It’s been more than a month already since my last post. Whew! Well, I’m not into inactive mode. In fact, I’m in hyper mode both in my online and offline activities.  I spent a 2-week vacation somewhere, and joined fun runs almost every weekend. I did a solo epic bike ride too.

For my online activities, I’ve spent my time studying the framework of CakePHP. I was tasked to maintain a website and so I was forced to study it. I did not hesitate to grab this opportunity because  I’m planning to use the same tool for another web project in our company. I also studied the new Delphi XE2 for my new software development projects which I’ll give for free. Whew! I’ve got a load of things to do in my hand right now, and this is the reason why I can’t update Blogdemanila as much as I want to.

I also developed a new niche blog again. Two actually.  And this is how my topic came up.

If you’ve read my previous post, you will notice that one way to increase backlink and traffic at the same time is to use the power of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter, among others.

After developing my latest niche blogs, I contemplated to look for an affordable SEO company that offers back linking services. I’ve reviewed some providers, but it seems the scope of work they are providing is limited. I’m not saying that they are not good companies, in fact a lot of them offers great services!

While searching for SEO companies, my attention was caught by those offering Twitter followers and Facebook Likes.  There are those that offers “Get Followers Fast”, “We LIKEs and G+ your site”, “Get Free Followers and Likes”, etc.

Here’s my take on these so called SEO companies. I’m fine with them as long as they are following social network’s policies and rules. Period. I don’t mind the process they are doing to give you Likes and Tweets.

I’m a member of some blogger’s group and social media communities where we exchanges Likes, G+s and Tweets. I reviewed Twitter, Facebook and Google G+ policies and I didn’t see anything that may suspend my account by joining these social media communities.

For example in Twitter, once you’ve followed 2000 users, your account will be automatically monitored. This is like a virtual limit and it differs for every user. Twitter will only lift this limit up according to the number of your followers.  To put it simply, you cannot follow a thousand followers if you only have a handful of followers.

So if you want to keep your Twitter account being suspended, don’t ever join companies that promise by giving you more followers fast in exchange for a payment. Avoid aggressive following behaviors and only go for those that offers free followers but make sure you maintain a healthy ratio.

I had a nice FB post exchanges with a local blogger because he’s curious on what is the best way to get backlinks for his blog. He told me that his doing forum posting, blog commenting  and even uses social bookmarking sites to promote his blog and yet his methods doesn’t seem bring good result.

He asked the million-dollar-question, “What is the best way to get backlinsk for my blog?”

To start with, backlinks is just one of the hundreds (200+ and growing) factors which Google is using to weight your site.

Benefits of Quality Backlink

The benefits of building up back link is to increase traffic and helps in getting page rank,  and SERP ranking. It boost site traffic and improves site visibility in search engine.

Remember : Increase traffic=increase visitors = increase profits.

Don’t forget  quality and not quantity is what matters in link building. Better to have a 1 backlink from a PR 6 site than to have 6 from a PR 1 sites. It would help a lot if you can get backlinks from authority sites.

Best Way To Get Backlinks For Your Site or Blog

• Article submission
• Press Release submission
• Forum Posting
• Social Bookmarking – Digg,Twitter, Google+,Facebook
• Blog Commenting – look for dofollow blogs
• Video Submission – use the power of YouTube
• Profile Building
• Link Exchange (Blogroll or Directory submission)
• Photo sharing
• RSS submission
• Business listing

Where to Start?

Before using any of the methods mentioned above, make sure your site is fully optimized before you proceed with your link building campaign. Do OnPage optimization too. Once it is optimized, list down the main keywords you will use for the campaign. Analyze your competitors to see how many backlinks they have and what kind of links they are getting.  You can put together a list of sites you want to target based on what your competitors are getting their source.

Once you have determined the main keywords, write some few articles using your prepared keywords. You will use these articles for article submission and even for your Press Release campaign.

Be ready on what methods you want to use. You may want to prepare a schedule wherein you will use a particular technique for a week, then use another one the next time. In this way you can measure the outcome of your campaign.

Try to use all the methods that I’ve lined up above.By using different methods, you are less likely to get hit by a major algorithm update like Google Panda that keeps on changing every now and then. Using several approaches will make your link building campaign look natural in search engine’s eyes.  Another good reason for using several techniques is because what works today may not work tomorrow.

There’s really no magic formula in building links. It is not really hard, but it takes hard work and patience.

Happy link building!

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After posting my previous post on “5 Top Reasons Why Affiliate Marketing Is The Best “Make Money Online” Strategy“, I received a couple of emails asking me on how they can promote their products online without spending much. Well, I did not lecture them on budgeting because that’s not my forte but instead I shared to them the things they need to consider if they want to promote their products through affiliate marketing.

A lot of company owners now days opt to start an affiliate marketing campaign as one of the component of their overall marketing marketing promotion. In most cases this kind of affiliate marketing promotion is only a small portion their overall marketing strategy but you will find some organization who opt to rely exclusively on this kind of marketing including big names such as Amazon.

