Every one they could ditch the usual 'nine to five office job' and just escape the traffic jam right after working hours. Many assume the blogging business is very easy and anyone can be successful with. I am going to tell you that you are dead wrong! I know many online writers and a huge majority of them actually give up in less than three months. As easy as it seems, blogging is not a business for the soft souls.

My layout and preparation for blogging - one mug of coffee, tablet, laptop and iPhone (not visible)

Disqus - Blogger's alternative comment system

One of the biggest problem for bloggers around the world is having uncontrolled amount of spam comments. If you are having a self hosted domain, it would be easier as there are many custom comment systems you an choose from. When you use Blogger, moderating comments might be one of the hardest and most challenging yet for all of us. I have personally tested quite a few comment systems recently and only one stand out of the crowd. Introducing Disqus, one of the world's best comment system that works in nearly all major blogging platforms.

How Disqus works?
Disqus works in very simple ways. All comments posted will be moderated by Disqus. As an admin, you will be able to choose if you want to have an auto approval or set the comment to be manually approved. What I really love about Disqus is it works so perfectly (at least for me) with Blogger.

Moderating comment using Blogger?
We all have problem moderating comments in Blogger such as removing unwanted links etc. It is not possible with Blogger stock commenting system and here is where Disqus comes into play. You are able to perform any other task Blogger could do with a fat twist; ability to edit the comments. Now, we can rest assured that those readers who comment just to get backlink is taken cared of for good!

Login using social network account
If you are using stock Blogger comment system, commenters can only choose to comment using Google ID, OpenID or Anonymous. With Disqus, commenters are able to login with multiple methods such as using Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo account. This reduces the hassle and they do not need to register a whole new account just for commenting.

Commentor's rank and stats
Another great feature of Disqus is the commentor's stats. Imagine commenter A is a spammer or usually doesn't provide good information in the comment. Readers and admins are able to rank the person down. Reputation affected? Oh yes! This will make our community even better and we can start waving good bye to spammers and 'free back-linkers'.

Easy integration methods
Even if you have many comments, you are able to import every into Disqus. The whole process would take less than 24 hours to perform. So, not to worry if you have tenth or thousands of comments right now in your site. With a click of a button, Disqus will do it for you without hassle.

My personal review on Disqus
For me, Disqus is one of the best alternative comment system for many blogging platforms and it works wonders for Bloggers. If you have not installed Disqus or start using it, I suggest you install it right now and with Disqus, you can say kiss scammers and low quality comment good bye for good.


About the writer: I am an avid blogger and close to a full time online writer. I been writing for many years and The Big Fat Reality is one of my upcoming blogs. I am also sharing all my tips and guides on blogging in this blog and if you want to know more about blogging tips, you should check this article out: How To Add Additional Column On Blogger Footer.

I received a Google Buzz yesterday via email on Google Affiliate Ad for Blogger. This really hit me hard on the head. In the midst of busy setting up my blog and creating traffic, I had totally forgotten about the almighty Google Affiliate Network. Guilty as charged if you want to put it that way. I am not going to say this guide is a way to 'exploit' Google Adsense earning but certainly this will boost your revenue by some if you know how this whole process works. Without delaying any more, here are the three reasons why you should monetize your blog or website with Google Affiliate Ads.

Monetizing with Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger?

1. Choose the ads you want to display instead of automatic
Okay, the easiest way when it comes to Google Adsense is by setting automatic advertisement selection. Don't get me wrong but Google Adsense algorithm is good. However, if you know what type of readers they are coming from or any specific information that Google wouldn't know, that will be an upper hand advantage for you. Because you know what type of readers they are, you are able to select and pin point the different types of advertisements to show to them.

2. Place the right ads at the right place...your style
This is where Google Affiliate Ad plays a huge advantage. Have you ever noticed that not all Google Ads can be modified? Thankfully, with Google Affiliate Ads you are able to place any types of ads required at the space you wished for. Forget about those tied down rules or automatic selection of ad types.

3. Google Affiliate Ads pays slightly more than Google Adsense...generally
This is important! Google Affiliate Ads actually pays more than Google Adsense (on how you see it). Here are a few things and example you will see when you are looking for potential advertisers when it comes to pay wise.


7-days earning per click (EPC)
The sum of fees paid to you, divided by the total number of clicks over the past seven days. Values are multiplied by 100 for display.

3-month earnings per click (EPC)
The sum of fees paid to publishers, divided by the total number of clicks over the past three months. Values are multiplied by 100 for display.


Earnings per click (EPC)
Total amount paid to all of an advertiser's publishers, divided by the total clicks over the same period. (Values are multiplied by 100 for display purposes). With the EPC metric, you can measure the efficiency of an advertiser's programme and the potential revenue that an advertiser may generate for you.

Okay, let's assume you did your calculation and generally, Google Adsense will earn you more bucks. So, you are asking me why am I saying the opposite? This is because, you know your readers best! How often do you get a click with Adsense through automatic ads type? I did a quick test and I changed my ads to Google Affiliate Ads. In one night, I got close to 10 clicks compared to Adsense, 1-2 clicks. Now, do you get what I am trying to tell you here?

This is a clear example of quantity vs quality. Adsense may earn you more money per click ratio but if you are getting more clicks with less paying Google Affliate Ads, you are generally topping your click revenue more than Google Adsense can provide.

