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2009-01-25

How I Started Earning Money Online

When I first started blogging, one of my intentions was to earn money online. I have read so many online articles advertising this notion. I was disappointed; however, when after three months, I still had no tangible income. All the ad review sites had rejected my blog application.


I decided then to forget about earning money online and concentrated instead on writing for my blogs. Writing has always been a great love for me so I wrote several topics in my field of interests and had updated my blogs weekly.

I enlisted my blogs in search engines and in several ranking sites to maximize their exposure. I joined blogging communities and tried all possible means to make my blogs known. I wanted people to read what I wrote.

At first, I could not access my blogs from any search engine, but as days passed, slowly trickles of articles are being displayed in search engines. As my viewership increased my Google page rank appeared and that was the start of my earnings on line. Ad review sites started approving my blog applications.

Here are some strategies that you could use to earn money online:

1. Create a blog.

There are many sites that provide the creation of blogs for free. Create one and maintain it regularly by posting interesting articles.

As mentioned above, add your blogs to all search engines like Google, yahoo, and msn. Enlist your blogs in various ranking sites like Blogtoplist, Alexa ranking, Blog Topsites, etc; this is to advertise your blogs.

Utilize all available gadgets in the internet to maximize your exposure to internet users. You can become a member of blogging communities like Entrecard, MyblogLog, Social Sparks, and many more.

Every three months or so, Google will be ranking your blog. If you had done well in the above-mentioned areas, you'll be assigned a page rank. As your readership increases, your ranking increases too.

It is your content however, that would let your readers come back for more. Content is King, so be sure to write eye-catching titles and informative articles.

2. Apply to sites which pay for reviews.

After you have gained your Google page rank, you can now apply for the pay per post or paid reviews features.

These sites namely: pay per post, blogvertise, sponsored reviews, review me and many others would usually pay $ 10 to $ 50 for every review published in your blogs.

You could earn a good income from these sites. Be sure however that your ranking would not go down as Google will decrease your rank if you do not maintain the proper ratio of paid to unpaid posts, which is usually 1:3.

If your blog loses its rank, advertisers for paid reviews would not select your blog to advertise on, for the simple reason that no one will get to read your reviews.

3. Become a writer for writing sites.

This is one good source of making money online. You just have to be dedicated, disciplined and be hardworking in your quest as a writer. Do not get discouraged if at first you don't earn good money. You have to write a lot of articles before you could really earn from their daily views. But remember, these are investments which could last a lifetime.

Examples of these writing sites are Helium, Triond, Associated Content, and many more. Helium has a lot of venues for earning money, like the marketplace, rewardathons, the writing contests, citizen's contests and upfront payments for articles as long as you maintain one star. I have earned good money from Helium for the 4 months that I have joined this site.

These sites are all free. If a site asks you to pay for some fees, then don't join; they should be the one paying you for your articles, and not you paying them.

While you're writing for these sites, this will also improve your writing skills.


You learn as you write, and write as you learn; to top these all, you earn at the same time. What could be better than that?

4. Allow direct advertisers in your blogs.

There are several sites that you could apply your blog to. Adsense, bidvertiser are some of them. You have to do some research to determine which among them suits you the most.

Beware of scam sites, however. I have not yet reached payout with adsense but I have read several testimonies of users being paid by them.

5. Join Pay per click (PPC) and Pay to click (PTC) sites.

This is where most scam sites are found. Before you join, surf in the internet about personal experiences with these sites. If there are many complaints about the site, then don't join. One red light for you to disregard the site is when they ask for payment upon registration and anytime during the membership. I don’t recommend any of these sites, as I did not receive yet any payouts from them. I stopped using them two months ago.

6. Join paid forums

These are forums on line in which you post questions/discussions that other forum members could reply to. You are then paid on the quality and quantity of your responses, the discussions that you post, and from the pictures that you have uploaded.

Active participation is needed. An example of this site is MyLot forum. I recommend this site as I have proven already that it really pays its members. I have been paid thrice from this site within the 4 months that I had joined them.

For other legitimate forum sites, surf in the Internet for users' testimonies. Research well, as there are sites which pay late, and there are several scam sites.

There are still several strategies to earn money online. Open your ears and eyes to all these legitimate opportunities. Be wary of scam sites, though. Be persistent and dedicated in any money-making sites that you have decided to join and you'll be earning good money in no time at all.

Photo 1 by cambodia4kidsorg

2009-01-21

A Tribute to the Filipinos Unite Movement

Mel has created a link love for all Filipino bloggers entitled "Filipinos Unite".

This prayer is intended for all Filipino bloggers.

If you're a Filipino and your blog is not included here, then visit the site and be part of this good movement. Feel free to use your own prayer as long as the concept is the same. Don't forget to post the prayer together with the linky love. Mabuhay ang Filipino!

- Start Copy Here -

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, we consecrate to you our beloved country- the Philippines and all the Filipinos around the world. We acknowledge Father that apart from You, we can do nothing and it is only your divine providence and grace that can unite all Filipinos as one nation. We therefore humble ourselves before your throne. We confess all our sins to you individually and collectively as a nation. Forgive us our sins Father and wash us clean by the precious blood of Your beloved Son- Jesus Christ. Mend our wicked ways and let us experience a strong and genuine spiritual revival for ourselves and for our country. Let the Holy Spirit imbibe in us the power, love and wisdom to return to Your path of holiness and righteousness. Bless our country, heavenly father. Bless all Filipinos wherever they maybe. Let progress, unity, harmony, stability, justice, peace and prosperity reign in our country.

Bless our leaders, from the President down to the lowest Baranggay official. Touch their hearts that they may serve our country with all honesty and with love and integrity. Bless our children and our future generation. And bless us all Father in all aspects of our lives. This we pray to You heavenly Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

If you wish to be included in the master list just e-mail melalarilla@gmail.com or visit Filipinos Unite.

Filipino bloggers who have united
1. Mel Alarilla Bulacan, Philippines, Filipinos Unite!!!
2. Angel Cuala Batangas, Philippines Father Blogger dot com
3. Lavern Tan Las Pinas City, Philippines Pinoy Ambisyoso
4. Francis Daniel Maning Cebu, Philippines Istayl Sugbo
5. Snow Philippines Dear Bloggery
6. Bloggista Marikina, Philippines - Bloggista -
7. Chris A. - Cavite, Philippines - CMAQuest
8. Aisha - Eugene, Oregon, USA - The Holley Herald
9. Rowena - Davao City, Philippines - All Out My Naked Truth
10. Icymar Tagimacruz - Cebu, Philippines - Kreative Myndz
11. Pat Mangubat - Philippines - New Philippine Revolution
12. Empress - Cebu, Philippines - Empress of Drac.Com
13. Marilou Domingo - Philippines - Ibanag in the City
14. Ester Besmonde - Canada - Walk Through Money Online Journal
15. Ramon Paulino - Quezon City, Philippines - FatherlYours.com
16. Mindanaoan - Mindanao, Philippines - Mindanaoan
17. Bloggie - Davao City, Philippines - Davao Bloggers Network
18. Xerendipity - Dumaguete City, Philippines - Obnoxious Queer
19. Viviene C. (Bingkee) - Connecticut, USA - I Love/Hate America
20. Roy - Angeles City, Philippines - The Struggling Blogger
21. Janette Toral (Ada) - Marikina City, Philippines - Blogging From Home
22. Milton Coyne III (Bluedreamer27) - Cavite City, Philippines - Bluedreamer’s Top Five
23. Marites dlR - Davao City, Philippines - Me, the islands and the world
24. Mauie Flores - Cainta, Rizal, Philippines - Living a Sugar-free Sweet Life!
25. MsRay - Bacolod City, Philippines - Woman on a Journey
26. Pia Go Olano - Philippines - My Life’s Journey
27. Jena Isle - Pampanga, Philippines - Random Thoughts
28. Caca - Mindanao, Philippines - Mood Swings
29. Pinoy Apache - Cebu City, Philippines - Pinoy Apache
30. Jessie Simbulan - Philippines - The Reporter
31. Tony Roda - Manila, Philippines - MENstream
32. Fingertalks - Philippines - Fingertalks
33. Wendy Lopez-Redaon - Quezon City, Philippines - From The Eyes of My Heart
34. Marlene - Davao City, Philippines - Potpourri of Ramblings
35. Liza Cochico - Quezon City, Philippines - A Simple Life
36. Tricia Mazo-Galvez - Las Pinas City, Philippines - Proud Mommy
37. Wayne - New Zealand - Affiliate Crunch
38. Shiera Delusa - Osaka, Japan - Bisdak Babbles
39. Madz - Lunda Norte, Angola - Things I Did Not Know Before
40. Kcee - Makati City, Philippines - Barefooted Me
41. Yani - Davao City, Philippines - Banicmanic
42. Rodaflip - Ontario, Canada - FlipAntasticWeb
43. Ramvie Santiago - Philippines - Philippine Blog For All
44. Russell Bravo - Caloocan City, Philippines - Russell Dot Com
45. Michelle Valenzuela - San Francisco, California, USA - Tumawa K Kabayan
46. Pinay Wife - Cambodia - Pinay Wife Speaks
47. Lei - Pasig City, Philippines - Moon Goddess Lae
48. Shawie Gick - Orange County, California, USA - A Grateful Heart
49. Hariette Wendam - Iloilo City, Philippines - Praning’s Shoutout
50. Joan Joyce Absalon - Navotas City, Philippines - Joan Joyce dot com
51. Rashieka Estelle Absalon - Navotas City, Philippines - My Name Is Rashieka
52. Darlyn - Gen. Santos City, Philippines - Touched By An Angel With Love
53. Kate Cancio - Marikina City, Philippines - Becoming Kate Cancio
54. Ria - United Kingdom - Continental Fairy
55. Ginoray - Cainta, Rizal, Philippines - Profound Matters
56. Penlighted - New York, USA - Light It Up (Blogging for Jesus)
57. Lyn (Moccalyn) - Manila, Philippines - Life Spices
58. Ana Lindenhann - Denmark - The Filipina Mom in Denmark
59. Chris Red - Philippines - Christinchen’s Soapbox
60. Richies 2Ts Inspires - Stockholm, Sweden - Richies Inspirational Designs
61. Island Angel - Davao City, Philippines - Seashells Of Island Angel
62. Manilyn Tingcang - Iligan City, Philippines - LinGZ.spot
63. Joyoz Obsioma - Melbourne, Australia - Everyday Life…Generally Speaking
64. Gladita - Bacolod City, Philippines - PromdiLiving
65. Lesley Cucal - Tarlac City, Philippines - Bottomless Coffee
66. Rose Cottrill - West Virginia, USA - Rose’s Obstacles and Glory
67. Mys Lyke Meeh - Toronto, Canada - Mys Lyke Meeh
68. Gloria (Goyz) - Calamba City, Philippines - Good Health
69. Mitch (Annay Butakal) - Cebu, Philippines - Ramble Baboy
70. Ria Coleto - Cervantes - Dubai, UAE - It’s My Party
71. Luna Miranda - Makati City, Philippines - Miranda
72. Kit (Suplado) - Makati City, Philippines - Suplado Reviews
73. Rachel - Philippines - Heart of Rachel
74. Josie Santos - Sydney, Australia - Fragments of My Soul
75. Wella Jane- Misamis Occidental, Philippines - Thinking Pen- Blogging For A Cause
76. Kelvin Requiroso (Kebelle) - Quezon City, Philippines - Spirituality Page
77. Pusang Gala - Mandaluyong City, Philippines - Pusang - Gala
78. Jason - Paranaque, Philippines - Pinoy Updates
