Making Money Online
The rates aren’t that big, like any other newbie in the freelance industry but it’s good enough to build the experience. Hopefully I’ll be able to maintain this one and be good at writing articles. I’m more into blog-style writing and not informative writing but I can learn.
I remember the time when I was so hyped up at buying my laptop. I was so excited since I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a mobile device I can call my own to help me out with my day-to-day blogging tasks and such as updating profiles and placing pictures. My brother got a bit jealous because he also wanted to get one for himself but he already owns the desktop so all is well. What I could just probably do is join Charter’s Laptop-a-Day Sweepstakes. From July 15 to September 15, they’re giving away machines for their customers! Darn. It is definitely for every student or businessperson on the go who needs a laptop for easy mobility. And it’s right in time for back to school shopping (wouldn’t those gift cards come in handy!) because of free gift cards they’re also giving away ranging from $25-$100 with special online deals. So many wonderful offers in so little time.
You can check out a Charter on Facebook or Charter on Twitter for more information about the contest. I wish I could get my hands on another one though. But then I would be asking too much. Still, it doesn’t hurt to wish.
Just had my first real interview, interview with a prospect employer in oDesk thru Skype. I hope I can nab this job. I haven’t been pretty active in this job marketplace because of so many reasons that turn out to be excuses. I hope I can work these things out as I’m saving and saving for the rainy days that are about to come. I’m not even that confident with my skills but I know I can learn. I just need the stamina to back my perseverance. Confusing but not really.
It’s pretty tiring to keep on dropping everyday, most especially in my case wherein I have 5 blogs in tow. You can just imagine how upsetting it is when the pages take a way lot of time to load. When you sum or multiply it all up, in order for me to really get the constant traffic in my site that I need, I would have to visit 1500 websites for all my sites everyday!
Now what is Entrecard? In my opinion, it’s somewhat a networking site wherein their most famous feature is DROPPING. Basically, you set up a 125×125 banner ad and then place it on your blog site. What you have to do is log in to entrecard and then visit other blogs who have also have their banner ads posted and click on the word “Drop”. Once you reach 300 drops, then you’re fine for the day.
Now what’s the purpose of dropping? Dropping enables you to visit other sites, in turn, once you have established your dropping profile, people will most likely drop or visit on your site as well. This generates traffic especially when your site becomes really popular. But then you would need to have a really good internet connection if you want to get things done quickly.
Even if you have the Entrecard toolbar installed, it still wouldn’t be able to suffice because of the internet connection that I have. At 384 kbps, sometimes I wish to upgrade from Smartbro’s plan. Only during Entrecard dropping times though, since I’m not really that much of a downloader geek.
I can say that Entrecard is really good for those ‘first impressions’ traffic. You know, the kind wherein you want to let other people know you are alive and that you have a blog. Or if you want to showcase an entry that you’d really want others to read and comment on; Entrecard is good with that. However, if you really want good and quality traffic, meaning people who intend to visit your website because they want to, then you have to find other means which is mostly done by giving out Quality posts.
Nevertheless, Entrecard dropping has been able to give me some good visitors that leave out a comment or two. Now DROP it like it’s hot. (nah, too lame Ed).
I’m finally done with transferring my paid post entries that my admin has sent me. When I reformatted my computer, I accidentally deleted all my back up files in my other hard drive. Good thing I was able to burn my pictures in DVDs. However, my problem is with those other files that are also important such as my productivity when it comes to creating blog entries or sponsored reviews for my main site. Basically, I receive these tasks and I track them down with whatever Excel skill I have. I consolidate them so that during the time for me to be paid, I’d get the money and there would be no questions asked since I have a record carefully laid out for my admin to review.
I still have copies of those sponsored posts in my email and when the hard drive went kaput, but I had to painstakingly check the information and create another template for those entries I created since my last payment. One by one I had to type the titles of my posts and make sure that the payouts are correct. Now, I have the most updated records.
I’m just sad and upset because of the difficulty in retrieving the old trackers. I lost them which served as my accounting book whenever I’d like to audit the amount I’ve earned while blogging. Anyway, it’s too late to complain.
So this is one useful tip for bloggers out there. If you want to keep track of the money that you earn, I recommend that you create a tracker for each post that you have so that when you look at your income through this sideline, then you’d have something to refer to. It really is very useful for me since I have an Admin who usually sends me the tasks so I get to trace everything and she’d be able to just confirm them; reducing conflicts in turn.
Here is a screen shot of what I’m talking about. Here are the paid posts that I’ve done for Soloflighted.com for the month of July.
As you can see, it records the opportunities I’ve written for my Admin and this is what I send out when it’s time for payout. You can modify it according to what would be comfortable. It’s not really that much but it’s good enough for recording purposes. To think that I had to look 5 months back. Now I have to track back from when I started which from November 2007. Tsk tsk tsk.
