Desi Baba: Another Blog on Working at Home and Making Money Online

This blog review is long overdue.

Before I went on hiatus, and after my review on John Chow Dot Com came out, blogger Sunny aka Desi Baba left me a comment offering a link from his PR4 site in exchange for a review of his blog. He said the review could be negative, neutral or positive, as long as it is at least 200 words long and contains the anchor texts "desi baba" or "work at home" as links back.

Of course, I first checked out his blog before committing to a review. I didn't need a second look before deciding, though. Desinotes.com, or Desi Baba - Random Ramblings of Desi Baba, is indeed worth a visit.

According to Desi, his blog is about 11 months old but he only started becoming serious about it nine months ago. Considering this, his blog's page rank is quite a feat.

The blog content has a wide variety of subjects. He covers blogging, working from home and making money from online businesses, including tips on optimizing keywords and getting a first page slot on Google search. He also has posts on academics, politics, technology and entertainment. It can be quite disconcerting - yet also fun - to see posts on "English in Early Modern Britain" and "The Next Great President of the United States" in the same blog that features a Paris Hilton fan's letter and the article, "Student Masturbation Is Not Allowed in Dorm Showers." You'll never know what he might write about next and that will keep you visiting to find out.

My only suggestion for Desi or Sunny is to try to lighten up his "serious" posts a little. They will be just as informative and educational even if a tad shorter and less academic. Perhaps he should rewrite his college papers for the internet instead of posting them as is. Many blog readers do not want to read very long posts.

That's also my cue to keep this post at a manageable length.

Do visit Desi Baba and get entertained while getting more informed on many subjects, including making money online as you work at home.

Life in the Philippines: The Benefits of Working at Home

The main reason why my husband and I opted to work from home is to be able to take care of our children. Last year, another angle was added to the situation when my Dad got very ill. Since I am an only child, we took care of him until he passed away in May. By then my Mom was already sick. She is now bedridden and also under our care. This is why I haven't been able to post in the past days.

I am glad that we are able to do this for our family. I am hoping that my blogging and other online money making efforts will eventually create viable income streams to further strengthen our position and make us less dependent on client-based freelance work.

Trying to Earn Global Online from the Philippines: Cutting My Losses in Affiliate Marketing

At around 3 a.m. today (Manila time) I discontinued my affiliation with Global Domains International.

I joined as an affiliate sometime in August last year, taking advantage of the week-long free trial. Near the end of that week I found out that in order to opt out I would have to call a certain number long-distance, Monday to Friday 9 to 5 Pacific time. That meant between 1 to 9 am Manila time.

I did not opt out immediately. The $10 a month charge seemed reasonable considering that it came with a domain name of my choosing and a free website with web-building tools provided and a ready-made business selling GDI memberships.

It was not as easy as it seemed, though.

The initial come-on said no selling, but I was expected to keep sending emails to relatives, friends and acquaintances inviting them to GDI. I wasn't keen on doing so.

The website was there but even with their web-building tools there was not much I could do with it. I don't know html and couldn't improve on it. Even to my own eyes, the resulting site looked unappealing despite my best efforts at putting in what I thought was good content pitching the business.

I also did not know how to drive traffic to the site, perhaps because I felt lukewarm about it in the first place.

In the end it just stayed there online, unnoticed, while I continued to pay for it. It just got a few visits after I linked to it in my recently-opened blogs and at MyBlogLog. Still, no takers for the GDI business I was pushing. Not even in the links in my other blogs.

I know, I know. This is all my fault. There's no one I can blame for it, not even GDI. I'm sure it's true that there are a lot of people out there earning from the business.

It just wasn't the right fit.

I know now that the only kind of business or money-making venture I can succeed in is something that I'm comfortable with or, better yet, something I'm passionate about.

My goodness, I know this already. Why do you think I stuck to freelance writing and romance writing despite the fact that I could have been more secure employed? I chose my passion, that's why. And it has supported me through the years.

So trying to force myself to make a go of the GDI business was really a stretch and I should have seen it earlier.

Well, I lost $90 before I woke up and let go of the dream. It wasn't me so it wasn't for me. I had to cut my losses.

Now I have that figure to target initially for my new blogs. I hope they make up for what I lost, and then LOTS more! :-)

I'm also feeling my way here. Will my passion for writing also translate into success in this medium? There's so much more I have to learn still beyond content. There's also the technical side and networking.

I gave up on GDI already but I'm not giving up on blogging anytime soon. I hope my visitors don't give up on me, too.

