Blogging from Home Book by Janette Toral

bloggingfromhome

Written and Published by
Janette C. Toral

* Australia * Philippines *

To my family who made me complete.

To DigitalFilipino.com Club members who believed in me.

To all bloggers whose passion and talent kept my feet on the ground.

And to the Charles Stuart Library for its overflowing knowledge resources.

Blogging from Home
Copyright 2008, Janette Toral, All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-
mitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.

When ordering this title, use ISBN 978-0-9805061-0-5

Publisher: Janette Toral
• 4 Dominion Avenue
Findon South Australia
5023 Australia
• 51 Sapphire St.
Fern Village Tandang Sora
Quezon City
1116 Philippines

Cover Design and Layout: Antonio Bucu • http://soundclick.com/XManila

Feedback to the author: digitalfilipino@gmail.com
Author website: http://www.bloggingfromhome.com

This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, respecting the
contents of this book, including but not limited to implied warranties for the book’s quality, per-
formance, merchantability, or fitness for any purpose. Trademark and service mark terms used in
this book are the property of the trademark holders. Used of a term in this book should not be
regarded as affecting the validity of a trademark or service mark.

INTRODUCTION

Why call it Blogging from Home?
I first heard of blogging around 1999. At that time, blog technology is not
good enough to meet my needs for a personal home page and accommodate
requirements to promote my first book.
Today, blogs evolved as a medium for self-expression, knowledge sharing,
advocacy promotion, debate on critical issues, events marketing, revenue
generation, among others.
In 2006, I released the free Blogging 101 Workshop Online trial e-book
that intends to teach interested Internet users on how to blog. Improvements
were made since, that led to this book today.
The title, Blogging from Home, was inspired from my current lifestyle. I blog
from home, whether in the Philippines or in Australia, and pursue my passions
in life.
For this book, in a simple manner, I will share how to do the following:
1. Create a blog to suit your needs.
2. Explore possible blog uses.
3. Provide insight on copyright and deal with those who violate it.
4. Discuss marketing practices to increase blog traffic.
5. Tackle 3rd-party advertising or revenue program for extra income.
6. How to create your own ad revenue program.

Who is the author of Blogging from Home?
Janette Toral is a freelance writer, blogger, trainer, consultant, and online
community owner who spend most of her time at home, whether in Australia
or the Philippines.
She conducts training on blogging, e-mail marketing, e-newsletter creation,
search engine optimization, website performance enhancement, e-commerce set-
up, social network marketing, software process improvement, services exporting,
among others.
She has a blog advertising and content writers network that started last
January 2007.
Her full profile is posted at http://www.janettetoral.com.

Blogging from Home

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .......................................................................................................3
Chapter I: Blogging 101 ...................................................................................7
Definition .....................................................................................................7
Purpose .......................................................................................................8
Structure .................................................................................................. 10
Finding blogs ........................................................................................... 12
Set-up ....................................................................................................... 14
Blog Information ............................................................................... 14
Platform ............................................................................................. 16
Look and feel .................................................................................... 18
Podcast .............................................................................................. 19
Video blogging (vlog) ...................................................................... 23
Chapter II: Blog Ethics ................................................................................... 27
Policy .......................................................................................................... 27
Copyright ............................................................................................ 27
Re-publishing .................................................................................... 30
Advertising ........................................................................................ 31
Privacy ................................................................................................. 33
Chapter III: Content Development ................................................................ 35
Purpose .................................................................................................... 35
Writing ..................................................................................................... 35
Tracking Topics ........................................................................................ 39
Monitoring Blog Performance ............................................................... 40
Chapter IV: Promotion .................................................................................... 47
Ping ........................................................................................................... 47
Advertise .................................................................................................. 48
Events ....................................................................................................... 53
Contests and Writing Projects ............................................................. 58
Social Networks ...................................................................................... 61
Giveaways ................................................................................................ 67
Advocacy ................................................................................................... 69
Chapter V: Insights ........................................................................................ 71
Blogging ................................................................................................... 71
Opportunities .......................................................................................... 75
Creating a Blog Advertising Network .................................................. 80
Creating a Blog Writers Network ......................................................... 83
Conclusion: Blogging Ahead .......................................................................... 85

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BLOggINg FROM HOME MINDMAP
by Janette Toral (http://www.bloggingfromhome.com)

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Blogging from Home

CHAPTER I
BLOggINg 101
DefinitiOn
What is a blog?
a website

a blog

A blog is like a website but in a journal format, personal in its tone, and arranged
according to date. While a traditional website usually has category or sections
and formal in its presentation.
Blog owners normally post articles or short notes they want to share, personal
or otherwise.

http://aileenapolo.blogspot.com is Aileen Apolo’s personal blog
where she shares her personal insight and experiences.

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Blogging from Home

Companies use blogs to disseminate information and keep in touch with their
customers. Blogs can also act as a website where information on products and
services offered can be presented.

http://ww.artisme.com.ph is a blog site of Gallery 7 Digital Studio
promoting its various services.

http://regaloservicenotes.blogspot.com is Reggie Bundang’s blog focused
on new RegaloService.com product offerings and shopping tips.

8

Chapter i: Blogging 101

PurPOse
People can find blogs useful for different reasons including:
1. Personal sharing - Some bloggers share their life, experiences, knowledge,
photos, point of view, recipes, travel, adventure, among others.
2. Business - Entrepreneurs and companies utilize blogs to disseminate
information and elicit feedback. Examples are:
a. Educate the consumer - Give tips to help the person make better use of
your products and services.
b. Promotion - Spread the word about new offerings.
c. Leadership - An informal way to keep in touch with customers and
company stakeholders. Depending on company policy, this can be an
independent and personal site.
3. Advocacy – Start or support a cause such as an awareness campaign or
a non-profit organization.

Aklatang Pambata (http://www.aklatangpambata.org) advocates to make teachers, parents
and community members partners in promoting reading for children.

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Blogging from Home

struCture
Parts of a blog
Most blogs have the following common features (fig. 2):

1. Blog posts are arranged according to the date created and/or

published.

2. A blog post can contain a combination of text, links to other websites,

pictures, video, audio recording, among others.

3. Allow readers to post comments. Depending on the blogging platform,

it will also show blogs that link to your post or otherwise known as

trackback.

4. A short bio and photo of the blog owner.

5. Each blog post can be categorized (tagged or labeled). Clicking on these

will show other blog posts marked with the same tag.

6. Clicking on the blog post title or timestamp will show the blog post

permalink.

7. May contain advertisements, call for donation, or a wish list.

8. Fixed links to other websites or referred to as a blogroll.

9. Archives that visitors can click on and read past blog entries.

10. Search feature for users looking for something specific in the blog.

11. Subscribe to blog feeds through really simple syndication or RSS.

12. Feeds from other blogs. This is often done to promote another site.

10

10
6
1

2

8

5 12

7

3

11
4

9

fig. 2: Anatomy of a blog

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Blogging from Home

finDing BlOgs
Blogs can be a resource when looking for experiences or point of view on
various topics. For example, you want to visit Sagada, but have no idea about it.
You can search for this topic in blog search engines or directory.
Oftentimes, these are unbiased and blog owners are likely to respond to
inquiries on how they went about it.
You can search for blogs using sites like technorati (http://www.technorati.
com) or google Blog search (http://blogsearch.google.com). Another would
be directories like MyBloglog (http://www.mybloglog.com).
If you are starting a blog, it is practical to research other blogs, get inspiration
from, and connect with them later on.

