Facebook Ads Experiement

 

 I experimented with Facebook ads to check if it will help increase traffic to my Canadian Immigration Consultancy blog.  Traffic to this site dramatically went down and is affecting my Adsense income.  I only alloted US$10 for this experiment and if it worked, I will do this regularly.

Feedburner Sending Old Feeds

The Feedburner I set up for my Canadian Immigration Consultancy blog is acting up.  A client forwarded an email he recieved yesterday.  It's my post back in April 2012 - A Happy Easter Greetings!  Easter greetings in July?! My Feedburner is sending old feeds! What a shame. LOL

I'm not really sure what I deed wrong.  My guess is that it's because I updated some of my old posts for linkbuilding purposes and published it.  

The thing is, I did not change the date and I have done this in the past without this unwelcomed effect. If you had encountered the same problem and know of a fix to this Feedburner Sending Old Feeds problem, please share. 

I have just Ping my Feedburner feeds and resync it as well.  I hope this will fix this error.  

I Support the Formation of National Bloggers Association of the Philippines

I would rather be represented by a national association of Pinoy bloggers than to be indirectly represented by few BIG bloggers and online marketers. Thus, I'm supporting the formation of a national bloggers' association of the Philippines.

But my decision to join this organization is not only because I want somebody to properly represent me. More than that, I want the idea of having a unified voice, of bloggers binding together for a common good.

Uhm... you haven't heard yet about the plan to form a national organization of Pinoy bloggers? Ok, start by reading the Pinoy blogger's manifesto:

One country, one blogging community
A Manifesto of Filipino bloggers and netizens (Draft)
March 7, 2011

We, Filipino bloggers coming from various places nationwide and those based overseas, coming from diverse backgrounds and specialties, using various new media outlets, hereby freely come together and call for the formation of a bloggers association of the Philippines that shall unite us around these common and beneficial objectives:

• Promote and defend the right to free speech and to free expression;
• Promote and develop blogging, vlogging, photoblogging, microblogging and other online creative and expressive forms in all their diverse categories, topics and types;
• Gather and share Philippine blogging’s best practices that reflect our contributions to ourselves and our online communities, media, causes, organizations and businesses, government, the nation and the world;
• Draft and adopt a code of ethics that underscore the members’ and organization’s sense of responsibility and maturity;
• Discuss issues and concerns that confront our members; and
• Campaign and work for more affordable, reliable and better internet access in the country

The association we aspire to form is voluntary in membership, national in scope, democratic in decision-making, progressive in outlook, and both non-partisan and non-profit in legal character.

• We draw inspiration from and ask the participation of the city-wide, provincial, regional and island-wide associations, summits and conventions initiated by bloggers across the country. We also pay tribute to overseas Filipinos and their blogging organizations and events.

• We want an association that makes decisions based on democratic processes, consensus-building and mutual benefit.

A long time has passed since the first blog posts and first blogging events. We are now a bigger, stronger and influential community. Businesses, causes and government have started to organize themselves to interact and engage with us. And we also face challenges within and outside our growing community.

The Philippines, our country and people are also expecting more from us, and we bravely and fearlessly say that we want to do more and achieve more

In view of all these and more, we declare that we are joining as founding members of what we hope would be a most awesome bloggers association for our country

As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing objectionable in the manifesto. How about you? If you want the idea too, JOIN US!

Google Page Rank (PR) Update | Got a PR4!

I was bloghopping when I noticed that some bloggers are talking about a recent Google Page Rank (PR) update. I got curious and decided to check this blog's standing.

Using www.prchecker.info, I checked this blog's page rank. I was surprised that this blog has now a PR4!

I'm not really sure what I did right. But I will try to figure it out and apply the same to my other blogs.

Will this page rank update bring more Google Money? I hope. haha!

Christmas Giveaways | Drive traffic to your blogs

Here's another idea how to drive traffic to your blogs - Christmas giveaways!

