Back in August I created my very first blog. I was naiive back than, I was under the impression, if you build it, people will come. Ha ha ha, I made sure my blogs were rich in keywords, rich in content, and had google adsense all over the page.

A blog is great, but it's nothing if you don't have a page ranking, or at the very least traffic. Since I created my blog it's been four months. Do you know how much I've made with google adsense? A whole $6.00. Wow am I getting somewhere.

That's why I am grateful I found performancing, indeed.com, and craigslist. I'm also glad that I started looking for freelance writing and blogging jobs. If I hadn't, than I wouldn't have made $700.00 this month.

I've read other blogs that claim to make $1000 just from their blogs, and someday I would love that, but for now I do what I can, to get that extra Christmas money.

This article is dedicated to explaining how I made $700 this month, and how it'll continue each month. First thing, join perfomancing, create your own blog. Update it regularly. You'll be surprised by the people who contact you just from performancing. Check craigslist, this is a valuable resource. Check Craigslist daily for jobs in your area. Craigslist isn't as popular as monster or workopolis, so you don't have nearly the competition.

Other places to check are problogger, indeed, ifreelance, etc. Some places you need to pay membership for, I would suggest you research this before you spend money. I managed to find all my jobs without paying for a costly membership.

How I make $700 a month is this: being a freelance reporter for Cheezhead.com, writing two reviews for Eaton Webdirectory, writing 20 ehow articles for $300 for demand studios, and writing for a Canadian Blog. I have only just begun my freelance journey, but already I am quite profitable.

As long as you have a portfolio, a place to demonstrate your skills and abilities, and you are always applying for jobs, they will come. Just make sure you never rush your jobs, and you give high quality articles or features. If you do, you'll be surprised what your jobs may grow into. They may turn into a steady gig, or they may give a chance you normally wouldn't get.

Either way, if it wasn't for all the tips on performacning, I don't think I would be nearly as far today with writing as I am. So thanks for that.

Yesterday the Performancing site was down all day, and I realized how much I have come to depend on it. I come here several times a day, to read the latest blogs and get tips on what's going on. I think this site is excellent for a new blogger, or freelance writer looking for tips, or jobs. So when it was down yesterday I found myself sad, and kind of disappointed. I was actually surprised how much I've come to appreciate this site.

I am happy that this morning when I clicked on it, it instantly appeared. Of course there is no fresh content because it has been down, but hey, I'm sure that will change soon.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Performancing! Thanks for all the jobs you've brought my way, thanks for all the great articles and tips, and thanks for coming back online! You are a great resource and I appreciate it. Thanks for coming back!

Happy blogging!

I know this is a little off-topic, but I thought I would address it. Every great writer should have their own website, but what to do if you're not knowledgable? Well check out http://awriter.ws. This is a great site that has a website builder, gives you your own domain, and allows you to make money from referrals. Plus it's an easy sell because they have a great little video that does everything for you.

Imagine being able to join and try out their product for 7 days before committing to anything? Have you ever tried to purchase a domain before and than changed your mind? You won't get your money back, you're stuck with it. Trust me I have 4 domain names that I don't do anything with. What's even more frustrating, you get your domain and than you look for the cheapest hosting, big mistake! Now try building your website? I couldn't. That's why I look for site builders. This website has a great one.

Now let's look at the benefits:
1. Free 7 day trial
2. Get your own domain
3. Easy to use site builder
4. Make money referring people

Now how much does it cost if you want to use it? Only $10.00 a month. That's about an average hosting cost. So not only do you get a great website that's easy to build, but your monthly fees are only $10.00 a month.

At the very least you should watch the video and see why it's so great. Check out http://awriter.ws. Oh and one last thing, the extensions are .ws, not .com, or .ca, so you get to use popular words that might have been gone. Or you can capitalize all the extensions with your domain. Either way watch the video and try out the offer!

For new writers or bloggers, if you want to make money, but don't want to spend a lot of money; google adsense is the way to go.

