Blogging

When I discovered blogging in 2005, I never thought that bloggers could actually make money from their blog. All I knew then is that I just found a new hobby.

I’ve had a few blog monetization experience later on in 2007 and 2008 when paid posts were a thing. But paid posts started to decline during the 2008 economic crisis, and I eventually stopped doing that.

A fellow blogger introduced me to Adsense in 2010 but I never really took it seriously. I did earn a few hundred dollars for a span of two years, and that was it. While I was seeing others who were very successful at it (earning $500 a week!), I thought I didn’t have the right niche, and that all niches that could generate high traffic and income are taken. It is not until seven years later that I realized how wrong I was.

And so here I am, starting all over again. Cliché at it sounds, it is never too late to start. If you’d ask me when is the right time to start, my answer will always be – now.

Here are the most common ways to make money from blogging. If you have a blog or if you are planning to build a blog, these may inspire you to keep going. Be very excited!

By Joining a Blog Contest

This is as straightforward as it gets – look for blog competitions with subjects that you find interesting, determine if you are qualified to join, submit your entry, and if the organizers like it, you win a prize.

Related Post:
4 Reasons Why New Bloggers Should Join a Blog Contest

I’ve joined three blog contests so far, and I won a gift check on my second try. But more than the prizes that you get to receive, the experience itself makes it all worth it.

Apply for or Accept Sponsored Posts

With sponsored posts, you get paid for creating and posting an article in your blog about certain products or services. The sponsor could be an individual or a company. You get paid for the post itself, and not on the sales or page views that they get to generate through your post.

Unlike in a blog contest where traffic is often not a requirement, you will need to have a high number of monthly page views in order to attract offers for a sponsored post.

Display Advertising

This is similar to a sponsored post, but this time, you simply put a banner in a strategic location on your page and keep it there for a certain period. In short, your website becomes a digital billboard so your ad space value is dependent on your website’s traffic. A million page views a month will definitely entice advertisers to rent your digital space for an irresistible rental fee.

Affiliate Marketing

Most high-earner bloggers are making thousands of dollars because of their affiliate marketing strategies. Affiliate marketing is when you get a commission for every sale that you make by displaying affiliate links anywhere in your blog.

I am a newbie to affiliate marketing, and I honestly haven’t figured out how to make it work for me yet. Some bloggers who were able to “crack the code” say you do not necessarily need thousands or millions of page views in order to make money from being an affiliate. I am still learning, and I sure will share what I get to discover when I get there.

Related Post:
Affiliate Marketing for Newbies

There are lots of affiliate marketing programs available online, and based from what I’ve read so far, the most popular are Amazon, Bluehost, and Agoda. In Asia, Lazada tops the list. I am signed up with Amazon and Agoda and I can’t wait to find out how much my first payout will be.

Adsense and Other Advertising Programs

This is the most common and most popular amongst bloggers and other online content creators. There are several advertising programs available online, but Adsense is almost always the first option for many.

I can’t remember how I got my Adsense account, but I think it was easier to get one back then. It was around 2008 when I signed-up, and my application was approved. Today, Adsense now has certain rules that you or your blog should meet in order to get qualified.

Once you got in, you will be provided a dashboard where you could generate codes that you can insert in any part of your page. These codes will display ads which are relevant to your topic or niche. Say your article is about food, Adsense can detect that and will prompt it to display ads which are related to food such as restaurants, cooking or recipe sites, and the like.

You get paid every month when you earn at least $100.

Just like the other blog monetization programs mentioned above, traffic determines how much you can earn from Adsense. Adsense doesn’t disclose how earnings are computed, so there is no concrete way to know that. For one, it is dependent on so many factors. Not all ads generate the same monetary equivalent, and a page visitor from Northern America is more valuable to advertisers than a visitor from South East Asia. In short, advertisers pay more when the visitor is actually their targeted or preferred audience, which makes sense. Niches and page ranks could also be a factor.

Create and Sell a Product

This is probably every professional blogger’s ultimate goal, to be able to create a product one day and sell it his or her subscribers. This could either be a physical product like a book, or its digital version, an ebook. Others are offering online or email courses about topics that made them endearing to their followers.

