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PostonFire Is Hot!!
2008-02-29 01:42:00
I've recently joined PostonFire, a social bookmarking/networking site that has all the services and features of the bigger, and more established social networking groups. And to a small blogger like me, this is a very good social networking tool that I am hoping would reap benefits for my blog. With PostonFire a blogger can submit his post on the site where other bloggers can discover and vote if they like what is submitted. Unlike the other big networking groups where the already popular blogs dominate, PostonFire has the most breakthrough potential for the ordinary blogger. PostonFire is still in its early stages but it is already experiencing rapid growth. For us bloggers who are waiting for the next big wave that will take our blog to whatever height we imagine, this site has the capability to take us where we want to go. And now is the best time to join.
More About: Social Networking

Coming Soon: More Fresh & Free Blogger Templates
2008-02-28 13:04:00
I'm cooking up something to feature here a fresh new batch of free blogger templates. Recognizing the need for other bloggers who would rather have the simple two column templates, I have shortlisted some of the more awesome free blogger templates I've come across the web. And then there's some new 3-column blogger template releases that will just blow your mind away.Stay tuned!
More About: Blogger , Templates , Free , Fresh

The End Of My Free Blogger Template Search
2008-02-23 12:27:00
I am loving my new look right now. Having discovered WP Premium template from eBlogtemplates.com I immediately changed my previous free blogger template to this theme. I think it gives the site a really professional look and also allows the blogger to post as many ads as he wants.R. Bhavesh's conversion of the WP Premium them from wordpress to blogger is commendable. When before, I can only drool at the super cool designs of wordpress templates, I'm now actually using one but with one distinction. I'm using this template with blogger-- easily the most user-friendly blogging platforms around.
More About: Blogger , Free , Search , Template

Ten Of The Best Free Blogger Templates
2008-02-22 18:00:00
Like most bloggers, I am always on the lookout for free blogger templates that I can download. I have scoured the internet for blogger themes that will present my posts the way I wanted them to be presented. Most of the time, the more beautiful blog templates I find are wordpress templates. There are times that I have contemplated moving to wordpress but blogger, I believe, despite the lack of pretty themes, provides some intangible benefits that wordpress doesn't give- like allowing the blogger to write sponsored ads or post ads on their blog. Sure you can host your blog somewhere outside of wordpress so you can do whatever you want, but it's too much hassle. Thus I stick to blogger.In the course of my blog template search, I have come across some templates that were originally created for wordpress but were converted to blogger. This makes life very good for blogger fanatics like myself.Below, I am posting those templates that I think are worth a blogger's time. Sure you...
More About: Blogger , Templates , Free

2008 Wishlist
2008-02-18 16:36:00
I read about a friend’s wishlist for the year and it seems like a good idea so I’m making one for myself. I have to say this one has got my materialistic beast unleashed. Here we go.Sony Bravia 42” HDTV – ever since I bought my PS3, I have always longed to pair it with one of them large HDTVs, if there’s anything I’ll be saving up for this year, this is it. Guitar Hero for PS3 – as a musical instrument handicapped person, I hope that getting this one would have me really interested in playing the guitar. I love music too so this shouldn’t be too painful. I’m not yet sure if this is actually like the real thing though. Virtual Tennis game for PS3 – I’ve been longing to buy this game for the longest time. Perhaps this is the year. 8Gb iPod – this should go well with my MacBook. iPhone – same as #4 Clamshell Phone – I know this is just clutter, but this is my wishlist-- so back off. Parker Pen (the more expensive variety $20 worth) – I think I can buy this...
More About: Wishlist , 2008

Making Money The Traditional Way
2008-01-31 08:51:00
That is, getting a job. A recent blog entry in Michael Arrington?s Techcrunch, claims that graduating Computer Science students from Stanford University are being offered as much as $95K to join either Google or Facebook; those with a Masters in CS are also offered up to $130K. These are whopping amounts by third world standards. In my country, the Philippines, that?s already a Senior VP salary in some big company. Surely we have some really good graduating CS students who may even be considered at par with some of these Stanford graduates. Why don?t these two companies target them and hire them at half the cost?Unfortunately, the big companies would rather focus their attention on these Ivy League schools to get their workers. The fact that third world countries? quality of education leaves much to be desired doesn?t help either. What these big companies should do in my opinion is to think long term. If you want to hire the best people, why skim off the top? Why not start a grassro...
More About: Money , Show Me the Money , Traditional

