Well, the laptop isn’t purely mine. It’s my girlfriend’s. But I was working a lot for her on her blogs (since she was very busy with her full time job then) at the time we were thinking of buying one for her. It’s basically for the satisfaction of both of us buying our very first laptop without asking from our parents a single penny. It was mainly for her masters degree as she is still taking it as of the moment of writing. But, later on we realized how else can a laptop serve us.

For me for one, it helps me a lot during meeting with current and prospect clients. The discussion and explanations seem more easy with the laptop as a visual aid. Plus, it also makes blogging much more fun if you choose to blog on a coffee shop (like the thing I’m doing right now, hehe).

I’m in cafe called Pronto Mario. It’s a small coffee shop with really great prices for quite ample meals. If you happen to be in Davao City, you can locate it near Gaisano Mall, beside The Paper Tree Bookstore. They serve good meals at a very affordable price.

Anyway, enough of the plugging (they didn’t pay me by the way). As I was saying, having this laptop is really handy, especially for business people. Laptops and other gadgets are getting more and more affordable. I’m not sure how this one costs here. Its HP Pavilion dv271nr by the way. We got it from a family in the US as gadgets like these are way much cheaper there.

Well, that’s about it really. I got quite busy lately which explains the absence of posts, hehe. I hope to get back to my IE career but with IT twist this time as it really interest me.

I am still in this application which, when successful, requires me to work to Manila. Well, I hope so as this is a good multinational company. Still, at the back of my mind, I am thinking of the comforts of Davao City. Manilenyos (and manilenyas) who have seen Davao for quite sometime would agree with this I think. You see, Davao does not only offer a sweet comfy life, it also gives you luxurious vacation at very affordable prices. White sand beaches are only 15 minutes away from the city. Manilenyas from the company I worked at before was surprised at how convenient Samal Beaches are. They often go to the beach early in the morning for a swim and head for the office at nine, hehe (Talking about making the most out of their stay in Davao).

Most of the Davaoenyos I know who had the taste of life in Manila (or the bad side of it perhaps) always appreciate the Davao life style. If only you would have a Manila rate working in Davao, the best of both metros.

Well, we’ll see where this application heads me. I’ll be updating you soon. I hope this gets me better and not bitter, hehe! Ciao!

I got tagged by Annie. Hmm, I used to be too lazy to do this, hehe. I guess giving it a try wouldn’t hurt. Might be fun to do too. Thanks annie

Here are the rules:

1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (see below).
3. Pick your month of birth.
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!

The Twelve Months

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality, Sexy, Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others.Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners.Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

Here are the twelve people I’m tagging:

1. Whatadid – on what he has been doing

2. Dave – the eagle for every juan

3. Ee-ey – ang dalikang ea ni maam ivy

4. Sponge ni Bub – my bossing, colleague friend

5 . Evs – ang dakilang teacher

6. Peace – the loving wife

7. Eetsie – the new mom

8. Pebbles – the mum of two energy-packed boys

9. Banxkie - the breakable chains

10. Ayt – illustrations of the night wonders

11. Cherry – the blogging-for-money newbie… hehe peace!

and last but not the least…

12. Toinky – the most wonderful person closest to my heart. I really like the design

Choosing a Blog Niche

The reason why one should choose a blog niche is the reality that all of us are masters of something but no one is a master of everything. If you want to develop a blog that you think would be rich and interesting, it would be a good practice to select one for your blog. There are also other benefits aside from those mentioned above in limiting your blog to a certain interest like loyal readership, better credibility and profile and even more advertiser attractive. The following questions may help you in choosing one:

Does the topic interest you? If you want to do your blogging for a long time, you would have to talk about it over and over and over again. That means you would have to explore more and more into the intricacies of it. If there is interest, there is a natural curiosity for it. If there is curiosity for it, doing a more research about it will be far more enjoyable and fulfilling for you as a blogger.

Does the topic interest others? Finding what tickles readers is really a big thing in writing interesting posts. If there is one thing that readers have very little, it’s time so as a blogger, you must give them there time’s worth, giving them as close to what they need as possible.

Can you provide ample content? Creating blogs with niches require you not just to write about what you already know but also to more research on the topic you are talking about. The resources for such research must be readily available for yo. Consider not just data available on the web but more so on books and past readings.

Finding a Blog Hosting

When you have finally decided on what topic niche you’ll have, it is highly recommended that your domain name (or your url ) would include keywords that relate to your niche. For example, if you wish to talk about dogs, a good url would be http://dogs.wordpress.com or best would be http://dogs.com. Of course, those examples are already taken for sure but the point stands out. Search engines rank you higher for words that are within your url.

A huge issue in blog hosting is whether to create a blog in free hosting sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com or to purchase a domain and hosting for your site

If you decide to create a blog in free hosting sites

the advantages include:

• usually a user-friendly blog admin interface and blog themes that is readily available upon sign-up
• free of charge hosting (except your expense in surfing the web in case you pay it yourself)
• free technical support from hosting administrator and usually documented processes
• enjoying new features and plug-ins available.

The disadvantages however include:

• less freedom to customize site
• more difficulty in developing a domain name identity as you will be tagged along the hosting site address
• less probable to receive advertising offers, especially if you are hosted in really crowded hosting sites.

If you decide to buy your own domain name and hosting

the advantages include:

• fully customizing the site to your liking
• easier monitoring of your site statistics (for strategy development) as you can avail of free website stats services for web masters
• establishing your site’s domain name with your identity as a blogger

The disadvantages include:

• the requirement to learn a bit of coding and even programming unless you opt to pay someone to do it for you (this can be an advantage however if you eye on learning more in information technology)
• features available in free hosting sites must be done manually by you or your webmaster
• payment must be made for domain name and hosting renewal (usually annually).

Placing Entries in Your Blog

This is where the real meat of blogging comes in. You would have to create entries within your topic niche that’s really interesting and read-worth for your readers. You may use humor, poetry or some other writing skills. The choice is yours.

In any web site, the content is the most thing for readers, may it be articles, poetries or images. It is because of the content that people keep coming back to read from your blog so a huge effort in creating good ones must be taken.

“Imagine that your website or blog is one of the television stations. Just as these stations earn from advertisings, so will you earn through your site.”

Please take note that from here onwards, I shall interchange the terms blog, blogsite, site or website. The term “Blog” which is actually derived from the words “Web Log” is just one of the different forms of a website.

The Dynamics of Your Site as a Channel

If you know a bit about marketing, you would agree that tv stations who have higher ratings are more likely to receive advertising offers. The same is true with your site as a channel or station. The higher your ratings, the higher offers you’ll get. ( I wonder not about fuzz over those tv ratings they are talking about, hehe). Kidding aside, the next question would be how to increase your site’s ratings. Or more importantly, how do you know your rating in the first place? Hold on to those questions as it opens us to a whole new topic springing from where we are right now.

One twist with our nutty explanation however is that, unlike television stations which do not really reach up to a thousand in number worldwide, there are millions of blogs readily open for business in the world wide web to date. So how does your eetsie bitsy tinny winny blog get recognized in the crowded blogosphere (a term used in the virtual environment where blogs interconnect with each other)? Through search engines. We’ll tackle that one too pretty soon. Just keep those ideas coming and those brains absorbing. I just really need to hit the sack.

But before that, let me tell you why I decided to create this new category. Recently, I have been asked by friends and those whom I meet online about how to earn through blogging. Some who know me personally were aware that I am earning online already. It could be by chance that they all come together in one time or maybe they saw Mel and Joey’s episode on “How to Make Money through Blogging” where, according to Abe Olandres (one of the professional bloggers featured in the segment) there was “Too much hype” about it, giving the impression that earning is too easy. I agree with Abe on this. Blogging is for everyone but earning through blogging is only for those who are willing to give all that they got for it – patience, hard work and a lot of time.

Anyway, as I was saying. With all these currently happening, I received a suggestion to blog about it. That way, I get too keep their questions recorded online so as not to miss any, especially the important ones. Thanks dear.

So here it is, launched is the category about earning online. I do not boast though of my earnings ( and i do not intend to) but I am just passionate in telling anybody who asks me that earning through the web, not just in blogging, is really possible.

Now, where do I start? Hmm…