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DISCUSSION 01:

1. Do you find blogs useful? How?

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Blogging from Home

set-uP
Blog Information
When I was new to blogging, can’t help to just create one on the fly without
giving much thought and adjust later on.
But now, I prepare the following for easy set-up and registration:
• Blog title or name – It must be easy to remember, descriptive, and can not
be misspelled. “Reflective Thinker” is better compared to “My blog”.
• Blog URL – Use one that resonates with the blog name.
• Description – Gives an idea what your blog is all about or intends to achieve.
“Personal reflection on books read and life in general” is better than “My Thoughts
and Ideas.”
• Keywords – You need to have 18 keywords ready for your blog. This will
be useful to claim ownership for technorati (http://www.technorati.com)
listing.
Keywords identification can be done at Wordtracker (http://freekeywords.
wordtracker.com). Validate if the keywords you desire are being search by
people. Results you’ll come up with can guide in spotting potential topics or
categories too.

14


Blog Information for Set-Up
Having the following information on-hand can be helpful when creating your blog
and when submitting it to various blog directories.
Example:

Name of Blog: Blogging from Home by Janette Toral
Website address: http://www.bloggingfromhome.com
RSS feed: http://www.bloggingfromhome.com/feeds/posts/default
Description: A journal of Janette Toral’s upcoming book that shares her
blogging from home experience.
Target audience: Home-based aspiring bloggers
Keywords or tags: (Have at least 18 keywords ready)
Blog marketing create a blog vlog
Make money blogging how to blog blog directories
Blogging advice blogging guides amateur blog
Blog software what is a podcast what is a blog
Blogging tips blogging podcast
Blog work from home work at home

Name of Blog:
Website address:
RSS feed:
Description:
Target audience:
Keywords or tags: (Have at least 18 keywords ready)

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Blogging from Home

Platform
There are many facilities online that can be used to start a blog, whether free
or paid.
If you are just a beginner and want to explore if blogging is for you, sign-up
on any of the following services and try it out:
1. Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) - Blogger is a free blog site creation
service. I find Blogger to be the most user-friendly to date that offers the
following features:
• Moderate comments to avoid spam getting published in your blog. You can
also turn on word verification for additional security.
• Option of hosting the blog in your server.
• Use its default blogspot domain or buy a domain name and point to it.
• Google recently acquired this site and offers easy integration with Google
AdSense (http://www.google.com/adsense) for advertising revenue
generation.
• If trackback is enabled, you’ll find other blogs linking to your blog post.
• You can assign an e-mail address to post blog entries through e-mail.
• Blog template is customizable.

http://www.bloggingfromhome.com is hosted and maintained in Blogger.com.
Its old web address was http://blogging101workshop.blogspot.com.

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2. WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com) - Wordpress is another
popular free blogging service due to its easy-to-use interface. It is ideal for
those who don’t intend to monetize their blogs because of commercialization
restrictions of the free hosting service. Otherwise, an option would be is to
avail of WordPress from a web hosting service provider. This allows you to
configure it further.

http://workwithria.wordpress.com is a personal blog site of Maria Jose
where she tackles various work and freelance concerns. It is hosted in WordPress.

A unique and customized WordPress-based free blog service
can be found at i.ph (http://www.i.ph).

3. social networks - There are popular blog services that has a social network
component or vice-versa. This is where you can add friends and share updates
easily. Most of them sends a notice to your friends list whenever a new blog,
photo or video upload, and any profile update is made. This includes:
• LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com)
• Friendster (http://www.friendster.com)
• MySpace (http://www.myspace.com)
• Multiply (http://www.multiply.com)
• Vox (http://www.vox.com)
• Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com)
• Uber (http://www.uber.com)
• MSN Live Spaces (http://spaces.live.com/)
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Blogging from Home

4. Paid blogging sites
• Blogit (http://www.blogit.com) - If you want to blog and get paid, you can
subscribe to this service. They charge a monthly subscription fee. Half of
what you pay for gets distributed to those that you read, and that’s how
you earn as well.
• Typepad (http://www.typepad.com) - A fee-based blogging service.
• 3rd party blog hosting services - Run a blog using WordPress as your
platform and use for commercial purposes.

Look and feel
Most of the free blogging services today provide templates you can use. Just
choose one that suits you and customize from there.
Another option is to check out free or fee-based blog templates. The free ones
often have mandatory links recognizing its creator.
For companies, a popular choice is to have the blog theme customized. This is
where you hire a person or company to create one for your blog.
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Legend Hotel Palawan (http://blog.legendpalawan.com.ph/) has a customized blog theme to reflect
various travel stories to this popular tourist destination.

Register your blog
Once your blog is created, register and have it listed at Technorati (http://www.
technorati.com).
Other sites to consider are:
• MyBlogLog (http://www.mybloglog.com)
• BlogCatalog (http://www.blogcatalog.com)

DISCUSSION 02:

1. fill-up the blog information set-up and share
your thoughts.
2. Which blog platform will you use ? Why?

Podcast
A podcast is like a radio program where you can upload/download an audio
recording of a conversation or speech. It has an archive allowing listeners to
check out past episodes.
Listeners can search for new podcasts online and download ones they are
interested in. These can be played later on or be transferred to media players
such as a mobile phone, mp3 players, and the likes.
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Blogging from Home

Podcast can also complement traditional text-based blogs. You can do a voice
recording of your blog post for subscribers to download and listen to at their
own leisure time.
Podcast are often used for knowledge sharing, commentary, music news,
entertainment, among others.
finding a podcast
These are sites where you can find, listen, and submit your own podcast for
listing:
1. Podcast Pickle (http://www.podcastpickle.com)
2. Podcast Alley (http://www.podcastalley.com)
3. Podomatic (http://www.podomatic.com)
4. Yahoo Podcasts (http://podcasts.yahoo.com)
5. Odeo (http://www.odeo.com)
6. Podfeed (http://www.podfeed.net/)
7. Podcast Bunker (http://podcastbunker.com/)
8. Podcast.com (http://podcast.com
9. Apple Podcasts (http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html)

A podcast should be formatted like a real program that has a format from opening to its closing.

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How do i put up a podcast?
Plan your podcast program well. Decide on its:
• Title - Give a good title that will reflect what your podcast is all about.
• Description - A sentence or two giving perspective on the scope of your
program.
• Category - A theme for your podcast to guide potential subscribers. This
is not limited to one category.
• Frequency - A program schedule that listeners can look forward to.
• Segments - Here’s an example of a podcast episode that I used to have
at http://digitalfilipino.podomatic.com:
- Program id intro
- Opening and highlight what’s in the program today.
- Sponsor plug
- News and updates happening in DigitalFilipino.com.
- Feature (interview: face-to-face or phone)
- Ask Janette (answer a question received through e-mail)
- Wrap-up
- Sponsor plug
- Closing
- Program ID extro
• Business model - Is your podcast a hobby or business? If for business and
you are determined to do it regularly, you can charge for:
- advertising spots
- sales promotion
- links from your blog
- sponsored chat
You can also join podcast advertising networks like PodTrac (http://
www.podtrac.com) and Blubrry (http://www.blubrry.com).
These sites help podcasters sell advertising spaces in their program.
To prepare a site, some ask podcasters to integrate a listener survey,
code for traffic and download analysis, and creation of a media kit.
To make your media kit complete, promote your podcast program and
have it reviewed or be featured in publications.
What tools are needed in creating a podcast?
• A good microphone - This is plugged to your personal computer or get a
digital voice recorder.
Some cellphones have voice recording feature and equally useful for this
21