The IZEA Rank Has Landed
2008-01-22 04:19:00
This may be a bit late, but have you checked your IZEA Rank lately?At last the IZEA ranking system (also known as Real Rank) is here and I can?t be too excited about it. Although I don?t do much paid posts (except for a couple of entries to test the services of Smorty) and I am not even a member of PPP, I am still very pleased with this development. The reason why the IZEA Rank is making my heart sing is because I believe it is a giant step towards making Google?s PageRank a little less relevant. It somehow throws a little dirt in PageRank?s eye that could cause it to blink and loosen its stranglehold on all this page ranking brouhaha.Obviously I am not a fan of monopoly in all its forms. Those who have absolute power tend to disregard other people?s feelings to say the least?the recent PR carnage immediately comes to mind. With the introduction of the IZEA ranking system, at least one group (with so many members) has been freed from the clutches of PR.It should be a great start.___...
More About: Blogging

Niche Blogging
2008-01-01 09:02:00
What is a niche blog?This question is usually asked by the curious and those who have big blogging appetites. By appetite I mean the ambitious blogger's traffic hopes and dreams. I say this because the casual blogger more often than not only has a generic blog. This is not to condescend generic blogging. Having a generic blog is alright. You can tackle a variety of issues, explore a lot of interests/topics without baffling your readers. A generic blog after all is designed to quench the casual blogger's appetite for everything under the sun.For those who entertain thoughts of grandeur however, unless you are a celebrity with a huge following, niche blogging is the way to go.The most appropriate definition of a niche relevant to this post is that it is "a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted." The definition is admittedly simplistic, but to expound on this definition for the purpose of this entry; a niche is a specialized area where the ...
More About: Blogging , Niche

Beyond PageRank: The Ethics of Sponsored Posts
2007-12-12 17:02:00
Even before the PR devastation that Google brought on the hapless Pay Per Post bloggers, the idea of the very existence of sponsored posts has been put into question. While some bloggers view it as a very good opportunity for cashing on their blogs, there are others still who believe that the advent of sponsored posts brought about the end of the blogosphere?s age of innocence. When before, blogging was purely a tool for self-expression, an online diary if you will, now it has become a platform where advertisers, for a minimal fee, can ask bloggers to write favorably about their products and services. For some, this transaction is tantamount to selling the bloggers soul. While this observation may appear extreme, it has nonetheless some grain of truth.Some quarters view the sponsored post phenomenon as nothing short of the plague. Their contention is that sponsored posts pollute the blogosphere. They say that while there are bloggers who care about the products that they review...
More About: Pagerank , Ethics , Blogging , Sponsored , Posts

A Beginners Guide To The Inner Workings Of A Sponsored Post
2007-12-08 15:53:00
The issue on the the vanishing page rank of Pay Per Post bloggers has been the internet rage for the past few weeks. I have even written a related post regarding Google?s penalty binge. The specific issue on PPP however is worth lingering on as it has caused a great deal of stress on those who look to PPP as a major revenue source. There?s no surprise there as PPP opportunities is directly proportional to PageRank scores, i.e. the higher the PR the more opportunities in PPP.And now that some of these bloggers are left holding an empty PR, what happens to their opportunities? PPP has assured its members that they will be coming up with an alternative algorithm to Google?s PR, one they call RealRank.But that is fodder for another post.In this entry I will be talking about the fundamentals of a sponsored post, why it?s very compelling for advertisers, where Google comes in, and how the newbie blogger can avoid the penalties imposed by Google.Related Posts:1. What Is A Sponsored Po...
More About: Blogging , Guide , Workin

What Is A Sponsored Post And How Do You Get A Piece Of The Action
2007-12-08 15:52:00
A sponsored post is a write-up on a particular product or service that an advertiser offers. The usual channel for advertisers to promote their products on blogs is via online advertising marketplaces such as Pay Per Post , Smorty, PayU2Blog, and Sponsored Reviews just to name a few. Through these marketplaces, advertisers get to reach out to thousands of bloggers who are only too willing to write about the advertisers? products and services for a fee. Although bloggers are given a free rein as to how they structure their posts, these online marketplaces require specific keywords and anchor texts to be embedded in the blogger?s posts.Except for some minor differences, these marketplaces basically operate the same way; a required minimum number of words with the anchor-text and link included, a period for review to check if the post merits approval, and once approved, payment is made to the blogger. The most popular payment method being Paypal. It?s also fairly easy to join these...
More About: Action , Blogging , Piece

