Pinay New Yorker

(Erika had left a comment and a question which, unfortunately, I cannot publish because she didn't leave a working e-mail nor a URL to her blog or website. =( thank you, all the same, for stopping by. Although I am unable to publish your comment, it doesn't mean I cannot or will not answer your question...)

I have upgraded my account since March and I've also utilized Adsense since doing so gave me the freedom to remove my blog provider's ads. But let me get to the nitty-gritty of this whole business of revenues and traffic.

First of all, for the record, the main reason I upgraded was to have better control of the look and feel of my corner of the web here. While the free bloghosting package I had was well-suited to my need to chronicle my constant ramblings on the web, I had no control over the ads appearing on my site which wasn't really a problem until I kept getting the "Meet Sexy Pinays" ads which were popping up mainly because of the site title. (And I wasn't about to remove the "Pinay" from my online monicker because I feel very strongly about being THE Pinay New Yorker.)

Since I had upgraded and finally gotten rid of those pesky eye sores, I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for Adsense since I sometimes provide links to stores or establishments I write about. It didn't cost me a cent to do it, and it provides a possible source of revenue.

But let's go back to the reason I blog -- I do it for self fulfillment and to help me maintain an online journal for my own personal reference, joy, entertainment and satisfaction. The fact that others find my writing amusing, enlightening and maybe though-provoking (from time to time) is an added plus. So to answer the question if I'm earning from Adsense, the answer is no. Well, I actually have under $10 to date which I know can be ten-fold if only I would write to generate revenue.

See, Google Adsense basically rewards your site based on the click throughs of the ads they put on your site based on your content. So to earn, you have to write about topics that will help you develop a following to bring in the "visitors", then you have to write also about topics that would generate ads that pay more when people click on them. Plainly put, you can earn much more if you blog about the topics that generate the most revenues per click. I can certainly do that if I wanted to, but then it would no longer be about me. My blog would now be about earning money off of what I write.

I would be writing about "payday loans" instead of about how Glorietta brings back a lot of memories when I was working and studying in Makati. I would be doing product reviews from companies who pay people to write about their merchandise instead of endorsing the products I truly use and want to recommend.

So if you blog like I do which is just an online chronicling of the otherwise ordinary life of a forty-two year old Pinay mom and wife in New York, then revenues are the farthest thing from your mind when you begin a post. But if you can stay focused on writing about things that will bring in the traffic like the travails of Brian Gorrell or the latest mishaps in the Arroyo administration, then you will bring in the traffic, and you can fine tune your blogging to "mention" those other revenue generating keywords.

I might yet succumb to that but not on this blog. I will probably create a new site altogether where I will strike the keys to earn.

I've tried it and the attempts at writing to generate revenue felt flat and hollow. It didn't feel real to me. At the end of the day, I find fulfillment in being able to write what I want to say with no regard for remuneration or fear of retaliation or opposition.   There are others, though, who can do it and who do it.  I have nothing against writing to earn -- I am just not up to it.  As it is, I have to squeeze in blogging during the commute or those moments at the end of the day when I find the inspiration and/or the energy to write a post.
I will admit that there was a time that site traffic was an obsession -- until I found myself being reminded of the reason I'm blogging.  So if others stop by and read what I write, I am grateful.  If no one does, I'm just glad I'm able to speak my heart and mind out as I please.

Although I cannot make recommendations, I believe a good guideline would be that the hotel be centrally-located so you can access the sites you want to visit. Good luck!

I have arrived in Manila and have been caught up in a flurry of visits, reunions, trips, and all the good stuff associated with a trip home.  I was also momentarily "offline" as my blackberry server went bonkers on me which necessitated my caling our helpdesk back in New York. My phone was running, but my data was dead.  It was news to me of course that Globe wasn't delivering.  I switched to Smart and voila!  I'm back online.

Add to that that I was still severely jetlagged (and still am) so I haven't really had the chance to blog.  But here I am.

I opened my dashboard and found a comment from Ed Lagman who unfortunately did not leave a working e-mail nor a URL, so I cannot publish his comment.

Small world, though, he wrote me he knew Hot Rodney of whom I wrote about  in early 2007.  If I had Ed's e-mail address, I would have asked him to just send Rodney B a link to the post and tell him Dinna sends him her regards.  Of course there is a very good chance that he will not remember me anymore... it was, after all, decades and decades ago.

It's just heartwarming to know that the category I had begun then, "The people in my life" produced one of the results I had hoped for -- which was to reconnect with people I used to know.  So I hear Rodney is in Southern California.  I figure he's doing okay.   Be well, Hot Rodney..

Ed, thanks for the note.  Now if you can only do me the favor of forwarding the URL of the post about Rodney to Rodney -- not for anything else but just so he sees how I appreciated his friendship not just back then, but even now as I look back rememberiung.

I bought mine during a sale for $1 at the Body Shop over at South Street Seaport in Manhattan, back in 2005. I'd watch out for a similar shade or color towards summer when the shade works. As you know, even make up is seasonal here.

Although I blog primarily to document my thoughts and ruminations (from the mundate to the profound), I enjoy hearing from those who stray into my space here because it gives me a sense of affirmation, and sometimes it gives me pause to think about things I write, do and create.  I have found a handful of "blogfriends" who I would have otherwise not have known had we not bumped into each other in the blogsphere.  So I am grateful.  I appreciate the feedback function of blogging, but I appreciate the ability to moderate it even more.

Jerome was expressing the same sentiment in a sense when he lamented how he bumped into a bigot's comment on his blog which was filtered, but which of course he saw when he went through the comments that had been posted.  I've had my own bad experience with comments coming in that is why I triggered the moderation of comments a long while back.

I've been receiving some uncontroversial and otherwise printable or publishable (?) comments, but the absence of a working e-mail or a URL to track back to has prevented me from publishing it.  (And yes, I do check if the e-mail works by sending a thank you note for "dropping by".)  There are times when I am somehow enticed to respond without publishing, but on the whole, I have to ignore the comment in fairness to those who come forward with their identity if not in real life, on the web.

This is just a reminder to those who take the time to read the posts on this blog to please properly provide identification (e-mail and/or URL please) if you are leaving a comment, whether you wish to be published or not.  I thank you all the same for stopping by.