Blogging from Home

purpose. There are also voice chat tools that allows you to record a call, like
Skype (http://www.skype.com).
• Voice recording software - Download or buy a voice recording and editing
software. I use Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) for this purpose
and it is also free.
• Create an account with a podcast hosting service. Some of them are:
- Podomatic (http://www.podomatic.com)
- Odeo (http://www.odeo.com)
- Podbean (http://www.podbean.com)
- My Podcast (http://www.mypodcast.com/)
- Podango (http://www.podango.com)
- PodcastAloud (http://podcastaloud.com/)
- SolidCasts (http://www.solidcasts.com)
- TechnoChild (http://www.technochild.net/)
- Gcast (http://www.gcast.com)
Music - If you are going to use music in your podcast, make sure to get the
necessary permissions and licenses. However, if you are on a tight budget,
there are also free music that can be used and played in your podcast. You
can get some from:
1. Podsafe Audio (http://www.podsafeaudio.com/)
2. Magnatune (http://www.magnatune.com/info/podcast)
3. Podsafe Music Network (http://podsafemusicnetwork.com/)

Audacity (http://audacity .sourceforge.net) is a free audio recording
and editing software that is popular among podcasters.

DISCUSSION 03:

1. What podcast do you listen to? if none, search
for some online and share.
2. What do you think are the challenges in
podcasting?

22


Video blogging (vlog)
A video blog is like a TV program where you share knowledge, information, or
simply entertain your target audience.
It can complement a blog especially if you are featuring an interesting location,
event, friend, personality, among others. With faster bandwidth available today,
video blogging is expected to become more popular.

http://www.thisiscoy.net started as a video blog of Coy Caballes
when he was still in college sharing various adventures and activities.

http://www.yougottech.com is a group blog where its authors contribute
various videos on making technology understandable to readers.

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Blogging from Home

How do i put up a video blog?
Items to decide on are almost the same as creating a podcast (page 21).
What tools do you need to create a video blog?
• Digital camera, webcam, or mobile phone with video recording feature. Pick
one that is easy to carry and can record based on desired length of time.
• Video editing software. Examples are:
- Windows Movie Maker. A free software that comes with your Windows
XP installation. It can be used for editing of video and audio.
- Camtasia Studio. Another tool that you can use, especially for
recording onscreen computer demonstrations.

http://www.justin.tv/janettetoral is a live video site used by Janette Toral
to show event coverage as it happens.

• Video hosting account. You can open an account with sites like:
- Justin.tv (http://www.justin.tv). Ideal for those who love live coverage
and chat with audience. If you are not on the air, it will show past
episodes and other videos you’ve defined.
- YouTube (http://www.youtube.com). Almost every site today allows you
to easily embed a YouTube code to share videos.
- Revver (http://www.revver.com). I tend to be biased with Revver as
the site shows ads that viewers can click on. This allows you to earn
24

and can be feasible if you have regular video updates and growing
number of visitors.
- Veoh (http://www.veoh.com). If you are offering subscriptions, Veoh
can be an option and has format flexibility too.
- Blog sites. There are now blogging services that allows you to
upload videos too such as:
• Blogger (http://www.blogger.com)
• Multiply (http://www.multiply.com)
• Uber (http://www.uber.com)

Janin Toral
(http://revver.com/u/janinislove)
accommodates song requests and
posts them at her Revver site.

Christine Gambito, known
for her online video blog Happy
Slip (http://www.happyslip.com)
became a sensation with her
unique content.

Video hosting sites like Revver.com and YouTube.com allows embedding
of videos on hosted websites.

DISCUSSION 04:

1. Cite some video blogs that you watch and enjoy.
What do you like about them?

25

26
violations

reserved
copyright
creative commons
disclosure
policy
advertising box-ads

format text-ads

reviews

features
e-mail
privacy review

information

3rd-party tools
republishing wikipedia

pictures

CHAPTER II snippets
Blogging from Home

CHAPTER II
BLOg ETHICS
POliCy
Although blogs are platform for freedom of expression, there are ethical and
legal concerns that we must be sensitive to.
Copyright
All works, photos, and videos are copyrighted upon creation. It belongs to the
person who owns or made it. Unless you give explicit permission or guidelines,
no one can just re-use this. This is often referred to as “all rights reserved”.
If you are willing to have your work be used by others, following a specific
criteria, you may want to consider putting a Creative Commons license
(http://www.creativecommons.org). Here are rights that you can choose from:
• Attribution. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your
copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they
give credit the way you request.
• Noncommercial. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work—
and derivative works based upon it— but for noncommercial purposes only.

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Blogging from Home

• No Derivative Works. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform
only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
• Share Alike. You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a
license identical to the license that governs your work.
What should i do if a blog violates my copyright or plagiarize my
content?
One dilemma a writer face when publishing quality articles and blog posts is
being copied without permission and even attribution. This happened to me in
the Philippine Internet Review blog (http://philippineinternetreview.blogspot.com).
It is important to be vigilant, at a paranoid level, when it comes to protecting
your original work.
I use Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) to monitor interesting
topics and those that I write about. With this service, I discovered my articles
being posted in a newly created domain and blog site without permission.

To run after a copyright violator and plagiarist, especially those who took
effort of not disclosing their identity, these are the steps you can take:
1. Contact the violator and ask for your articles to be removed from their site.
Point to the copied article website address and the original article (from your
site). Just ask it straight. No need to be threatening or combative.
If you get ignored, or did not receive a reply within twenty-four hours, take
the next step.
2. Use the WhoIs service (http://whois.domaintools.com). Find out the violator’s
identity, domain registrar, and web hosting firm serving their needs. Send an
e-mail to the violator in response to your previous e-mail and this time copy
furnishing the web hosting service.
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Chapter ii: Blog ethics

3. Write to the web host provider. E-mail the one handling abuses and support
but copy furnish the billing department as well. Keep on doing this for every
additional violation you discover in the site.
4. ttack their source of income. Even if violators don’t disclose their identity
A
online, you’ll likely find it having advertisements in their blog site. Note
that these ad placement sites have strict provision not be used in any
illegal activity. Forward the e-mail complaint you have sent to the violator,
registrar, and web host to the ad placement site’s complaints and support
section to request cancellation of their account.
5. Alert other victims. You will likely find that the violator has not only plagiarized
your blog or site but of others as well. As the culprit did not show the source
of their articles, do a search on the title. Write to the author and alert of
a particular article that got copied from their site. Share the actions you’ve
taken and encourage them to complain.
There are escalation steps that I can take further if the violator’s site continues
to exist and plagiarize. Although usually, at this point, the blog will have been
suspended.
Always remain vigilant. At times, as one site goes down, the same copyright
violator will have another new blog and re-do the illegal activities all over again.

DISCUSSION 05:

1. talk to a blogger whose copyright was violated.
What has he or she done about it?