The Compelling Argument For Advertisers (Cool By Association)
2007-12-08 15:40:00
It is no secret that blogging is the emerging force in internet marketing. This is why even corporate giants come up with their own corporate blogs. Blogs are also updated regularly. This gives search engines fresh material daily for them to index. Because of the regularity of search engine indexing, blogs are therefore seen as a very appetizing vehicle for companies to market their products and services. What?s In It For Advertisers ? When bloggers avail of an opportunity to write about an advertisers products and services in exchange for a fee. These bloggers are required to embed keywords and anchor texts within the post that they create and publish in their blogs. Keywords are the phrases that internet users use to describe the things that they want to search for in the internet. Anchor texts on the other hand are the hyperlinked texts that are clickable and which points to another page on the web. In sponsored post speak, anchor-texts are keywords that are hyperlink...
More About: Blogging , Cool , Association , Vert

The Sinister Agenda
2007-12-08 15:35:00
Requiring keywords and anchor-texts within a blogger?s post seems like a fair deal in exchange for a couple of dollars in the blogger?s point of view. Most bloggers usually start out posting free content, and if they are paid for doing what they love, then that?s just fantastic! Unfortunately there?s more to sponsored posts than meets the eye. To the ordinary paid blogger, writing the post, including the keywords and the anchor-texts, posting it in his blog, and getting paid for it is pretty harmless. And it is. Except that in the general scheme of things, these harmless posts get Google?s attention.Enter Google the Dragon By embedding anchor texts for a specific company in a post, what some bloggers do not realize is that this counts as an inbound link for that company. In Google?s PR algorithm, this is considered 1 editorial vote. What this does to the linked company is that it actually raises his PageRank rating!Consider this; let?s say Company A has set aside $10,000 in ...
More About: Blogging , Agenda , Sinister

What?s The Antidote?
2007-12-08 15:28:00
Is there a cure? Or a way out for the sponsored poster in all this blog shed (harhar)? Basing on Google's quality guidelines adding the rel="nofollow" tag to the anchor text for your sponsored posts should be enough as a preventive measure. That should be a bullet-proof defense for holding on to your PR. Unless of course, the rumors are true.Rumor has it that Google lieutenants tasked to implement the purge merely type PPP, PayU2blog, and other online marketplace names and then decimate the PRs of those blogs containing these keywords. This is a bit farfetched though but if this is the case, then God help us all. If you have already received the penalty, and you want your PR back badly, you can always ask for reconsideration like what some sites have done. It could work but it?s not a guaranteed solution.But still you can try. There were stories of Google actually giving back some blog?s PR after their request.Personal ViewWhat Google has done is level the playing field for a...
More About: Blogging

Blogger Or Wordpress: That Is The Question
2007-12-05 16:14:00
There's a raging debate going on even until today as to which blogging platform is better. I searched the above title in google and came up with 6,590 hits on the exact phrase. Clearly this is a debate that is foremost in the hearts and minds of anyone who has blogged and even those who are attempting to blog.The most informative discussion I came on this whole blogger vs wordpress thing is from Pulsed. He's got a chart lined up comparing the features of these two giants of the blogging industry.I find it very refreshing that these two platforms, while going after generally the same market, still offer very unique and distinct features when it would have been really easy for them to copy from each other. Instead, they try and develop more and more features that can only benefit all bloggers which is a very good thing. By trying to outdo each other, they are raising the bar for all future blogging platform entrants. This is textbook competition and we all should be very than...
More About: Wordpress , Blogger , Question , Blogging

Business Continuity Plan For Your Blog
2007-11-24 07:02:00
Prior to 9/11, businesses were all secure with their data security and recovery plans. Daily back-ups and enhanced system security were considered sufficient to prevent business disruptions and to restore normalcy in case of system crashes.When the September 11 attacks happened, more than the unfortunate loss of lives, several businesses were caught holding empty bags as they watched their offices crumble along with their servers and data vaults. Huge amounts of business data were irretrievably lost. Some businesses barely recovered and some eventually folded.The 9/11 attacks served as a catalyst for businesses to take business continuity planning to the next level. Companies were scrambling to house their critical data in separate locations, backup plans became more elaborate, and business continuity plans became the norm. All these efforts were geared towards ensuring that their businesses would weather any similar attacks or disruptions in the future.Blog ging is no different...
More About: Business , Plan , Continuity

Run or Learn: Handling Negative Blog Reactions
2007-11-22 04:11:00
It shouldn't come as a surprise that not all comments we receive from our blogging efforts are positive. This is not exactly a goody-two-shoes world where people will not say something if they do not have anything nice to say. Especially in the internet where people can bask in their anonymity and speak their uncensored views, eventually receiving negative feedback is a given.Over the past two days, I read two blog posts that dealt with these negative comments, one is from Caroline-Middlebrook.com who received some rather colorful comments when she tried to thank those who stumbled upon her blog, and another from that 14-year old wunderkind resident of carlocab.com. In Carlo's case an article he submitted to digg got flamed, and apparently, reading from his article on negative comments, it wasn't the first time that it happened.The Two Way Approach There are only two ways to handle negative reactions or comments:Either you run from it, or you learn from it.The middle ground, w...
More About: Blogging , Blog , Learn , Negative , Reaction

Google: All Your Blogs Are Belong To Us
2007-11-20 15:33:00
Can you feel that? It?s Google flexing its muscles.With just two words ? Page Rank ? Google has eased itself into the Internet?s consciousness. In a short period of time it has everyone awed and befuddled by its Page Rank invention. Make no mistake about it, Page Rank, by any other name is Google?s invention. And it has sole proprietary rights over it.If restaurant owners the world over rise and fall with their Michelin stars, in recent years, websites take pride in their Page Rank that Google, by some sweet and secret algorithm, confers on netizens. Ideally, it?s supposed to put things in their proper perspective; Relevant and influential blogs for example are awarded higher PageRanks. As far as the known variables go, on-page characteristics, content analysis, and link popularity determine a site?s relative importance.Page Rank MisusePage Rank does not guarantee traffic. What it does however is open opportunities for blog owners with high Page Ranks to put premium on their sites. ...
More About: Blogging , Blogs , Belo

How To Earn P1Million A Year From Blogging
2007-11-18 06:10:00
Inspired by InternetDuctTape.________________________ ________________Like this post? Please subscribe to my feed .
More About: Blogging , Earn , Year , Show Me the Money

Pay Per Post: 4 Cautionary Tips To Still Get Paid Without Losing Your Blog
2007-11-15 11:50:00
I first came accross paid blogging during my emo blogging days. I visited a friends' blog expecting to read about his usual rants regarding the banality of his existence but instead I found myself reading stuff I've never known him to be interested about. I felt like I stepped into the twilight zone.I checked the site to see if I had made a mistake. I was exactly where I wanted to be. I scratched my head and wondered who this person is, why is he talking about rhinoplasty, and what has he done to my friend? It was a tiny button at the end of his entry that informed me that it was a paid post. I was relieved but I certainly was disconcerted at first.For those not in the know, sponsored posts are paid posts where bloggers provide a plug for whatever product or service is being pushed by those get paid to blog sites. Depending on the page rank of a particular blog, fees for sponsored posts can range from $5 dollars to as much as $200 per post. Not a bad deal considering that you onl...
More About: Tips , Post , Blog , Paid , Pay Per Post

Click Through For A Cause
2007-11-12 11:19:00
By now you may have noticed that I have enhanced my blog with Snap. My apologies if this comes as an annoyance, but before you dismiss Snap altogether, please note that I am not putting this here for aesthetics nor for any revenue-generating purpose. True, in the past couple of days, Snap has aligned itself with advertisers. Perhaps it?s their way of monetizing their plug-in and providing those who installed this plug-in with an alternative source of income.In my case however, if you linger enough and wait for the Snap bubble to settle momentarily, you will notice that the advertisement just at the bottom of the bubble will be that of not-for-profit organizations. This is a customizable feature of Snap that allows the blogger to donate all the money that will be generated by all the click throughs to the charitable foundations of their own choosing. I chose UNICEF.So before you leave this site, kindly click through some of the adverts inside the Snap bubble. I?m not making any money...
More About: Click , Special Interest

