Blogging from Home by Janette Toral

3 ways of reconnecting with blog readers through comments

2010-01-03T20:20:00.014+08:00

There are many ways that a blogger can promote a blog, oneself, and attract readers as I shared in page 46 of the book Blogging from Home. Perhaps one of the most time-consuming yet very important is commenting on blogs. Used the term time-consuming as one has to read the blog first and then start participating in the discussion or simply comment.

Connecting with bloggers

For new bloggers, one will usually reach out to blogs that covers the same topic as they do or those that complement your niche. You can use Google Blog Search and Technorati for this purpose. On a simpler level, you can visit the blog of your social networking friends who regularly promotes them from time to time.

You can also subscribe to a blog and monitor on a regular basis using your Google Reader.

Once you have an established set of blogs, reconnecting with your past readers is important whether they are active in commenting or not in your blog. This is the present situation with my old blogs. Some approaches I have taken:

Look at past comments
Visit the blog of those who commented at your blog in the past just to drop by and reconnect.

If they are not active in blogging, connect through other means like re-tweeting something they posted on Twitter. Or respond to their Facebook activity such as giving a thumbs up, leave a comment, and share.
Visit past contest, events, writing project, or promotion participants
If you have ran or sponsored a contest or promotion in your blog before, then visiting those who joined is also a practical thing to do.

I find this easier said than done though. Had a writing project at Influential Blogger for the past 3 years and reconnecting would meant consistently communicating with past winners and reach out to past participants (around 400 bloggers).
Visit your members
Whether you have an informal community, club blog, MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog, or NetworkedBlogs, you can scan through your community members, visit their blog, and leave a comment.

For this blog specifically, that would meant visiting the blog of past book buyers and owners to keep in touch.

If you have additional inputs on this topic, hope you can share them.

Planning a Summit using Gloo

2009-12-25T17:56:00.005+08:00

In preparing for the Blog4Reviews Christmas Party last December 17, I used Gloo as one way to keep in touch with blogger friends to get their thoughts about the upcoming event. Now that the event is over, I updated our space and using it to get inputs for the upcoming ProBlogging Summit that will happen this 2010.

What I like about Gloo is its feeling of being part of a private network. For planners like me, this is important as there are project developments that I felt can be best shared in a closed network and engage those who are really active in the community.

Some of the things I was able to do so far includes:

Send an SMS to those who are using a Globe phone and give updates directly to a specific space member.
Chat with space members online.
Add sticky notes and post details on them.
Add a to-do-list to serve as a reminder.

Later on, I will also try adding pictures and videos for reference. Other areas of improvement I would like to suggest to maximize its utilization and effectiveness are:

Pictures to be added to the site directly rather than point to 3rd party sites.
Have the ability to update space members automatically through email or SMS.
Ability to add multiple network cellphone numbers.

I will be using the space as well to encourage folks to share contests and other activities happening online.

One doesn't have to be a Globe Broadband subscriber to be able to access the service although I'm sure there are more features available to them exclusively. If you are a subscriber, inquire about Gloo and find out what perks you can enjoy with it.

Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 at Cagayan De Oro

2009-12-20T05:48:00.002+08:00

IMG_0309, originally uploaded by Juned I.

Last October 24, I was in Cagayan De Oro for the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit (MBS3) and Philippine Blog Awards Mindanao leg. Been very supportive of this community since its inception but this was my first time to attend.

Congratulations CDO Bloggers and Mindanao Bloggers for this successful event. Thank you Chiq Montes and the rest of the team for inviting me as a resource person to your event. More so to DigitalFilipino Club member Syntactics' Honey Caragos for taking care of me.

I have seen signs as to how this community is maturing. Will continuously observe its growth and support as needed.

It also feels great to deliver a talk that connects with people. Hope to see Malaybalay and Kevin again in future events and chat.

Look forward joining next year to support the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit in Zamboanga City!

Buzz Blogging on Yahoo Meme, Tumblr, Twitter, & Plurk

2009-12-09T11:46:00.006+08:00

The new Google Real Time results makes me wonder on how blogging and search engine marketing will now change in order to be effective and attain a certain level of viral-ness.

If social media and the response of users to your content will heavily influence search engine rankings in the future, then it means the more one must invest in building profiles and blog actively in sites like Tumblr and Yahoo! Meme.

Of course this includes having a highly interactive account profile in Twitter and Plurk.

To be effective in these sites, I notice that one must be willing to:

Share or post great content (without violating copyright)
Reblog or repost the content of others to show appreciation
Leave a comment or click on like to give a thumbs up to the content.

The above actions can increase your followers from the community who are also as active.