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Blogging from Home

Re-publishing
Can i re-publish a portion or full articles and pictures from websites
or blogs, with link to original work and full attribution, in my blog?
Re-publishing a paragraph for the purpose of giving a review may be possible
and can fall under fair use.
Otherwise, re-publishing photos and/or an article requires permission from the
owner. This you have to be careful with to save yourself from embarrassment.
Note that free blogging services and even web host services have copyright
violation as grounds for blog termination.
Can i copy articles from Wikipedia and post it in my blog?
Recognize Wikipedia as the source and link to its original copy with all the
necessary disclaimer.
Copying articles from Wikipedia, word for word, is also considered as verbatim
copying. Although it is not yet a policy, but rules suggested includes:
• Retaining the title of the page as is.
• Do not add, remove, or change any content or links.
• You can add or remove images.
As Wikipedia policies are evolving, it is best to read its verbatim copying
guidelines at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verbatim_copying.

DISCUSSION 06:

1. Cite an example of a blog post that quoted
excerpts or pictures from another blog. explain if
such is fair use or not.

30


Advertising
There are several ways that bloggers can now generate revenue online. This
includes:
• Direct sales - Sell products and services through your blog.
• Advertising - Accept ad placements. Sample formats include:
- Link per post. This is where a text link is added within a blog post.
- Review or feature. Write about a product or service.
- Sitewide ad. Image or text ad viewable on all pages of the site.
Advertisements can come in the form of direct placement where the fee is paid
upon agreement or approval. Examples are:
Foreign-based
• PayPerPost (http://www.payperpost.com)
• ReviewMe (http://www.reviewme.com)
• BlogToProfit (http://www.blogtoprofit.com/)
Philippines-based
• Mad Crowd Media (http://www.madcrowdmedia.com)
• Blog Bank (http://www.blogbank.com.ph)
• Blog2U Philippines (http://www.blog2u.com.ph)
• Ad Per Post (http://www.adperpost.com)
Another example is joining pay-per-click networks that compensates
whenever an ad is clicked.
• Google AdSense (http://www.google.com/adsense)
• TTZ Media (http://www.ttzmedia.com/)
• AdBrite (http://www.adbrite.com)

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Blogging from Home

• Affiliate program. Join existing website programs that offers incentive for
every sales generated. Examples are:
- Amazon (http://www.amazon.com)
- LinkShare (http://www.linkshare.com)
- Commission Junction (http://www.cj.com)

Do bloggers who generate revenue from their blog should disclose?
It is a matter of discretion. I believe that each blogger is responsible for their
own blog. You can do whatever with it. Bloggers follow the policies given by the
advertising networks and revenue programs they joined.
If readers don’t like what they see, they can easily tune out by not visiting
your blog anymore or unsubscribe from your blog feed.
But in general, bloggers are:
• Expected not to mislead readers by stating a product or service blogged
about to be the best especially if you have not tried it.
• Another way is to also talk about other market offerings in a separate blog
post that readers can check out too. For instance, if you got paid to blog
about a security software, create another post in the future that tackles
other tools in the market.
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Each one of us can pick on an approach that will work best and be responsible
for its benefit or consequences.

DISCUSSION 07:

1. Compare the income schemes and policies of
various blog advertising opportunities.

Privacy
When applicable, a privacy policy is highly suggested to be available in your blog
or website. If you have one, it should provide clarification on the following:
1. Treatment of e-mail received - When someone e-mails you in relation to a
blog post, do you publish them without seeking for permission? By default,
e-mail should not be shared in a blog post without permission of the sender.
2. Review guidelines - If you accept products and services for review, state
policies that you want to be cleared about to manage expectations.
3. Information that you collect - Most blogs today allow comments and user
registration that gives bloggers access to information such as e-mail address,
IP address, and the likes. Do you give this away or sell?
4. Third party tools - If you have embedded code and widgets in your blog
that may collect information beyond your control, such as ad networks and
traffic analytics that track clicks, you can mention its existence and data
gathered that you don’t have access to.
Note that majority of blogs do not need to have a privacy policy as they
are mostly personal in nature. Those who participate in 3rd party advertising
programs may be required by the networks they joined.

DISCUSSION 08:

1. show an example of a privacy policy that you
found in several blogs. What areas are tackled in
it? Why are they important?

33

34
objectives

success-criteria
purp
technorati ose
bloglines

googlereader
track
googlealerts

title
headline

outline
writing
labels

follow-up

references

make-it-interesting nce
rma
perfo
performancingmetrics

mybloglog
googleanalytics

feedburner CHAPTER III
others by Janette Toral (http://www.bloggingfromhome.com)
Blogging from Home

CHAPTER III
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

PurPOse
Objective
When creating a blog, your objectives must be clear and should focus on the
value it provides to your readers. Example:
• Ranked and be regarded as number 1 e-commerce resource blog in Australia
and the Philippines.
• Publish 56 e-commerce feature stories in one year showcasing industry
players and knowledge-sharing emphasis.
Success criteria
If objectives are clear and quantifiable, success criteria can be set to monitor its
status. Example:
• Must rank #1 in Google, Yahoo, and MSN for the keyword “e-commerce”.

Attained by mention and natural linking by avid followers.
• Publish 1 e-commerce feature story a week.
• Attract 2000 mailing list subscribers in one year.

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Blogging from Home

Writing
Based on your objective and success criteria, lay out a content plan that shall be
key in establishing your blog’s credibility, identity, and authority.
Blog content plan
Depending on how organized you want to be in blogging, you can have a simple
plan for your topics. Here is an example:
topic title: e-Commerce Project Planning
Headline: Creating a project plan is critical to an e-commerce website chances of
success. Here are the steps to go about it.
Outline:
• branding
• strategy
• product plan
• service plan
• payment
• logistics
• technical requirements
• fulfillment
• marketing
• maintenance

How will i make this topic interesting for readers?
In addition to practical advice, feature interesting personalities in the e-commerce
field who can share their insight and experience. Take both SME and big business
point of view for case studies.

Follow-up and supplementary topics: Tags or Labels:

Marketing e-commerce via social media social media, e-commerce

Putting up an e-commerce site in a day e-commerce, website development

Growth of e-commerce portals portal, e-commerce

References / Link to: http://www.digitalfilipino.com

36

Chapter iii: Content Development

You can also create your blog content plan in a spreadsheet format. Here is an
example:

Topic title E-Commerce Project Planning
Headline Creating a project plan is critical to an e-commerce
website chances of success
Outline - branding
- strategy
- product plan
- service plan
- payment
- logistics
- technical requirements
- fulfillment
- marketing
- maintenance
Make it interesting In addition to practical advice, feature interesting
personalities in the e-commerce field who can
share their insight and experience. Take sole
proprietor, SME. and big business point of view for
case studies.
Follow-up topics Marketing e-commerce via social media
Putting up an e-commerce site in a day
Growth of e-commerce portals
Tags or labels Social media
e-commerce
e-commerce website development
Sources or link to digitalfilipino.com

Additional pointers:
1. Don’t hesitate to complement your articles with photos, audio or video
interviews, poll, among others.
2. You don’t have to write down everything in a single article. Another option
is to have a series.
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Blogging from Home

Blog Content Plan

Name of blog:
1. Topic Title:
How will I make this topic interesting for readers?


References / Link to:

Name of blog:
1. Topic Title:
How will I make this topic interesting for readers?


References / Link to:

DISCUSSION 09:

1. Write your blog objective and success criteria.
2. Create a 5 item blog content plan that will help
achieve your blog objective.

