More than five years ago, blogging is known to be just a form of an online diary. Remember Doogie Howser, M.D.? Back in the 80′s it’s a TV series about a kid genius who became a doctor at the very young age of 14, each episode ends with the teenage doctor documenting his thoughts in his DOS based computer. That’s the earliest concept of blogging I have.

Over the years, blogging became another advertising platform which is a not only good for the advertising companies but for the bloggers as well! The advertisers benefit from the significantly lower costs and high visibility (they normally invest in blogs with high traffic), where as the bloggers of course, gets monetary rewards for these ads. Just in case, you just recently started a blog, you would be pleased to know that there are actually ways for you to earn big bucks from having a blog. How? There’s a lot of ways, but for now let’s talk about 2 ways to do that.

1.) Ads – There are a lot of companies who uses blogs as a means to advertise. Some of the popular ones are Adsense by Google and Nuffnang ads. After signing up, you will be asked to copy an HTML code that you will have to paste somewhere in your blogs CSS codes. Yeah I don’t have it yet, since I’m still trying to figure out how to place it in my blogs home page. If you don’t have sufficient know-how in programming, like me, you will find it much easier when you have a blog with free blogging services like Blogger or WordPress.

2.) Blog reviews – They say that word of mouth is the most powerful tool for advertising. True indeed! How many stores have we decided to boycott and restaurants or food chains we’ve long avoided because of a really bad experience our friends or relatives had on the said place? A lot I guess. When we know the people who told us about a certain experience they had with an establishment or a service company whether good or bad, we remember it real well. As such, advertisers decided to tap on bloggers for product reviews. When asked to do so, these of course are sponsored posts. Linkfromblog is actually one company who specializes in these kind of ads.

Hopefully, that was a little helpful for those of you who are thinking of earning while blogging.

About almost a decade ago, when the word blogging is still unheard of and unknown to common man, the people who blog then, blog just mostly to vent out pent up emotions, kinda like an online journal and others for posterity reasons. Through the years, as communication and transfer of information became even more dynamic, blogging became another tool to advertise, which is also a good thing not only for the advertising companies but as well as for the bloggers themselves since they can make money out of it.

Right now, I received high recommendations from several friends to have linkfromblog, as such, here I am joining the bandwagon. I sure do hope you join as well since it is going to be a very good way to earn passive income and hone your writing skills at the same time.

So spread the word people and join the fun.

writing

I’ve been wanting to write this entry since Tuesday of this week but could not find the time and energy to do so. Lately when I get home, I only get to do my usual routine – change, help in the kitchen, have my brother eat dinner, feed my son his dinner, take a bath, plurk, facebook, and check my email.

I got my real first ever free lance writing assignment – and I’m absolutely thrilled and floored. I did not bid on the project for the money, in fact, I quoted a meager amount for the bid because I really wanted to get the project. The selected applicant will be tasked to write a small paperback book that is all about a story of a little girl who experienced a miracle. I know that this project is a blessing right from the start.

The day after I emailed my proposal, I got an immediate reply from the employer. And here is what he had to say:

“Dear Erlyn,

We are confident you are the one to re write ” Angelica’s Story”. Thank you so much for your sample writings of your blogs . Your requested rate is $x an hour, what we would ask of you is to limit the first session of working with us to 5 hours. As you may need more time to complete the project we will re hire you again and again until the project is finished. We have 6 daughters and have to be careful on how we spend. You are worth so much more than the wages you request .
I will set up our payment information and hire you after you respond to this initial message.
Then what I will do is send you links and information concerning the story. We would want you to send us the format of the story, chapters, as you would finish them. We will do the layout of the book after you finish writing it and would be glad to send you a copy of it and give your credit for your part in the writings on the book. We hope to make a movie of it soon also that we will produce and maybe you could help orchestrate some of the information for that in the future.
But for now, we are  excited to choose you to help us create this small paper back book.

Thanks again,
John

Ps Mostly what I wanted to make clear is that we only want to payout 5 hours of time for your initial work with us and we will re hire you to finish the work as our budget will afford to.”
I was ecstatic upon reading his reply and could not thank God enough for this assignment. What’s more is that they will give me credits for my work instead of the usual assignments I get as a ghost writer. I am anticipating a battle – a spiritual battle, as I start this project since this story is a powerful testimony of the Lord’s saving grace and loving kindness and I’m certain that the devil will work his hardest to make sure this project is not completed. As such, I am praying for victory, and cling to His promise that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Thank you God!

***photo taken from the internet

Here in the Philippines, the Yuletide season is celebrated as soon as the “BER” months start. Earlier this afternoon when my father turned on the radio, I heard several Christmas carols being played already. And it’s just the 1st of September you’d say! Well, yes that’s how excited Filipinos are about the Yuletide season. Pretty soon the department stores will start selling Christmas decors and Christmas trees and of course, bargain markets will start setting up soon where you can find just about anything you need and want to give as gifts. Nonetheless, despite the long preparation for Christmas, come December, you will still bump into a lot of people who are trying to cram up their shopping list. I am not new to this kind of set of as well. For a couple of years now, I’d put off shopping when I have the time and money for it thinking that there’ll still be time to get it. And when it’s only a few days away from Christmas, I’d beg my husband to accompany me in getting the gifts I could have bought months ago. I’d always end up tired and over spending. I’m sure a lot of people who got used to procrastinating their Christmas shopping ends up just the same.

Last year, in order to avoid ending up broke and dead tired, I made a pact to organize my Christmas shopping. This year, I intend to do the same thing. Let me share it with you.

1. Have a list.  – List down all the names of the people you need and you want to give a gift to for the coming holidays.

2. Organize your list. – Thanks to Microsoft Excel, you can actually sort your list. You can tag them according to age, relationship and gender. If you start creating a spreadsheet, you may want to keep it for the next year. A friend of mine shared this tip to me. What she does is that across the name, she will also write down the gift she got that person for that year. On the following year, she will just add another column where she will then write down what gift item she got that person for that year. That gives her a way to make sure that the gift she gave the previous year will not be the same for this year.

3. Identify your budget. – Due to the global financial crisis, this is something you may want to identify as soon as you are able to come up with your name list. You can be more detailed and go on with specifying a maximum budget for each person you intend to give a gift to.

4. Never go over your budget. – It is sometimes irresistable to grab that lovely V-tech toy for your adorable nephew or godchild, nonetheless, you have to remember that you have a strict budget. On the other hand, the child will be grateful for a gift carefully chosen no matter what it costs.

5. Start shopping early. – Don’t wait for the last minute. You will find yourself less stressed when you get to complete your shopping early on. So when you find something that you think will be a good gift for someone, and you have the money for it and provided it doesn’t exceed the budget you have for that person, go ahead and purchase it. It will save you a lot of time, money and energy to avoid the Christmas rush.

I certainly hope the tips help you guys.

christmas