Femme Power

Today is a historical day for us, Filipinos. Today, we cast our votes on the first-ever national and local automated elections.   Gone are the days when we had to manually write down our candidates, and wait for several weeks for all the votes to be counted and tallied manually by our modern-day heroes we call teachers.

I don’t wanna delve on the countless lives sacrificed in the name of protecting the sanctity of ballots or those lives wasted to crooks wanting to cling to power during the past elections nor do I wanna delve on the possibility of the automated elections to be rigged (or being rigged) by the powers that be.  I would like to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Just last week, a few days before the elections, Smartmatic and the Comelec recalled thousands of defective compact flash cards after a series of tests in various precincts showed blatant glitches.  The total number of votes counted by the pcos machines did not tally with those of the manual count results.  Candidates with no votes during the test appeared to have votes in the pcos machine, and vise versa.  It was a glaring proof that the compact flash cards, which were blamed by Smartmatic for the glitch, could indeed be programmed and could make a non-winning candidate win and make winning candidates lose.  Though the said compact flash cards have been recalled and reprogrammed, there is already a cloud of doubt hovering the veracity or reliability of the automated elections.

I’ve voted for the candidates that I believe could and would bring positive changes to this country.  Those who have the track records of working for the benefit of many Filipinos sans the press releases.  Those who have the credibility, political will, and morality in governance.   I just pray that my votes and those of my fellow Filipinos will be counted appropriately and don’t go to the wrong names, as what happened during the tests last week.   God save the Philippines.

I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries from friends about the earning potential of blogging and how it works.  I figured that I should finally write about it to spare my friends from my usual lengthy monologues.  Hence, the next time someone gets curious about blogging again, they could use this post as a reference to (hopefully) help them start a blog and monetize it in the long run, if they choose to.

I’ve been blogging for almost two years now and it’s been giving me a steady stream of extra income while doing what I love - writing.  However, sorry to burst your bubble but blogging doesn’t offer any get-rich-quick sort of game plan.  It can pay for your utility bills and your groceries plus some not-so-expensive wants (I was able to buy two camera phones, some clothes and shoes, among others).  For the most part, it’s going to eat up a considerable chunk of your time and depending on how you view it, it could either be draining or rewarding.

So here’s the list of questions I usually get from some blog-curious bunch:

How do you earn from blogging?

1) Paid posts - There are many ways to monetize one’s blog but in my case, I’m comfortable about writing paid posts.  I choose the topics and sponsors that I write about. I don’t accept offers to write about products and services that I don’t believe in.  Average rate per post I get is $10.  If your blog is more popular, chances are you’ll get more and higher offers because advertisers put weight about your Page Rank.

2) I also earn from Adgitize by simply displaying their ads and clicking ads displayed in other members’ blogs. This way, members not only earn revenues but traffic as well.  Talk about hitting two birds with one stone!  And this is the only program I know that pays you to advertise and rewards you for updating your blog.  Click on the link to sign up for free and see your traffic rise when you participate actively.

3) Other bloggers earn big from Google Adsense (web-based, content-sensitive marketing) depending on the number of ad clicks and page impressions on your blog.  Meaning, it is primarily dependent on traffic hence the more traffic you have, the more moolah you get.  But if you don’t have much visitors in your site, then Adsense is not for you.  In my case, I still haven’t reached my pay-out target of $100 but I don’t wanna remove it just yet.  I’ll wait till I get there however slowly. You may also try other alternatives like AdBrite, Bidvertiser, Kontera, Text Link Ads, CMF Ads, and several other alternatives.

How do you generate traffic to your blog?

I get traffic mostly from Entrecard, Adgitize, and other social networking sites I joined including Facebook.  I also get traffic from curious surfers who search for keywords that are found on my blogs.

Who will pay us to blog?

If you want to get paid for writing posts, below are the programs you could sign up with.  You can find a lot more in the Web but these are the programs that have actually paid me since I started monetizing this blog:

1) Blog4Reviews - Established by Filipinos Janette Toral and Gary Viray, this is one of my favorite pay-to-blog programs because it is country-specific as to the sponsors and target market.  Hence, I’m more familiar with the products and services and can relate to them much better.  They also pay through PayPal two weeks after your post is approved.