38


TRacKing Topics
Track blogs and topics that are similar to what you write about, those that
inspire, and check if anyone has written about you or your post. Here are some
ways to accomplish them:
• technorati (http://www.technorati.com) - Add to Favorites feature. This
allows the blog owner to know that you’ve added them and be able to read
updates from all your favorite blogs.
• Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com) - Use this service to search, add
blogs, read, and even share them. You can create a blog roll showing the
various blogs you subscribe to and this can be displayed on your blog.

• google reader (http://www.google.com/reader) - Same feature as
BlogLines. What makes Google Reader unique is that it allows you to share
blog post you like through your blog.

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Blogging from Home

If you are just after specific information or keywords, you can also use:
• technorati Watchlist (http://www.technorati.com/watchlist) - Add keywords
you’d like to monitor. Afterwards, you have the option to save the RSS feed to your
Bloglines or Google Reader account. As a result, whenever there are blogs that cite
the keywords, you will get information.
Note that Bloglines and Google Reader allows you to also search based on
keywords in their respective site and subscribe to a feed for results monitoring.
• google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) - This is a tool used to
monitor keywords as they appear on news, groups or discussion forums,
websites, and blogs. Depending on the setting, receive an e-mail that contains
all the new content online that cite the keywords. If I’m interested to learn
more, I just visit the website and read the full story.
I find this feature very useful especially in tracking potential copyright
violators and plagiarist. Setting-up of keywords related to the articles you’ve
written is key to get this done.

DISCUSSION 10:

1. What blog and topic tracking tools do you use?
2. What topics do you monitor?

MOnitOring BlOg PerfOrMAnCe
track your blog statistics or performance
It is important for blog owners to track how their blog is doing in terms of
traffic. Monitoring regularly will also give you an idea on topics that can use
some follow-up based on its popularity.
The following can be used to track your blogs. You can use one or all of
them:
• MyBlogLog (http://www.mybloglog.com) - I’ve been using MyBlogLog for quite
sometime now. It is one of the few stats monitoring service that has a social
network component. Here are some of the reasons why I like it:
- Monitor your blog traffic. Its free package allows you to find out total
visits, pages viewed, and where they end up going. If you are running
advertisements, this is one way of monitoring clicks!
- Know who visits your website and vice versa. By clicking on their faces
or names, you’ll get to know them better such as their blog, friends, and
community membership.
40


- Let readers know what links are the most clicked in your blog for the
previous day.
- Create a community for every blog. Once you reach 10 members, your
stats report will indicate what sites have your members been visiting.
- It has an activity feed showing what your friends have been up to in
their blog and other social networking services.
- You can leave a message greeting to a fellow member in public or private.
- Shows the latest post per blog. It is a good way to check if your RSS is
working.
- You can add tags in your home profile and at the blog level. See other
blogs having the same tags too.
- Add co-authors to help manage your community.

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Blogging from Home

• Performancing Metrics (http://pmetrics.performancing.com) - There are many
features this site has that includes:
- See visitors, time of activity, location, and actions taken on your blog.
- Shows location of your last 50 visitors in a global map.
- Top entrance and exit pages.
- For subscribers, there is a spy feature that shows activity of visitors in
real time.
- Integrates with FeedBurner.
Performancing Metrics can be very helpful when investigating activities that
gives you a lot of concern such as multiple ads clicking from one location,
spammers, unusual comments, among others.

• Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics) - Its features are similar
to Performancing Metrics except the spy feature. If you advertise through
Google AdWords (http://adwords.google.com), you’ll be able to track the
performance of ads as well.
42


• Feedburner (http://www.feedburner.com) - Blog hosting platforms publish
RSS feeds automatically. With Feedburner, your blog’s RSS feed is processed
though it and used as default. Track and understand the users of your blog
feed better.

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Blogging from Home

• Other tools you can check out are:
- Counter Histats (http://www.histats.com/)
- SiteTracker (http://www.sitetracker.com/)
- Mo.itor.us (http://mon.itor.us/)
- Stat08 (http://www.stat08.com/)
- Website StatsCounter (http://www.websitestatscounter.com/)
- StatCounter (http://www.statcounter.com/)
- Lijit (http://www.lijit.com)

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How do you track incoming links to your blogs?
I use Google BlogSearch (http://blogsearch.google.com) and Technorati (http://
www.tecnorati.com) to see who is linking to my blog or have mentioned my
name, books, or projects in their blog post.

In Technorati, a blog is given an “authority” score that is based on the number of blogs linked to it.

DISCUSSION 11:

1. Pick a stats tool that you shall use for your
blog. Why have you chosen this tool?
2. share your latest analytics report.

45

46
technorati
ping-o-matic
ping tools ping
ping-my-blog

auto-pinger entrecard
adverti
se
attend googleadwords

organize events
speak

blog
google give-aways
facebook rea
de

r
friendfeed
advocacy
syndicate
digg
interact social-network
del.icio.us
submit
stumbleupon
comments join s
contest
organize
yahoo-groups
google-groups ac t
blogs inter
msn
e-mail
gtalk
newsletter CHAPTER !V
yahoo BLOggINg FROM HOME MINDMAP
discussion group
chikka by Janette Toral (http://www.bloggingfromhome.com)
instant-messaging
twitter
micro-blogging
Blogging from Home

plurk

CHAPTER IV
BLOg PROMOTION
Promoting a blog nowadays requires a combination of efforts to get it known,
especially if a blog intends to attract a global audience and its author is not
known to begin with.
However, the number of ways that you can plug a blog online is increasing.
Just be creative, don’t be shy, and promote it with value.
Ping
Ping is an action we take to alert major directories and search engines of our
blog updates. Some of them are:
• Technorati.com - For example, if I made an update in http://www.
bloggingfromhome.com, I can inform Technorati by visiting http://www.
technorati.com/ping/bloggingfromhome.com.

• Ping-o-Matic (http://www.pingomatic.com)
• PingMyBlog (http://www.pingmyblog.com/)
• Autopinger (http://autopinger.com/)
• Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/ping)
Make sure to have your blog name, blog url, and really simple syndication
(rss) feed url. The above distributes blog post contents to sites that accept
updates.
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Blogging from Home

DISCUSSION 12:

1. Which ping services do you use?

ADvertise
Advertising is one way of promoting your blog. There are many 3rd-party
advertising services to choose from. For example, there’s Google AdWords and
Entrecard.
Google AdWords
Google AdWords (http://adwords.google.com) was able to provide an advertising
engine for small and big businesses worldwide. This is a service that allows
anyone to launch an Internet campaign, paying it at their own set budget. You
can allot at least US$1 a day to promote your site through this system.

Depending on keywords and ad exposure preference, your ad will appear in
search engine results and content network. Those who are members of Google
AdSense (http://www.google.com/adsense) are part of the content network. If an
ad gets user interest, it will be clicked and bring visitors to your site. The beauty
of Google AdWords is that you only pay when the ad gets clicked.
When designing an ad campaign, you need to define:
1. Location where you want the ad to appear. You can pinpoint down to the
city level.
2. Language used for the ad. A typical ad campaign is in English.
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Chapter iv: Blog Promotion

Ads appear on search engines and content network using Google AdSense.