79. Onatdonuts - Taguig City, Philippines - OnatDonuts
80. Ibyang - NSW, Australia - A Wife’s Charmed Life
81. Mike Avenue - Philippines - Mga Tagalog Na Tula Sa Filipinas
82.Jhay Gamba - Cainta, Rizal, Philippines - I Blog Mo!
83. Carla Farnesyl Fundales Idago - Malabon City, Philippines - Heterotripper: Anong Maskara Mo Today
84. Tet Garchitorena - Naga City, Philippines - The Life Of An Oregano Addict
85. Rael Denoman - Imus, Cavite, Philippines - Manikang Papel
86. Liezl F. - Valenzuela City, Philippines - Breezing My Confined Emotions
87. Kengkay - Germany - Kwentong Kengkay
88. Earthlingorgeous - Manila, Philippines - Earthlingorgeous.com
89. Pinay Key Point - Tarlac City, Philippines - PinayKeyPoint
90. Ria Stevenson - Texas, USA - Live Love Laugh
91. Pajay - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Klasrum Ni Pajay
92. Texas Sweetie - Texas, USA - My Virtual Diary
93. Aquamarine - Hongkong - Aquamarine
94. Shemistry - Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines - Foolishly Overacting -
95. Dines - Winona, Minnesotta, USA - Kalei Dines Scope
96. Che (Chorva) - Philippines - Chorva Entertainment Blog
97. Arnel Gara Artes - Cebu City, Philippines - A Hunter
98. Donald Pal (Dhon) - Cebu, Philippines - Life Love Lust
99. Fermin Absalon - Navotas, Metro Manila, Philippines - Beyond Feron Dot Com
100. Dzerom - Calamba, Laguna, Philippines - Blogging Without A Cause
101. K (Knoizki) - Hongkong - A Dialogue With K
102 Orville Hitadle - Cebu City, Philippines - Downloader’s Stuffs and Freebies for All
103. Cindyrella - Hongkong - Cindyrella From Hongkong
104. Rimewire - Cavite, Philippines - Disproving the Genius
105. Edelweiza Mabalay - Manila, Philippines - The Life of a Breadwinner
106. Manolito Montala - Philippines - The Filipino Enterpreneur
107. Leona Khan- Pasig City, Philippines - Vanidosang Panda
108. Pepe Mckunat - Philippines - Life is Tough, but prove You are Tougher
109. Batopik - Taguig City, Philippines - Batopik
110. Gin E - Manila, Philippines - Mommy in Manila
111. B’ley Villones (Dyosa) - Paranaque City, Philippines - Blagalag
112. Donald Serrano (don_ser) - Philippines - don_ser The Feeling ProBlogger
113. Love Lot - San Francisco, California, USA - Lov-A-Lot
114. Enchie - Manila, Philippines - Sweet Nothings
115. Iceah Marie - Gen. Santos City, Philippines - Chicken Heart
116. Mee*I Velasco - Antipolo City, Rizal, Philippines - Waiting On The World To Change
117. Kuyanin - Philippines - Kuyanin: Starting Afresh
118. Chyng Reyes - Manila, Philippines - No Spam, No Virus, No Kiddin’!
119. JuanDerPul - Philippines - JuanDerPul Pinoy
120. Kenneth Mendoza - Laguna, Philippines - Kenneth Mendoza- Speaking Out, Blogging, Ranting and Fooling Around
121. Grace - Michigan, USA - We Live To Tell God’s “Amazing Grace”
122. Carnation - Antique, Philippines - Carnation
123. Jed Chua - Mandaluyong City, Philippines - Reel Advice
124. Pammyboo83 - Dumaguete City, Philippines - Filipino Lifestyle
125. Sagada- Igorot - Mountain Province, Philippines/Chicago, USA - Blog of The Sagada- Igorot
126. Bai Maleiha Candao - Cotabato City, Philippines - Soulful Images
127. Jehzeel Laurente - Philippines - Jehzlau Concepts
128. Poohgahk - Philippines - Shout Out
129. Norman Novio - Occidental Mindoro, Philippines - Pamatok
130. Bien Nillos - Negros Occidental, Philippines - The Freudian Slip
131. Madelyn Basalo-Sells - Cafunfo, Lunda Norte, Angola - “The Pride of Hingotanan, Bohol”- My Life’s Journey To Success
132. Jannesse - Las Pinas City, Philippines - The Wifey Diaries - url -
133. Willa Stock - Ontario, Canada - Fickle Minded- A Life That Is Less Ordinary
134. Aihara (Tessah) Ramintessah Sanchez - Japan - The Economics of Life
135. Ron Albert - Quezon City, Philippines - A Slice of Turon
136. Elyong - Davao City, Philippines - Elyong
137. Kokoi - Baguio City, Philippines - Blog ni Kokoi
138. Fat - Japan - Anything Goes
139. Mye De Leon - Rizal, Philippines - Blog Appetite
140. Jan Geronimo - Oriental Mindoro, Philippines - salabasngmandaluyong (Rx For A Better Life)
141. Chuva - Philippines - Chizmizan With Chuva
142. E. J. Bautista - Quezon City, Philippines - Bogcess
143. Maree Tee - Philippines - I Am Mrs. Tee
144. Alma Cafe - Davao oriental, Philippines - Reach Beyond Your Limits
145. Arlene Collado - Philippines - Joys in Life
146. Juvy - Philippines - Pinoy Portals
147. Jan Mckingley Hilado - Cebu City, Philippines - The Ultralife of Student Nurses
148. Carlos - Davao City, Philippines - Carlos Ideas
149. Mentor - Cebu, Philippines - The Image of Cebu
150. Emma Ballada - Laguna, Philippines - Life Momento
151. Darkspark - Philippines - Papermills
152. Your name, address, name of blog and its url