These sites are ideal for the following use:

Post content that is meant to be passed on or to be discussed.
It should be outstanding enough in order to merit such a response.
Spread the word about new blog post from your site.
You can use a photo from your blog post as an anchor and give a link to your blog post article. This applies to Tumblr and Yahoo Meme.

Do you have a Tumblr, Twitter, Plurk, or a Yahoo Meme account? Share the url and will follow you. It will also be great if you can share how has it change the way you blog or share content.

Thanks!

Connect with me:

iBlog Mini at Consumer Electronics Live Manila

2009-12-05T15:38:00.006+08:00

Last November 15, I was at the Consumer Electronics Live Manila event at World Trade Center to host iBlog Mini. Many thanks to UP-ISP head, Atty. JJ Disini for having the annual iBlog extended in this mega event.

Big love also to fellow bloggers Micaela Rodriguez, Aileen Apolo, Noemi Lardizabal Dado, and Anton Diaz for sharing their valuable time to fellow bloggers on a Sunday.

Gave a short talk about mobile blogging. Hope this blog post on photo and video blogging via the mobile phone will help.

The event would not be complete without the generous snacks and raffle items from Summit Media and CEL Manila exhibitors shared to bloggers attending that day. Hats off to Donna Fuentes for helping us keeping the iBlog tradition where there is food and raffle galore.

Thank you so much again to all who joined!

If you have made a blog post about the event, just send me a buzz and will add your link here:

Winners of free delegate pass: DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Summit & 3rd Web Awards 2009

2009-11-07T17:45:00.005+08:00

Congratulations to the following bloggers for winning one delegate pass each for the upcoming DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Summit to be held at Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City on November 12 and 13, 2009.

Note that the delegate pass is not transferable. Many thanks again to everyone who joined this simple writing project.

Please come to the event on November 12 and claim your conference kit. Registration starts at 8 am.

Bloggers are encouraged as well to read this guide or tips for conference bloggers (pdf file) for proper guidance.

Get a free delegate pass: DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Summit

2009-10-28T09:23:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone. The DigitalFilipino Club is organizing its 1st DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Summit to be held at Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City on November 12 and 13, 2009.

I am giving away fifteen (15) delegates passes to this event. Should you like to participate and win one of the passes, this is what you have to do:

1. Make a blog entry about DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Summit and cite why you like to attend this two-day event (which speakers do you look forward listening to).

2. Your blog post must have a link to the following:

Post a comment to this blog entry and give me the url link where your post can be found.
Deadline for submission of entries is on November 5, 2009.

DigitalFilipino Club members shall review the submissions and picked their most-liked post.

The winners of the delegate pass shall be announced here on November 6, 2009. The delegate pass is not transferable. Should a winner not be available to attend, it will be passed on the next most-liked entry.

I hope you can join.

Of course, this event will not be possible without the support of our major sponsor Globe GCASH.

GCASH allows Globe and TM subscribers to pay or transact for the following using their mobile phone:

domestic and international remittances
utility bills
interest and amortization of loans
insurance premiums
donations to various institutions and organizations
sales commissions and payroll disbursements
school tuition fees
micro tax payments and business registration
electronic loads and pins
online purchases via GCASH Click
airline tickets

GCASH is tied-up to BPI Mobile Banking enabling Globe and TM subscribers to do various bank transactions through one's cellphone. GCASH is also used as a wholesale payment facility particularly for rural banks wherein various moeny transfer services are offered such as: text-a-deposit, text-a-sweldo, text-a-withdrawal, text-a-payment, text-a-remittance.

Also enabled by the GCASH platform is GCASH REMIT, the cash pick-up remittance service of GCASH. GCASH REMIT makes it easy for overseas Filipino workers to send their hard earned money from abroad, and their beneficiaries can instantly claim their remittance in over 2,500 GCASH REMIT pay out locations in the Philippines such as pawnshops, rural banks and money changers.

Globe also recently launched Immortal Load, the first load with NO EXPIRY via GCASH. You can use it to purchase load whenever you need it.

Blogging from Home - read online

2009-09-05T12:20:00.009+08:00

"Blogging from Home" was written for easy reading and designed for the typical Internet user who wants to learn about blogging and its various use for business or personal intent.

I launched this book last August 2008 in response to the growing number of Internet users who are expected to become full-fledge bloggers using various blogging platforms and social networks.

As the book is expected to go out of print soon, I hope this page will provide a venue for exploration to anyone who wants to learn blogging at their own pace.

Complementary illustrated photos, demonstration videos, podcast, and explanatory text can also be found at the Blogging from Home Online Workshop.

