First Step to Site Monetization

If you want to go with the "trend" of earning online, then there's plenty of us doing that right now. It's just a matter of how you are going to pull it off so you can generate the most income out of your time on the Web. I mentioned previously in another entry that you would need a site to start off. A blog is actually the easiest site to start because of the following factors:

1. Blogs can be started free-hosted
2. All you need to know is how to write
3. Templates are always available anywhere on the Web for free

To start off, get yourself a blog. There are a number of free-hosted blogs out on the Web right now. The top two free-hosted blogs right now are

1. Wordpress
2. Blogger

Errr, they aren't exactly the only free-hosted blogs on the Web. There's also MySpace, Friendster and Xanga. But I'm gonna focus on the two mentioned above, because I got better experience with these two than the other blogs. I have a MySpace and Friendster blog, but I prefer standalone blogs than social networking blogs. By the way, if you want a free Typepad blog, you can get one by having a Friendster account. Friendster blogs uses the Typepad platform. Typepad is powerful, but costs too much money for a cheapskate like me.

Moving on...

Wordpress


You can sign up to test this platform at Wordpress.com. It's very easy to use if you have basic knowledge about pressing buttons and such and they have like a gazillion templates available for you to choose from. Wordpress also has a ton of plugins where you can activate and use to your heart's content. But Wordpress has been shutting down free blogs that have paid content in them recently, so that means you can't monetize your blog via ads. At first, Wordpress blogs are just not user-friendly. There's too many buttons and plugins to look at. You'll get used to it eventually. Your URL will look like this:

http://yoururl.wordpress.com

Blogger


It's Google's personal blogging platform. This blog that you are reading on is actually running on it, only it has a Wordpress theme. Blogger is very user-friendly and the best part about this platform is that you can display ads on your blog right away and start monetizing by putting Adsense on your blog. All you need to do is have a Gmail account for all things Google. With a Gmail account, you can use it to log in to your Adsense account, Analytics, Blogger, basically everything Google. Your URL will look like:

http://yoururl.blogspot.com

Mind you though, I have earned some cash through this free-hosted blog, but I advise you to get yourself your own domain. More on that later on. The next step will be on the next entry as I talk about how to monetize even your free-hosted Wordpress blog.

The NOT So Talented Mr. Montano?

The NOT so talented Mr. Montano? It seems that Mr. Brian Gorrell had changed his blog's title. This one is much much more appropriate. I wouldn't imagine calling my ex "talented". He'd be too flattered. I'll admit, he was talented in some things, but not in anything good. Well, not in anything good for the human soul, at least.

Look at the transition:

From this,


To this,


Anyway, Mr. Gorrell seems happier now. Not that he has money back, but because of the onslaught of support coming from all over the world through his blog. According to him, he has been receiving reports about the whereabouts of his ex-lover from special people and even one of Mr. Montano's relatives.

People, don't think I'd wanna hear anything about my ex anymore. I've already told everybody to stop asking me about how he is. I don't know and frankly, I don't give a flying ****. Mr. Gorrell's and my situation may be similar, but I chose to just forget about him since it wasn't USD$70,000 and I do not have HIV, so I don't need the money. I was just happy he was GONE, GONE, GONE.

All the juicy stuff about bringing Manila's High Society down has been very well---juicy. Everyone wants to know what Brian can unravel for the readers more. I know I totally enjoy reading his posts, even if he does have some occasional spelling errors. I like watching him petting his dogs, they really are adorable. They don't look like super pretty dogs, but they are very pretty. It's the loving that makes them pretty.

For some, the blog coming out is a bad thing. For others, it's an eye opener. I didn't even know that we had people like that living in the Philippines amidst all the Philippine poverty. Right now, I'm not only wishing Mr. Gorrell good luck on his quest, but I am also wishing all Filipinos the best, except for a few people here and there. But don't worry I certainly don't wish them ill.