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Blogging from Home

3. Ad text to be used. Make sure it entices curiosity. Encouraging them to
take action like buy, join, reserve, subscribe, among others. For ideas, run a
search in Google.com and review the ads that appear. Learn how advertisers
phrase their campaign and improve it.
4. Keywords need to be identified that best describes your service. For
instance, if I’m promoting the book, the “Philippine Internet Review: 10 Years
of Internet History,” my keywords will include Philippine Internet history,
Philippine Internet timeline, e-commerce law, among others.
You can use WordTracker (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com) to help pick
popular keywords. You can verify this further through Google Trends (http://
www.google.com/trends) and find out the location where that keyword is
searched for.
5. The advertisement can also appear in targeted websites using its placement
tool.

50


6. Upon definition of keywords, cite how much will you pay per click.
Afterwards, Google will show estimated traffic, possible ranking of your ad
and even recommend a daily budget. You can decide to activate it later.
As days go by, you’ll discover how each keyword is performing, calibrate the ad,
and adjust the budget from there. Those who were able to master the use of the
system claimed that it has contributed greatly to their sales and brand awareness.
Learn more about Google AdWords through its learning center at http://www.
google.com/adwords/learningcenter/index.html

DISCUSSION 13:

1. show an example of a google AdWords campaign
you made recently. How did it work for you?

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Blogging from Home

Entrecard
One of the communities I got the chance to join lately is Entrecard (http://www.
entrecard.com). This site allows you to do the following:
• Put an Entrecard widget in your blog. This is a 125x125 box ad where you
display ads and accept card drops.
• Each time you visit a blog that has the Entrecard widget, you can drop a card
that earns both of you 1 advertising credit. You can use this to place ads to
other participating blogs. Once approved, your 125x125 ad will appear for one
day. They can also do the same to your blogs.
• Create contests or projects giving away Entrecard credits.

Some of the things you can also do are:
• Instead of home pages, you can opt to promote a specific blog post such as
a contest, an activity, or a feature article.
• Cross-advertise. If you have several blogs, you can opt to cross-advertise
especially when you just joined and the credit required is still low.

DISCUSSION 14:

1. Have you tried putting an entrecard in your blog?
What kind of placements normally attract clicks
from fellow bloggers?

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events
Attend events
If you are a frequent participant in events and conferences, explore blogging
about it. However, if you are not invited, there’s no harm inquiring from organizers
if they will allow bloggers to cover the event and do a write-up. Once you’ve
established a good reputation for your blog, you’ll be invited directly in the
future.
Speak in events
Nothing beats speaking in events as a means to create awareness about your
blog. Find out events happening in your area and see if there’s a way that you
can speak suggesting the usefulness of blogs in their field.
Organize your own events
If you have build expertise and following, explore organizing free and paid
training workshops. This you can do alone or partner with a university or event
organizer. This can also lead to consulting opportunities.

i noticed that you organize blogging events and
conferences. How do you go about it?
What I list here is based from experience in helping out at iBlog: The
Philippine Blogging Summit (http://www.iblogph.org) and you can pick
those that is applicable.

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Blogging from Home

Planning the event (4 to 6 months before actual date)
1. Identify the organization that will spearhead the event - This is the body
that shall be mentioned in official correspondence for sponsorship solicitation,
speaker invitations, and dealing with suppliers. It must have a basic fund to
cover cost of secretariat manpower and can pay advances to expenses as
necessary.
2. Set the date and venue - Identify a date where most participants can
attend and at a venue that is accessible to many.
3. Draft the budget plan - You need to manage your cost such as:
• Food (with overflowing coffee)
• Venue
• Electricity
• Manpower
• Tokens for speakers and sponsors
• Promotion collaterals such as posters, streamers to disseminate prior
the event
• Handouts / delegate kits
• Name badges
• Projection system rental
• Sound system rental
• Exhibitor table or booth
• Other items you want to be included.
4. Form the team and assign tasks - Identify team members who will help
out and assign the following:
• Creating and updating the website
• Speakers invitation and coordination
• Campaign for sponsors and set-up coordination
• Billing and collection of sponsorship fees
• Supplier sourcing
• Campaign for attendees
• Participant registration and follow-up
• Media invitation and coordination
• Actual event set-up
• Documentation and live blogging
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5. Identify the target audience - They will drive the content that you need to
consider in the program.
6. Identify the topics - If it is for beginners, popular topics are:
• setting up a blog - Ideally using popular tools such as Friendster,
Multiply, MySpace, Blogger, LiveJournal, WordPress, among others. The
person must be able to explain the differences of these platforms and
which is suited for specific needs.
• Blogging do’s and don’ts - To help new bloggers in conducting
themselves online and make them aware of the risks they need to manage,
should they be more adventurous with it.
• taking photos for blogs - Share tips on how to take pictures for blogs,
online storage, and protection from copyright infringement.
• Blogging success stories - This can be a combination of newbie and
established bloggers to share their experience. Success can come in any
form such as revenue gained, recognition, or be able to create awareness
on critical issues that influence its outcome.
• experience sharing on blog set-up - Bloggers from different profession
or status can share their personal experience in putting up one and their
lessons learned too. You can feature a student blogger, mommy or daddy
blogger, photo-blogger, among others.
• Audio and video blogging - You can invite podcasters and vloggers to
discuss how to set up a podcast and create a video blog.
• legal issues in blogging - Invite a blogger/lawyer to talk about legal
risks in blogging such as libel, slander, copyright infringement, among
others.
* If the event is designed to attract novice and established bloggers, include
advance topics such as:
• Blog monetization - Various ways that bloggers can earn through their
blogs. Invite a panel of bloggers to share their experience.
• Becoming a professional blogger (problogger) - Invite probloggers
to talk about how they started and steps taken to become one.
• political and Elections Blogging - How blogs can be used to share
political developments and be a tool for transparent elections.
* Make sure to have slots allotted to major sponsors in your program. For a
one-day event, this is usually 2 spots.

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7. Invite speakers - Identify speakers who can credibly talk about the topics.
As your ongoing campaign will also promote the speakers’ blog, make sure to
get resource persons who are willing to promote the event as soon as they
agree to speak or accepted the proposal.
If you are based outside the capital and organizing an event in your area,
prioritize getting local speakers to give them the exposure they need.
8. Develop a sponsorship offer - Once your budget is clear, create a sponsorship
package that will allow you to cover its cost. Make sure that the benefit for
each category is distinctive. Prioritize in getting the major cost items (such
as food) be funded and let the rest be flexible.
For every sponsorship package, identify potential sponsors to be approached.
Note that your target sponsors receive so many proposals everyday. Make
sure your offer stands-out and be too hard to pass. Send it early.
9. Campaign for sponsors - Identify a solicitation period and the date where
you’ll start inviting participants. This way, sponsors can decide on or before that
date and be included in your announcements once they commit.
10. Supplier sourcing - Look for suppliers to deliver on your budget items. Do
this early and get the best deal.
Attendees campaign (2 to 3 months before the event)
11. Campaign for attendees - Provide details about the event through as many
of your blogging friends. Have a common blog or website where interested
participants can sign up. If your event is more than one-day and expected to
attract participants from various locations, give details on hotels where they
can stay and get special rates as well.
12. Send out a press release - Get local TV and print publications to write
and cover your event. Send out a press release.
13. Have meetings regularly - Team members should meet regularly so that
problems can be resolve once spotted.
14. Get volunteers - It is amazing to note that the blogging community can
be supportive. Do not hesitate to ask for help with the registration and photo
coverage of the event.
At the event week and after
15. Coordinate the ingress / exit - Send out memos to sponsors one or
two weeks before the ingress date so that they can aptly prepare. Suppliers
should have delivered the items ordered before the event date. Have food
ready as well for sponsors and suppliers during set-up.