Buy a copy today! (You can also read the book below.)

Read the Introduction for insight on its development. The book tackles the following:

Part I: Blogging 101

Lesson #1: Blogging 101

Definition
Structure

Find more videos like this on Blogging from Home Online Workshop
Purpose (discussion 1)
Finding Blogs

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Lesson #2: Blog Set-up

Blog Information
Platform (discussion 2)

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Look and Feel

Podcast (discussion 3)

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Video blogging (discussion 4)

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Part II: Blog Ethics

Policy

Copyright (discussion 5)
Re-publishing (discussion 6)
Advertising (discussion 7)
Privacy (discussion 8)

Part III: Content Development

Purpose
Blog Content Plan (discussion 9)
Tracking topics (discussion 10)
Monitoring blog performance (discussion 11)

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Part IV: Promotion

Ping Services (discussion 12)

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Advertise

Google AdWords (discussion 13)
Entrecard (discussion 14)

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Events (discussion 15)
Contests and Writing Projects (discussion 16)
Social Networks

Content submission (discussion 17)

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Syndicate content (discussion 18)

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Interact (discussion 19)

Giveaways (discussion 20)
Advocacy (discussion 21)

Part V: Insights

Blogging

Handling Attacks and Criticisms (discussion 22)
Managing Time at Home (discussion 23)
Revenue Disclosure and Taxes (discussion 24)

Opportunities

Consulting and Blogging Projects
Book Publishing Based from a Blog (discussion 25)

Creating a Blog Advertising Network (discussion 26)
Creating a Blog Writers Network (discussion 27)

Conclusion: Blogging Ahead (discussion 28)

Book info:
92 pages
ISBN # 978-0-9805061-0-5
Distribution: Australia and Philippines

Buy a copy today! (You can also read the book below.)

Friends who blogged about this book since its early inception, claim your copy by sending a quick note at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com and give us your mailing address/contact number.

Blogging From Home by Janette Toral

Did Twitter, Plurk change your blogging habits?

2009-08-24T07:27:00.004+08:00

I just came across Rob Angeles blog sharing his observation as to how Twitter and Plurk have change the blogging post habits of some and asked his readers to share their experience.

As my reply is quite long, I decided to just post it there. My blogging slowed down for quite sometime as I got addicted to Twitter and then Plurk when it was introduced. I even made a blog post in 2007 speculating that Twitter will replace discussion groups (yahoo / google groups).

However later on, I realized its use more on:

Disseminating information (with links) and get instant readers/reactions.

Rant and rave about a specific product or service without having to blog about it.

Ask a question and get replies.

Clarify an issue, if you want to, and let those concerned read about it and even reply.

Keep in touch even if your friends are not online and let them reply at their convenience.

Live micro-blog about events and share information right away. This I did several times already disseminating data / insight.

And so in the end, my blogging returned to normal and use Plurk / Twitter for the above uses and keep in touch with online contacts.

How about you? Did Twitter or Plurk change your blogging habits?

Winners of free delegate pass: Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009

2009-08-20T19:12:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to the following bloggers for winning one delegate pass each for the upcoming Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009. This will be held at SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia on August 25 and 26, 2009.

Note that the delegate pass is not transferable. Many thanks again to everyone who joined this simple writing project.

Food Bloggers for WOFEX 2009

2009-07-31T14:58:00.003+08:00

WOFEX 2009 will be held from August 5 to 8, 2009 at the World Trade Center, Metro Manila, Philippines and food bloggers are invited to be part of its continued growth. Dubbed as “The Ultimate Food Show Experience”, WOFEX continues to co-locate events that bring together all segments of the food and beverage industry.

Food bloggers interested to attend this event are requested to sign-up on or before August 3 to waive the one hundred pesos registration fee.

WOFEX is organized by Premier Events Plus Group, Inc.

Get a free delegate pass: Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009

2009-07-14T14:10:00.007+08:00

Hello everyone. The Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) is organizing Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009 to be held at SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia on August 25 and 26, 2009.

IMMAP is giving away two (2) delegates pass to this event.

Should you like to participate and win one of the passes, this is what you have to do:

Make a blog entry about Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009 and cite why you like to attend this two-day event.
Your blog post must have a link to the following:
1. Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009 at http://www.interactivesummit.com.ph/.
2. Boomerang Awards at http://www.boomerangawards.com.ph/
Post a comment to this blog entry and give me the url link where your post can be found.

Deadline for submission of entries is on August 18, 2009.

IMMAP shall review the submissions and picked their most-liked post.