I’m trying my luck on banner ads. The size of this leaderboard (728×90) seems to be too big and the pictures are quite pixelated. Still, I want to rest this for awhile and check how it looks online. How many minutes did I finally come up with this? Bummer.
Yep, the set up is formatting. I had to reinstall the Operating system on my laptop because of updates that I installed that came up with a black screen whenever I brought up the Windows environment. I couldn’t even access the Safe Mode. Now I had to fend for myself as I didn’t want to bother the original IT Pro who installed it in the first place. He told me not to install any updates as the XP that’s installed in my PC already had the latest service pack. I didn’t want to install a Vista because I don’t like it. Issues with lagging and slowness would suffice if ever I were to put it.
To think that I needed the proper drivers because the HP laptop that I have is based on a Vista platform. Good thing I was able to properly locate what I needed to download. Now I should be more careful already.
Cebu: DigitalFilipino Club & Bloggers Networking Event last July 11, 2009
I attended the event at the Waterfront Hotel. Wasn’t able to participate as much, but it was nice to see people behind the blogs. Good thing I had Audrey and Doi with me to tag along since I’d feel such a loner if I went there alone. hehe.
Anyway free booze and food! haha
I made sure I had more than one round of the Pandan Salad. hehe
Been trying to upload a couple of videos here using Wordpress but I get all sorts of errors which is pretty upsetting especially when you’ve spent a number of hours just figuring out what to do. At first, I got an error, telling me that the maximum size I could upload a file would be just 2MB. I have to talk this over with my hosting provider to check how I can change that, otherwise, I’d be wasting a number of gigabytes for no reason at all.
When I was able to compress the video file to a lower size, I was finally able to upload it. However, when I tried to insert the video in this Wordpress blog, I was still unsuccessful as it doesn’t have the option to play it when publishing the entry. It would just provide a link to the actual location for users to download. I wanted it to be like a Youtube embedded player in my entry, only the player is by Wordpress and not youtube. Sigh, this has been giving me the headache for the runaround. I know everything will just be simple once I finish reading forums and such, but it’s just nerve-wracking especially when you don’t have enough patience.
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I have a problem too, when I downloaded the Wordpress 2.8 version for my main blog (soloflighted.com). It deleted my WYSIWYG editor when creating blog entries. That’s why when I post entries that require me to post pictures, I’d have to look for another blog and then create the post there, convert it to HTML and then paste the HTML code in the main websitel; such a hassle. I was advised to download the beta version of Mozilla, but I’m still wary.
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Also, for edcel.net, I wanted to create a gallery and I even uploaded the NextGen Gallery Plugin already. Somehow, I got confused on where I have to go in order to create an album and put the pictures. I’m confused with the term “gallery” and “album” there. Sigh. When all I just wanted was consolidate all my pictures in my website for added traffic, I’m getting all the more lost in the process. I wish it would be much simpler as Multiply.com
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Just some issues in Wordpress that this blogger needs to address in order to create a better reading experience for my viewers. Anyway, I guess I better start looking at those FAQs and forums.
Like I said before, I’m posting all of my sites here just for reference and so I have something to blog about. hehe. I have 5 personal blogs in total and I don’t know what’s wrong with me if I have soe sort of multiple-personality disorder or something because all of them are personal blogs. haha. Usually, there’s a slight difference that’s why I post whatever I can in each one. I try to develop my own niche in each but sometimes my ,mind is too scattered that I just write whatever I want to write in each.
Have you found a common denominator? Obviously it has the first initial of my name on every domain. Can’t I be any vainer?
This is my first site. All of the entries in my old blog (ed.blog-city.com) are transferred here and since I started blogging to earn some extra income, I was able to utilize this venue. This is also the blog where I showcase my travels and food trips so it’s also a thing to distinguish on.
This blog is where I get a bit more personal. The things I don’t write in soloflighted.com are what’s usually written here. I like the domain because it’s me. And this site was created set up by yours truly which makes it more special. Since I wanted to try to understand what FTP, host names, DNS, etc. are, I had to start from scratch so I’d learn the art of seting up my own site in my own host.
This blog is more of a personal accounting book where I blog about the things that gave me extra income online. This is where I notate the tasks and opportunities and my cash flow when it comes to earning money through the net.
Because of the drive needed to release thoughts pertaining to my life as a student, employee and blogger, I created this site to get those random emotions that keep me busy. This is where I talk about school, office and again, blogging. This is a personal space for professional rants. hehe
Lastly, the site that doesn’t get updated as much. hehe. This site is supposed to be where I put random snapshots since I also love to take pictures and share them with the rest of the bloggin community.
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Wonder why I keep these 5 sites? Of course, more sites equals more money but more sites also means more tasks. People might also wonder why I don’t consolidate all my pages into one single domain. The reason is the same one I just stated. I’m just waiting for the right time to fully blast my sites to their full potential. But then, with my busy life outside blogging, I have difficulty finding time. Oh well, I just wanted to share these to you.
A little something about you, the author. Nothing lengthy, just an overview.