What is google adsense you ask? Well google adsense is a free program that you can join where google will place ads on your website. Why would you want ads on your website? Because when someone comes along and clicks on any ad, you get paid. Sure it does take a lot to make decent money, but the more traffic = $$$$$. So your whole goal is to bring traffic to your website.

I have only been using google adsense for a week, and already I have made almost $5.00. I know that seems like small change, but I have also only had my website up for a week, so that's pretty good. The more content you have, the more ads you can have on your site, the more your site is indexed...and voila! Money will begin to role in. Plus what's great is there is no cost to you. And it's fully automated. The only thing you have to do, once you set it up, is just get as much content to your site as you can. Build your pages up.

One thing google does not like, is you having a whole website based on telling people to click on your ads. You can do an informative article, like this one, but you can't straight out ask people to click on your ads. Basically the more traffic you bring to your website, the more chances you have that people will actually click on your ads.

What's great about adsense is that google will give you ads that relate to your content on your site, so if your site is on dogs, your ads will be on dogs too. Or if your site deals with money, celebrities, news, shoes, fashion, etc...so will your ads. Also you can add a search bar powered by google, and any time someone uses it to search the web...bling! Bling!

I recommend google adsense to any website, most websites out there use it now so it won't take credibility away from your site, plus it generates extra revenue that perhaps you hadn't counted on.

Let me start off with, I was very surprised to learn that not everyone knows how to market their ebook or digital products.

Time and time again, I find a nicely decorated website going on and on about how great their ebook is. The website is nicely laid out, has nice pictures, a sample of the book, there are reviews, etc. I am ready to look at the actual book and even considering buying it, when all of a sudden...the book is not there.

Now why build a site around an ebook that you aren't including on your website? I'm thinking it's a lack of knowledge or something; otherwise you would have that nice link to the sale of your ebook. Most of the sites have a link to Amazon or something and tell you to find their book on the site. Not very handy...probably lose a lot of sales that way.

This got me to thinking, that perhaps not a lot of people know how to sell their own digital products. Well I do and I find it is way more effective than having your potential customers search for your product.

But I am not going to reveal to you how to sell your product online. Why should I? I did my homework and discovered after days of searching how it can be done, and you might as well do a little digging for yourself.

Enjoy! And good luck. But if you want to effectively sell digital products online, they need to be on your site, it needs to be easily accessible.

Or if you want someone to hold your hand and tell you step by step how to do it, buy my ebook at branding yourself online.

I have to say again I love Performancing. If you told me in just a short few weeks, that I would be making a tidy little sum for blogging, I wouldn't have believed you. Like most of the writers on this site, I write purely for the pleasure of it. Of course that was until J. Racoma (a fellow blogger) informed me that Performancing pays you $10.00 if you make the front page.

Well I didn't know that. So not only do you have the opportunity of landing jobs from blogging on this site, but if they like your blog and they put it on the home page, you get $10.00 each time it happens. Nice. Of course you'll have contact them for more details.

So now I am motivated to write about blogging, more, because it pays and helps you find jobs.

So far I get paid for writing at Piggybankpie, and ghost writing for Cheezhead, now I am also getting paid to blog here. Sweet!

It makes sense also why certain bloggers are always blogging on this site. I used to think it was because they wanted to be displayed on the recent blog posts list, (which is still a good thing), but they are also trying to earn their $10.00.

Again if you are new to the site, performancing is great for getting your name out there, and paying you. Of course you need to write quality blogs and not just write. I have seen a few blogs on here that weren't that great, and I guess you know the ones since they don't always land on the home page.

Anyway if you can contribute information that other bloggers like, or want to know, you'll land yourself on the front page, and when you do, keep a tally of how often that happens, cause at the end of the month, you may get yourself a nice little deposit in paypal.

I'm really glad I found this site. Not only does it pay to blog here, by landing jobs, but it really does pay!

Happy Blogging!

If you would have told me three months ago that people would be paying for me to write articles, I would have said you're crazy.

The internet is such a great and wonderful place. You have access to everything so easily, it's at your finger tips. Before when I wanted to write I bought a Writer's Marketplace Book. You know those big thick books that you look up everyone's address and website, and manually mail your ideas and stories too. I remember getting frustrated and giving up after getting no response, or rejections.

