I Earn Online Front Page

Posted by ruby on September 3rd, 2008 in Blogging / Marketing, Content Writing, Online Cash Sources

If you’ve been online for a while and you know a few other things besides blogging that could get you some serious cash over the internet, will you still do this blogging thing?

What other things, you ask?

1. Ebay - simple, can be done by anyone brave enough to put their products out there for some serious trading. A tip to those Filipinos who do this is to sell really rare books about presidents, particularly coffee table books about the “controversial” presidents (wink).

2. Game character selling - I played a massively multiplayer role playing game for a few years and I know how difficult it is to manually get your character to a certain level. Some of my friends do this and earn a lot from WoW characters.

3. Content Writing - Simply put, writing for others. Using your writing skills to help other people increase their sales, update their sites and etc.

The answer to the top question is YES, you could still blog even if you engage on these other money online activities. Blogging does not take up too much time when you get the hang of it, and more importantly, it’s an almost passive cash source once your blog is established and you are down to your routine weekly updates.

What is Your Icing, What is Your Cake?

Sometimes blogging pays a lot and for the moment it is the cake that feeds you. Sometimes it doesn’t, and it becomes the icing, and the other sources of income becomes your cake. Either way, blogging becomes your hobby. It’s where you put your personality out here in the web. To earn money from a hobby is wonderful right?

think about it and remember to have fun!

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Posted by ruby on August 20th, 2008 in Building Your Blog, Niches in Blogging, Online Cash Sources

First of all, what is a niche? There are various ways to define this term in the context of marketing and science, and because I am primarily a disciple of the latter, this is the definition I will refer to: niche n. the particular area within a habitat occupied by an organism.

If the internet world were the ocean, you (the organism) will belong to a particular location in it, usually with a group that shares the same living area and activities.

Niches in Blogging
When I first started blogging, I belonged to the niche of “Anything Under the Sun”, which isn’t really a niche at all. Then, I realized that there are programs and blogger communities that require me to put in a blog description. I detested having to write ‘a blog about anything under the sun’ so I came up with ways to delineate which specific niche my blog belonged to.

Guide on How to Find a Niche for Your Blog

1. You start out by pretending that you are being asked to describe your blog in one sentence. Initially you start with the simplest statement:

“This is the blog of  (a) who (b) .”

Where:
a = something about you. It could be your profession, a description of yourself, your dream profession. Anything that will instantly tell the different money networks or blog visitors what’s unique about your website….
examples: a lonely guy, an overseas worker, an immigrant, a stressed employee, a Filipino, an aspiring musician, a successful business woman, a frustrated computer programmer etc.

b = likes and dislikes, favorite activity, dreams and aspirations, current situations, present  locations, etc.
examples: likes cars, likes to sing, wants to try again, loves to crochet, loves biking, lives in another country etc.

2. Your one-sentence blog description will give you an idea on what your niche is. Basically, this means that the people most likely to visit and follow your posts are those who share the same interests or are intrigued by people like you. These are your “niche-mates”. They can be bloggers themselves or ordinary internet passers by looking to buy/sell something or simply read something about your topics.

3. Moneytize (earn money from) your niched blog by seeking out advertisers who belong to your niche. These are merchants who have products that could interest you or people like you.

Remember that your readers or regular blog visitors will always be the people who can relate with what you talk about frequently. All you have to do is find advertisers who want to sell to these people.

Where to find Advertisers

• Share-A-Sale
• Pepperjam

On succeeding posts, I will give some concrete examples of niches in blogging, and my suggestions on how you can moneytize your niched blog, so be sure to subscribe via RSS feed or via email.

Happy Blogging!

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Posted by ruby on August 17th, 2008 in Blogging / Marketing, Building Your Blog, Content Writing, Niches in Blogging, Online Cash Sources

After spreading word that I have a blog about blogging to my friends (via IM and email), some went on to build their prototype blogs and informed me. Some were excited, some were skeptical yet willing to try, and some others were disillusioned (yes, after a few days). For this post, I will address that last bit.

In reverse order, the top ten reasons why some people won’t blog:

10. I don’t have internet connection at home.

9. Too technical. I’m not a techie.

8. Too expensive. (Free blog?) Too confusing.

7. I don’t have the time.

6. It takes too much effort.

5. I’m not interesting enough

4. I don’t have much to share

3. I don’t like sharing [my experiences/thoughts]

2. Do I look like someone who would keep a BLOG?

and the winner….

1. It’s too difficult to figure out what to blog about

In the Philippines, we have a saying: If you want to, there’s always a way. If you don’t want to, there’s always a reason.

Blogging isn’t for everyone and I respect how you would balk at the thought of anyone in the world reading what you have to say about something. And, yes, I still love you even if you are not quite convinced that this is how I earn online.

However, because I made this blogging blog for you, I know you will still follow my progress with this blog and read how I make money online using a blog (and a dash of hardwork).

Kudos and welcome to the world of blogging!

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