- End Copy Here -



2009-01-09

Blogging for Beginners: A Step by Step Procedure

Almost everyone you know talk about their wonderful blogs and how they enjoy blogging. Some of them even claim to have earned a sizable income from blogging. You are interested and you would like to visit their blogs, and eventually, create a blog of your own. You do not know; however, where to start because you are not a computer savvy.

Well, fret not! Here is a step by step outline of how you should go about making your first blogging experience a truly memorable one.

What is a blog?

A blog is a web site which features articles, videos, pictures, journals and many possible means of communication. They could be categorized according to niches or interests. There are blogs for writing and the arts, health and education, IT and computer technology, Travel and photo blogs, money-making blogs and many more.





Blogs gained popularity in 1999 when the first web hosting tools were discovered. From then on, the number of bloggers increased steadily with majority writing their personal journals.
Eventually, blogging areas broadened and more and more topics were included.

Today, there are blogs on all topics under the sun and it still continues to grow in leaps and bounds around the world.

How can you create your own blog? Below are simple steps to follow.
Chronological steps in creating a blog.

1. Determine the purpose of your blog.

Before you create your blog, be certain of what you would like the content to be. What would be the name of your blog? The name of your blog should be in congruence with your content. What is the purpose of your blog? Who are your intended readers? All of these should be taken into account.

2. Choose a domain name.

The domain name should be in congruence with the purpose, the theme and the content of your blog. Choose a name that is catchy and that could easily be remembered by a casual reader.

3. Selecting your web host carefully.

After you have carefully chosen the name of your blog, you have to select now your web host. A web host is a site that owns a server which is accessible in the World Wide Web (www) for internet users. This host will allow your blog to be available in the internet.

There are two most common hostings and these are the free hosting and the paid hosting.
If your blog is for business purposes or other significant enterprise then you should opt for paid hosting. If you just want to experience blogging, then free hosting would be sufficient.

The two most popular free hosting sites are wordpress.com and blogger.com. If you blog for fun, there would be no problems with these two sites. They both have user-friendly features.

For paid hosting, there are hundreds or more, available in the net. Some of them are HostGator, Blue Host, Go Daddy, etc. You have to select the one that best fits your purpose of blogging.

You must consider whether they would provide technical support or not. This is very important if you are a newbie to blogging.

4. Select appropriate theme/template design.

Your template design should match your purpose. A formal looking template would be appropriate for a money making blog instead of the flowery, colorful ones.

There are several to choose from:

Two column or three column or more, templates are available. Do not clutter your blog with two many useless columns.

5. Post interesting and related contents to your blog.
 
After the steps 1 to 4 are done, you are now ready to post your first article. Your article's title should be carefully selected. More specific titles are preferred than short, general titles.

6. Insert pictures, images or videos to enhance your post.

An all text article would look drab without any picture or image. Be sure to double check your spelling and grammar before posting.
There are spell-checkers and grammar checkers in your blog templates.

7. Be sure to save your article after posting.

Label and assign tags so that web crawlers would be able to pick them up. These crawlers are responsible in updating your blog every now and then.

8. Maximize your blog exposure.

You can do this by enlisting it in ranking sites like Technorati, Blogtopsites, Alexa ranking, Blogtoplist and many others. You could also "Add your URL to Google Search" and "Add your site to Yahoo."

You could also join blogging communities like MyBlogLog, Twitter, Mixx, etc. to increase your ranking and readership.

