apply for jobs. I don’t even care which job it is – all I want is to get hired. I was wondering what career path is waiting for me – sales career, admin, hospitality, whatsoever – but every year also, lots of other opportunities are coming my way. This year, I tried again, but I got interested in cake making so I’ll see if it’ll work for me as a home-based business, plus of course, the raining opportunities in my blogging career.

Until now, I’m not sure if I still need to apply for work, but if the cake business won’t turn out successfully, then I guess I really should. I just believe in God’s perfect timing and that He knows what’s right for me.

Tags: home business, job application, money