What are you waiting for?
If you have not even Google for Google Affiliate Ads, you should do so right now! Nonetheless, this is another Google program that helps all bloggers around the world to earn more money. Especially for those serious bloggers and webmasters, always remember that Google Affiliate Ads can easily monetize your blog or site without much work. Reply to this topic and share with me what's your experience with the all new Google Affiliate Ads program.


Meantime, here is something about me:
I am an avid blogger and close to a full time online writer. I been writing for many years and The Big Fat Reality is one of my upcoming blogs. I am also sharing all my tips and guides on blogging in this blog and if you are interested to join the blogging community here, check out this article Introduction To The New Bloggers Hangout. 

You can also check out my latest article on website monetization here: Top Monetization Programs For Your Blog And Website

I know this is one of the most asked question over the Internet. What is the best site to earn money online? Here, it really depends on what you could do first. For starters, with zero start up cost and some flare in writing, you could easily start up writing online. If you would ask me why did I choose writing, I am going to tell you all about it in this article. Once you finish reading this, I will then leave it to you about whether to choose writing or other methods of earning.

Do you want to know what is the best site to earn money online?

Why should you choose to earn money online?

1. Freelancing is God
Freelance writing is pretty straight forward. You find a job and start writing online. Once completed, you will get a said amount for completing the job. Nowadays there are hundreds of freelancing jobs available on Freelancer and eLancer. Therefore, there is no problem finding for one. Just don't be choosy and you will land a nice simple job.

2. No fixed hours = freedom
Freedom is something I really like about freelance writers. You can be blogging or completing a writing task nearly every where on earth with just the availability of the Internet. With earning money online, you can wave good bye to those desk works and even the 9 to 5 office works.

3. Why writing online earns you the most money?
Writing has no stopping or limit. Unline Pay Per Click sites, your writing (as along is published), will continuously earns you money day by day. This is what I call, an investment that will grow day by day.

Being said the above, what are the best sites that you can earn money online simply by writing? There are actually quite a few which can make you earn some crazy cash honestly if you are hardworking.

Three of the best sites for writers to earn money online

1. Personal blogs and websites
Believe it or not, personal blogging is one of the best way to earn money online. In fact, this is one of the best way not only to earn money but also earning the biggest profit ever in advertisement. You can easily start a free blog at Blogger.com or even start up your self hosted website. Either way, all advertisement revenue gained from there is completely yours. What you need to know is a blog takes months to grow and in order to be successful in blogging business, you got to be patience and continue to input valuable information on your blog from time to time.

Advantages:

• Not tied down with rules and regulations
• Very open platform for both newbies and serious writers
• Many advertising programs you can join to monetize the site

Disadvantages:

• Website maintenance must be done regularly
• Self hosted domains are prone to hackers
• Small fees for running the site might be required if you are using self hosting domains
• Page ranks must be done from scratch

2. HubPages - the most popular online writer community

Earn money online using HubPages

If I would to choose a site which I can write and monetize, I would always suggest joining HubPages. Allow me to explain in simple English on what HubPages is all about. HubPages is a domain where one can easily post their article online and share with the world. HubPages has many monetization programs where most writers will starts seeing income increases roughly after 3 months there. HubPages is great if you would want to have trouble free thinking of domain and hosting matters. The site is easy to use and is very user-friendly. Not to forget, the community is vast and you have a very good amount of audience daily. However, all these goodness has it costs too as well. All revenue earned are shared between HubPages and you on a 40-60 basis. Of course, 60% goes to you, the writer. Now, before you think start judging, read back from the start of HubPages. If you can devote your 3 months or more to HubPages, why don't devote it to your blog instead?

Join HubPages, the largest community for online writers now!

Advantages:

• Easy to maintain
• You will start with an upper hand thanks to HubPages high page rank
• Many monetization programs ready to go with just a few clicks
• No HTML and coding knowledge needed

Disadvantages:

• Monetization revenue will always be shared
• No self domain name
• Tied down to rules and regulations of HubPages (such as number of backlinks etc)

3. Triond - an online site to publish articles
Triond is one of my favourite site to publish my articles online when I first started writing. Triond is easy to use but has very limited functions. All you can do is to publish articles online and the only monetization factor is Adsense. For me, Triond is good as a backlink site as it is getting ranked on search engines easily. However, earning here at Triond is harder as you are paid per 1,000 impressions and Adsense only. Very limited earning methods but not impossible to earn money using Triond. Again, advertisement revenue here are split between Triond and the writer just like HubPages.

Register for Triond for free here!

Advantages:

• Having upper hand using Triond high page rank
• Big community of readers to give traffic boosting
• No maintenance required

Disadvantages:

• Monetization revenue is shared between Triond and the writer
• There are terms and conditions that writers would need to comply
• Writers earn revenue by per 1,000 views which is pretty low payout

My verdict and personal opinion as an online writer

If you ask me, I would tell you to write in all three sites I stated above. My personal advice is to focus completely on your blog or website and use other writing platforms to backlink and push your site up the page rank. Monetizing a blog or website needs time and thus, you should use all your available 'weapons' to ensure you are getting the best traffic and revenue boost. I hope this article serve you well especially in your blogging life and I am definitely open for more discussion. Feel free to contact me via the comment box and we can have a very healthy conversation on this matter.


Meantime, here is something about me:
I am an avid blogger and close to a full time online writer. I been writing for many years and The Big Fat Reality is one of my upcoming blogs. I am also sharing all my tips and guides on blogging in this blog for all my readers. Have you heard about Google Affiliate Ads program? This article is the latest writing of mine that explains How You Can Monetize Blogs With The Google Affiliate Ads Program.