Blog Pacing: Because You Don't Want To Blog Yourself To A Heart Attack
2007-11-11 06:05:00
It's addicting, isn't it?People visiting your blog, reading your entries, leaving you comments on how they enjoyed your latest post; it's like your wildest writing fantasy has come true. Some of these comments can literally make your head spin. They inspire you and motivate you to come out with another killer post. Sometimes they pump you up so bad that you're choking full of ideas and you feel like you're going to burst if you don't put them all down in writing. So you're doing just that-- writing at a feverish pitch, enjoying this burst of manic creativity, posting as if blogging is going out of style that even your readers have a hard time catching up with you.A word to the wise however, you may want to leave something in the tank. Blog ging at breakneck speed is not only dangerous to your neck but may prove to be counter-productive in the long run. Heck, even the energizer bunny runs out of juice sooner or later and will have to recharge his battery. Where will you ...
More About: Heart , Heart Attack , Attack

Tech Roundup #3: The Cool, The Bizaare, The Profligate
2007-11-10 07:19:00
The Cool EuphoniaHere's a headset that's guaranteed not to shock you. The Euphonia headset from Bainultra is a waterproof headphone that connects wirelessly to a companion wall-mounted mp3 player.It's a nifty companion for those lazy nights when you want to forget about office stress and just drown in the soothing voice of Nina Simone in your bathtub without having to worry about electrocution and tripping over pesky wires.Can I start humming now?[via Ubergizmo]Paramagnetic PaintA car that changes color just by pushing a button? You have to admit, that's coolness to the highest degree! You get up in the morning and say to yourself, 'hmm, i need to be in touch with my feminine side today'. So you go to work in your hot pink BMW Roadster. Machismo be damned.The secret is a "special polymer containing paramagnetic iron oxide particles," which is applied to the whip's exterior; an "applied electric current then adjusts the spacing of small crystals within the iron oxide parti...
More About: Tech , Roundup

Got Mad Skills? Google May Come Knocking On Your Door
2007-11-07 14:39:00
I read about this blog post a couple of days ago. It relates the story of a young Filipino software engineer's brush with that internet giant, Google . Her story started with an email from someone apparently from Google asking her if she's interested in one of their open engineering positions. Of course she ignored the email thinking that it was just another of those spam mails. Who could blame her, right? She did not exactly send in her resume to Google. And why would a gargantuan company be interested in her?A couple of days later, she received a phone call from the same person, who now wants to do a phone interview with her to which she agreed. A few more very lengthy (and according to her, very entertaining)technical interviews followed after which her interviewers determined that she was to proceed to the 'next step'. At this time, the position she would be applying for became clear, if hired she would be one of Google's Software Engineer in Test.The 'next step' tu...
More About: Skills , Door

Web Sightings! Websites That Make You Go Hmm..
2007-11-06 12:22:00
This is the official launch of this blog's segment. Yeah, right. :) But I kid you not, the sites I feature here are definitely gonna make you go hmmm...Starting off with tempinbox.com.Sometimes, even with us not wanting to, we gravitate towards some sites that are not suitable for minors to say the least. And sometimes also, despite our usual sensible selves, we find ourself registering to this sites to satisfy our curiousity for the baser area of knowledge. Unfortunately because of our excitement, we sometimes use our personal emails to register. This results to a whole lot of spanking, err spamming which in the long run makes us abandon that favorite yahoo or gmail email we have.Tempinbox.com provides an easy solution. As its name suggests, it is a temporary inbox make primarily for this purpose. Say you need to register in a particular website but you'll be damned if they get you with their spamming ways again. Since it's going to be a one time deal, you use tempinbox....
More About: Sightings , Websites , Make