The winners of the delegate pass shall be announced here on or before August 21, 2009. The delegate pass is not transferable. Should a winner not be available to attend, it will be passed on the next most-liked entry.

I hope you can join and see you at Digital Delivers! The 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit 2009.

Join "My AyosDito Experience", win an iPhone 3G, HP Mini-Note

2009-05-20T14:57:00.012+08:00

I just like to share the news that our club member AyosDito.ph is currently improving the mechanics and schedule of this content. Will announce final details soon.

Here are the mechanics:

Title of the blog post should at least have the phrase: “My AyosDito Experience”
Bloggers will share their experience in AyosDito.ph (whether it’s posting an ad, browsing through the items, buying items from advertisers, etc) and give suggestions on how the service can be improved further.
Eligibility:
Open to all bloggers within the Philippines.
Submission of entries
(coverage date will be announced soon.)
How to submit your entry:
All entries will be submitted by posting a comment in this blog post with the URL link to your entry.
Choosing a winner:
The most liked entry by AyosDito.ph will be chosen as the winner.
Prizes:
Grand Prize: One (1) lucky winner with the most liked entry will get an iPhone 3G 16gb.

Consolation Prizes: 1 each for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao

These three consolation prize winners are blog entries that came in second to being the most liked entry. They will get one HP Mini-Note each.
Winners will be announced through this blog on (final date to be set soon)

I hope you can join this “My AyosDito Experience" contest.

Birthday gifts to friends, yourself, & community

2009-04-29T05:33:00.004+08:00

As we get older, I noticed that personal birthdays are becoming less and less of a big deal and we begin to focused more on the people around us. However, there are also a wide variety of ways that bloggers can celebrate this joyous occasion that includes:

Just say happy birthday
I make it an effort to check out my social network everyday and find out who is celebrating their birthday just to greet them. If I know the person's mobile number, I would even send a text or give a call. In my experience, our friends, online or offline, and family cherish that.
Organize a party
Celebrating a birthday is a blessing. This can include arranging a party for yourself by inviting friends and loved ones to celebrate it with you.
Celebrate through your blog
Some bloggers organize a contest through their blog to get their community involved in sharing this special day.
Throw a party for charity
This is becoming popular as well where you celebrate your birthday by sharing blessings to a charity or caring institution.

In the U.S., organizing a party for yourself or for the people you love can be easy as birthday party supplies can be purchased online, from sites like Birthday Express, for this purpose and be delivered.

There are many ways that birthdays can be celebrated. Don't hesitate sharing this special day to the people around you whether you are in the giving or receiving end.

Politics of blogging

2009-04-21T06:47:00.012+08:00

For the past few years, I have been quiet about issues even if when I am already attacked (directly or indirectly) because of the belief that each one of us are entitled to an opinion.

However, things are now reaching a point where an increasing number of blog posts are being sent to me by industry peers for comment and clarification. Most of these looked down upon on bloggers - especially the new ones and those who get paid to blog.

To relieve me of stress and heartaches, yes it hurts, this is a post that I shall update and send whenever I get asked to comment.

1. Identity building
It takes time for bloggers to build their identity. Most of them don't know anyone popular who will tag them along and give them link love. The effort of going out of their own way to establish an identity should be recognized or appreciated. This is done by joining contests, attending events, among others. That is also how link love is earned naturally.

If you give them a story, they can write about it. At times, surprisingly, there are events that have no story value at all or failed to get the point. Then we have to work harder to make sure the output desired is achieved.

2. Freebies and giveaways
In 1997, I decided to become a freelance writer, web publisher, and start attending media events where I got tagged or found about. Stories get published in my Microsoft-Word created Infotech site (blogs were not really high tech yet then). All I get from attending were free food and give-aways. Today, yes, I still love freebies and giveaways. And yes, I look forward to them. By attending these events and writing stories, was able to start getting stints to contribute to publications. The work I post in my Infotech site eventually paved the way to cover international events in U.S., Spain, Malaysia, among others. All expenses paid but no pocket money provided. I write the stories for free because I love it. Had a lot of bloopers, mistakes, and intrigue as well.

Bloggers don't get paid at all unless they are affiliated with a network that pays them. Or they have regular advertisers in their site that pays on a monthly basis. Attending blogger events is an expense. There is nothing wrong if they will get excited receiving a nice freebie or give-away.

Although some brag about it, you can't blame them. The least we can do as peers is just remind them not to - avoiding misinterpretation by readers.

Apart from the good story, the food and freebies make it also worth the while. Of course, there are some who attend events for their own agenda and don't need your free food and freebies especially those who are well-off and has a blog for an outlet of their thoughts.

