Monday, February 22, 2010

Making Most of the World Wide Web

Found something interesting today, my old diary back when I was still in third grade. Apart from misspelled words, misuse of words (I bet I had a thesaurus at my side while writing it, I was like that, wanting so hard to write like my Mom) and grammatical errors, it was filled with a little child’s attempt to document mundane happenings of her everyday life. It was a joy reading through my entries; it reintroduced me to my little self. Oh how I used to be so mischievous! There were entries retelling the pranks I did with boy buddies. Yes, despite my short and lanky body, I was still able to exude an aura of superiority whether it was among girls or boys. I was a tomboy. And I still am, albeit the makeup and pretty dresses I wear in place of oversized shirts and rugged shorts I used to sport, coz I thought I look cool in them (which by the way the frustrated my kikay Mom so much).

There was a poem I wrote about nature, about the views I see on the roof (oh yeah, I climb on top of our roof or climb on our santol tree for pleasure; it used to give my Tita go crazy with worry) and about my Mom.

My love affair with writing and reading started when my Mom lent me her book, Greek Mythology by Edith Hamilton. I was merely nine years old then. With a dictionary at my side, I tried to comprehend the words I first encounter there. In spite of it all, it spoke a language my heart could easily relate to. I was happy when I was reading. That’s all I know. Up to now, I still have it. Its pages are yellowed and tattered at the sides and its front and back covers are there no more, yet I keep it still for sentimental reasons.

When the hype for blogging began, I was drawn to it. So I started to own one. I wrote whenever I had the liberty of time. I wrote for personal consumption; letters for my future self who, like finding my old diary now, would love to explore the thoughts I once had. But telling it to friends was a different story. I had no confidence in my writing. Being in the accountancy program required me to face numbers and less of words, two years in it have made me felt that I already lost and lacked any competence in my style of writing. My little self way back had more creativity. My best friends put me back on track as they reassured me I write better than many who valiantly give links of their blogs. And yes, I believed them, not right away though.

As I started drawing readers to my blog, my cousin prompted me about earning through my hobby. He introduced me to paid articles, odesk, putting ads to my blog and other paying sites. So I thought, why not? My first earning was $20 right away! Since that fateful day, I have been writing articles for money once in a while and I have started working for odesk as well. But the thing is, these paid articles will attract advertisers when you meet certain page ranks. Page ranks go up as the traffic to your blog increases. I am still receiving offers for articles to write but for less money. As again, my traffic isn’t going too well these days (what with all the acads. They come first by the way.). A friend online told me to get a decent site through business web hosting as owning one will increase page traffic. But it comes with a price. What's not these days anyway, right? However, I still need to think about it and evaluate what I really want with my blog. Should I just make a new one and make this site my default personal blog or should I just opt to keep it as it is. Besides, this is more for personal consumption anyway. I'll just work for odesk.

But for you who's interested of working online full time and you own a blog. I guess you consider business web hosting.

4 comments:

flipt said...

u read edith hamilton's book while u were still 9 years old?? *suya* at 9, i was still playing hide-and-seek and patintero (okay and maybe jump rope as well_.. XD

Unknown said...

HAHAHAHA. Yeah, I was reading already. But it was hard to comprehend. Mom had to explain pa. And the thesaurus and dictionary came in handy.

Jump rope! Patintero and other street games. We're such 90's kids! Too bad kids these days spend more time in front of their pc's. I can harldy see younger neighbors playing outside.

flipt said...

wow..u're mom is so cool to let u read that book!

and what is it with kids these days? they'd rather surf the net than go caroling or play with other kids outside in the sun... their childhood is wasted... tsk tsk

Unknown said...

Hi aka, this is Nicole from Rent a Coder.

You might have better luck at our service. Rentacoder provides access to programming, writing, illustration, even data entry jobs. (You can get a sense of the broad scope of work available here: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/SoftwareCoders/BrowseWork.asp)

I'd like to point out a few differences between our service and services like oDesk however, since those differences could influence your satisfaction and earnings.

===
Working with a new buyer on a Pay-for-Deliverables project:
===

A new buyer doesn't know yet that you're productive, and won't run up a huge bill with fluff hours via pay-for-time projects. To help you establish that trust, both Odesk and Rent A Coder let you work with them by bidding a fixed price for the final deliverables (called pay-for-deliverables). However, oDesk doesn't offer safety features (escrowing and arbitration) to be able to guarantee payment to you.

===
Working with a buyer you know on a Pay-for-Time project:
===

Once a buyer trusts that you won't bill them for unproductive hours, you can bill them by the hour (called pay-for-time). This has many advantages over pay-for-deliverables including cheaper fees, flexibility (you don't have to define all the requirements in advance to start working) and less risk (under-estimates are no longer your responsibility to bear). However there are important differences in how oDesk and Rent A Coder provide this service.

1) Fees.
---
Rent A Coder charges 10%-35% less than oDesk (9% for one-on-one auctions to as low as 6.5%). The less you pay, the more savings you can pocket yourself, pass on to the buyer, or split. oDesk charges a higher flat fee of 10%. As a result, you have less money to pocket, pass on to the buyer, or split.

2) Guaranteed Work Payments.
---
When working hard to meet a buyer's deadline, you may find yourself working long hours. Odesk does not guarantee payment past the first eight hours in a day. Rent A Coder guarantees payment for all work done.

3) Mental Tasks.
---
When working for a buyer, you may find yourself doing mental work that should not be interrupted (such as reading, planning or writing at your desk). Odesk requires that you simultaneously remember to move your mouse every minute or so, and if you don't, you are not guaranteed payment. So you can choose to be constantly interrupted (and perhaps distracted and frustrated), or forgo the payment guarantee. Rent A Coder does not require you to make this choice, and guarantees payment for mental work.

There are other differences as well. I invite everyone to compare the 7 major services through this link to learn even more: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/WhyRentACoder_ForSellers.aspx (Short version: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/OneOnOneComparisons/oDeskVersusVWorker_ForSellers.aspx)

If you have any questions, please let me know. You can also call in to talk to a facilitator 7 days a week, or email us (see http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/Feedback.asp).

Nicole
www.rentacoder.com

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...