Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Official Google SEO Handbook

Quick Post:

Don't buy the ebooks of hacks who ask you for money to buy their SEO book.
Just download the official Google SEO Handbook here:




The link:
IS HERE

You could find the link above in
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=96568&hl=en
Look for it under 'Help resources'

My Online Job as a Pinoy Freelance Writer

Offline, I used to sweep leaves and chase bayawaks for a living here in Batangas. Now I just let the bayawaks run around to chase "Big Show" my favorite free range chicken. Don't worry, PETA activists, "Big Show" is well taken care off and in fact has his own suite here. I just let him roam around because I feel bad keeping him in a chicken coop where he will be trapped and lonely. If you want to buy your own PET chicken, head on over to Solraya or Farmer's Choice. Both have very good chicken breeds.

So in a way, I am a farmer, security guard, caretaker and sweeper.

Online, I am dannybuntu, which is a combination of danny + ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a free operating system based on GNU/Linux.
Ubuntu is also an African word that means "humanity towards others" or loosely,
"I am who I am because of who we all are." 

As dannybuntu, I earn a living through the old fashioned way - writing online as a Pinoy writer.

At first, I can hardly believe it myself because I used to think that earning online is a Fantasy that only Yugatech.com or PinoyTechBlog.com was able to realize.

There were so many scams back then (1999 to 2008) that seemed to make it appear that the Internet was a cash cow ready to be milked by virtually any idiot who had an Internet connection.

I tried a lot of things already, which included investing in a bogus Filipino company that wanted to publish a MMORPG or a MMOFG, that bunked. Na Bangu-ngot ako dahil sa kanila.

I also tried those Pay to Click schemes, but soon the businessman inside of this pinoy writer thought that these guys probably don't earn money in the real world. How are they going to pay me if I click on Ads? When I couldn't think of a thing, I stopped.

Finally, Anthony, an online friend of mine finally showed me the way and introduced me to a secret being held long by the Pinoy Online Elite. You can earn money online.

So now, here I am earning a living as a pinoy writer.

It's surprising.
It's amazing.
It's real.
It's what I love to do.

I don't plan on doing this for a long time. As a businessman, I always plan to move on to other things as I perfect a method that would generate me income. It keeps me alive and "un-bored". There would always be other opportunities that I am not yet aware of. Hopefully, because I am sharing valuable information now for free, somebody like Anthony will help me again and point me to the way.

That's why I am sharing this information. I expect competition to arrive in hordes and I welcome it. It's okay with me because this is a sunshine industry. Right now, there are more articles that need to be written than there are writers to write them.

Loosely estimated, I figure that the odds are 30 articles everyday for 1 writer. That's based on my experience because I have three nice bosses and they give me about 10 articles to work on everyday. I simply can't keep up with the work.

So why do I keep on saying that earning a living by writing online is an old fashioned way of earning money? Because as far as I am concerned, it may be a sunshine industry, but it could be replaced pretty soon by another trend. That's the beauty of the Internet, it would always keep you up on your toes to look for new ways of innovating and creating.

I hope that I was able to share a valuable insight to my readers as they make their way to working online as a freelance writer, a programmer, accountant, designer, advertiser, and a whole lot more.

The possibilities are endlessly beautiful.

Friday, March 26, 2010

God is Good All the Time!

It's 2:09 AM and I couldn't sleep. I'm tired after writing 20,000 words the previous night. I simply cannot write anymore.

Today, my youngest sister will graduate as a Valedictorian.

I am sublimely proud of her.

The culmination of her graduation is a genuine mark of our family's tenacity despite the death of our padre de familia almost 4 years ago.

Despite the high tuition fees and the erstwhile debilitating problems that seemed to confront our family, we managed to prove that we can hold it together despite the odds.

Many have tried to bring us to our knees but more have helped us along the way. With my bitter experiences, getting down on my knees is a truly humbling experience that transcends any other thing that I've experienced.

Victory is truly ten times sweeter after you have tasted the bitterness of defeat.

I feel like a phoenix rising up from the ashes because of this day.

Someday,

I will die, and maybe you, my sister will read this with your pamangkins. I hope that you will understand that I really wanted to be there. It's your moment to shine and you will have many more moments to shine, I'm sure.

I will end this with a prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, 


Thank you for showing me that victory is ten times sweeter when You let us taste defeat. I am forever grateful that once again, You have shown Your ultimate power in our lives even when we have faltered so many times. I thank You for this wonderful gift that You, through my sister has given back to our family. 


Today is the dawn of a new day, and I am glad that You let me see the beauty in it. 