Monetizing Your Site


How exactly do you earn via the Internet, aside from your numerous businesses in real life, etc, etc, etc?

Well, if you spend more than a couple of hours on the Internet, doing nothing but trolling the Web for the latest gossip on Britney, why not make good use of that wasted time and earn while at it, right?

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thought of this, and I'm probably 10 years too late at this, but there are still more people out there who don't know how to monetize their time on the Internet. And no, I won't be asking you for money for this information. But if you really insist, who am I to say no? :P

Anyway, what you need to have before you can actually start monetizing your time are the following:

1. A site

It doesn't matter what kind of website it is, but unless you're planning to just make money from ads, get a site that will generate a lot of traffic. You guys figure out what kind of site that is. It all depends on your ideas. But if you like to write/blog like me, then get a blog.

I'll talk more about blogs on the next entry.

2. An actual address

Yes, seriously. You have to have proof that you live where you say you live. I'll talk more about that later too.

3. A credit card

For Paypal. It can be a debit card or an ATM card too. But if you are a student and in the Philippines, get the Unionbank EON Card. More on that next time as well.

Make Money With Your Blogs

Pretty soon right after the exams that I have been talking about over and over again on this blog, I will be writing about how you can make money off the blog that you are using/writing on.

This will include details on getting paid for posting on your sites, doing surveys, even get paid with Paypal even if you don't have a credit card. But be wary, the last one will only be good enough for people in the Philippines.

I'm no expert in getting a lot of traffic, so I'm afraid I won't be able to discuss that. Anyway, keep checking back just in case I post again.

The Forbidden Kingdom Review


Quite a few posts back, I said that I'm going to watch the movie even if I have to go all alone. And I did.

Watching a movie all by your lonesome is no fun, but that depends on you being used to being lonely. And I am pretty much very used to doing things alone. But really, I had things to do that day and wasn't expecting to be done with it so quickly.

Ok, I was totally ignoring the main character, which I supposed was the white guy, whom I've never even seen before. He was nerdy-looking in my opinion, or maybe he could've looked better in other movies or shows, I just didn't care about him. I went to watch the movie because I wanted to see Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

Anyway, so what do I think about it? Well, it wasn't the kind of movie that would compete with stunts from the Spiderman and Mission Impossible movies. Those stunts are very thought of and they used weapons. In The Forbidden Kingdom, all the action was pure martial arts, in short, you don't fake any of it. Sure, you can assist the effects and make them look like you were flying, but the martial arts is still feasible. And in martial arts, execute them properly and fast enough, you can actually be flying for a couple meters.

I'm so stuck at the fight scene that Jet Li and Jackie Chan had. The Praying Mantis was shown with such grace by Jet Li, and Jackie Chan did the Tiger. Errr, you gotta watch it to appreciate it. The scenery was really nice, bamboos in China, the stream, the pink cotton bushes... They looked like cherry blossom trees, but they were too small and looked like bushes. The movie was full enough of beautiful scenes for you to appreciate it.

The special effects with the chi generating Jade warlord was excellent actually, you can't even tell if it wasn't real. That was how well-blended the technology was with the movie. I'm pretty sure I've seen the girl on their team before, she had a show here in the Philippines during prime time, and well I didn't realize how skinny and tall she was until the movie. She usually wore a kimono in her TV show. :)

Jackie Chan was a drunk in the movie and I just couldn't help but think about how long he has been in the movies that he was constantly referred to as an old man in the movie. I never thought he would actually grow as old as he is now.

It was weird on my part to see Jet Li act as The Monkey King. The Monkey King was an enchanting character, with his mischievousness and naughty demeanor. But then again, Jet Li played a serious monk as well. And I was very surprised to see him laughing at the main character when he first met the main character. Who would think that Jet Li can laugh out loud?

Anyway, so there you go. I enjoyed the movie and I went all alone. So if you're gonna go with somebody, you're gonna enjoy it even better.