It's my first time to try this approach to drive traffic to my Canada Visa blog. Almost 75% of traffic to www.gatewaytocanada.com are coming from search engines and that should be ok. But additional traffic from t-shirts with my URL printed on it that I will be giving away this Christmas wouldn't hurt. Unlike traffic from search engines though, this Christmas giveaways is not FREE. :-) But I think it's a better investment compared to buying links from other blogs or investing in blogs advertising. I expect that through this Christmas giveaways, direct traffic to www.gatewaytocanada.com will increase! And hopefully, give me more leads and potential clients. :-)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Meralco Call Center | Reporting Meralco Service Problems

Until now, there are Meralco customers leaving comments on the blog entry about Meralco Customer Service I posted some six years ago. To date, there are 33 comments on the entry most of which are reports of service interruptions, complaints, follow up on the service requests, etc.

As to why these Meralco customers prefer to post comment on this blog than contact Meralco Call Center is beyond me. Thus, I'm making this blog entry now to correct it.

For Meralco customers who want to report service problems or other Meralco service issues, just contact Meralco Call Center. I've heard they respond quickly now.

Meralco Call Center: 16211
SMS Numbers: 0917-5592824 / 0920-9292824

You can use any landline whithin Metro Manila to contact 16211. Again, please don't leave comments here to report Meralco service problems.

Mangan Tila! | My Daily Food Adventures Blog

I've got a new blog, a food blog - Mangan Tila!



The blog is about, well, my daily food adventures.

Whenever and whatever I eat, I often take pictures of my food and in the process accumulated lots of food images. I do that with the end in view of blogging about it. But because of busy schedule, I seldom do the blog entries.

Now, with the new food blog and blogger's email posting, I will be able to post the pictures immediately after taking them using my blackberry. Let's see how it goes.

Am I going to monetize my new food blog? You bet I will! hehe! But for now, I'll try first to get it indexed by Google.

If you're a food blogger looking for exchange links, you know what to do. :-) You don't know? Ok. Link Mangan Tila! (http://mangan-tila.blogspot.com/) to your blog and I will link your blog here at Apol the Great's Journal using the text and url you prefer. Deal? Now hit that comment button and leave your your link details after you link Mangan Tila. Let's go! :-)

Nestle's Heaven Ice Cream

My friend Doms invited me yesterday to watch Angelina Jolie's newest movie SALT at Greenbelt. He said he got three movie tickets from Nuffnang so I immediately took the offer. :-)

Photo courtesy of my friend Niko, who was also there at the Nuffnang event

It turned out that it was one of those promo from Nestle featuring it's latest product, Heaven Ice Cream.

I've been boycotting Nestle products since the death of Ka Ding Fortuna so it's a bit awkward. Had I known in advance, I wouldn't have taken the offer. But I must admit, I really enjoyed the movie and the free ice cream! Thanks to Nuffnang! :-)

Nestle is really active in using blogs to promote its products, as in the case of Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt and Nestle Pops.

I wonder if Ka Ding Fortuna is in heaven now.

Top Blogs Philippines - Business and Finance Ranking

Because of the latest development in Canada Visa Application regulations, my other blog is getting sudden surge of trafic. Most of them are looking for information about the list of 29 high demand occupations. As a result, my Canada Visa blog made it to Top 3 in Top Blogs Philippines (Business and Finance Category).



Aside from the new leads generated by this traffic, there's another positive outcome.



My average daily adsense income is US$10 only but this morning I was surprised when I checked my Adsense report. I now have US$ 19.09 and there are few more hours before the closing time!

This also resulted to increased volume of emails I'm receiving. So there. Now back to answering those emails. :-)

With great blogging power comes great responsibility

Remember the controversial blog entry of Ella regarding the relief goods "rotting" in DSWD warehouse? It turns out that the issue isn't over yet. Former DSWD Secretary is suing Ella for libel.

A blogger who wrote about relief goods stored in a warehouse that allegedly did not reach victims of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” last year has been charged with libel for the malicious accusations on her website.[Source]

I don't know Ella personally but I am familiar with her blog even before that controversial post.

A bit of background is in order here.

My friend Niko initiated a campaign to raise funds for Baby Daniel, a 5 months old baby who has biliary atresia with cirrhosis and is in immediate need of liver transplant. Daniel is the son of our schoolmate from The Sisters of Mary School and most of helped in the campaign by blogging about it, solicitations, fund raising activities, etc.

Now comes Ella in the picture. She also blogged about Daniel but not to help. Worst, she insinuated that the case of Daniel couldn't be real and it could just be a scam.

Her basis? She found out that the letter used by Clarissa (Daniel's mom) is exactly the same (save for the names and addresses) to the other letters she found from the net - from mothers whose children are also in similar situation. She even questioned the grammatical errors in that letter.

