You have a blog now! Next, why not think of making money from your blog. Can I? Of course you can! What’s the investment like? Well, your financial investment is ZERO or NIL whereas you have to put in a huge investment of patience, endurance and persistence. For sure, you need good content as well to pull in the audiences to your blog. Are you game for this deal? Good, done! Now let’s go to the basics on how people make money by blogging.

The three main schemes by which beginners make money from blogging are:

1.Advertising.
2.Freelance.
3.Selling or Marketing.

Advertising – This is the best option for beginners. For this you have to register either with Google Adsense or any Affiliate Programe who will then feature their advertisements on your blog. You will be guided about putting up the ads on your blog. When your reader clicks on the ad you will get paid. Some affiliate programs pay per click, others pay if a sale is made through the click from your blog. In most cases you will hardly see any revenue for months. Like we mentioned earlier .. Patience is the keyword.

Freelance - If you are already a freelance writer, then this option will be ideal for you. You have to search around for freelance sites, blog forums and SEO communities for contracts. You will be paid per post. But then, be aware that beginners don’t get paid very well, if at all you are accepted!

Selling or Marketing – You can market products, services and opportunities on your blogs, This also takes a wee bit of time as you have to build trust first. Finally, in course of time, if you are successful this option can be very lucrative.

How to Promote Your Blog :

• You must submit your blog to all the major search engines before you can earn money.
• Send your URL to your friends and contacts to visit your blog and link to you. As the number of links to your blog increases, so will your status and rating with the search engines.
• To track your blog’s performance register with Google Analytics. This is a free tool to analyze the number and demographic data of visitors to your site.
• Paste a visit counter to check on the number of visitors to your blog.
• Use an appropriate blog name related to the theme of your blog as this will show up in search engine results.

In a nutshell, as the popularity of your blog grows, so will the traffic and ranking of the search engine increases. This in turn will impact the natural growth in your revenue from the Affiliate programs and Adsense. But, do bear in mind that there will be some sign of money trickling in only after 4-5 months of blogging.

Few essential pointers to remember for success -

• The secret to success is to invest your energy in patience, effort and hardwork.
• Stretch your interests across various revenue streams if you have to make money by blogging.

Now is this not amazing? You blog to make the blogger and writer in you happy, which attracts an audience and you make money!

There is this amazing video which tells you how to make money from blogs! See and learn from it!Happy Learning!

Copyright © 2008-2010 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved

How To Make Money From Your Blog

Read more Entry>>

How To Start A Blog

So you are ready to publish your thoughts to the world! Let’s get started! It’s easy !
(You would have seen many similar tutorials like this on the internet.But then, since the basic procedure is the same , most tutorials will be alike.) Anyway,back to the tutorial!

The first and foremost ‘to do list’ is to select a service. There are many good and free services as well as services who charge a nominal fee.
Some good fee-based services are:
TypePad.com. SquareSpace.com , BlogIdentity.com.
These services usually offer a 30- to 60-day free trial .
The free services include :
Blogger.com,Wordpress.com ,LiveJournal.com, Blog-City.com, and MSN Spaces ,Xanga.com.

But the two most popular blog services are Blogger and Wordpress.Lets create a blog at Blogger.

Step 1: Sign Up at Blogger.com to Create a Blog
















Step 2: Create a Google Account in case you don’t have one.

















Step 3: Sign In with Your Google Account













Step 4: Name Your New Blog
















Step 5: Choose a Template
















Step 6: Congratulations - Your New Blog is Active!











Step 7: Write Your First Post

How to create a blog with Blogger-

A Video Tutorial

Congratulations! You have your own blog now!

HAPPY BLOGGING ! :) Read more Entry>>

Why start a blog?

Should I start a blog? Blogs are the ‘in’ thing and if you don’t have a blog ,you are not cool! Blogs are about the idiom “A penny for your thoughts”. Your thoughts can bring in the money for you. That should be a good incentive, apart from the satisfaction it brings you!

