Blog Clippings

For many of us who would like to venture into pro-blogging, it’s always best to heed the words of those who have been blogging longer than us. After making a post at my art blog, I stumbled into this site called, wakeuplater. Wake Up Later is a blog on freelancing starting from web design, copywriting, to blogging. For this week, I will share an interview with Skellie; a blog post that I found in Wake up Later. Below are some answers for most questions that many new bloggers pose.

How do you primarily generate your online income?

I’m a staff writer at Freelance Switch, Problogger.net, North x East, Daily Blog Tips and Daily Bits. I think we like to call ourselves ‘freelance web writers’ or ‘ProBloggers’ but others just call us ‘paid bloggers.’ It doesn’t sound quite as cool though, I think.

I’ve also just launched a second blog, Anywired, about web freelancing and other routes to earning an income online. It focuses on different ways to make your work both flexible and mobile, so you can work when you want, from anywhere in the world. I’m monetizing that with ads but it’s still in the early days yet.

How much does reading other blogs come into play in your success?

Any success I’ve had has been dependent on it. I think you can learn a huge amount by observing blogs that you like and working out what it is that they do well, and then translating that to your own blog. You can also learn a lot by observing what your favorite blogs aren’t doing.

I think it’s also vital to subscribe to plenty of blogs outside your own niche. Translating ideas from other niches into your own can create something new and unique. It also helps prevent you from starting to sound like everybody else writing on the topics you cover.

What kind of advice would you give young writers who want to get started online?

Having an established blog is invaluable, because it will essentially function as your portfolio. Some of your blog readers will eventually go on to become clients, so an established blog can send you a relatively steady flow of job offers. It also shows that people respond well to your writing.

I’d also do guest-posts and let the blogger know that you’re available as a paid writer. People might like the content you produce on your own blog, but they’re most interested to see what you can bring them. Guest-posts are actually a really good advertisement for your skills.

You can read the whole blog post here.

I Slipped

This morning when I was just about to leave the house and head for the office, I almost fell the stairs. Luckily, my reflexes were quick and I was able to hold of the railings with great timing. Whew! However my towering sandals didn’t almost make it alive. Thanks to the available rugby, I glued my sandals back in place.

I have always been a flipflop and flats person and even though I’m quite petite, I just don’t seem to care if I have to look up and talk to seemingly tall individuals. Ever since our company implemented this dress code, I have to go to the office in a pair of high heels or else I would be a bad example for my team. Since I felt my old pair was not going to make it any time soon, I  bought a new pair of sandals wherein I now tower over small people such as I – yes, I feel tall and sexy whenever I strut my stuff with these baby. Albeit, ever since buying them, I always have this fear of tripping over the sidewalk, trip when I’m crossing the street and, yes, falling the stairs because I tripped. This morning was a deja vu since I have played that scene over and over in my mind whenever I wear these pair of accident magnet.

Girls go through various lengths of danger just so everyone else can admire us. No pain no gain.

What Blog PLatform Should I Use?

Recently I have been receiving questions about which is the perfect blogging platform to use. Should you opt to use wordpress, or should  you use blogger’s hosted blog platform instead? How about owning your own domain? These are among the first questions we ask when we start out with blogging, especially if we are starting to get seriously involved with it.

There is really not one perfect blog platform for everyone. It’s a matter of preference I believe. When I started out with blogging, choosing a free hosted blog over a standalone one was in fact a decisive choice since I didn’t feel I’m up for the whole pro-blogging enchilada. I suggest that you do a bit of soul searching yourself and ponder on the questions below before you decide.

What is the goal of my blog?

When starting a blog, you must have a goal. Of course for many beginners, it’s quite hard to see what your blog is going to be in future. When I started blogging around 2006, I never really planned what my blog is going to be other than a place where I can stuff the links going to the websites I manage. It started quite semi-personal, then at some point I tried to be a pseudo graphic guru and now it’s back to being the gateway of my personal feelings and opinions. I never really thought about monetizing my blog before that’s why I was fairly contented with WordPress.com since it’s very friendly. Now there is a shift in my paradigm and I saw the great potential in making money online.  That is one blog goal I have and by now I know you understand the dilemma I’m in (I’ll be moving real soon. I’ll be back to zero PR again).