2) Blogsvertise - They give out 3-4 tasks in a week, depending on your level of participation. Register your blog and once you get accepted, you’ll start getting tasks. You may accept or decline the tasks. Write about the tasks any way you want according to your own editorial perspective.  You may either write a review about the advertiser’s products and services or simply mention them in your post or better yet, relate them to your own personal experiences.  Create at least three links to the advertiser’s website and then submit it within the time frame allotted to you.  They pay through PayPal 30 days after your post has been approved.  Yeah, it’s quite a long wait but it’s better than nothing.

3) Payperpost - I liked the old version of it because I didn’t have to wait for tasks to be assigned to me. I could take on any available opportunities from my dashboard, choose the advertisers myself, then write about their products and services.   But now that they’ve changed their platform where advertisers choose the bloggers and then negotiate the price, etc, I rarely log in to it.  Most leads that I’ve been getting lately wouldn’t match well with my blog or simply not the kinds that I’d want to blog about.

4) Blogtoprofit - This is the program that gave me my first blogging income almost two years ago.  They give out assignments in bulk and pay you through PayPal or your bank account in two weeks.

Other programs that have paid me to blog were Sponsoredreviews, ReviewMe, Buyblogreviews but offers from these three were scarce.

One thing is for sure, it’s not a walk in the park if you intend to blog for money or to put it bluntly, if money is the only or main reason that you’re blogging.  Blogging is a fun outlet to express one’s self.  Sometimes, even if you have wonderful people around you who are willing to listen to your thoughts, it’s quite overwhelming when you’re able to express yourself in writing and drown yourself in words.  Sometimes the writer in you just comes out, whether you’re being paid or not.

So if you love writing, go on, start a blog and if you choose to, monetize it.  It’s a matter of choice.  The most important thing is, be truthful to your readers and to yourself and you gotta love what you’re doing.

You’ve surely heard it a gazillion times over that men are from Mars, women are from Venus.  They just can’t think along the same wavelength sometimes and that often results to misunderstanding and friction in the relationship.  I myself, in my desperate effort to understand men’s psyche, end up throwing this cosmic question out into the void: “Can we ever fully understand why men behave the way they do and why women detest a lot of it?”

In my persistent quest for a believable answer, I found this very engaging, very funny yet sensible video on YouTube by Mark Gungor.  This video is part of a 4 DVD seminar called “Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage.”  Gungor, a Sr. Pastor of Celebration Church, infuses both truth and humor in conducting his marriage seminars.

Watch this hilarious video and laugh your heart out but in the end, you’ll be surprised you’re enlightened.

Heads up for bloggers and entrepreneurs who are interested about what blogging can do in this day and age - iblog6: The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit is on this April 16 and 17 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, Quezon City from 8 am to 5 pm.

The first day is targeted for business people who want to maximize blogging as a powerful tool in creating awareness campaigns for their products and services.  The more buzz, the better your chances for higher revenues and profits, right?

The second day will focus on blogging 101 and other related information about blogging.  Talks will also include blog policies, money-making online, video blogging, photo blogging, social and political blogging, and many others.

Blogging has been giving me additional income for over a year now but I feel that I still have a lot to learn so I’m looking forward to attending on the second day even if it means that I’d be depriving myself of sleep (I work night shift) on that day.

Register here now! Free food stubs and participant kits will be given to the first 250 registered participants who will show up early at the venue.

Here’s the 2-day schedule as posted by Ms. Janette Toral:

Day 1 (April 16, 2010)

9:00 – 9:15 Opening Ceremonies (National Anthem, Welcome Remarks by JJ Disini)

9:15 – 9:35 Blogging for Business: Tapping Bloggers to Generate Buzz (Janette Toral)
9:50 to 10:10 Advertising in Blogs (Abe Olandres)

10:25 – 10:50 BREAK

10:50 – 11:10 SPONSOR talk (Ivy Jean Vibar)
11:25 – 11:45 SEO & Blogging to Promote Your Business (Francis Gary Viray)

12:00 – 1:30 LUNCH / NETWORKING

1:30 – 1:50 Measuring Blog Buzz (Carlo Ople)
2:05 – 2:25 Legal Concerns in Blogging for Business (Emerson Bañez)

2:40 – 3:00 BREAK

3:00 – 3:20 Blogger and Advertiser: What is the Win-Win Relationship? (Diana Paterno)
3:35 – 3:50 Online Attraction Marketing (Manuel Viloria)