What’s a blog? It means a “web log” and it is more like writing a personal diary which gets published on the Internet for the whole world to see. Alas! So there is nothing personal about it after all! In other words, you are publishing your thoughts. Furthermore, it is not just putting your thoughts on the web but it's also about connecting with anybody who reads your work and responds

Can anyone start a blog? Most certainly YES! As long as you have something interesting to say, there will be a large number of people on the Internet who will not mind reading it. In fact they may even want to! You can write about all sorts of things – about your life, your opinions, about someone you admire, any news you found interesting, your political commentary, or links to web sites you liked - just anything as along as it is interesting. If you are a marketing expert, you can start a blog about marketing .Some professional and amateur journalists dominate a large chunk of worldwide audiences by using blogs to publish breaking news, political debates and so on. You can post photos that you would like to share as well.

Is there anything to be done before starting a blog ? Well..browse around, sniff around looking at other blogs so that you have an idea, what blogs are all about. If, you are a beginner, like me, I would recommend you not to look around too much, as you may lose the courage to start a blog when you see all those amazing, incredible, way above blogs . Decide on a theme - chew over your subject and your topic wisely. What type of topic will interest people? What sort of topic can you write about? Take your time before you take the plunge.

Now the final step! Just get started! You will understand about blogging clearly and plainly when you try it out! Yes, that’s what I did. I just started and I got the hang of it ! It’s real cool! I would suggest - start a blog to learn more about blogging!

Happy Blogging!

PS: Don’t miss the step by step instruction on starting a blog in my next post!

Copyright © 2008 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved

Read more Entry>>

SHOPPING ONLINE

Shopping!The most exhilarating word! Well, at least for many like me:) ! I am a staunch confirmed shopoholic! When I am not able to go out of the house to shop, what do I do? Shop On-line! It is the most convenient and easy way to shop and the creamy layer is..you can browse and buy from any on line store in the world and further more it is open 24 hours a day! Buying online saves time and money.

How do you shop online? It’s actually very simple! Almost everything, right from branded stuff like clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags and electronics to hand made products are available online. Even flowers, food stuff and pet food can be ordered over the net. Many retailers have websites where you can purchase their products online. The advantage of online shopping is that you can compare shops for the best price, then order and have it shipped - all this transaction takes just about a few minutes and you do not pay sales tax. Most of all you save a trip to the store!

How to Buy Online

• Though each site is a little different fro m the other, the basic transaction procedure is the same for every site.These sites have electronic catalogs which you can browse and s ubsequently add the product y ou choose to your electronic shopping cart .When you're done with the choosing, you can review the contents of your cart and delete the items you do not want.

• Your amount is then totalled .

• N ext you have to fill the form supplied by the site asking f or c ertain details like your name, e-mail address, shipping information, and credit card number .

• You can buy online using you
  r credit card or by an alternative payment option which is, setting up an account with PayPal. You transfer money electronically from your ban k account into your PayPal account, and then use it to pay the seller.

• Finally, you will be sent an e-mail with the order confirmation along with a tracking number. As a rule, you will be informed about the delivery duration time as well.

That’s it! You have purchased your item online!

Online shopping has become personalised as well , since

many sites allow you to customise your products which you want to buy. For instance, you can have your logo or personal patterns printed on your t- shirts, mugs, plates etc, you c

an order computers to your specifications, while at certain apparel sites, by using a virtual model you can "try on" clothes. This is fun! Now, many sites do have

customer service representatives with whom you can contact by e-mail or chat with in real time in case you need help. Thus online shopping has

become a friendly experience. Likewise, you can locate exactly what sort of product or store you are looking for by using the search engine. Finally, in the

event of problems with online merchants, contact concerned authorities.

Before hitting the virtual store

s, pursue certain precautions for a smooth, safe and sound shopping experience.

Ten Tips for a safe and secure shopping

1. Use only a secure Internet connection – Use an encrypted website. You can identify such a site by a lock icon in your web browser window. You can also recognize a secure server by the address beginning with https, rather than http. The “s” means the information going between your computer and the website will be securely encrypted.

2. Shop only - with well known and trusted websites or businesses. Check whether the seller is credible, by referring to a site like ResellerRatings.com, Moreover, since many retailers now offer online shopping, you will be allowed you return the products to their stores, instead of shipping it back.

3. Sites should list a physical address - not just a post office box. Check to see if it displays seals from consumer protection organizations . Another option is doing a search with Google. Enter the name of the trader along with the keyword "scam". You may get some information.

4. Be sceptical. A telephone number should be listed on the site. If it not, then opt to take your business elsewhere.

5. Protect private information- Some sites sell your private data to third parties but all trustworthy sites post a Privacy Policy. So, shop only at these sites. Don't provide unnecessary information by filling out the optional fields in the order form. It is optional, so why volunteer?