Being able to sell your product without being too salesy is another thing. You have to earn your readers’ trust, and before you could do so, you must focus on giving them valuable content and information. If your followers see the value on the “free stuff” that you’ve been generously offering them, they wouldn’t think twice in paying to get more. It all boils down to the quality of your content, how engaging you are to your audience, and the manner and ways on how you respond in order to meet their needs. If you are able to achieve that, then you may have just opened your door towards becoming a full-pledged entrepreneur! And that is all because of having a blog.

Exciting, isn’t it? I look forward to exploring all these options, one step at a time. For now, I am slowly taking the first few steps and I shall continue documenting my progress.

Cheers!!!

So, you are thinking about putting up a blog this year. Should you buy a domain and hosting right away? It depends. If you are really serious about blogging and you have the budget for domain and hosting, that would be a good option for you. However, if you are having second thoughts and you just want to give blogging a try, or you simply do not want to spend money on domain and hosting yet, take advantage of a free website from Blogger or Blogspot.

Now, what is the difference between Blogger and Blogspot? Don’t be confused because they’re one and the same. Blogger is where you login, Blogspot is your domain extension. In short:

Login to www.blogger.com if you want to create a blog called phdocuments.blogspot.com.

I have two old and un-updated Blogger blogs – phototecture.blogspot.com and litratorama.blogspot.com. I created them both back in 2007; I can’t believe they’re still out there in the world wide web! That’s the good thing about having a free Blogger of Blogspot domain; it will be kept for as long as Blogger or Google wants it to be there, and without you having to pay anything.

Here’s a quick guide on how to create a blog on Blogger this 2018, in six simple and easy steps.

1. Go to www.blogger.com and create an account. Blogger is owned by Google so you might want to use your Gmail if you have one, but any email address will do. Either way, Blogger will accept it.
2. Upon signing up, you will be directed to your dashboard. This is where the posting and editing happens. There really is no required sequence at this point, you can immediately create a post or continue building the site layout first.
3. You may want to start on your blog’s layout. Click on the “Layout” section on the left (first image), and the layout options will appear (second image). Always click on the “Save arrangement” button for any changes you make.
   The layout shows you the available side bar locations. They are arranged accordingly for you to get an idea of where they are located in your page.
   
4. One of the first things that you need to add are Widgets, or Gadgets. Click on the “+ Add a Gadget button” from any of the given locations to view your options. You can move these gadgets to your preferred location later on.This pop-up window will appear. You can simply select the basics from amongst these selections. You can always add or remove a Gadget later. For this example, let’s select Archive.You will get this Archive settings. You can type in any title you want, and select how you would like the gadget to look like from the given options. Do not forget to click Save. Or you can Cancel if you decide not to use the gadget. You will be redirected back to your Dashboard.
5. To add a post, either click on the “New Post” button on top, or the “Create a new post” link in the middle of your dashboard.
   You will then get this window where you could type in your blog post title, content, and labels. You can use any labels, and utilize them as categories later on. You can add an image by clicking on the “image” logo from the menu bar on top.I selected the last image that I have on my phone. Yes, I used my phone to create these instructions and screenshots. If you are on you laptop, you can select a photo from any locations in your computer.
   Make sure to click on “Save” before clicking on “Publish”.Again, you will be redirected back to your Dashboard. You will then see the new post that you created. Click on “View blog” at the upper left portion of the window to view your blog.This is a preview of your plain blog, how do change it’s layout? Proceed to step 6.
6. Go back to your Dashboard and click on “Themes”. You will be given a selection of free themes from Blogger. Select and preview any theme that you want. For this example, I selected the first theme under “Contempo”:

This is the preview of the theme:

This is now your new blog using the theme we selected:

These are only the basic steps and you can finish them in less than 10 minutes! Work on your theme and layout as you proceed. You may want to try all free themes to see which one you would like, along with adding or removing gadgets. You can also upload and apply a theme from external sources; there are lots of free Blogspot themes available for download online and most of them are easy to customize.

Take time in building and organizing your blog, don’t try to finish everything literally overnight. It will take hours and days of work until you get the layout and look that satisfies your taste and preferences. It’s a long process and that is fine, I guarantee that it will be a fun and exciting experience! I wish you all the best.

Cheers!!!

I remember joining my first blog contest ten years ago. My old page was just over a year old at that time, and Nuffnang Philippines just opened their second blog contest.