Enter the internet.

The beauty of the internet is everything is now right here. I can apply for 10 freelance writing gigs a day. Before the internet I did that in a week. Now I know right away if they like me or not.

I now have a few part-time gigs going on where I write articles for money. It's a good start. I owe that all to building a portfolio online and always applying for jobs.

Performancing, Ehow, Helium, Searchwarp, and now Piggybankpie are all places I have put on my bio. My bio is a blog that I have built on wordpress. It outlines in a nice summary all my writing experience. That way when I apply for jobs, potential clients can view my resume and samples of work easily.

Learning on the internet has been a trying experience. But now that I have found sites like performancing, helium, and ehow, I think it'll be an easier journey.

I hope I can help others on their journey.

If you've never heard of Facebook, it's time to get your head out of the sand. Facebook is a networking site that has over 24 million active viewers. That's 24 million people who go on that site a day. That's 24 million people you could be offering your product or service too.

If you have joined, great. I hope you're not one of those people who have the fun wall, and other unprofessional things. If you are, you might want to think about having a personal account and having a business account. I know that Facebook frowns on this, but really you need to make sure you stay professional. Do you really want your potential employer to see you drunk with a cigarette at the latest club? Or even worse a picture of you doing drugs? You may cringe, but people are doing this on Facebook everyday, and using their real names.

Potential employers and clients, ones who are savvy, do punch in your name on Google or Facebook to see what they find. Wouldn't you rather have your business profile show up?

Read the rest of this entry

I want to thank Performancing because you have really given me valuable resources. I like reading other blogger's posts and learning about what's going on with them. I like their tips on what to do, or what not to do when looking for jobs, I really enjoy the content. And I come here whenever I am down on a my luck, and sure enough things start to turn around for me.

I've been shopping around now for a few weeks for really great blogging jobs, but I guess I have to start small and build my profile up. I've gotten a few smaller paying gigs, so there is hope. I still blog a lot for free at Performancing, my own blogs, and Piggybankpie.

So for now I am plugging away at ehow, and a few sites as a ghostwriter...still waiting for that big blogger job. Or even a medium one. I am hoping to do this full-time someday soon.

Performancing has helped me hook up with a few potential leads, but nothing turned out. One site was too hard as I didn't know the content (MLM business). The other one seemed interested but kind of left me hanging.

I want to know how many people have had success and whether it is possible to blog in the long run. I read one blog that was worried about writer's block. I have so many ideas, I don't know how someone could get writer's block. If anything that person is extremely lucky to have said all they had to say and than run out of things...I can only dream.

So for now I am still waiting for that special job offer, blogging away. Hopefully soon it won't be for free.

Thanks again performancing, for being my resource.

This past week I have been researching the subject video resumes for a client. I was startled to realize how popular they are. Almost made me feel like I was behind times a little. Ha ha.

What I learnt was, in today’s highly competitive job market, video resumes are an asset. But only if they are done correctly. If not, just picture Aleksey Vayner, and his obvious mistake. Video resumes can work in your favor or damage your career. If you do choose to make one, keep it professional.

Today I finally made a resume for the “virtual world.” I had one for the “real” world, but not one with all my writing and blogging experience. Now I think I need to create a video resume to really stand out.

If you’re like me and kicking around the idea, here are some tips:

Keep it no longer than three minutes
Wear a suit (this applies whether you are male or female)
Keep jewelry to a minimum (guy’s freshly shaved)
Don’t make big gestures
Stick to only business stuff. Talk about your resume only not your personal life
Have a person interview you
Don’t do anything foolish or unprofessional
Don’t have long answers. Keep it short, but detailed enough
Video resumes are becoming quite popular. YouTube alone has over 4,000. So in today’s vastly competitive market, maybe you do need to think outside the box and create a video resume.

If you choose to make one, you’ll need to figure out if you want to create your own with a digital camera, webcam, or go through an agency. If you choose to use an agency like vault.com, you are looking at anywhere from around $100-400. I suggest to go this way if you are unsure of how to make your own. If you are tech savvy, save your money and make it yourself. And if you are worried about privacy, I suggest not posting on YouTube. Of course if you were worried about privacy, I’m sure you wouldn’t even make a video resume.

