Earning in Blogging

Since early last year, I have decided to become a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) by choice. Somewhere along the way, I had a change in priorities. I decided to focus my time and energy more on taking care of my unica hija, Roberta, instead of trying to earn extra income outside the home. I said to myself that an opportunity would show itself. I will be able to find money even while I was at home. And it did.

Being at home, gave me more time than I had when I was out of the house the whole day. With so much time in my hands, I wanted to go back to one of the things I enjoyed most - writing. I thought of having my own blog as my writing channel. Little did I know that I could actually get paid to blog.

How to earn extra money by blogging was better explained to me by Tita Marie. We were just casually having a conversation during my high school volleyball reunion. When she found out that I was at home working, that is when she shared her own blogging experience. I was surprised to know that she had been doing this for quite some time and was at a profit. I was inspired and motivated to follow suit.

I researched and learned that the world wide web was a bigger market for advertisers than what traditional media - such as print, radio and television - could offer. With this concept, the marketing idea of blog advertising was born.

Advertisers would join a blog advertising company such as Paying Post to find potential blogs suited to post their ads. The followers of that blog would then be the target market and possible consumers of the said product. The more ads in a blog that gave positive results to an advertiser, the more income that blog would make. This was how income was made from blogging.

With this knowledge at hand, it would just be a bonus for me if I could earn something extra from doing what I like and that is writing.

Work At Home Jobs

I am sure all or most of us would like to be able to work comfortably at the comfort of our own homes. I know I do.

I am such a research-type of person and came across two useful and informative sites that I wanted to share with all of you. These are two Work At Home Job Listing Sites: Work At Home Mom Revolution and Mommy Works Online.

Actually to make it all the more convenient for you and me, I have installed the widgets here on my page. If you scroll down my homepage, it is located at the bottom and looks like this. (Please view the screenshot.)


The nice thing about the widgets is that it is always updated with new work at home job postings. You just click on the job listing that you are interested in. It will open the page with the details of the job you want to see and how to apply for it. It's that simple. The best part is it's all FREE!

Good luck everyone!! Hope you find a work at home job that you like!

Happy WAHM (work at home for money) Hunting!!! =)

Guest-blogger for Bean Inspired

Just before the weekend, Sarah got in touch with me and asked if I would like to be a guest writer for her Are You My WAHMother portion on her blog. This is a part in her blog where she would be posting the stories of different WAHMs - why they decided to work at home, how they did it and maybe some tips or word of advice for aspiring WAHMs.

I have only been a WAHM for a little over five months so I did not feel as if I was "qualified" to be sharing my story. Being the nice person that I am (or so I would like to think), I graciously accepted the invitation. I was both honored but more of scared because I was not sure if I was going to do justice with what I was going to write.

But, I still did it. I shared my story and thoughts of being a WAHM.

If you would like to know how I got started on home based online English teaching and more, please read Simply Happy Me on Bean Inspired's site. Maybe next time, you can write and share your story.

Are you a CMT?...

...a Certified Multi-Tasker =) hehe..got you there didn't I?

I'm sure all your eyebrows were raised trying to figure out what that acronym stands for. It's just my own term for us busy mommies or should I say SAHMies and WAHMies...

People think that staying at home to work is a piece of cake but reality says otherwise. We all know very well that there are a lot of distractions when you have a home office. It's not just about accomplishing your work duties but trying to juggle it with mommy duties too such as watching your kids, preparing lunch and dinner, answering the door, attending to calls, doing the laundry, doing homework, naptime and the list goes on and on.

It's so easy to get caught up with all the activities that you need to do at that moment. And by the end of the day, you realize you really did not end up accomplishing the important tasks you set out to do for the day. This has happened to me often.

That's why I try my best to keep track of all the important things I need to do in my planner. Yes, it's still the old school way that I got used to doing ever since I was a kid in spite of having gadgets that can also do the job.

Here are things I do to manage my time and organize my day:

1. Make a list. - I list down all the things I need to do for the week. These would include appointments, things to do, reminders etc.
2. Prioritize. - I take note of which things in my list are urgent, have deadlines and needs my immediate action.
3. Plan it out. - I plan out my week. I write out in my planner the things I need to do according to the day it should be done. This way I will not feel so overwhelmed that I have a lot to do since it has been spread out through the week.
4. Color code. - I like to color code the things I need to do so that it will make the tasks seem lighter when I look at the colorful page in my planner as well as making it easy to spot.
   
5. Check it off. - This is my favorite part - checking out from my list what I have finished doing already. It gives me a sense of accomplishment especially when all I have set out to do for the day are done.
6. Be flexible. - There are some things that you just can't plan like a surprise visit from your in-laws or having to run to the grocery coz you ran out of oil for cooking. No need to panic or get all flustered since things did not go as planned. Just try to get back on track.
7. Be positive. - If at times it seems things are not going as planned, just always look on the bright side and keep trying. You will get it done - eventually. =)

Do you have any tips that you can share with me?

Calm Me Music

Whew! I am currently trying to finish off ten student evaluations, two students' debate corrections and twelve online articles that are due so that makes two dozen things for me to do. Not to mention blog duties, more classes later tonight and house chores too.

When I have so many things to do all at the same time, I like to listen to music to calm me as well as get me pumped up so I will finish faster. So glad there are online streaming radios. It helps relieve the stress while working and actually gets me in the mood.

I am now listening to music from the 70's, 80's & 90's in the background. Thanks to Friday Magic Madness! Just click the link http://www.magic899.fm/ and look for where it says "LISTEN LIVE". No need to get up and turn on the radio. Saves electricity too. Hehehe..

Why don't you try it the next time your busy working online...You just might end up grooving! ;)

Break Time

I am taking my break right now. It is already past four thirty in the afternoon...

I have been teaching since nine o'clock this morning. It's not really stressful work but just tiring talking to the students. Sometimes your patience gets tested when the students are not in the mood and don't want to cooperate.

It's time to recharge. I still have a lot to do. The day ain't near over yet...

This is what happens sometimes when I'm on a break or got nothing else to do and in the mood to camwhore...I am sure all of you have done this at one time or the other especially during a break...hehehe =)

I am a WAHM

I never though that it would actually be fulfilling and satisfying to be a WAHM (Work At Home Mom). I did not even know that there was such a word or should I say acronym. When I first heard it, flashbacks of the popular ‘80s pop band that George Michael belonged to who sang “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” came to mind but I soon realized that it was spelled differently – WHAM. Hehe =)

After doing some research online (thanks to Wikipedia and Google Search) and reading articles about it, I have come to my own understanding of the word. WAHM describes a new generation of mothers who are striking a balance between family life, parenting and earning a living all in the comfort of their home.

This new title or should I say concept is not very popular yet in the Philippine society who is accustomed to the mentality of branding. To a majority of the Filipinos, your career success as an individual is based on the company that you work for (how popular and how big is it in the business sector), the job title that you get with it (the flashier sounding, the better) and where your office is located.

Even though the amount of salary may matter to most, it may not weigh as much in value as the previous items mentioned not to include the other perks and benefits of the job such as travel, company car or free gym membership etc. This ideal may work for the fresh graduates who are still hungry to prove themselves to their parents and the world as well as wanting to have their chance to be part of the highly competitive corporate world. But it is no longer true for the individuals who have been part of the “rat race” and want something different.

I guess you can say that this is what happened to me. Though it definitely was not an overnight decision. But one thing was for sure ever since I started working at home I did not want to leave the house again. Why should I? I was "Home Sweet Home."