9. Update your blog regularly. 

This may be done three times a week or daily. It all depends upon your goals. A consistently updated blog would be visited more often by crawlers of search engines, thus increasing the exposure of your blogs.

You should also be familiar with the general features of a blog to be able to interact with bloggers properly. These features are:

General features of blogs:

1. Comment section

This makes blog unique because of this interactive feature. Readers could comment on posts they find interesting. The comment section maybe moderated or not. If you want to screen the comments, then you should choose "enable comment moderation". The comments then would only be posted after your approval. This would prevent "spam" (unwanted comments) from being published.

2. Customize/edit features

You could customize/edit your posts/articles anytime you want to. You could download pictures, upload videos and create external links to other website or blogs.

3. Archives of old articles

Old articles are arranged chronologically according to the date they were written. Labels and tags are also included to further categorize the posts.

4. Feeds

These are machine generated updates of the content of your blog; they maybe RSS (Rich Site Summary) or Atom feeds.

They can be subscribed too and are easily available through emails or Google readers.

5. Blog roll

These are links from other blogs or sites. You can add or delete the links anytime you want to, by entering the customized mode of your template.

6. External links

You could link your article to any source in the internet just by clicking at the link icon.

Blogging would be more meaningful if you could interact with other bloggers.

How could you interact with blogs/bloggers?

You could interact with blogs through the following:

1. Commenting on articles you find interesting.

Your comment should leave your email address or your back link where the owner of the blog would be able to reply to your comment. Comment only on articles that are of real interest to you; that way your comments would be well thought of and of real value to the discussion.

2. Promote the blog or an article in the blog.

You can Digg, stumble, mixx or Yahoo Buzz the article to promote it. You could also post the URL at MyFace, Yahoo answers, MyLot forum and several forums.

3. Find blogs in your area of interests

The best way to search for blogs is through Google or Yahoo search. You could also visit blogging communities like to browse their different blog categories.

There are various niches, like arts and culture, mixed bag, personal diary, education, books, blogging, cartoons, and several others. In lifestyle the top three blogs are:

Oriental Lodge

Everyday Living
Freaky Frugalite
In writing:
Blogs to Note
Darnuth Keep

You could also search blogs in several blog ranking sites like Technorati, Blogtopsites, Alexa ranking, Blogtoplist, etc.

The blogs are usually categorized into different niches or areas of interests, so it would be easy searching and browsing through these sites.

If you want to follow a certain blog or writer, you can subscribe to his RSS (Rich Site Summary) or Atom feed.

This machine-generated summary, will update you through your mailbox of new articles written in the blogs that you have selected.

4. Creating your own blog would maximize your interaction with other blogs/bloggers. 

Your blog URL (blog internet address) would show up every time you comment or interact with a blog. This would allow you also to follow your favorite blogger.

These are the basics of blogging. As you "blog" along, you'll be learning more about how to tweak your HTML and many more.

Blogging is a dynamic and challenging activity. You write, learn and interact simultaneously. Be a blogger and be part of this exciting blogosphere!


2009-01-01

100th Blog Post: Are You a Part of This Blog’s History? The Year That Was, at Random Thoughts

I purposely wrote this article to coincide with my 100th post and with the New Year. This is to bring good luck. I’m not a suspicious person, but there is no harm in thinking positively.I believe that being happy and successful is a matter of choice. You should have persistence and determination if you want to achieve your goals in life.

Since this is a special post, join me in going back in time to reminisce for a while. You might be one of the participants of this blog’s history.

Photo by hans s


I started this blog 9 months ago, in March 27, 2008. My first post was just a brief paragraph entitled: " The Value of Honesty". I had no previous experience, no knowledge at all about blogging, HTML codes, templates, widgets, etc, I was groping in the dark, so to speak , so I just wrote the article and posted it; not knowing what to expect next.

I was surfing the internet for some related material to a study I was conducting on “Web- Based Instructional Materials” and I chanced upon the blogger.com. As soon as I had clicked on it, I became hooked.

After my 8-5 daytime job - I blogged.

It became some sort of relaxation and release for me because I loved writing even when I was in grade school, and blogging had fulfilled that need to write. And what more, I wanted to be read and through blogging, there would be a chance that someone might read my posts.

Of course, that did not happen for several days. I can’t even find my blog through the search engines. I surfed and learned that I had to add my blogs to the search engines blog list, before I could expect them to appear in the search results.