And once your video is completed, you need to host it somewhere. At hiremenow.com they offer free hosting for your video. Then when you apply for a job you can just send your employer a link to your video.

In any case, if you’ve never heard of video resumes, now you have, and if you want to stand out from the competition, you’ll actually make one.

I want to thank this site for it's promotion of my blog that I wrote yesterday. In the span of one day I have already been contacted by two people about blogging positions.

If you are looking for positions to the blogger world, I suggest posting articles where jobs are offered. That way you stand out from the crowd, and people have a first hand look at your writing style.

Mostly the jobs I have been offered are ghostwriting jobs, but hey I'm not picky. My ultimate goal is blogging full time, so if I have to take a few ghostwriting jobs, along the way I am game.

I also want to add, that I got these two jobs and I don't even have a "virtual world" resume. I just have a link to my bio. On my bio page I have linked my two blogs, my website, and my ebook that I have written. I also have a photo of myself and where I am located.

I think if I really apply myself and create a virtual resume, than I'll really get a chance at a full time blogging job.

But for now, the two part-time ones will add up to a lot of extra Christmas money.

Okay, now you want to know how I got these jobs? Well, first, writing my article yesterday about how can I get a blogging job? Apparently people liked it so much, they contacted me for work. And also by going to google and typing in quote "blogger jobs" this gave me links to sites that aren't so popular but advertise blogger jobs.

Really on this site and problogger.com, jobs go fast. As soon as they are posted, people send out their resumes, and the employer has to weed through tons of applicants. So how can you make yourself stand out? You do that by writing articles on popular blogging sites. This way potential employers have a first hand look at your writing style, and whether they like you or not.

Anyone can apply for a job, but how do you tell if they are qualified? Enter performancing.com. By using this site as a tool, you can really promote yourself and be on your way to being hired for blogging. Yesterday all I had was an article writing gig, today two blogger jobs...tomorrow who knows.

Don't worry I'll come back and update you to my progress. But I want to thank everyone for the blogs I have read, and I want to thank everyone who has helped me find success.

So this blog is dedicated to helping others find success on the internet. If you write it, people will come...

Good luck and happy blogging!

To learn more about me check out my site.

Hi

I'm pretty new to the world of blogging for money, but when I stumbled upon the concept, I must say I was intrigued.

So far I have two blogs to my name, and I pretty much blog for fun. But now that I know some people do this as a full time job, I am all for it.

I love your site and have read a few blogging articles on what not to do. So far I haven't had any bites either, but I did manage to score a ghostwriter job where I write an article and make $25.00 per article. So that's not bad. The only downside is of course that I don't get the credit.

One thing I did notice is, to get blogging jobs, you really need to have a resume. Now I have a "real world" resume, but it didn't even occur to me that I would need a virtual one too.

So far I've been lazy and trying to resist this whole conformed idea that I need a virtual resume, but I think that might be my downside to not getting a blogging job. Usually I just respond to articles with a brief bio, and than a link that they can view my work from.

I'm also not sure how long the timeframe is, it must be faster. Like if I apply for a blogging job today, I should know by tomorrow if I got it? I probably imagine so. One article I read told me that people apply like crazy for blogging jobs, so they are snatched up pretty quickly.

The other thing I'm not clear about is where else are blogging jobs posted? I know problogger and this site, but really are there any others? Also why do some sites make you pay? Isn't the purpose of finding a job to make money? So why do you have to pay before you get the job?

Well these are some of the questions I have in this virtual world. I think blogging is great and I will continue to keep it up, I only hope that I will get a blogger job so I can learn more about this lifestyle.

My ultimate goal, like I'm sure a lot of people have, is to blog or write full time. To not have to go to my day job. I want freedom. I also want the freedom to live where-ever I want.

Well I guess that's enough ranting for today. If you are interested in viewing my bio check out http://traceysands.wordpress.com/about. Let me know what you think, I am always interested in improving.