At the end of the day, bloggers can't be generalized and no one has any right to say who is superior and who is not. Even this post, take it with a grain of salt. Don't count on it. Use your own practical judgment.

I'm biased as I knew how it felt to start with nothing - that when you go out for the day, the only money you have is good for transportation. Where the only source of meal is the event that you will attend for the day. So if you believe those who frown upon bloggers who are just beginning to attend events and excited with your freebies, then you are no different from them. (and I'm reminded to be thankful for not being discriminated during those times)

3. Blogspots, Multiply, and other free domains
Just because a blogger doesn't have its own domain, uses a free hosting site, and with a simple template, it doesn't make them any less of value. The same goes to those who have a domain, PageRank, custom template, brand, and traffic. It doesn't make them righteous to look down on others.

You have to give newbies time to evolve, grow, and reach their potential. Supposedly, bloggers help each other and give link love to those they meet in events. We are here to pull each other up and not to drag anyone down.

It hurts me when I get clients who seek consulting advise for plans that immediately rules out newbies for what they read or were told. It is so unfair especially if I knew how these people started (and lucky for being affiliated with the famous ones or have a popular name to begin with) or don't need a blog to earn a living or to make a name for themselves. Some would even have the nerve to refer to themselves as role models.

4. Paid post bloggers (updated 5/27)
There are some who bash bloggers for non-disclosed paid blog post and even try to teach their audience on how to spot it as if something sinful was committed. I find that to be very arrogant and blind self-righteous for the following reasons:

Most paid blog post are basically paid for the link (contextualize in a feature). The opinion of the blogger is still theirs and is not swayed to the point of lying to the readers.
On the issue of disclosure, that is the discretion of the client and the blogger accepting the assignment. We can debate about it forever but in the end it is a private transaction agreed by parties. It is even more straight out in my opinion.

Why? Do bloggers who claim not to engage in paid blog post declare the expensive meals, gifts or tokens, and give-aways that they got (and compute its equivalent value) in relation to the events or topics they write about? Majority don't. Worst, some even attend the event and/or accept all the gifts / tokens/ give-aways without writing about it because they believe "it is not an obligation". But in the end, companies didn't spend that much money not to hope for something in return (usually at P1500 - P3000 per blogger).

Some have consulting stints and are already advertisers in their site, then they write about it. Do they say, "by the way, this entity is my client" or "this entity has given me a (gadget)"?

Who is much fairer now? What is transparency really about? Or in the end, as long as we write truthfully and do not mislead our audience (even if some got paid or received expensive tokens) is the one that really matters? Again, we can debate about it forever.

In the end, bloggers have the right to choose how they want to earn from their site or the manner they conduct their business. I know a lot who also rely on it for their daily income, send kids to school, among others. Some re-purpose their received tokens to be passed on to their community.

It can lift them up or bring them down. It's their risk. It's their choice. No one has the right to pass judgment on such practices. I believe in the concept of "mind your own business". It is sad when some can't just seem to respect that and to think that they are well-to-do with their income stature in the first place.

Those who are well-off with advertisers lining up for their site, then all the best to you. Bravo. But please don't insinuate your practice that such is the only right way to do it. Don't impose your standards to others.

5. Name calling and exclusion
It is sad that we have reached the point of discriminating bloggers based on the platform they use, putting a collective name to newbie bloggers attending events (who are still finding their way in the blogosphere), and those who get paid to blog. It is different when it is just a joke and when it gets micro-blogged or blogged. Regardless of your perceived peers' weaknesses, no one has the right to give labels to anyone. Of course, there are some who enjoys (even if they don't admit) being tagged as belonging to the "elite".

I guess this is the compounding result of letting one blog post after the other pass, for the past two years, without giving any solid counter-reaction that may have implied the negative assumptions as valid. Then others pick-up and catch-on resulting to chaos.

It is sad to say that we are now polarized. A showdown is inevitable if the bashing does not stop.

I have more to say but I will just update this post as the need arises.

Winners of free delegate pass: Social Networking & eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009

2009-04-16T21:21:00.007+08:00

Congratulations to the following bloggers for winning one delegate pass each for the upcoming 2nd Social Networking and e-Business Conference Philippines 2009. This will be held at Hotel Intercontinental, Ayala Avenue, Makati City on April 23 and 24, 2009.

Note that the delegate pass is not transferable. Many thanks again to everyone who joined this simple writing project.

Credit card - a must for student blogger & entrepreneur

2009-04-11T16:24:00.004+08:00

I'm scheduled to deliver a talk about "From Student to E-Commerce Entrepreneur" this Tuesday to students of AIE College. Also, on June 16 about "Blogging for Money. Blogging from Home" during the Iloilo IT Week.