The mechanics are simple: write about your first memories of any Sony product and mention one of the new items that they’re launching! I tapped in to my sentimental side, and went nostalgic with my story:

I was selected as one of the 50 finalists and received an invitation to the awarding ceremony. It was to be held at the then newly opened SMX Convention Center. Sadly, I automatically eliminated myself by not showing up.

Almost a decade later, I decided to join another blog contest, this time through this site. I got a P1000 Sodexo gift certificate. Not bad.

So, can new bloggers join and win a blog contest? Yes. Most of these competitions are open to both new and old bloggers. The newer you are, the more that you should consider joining. This site was just four months old when I entered the Sodexo blog contest.

Why should you join a blog contest if you are a new blogger? Let’s see.

It’s fun!

Blogging may get boring after your first few months. A blog contest could keep the excitement going. From putting together your story, to publishing and submitting an interesting article, and then finally waiting for the results, the anticipation keeps you excited! Regardless of the outcome, you will for sure find something out of the experience to blog about next (hint: this blog post is an actual example!).

It’s an opportunity to get creative.

Writing a full article is already difficult. Writing an article and relate it to a topic which may not be very familiar to you is even more challenging. Being able to do so without sounding too promotional, and a**-kissing could land you a spot in the organizer’s short list.

Win or lose, the experience will challenge you to improve on your writing. If you could produce high-quality posts for a competition, you can duplicate that for a regular post.

You’ll be inspired.

Running out of new ideas and topic to talk about is normal. It is one of the realities that hit every blogger all the time. Joining a blog contest will not only push you to write something, but inspire you to create a high-quality post. You want to win as much as you want to publish another article, and you are sure that someone will scrutinize your post, so why not give it your best?

If you have a niche, it becomes more challenging. Go for it! These are just one of the small risks that you need to take in order to learn, and improve your blogging.

You need the exposure!

If you win, your blog will be published by the contest organizer. Not only that you get an instant monetary reward, Google will recognize your site even more. In the long run, the backlinks that your blog get from other websites will be your biggest prize. These links give Google the impression that your page is significant, hence, giving it a higher page rank.

If you have doubts, just keep going. Join not only for the prize and bragging rights, but for the experience and lessons that come with it. These blog contests connect you to other bloggers. You get to learn more about them and how they are doing in their niche, and consequently, on how you could level-up on yours.

I wish you the best of luck on your first blog contest entry! Keep on joining!

When I started this blog, I know I could monetize my content using Google Adsense, paid posts, and other forms of advertising. However, I didn’t know anything about affiliate marketing. Upon reading other blogs and learning about what affiliate marketing is, I got interested and wanted to know more.

I am writing this as a newbie myself. Join me in exploring and discovering the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.

What is an affiliate marketing anyway? From what I understood, and putting it into layman’s terms, it is a form of advertising where you (as the affiliate) gets a commission for every purchase made through your advertisement (in the form of banners or links that you post). For bloggers, you can post the link within your articles or put up a banner in your side bars. This is not direct selling. There are many ways to sell or advertise without being pushy, most bloggers don’t even sound like they are selling something in their blog.

Who could sign up for affiliate marketing program? Any content creators like us, bloggers. But as a blogger, you will need to have high-quality content that could make your blog convincing enough for your readers to trust. People will buy when they hear believable reviews from credible sources. You want to be that blogger who is speaks and breaths credibility and honesty.

How and where do you start? Sign up to available affiliate marketing programs online. From my research, the big names such as Amazon in North America, and Lazada and Zalora in Asia, are topping the lists. I am sure there are a lot more and I will have to explore those too.

Now, you do not need to sign up to all of them. Find the best ones that fit your blog category. Zalora, for example, is a clothing store and is most appropriate for Fashion and Lifestyle blogs. Hence, I crossed it out of my list.



What else do you need? A disclosure policy. I am drafting mine and will publish it as soon as I get approved by the programs that I signed up for. You will need to disclose that some of your posts contain paid links, or may be sponsored. All legit affiliate programs require a disclosure. More importantly, it not only shows transparency, but adds more credibility to you and your blog. Update: I just published my disclosure policy.

Today, I signed up to one affiliate marketing program that caters to mostly Philippine audience. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I would qualify. I will be sharing my experience as soon as I receive a feedback. Wish me luck!

Update: I got approved by Amazon and Lazada. However, despite their wide array of products, I am having a hard time looking for an item that could blend with the overall content of my blog. But I am still hopeful, nonetheless. I’ll give them a shot.