Purpose of Affiliate Marketing

The primary purpose  for using affiliate marketing is  to save money whilst achieving beneficial advertising. However, once a company becomes more successful they ought to think about becoming a lot more  proactive and combining their affiliate  promotion with other forms of online  marketing just like  placing ads on Google (Adwords), buy banner ads spaces and orchestrating an email promotion campaign.

Use the Power of Affiliates to Promote Your Site

An affiliate marketing campaign is basically a promotion  in which other website owners or bloggers are willingly to promote by writing a post or by simply placing a banner ads for your products or services on their websites. These  owners are referred to affiliates. The affiliates are given code or special links to be placed on their site and has the freedom to promote it as they see fit.

A lot of affiliates are now heavily promoting their site using social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Sending a promotional email campaign is also another sure way to make a sale,  specially if the affiliate has a big number of subscribers. The affiliate doesn’t only promote their site but they are also making a buzz for your site and product also. Whenever a reader clicks on the special link you’ve provided, the visitors will be directed to you own website as well.

I will continue this topic on the next post and will discuss how affiliate marketing can be used effectively. On a personal note, I was recently hired to be the affiliate manager of Alphadore – the World’s first and only financial statement analysis web application. If you are interested to join, I invite you to SIGN-UP as an affiliate by clicking here. We use PayDotCom.com to manage our affiliate program.  If you need some help, please let me know.

If you are looking for the easiest, if not the best online money maker out there, I encourage you to look at affiliate marketing.  I’ve been involved with affiliate marketing for almost 5 years now and I can personally testify that it’s top most online money making for me.

Affiliate marketing is where you promote  someone else’s product or service and are paid when you make a sale.

5 Top Reasons Why Affiliate Marketing Is the Best Online Money Maker

1. No need to own your product or service.I already mentioned this when I defined what affiliate marketing is.  As an  affiliate,  all you have to do is  promote the products of others in exchange for a commission. There’s actually a lot of products out there to promote.Find your passion.If you have books related blog or website, find affiliates that are concentrating in selling books like Amazon. If you are into make money online, financing, business, investment and entrepreneurship blogs then I encourage you to visit http://www.alphadore.com/affiliates/
2. No start-up costs (or no need to spend a lot of money).  It cost nothing to signup.  No need to buy a domain name and get a webhost if you don’t want to. But, if you really want to be successful with affiliate marketing, my advice is you buy a domain name and get your own webhosting instead of relying to some free hosting sites.
3. You are the boss. Work on your own time. Personally, I’ve always hated reporting 9-5 in the office.  With affiliate marketing,  no one will force you to report in the office and what’s great about it, you can have your holiday anytime you want. Heck, you can even make money while sleeping! But of course, you need to work productively too!  Set everything in motion before taking your off day.
4. Work from anywhere. Affiliate marketing does not limit you to your location. You can do your online business virtually anywhere in the world as long as there’s an internet connection. You can even work productively while sipping your favorite  four-seasons juice in Hawaii.
5. Increase your earning exponentially. The earnings you can get in affiliate marketing is directly proportional on how you promote. The more you promote, the faster you can earn more. This was my mistake when I was starting on affiliate marketing. I seldom write a post about the product that I’m endorsing and before I knew it, I totally forgot the product. So keep this in mind, the more unique traffic you can send to the affiliate owner, the more chances of getting a sale. The more sales you make, the higher your earnings will be.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative markets online…, be proactive and go for it!.  “Making money while you sleep” really is true with affiliate marketing.

Tomorrow is the 1st day of February already. And if you are all aware, here at BlogDeManila, the 1st of the month is Blog Backup Day. I have written numerous articles already the importance of having a monthly backup, not only on your local hard disk but also using online backup as well.

Cloud computing is the latest buzz that resurfaced recently in the IT industry. It’s not new anymore. In reality, you’ve been using cloud computing for the past decades already.  For example, when you are reading your emails such as Yahoo or GMail using a browser, that is called cloud computing. Same when you upload your pictures on Facebook.

With the introduction of virtual servers, not to mention the low cost of hardware acquisition, online backup using “cloud” has sprouted all over. Every now and then, new companies offering online backup keeps on popping up with better options and features. As a user, this is where the dilemma  comes in. Which company truly offers the best solution?

Well, the right solution can be found on some some review sites that check regularly which among the key players in the market that can be considered as the top online backup provider. It’s is better to check them first before making your decision.

One particular feature that I’m looking for a review site is the real and genuine consumer reviews.  I even personally check the website of the reviewer (if it’s available), just to make sure their comments and suggestions are not system generated but a honest to goodness review. After checking the credentials of the recommended company, I then ask feedback on some reputable webmaster’s forums about their experiences.  My decisions is solely based on the facts that I gathered.

Putting our trust in a reputable company when it comes to backing up our data is must. You need to do your assignment in choosing the best provide. Don’t rely on Google search only.  You have to sift through them by checking various review sites, and ask those who are using those services already.

And please, don’t ever forget to backup your blog!

We all know that  there are three things that we can’t get back…

…a spoken word

… a missed opportunity

… a spent time

I’ve been meditating for the past weeks already and contemplating on what to do on my “online job” for this year 2012.  I’ve been thinking too much about it to the point I’m on the verge of missing what is my plan for my “offline life”. Another year had passed and all of us will add another number in our age.  Time is something we will never get back, ever.