The idea is to impress on students that if they are willing and hardworking enough, they do can earn money online even while studying. That is indeed true as there are many programs today where they can participate that provides both monetary and non-monetary value.

Having a presence on the Internet is the minimum that one must have. With a Credit Card, you can use that as a start-up capital to purchase a domain name, web hosting account, among others. If you are hardworking, that investment can immediately pay off even before your billing statement arrives.

(In the US, websites like Extra Credit Cards provide comparative information about various offerings they can consider and even apply online.)

In my case, when my daughter turned 18 last year, I immediately got her to do two things:

Open a bank account and get those Student Credit Cards. There are many types but the one we got is a debit card in functionality but can be used to transact online.

I noticed that some also refers to the debit card as one of those Secured Credit Cards.
Open a Paypal account.

As she does a lot of freebie graphic design work to her online gaming design friends, she found herself receiving donations and even small projects in less than a week after she created it.

So if properly used and guided well, a student can really jumpstart an online entrepreneur career whether as a publisher or seller of products & services.

Blogging from Home Online Workshop - Join Now!

2009-03-14T18:00:00.000+08:00

The Blogging from Home Online Workshop was designed to give interested learners an affordable and easy way to know the ins-and-outs of blogging. All lessons are kept simple and straight to the point for your convenience.

Blogging from Home book buyers and DigitalFilipino.com Club Members are given access to the site for free.

Materials are mostly presented in text, video, and audio for a full learning experience. The following workshops shall be available and will be actively interacting to participants. We will be adding more in the weeks and months to come.

Blogging 101 Workshop
Lesson #1: Introduction to Blogs (podcast version)
Lesson #2: Parts of a Blog (video version)
Lesson #3: Finding blogs (research) (video version)

Setting up a Blog Workshop
Lesson #1: Blog information
Lesson #2: Blog Platform - Blogger.com
Lesson #3: Blog Platform - WordPress
Lesson #4: Blog Platform - Social Networks
Lesson #5: Blog Platform - Third Party Blog Hosting Services
Lesson #6: Look and feel
Lesson #7: Register your blog

Setting up a Podcast Workshop
Lesson #1: Introduction to Podcast (podcast version)
Lesson #2: Finding and Listing a Podcast
Lesson #3: Creating a Podcast Show Program
Lesson #4: Podcasting tools
Lesson #5: Podcasting platform
Lesson #6: Music for your Podcast
Lesson #7: Getting Sponsors and Advertisers for Podcast

Video Blogging 101 Workshop
Lesson #1: Introduction to Video Blogging
Lesson #2: Finding Video Blogs
Lesson #3: Creating a Video Blog Program
Lesson #4: Video Blogging tools
Lesson #5: Video Blogging platform
Lesson #6: Music for your Video Blogs
Lesson #7: Getting sponsors and advertisers

Blog Ethics Workshop
Lesson #1: Copyright
Lesson #2: Re-publishing
Lesson #3: Advertising
Lesson #4: Privacy

Blog Content Development Workshop
Lesson #1: Blog Content Plan Development
Lesson #2: Tracking Blog Topics
Lesson #3: Monitoring Blog Performance

Blog Promotion Workshop
Lesson #1: Ping Services
Lesson #2: Google AdWords
Lesson #3: Entrecard
Lesson #4: Events
Lesson #5: Contests and Writing Projects
Lesson #6: Content Submission
Lesson #7: Syndicate Content
Lesson #8: Interact
Lesson #9: Giveaways
Lesson #10: Advocacy

Blogging as a Business
Lesson #1: Consulting and Blogging Projects
Lesson #2: Book/E-Book Publishing Based from a Blog
Lesson #3: Creating a Blog Advertising Network
Lesson #4: Creating a Blog Writers Network
Lesson #5: Revenue Disclosure and Taxes
Lesson #6: Managing Blogging Time

Corporate Blogging Workshop
Lesson #1: Corporate Blogging Introduction and Uses
Lesson #2: Creating a Corporate Blog
Lesson #3: Corporate Blogging Guidelines
Lesson #4: Tapping Blogs to Create Buzz
Lesson #5: Advertising in Blogs
Lesson #6: Tapping Blogs for Insight
Lesson #7: Handling Attacks and Criticism

Online workshop participants are encouraged to share their answers, thoughts, and post questions throughout the workshop. Those who gets to complete the requirements will also be sent a certificate attesting to the completion.

I'm doing this project in collaboration with Buddy Gancenia who is in charge of all our multimedia production requirements.