I am not sure how far this would take my blogging but I am really excited. And I will make sure to document and share my experiences.

Are you also trying your hand at affiliate marketing? Where did you sign up for so far?

This error came up after I updated a plugin or theme. I couldn’t tell which one because I simply clicked on the “Update All” link when I saw it in my dashboard. My site went offline for over 24hours and I didn’t do anything about it as I thought it is just an issue with GoDaddy or WordPress (which often gets resolved quickly). I could not access my WP dashboard or CPanel. My site is just blank when viewed on mobile, and is displaying an Error 500 when accessed via web but the error is not specific. I looked up for solutions online but all the suggestions directed me to disable plugins which I couldn’t do because my dashboard is inaccessible.

I called GoDaddy but the waiting time was too long. Thankfully, I was able to find the link to their chat support and got someone from the other end after 8 minutes.

The agent checked my account and confimed that a certain plugin is causing the error. I asked him to go ahead and delete it but it turns out they’re not authorized to do that. He instead offered to walk me through the process. Here are the steps:

IMPORTANT: Make sure to backup your files; or contact GoDaddy directly for assistance in performing these steps.

1. Login to your GoDaddy account, go to WordPress > Settings. Look for “phpMyAdmin“, and click on View.

2. Click on “phpMyAdmin URL” and login using the given Username and Password.

3. On the left, look for and click on the very small plus (+) sign beside your username (ex: phdo412345678) to expand the selection, and click on “wp_mbsmpvk2n3_options“.

4. A table will be displayed, go to the Browse tab and look for “Active_plugins“. Go to page 2 if this is not on Page 1. Click on the edit option (pencil icon) beside “Active_plugins“.
5. Clear or delete all the texts inside the box. Make sure that the Save option is selected before clicking on “Go” to save. Clearing this box will NOT delete the plugins, it will only DISABLE them.
6. Try logging in to your account again, or check your webpage if the issue is resolved. (NOTE: Your site may look different because of a disabled plugin.)

7. Enable your plugins again one at a time. Doing so will help you determine which one has caused the problem, while bringing your site’s appearance back to normal (if it changed).

If this does not resolve the issue, contact GoDaddy for assistance. From my experience so far, their technical support agents are helpful, and knowledgeable. You may just need to be patient at their often long waiting time.

Anyway, have you experienced similar error before and got it resolved? Which plugin was causing it? This actually made me hesitant to update my plugins since. 

Experience is the best teacher, they say. My ten years as a blogger taught me a lot but I failed to recognize that until recently. I wasn’t paying attention. I knew I have to keep learning but I was too lazy, and a lot of things were holding me back. So after a decade, I still haven’t made an impact in the blogging community. With the right mindset and strategy, some were able to find success from blogging within a year or two, and here I am just starting, again.

I made this list to hopefully help other bloggers who are going through the same phase, or for aspiring bloggers who want to avoid the same mistakes that I made. Here are my 10 mistakes to avoid when blogging, all of which have happened to me in the past 10 years:

1. Blogging for Monetary Reasons

While this may have enticed you to start, don’t fall into the trap of building a blog and expecting to earn money right away. Yes, you can earn money from blogging, but not after a lot of hard work, dedication and focus. For some, the monetary gains start to happen after six months to a year, or years. And this is not to disappoint you, but it may not even come at all.

The truth is, if you want to monetize your blog, you have to offer something extra to your readers. You receive what you give, so be mindful of what you are giving. Focus on the value of what you are offering, people acknowledge that when they see it. You may have at some point shared some articles, videos or links on social media about things that you find relevant. You may have liked and followed pages on Facebook which are not celebrity-owned. You did that because you saw something that it is of value to you, got inspired, amused, or touched.

So if you are not receiving enough from your blog, you may not be giving enough.

2. No Clear Purpose

I started this blog after establishing its purpose, the purpose why I am blogging, and why this niche. I aim to share, with hopes that what I am sharing would be of use to others. It is important that there is a reason behind the blog, not just the blogging.

Ask yourself, what is my blog’s purpose? What are my intentions? I have talked about this briefly in a previous post:

How to Be a Part-Time Blogger

3. Not Having a Niche

If you know the purpose, it becomes easier to pick a niche (although finding a niche could still be daunting). A niche determines the overall content of your blog. Unless your blog is your online journal and is exclusive to your selected readers, you will end up writing about anything and everything when without a niche. I have also discussed this in a separate post which you may find helpful:

How to Find a Niche for Your Blog

Keep in mind that your purpose and intentions could help you determine a niche. What are your intentions?