Tech Roundup #2: The Cool, The Bizaare, The Profligate
2007-11-05 15:31:00
The cool thing about technology is that it never fails to give you things to write about. Here's the second issue of my Tech Roundup . If you missed the first one, you can read about it here.The Cool Levitating LampThis may look creepy to some. Levitation? Sounds like the Exorcist to me. But once you get over that crazy paranoia and begin to admire the simplicity and coolness of this lampshade, you'll be amazed by how it actually levitates.Crealev via EngadgetAircraft MouseThis is by far the sleekiest mouse I've ever seen. Makes you want to admire it all day, doesn't it? I hope this one flies to Asia already.Design Town via [Gizmodo]USB LighterNever thought getting cancer could be this cool! Instead of the usual flame, this USB lighter uses "resistance coils to light your cigarette". It can also be charged by anything that offers a USB slot. Smoking![via Gizmodo]The BizaareBoeing 727 Jet LimoNeed a lift? How about this baby? This is up for grabs at eBay and reportedly ...

The Realities of Problogging
2007-11-04 18:38:00
So you want to be a problogger? You've figured that the 8-5 daily crunch doesn't work for you anymore, and since you're a reasonably adept blogger you think that you can already make it in the somewhat lucrative world of problogging. You scanned the net and you find that, hey I can probably make a decent enough living writing sponsored posts! You even think that if you get big enough, money would also come rolling in via site ads, Google Adsense and other affiliate programs.This is all well and good, but before you quit your day job, here are a few things that you really need to think about.1. Ask yourself this question. Is my decision to go full time blogging borne out of a well thought out decision, or was I just having a difficult time in the office?Sometimes, just because we had an emotionally charged encounter with the boss we already think of quitting our jobs and try our hand at something else. This is not a very good idea. Making hasty emotional decisions can be ve...
More About: Blogging

Why Do You Want To Blog?
2007-11-04 18:23:00
/align> Try searching in Google for the key words 'blogging for beginners' today and it will show you at least 2,650,000 links relating to this subject. Put in the key words 'why blog' and it will show you more than 315,000,000 hits. It's not exactly a bad thing, but sometimes it paralyzes the searcher with the sheer number of posts and ideas about blogging.These links will tell you how easy it is to have your own blog; how getting your blog address is easy as pie, how you can just pick it up from any one of those blogging sites, scribble a few words, click publish and your blog will be up and running in minutes. Some of these links will even show you how you can make money off your blog and then cite a few bloggers who have made it big.However, before you get carried away and start having delusions of internet grandeur, pause for a moment and try to answer this question;Why do you want to blog? (What is your goal? What is your motivation?)This is a question that is just b...
More About: Blogging , Blog

How To Integrate StumbleUpon To Your Blogger Blog To Get Massive Traffic
2007-11-04 14:21:00
One of the not-so-well-known source of blog traffic is StumbleUpon. Most bloggers rely heavily on targeted keywords, networking, and reciprocal links to get the necessary hits for their blog. There are some as well who have written worthy articles and managed to get their articles dugg, yes, that's the past tense of digg, one of the more popular bookmarking tools in the internet.Yet looking at the popular discussion boards where bloggers share their average hits and more importantly where the volume of these hits come from, showed that a large volume of traffic come from StumbleUpon. Some bloggers even claim that at least 50% of their hits are sourced from Stumblers. This is a staggering percentage of traffic and one that could not be ignored.Armed with this discovery, I did some research on how I could also tap into this rich traffic resource. I looked around and read some articles, and one of the few things that I really found helpful was on the site of StumbleUpon itself.If ...
More About: Blogger , Traffic , Blogging , Blog , Stumbleupon

Network, or Die: An Irreverent Online Survival Tip For Aspiring Bloggers
2007-11-03 20:53:00
Here?s a question;?What keyword can you still possibly put forth that will assure you of a page one result in Google?? Chances are there aren?t many. And if you do come up with one, it?s going to be something that only a few folks would even think about searching. Think somewhere along the lines of ?mating habits of hermaphrodite iguanas?. That should be a trip.Kidding aside, search engine optimization with its vaunted keyword analysis and optimal positioning can only do so much. Nowadays if you?re blogging about a mainstream idea, there isn?t enough wiggle room there to sort of inch your way through your target audience?s consciousness. But it would be stupid of me to disparage SEO techniques and the wonders it could do to promoting your blog. It?s a proven method that works and that?s why everybody?s messing around with it.Another proven method, one that is as old as the world itself and is available to any blogger, is networking. This should be an easy enough skill to mas...
More About: Blogging , Network , Bloggers , Online , Survival