Initially, I have created three (3) for my different areas of interests, writing, children, health. I added all my blogs to the search engines’ pool of blogs. Still, for a month, my blogs were not accessible through the internet, I was getting discouraged.

But I knew that if I stop - then I would fail, so I decided to keep at it. I still have not failed if I've not given up yet, right? So, I surfed again online, looking for ways to maximize my blogs’ exposure.

I had installed Google analytics, had verified my blogs and had signed up in almost all ranking sites. As a result of these, I got some visitors, and slowly, the search engines were showing a post or two.

That was the time that I came across Entrecard.

As usual, I learned through trial and error. Slowly, I became adept at card dropping. Sometimes I could drop a handful (more than a 100), sometimes less (50). Entrecarders whom I had visited, started to visit too, and I gained my Google page rank 1.

Thanks to Entrecard, I had come across blogs that I would never have known: "The Big Picture" and "Tasha's Take" of Tasha Bud, Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff " of Ken Armstrong, “Caught in the Stream“of Francis Scudellari, The Esoterical Journey of Ray Gratzner, "The Truth About Lies" of Jim Murdoch, "The Struggling Blogger" of Roy dela Cruz, "BaaBaa Blogging" of Fiendish,"HotMomma" of Mathe Baniaga, "Ruminations of the Small Town Country Boy" of Eric Schweer, "Purpled Sky" of a Wonderful Mom, "The Spitting Vessel" of Durano Lawayan, "Jean's Musings" of Jean Knill, "Seeking Things Above " by Tony, Hunting the Muse by Brady Frost, Pinoy Copywriter by a Pinoy Writer
" Pinay Mommy Online" by Mommy Ruby, "Father Blogger Dot Com" of Angel Cuala, and many more.

















It was also in this blog that I started to solicit contributions from all over the blogosphere for my book entitled: “Inspirational Stories and Thoughts of Bloggers all Over the World.”

The first article was that of Nicholas Chase entitled “Inspiration” which was posted on July 26, followed by Roy dela Cruz’s “She Didn’t dance” on August 11 and by Jean Knill’s “It’s Not Too Late” on September 11.

The other contributors, Ken, Francis, Tasha, Ray, Jim, Durano and Roy (Part 2) are posted in Gewgaw Writings. Thank you guys, for the support.

It was only in my 3rd month that Google adsense had approved my blog for advertising. My blog was accepted also by paying post, blogvertise, review me, and sponsored reviews. I started to earn by posting reviews in my blogs. I had refused some of them though, so this made me falter in this venue. I gained my Google Page Rank 3 by then.

I joined writing sites like Helium.com, Triond.com and Associated Content.com and a forum- MyLot, where I got my first online earnings.

Thanks to my MyLot friends: Nilzerous, Jillhill, Sydney Hazelton ( who is a top-notch writer at Triond.com too), P1kef1sh, zeroflash2x, paid2write, my friends from the blogging world, Roy & Angel, and many more. They have made the discussions there lively and relaxing.

Thanks to my Associated Content friends, Patricia (who, incidentally is an Enctrecarder now) Jcorn and the rest of the group.

I would like to acknowledge my Helium friends too, Rachelle de Bretagne, Ruth Belena, Roy, Angel, Jean, Brady, Mathe, Eric, and Writer's Edge. I have been very busy with these writing sites that my blogging was somewhat relegated to the background.

But blogging still would be a vital part of my internet world; just like the several, generous and helpful friends I have gained, who are always there to encourage and say a kind word or two, Thanks to you guys!


This January 1, 2009, I would like to welcome the New Year with a gift (300 EC credits) to my Top Ten Droppers for the Month of December.
Thank you also to the previous months’ top droppers.

Dropper

# of drops

Windmill on the Hill

27

Technically Easy

25

Sassy Black Friend

25

Symphony of Love

24

Jean's Musings

24

The Half-Life of Linoleum

23

Toltec Insights with Dr. Susan Gregg

22

C'est La Vie

21

Angels on Your Shoulder

20

Random Chronicles

16

And to my friends, visitors, droppers and from all over the globe. Thank you and may God bless you with a successful, fun-filled, happy and peaceful 2009!