Technorati tags: e-gold, make money online, work at home, money, writing, work



Online money-making opportunities you can join for FREE: e-gold / SFI / AGLOCO / MyLot / No-Minimum.com / Paid Forum

Trying to Earn Global Online from the Philippines: You Can Send and Receive Payment Anywhere in the World, Including the Philippines, Through E-Gold

I have been frustrated many times in my attempts to find more money-making opportunities online just because most companies pay through Paypal which does not allow Philippine-based users to receive payment.

Fortunately, I found e-gold.

There may not be as many companies that pay through e-gold as compared to Paypal but this at least gives us some additional opportunities to share in the bustling internet economy.

I was concerned at first about how to withdraw the funds I will receive through e-gold. How do I actually convert it to pesos and get hold of it?

Fortunately, again, I found answers at the Pinoy Money Talk Forum which recommends Pinoy Gold Exchange. Several members attest that they continue to use e-gold and Pinoy Gold Exchange, and that all transactions have been fast, easy and problem-free. They can even send you your money through Smart Money.

The wonderful news is that you can get an e-gold account for FREE.

There's even more. Once you have an account, you can even earn by referring people to e-gold.

I would say that e-gold is a worthy addition to anyone's internet money-making ventures. Even if you are a Paypal user, you can still earn by promoting e-gold.

For those of us in the Philippines who want to maximize online income-generation, I think e-gold is a necessary tool.

Be careful in using your account, though. There have been reports of e-gold phishing. These net criminals send e-mail posing as official e-gold communication and lure users into clicking on the false e-gold link to provide their password. To avoid being victmized, never log on to e-gold through any other link. Go directly to the site every time.

On my next post, I will share with you the money-making opportunities I will find that we can join using e-gold.

Technorati tags: e-gold, make money online, work at home, money, writing, work



Online money-making opportunities you can join for FREE: e-gold / SFI / AGLOCO / MyLot / No-Minimum.com / Paid Forum

Trying to Earn Global Online from the Philippines: Time Management Is Crucial While Working At Home and Problogging

My friend told me I was very brave to put up a third blog. She knew how much work blogging entails.

Indeed, it would be dangerous to over-romanticize working at home freelance and problogging. It's not as easy as it seems to be.

I'm writing this as a cautionary message to those who may have read my post yesterday and are planning to put up multiple blogs, too. Take it one step at a time, especially if you're a newbie. Do one blog first to see how the work impacts your day-to-day lifestyle, and add each new blog one at a time while observing your time schedule.

I am not strictly a newbie at this because I already blogged professionally for several months in 2005-2006. I maintained a blog on business communication for Global Business Watch, and was paid for it. Thus, I have some experience writing a daily blog and everything else it entails. (But I AM a newbie at monetizing my own blog, using Adsense and all the other online money-making ventures.)

I had to stop blogging for Global Business Watch when my Dad got very sick. We focused on his care until he passed away. My Mom got very sick, too, and we are still caring for her.

Yes, blogging does affect real life and vice versa. You need to plan for that and adjust accordingly for unexpected developments, aside of course from having a plan for your usual daily routine.

I am reiterating this also a note to myself. As I mentioned in my post yesterday at Cafe Romanza, I sometimes sit in front of the computer upon waking and then find myself still in my nightclothes by nightfall. Bad, bad, bad habit.

It's so easy to succumb especially if your work station is just there at home. Before you know it, you haven't even had a bath yet, nor breakfast and lunch - perhaps you just have a cup of now-cold coffee on your table - and you're already so immersed in your work that you feel it's impossible to stand up.

We need to make a schedule for ourselves. I promised myself not to even look at the computer until I've bathed, dressed and had a proper breakfast. It would be even better if I could squeeze in some exercise first. (Yeah, right! Good luck to me!)

I'm lucky because the chores are taken care of by our long-time help who are already family. That's a great load off my back.(And one reason why I think I could never live anywhere else but the Philippines, unless I could take them with me.)

Aside from scheduling your time at the computer, you also need to determine how you use that time. Plan ahead for your posts - yes, even while you're away from the keyboard. That way, you already have an idea on what to research on when you sit down to work.

Surfing to get ideas for your day's blog can be very time-consuming. It's such fun to just read on and on, hopping from one site to another, that you could lose sight of your goal and lose focus. Before you know it, you've already lost most of the day, too.

I find that it's better to write my posts first before answering my email and bloghopping for networking and advance research on future posts. That way, I make sure that the primary work for the day is done. I also make sure to update my network at MyBlogLog afterwards as this is a major promotion tool.

Yes, it's a lot of work, especially in the startup days when you need to get your rhythm and build your community of readers. It's also important to try to create good work habits at this stage so that you can take off smoothly.