If there is one thing you are careful about in your life, I hope it is your time. Spending time with my family is one of the topmost on my priority list. And, I’d promised my family that I’ll be spending more time with them not only for this year but all the time. A promise which I’m praying that I can keep for the rest of my life.

So I also encourage you dear readers, don’t get so caught up in the online world that you forget about the people you love the most. Spend time with them and show those that matter to you that you care.

With my family during our recent 2nd trip to Banaue Rice Terraces-Philippines

Plan a great bonding time with your loved ones.  Play, watch, dine and laugh together!

It’s so easy today to be on top of the world one minute, and right back at the bottom the next. Never take one second of success for granted. Say “I love you” to each other. This will surely mark a big milestones in your relationships. Don’t let any obstacles cut-off your communication with your family or even your close friends.

If you love someone today, tell them. If there is something you need to change in your life today, start doing it now.

If you have noticed that I seldom post, it’s because I’m spending a lot of my “offline time” with my love ones.

Time is something you will never, ever get back.

For the past 5 Sundays, I was busy attending a photography workshop here in our province.  I’d actually kept it secret even to my close friends but the words spread out like fire when my wife posted a status congratulating me for winning 5th place in our workshop contest for the Human Activity category. I’m actually proud of my achievement, if you can call it an achievement already,  since I’m just an amateur photographer.

Here’s my winning photo.

The boy in the picture is my eldest son.

The Basic Photography workshop by Federation of of Philippine Photographers Foundation (FPPF) teaches the basic photography skills from how to operate a digital SLR camera . They also teaches their students with knowledge in composition and elements of design.

Next month, I’m planning to take the Advance Photography workshop which is designed for serious hobbyist and for those who want to go professional. I belong to the first category, that is I want to be a serious hobbyist. I don’t want to waste the money that my wife used in buying the expensive camera she gave to me 2 years ago. After the next workshop, I’m planning to take some specific extensive workshops  like food photography, wedding photograph and my favorite – the travel photography.

I couldn’t believe my luck today when I was able to register a domain name for US$1 only. You’ve read it right.

A client of mine wants to register a domain for their bike tour project. Good thing the domain is still available and I  was able to snagged the promo.

Actually, I renewed my 4 other domains first,  which were all  registered on GoDaddy, and was searching for the right coupons. I’ve tried a couple, and the coupon that gives me the highest discount is the wallet412_. I was able to get a total savings of $9.02 from S42.22. I paid $33.20 only using my Paypal account. So if you’re domains are up for renewal you may use the coupon code wallet412_ which will give you a substantial discount. By the way, I included the ICANN fee on the computation.

To get the US$1 domain name, you may use the coupon code GETFIT.  I’ve tried this coupon today and it worked like a charm. You may use it for registering any available  .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain. I don’t have any idea on the expiration of this code but If I were you, I grabbed this opportunity to register your dream domain now.

See my transaction below.

By the way, this  won’t work on Paypal. Either you have to pay via credit card or check.

PS : I just want to remind everybody that today is the first day of the month, and it’s Blog Backup Day! So please, don’t forget to backup your blog. You won’t appreciate having a monthly backup unless something drastic happens to your blog.

I’m just here to remind and it’s up to you to act on it.

PSS : If you are looking for a good hosting company, I would highly suggest Hostgator.

Whats’ with Black Friday?  A lot of company are into “giving” mood. Is it because of the Thanksgiving day? Well, let’s hope everyday is Thanksgiving day.

I have received tons of emails about big sales on different products including services, software, WordPress themes, cheap airline tickets, domain name, vitamins and web hosting from ever reliable HostGator. This is where Blog De Manila is currently hosted for the past two years already.

The 50% OFF includes shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated servers and Windows hosting!

If you are paying $4.95 this will translate to $2.48/month (pre-paid) if you will get a new account. That’s it, if you are an existing client of HostGator you are still qualified for the 50% OFF as long as you  keep your original, existing account open and in good standing.

For this promotion, you can get a  hosting packages for as low as:

• Shared hosting: As low as $4.95 Now only: $2.48/month (pre-paid)
• Reseller Hosting: As low as $24.95 Now Only: $12.48/month (pre-paid)
• VPS Hosting: As low as $19.95 Now Only: $9.98/month (First Month)
• Dedicated Servers: As low as $174 Now Only $87/month (First Month)

This is very cheap hosting packages already and here’s the catch – it will only run for 1 DAY!

How can you avail of the 50% OFF?

Just SIGN UP for a new account, and you do NOT need to insert a coupon code to receive the promo. The correct coupon code will automatically be inserted on all orders placed on Black Friday.

The promotion will begin just after midnight, Friday, November 25^th, 2011 Central Standard Time (-6 GMT). The special offer will run until 11:59PM CST Friday, November 25^th, 2011.

Hurry grab your domain name  GoDaddy’s “$5 .COM Black Friday Sale!” and host in on “HostGator’s 50% OFF” promo.