When Clarissa read Ella's post making insinuations that Daniel's case could just be another scam, she was so hurt. Here's a mother worrying about her son whose life is at risk, doing everything she can to save him. Only to be questioned by this blogger because of the mother's grammar?

There's an explanation why those letters that Ella found were identical. Those mothers actually know each other and they have this little support group. She could have verified it first before publishing her entry.

It that malicious? No. But I find it irresponsible.

Now back to the libel case against Ella by former DSWD Sec. Cabral.

Here are excerpts from Ella's controversial post.

“Para sa mga “special victims” kaya ito? Ire-repack kaya ang mga “imported” camp pads na ito ever?”

“Sabagay, may BANIG naman para sa “ordinary victims”. Ito ang kasama sa inimpake namin. Sayang ‘yung imported.”

“Hindi rin ito kasali, of course. Hindi namin alam kung ano ang laman nito. “Imported” are not included, we have concluded.”

“Naaah! “Imported” pork and beans from Spain po ito. Sorry, hindi pa rin included”

“Relief goods na ayaw yata ibigay sa mga nasalanta. Halatang-halata.”

Whether those comments and the blog entry she made are malicious and that Ella committed libel is for the court to decide. But here's my take on the issue.

We should be thankful that Ella exposed the situation. No question about that.

But was there malice in the way she published her entry? I think those comments are sarcastic and irresponsible but not necessarily malicious. But how Sec Cabral and DSWD employees perceive it is entirely a different story. If they find it malicious, well, they can file a libel case. That is an option provided by law. But is it necessary? I don't think so. Sec. Cabral shouldn't be too onion-skinned, being a public official.

If there's a lesson learned here, it's this - With great blogging power comes great responsibility

By the way, Daniel did not make it. He died before her family could raise the P 3M needed for the operation. Clarissa returned to our Bayanihan Fund the money we raised for Daniel .

Happy Birthday Niko!

Because Niko is such a sweet blogger and friend, I wouldn't be surprised if there would be a number of blog posts greeting Niko on her birthday.

Happy Birthday, Niko! Here's to more birthdays to come and to more blogging moolah! :-)

Thanks to Pehpot for the birthday badge she made and for initiating this little surprise for Niko.

$3 for Daniel

Daniel is a 5 months old baby who needs to undergo a liver transplant. The operation is really costly, Daniel and his family need all the help they can get.

My friend Niko initiated a campaign to raise funds for Daniel's most needed operation. Please spare your $3 in support for Daniel.

This is the 2nd time that I am using my blog to support a similar campaign. The first is that of Yuki, who unfortunately died even before the operation.

I hope Baby Daniel makes it. More information here: $3 for Daniel

Best Web Hosting?

I've been thinking of getting a paid web host for one of my blogs and is currently in search for the best web hosting services. Not that I have problem with with Google's free web hosting for its blogger blogspot blogs. It's actually great.

However, I'm thinking of using wordpress and there are other features that I want include in my blog which is not possible using Google's free web hosting.

Findmyhosting.com has this comparison of The Best 10 Web Hosting Sites which may make my decision real easy. Check that out too if you're also looking for the best web hosting services.!

Goodbye Gloria, Hello Pagbabago!

In solidarity with Pinoy Bloggers Against ConAss, here's my Goodbye, Hello Pledge.



I made this Goodbye, Hello Pledge button from one of those Nuffnang Ads that generates your own pledge button. I think that ads was from Nestle. :-)

July 26 is Blog Action Day vs. ConAss!

Crawl error: Not Found - ps/rpc_relay.html

I was trying to figure why one of my blog entry from another blog was suddenly dropped from SERPs, when I found out about this error: /ps/rpc_relay.html. A URL attached to my domain name which I did not create and have no idea where it came from.

Thinking that it's the culprit, I used google serach to look for more information.

There's not much information about in the internet, it must be new. I found an answer from Google Friend Connect-

This file is necessary for your followers widget to work... I wouldn;t be too worried about it though since it won't effect how others interact with your blog.

So it may not be the answer to my problem. But just the same, an error is an error is an error. It needs to be fixed. But how?

Do you have ps/rpc_relay.html error, too? Care to share how you fixed it?

