This Blog Is Not Dead

I'm sorry folks for not updating this blog regularly. Well, it's been over 6 months since my last update. But, no! This blog isn't dead!

I've been pretty busy the past several months. I have several clients to provide my virtual services to. In fact, I'm just taking an hour break from my research work I am doing right now. I'm also quite busy with my social media marketing--I'm still in the real estate industry and I'm also marketing for a local rattan manufacturer.

Though, I'm not actively posting here, I've been working hard to drive web traffic to Soliloquy, my primary blog. With all the changes and the effort I did with it, sort of an experiment for me, I am pretty happy seeing the traffic coming in. I've been seeing a decline of the bounce rate (the percentage of or visits in which the person left the site) and increase of the organic search. Hopefully, it's going to be the same here in Money Talks Over Coffee (MTOC).

I have a lot of catching up to do, really. I'll be working on a schedule and will try harder to stick to it. Part of my schedule is to deliver fresh weekly post in this blog and never leave it like it's dead.

Ciao for now! Feel free to drop me a line.

Money in Blogging and Writing

Back in my college days when I used to write for the university publication, I thought that there is no future in writing. I believed that there is no money in it, unless you have powerful connection in society where you are rubbing elbows with politicians, publishers, and among other influential people. That notion, however, changed through time. There is money in writing...and blogging. And that I realize since I embarked my freelance career.

Thanks to social media! Now, the internet is inundated with opportunities. I say it is opportunities because it doesn't automatically give you instant money. You need to explore and work hard for it.

I am not saying this because I have earned much. No! I am still learning the ropes. And I am still at the beginning of my race. Most of the times, I learn by myself through endless browsing and reading.

Here, I won't be  extensively discussing how to earn a living or how to make money from blogging and writing, but I am going to share common revenue-generating activities.

1. Getting online writing projects.    After leaving the corporate world, I decided to pursue a freelance career. I started getting projects from Odesk and Freelancer. It's been keeping me busy all the time.  Many of my projects include blogging, article writing, ghostwriting, web content and product reviews. Though I favored research and lead generation projects, but for some reason what I'm getting are writing projects.

Other websites that you can get writing assignments or projects include Donanza, Elance and People Per Hour.

2. Monetizing your blog.  I'm still working on this.  It is only recently that I was actively monetizing my blog through Google Adsense, advertising programs and affiliate programs. There are thousand out there that are willing to be your business partner. 

3. Sponsored reviews. Currently, I am affiliated with sponsoredreviews.com.  Some companies and organizations seek for bloggers who can discuss or create a review about their products or company. Some interesting sites that I still need to check include Blogging Ads, Link Post, Review Me, Shvoong, PayPerPost, and Smorty.

4. Writing Gigs. Many online magazines and websites accept submissions, contributions or feature articles. While many require you to apply to be a writer or contributor, some sites will pay you upfront for articles that meet their standards.  

5. More blogging opportunities.  Sites like Technorati, Helium, Hubpages and Bukisa welcome bloggers and let you earn passive income. They don't pay for your blogs upfront, but you will have the exposure and earn revenue from your blogs.  I'm interested in doing this, but because I am still kind of slow in writing, I can't manage it yet. I'm talking one step at a time. Though I have set accounts to a couple of those sites, I haven't posted anything as of this writing. 

Thinking Big and Kicking Ass

If anyone of you wonders what happen to me this past several months and why I wasn’t active in updating this blog—let me tell you that I happen to make a big and unthinkable leap from being a corporate worker to a freelancer.  I am not going to tell you anything about earning right now because I am not there yet, but I am getting there. And I can see it. It is my personal belief that a person has to find what she really wants in life, and success and its financial rewards will come right after.

Perhaps other people may not agree with my decision, but this is my conviction. And this is going to make me happy. While they are doubtful, I become more resilient.

Like any other things in life, the FIRST is always the difficult, awkward and memorable – first step, first love, first day in school, first job. Whatever difficulties that I am experiencing right now, I am savoring every part of it because I know that at some point in my life I am going to look back, then smile and say: Whew! I’ve been through all of that.

There is no single formula to success. Besides, the measurement of success could be different from person to person. It is kind of subjective in my point of view. If success is purely monetary, I think that isn’t good. But if success is indeed financial in nature for you, then so be it. Your gauge of your success is different than mine.

Think Big by Donald Trump is one of the books that truly inspired me. The book is a collaborative work of Trump and Bill Zanker.  It helps readers adopt the attitude of thinking big and kicking ass. Nice eh!

Bill Zanker is the owner of The Learning Annex. He had called Trump to be a speaker, but was rejected by his secretary not just twice but several times. The Learning Annex started from a $5,000 company and become a $5 million a year. After meeting Donald, The Learning Annex was generating over $100 million a year and growing.

I would love to read that book again and again.

It is funny that I had a hard time deciding whether to buy that book versus a book about how women should manage their money. I was standing in the bookstore for couple of hours trying to decipher which is which by leafing through the pages. I almost read 2 chapters of Think Big that I finally decided to buy it. And I made a perfect choice.