4:05 RAFFLE and GROUP PICTURE

Day 2 (April 17, 2010)

8:45 Opening Ceremonies (National Anthem & Welcome)
9:00 – 9:20 Blogging 101 (Hannah Villasis)
9:35 – 9:55 Video Blogging 101 (Vince Golangco)
10:10 – 10:30 Photo Blogging 101 (Juned Sonido)

10:45 – 11:00 BREAK

11:00 – 11:20 Blog Policies (Emerson Bañez)

11:35 – 11:55 Blog on Mobile (Racquel R. Cagurangan)

12:10 – 1:20 LUNCH & NETWORKING

1:20 – 1:30 Performance (UP Concert Chorus)

1:30 – 2:15 Political, Online Commentary, Social Media, & Election Blogging 2010 (Marck Ronald Rimorin and Noemi Dado)
2:30 – 2:50 Launching Successful Blog Contests (Jinoe Gavan)

3:05 – 3:20 BREAK

3:20 – 3:40 Impact of Blogging to the Community (Joseph Gonzales)
3:55 – 4:15 SEO: A Must for Making Money Online (Marhgil Macuha)

4:30 RAFFLE, iBlog Video Contest Winner Announcement, & GROUP PHOTO

Emcees: Flowell Galindez and Atty. Michelle Dy (UP-ISP)

It’s a perfect opportunity to learn more about this craft and meet hundreds of other bloggers and sponsors, grow one’s network, and improve one’s earning potential through blogging.   See you there, guys!

I consider speed as one of the most significant elements in my broadband connection.   That is why even as I plan to get a wireless router to be able to share my broadband connection with a new laptop, I want to make sure that it doesn’t adversely affect my internet browsing speed.

It’s good to know that there are a lot of remarkable wireless router options that I can find online.   I found wireless routers that promise high speed, great coverage, easy installation and configuration.  Some even come with a firewall protection to resist internet attacks.   Two of the most impressive products I found were ZyXEL P330W 802.11g Wireless Router which is compact yet is packed with notable features, and Linksys WRT110 RangePlus which is the router being used by my former call center employer.

Also, I found a buying guide for wireless routers that can be handy for non-techie people like me.  It provides easy-to-understand information about wireless routers and access points.  Information includes not only products and product features but also about wireless network requirements, standards, and many others.

Getting hooked up to the rest of the world is now as fast as a push of a button.   With the help of a wireless router, computers can share an internet connection real quick and easy, making the world even smaller.

Wrinkles. Eye bags. Dark circles around the eyes. Acne scars. Laugh lines.  These are just some of the skin problems that most of us women are dying to combat.  But with thousands of skin care products available in the market today, how do we know which ones are really effective?  I myself have tried out a good number of facial creams and eye gels and I usually get lucky that the products I choose work for me.  In choosing the products that work best, I look at the ingredients.

One of the revolutionary ingredients in modern skin care products like anti-aging creams is Matrixyl.  Matrixyl is said to stimulate Collagen and Fibronectin - the ones we lose as we get older, hence making our skin thin and wrinkly.  Matrixyl is said to work in the DNA level, giving us back our skin elasticity and eliminating sagging skin more effectively.  This revolutionary ingredient is present in anti-aging products made by scientific skin care companies like Dermajuv.

Another promising ingredient in modern skin care today is Collaxyl which is said to make the skin regenerate new cells.  This is present in Dermajuv’s Acne Scar Fading Cream which smooths and heals acne scars and fades the discoloration around them.

Being in my mid-30’s and wearing so many hats at home and at work, the ill-effects of aging should start showing up on my face.  Amusingly, I always get mistaken to be in my late 20’s, lol.  No matter how tired I am sometimes, I make time to cleanse my face and then moisturize it before I doze off.   And since I sometimes don’t get to have enough sleep, I put on an eye cream to relieve my puffy eyes and the dark circles under them.  Like many others, I’m a busy mom and caring for my skin is like pampering myself.   And I believe every woman deserves a little pampering.

Saturdays and Sundays are my favorite days of the week. It’s when I get to chill out and listen to my favorite tunes in YouTube like this one from Chris Rice - When Did You Fall. Enjoy your weekend, peeps!