Now if I could just follow my own advice...

Technorati tags: e-gold, make money online, work at home, money, writing, work



Online money-making opportunities you can join for FREE: e-gold / SFI / AGLOCO / MyLot / No-Minimum.com / Paid Forum

Trying to Earn Global Online from the Philippines: I Earned 5$ Just By Joining "Paid Forum"

You can, too, with a free sign-up.

And if you do, you stand to earn even more. Each referral you send to them resulting in a free membership sign-up gives you a dollar.

Furthermore, each thread you start on the forum earns you 5 cents while each reply brings you a cent.

This may not seem like much but remember that if you have a blog or site, participation in forums is a must to drive traffic to your site. So in effect, Paid Forum is paying you to promote and drive traffic to your own site, resulting in a higher probability of clicks to your ads and more income for you. If you look at it that way, isn't it just perfect?

Even if you don't have a blog or site to monetize, you can still make money from Paid Forum. The sign-up bonus, for one, is easy money from the start. Then you can talk about anything you want in the forum (within bounds of decency and legality, of course) and get paid for it.

Furthermore, you can continue to invite people to join. You don't need to make them buy anything. It's free. In fact, you are giving them the chance to earn $5 automatically, and yourself to earn $1. It's a win-win situation.

So how do you refer people to Paid Forum if you don't have a blog or a website?

I suppose you use email? Most email applications allow you to add a signature to your every message. Write in an invitation to Paid Forum like the one I have at the bottom of this post. Make sure to include your special referrer link so that people can click on that to join. This will ensure that the sign-up is credited to your account. You'll get your referrer link when you sign up at Paid Forum.

This is also one of the few paying opportunities in the net that does not exclusively use PayPal. For those of us in the Philippines, and in other countries not allowed to receive money from PayPal, this is a relief.

I chose to receive payment through Western Union. You could also opt for a check mailed to you.

Okay, then, off I go to Paid Forum.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--o-o-o-o-

Online money-making opportunities you can join for FREE:

- Send and receive money anywhere around the world with e-gold. Earn from referrals.

- Get your own internet business using a proven worldwide income system with a 20-year track record. No experience required. No risk.

- AGLOCO will pay you for just doing your normal surfing routine. You can earn even more with referrals.

- Earn $5 immediately just by signing up at Paid Forum. Earn more from each referral, each thread you start and each reply posted.

- MyLot also pays you to participate actively in their forum. Earn further from your referrals.

- No-Minimum.com pays you to click, read email, and sign up for offers. You also get paid when you refer new members.

Trying to Earn Global Online from the Philippines: Test Before You Invest in Your Online Business

No one wants to be scammed.

We are usually wary of income opportunities that require an investment. This is why Blogger is a popular site. It allows us to set up our blogs for free and earn from them.

There is also added value in having your own domain, though. For one, it gives you a sense of pride to say you own a piece of virtual real estate. I'm proud to say I own www.earnglobal.ws.

It's not just an empty boast, though. My site came with a website plus free website building support that a tech-impaired newbie like me needed very badly. Furthermore, I got it with a package that included a free complete ready-to-go web business.

That means I have my own address (which I got to name myself) and a website that I could do with as I please, along with my own brand new web biz that I could immediately earn from. It comes with complete backroom support, too, teaching me everything I need to know every step of the way. This being my first web biz venture, I also needed that support.

And how much did I need to shell out for this start up? Nothing.

Yes, you read that right. I was given the opportunity to choose my own domain name, claim it, get a website and build it the way I like, and start doing business immediately - all for free. Of course, it's only a 7-day free trial period but, hey, how many businesses can you test run for free before you decide to invest in it?

There are no strings attached, either. At the end of the week-long trial period, I could have cancelled if I thought it wasn't for me.

I decided to keep my domain and website, though. I figured I would just be paying a very affordable rate for the service, comparable to prevailing market rates. But I got a bonus with it - the free business that I had already tested and that could very well pay for the domain and webhosting while earning me much, much more in the long run.

Why waste the opportunity, then? I would normally have to pay for my own domain name and website, anyway, and then pay extra for whatever web business I choose to set up on it. Here, I get the business package for free.

So if you're planning to set up your own web business, I highly suggest you test it first, too.

If you want to go my route, you can start here.

You can then monetize that site or your existing blog with Google Adsense and Text Link Ads.

In addition to all of these, sign up with Agloco for free and earn by just doing your normal internet routine. Agloco stands for A Global Community and it believes that all internet users deserve a share of the massive profits circulating online. I totally agree.