6. Never - send your credit card number by e-mail.

7. Check the shipping costs. Sometimes with the shipping cost your total purchase price can add up to more what you would pay in a retail store. So check it carefully! Some sites offer free or discounted shipping for select items and purchases over a certain amount.

8. Print - a copy of your order form for your records.

9. Review the return and refund policies. You should be aware about how to return the unwanted merchandise and whether you will receive a full refund. You should also know who would be paying for the return shipping.

10. Coupons and other discounts- Many online sites offer rebates . To obtain the discount, you enter the coupon code in the order form. It's then deducted from the total purchase price. You can save substantial amount of money!

THAT’S IT! HAPPY SHOPPING! :)

Copyright © 2008 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved

Read more Entry>>

E-commerce

Internet and E-commerce has become a vital part and parcel of everyday modern life. By the way, what is e-commerce? E-commerce or electronic commerce is the buying and selling of products and services on the Internet and in other words, it means online transaction!

Just like the real world commerce, e-commerce consists of retail shopping, banking, auctions, real estate transactions, airline and hotel booking, movie rentals etc and in a nutshell, nearly everything and anything ! All this with just a click of your mouse and sitting in the comfort of your home!

E-commerce has many other advantages too. Like for instance,the yearly fee for an e-commerce website is insignificant compared to the exorbitant property rental for a store in a mall. Moreover, the transactions are handled by software process, and does not require sales and other managing staff – at least not till the item is ready to be packed and shipped. As a consequence, real world businesses just cannot compete with their e-commerce counterparts!

Copyright © 2008 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved

Read more Entry>>

Sending Money Online!

Is it easy to send money fast? Of course it is! Sending money order online is safe, quick, convenient, cheap, and it can be sent to anywhere in the world. There are two methods to send online money order- by Bank and by Internet.

Online money transfer by Bank is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another. The recipient should also have a bank account and the money is transferred electronically within minutes direct into a bank account of the recipient. By this bank-to-bank account transfer, no actual cash is exchanged, but the electronic balances are adjusted accordingly in their respective accounts.

In the case of one not having a bank account, a cash wire transfer is possible. The money is paid at the bank and the recipient produces identification at the time of disbursement of funds. Cash wire transfers are costly and has certain limitations. During a purchase transaction a seller can provide false information to the sender of the cash wire transfer, collect the cash at the receiving end under the false ID, and vanish without delivering the merchandise.

Now,lets see what is money transfer by Internet! There are popular reliable financial providers like Western Union, PayPal, E-gold, Ikobo, Moneygram and Xoom which does not require you to have an account with them to transfer money online.

Western Union(www.westernunion.com) - has outlets worldwide and money is transferred electronically between these outlets. A person can pay the transfer fee and money at a Western Union and the recipient can collect the fund from the nearest Western Union branch within minutes. The advantage of this method is that there is no need for Internet access or bank.

Pay pal(www.paypal.com) is the world's largest online payment service which allows people from all around the world to buy and sell off the internet. All one needs is an email address. The fees for such transactions may be a percentage of the money being transferred or a fixed fee, irrespective of the amount being transferred.

Ikobo(www.iKobo.com)- is a service that allows you to send money to anyone with a Visa debit card. All you have to do is to fill up the necessary information via its online form. When Ikobo receives the necessary information, the recipient and prepaid re-loadable Visa debit card are sent and your money can be collected.

Moneygram (www.emoneygram.com) - includes Same-day service and Economy service. The Same-day service is for urgent money transfer and the economy service takes about three to five working days.

Payko (www.payko.com) - sells money order online. You can send money order via Payko with your Master or Visa credit card. The money order can be sent via regular mail, first class mail, priority mail, or express mail.

Finally, there are the nationalised Bank's International Credit and Debit cards like Visa and Mastercard ,as well as ATM cards which enable online money transfer within minutes. Whenever these cards are swiped at a retailer, wire transfer is authorised from the bank account of that card to the retailer's bank account.

Online money transfers are quick paperless transactions and furthermore, as precaution, during money transfers, details like the name of the country, bank, regional location and customer account number are facilitated by use of the IBAN that is, International Bank Account Number.

Copyright © 2008 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved

Read more Entry>>