Pinoy Problogger: J Angelo Racoma

Our next Filipino problogger is J Angelo Racoma, a fellow PTBer and full time blogger.

He will be speaking at the iBlog Summit on the 18th about his journey to being a full time problogger so I’ll leave the more juicy parts until then.

• How would you define problogging?

  For me, problogging basically means deriving some form of income from your blogging activities, whether it be through ad revenues, as a salaried writer/blogger, or as part of your day job.

• When did you start blogging? When did you get into problogging and how did you realize that there’s some money to be had from it?

  I signed up for a blogger account late 2003, but only got to updating and maintaining it mid 2004. My first problogging stint was as a corporate blogger for my then-employer, dotPH. We had a blogging service and I was one of the “blogging evangelists,” then eventually part of the development team.

  Since then, I’ve always wanted to also earn from ad revenues on my blogs, seeing how some Pinoy bloggers (i.e. Sassy Lawyer, yourself) were able to do great at it. But it seemed quite difficult even to get that monthly cheque from Google AdSense and other affiliate programmes, so I thought of career pro-blogging (that is, blogging for the networks). And I think I’ve found my luck here–though I still get cheques from Google every couple of months or so. However, there was a couple of months’ lag from the time I quit my dotPH post to starting blogging for money. I was in the middle of a big project the time I stumbled upon this great content company that paid Filipinos to write and blog.

• Which blogs are you writing for and which blog networks are you affiliated with?

  Aside from my own the J Spot and the J Spotter, I write for PinoyTechBlog, PinoyUrbanBlog.com , Sun Star Blog Chronicles, Pinoy Teachers Network and the Man Blog.

  I used to write for tech.erati.com (now Gadzooki.com) and Mobileherald.com under the BlogMedia banner, as well as wifiwireless.com, newsoftwaretitles.com, voipwebsites.com, cupidsblogs.com, visitlawyer.com, ukcompanyblog.com, bloggyaward.com and googletutor.com under WordContent, Inc.

  Now I write exclusively for BloggyNetwork, with forevergeek.com, bmonitors.com and btelevisions.com as my main blogs. I sometimes write for bcellphones.com, blaptops.com, bplaystation3.com and bdigitalcameras.com.

  The J Spot is also a member of Bluefishnetwork.

• Are you problogging part time or full time? Do you see this career as a part time gig or you are looking into going fulltime problogging?

  I professionally blog full-time. Though I do have some other projects on the side, some related to blogging, some not at all.

• How do you monetize your blog? Which ones bring in the most revenues?

  For my own blogs, I use Google AdSense. Not really great income there, but good enough to pay for hosting fees and to fill in some minor household needs.

• What are the requirements to go into problogging for a network? Flat fee or profit sharing? How much is the salary range?

  First and foremost, one has to write well. And since your audience is usually international in scope, you have to consider the tone and nuances of your writing. You can’t always write from a Pinoy point of view or tone. Also, having connections would be helpful in your getting into blog networks.

  Some networks I’ve been in give a share of ad revenues. As for the amount, I’m not at liberty to disclose the exact amount, but it’s upwards of one hundred dollars each blog (the writer gets first cut, and then you share 50-50 with the network after that).

  Some content companies I’ve worked for paid on a per-word basis, but this was fixed during a month’s blogging campaign–say, 250 words per blog per day. The pay for maintaining six blogs was upwards of PhP 20,000 monthly (yes, they pay in Pesos).

  As for flat-fee schemes, I believe blog networks usually pay something in the range of US$ 200 to $300 per blog per month. You do the math. :) Some, like BloggyNetwork, do give incentives for being DUGG.

• How much time do you spend on problogging?

  I spend about five to six hours a day researching on topics to write on and writing the blog posts themselves. I spend a shorter time coming up with posts when citing reviews and news. If I come up with an interesting original writeup to compose, then that takes about an hour or two, including the research and posting. But my time online eats up about eight to ten hours of each day–that includes email, casual surfing (which sometimes ends up in my blogging), and blogging on my own blogs.

• What other benefits do you get from problogging?

  Well, aside from the funds, you tend to get renown among your peers if you’re a fulltime pro-blogger. As for me, I get to stay at home and look after the kids. I don’t have to spend on gas or fare. I don’t have to contend with traffic. I don’t have to endure office politics or an overbearing boss. And I can work anywhere I please (as long as there’s an Internet connection/WiFi). My laptop is my office. My desktop PC is, well, my bigger office!

• What’s the most significant event/moment you had in your entire problogging career?

  Of course, receiving the first pay was great. With each blog network/content company I’ve dealt with, that always hits the sweet spot.

• What personal tips can you share with bloggers who want to try out problogging?

  First, establish yourself in the blogosphere as a good blogger and writer. Find your niche and develop on that. Have a keen eye out for interesting stuff, and try to give your two cents’ worth on any piece of info you stumble upon. It would also be great if you can hook up with people into similar interests, especially those who are already pro-blogging. They can give you good leads to possible problogging gigs.

  Also, don’t quit your day job just yet, as you are likely to get a lot of leads and interesting things to write about from your workplace. Problogging is great, but also risky, as all entrepreneurial endeavors go.

  Then once you’ve had a taste of problogging life, you’ll sometimes love it, and you’ll sometimes hate it. It’s great to be able to work at home or anywhere, but it’s also good to have colleagues you can actually see and talk to everyday.

  Definitely, problogging is not for everyone. It doesn’t entail lazing around at home everyday–problogging definitely requires discipline and talent, and of course some investment in computing equipment, Internet connectivity, and electricity expenses.