You are Truly Good All the Time. 

Freelance Writing is Not Really 'Writing'

It struck me like a thunderbolt five minutes ago. This pinoy freelance writer - is not really a writer per se, in truth I am a mere word factory. I realized this upon recalling a recent conversation with my sister.

She told me,

"Better that I hate my day job and love my writing, than to start hating the act of writing."

At the time, I wasn't really thinking about what she meant. I was trying to convince her to help me out in my new endeavor which was beginning to weigh down on me because of the sheer volume of the workload.

The truth pierced my thick skull like a bullet shot between my eyes.

Freelance writing is not really writing. I mean it is writing, but writing of a different kind. It's more like being a hired gun. It is sophistry of the most blatant sort where we manipulate words to appeal to a machine called Google rather than to evoke the human experience.

That was lesson number one. And it was painful.*

The implications are manifold and this situation has brought me back to myself.

What the heck am I doing? 

It's true that I am earning more now than I was earning before (I was earning $0.00), it's true that this 'thing' called freelance writing has been paying off the debts, the bills, the globe tattoo prepaid broadband credit and puto seko with extra joss.

But then I woke up and found that it was also draining my soul.

Dennio, a young freelance writer who has been writing for three years now, might relate to what I am trying to say.

It's mental torture of the arduous kind.

My sister woke me up with her words, and Anthony gave me an uppercut with his. (aray! panga ko...)

I'd have to give credit to both of them for doing it. I know it's unintentional but I still would like to extend my gratitude.

It was when Anthony said


"Mahaba na ang mga sinusulat mo, writer ka na nga."
 
(You're starting to write longer, that means you're already a writer)

He might not realize this, but he is right in an upside down I don't know if that was sarcastic kind of way. (Peace bro!)

Seriously, what the heck am I doing?

Well, basically, we're taking advantage of Google's search algorithms by writing numerous articles with a set of keywords that have been designed to associate themselves to a certain product being promoted by our employers. Yeah Baby!

It's called Article Marketing. It's fairly new and only a certain percentage of the pinoy internet scene has taken full advantage of it. Well, we're growing in numbers. Try searching for the terms "Paypal", "Filipino or (Pinoy) and "Writer". You'll have an idea of how many of us know and utilize this.

I have to stop now. I need to smoke to help me remember what the other side of this coin looks like,

I would assume that it looks like Jose Rizal. If it weren't a coin it would be a bill with the face of Benjamin Franklin.

P.S.

I don't even know what postscript means. But later on, I am going to write about Article Marketing if none of you guys write about it first. Well, I'll still write about it even if you guys did.

I usually end with "Cheers!" at the end of my posts but this time I'll end with

Show Me the Money... (with a sad face)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Changing My Niche

Regularly changing from one niche to another can either increase or decrease traffic. 


But today, I am finally going to change my niche from "an Ubuntu Newbie Blog" to "Freelance Writing". 


First of all Ubuntu has changed. It's no longer going in the direction that I would like it to be. The change in the management of Ubuntu has radicalized the Ubuntu OS in ways that are contrary to what I think is the right way for it to go.


It has lost its identity as an operating system with a personality and has exchanged this personality with the desire to please "a market" rather than to convey a noble endeavor. 


As a Pinoy Freelance Writer, I've earned more from freelance writing than Google Adsense.


To be precise, I earned the equivalent of my entire Google Adsense Earnings for 3 years in just one day simply by writing. 


With this blog I am going to aim to add value to the work that I provide my clients by posting about my positive experiences with them. 


In the end, I am and will always be "dannybuntu" whether I write about ubuntu or not. 


I will always be who I am because of who we all are.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Work Hard Online for a Small Amount Everyday


For Americans who earn more than $20 a day, this article is not for you. This article is devoted to my fellow Filipino countrymen who are in poverty. I dedicate this for you mga kababayan. Eto ang matagal ng tinatagong sikreto ng mga nakararami.
Work hard online for a small amount everyday.
Still reading, nagbabasa ka pa ba? Good.
It’s an honest way to earn a living even if the amount is small.
Today, I earned $8 USD.
Kumita ako ng $8 US American Dollars. Totoo, hindi ko na papakita dahil madali lang pekein ng photoshop ang mga screenshot.
I earned $8.00 USD while at my home with my kids. The conversion rate of this is 1 USD = 46.00. That’s PHP 368.00. Not bad for us Filipinos because that is our minimum wage, more or less. But for you Americans, that may be peanuts. At the very least it helps me pay for broadband.
Paano? How?
I use what God has given me. Ginamit ko lamang ang biyaya ng Panginoon sa akin.
I used my talent. 
Ginamit ko ang aking talento. Ito’y ang panunulat.
Pumunta ako sa www.freelancer.com at duon naghanap ng trabahong pwede kong ikontrata. Maraming pagpipilian.
I went to www.freelancer.com and there I looked for a job that I could contract. You could choose a lot of things.
Merong mga trabaho para sa mga nagtapos ng IT, Computer Science o Computer Engineering.
There are jobs for people who have a degree in any IT related course like Computer Science and Computer Engineering. Tulad nito ang paggawa ng program para sa isang restaurant:

Ang kailangan lamang gawin ay magsabi kung magkano ang gusto mong singilin at kung kailan mo matatapos ang proyekto. Pag nagustuhan ng employer ang sinabi mo. Makukuha ka na at maaari mo ng simulan ang trabahao kahit nasa bahay ka lamang at nakashorts.
The only thing you have to do is to place a bid and say how long it will take you to finish the work. You show them your credentials and if they like your offer you get hired. Then you can immediately start working on the project.

Ganun lamang kasimple.

That's how simple it is.


Sige, at subukan mo lang wala namang mawawala sa iyo sapagkat ang pag sali ay libre. 
Go ahead and try it. You have nothing to lose to sign up. 

Freelancer, charges you for every project that you do get and everytime you withdraw your money. 
Sisingilin ka lamang ng freelancer kapag ikaw ay may nakuha ng proyekto at kapag i wiwi draw mo na ang perang kinita mo. 






Freelance Jobs

Don't Earn Money Online.... Bleh... Paypal and BPI...


Dannybuntu / Dannythefarmer has finally discovered how to make money online. Kahit na pa barya barya lang. Pwede ng pagtiyagaan. I’ll share more of this later since I have to work at it constantly. Otherwise, all I will get are pocket change.
This post would be all about withdrawing money from Paypal straight to my BPI account.
STEP 1: Confirming my BPI Account as a real bank account and not a fake one.
1.       Paypal wants me to confirm bank account in my Paypal account by verifying. I can verify my BPI account by adding (or linking) it in Paypal. I put my bank information on Paypal.
2.       Paypal will then send or deposit two small deposits in my BPI account. Take note of these two small deposits.
STEP 2: Confirm account by inputting the two small deposits
1.       Remember the two amounts credited to my account. I have to input them in Paypal.
ERASE. ERASE. ERASE.
NOW THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GOES TO HELL.
Simple lang. How am I going to input those two amounts if they are not there. I’ve been waiting for 12 days and up to now, the two small deposits are not there yet.
I basically have to watch my BPI account everyday, whether two small deposits have been made.
It seems that I’m not the only one with this problem:
Here are a few unlucky people I’ve found all across the Internet:

In Pinoy Money Talk:
Manolet Says:
“why are deposits from paypal take too long to reflect in bank rcbc, they said they deposited 2 small amounts, until now, feb 25, 2010 no deposits reflect? is there a maintaining balance in bank for it to be credited. i am a bit frustrated. any help will be greatly appreciated.”
rbueno Says:
BDO sucks!! it does not approve my bank account in paypal!

In Sulit’s Forums:
Chinita1277 says
I have sent about 3 or 4 complaints to PayPal through email because just like you,
i'm having a hard time having my PayPal account verified (my bank account however is with BDO).  Go to PayPal site and click on the HELP on the upper right hand corner of the site's homepage, then leave an email explaining your predicament.  PayPal usually responds within 24 to 72 hours, and staff usually follow through on your concerns.  Good luck!



Sadly, this seems to be the case in a lot of places as well:

Browse over the comments of these sites:



www.techiegirlonline.com



It seems the solution all points that I should go and open an EON account. That’s what I did this morning.

However, I love BPI. Not only because I used to work there and I find that they really do fill their company with the crème dela crème (hehe, kasama ako dun), but also because they conduct themselves with the best professional attitude I’ve ever seen in a lot of companies.

Pero, this time, I am forced to open an account with Unionbank. I was a little bit surprised that they told me it was going to take 2 weeks before I could even follow it up. Moreover, I find it strange that Unionbank is asking for my TIN Number and SSS. Oh brother... I’ve had 2 other banks other than BPI, and this is the first time I’ve actually come across this requirement. Well, anyway, I would update you, oh faithful reader about my predicament after two weeks.

*Gutom na ko......  I need to withdraw my 25 pesos este dollar earnings... Meow.

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