4. Not Understanding SEO and Other Related Tools

I intentionally used the phrase “layman’s terms” in this blog’s tagline for obvious reasons. I hate technical terms, and “SEO” and “Google Analytics” are one of the many jargons that I avoided for years. I failed simply because I chose to not understand things which I find complicated. Wrong.

Make sure to learn these as you start creating your blog. There are lots of free online references available, use them. You don’t have to be an expert on this subject, again unless you intend to be one. While I still am unable to articulate SEO or Google Analytics in a way that I could make them a topic for a blog post, I now get the idea. Gaining knowledge about these tools helps, don’t be afraid to explore them, and use them!

5. Not Having a Domain

My fellow bloggers have been convincing me to to get my own domain since 2008. I did not listen to them. At that time, I didn’t have any plans to monetize my blog so I thought purchasing a domain and getting it hosted are money wasted. The thing is, you do not really need your own domain in order to monetize your blog. A .blogspot.com blog would do.

Why do you need a domain then? It simply is more appealing, it looks and sounds more professional. And if you have been blogging before, getting your own domain is a milestone. It is taking your blogging to the next level. Bluehost is one of the best web hosting out there where you could also purchase a domain along with the hosting.

If this is your first time to blog, number six is for you.

6. Having a Domain Too Soon

If you are new to the world of blogging, buying a domain may not be a very good idea yet. You may need to explore and experience things that goes around the Blogosphere first; I highly recommend a .blogspot.com blog. Not only that it is easier to manage, but Google loves it!

Back in 2015, I closed my old domain and started a new one. I had a plan I was very excited about so I purchased a domain right away. Only three articles later, the excitement started to fade away. I stopped posting after five months, and just like that, I threw away a year of domain and hosting subscriptions! This is the reason why it took me two years to decide to start again. I’ve learned my lesson, and that is one of my inspirations to come up with this list.

7. Not Networking Enough

Yes, you do really need to be “open-minded” about this. A blog is still a social media, and just like Facebook, you need to have friends in order to have an active timeline. I had over fifty solid connections in the Blogosphere eight years ago, and I regret the fact that the connection was not sustained and I stopped making more.



Network by visiting other people’s blogs. Leave comments, and ensure that these are genuine comments because a seasoned blogger is good at spotting spam and pushy comments. Be professional, you will need to establish a good reputation in order to gain other blogger’s trust. This takes time so be patient, which leads us to number eight:

8. Being Impatient

Indeed, patience is a virtue. It’s good to let go of all the expectations first. Instead, keep building your blog with quality posts as the priority. Your posts are your foundation. Build your foundation in the first three to six months, make it deep. So deep that it will be strong enough to handle success!

I am impatient myself, I use to want to publish three to five times a week that I ended up posting random articles in my old blogs. I sacrificed the quality, I had no clear intentions other than to post something, just anything. Well, I know now that that is not how it works. Always prioritize quality over quantity.

9. Not Being Unique

When I learned about “niche”, I started looking at other people’s blogs with the intention to copy what they are doing and expect to be as successful. Another mistake. In order to stand out, you have to be different. Be inspired and learn from someone you look up to but don’t be a copycat.

Do not overthink! While it’s true that all topics are (maybe) taken, there will always be something you can offer that others can’t. You can write about a similar topic and add your personal “touches” to it. We may have related experiences, but no two experiences are exactly the same. This is one way of taking advantage of your individuality.

And lastly,

10. Thinking That Blogging is Dead

Never. Blogging is still at its peak. Blogging in the Philippines is still very active. Vlogs will not kill blogs. I’d say blogs are here to stay and will continue to dominate search engines. Visit the website of any company you know, and there will always be a link for “blog” or “news” in their main page. That is how they survive online, more than just selling their products or services.

For us bloggers, our blog in itself is our product. Keep on writing and sharing. It’s true that there are lots of negative impressions about blogging and bloggers. Do not focus on those. Instead, aspire to be one of the bloggers who spread positive impressions (and earn those page impressions)!

I wish you the best of luck on your blogging. Be an inspiration!

Cheers!!!