10 reasons why I love Performancing Metrics for tracking website, blog performance

2009-03-06T06:36:00.009+08:00

On page 42 of the book, Blogging from Home, I mentioned Performancing Metrics as one of the tools that you can use to track your blog performance. I warn you though that it can be very addictive due to its very user-friendly interface.

Don't get me wrong, I love Google Analytics. However, there are features and presentation that Performancing Metrics does so well that makes it hard to just tie yourself up to one analytics tool.

Here are some of the features I like:

1. The Dashboard
At a glance, Performancing Metrics gives you a snap shot on what you have in your website and be able to click right away and find out what is going on. If there are users viewing your site, it will also show you a number. This way, you don't have to wait for 24 hours to find out what has transpired at your site.

2. Visitor Log
The visitor log gives you an idea on the time, date, ip address, session actions, time, and referrer of every site visitor you had.

3. Action Log
The action log gives you a detailed activity of every visitor you had in your site. This includes the articles that they viewed, searches they made, among others.

4. Visitors per article
If you clicked on an article or post published in your site, it wil also show you the number of visitors it had for the span of time you've indicated.

5. Activity per IP Address
If you click on an IP address, it will give you more information about its location, operating system, browser, screen resolution used, and activities done in your site.

6. Visitors per city
If you click on a location, it will give you a detail on the number of visitors you had per location.

7. IP address of visitors per city
If you clicked on a particular location, you will also see the date & time logs, IP address, session or actions, and how did they arrived at your site.

8. Source
It will show how many of your visitors came from searches, links, direct, bookmark, social media, e-mail, and RSS feeds.

9. Details per source
If you clicked on one traffic source, it will give you the full details on where those visitors came from.

10. Newest Unique
Each traffic source has a newest unique feature that gives a glimpse on your newest visitors or sources of traffic.

I hope the above illustrations will be good enough to explain why I find Performancing Metrics to be useful. Try it out when you have time.

Related:

Monitoring live blog traffic with Performancing Metrics Spy Feature

Blogging 101: Parts of a blog

2009-03-04T13:17:00.006+08:00

On page 11 of the book, Blogging from Home, I pointed out the parts of a blog. Here is a video counterpart of the said page explaining the structure or anatomy of a blog.

Blogging from Home book buyers and DigitalFilipino.com Club Members can join the Blogging from Home Online Workshop for free.

(The video was done by Buddy Gancenia who is in charge of all our multimedia production requirements.)

Planning iBlog5: The 5th Philippine Blogging Summit

2009-02-12T17:19:00.017+08:00

The iBlog5 team met yesterday to discuss the logistical requirements needed for the event. This is scheduled to happen on May 9, Saturday at the UP College of Law, Malcolm Hall of U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.

iBlog5: The 5th Philippine Blogging Summit is an activity spearheaded by the U.P. Law - Internet and Society Program (UP-ISP) headed by Atty. JJ Disini. UP-ISP is now a body under the Institute of Government and Law Reform headed by JJ as well.

We are now in the process of finalizing topics and speakers for iBlog5. Your input on topics and speakers will be very much appreciated. We also hope that majority of our speakers, same as last year, will be new faces from the blogging community.

This is initially what I have in mind. Note that this is still subject to revision.

Morning session: (some can be sponsored talk)

9:00 - 9:20 Blogging 101 (Micaela Rodriguez & sponsor slot)
9:30 - 9:50 Photo Blogging 101 (Faith Salazar and Fritz Tentativa)
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 to 10:35 Video Blogging 101 (Azrael Coladilla)
10:45 - 11:05 Mobile Blogging 101 (sponsor slot)
11:15 - 11:35 Do's and Don'ts of Blogging 101 (Benj Espina and Juned Sonido)
11:45 - 12:05 Blog Promotion & Traffic Generation Strategies 101 (Winston Almendras and Coy Caballes)
12:05 - 1:00 Lunch break

Afternoon session:

1:00 - 1:20 Legal issues in Blogging
1:30 - 2:30 Preparing Bloggers for the 2010 Elections
- COMELEC on Blogging & Bloggers
- Citizen Journalism for the 2010 Elections (Oliver Robillo, NAMFREL Chairman - Davao City)
- The Bloggers Election Handbook project release (Janette Toral)
2:40 - 3:30 Blog Advertising Situation in the Philippines (Yehey and 2 sponsors)
3:30 - 3:45 Break
3:45 - 4:45 Blogging to the Next Level (Fitz Villafuerte and Anton Diaz)
4:45 - 5:00 Raffle & Group picture taking

7:00 pm onwards After-Event Party (sponsored)

At this point, we will appreciate referrals you can give in terms of entities we can approach for iBlog5 sponsorship. Just send me their info (contact name, position, company, email, contact number) and the assigned iBlog5 team member shall get in touch with them.