So in determining your blog goal, consider asking yourself these questions.

• Is blogging something I can do for a long term?
• What is the main purpose of my blog?
• Will my blog be plainly a hobby or do I see myself venturing into pro-blogging?
• Will I be monetizing my blog?

I you plan to make money out of blog via Google Adsense then the Free hosted WordPress blog is not for you since they do not allow ads in your blogs. You can use blogger.com instead since they are more liberal.

Do I have the budget?

If you have the means to buy your own domain and pay for its hosting then go and get yourself a standalone blog. Of course you would have to factor in three main expenditures when doing so. You have the domain name registration, the domain hosting and the blog platform.

There are several standalone blog platforms such as wordpress.org and movabletype.org wherein you can download the blog platform for free since its open source. You however need to pay for the domain name and the hosting.

If you don’t have the means yet, then you can opt for a free hosted blog platform from wordpress.com and blogger.com. There are also blog platforms that let’s you pay a monthly subcription fee such as TypePad, however you have enough control that can accomodate your whims and fancy. For wordpress.com, there are a lot of restrictions. You only have several templates to choose from, you can’t embed flash based widgets, you can’t customize your CSS (unless you are willing to pay for the credits), and you can’t put adsense. For Blogger.com, there are not so many restrictions although it is not as friendly when you compare it to wordpress. You can edit the xhtml and css thereby giving you enough power to tweak the design of your blog. You can also add adsense in your blog.

Other cost that you might want to factor in is the design. Yes, there are a lot of free blog templates online however if you want that your blog will look different and the interface customized to your needs, then you need to contact a web developer unless of course you are one. Then there are the blog tools. There are a lot of blog tools, plug-ins and widgets that free however there are really good ones that might just cost you.

How Techie am I?

Knowledge in HTML and CSS is fairly important for blogging. There are a lot of blog platforms out there that can be operated even if you’re not that technically equipped however the things you can do with your blog is limited to what you know.

In my experience, I’m quite familiar with blogger.com since I tweak the codes of the templates I downloaded for free. For wordpress.org (since wordpress.com is very easy and you can’t edit the css unless you buy a credit), I haven’t had any experience with tweaking the blog templates and of course adding the plug-ins and such. I maintain a standalone blog and the platform I’m using is wordpress.org, my web developer said its easy yet complex at some point.

You can hire a web developer to design and develop your blog or ask a friend, who is one, if you have very little or no knowledge on all these html and css hullabaloo. A tip from Darren Rowse that’s worth mentioning, “One of the great things about blogging and most of the platforms out there is that there is a wonderful communal knowledge out there and many forums dedicated to helping people get the most out of their chosen platforms.”

What Blog Platforms are others using?

If you have friends, ask them about their blogs. Ask them about the blog platforms they are using so that you can generally estimate if this blog platform is for you.

Cebuano Pro Blogging

I have been so caught up with SEO-ing (is there even such word) the websites I manage that I never really took the challenge of actually entering the problogging field. As I’ve said in my previous post:

Attending the event was a humbling experience for me because even though I have “notable” (notable para sa akong amo) SEO achievements, I would have to say that I’m not at all that much of a professional blogger. I’m not into the whole hard core blogging thing since this cyberspace I have here is my place for solace and relaxation. – Digital Filipino Club Post

I’m not really a pro-blogger yet but after getting inspired by the enthusiasm shared among CBS (Cebu Bloggers Society) members, it got me thinking and I would like to enter this field as well, seriously. I know a lot of you are like me, we use this small fraction of cyberspace as a means of venting out emotions we couldn’t possibly say out loud so we write loudly in our blogs instead. However blogging, especially pro-blogging) is certainly causing a stir here in Cebu. A lot of businesses are opting to let bloggers blog about their product launching by inviting bloggers to cover their event while others hire full time bloggers to blog for their company. There are a lot of opportunities to explore in blogging – so I would like to invite you to join me as we venture into pro-blogging. I will be sharing tips on blogging and SEO every week, so be sure to follow my posts or better yet subscribe to my feeds to get the latest update. For my very first post on this topic, we shall orient ourselves with what is a blog and why do we blog in the first place.