Meralco Electric Service Concerns

Four years ago, I blogged about my experience with Meralco Customer Service. Back then, I don't have any idea about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But to my surprise, it is actually bringing traffic to this blog. What's even funnier is that some of those who stumble upon my Meralco Customer Service post are actually posting comments to report their problems with Meralco.

This is the most recent comment.

Hi good day! i rereport ko lang po ang pumutok na transformer knina mga around 6am sa Walastik St. Clemente Compound Dulongbayan 2, San Mateo, Rizal.PLEASE pa ki aksyonan po agad.Thanks

Some people don't know what a blog is, apparently. And what does that tell about Meralco? Hmm...

Twitter Find: Blog ng Tunay na Lalake

For the uninitiated, Twitter is a free social messaging utility - social networking, instant messaging and micro-blogging - for staying connected in real-time. And if it's from twitter, it must be good.

Well, that of course depends on the kind of tweeples you're following. So far, I've been getting lots of good stuff from the tweeples I follow - funny stories, tech news, blogging tips, currents events and more.

From now on, I'll be blogging about interesting stuff I'll find from twitter. For a start, here's a funny blog called Hay! Men! Ang blog ng mga tunay na lalake!

Find out what's Winnie the Pooh's real gender. Are you sure Popeye is a real man? They have all the answer.

And, oh, they also have entry about Jovito Palparan, my favorite post actually.

So what are you waiting for? Visit http://tunaynalalake.blogspot.com!

I'm back!

The month of March is almost over and I just realized that for the first quarter of 2009, this is just my 2nd entry for this blog. Boy was I really busy with work. But before my 2 avid readers totally ditch this blog from their reading lists, I figured I have to update this blog somehow. I also don't want Entrecard to kick this blog out of the program for being inactive. hehe!

So here are some updates.

Pia got sick 1st week of March and was almost confined due to diarrhea. And just last week, she complained of head ache, stomach ache and had on and off fever. Got her tested for dengue and fortunately it was negative. But she's ok now. School is almost over and we're planning a summer trip to Bohol.

I visited my Alma Mater on March 15, 2009 for our Annual Alumni Homecoming. As you may already know, I'm a proud graduate of the Sisters of Mary School. It always feels good to be back to a place you consider your home.



An officemate offered free accommodation at a beach resort in Subic owned by her cousin. And so to Subic off we go. We also went to Zoobic Safari and had a close encounter with tigers. Will write about it if I find time. Pictures are here.



I bought a new domain name for my NZ Immigration blog. I hope to double my adsense income with the addition of this new blog. With the current global financial crisis, the more it is important to have additional income streams. :-)

Happy Valentines Day!

Just a quick post to greet you all a Happy Valentines day! :-)

This is my first post for the year 2009 and there is a great chance that it will be my only post for this month. I was given a new assignment at work which really takes most of my time. But don't get me wrong, I enjoy what I do. It's just that I can no longer blog and blog hop like I do before.

I was so inspired by the photo slide prepared by MEC for the blogkadahan berks that I thought of sharing it with you.




Isn't that sweet?! Thanks, MEC!

Paquiao vs Dela Hoya: Video, Bet, and keywords searches

As the Pacquaio vs Dela Hoya scheduled fight on December 6, 2008 gets nearer, I have noticed a trend in the keywords being used by Internet users in searching information about Pacman and Golden Boy.

Here are some the commonly searched keywords I got from my google analytics.

pacquiao vs dela hoya bet
pacquiao vs dela hoya review
bet for pacquiao vs dela hoya
bet on de la hoya pacquiao
bet on pacquiao vs de la hoya

There are over a hundred kweywords combination used but some are just misspelled names like pacquio, pacqiuao and pacquia. Among these keywords used, the most common word used is bet.

There's an anonymous commenter on my other post who is betting P5,000.00 in favor of Dela Hoya. Check his mobile number on my previous post if you are interested. :-) I also think that Dela Hoya will win this fight.

If you looking for free live streaming video, that makes us two. hehe! I'll update this post as soon as I've found one.

Update: Watch Pacquiao - Dela Hoya Match for FREE at Justin.tv, which is known for live video and a great place to broadcast and share video online. There is a great chance that Pacquiao - Dela Hoya Fight Video will be available at MyBoxingFans channel.

Here's another Free Streaming at TechSterr.