56


After the event, proper pack-up of equipment used, trash disposal, kits left
out, among others should be done properly.
16. Manage the event - On the event day, if things are planned and executed
accordingly, you’ll be mingling with speakers, suppliers, team members, and
participants on a relaxed mode.
17. Celebrate with the team - Have fun after the event and celebrate.
18. Post online coverage - Blog about the event, upload speaker handouts,
and collate media and blog coverage. Sponsors need this information as one
way to measure the effectiveness of an event.

Sample of an event summary.

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19. Post-event meeting - Discuss event turn-out, coverage, and any other items
that need action such as thank you letters, sponsorship fee collection, tokens, and
supplier payout.
20. Plan for the future - Do you want to do it again? Identify a target date
where you can meet, sit down, and discuss it soon.

DISCUSSION 15:

1. Cite events that you get to participate lately.
2. Has this helped you and your blog? How?

COntests AnD Writing PrOjeCts
Do you join blog contests and writing projects?
It depends on how credible the contest is. But in general, I don’t see any harm
from joining. It is not so much about winning but the free publicity you get by
just being listed as an entry. If your blog wins in a competition, the greater
exposure you’ll get.
Contests and writing projects come in many forms. They are usually intended
to promote a site, product, cause, among others. Prizes range from cash,
recognition, ad spots, awards, travel, and other possibilities.
The easiest ones would include just responding to comments while others would
require blogging about it. For writing projects, research and preparation is going to
be necessary. The ones I was able to join and got a prize include:
• Post a comment - Just Creative Design (http://www.justcreativedesign.com)
was celebrating its anniversary and created a contest giving away a free logo
design (cost a lot if outsource). Parties interested to join were asked to post
a comment and why they need a logo. The site owner, Jacob Cass, picked a
winner based on the comments received. My entry won.
• Search engine ranking for a keyword - Two years ago, I joined a search engine
ranking contest where entries have to rank high for a particular keyword,
ituloy angsulong. To win, a lot of participants used their blog as a medium
and created more. I won prizes in the Yahoo and Google category.
Joining this contest was most productive as I was able to put my search
engine optimization skills to the test and learned more in the process. Got
projects too.
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• Write a blog entry - I recall joining a ProBlogger (http://www.problogger.net)
group writing project where we have to create a list. Although I didn’t win, I
was able to meet a lot of blog readers who joined, attract visitors, and got
ideas for my own writing project.

Organizing your own contests and writing projects
Joining contests can be worthwhile if you like to learn and organize one in the
future. I ran online contests for the past two years and it can be nerve-wracking
as its success is measured by the number of entries received. This is what I
learned:
• Have a clear description and judging criteria. Explain what it is all about, why
are you organizing it, timeline, and how winners will be determined.
• Relevance to your blog and those who joined - It can be simply for fun or
supportive of a cause.
• Have nice prizes. The harder the criteria for winning, the more exciting the
prizes should be. These are usually solicited from sponsors. Make sure you
have this covered before you announce it.
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The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs is an annual writing project that started in 2007.
It encourages bloggers to write a post citing new blogs that has potential.

• Campaign well. Utilize various means to attract entries. All the promotion
strategies discussed in this chapter can be used to get entries.

adv
ert it
bm
su
ise

giveawa
y
events

ate
up d
er
int

e ac t
nc
ou
ann

Promoting a writing project mindmap
by Janette Toral
http://www.influentialblogger.net

DISCUSSION 16:

1. Mention contests and writing projects that you joined
lately. Were they worthwhile? Why or why not?
2. Have you organized your own writing project? if yes,
what was it all about? How did it go? What did you
learn?

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sociaL nETwoRKs
Social networking online has grown and become more dynamic. There are many
ways we can connect with people and exchange content.
Success in social networks depend on:
• The quality of information you share online.
• The kind of friends or contacts you make and gradually expanding them.
• Increase relevance in the long run through sincere interaction.
Content Submission
Bloggers can promote their content by submitting it to social bookmark sites
online. Popular in this area are:
• StumbleUpon (http://www.stumbleupon.com)
• Del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us)
• Digg (http://www.digg.com)
• Propeller (http://www.propeller.com)
• Mahalo (http://www.mahalo.com)
• Ximmy (http://www.ximmy.com)

Submit relevant content on a regular basis. When recommending your personal
post, make sure that they are worth it so that your reputation amongst friends
will not be affected.
Check out the submission of your friends and give a vote or favorable comment
if you find it useful or interesting. You can expect others to give you the same
if your content is equally good or even better.
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DISCUSSION 17:

1. Create an account on any of the above sites. submit
content, add friends, vote on submissions, comment.
Does this had any positive effect on your blog or profile
in the site? How?

Syndicate Content
Really simple syndication or RSS allows blogs to propagate its content to various
services. It now goes beyond your traditional blog tracking tools (see p39).

Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)
As I have multiple blogs, it will be complicated promoting them all at the same
time. Instead, I subscribe to all my blog feeds at Google Reader and share my
new post through it.
Google Reader gives a code that you can paste to various blogs and websites
to disseminate shared items.
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The RSS link of your Google Reader shared items can also be ported to various
content sharing and syndication services instead of adding all your blogs one by
one. Such as:
• Facebook Notes (http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?ref=sb)
This Facebook service allows you to import a blog. New posts appears in your
profile and can be seen by friends.

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• FriendFeed (http://www.friendfeed.com)
A content sharing service where almost anything that has RSS can be ported.
You can also add friends, follow users, and post comments.

DISCUSSION 18:

1. Have you tried sharing new post from your
various blogs through google reader? if yes, give
the link.
2. Where do you syndicate your feed? Which do you
find effective?

Interact
Of course, nothing beats making personal announcement about your new blog
post and related matters. It can be sent through the following:
• E-mail. Send the whole blog post or partial snippet through e-mail. If sending to
a lot of individuals, put their e-mail addresses in the blind copy (bcc) portion.
• Newsletter and Discussion Group. You can use Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.
com), Google Groups (http://groups.google.com), or any auto-responder service to
get people to subscribe and receive updates.
64


• Instant messaging. Send a quick note to your Yahoo Messenger (http://
messenger.yahoo.com), GTalk (http://www.google.com/talk), MSN (http://
messenger.msn.com), Chikka (http://www.chikka.com) friends by updating
your status and spread the word about your new blog post.

65

Blogging from Home

• Micro-blogging services. Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) and Plurk (http://
www.plurk.com) are fast becoming popular these days and used to interact
with friends, fellow bloggers, and readers. Reasons include:
- Serves as a virtual chat room where you can post messages that can be viewed
by everyone. Or addressed to friends and be seen by mutual contacts.
- Disseminate job openings, new blog posts, and interesting articles.
- Means to remind people on events, contests, and writing projects.
- It has flexibility. Can be fun and non-formal whenever you like.
- Big issues and even intrigues get discussed. Allow contacts to exchange
perspective.
- Have closer connection as I get to know the people I follow better.
• Talk to bloggers. Check out new, those who visit or post a comment at
your blog, and your favorites. Write on their guestbook or contribute in the
discussion. By becoming visible and relevant, they will likely do the same and
be able to attract new readers too.