As usual, free food and schwags will be given to participants!

See you soon at iBlog5! I look forward meeting newbies and veteran bloggers alike soon!

How to Photoblog & Vlog from the Mobile Phone

2009-02-04T06:59:00.006+08:00

With mobile Internet becoming faster, it is now possible to actually mobile blog from your cellphone, take photos for your photoblog, and videos for your vlog. All of this can be also uploaded straight from your mobile phone.

I've been tinkering around this lately and able to come up with a settings that will work best for my Nokia N95 and support my mobile blogging endeavors. Here is what I've done to optimize it:

Photo settings
Pick on small which is ideal for MMS. File size of pictures is less than 100kb which is good for blog posts too. Although you can also go for the e-mail size medium setting which saves a file at no more than 200kb like the Sony Vaio P shown here. (click on the image to see how big the photo really is)
Videos
I'll go for e-mail normal quality. As viewers on the mobile phone may have limited time and you don't want to wait too long for uploading. Try to come up with 1-to-1.5 minutes video only. Be creative about it. For my videos, I tried creating a What's New series as an experiment and here's how it looks like. This is a quick interview with Jing Garcia, tech times editor of Manila Times, as he talks about the Sony Vaio P.

Note however that once you picked a higher setting, the time duration I mentioned may not necessarily apply. Depending on the regular or mobile blogging platform you'll be using, check out the maximum file size allowed.

For the e-mail normal quality with 1-to-1.5 minutes content, that should be like less than 4 mb file size.

So I guess my point here is that you can now actually do mobile blogging with all the necessary photos and videos taken and uploaded straight from your mobile phone. With the right settings and program format, the content you'll be able to generate can be an exciting one. Try it out!

Busby SEO Test Winners

2009-01-31T18:46:00.008+08:00

It is over. The winners of the Busby SEO Test competition was just announced. The top 10 are:

Although Gary's entry did not made it to the top 5 winners, being able to sustain the entry since it entered page 1 last December 10 is a big feat (he joined last November 25) as the domain has zero pagerank and relatively new. This in comparison to everyone else who joined the competition who were more prepared. With that handicap, my hats off to you Gary.

The hard work that has been put in and the support of friends in the community also played a big factor for this contest. Thank you everyone.

Also persistent efforts in the contest has allowed Gary's site to have the following to date:

traffic of no less than 200 visitors a day - without any promotion. At its peak point with full promotion, the site hit almost 700 visitors a day.
Nearly 20,000 unique visitors since the start of the contest.
PR2 home page, more than a dozen PR 3 and 4 deep pages that were created during the contest.

Congratulations again to the organizers and winners. For the 3 Pinoys who made it to the list - Rich, Gary, and Alwin - Mabuhay kayo Pinoy SEO!

Create your own & add comics to your blog

2009-01-25T17:16:00.004+08:00

An ideal blog post should have a complement of a photo, video, or audio to make it more lively and interesting to readers. However, if such is not available, one can opt to create a comics strip and add it to your blog right away.

A comics strip also allows you to express ideas without having type it in your blog entry. It can also spark your creativity the more you use and do it. I just discovered the site - Make Beliefs Comix - which I used to create my first comic strip below for Busby SEO Test.

It has been a bumpy ride as we move up and down the page one rankings several times a day for that contest.

Get a free delegate pass: Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009

2009-01-20T18:12:00.003+08:00

Fiera de Manila Inc. and the DigitalFilipino.com Club just collaborated to organize the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009. This will be held at Hotel Intercontinental, Ayala Avenue, Makati City on April 23 and 24, 2009.

We are giving away two (2) delegates pass to this event.

I'll be inviting more companies to contribute and increase the number of delegate passes to be given out in the weeks to come. Parties interested can e-mail me at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com. Those who'll be giving passes, shall be properly recognized here and be cited in one of our weekly updates.

Should you like to participate and hope to get one of the passes, this is what you have to do:

Make a blog entry about the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009 and cite why you like to attend this two-day event.
Your blog post must have a link to Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009 at http://socialnetworkphilippines.blogspot.com.
Post a comment to this blog entry and give me the url link where your entry can be found.

Deadline for submission of entries is on March 31, 2009. We will list and link to all entries that get submitted here.

On 1st week of April, Fiera de Manila and passes donors shall review the submissions and picked their most-liked post.

The winner of the two passes shall be posted here on or before April 15. I hope you can join and see you at the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2009!

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