What is a blog?

A blog is an online journal or diary wherein you as a writer can express yourself to the rest of the world. I have some highly quoted blog definitions from famous online personalities.

“…the first journalistic model that actually harnesses rather than merely exploits the true democratic nature of the web. It’s a new medium finally finding a unique voice.”–Andrew Sullivan

“[a] collection of posts…short, informal, sometimes controversial, and sometimes deeply personal…with the freshest information at the top.”–Meg Hourihan

Why do people blog?

The Internet is a medium that is unmatched in its reach. You don’t have to be extraordinarily popular like Angelina Jolie or Paris Hilton to get your word out into the open. Average people like you or me are able to reach a world wide audience with less troubles and even in the comforts of our own homes. Be it that you are blogging about the details of your day or you are sharing things you’re very passionate about, bloggers have the opportunity of reaching hundreds or even thousands of people each and every day.

Whether they found a new fling or bought a new dog, a lot of people still like to share details of their everyday life. On the other hand, there are bloggers who like to write about their hobby or their interests. And then there are some that blogs for the money. Yes, there in money in blogging and we will be exploring all those opportunities just yet. A piece of advice, when you want to venture into blogging, make sure you write about something you are passionate about. Why? Because the momentum is always there since the subject is dear to your heart. You won’t run out of things to write since this is one topic you can consider yourself an expert.

Is blogging really for you? Like me who wants to take this blogging thing seriously, there are several questions we need to ask ourselves before we decide to take our blog to a whole new level.

1. Do you enjoy writing? Well, writing is a must in blogging since it’s predominantly in a written medium. If you are not so big in writing there is a chance that you might not enjoy blogging. However you can opt for podcasting or video blogging.
2. What is it that you want to share? Do you have a definite message that you want to share? For blogging to be worthwhile, you have to have a cause.
3. Are you a self-starter? Starting a blog takes a little initiative however getting them off the ground takes a dose of creativity, motivation and committment.
4. Do you have the time and discipline? For a blog to be successful, one must be able to constantly update their blog. You must both have the time and discipline to find something new to write about regularly.
5. Do you have a sense of humor? Although there are a lot of bloggers who are downright serious, most successful bloggers inject humor in their blogs thereby catching more repeated visits.
6. Do enjoy reading and accumulating more knowledge? Being good at writing is great asset in blogging however to be able to create good write-ups we must be able to read what others are writing. We must continuously scour for new learnings so that in return we can impart something new to our readers.
7. Are you sociable? We must be able to connect with our readers as well as connect with other bloggers via online. To drive enough traffic to your own blog, you must be gregarious and virtually sociable.
8. Are you willing to work hard? For your blog to be successful, you must be able to provide an ample amount of sweat, tears and effort. You need to come up with quality content and copy and pasting is not going to cut it.
9. Are you creative in your own right? Creativity is really subjective, although its not a must but then being creative is an advantage.
10. Are you committed? You must have a stick-ability since most blogs can’t be an overnight success. Blogging is a commitment and you must be in it for the long haul.
11. Are you techy enough? Sure you don’t have to make your own CMS program to create a blog since there a lot of blog platforms available. However you must understand basic HTML and CSS programming to be able to customize templates and pimp your blog some more.

What we’re going to do now is to internalize if blogging is really for us. If we seriously want to go into pro-blogging, what are your answers to these 11 questions? Are most of it a yes, if they are then you’re just about ready. Be sure to visit this blog next week since we are going to delve into blogging a bit further.

Us at DYAB

One of the greatest perks of being a CBS member is the events. Last, November 2, some of us got the chance to visit Jun Tariman’s High Tech Ta Bai radio show since for this episode he was, well, talking about blogging and he invited the CBS to grace his show with Kevin being the lead actor. **wink**

Below are some of our pictures inside the DYAB studio courtesy of X.

CBS with Jun Tariman after the interview

While waiting

After the DYAB Interview

CBS Goats

To list listen to the full podcast of Hi-Tech Ta Bai Nov. 2 Episode please click this link. >> High Tech Ta Bai Podcast