66


DISCUSSION 19:

1. Which interaction option works best for you
and your blog? How?

giveAWAys
Giveaways are fast becoming an important attraction to any blog. You will find
some giving away books, e-books, shirts, and the likes.
A lot of us like free stuff especially when it is something really valuable. Their
relevance is dependent on the time it was given and what the wants (rather than
needs) of the target audience were then. This I learned from Seth Godin, author of
the book “Free Prize Inside”.
Should you decide to explore making giveaways, have a clear goal on what you
intend to gain in return. For example, I was creating free e-commerce, software
process improvement, and blogging workshop in the past. My goal then was
clear and that is to test the size of the market for an upcoming book. At the
same time, I am offering services in relation to the topics I write about and this
helps for competitive positioning purposes.
67

Blogging from Home

Manuel Viloria (http://www.manuelviloria.com) is a professional blogger sharing his insight
on problogging and traffic-boosting tips. He gives free reports regularly through his blog.

DISCUSSION 20:

1. What free giveaways have you signed-up for
online? Which did you really find useful?
2. Were there any giveaways that disappointed
you?

68


ADvOCACy
Another way that a blog can be promoted is by having an advocacy or supporting
one. This can include:
• Disseminate information about a charity or non-profit institution and their
services.
• Encourage qualified volunteers to help out.
• Raise money for charity donation.
• Donate proceeds of your blog income to charity.
• Help out in making call for relief donation.

CRIBS Foundation (http://cribsfoundation.org/blog/) offers a foster care program
and helps out abandoned and abused children.

DISCUSSION 21:

1. Cite some blogs well known for supporting a
charity or advocacy. What has that blogger done
to demonstrate support?
2. How does supporting an advocacy or charity help
a blog or blogger in terms of promotion?

69

70
criticism attacks
debate taxes
time home challenges
stress blo
g

gin
g
marketing seminars
schools speaking ities
setup opportun
events
writing consulting
blogs
research publishing
e-books
books
network

terms rates g
pitch advertisin
blogs
edge advertising
terms lessons
writers
bloggers recruitment

interview
opinion
articles
research-based
CHAPTER V
sponsors writing
ﬁx by Janette Toral (http://www.bloggingfromhome.com)
rates
traﬃc
Blogging from Home

ex-deals

CHAPTER V
INSIgHTS
This chapter is not the kind of truth that is cast in stone. However, you can
reflect on it and recognize that there are folks, like me, who has this point of
view on a wide variety of issues.
BlOgging
Handling attacks and criticisms
Gone are the days when blogging used to be a simple journal. Through it, you
can discover new friends, peers, clients, critics, and even enemies.
Each one of us is entitled to our own opinion. These are beliefs that are not
necessarily founded on proof or certainty. When it comes to blogs, opinions are
out in the open and can also be subject to feedback, positive or negative.
Different people have their own style in giving perspective on issues. Author
Karl Albrecht, in the book Social Intelligence: the New Science of Success, reminds
individuals to treat people how they want to be treated.
In giving criticism, popular leadership author John Maxwell said, be objective,
pinpoint concern carefully, provide encouragement, and don’t sound insulting or
attack personally.
If done properly, your effort will be more than appreciated. Otherwise, you
might get ignored, attacked by readers and other bloggers, and expose to legal
risk by being charged with libel.
The more popular you become as a blogger, the more criticism you’ll get. If
you believe that the concern given has basis, constructive with an effort to help,
and the person presents it in good faith, take the time to interact, learn, and
appreciate the feedback received. Otherwise, best to disengage at the moment
and understand the situation much better.
Reference:
Criticism that counts (http://maxwellinmanila.blogspot.com/2008/06/criticism-that-counts.html)
The Platinum Rule (http:/ /www.influentialblogger.net/2006/12/platinum-rule.html)

DISCUSSION 22:

1. Cite a blog post you read recently that can be
classified as an attack or criticism. What is your
assessment of it?

71

Blogging from Home

Managing Time at Home
Although blogging can be done comfortably at home, manage so it doesn’t
affect obligations and time spent with family. There were reports lately featuring
bloggers who got sick and hospitalized as they were not able to sleep, eat, and
rest properly. Remind yourself to:
1. Have a time limit for your activities such as turning off the computer at a
designated time and get 6 to 10 hours of sleep a day. Set your Internet and
blogging hours at home like 3 to 8 hours daily.
2. Spend quality time with family members. Avoid the situation at home, that
you hardly talk with family and always busy in front of the computer.
3. Pursue non-Internet interest. This can be taking up a sport, going to the
gym, join a craft group, gardening, reading books, among others. These can
be good blogging topics too later on.
4. Eat properly. Set proper time for cooking (if you are in charge of it) and have
your meal or snack without doing anything else at the same time.

DISCUSSION 23:

1. How much time do you spend online? How much
of it is spent on reading and writing blogs?
2. How do you balance your internet and non-
internet lifestyle?

Revenue Disclosure and Taxes
i discovered that some bloggers post the amount of income they
earn online. Am i required to do the same?
No. I observed that only those who have a blog theme of “making money online”
do. They share their lessons learned and reflect on what programs were effective.
Disclosing how they are doing can boost the credibility of the blog and its blogger.
How do you go about accepting advertisement payments as an
individual and issue receipts? Are bloggers required to pay taxes?
With numerous advertising and income opportunities available today, bloggers
can participate and even earn from it (see p31). Fees are usually transmitted
through bank deposit, person-to-person payment, money remittance service,
credit card payment gateway, Paypal, among others.
72

Chapter v: insights

If we are serious in growing ourselves as a professional, it is important to
record income and expenses properly. Pay taxes when it is due.
There are also awards and financing opportunities, you may want to avail later
on, that requires proof of the earning claims we make and nothing beats a tax
return document. It also reflects our personal financial ethics.

From personal experience, in the Philippines, you can:
1. Register a business as a single proprietor (http://www.dti.gov.ph) or corporation
(http://www.sec.gov.ph).
If your business will have significant volume and have partners who are willing
to work hard, then this may be the best way to go.
2. Register as a professional (BIR form 1901) with the tax office (http://www.bir.gov.ph)
I registered as a professional consultant. Through it, I am able to issue official
receipt (BIR form 1906) to any payment received and file income reports.
3. Ask corporate clients to issue the payment to you as a professional deducting
all taxes concerned and get proof if.
For number 1, another way to do it is partner with a company who can accept
payment in your behalf. I use this model whenever I have trainings and corporate
members signing up in my community.
For number 2 and 3, the payments we receive get deducted with professional
taxes. Ask corporate clients to issue a 2307 (Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld
at Source). This is a supporting document to a submitted annual income tax
(1701) filing.
BIR has rules on tax deductions and documentation requirements if income exceeds
750,000 pesos in a year. This includes having a Certified Public Accountant issue a
certification attesting to the accuracy of your 1701 or annual income tax return.
If annual fees collected exceeds the amount of 750,000, you will be converted
to VAT status and charge 12% VAT on top of your fee. Below that is the usual 3%.
This is remitted to the BIR monthly.
Consult an accountant for more information.

In Australia
If you are dealing with Australian businesses, it will be important to get an
Australian Business Number (http://www.abr.gov.au/) in addition to your Taxpayer
File Number (http://www.ato.gov.au). Otherwise, any Aussie business can deduct
46.5% on fees payable to you.

73

Blogging from Home Book by Janette Toral

Blogging from Home Book by Janette Toral

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