This is a Wordpress theme that I modified because I didn't like the original colors, which are green and beige. And obviously, my favorite color is blue and black, so I made this template just the way I like it. It is the Blue Spring Loaded theme; 2 column, blue and black, widget ready, and free to download. I made this because I used to have a WP site hosted on a free host, but then I turned to Blogger for reliability since I can't afford paid hosting yet.

You can see the demo and download the theme at this link.

Please post a comment and tell me what you think of my template. For those of you who are using the template, post your url for me to see where you are using it. Thanks!

This is my first blogger template based on a default template from the Blogger team. It has a clean blue color, simple layout, seo friendly and definitely widget ready. Other colors will also be available if people will request it. You can see the demo and download the xml template along with the images here.

If you would like to request for another color, just leave a comment on this post. Thanks!

Its important for a money-making blog to gather up visitors because they are the ones who will be clicking on your ads and earning you the dollars. But how do you actually start on your blog? Well, here's my first approach on it:

Post a lot of original content on the blog you have.

Yes, you might get a few visitors here and there, but then what we actually want to do is for them to keep coming back to your blog. So, post a lot of interesting and (quote unquote) original unique content on your blog.

Why?

Search engines don't appreciate people copying other people's works. Plagiarism is a crime, so don't do it. Although there are articles on the net that are free for people to "copy & paste", but most probloggers agree that they don't get so many readers.

What's next to do? Let's follow this summary of Marhgil's post on how to start a blog:

1. Your blog in itself should be search engine friendly. Choosing the right Wordpress/Blogger/whatever blog platform theme is necessary. It's called onpage optimization.

• The tag should be optimized: title of the blog loads first and needs minimal plugins to load faster.
• Content loads first: I've seen some blogs where the ads on the center showed first and I thought it's a splash ads page so I left. Its important that after the title, your content shows up next.
• Extensive use of header tags: h1, h2, h3, and the rest should be your buddies in your theme when you need to present the title of the blog and the subject of the contents.
• One link from the theme maker is enough: Machua advises not to choose themes that has two or more links to the maker on the footer or anywhere else. This can also save some precious SEO.
• If Header is king, then Footer is queen: It is necessary for SEOing to have a footer to give your blog some sitewide links, like links to certain posts you want to optimize.

2. Properly position your Google Ads. Here's the places where Marhgil advices us to place our gold mines to get the most clicks from visitors as possible:

• Above the fold
  
• [Below your blog post title. ] Don't do this anymore. It's now illegal!
  
• At the right sidebar just beside your blog post
• After your blog post
• Near search boxes

3. Research for keywords to optimize. If you want to know how he does it, go here. Research for low competition and high search rate words. And if your just a starter (like me), don't blog about Paris Hilton or Michael Jordan because your chances of getting on the top spot of search engines are almost impossible. Try your luck first on local celebs like Angel Locsin or Piolo Pascual, or even misspelled words like Googel, Yotube, text qoutse, and the like.

4. Get links to your blog posts. More links linking to you means higher ranking in search engines. Wonder why Google Page rank is so important? Google prioritizes sites with higher rankings and places them at better positions in the search results. There are a lot of ways to get links:

• links exchange - asking other bloggers to post a link to your site and in return you link to them
• forum signatures - put links in your forum signatures linking to your blog, and if you have a handful of forum posts, they'll sure to be helpful.
• links from your other blogs - money-making bloggers don't just get all their earnings on one blog, but from a number of blogs which they own. Just put a link on your other blogs to the blog you want to promote and that'll do good.
• directory submissions - submit your blog to free search engine friendly directories around the web. Here's a list.
• sharing wordpress/blogger templates - it will be certain that you will get one-way links when you've shared a template that has credit links at the footer. (I've made one Blogger template myself: Cool blue template)
• link baiting - the hardest of all the methods. Other people voluntary link to your because you have interesting entries in your blog.

These are some of Marhgil's tricks, and hopefully they will also help us newbies to profit from our blogs.

I have been a home-based programmer/web designer for almost a year now and I'm now deciding on using Paypal to recieve my monthly salary (previously they were using Xoom). I have searched in Pinoy money forums and blogs on the possible ways I can get my money from Paypal, and most people would suggest the Eon Visa Card from Unionbank. It is very easy to get it (just need to valid IDs to apply and a low annual fee) but a lot have been complaining that you have to count days before your Paypal money gets transferred to your Eon Visa Card.

Another option I am looking into is transferring my Paypal Credits to my BDO account. Macuha (sorry, got his last name wrong the first time..) has proof that this can be done, so I'm quite confident now that I can use Paypal to recieve my earnings.

How about you guys, what's your experience in using Paypal with Eon Visa or BDO?

Definitely, you want to earn money from blogging. But you don't know how to start. Here's a quick guide on how to set-up a Blogspot blog and putting some Adsense into it.

1. Go to Blogger.com, and sign up for a free blog (really easy to sign up!) If you have a Gmail account already, you can also use that to login.

2. Once you've already signed up, you arrive at your Account page. You will now be creating your own blog with a few steps. Think of a cool name and a catchy tagline. It will help a lot!

3. You can now tweak your blog in the Dashboard area. Most bloggers would click the Layout tab and select an appealing template. But if you want templates other than the ones listed there by default, you can try searching in Google for free Blogger XML templates. Make sure to follow instructions when installing them.

4. Make your first post!

5. To add AdSense advertisements on your blog, go to Layout->Page Elements and click the "Add a Gadget" link inside the layout preview box.

6. A pop-up window appears, listing some of the available Gadgets for you to use. Scroll a bit down and you'll see "Adsense".

7. Click Adsense. You have to login to your Adsense account using your Blogger/Gmail account. Once you've setup your Adsense account, you can now easilly add ad units to your blog!

Once you've setup your blog, the best way to monetize it is to promote it. I'll be tackling in the future so always be updated and subscribe to my feeds!

Ciao for now!

This blog is my attempt to unravel the secrets behind the success of our top pro-bloggers who are earning a hefty sum from their writings on blogs. One of them is Yuga from YugaTech.com, an all-Pinoy tech blog which ranks #1 in topblogs.com.ph. He has been featured in a number of local and international TV programs and publishings and with no doubt, he has been bringing in the bucks from his blog! Of course, he also has other endeavors that gives him income, like being an owner (or co-owner) of the most popular hosting company in the Philippines, Ploghost.

Another world-wide-web popular blog is JohnChow.com. He's been the inspiration of many pro-bloggers out there who wants to pay the bills with their blog. He was once #1 in the Google search for the keywords "money making online". At present, he has renovated his blog, with a more professional layout and earning better than ever. The latest venture he will be having is a dinner at Blog Expo World which will be held in Las Vegas, along with some of the top bloggers around the world. Just imagine how rich he is now just by posting entries about the things that interests him!

Probably one of the most popular ways to get your own place in the web is through blogging. Blogger and Wordpress just two of the blogging platforms you can use to start your own site. It is easy to use them, and there are hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of template designs you can download and use that will change the look of your blog to fit your needs. Best of all, Blogger, Wordpress, and most of their templates are completely free to use!

But how do they earn money from their blogs? Number one is: Ads, ads, and more ads!  Think of your blog as billboard for you to place some ads in. And you will be paid when your visitors click the advetisements.  Problogger.net has listed its sources of income, and all of them are basically advertisements you put in your blog site, and when your visitors click on these links, you are paid by the advertisers. Very simple?

On my next posts I'll be detailing what advertisements you should put on your blog. So don't be left out, subscribe to my RSS feeds!