New Feature: The Personal Blogging Degree

Posted by FrugalPinoy on May 21, 2009 in Site News | 7 comments

Several readers email me asking questions about blogging.They want to know how to make money blogging, what makes a good blog, and how to build traffic. Since many of my answers are repetitive, I decided to launch a new page here at Frugal Pinoy:

“The Personal Blogging Degree” is a compilation of articles, podcasts, and other resources that can give beginners a good overview about professional blogging. I was inspired by The Personal MBA and The Personal Web Design Degree.

If you’re just new to blogging, head to the Personal Blogging Degree page to learn more. You can also access the page from the sidebar on the right.

Great free ebook on how to become a blogger

Posted by FrugalPinoy on Dec 3, 2008 in Books, Earning and Income | 2 comments

I just finished reading this excellent (and FREE) ebook by Yaro Starak and gideon Shalwick called “The Roadmap to Become a Blogger”.  It basically lays down everything you need to know about making money from your own blog (which I also discussed to some extent  in a previous post).

What I love most about Yaro and Gideon’s ebook is that it has action steps.  Meaning, there’s a list of stuff you have to do to implement their advice. I love action steps because they are practical, and they note down all the tasks you need to accomplish.  ( I used action steps in the post “How do I start as an online freelance writer?” to better explain what aspiring writers need to do.)

Anyway, going back to the ebook, you need to sign up before you can download it.  Don’t worry – if you don’t like the email updates you receive, you can always unsubscribe.  They carry out the mailing list using Aweber, which is a trustworthy, spam-free service.

Also, please note that some of the advice might not be applicable to Filipino bloggers, especially if your target audience is local. Still, it’s a great resource for beginning and veteran bloggers alike.

Click here to download this handy ebook.

Image credit: Graphic taken from Yaro Starak’s blog

How to Make Money Blogging (Part 2: Monetizing your own blog)

Posted by FrugalPinoy on Aug 25, 2008 in Earning and Income | 7 comments

In the first part of the “How to Make Money Blogging” series, I discussed how to become a professional blogger by writing for others.  Also, in the follow-up to that post, I answered questions from readers.

Today, we’ll talk about making money on blogs you own, rather than as a hired writer for other people’s blogs.  This is just a basic outlined tutorial, because making money with your own blog is such a vast topic.  But, if you’re a beginner and you want to set up your own blog and monetize it, this tutorial is a good place as any to start learning.

Tools you’ll need:

• Domain name.  This will be the main address of your blog.  For this blog, it’s frugalpinoy.com.  I usually buy my domain names at GoDaddy.  I think it’s important to buy your own, easy-to-remember domain name, as it looks more professionaland has better recall.
• Web hosting. This is where your website will be stored.  My favorite host is CynicalDog, as I’ve never had problems with them and I’ve been with them for 4 years.  Other reliable hosts you can try: BlueHost, HostGator, WebHostingPad
• A blogging platform.  This is the software behind your blog.  For all of my blogs, I use the WordPress platform, because it is very easy to use and is highly customizable. Other blogging platforms: Moveable Type, Typepad.
• Some website-building knowhow.  Apart from learning how to use your chosen blogging platform, you may need some basic HTML or CSS skills, or at least know someone who is familiar with them.  This will come in handy when you need to paste advertising/affiliate codes on your blog, or when you’re troubleshooting.The internet is full of video and written tutorials on HTML, CSS, and blogging platforms.  All you have to do is search for them via Google.

FrugalPinoy Q&A: How do I start as an online freelance writer?

Posted by FrugalPinoy on Aug 20, 2008 in Earning and Income | 12 comments

Several readers sent me a note this week, asking me how they can start an online freelancing career.  Here’s one of the emails I received:

Hello, I’ve been writing professionally for quite some time, and I’m trying to augment my income by trying out freelance writing online. I’ve only had a couple of projects, which paid about a dollar per article.

If it isn’t too much trouble, I was hoping you might help me in trying to find good writing gigs online, and maybe give me some tips on how I can start out.

Thanks very much!

- Tim

Thanks to Tim and the other readers who wrote in with their questions.  I’m going to answer it in simple, concrete steps so that everything is clear.  Regular readers might note similarities between this post and my previous post, “How to Make Money Blogging (Part 1)”. If you haven’t read that post yet, click here to read it, because it contains some points and definitions that aren’t found in this post – especially a needed introduction on online writing.

Without further ado, here are the steps that you can take to start your online freelance writing career:

How to Make Money Blogging (Part 1: Writing for others)

Posted by FrugalPinoy on Aug 20, 2008 in Earning and Income | 3 comments

I’ve been visiting some filipino forums the past week, and I saw that although many Filipinos are interested in online writing, many of them don’t know how to begin, or are compensated poorly for their efforts.  Maybe it’s because there’s a lack of local resources that discuss online writing as a career.

Because of this, I’ve decided to feature a series of posts here at Frugal Pinoy about how to make a living out of online writing. After all, it’s my main income stream and I have a little over 4 years of experience on the subject – especially when it comes to blogging. (In later posts, though, I’ll discuss essay writing and SEO writing, which are other ways to make money online).

Before we begin, we need to define what professional blogging is and what makes it different from personal blogging.

What is professional blogging?

First of all, the definition of ‘blog’ is this:

To put it as simply as possible – a blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.

Source: Problogger.net

This means that a professional blogger is someone who writes for a blog on a regular basis – whether he/she owns the blog or not.  The professional blogger or “problogger” is separated from the personal blogger based on his/her intentions.  The intentions of the personal blogger is usually just to share information about one’s life to friends, family, and the outside world. Usually, when you write a personal blog, you talk a lot about your feelings and personal experiences. The intentions of the problogger, on the other hand, include the following: