That freelance experience those past few weeks was a race against time. That had really put my time management skills to test. I had to make the best use of my time. I had finally reached the point where I have a constant stream of clients both old and new ones. When my long term projects  runs dry, new opportunities keep coming up. It’s a fact that full time freelancers don’t just work with one client – they have to very good masters of their time to be able to work and earn from different projects coming from different clients.

During that time I was semi-active in social networks, Plurk and Twitter. Since both networks allow only 140 characters, it was easy for me to get interactive without the need to write a full well-researched or well-thought out blog post.

For those very hectic days I just get down to do my freelance work. At the end of the day, I find myself mentally tired to compose a well-researched blog post on any of my blogs.
This next week is yet another busy week for me.

I will not say anymore that I am back to blogging, as other do. I am always here. If you don’t find me on blogs, you could always contact me through other social networks, or through my email. Some of you are even in my chat. If you don’t find my updates here, you can always interact with me in Plurk or Twitter.

In case you are not yet aware on what Twitter is all about, it is a site that allows anybody to answer the simple question: “What are you doing?”. However, I don’t use Twitter only to report what I am doing. I use Twitter to announce that I have a new blog post, share some news or ask help. This combination is the most effective way for me. The video below describes what Twitter is about.

Twitter in Plain English

Follow me on Twitter if you like. I have already gained some followers in this social network site.

Like blogging, there are some sites that offer opportunities to make money from Twittering away. Except for SocialSpark, I have not used all of these sites personally so I cannot guarantee success with these services.

1. Be-a-Magpie: I think this is the most famous Twitter service where one can earn from sponsored Tweets. It sends out sponsored Tweets out to the web under one’s Twitter name at regular intervals, depending on the settings of the user. Be-a-Magpie makes sure that the sponsored Tweets match the non-sponsored Tweets that were already delivered. The minimum cashout from the site is L50 which is given through Paypal.
2. TwittAd: TwittAd allows one to earn from one’s Twitter profile by posting ads on the background. The service uses Twitter API to push the advertisements into the profile background. Accumulate $30 for posting ads and one can get it right away in their Paypal accounts.
3. SocialSpark: I am still writing for SocialSpark and one change that I noticed is the existence of CPC (cost per click) opportunities. These CPC opportunities can be posted in blogs, Twitter and Facebook where a SocialSpark blogger gets to earn a fraction of a dollar for each click.
4. dNeero: I had always known dNeero to be a place where bloggers can get to engage themselves in the hottest discussions. Now, dNeero is now exploring social network sites. In Twitter, dNeero members have to follow dNeero account in Twitter and must give a valid reply to the conversation that are posted regularly in Twitter.
5. TwitterHat: Even if there are no cash earnings from TwitterHat, I still include this one in the list because it still allows members to get gift cards and rewards. TwitterHat offers an alternative URL shortening service where a member earns points from clicks that are made by followers. Enough points can be exchanged for gift cards and other rewards. However, take note that TwitterHat rewards are suspended at this time.

Of course, we should not forget other known ways to make money from Twitter, such as promoting affiliate links. Don’t get too twitterpated with these ways of making money with Twitter: I also believe that like TV and blogs, too much advertising can do more harm than good.

Have you earned money already from these services?

I have around 25 plugins which I find indispensable in doing web design work and blogging. I don’t plan to discuss all these twenty-five plugins here but I would like to mention those that relate to my blogging work.

useful Firefox plugins for blogging

StumbleUpon

The easiest way to navigate through StumbleUpon is to install and use its add-on toolbar. It makes it easier for me to stumble through friends or even through other news sites. I am not so much of an active user in stumble upon, but stumbling through this site once in a while makes it easier for me to do such stumbling duties.

EasyComment

The EasyComment add-on makes it easier for me to leave comments during a blog hop spree. Using add-on is pretty straightforward: simply enter your name, email and blog URL in its settings then use it to automatically fill out those items in most comment blogs. I find this helpful because it eliminates typographical errors especially when trying to type the blog URL.

Entrecard

I am an active user of Entrecard so I use the toolbar to promote my blog. I just simply have to select the category to which sites I get to visit, drop an Entrecard and perhaps leave a comment or two if I find the site interesting. The Entrecard toolbar also allows me to advertise on the currently visited blog.

coComment

coComment add-on is very useful to me because I get to keep track of blogs that I comment on, particularly blogger blogs. Most of the time, I always love to participate on the blog conversation, not just leave a comment on a blogger blogs, so I need to keep track which blogs I had commented on and read the replies of the author of the post. Although coComment is a good way for me to keep track of comments, it can be used also as a social network to meet other bloggers.

Delicious

I keep Delicious bookmarks primarily to keep track of useful articles and blog posts. I also use these Delicious bookmarks to network with other bloggers who share the same interest. Although it is possible to use this social bookmarking site to promote my own posts, I decided to bookmark posts that I need for my web-related interests.

Power Twitter

Power Twitter is one of the tons of Twitter tools where I get to have an enhanced Twitter web page: shortened links are replaced by actual links to the site, images are displayed and YouTube videos are seen. If you happen to be active on Twitter discussions then this tool is a must-have.

TinyURL creator

Most bloggers are perhaps familiar with the TinyURL service but did you know that such a Firefox add-on exists for that? It saves me from going to the TinyURL website to shorten the URL that I want to promote.

FireShot

FireShot takes a screenshot of the visible or entire part of the browser page then lets the user edit, upload, save, or copy to the clipboard, print email or even edit it in other external editor. Its free version is very powerful indeed for simple jobs, but if you are working on batch images then consider an upgrade.

Google Gears

I’ve installed Google Gears for two reasons: it puts a local cache copy of my WordPress blogs so it is easier for me to update these blogs and this addin is also helpful for me to speed up my Google reader.

SEO for Firefox

SEO for Firefox is a plugin that makes it easier for me to check “nofollow” links as well as those useful statistics like Google pagerank, Alexa ranking, Technorati, Delicious links and other relevant figures that are used in doing SEO. As a newbie in doing SEO work, I really find this plugin very useful.

WordPress Helper

Whether you own a self-hosted WordPress blog or have a WordPress.com blog, the WordPress helper is an optional tool that helps me switch between WordPress blogs. It also provides several shortcuts such as going to the login page, writing a new blog page or post and even managing comments or spam.

Most of the add-ons that I have installed are used for promoting my blogs, including TinyURL. The last four add-ons are the ones that I use when writing content for my blogs. Except in cases where I could not get to run Firefox, I would not prefer to use any other browser to do my blogging work.

CarloReid had already made his own blog post packed with more commands to the PlurkYM bot. Check out his post about PlurkYM in his blog.

Plurk had not yet offered the capability to send status updates and microblogs through YM. Carlo Reid had suddenly thought of creating PlurkYM that makes it possible for users Yahoo Messenger to post status and microblog updates on Plurk. I caught him testing this and I got curious: he was trying to make PlurkYM work!

Yahoo Messenger cannot post updates to Plurk

From the screenshot above, Plurk can post updates using Google Talk, MSN and is now trying to add AIM to list. I was disappointed to see that Yahoo Messenger is not included.

PlurkYM is still in its testing stage. Please direct all comments, suggestions and bug reports to Carlo Reid through his blog.

Privacy

To make this work, the PlurkYM bot asks for the Plurk username and password during registration. Carlo Reid assures privacy of this information:

PlurkYM saves your password in encrypted format that isn’t readable by an ordinary human being. It’s transmitted to plurk.com in an encrypted format too. I am committed to provide maximum security on personal information that PlurkYM collects. Please be assured that all information gathered by the PlurkYM bot are safe, secured and will never be shared with anyone. If you feel that your information has been compromised, please unregister with the service immediately and report the problem to me.

There are actually other sites that ask for your username and password to use Twitter and Plurk, such ping.fm and many third-party Facebook applications.

How to Setup PlurkYM

• Add PlurkYM as a new contact in Yahoo Messenger.
  

  PlurkYM added in Yahoo Messenger

• To register, type REG <username> <password>. A successful registration returns this message: “You are now registered. You may start Plurking using Yahoo! Messenger.”
  

  register Plurk account in PlurkYM

Posting Updates using PlurkYM

• Type updates as you normally would in Plurk. You can even type the character equivalent of smileys. It is even possible to share photos and YouTube videos by clicking the link.
  

  posting picture with a smiley in Plurk

what PlurkYM looks like in plurk

How to Remove PlurkYM service

• On PlurkYM window, type UNREG to stop using PlurkYM.

Other commands

• Type HELP to for instructions on how to register or unregister from PlurkYM.
• Type PRIVACY to show the PlurkYM privacy information.

Current twitter follower count:

Get your twitter mosaic here.

If you had not been following me, then follow me in Twitter now. Also, you can get your own Twitter mosaic by clicking the link below.

There’s more to this than simply showing a mosaic. You can order a shirt or a mug and show up some of your Twitter friends or followers (you can manually remove the ones that you don’t want to show on your mug or shirt).

Thanks to Jaypee for this idea.

What makes me visit and reply to your tweet? Of course the message has to be interesting enough.

• You are one of the first few to blog or announce breaking news.
• You have written those posts like “how to”, “top ten” and other catchy titles similar to the title of this post.
• You always have other articles, videos and pictures to share other than your own blog posts.
• You have an opportunity to offer that make some money or other similar incentive.
• You really interact with people by sending replies.
• You ask help.
• You ask questions.
• You’re not too obvious in announcing a new blog post.
• You post out status updates on what you’re doing, thinking and feeling – without being negative.
• You love to spread the positive attitude around and easily relate to everyone by simple greetings.

I had noticed that most of the people I am following on Twitter often start their tweets with the words “new blog post”. With the Twitter population growing, I think “new blog post” is fast becoming an outdated style of promoting a blog. Being creative and interactive is must! Most of those tweets that belong to the reasons would get me scurrying out to check your blog post.

Of course, that’s what attracts me in using Twitter. I might be on a lonely planet where everyone does not agree with me.

Don’t forget to join me in Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ladyprogrammer

The brief blogging absence made me realize that I had to define priorities in what I need to accomplish each day. I had to remove some of the tasks to make way for other activities that I need to do. This means I had to drop ECs less and even post out content less frequently.

I need to keep up with other social networks.

and plurk: http://www.plurk.com/ladyprogrammer

I don’t just submit my own content on Digg and StumbleUpon. I had to grow a profile that looks interesting, particularly on StumbleUpon. As I do this, I had to communicate with others at Plurk and Twitter. I plurk and tweet the best content from this blog and the other making money online blog.

Plus learn SEO too.

I was wrong.

I realized that Plurk, Twitter and Facebook are three different social sites with different sets of people. I have Twitter friends, I have Plurk friends and I have Facebook friends too. I had to maintain good relationship with those friends whom I connect with each of those three social networks, not only just posting out links of my own stuff.

As a Plurk friend had said, there can be too much social noise. I defended that too much social noise is a lot better then having no one to talk with – at least online.

Twitter:a big mixed group

I joined Twitter first, and right now I’m proud to have over a hundred Twitter followers. The Twitter group that I got are from different countries like the US, Canada, India and of course, the Philippines.

What I like best about Twitter is that this network is far well developed. There are a lot of software that is written for it, like TwitBin, TweetDeck, Twhirl (what I use) and can easily be integrated in a lot of social sites like Facebook. Also, Twitter remains to be the main choice of A-list bloggers so I get to follow their updates regularly.
Plurk: down to earth and casual

I have a different set of friends in Plurk, and since I am a newcomer, I had only 18 friends and 10 fans on my account. Perhaps if I placed my widget on one or more of my blogs then I must have grown a bigger friend and fan base. I find Plurk a much more interactive site than Twitter. If not for those A-list bloggers who use Twitter more than Plurk, then Plurk should have been a better medium than Twitter – it has more features than what I can write on this post.

I find Plurk users a lot more interactive than my Twitter friends. As soon as I had plurked out something, I often get replies in less than a minute – even from interested strangers who wants to connect with me.

Facebook: a better Friendster

Friendster remains to be the social network of choice in Asia. But to me, Facebook is a lot better. It can put links automatically from those Twitter. It can also post out links from delicious, Stumbleupon, Digg automatically. Well, a great medium to promote, IF only I have a lot of friends. I only got 18 of them in my account.

But most of my Friendster friends find it too overwhelming to maintain a lot of social networks. They are still sticking out to Friendster and I don’t think those Friendster users would like to switch or add Facebook.

Ping.fm: synchronize the social networks at once

I use ping.fm on times when I had to promote my own blog posts or share a link to all the three networks at one. I just wish that ping.fm will be able to show a Youtube and picture snapshot on Plurk and Facebook networks, than just showing a shortened link going to it.

Digg and StumbleUpon

It seemed to me that Digg and StumbleUpon are two similar sites that let me interact with others. I can promote my sites by simply submitting my own posts to them, but as a rule, these social sites are made for members to submit content of other people.

Both sites are made on the premise to change the way people access information. Unlike search engines, where the most relevant site appears on search results, Digg and StumbleUpon are entirely powered by the votes of the community. The most popular site gets featured at the front page – this post also gains a significant amount of traffic driven to the site.

photo credit: steve.wilson (Flickr)

This is efficient, because I find good content that show up on the front page.

Other impressions and notes from other bloggers that I had seen with Digg and StumbleUpon are:

• There are so many members. Getting popular with both sites may take some time.
• A blog owner keen on promoting his blog should be consistent in using both sites to drive massive traffic.
• Traffic is not consistent. There could be a thousand of visitors in one day and none on the next day.
• Visitors are ad blind. Even if there are thousands of impressions from this site, you might not be able to earn from these because they have the tendency not to click on ads. There are some bloggers who complained that they had not earned a few cents from those thousands of impressions.
• It is a “fake” traffic where one gets to see a site, rates the site if the visitor wants it, then proceeds to view the next site. When I stop using the services, then I get no visitors at all.

BlogCatalog and MyBloglog

BlogCatalog’s strength lies on its community discussions, while MyBloglog’s advantage is on its tag system. I think both sites are great in finding bloggers who can turn into loyal readers of a blog. Participating in BlogCatalog’s community can help in connecting to other bloggers, while in MyBloglog, the generous use of tags greatly helps other bloggers find your blog.

Twitter

I had been using Twitter for quite a while. I find this useful to do mini-blogging, so I don’t get to worry about putting up a new blog post. Even reaching out for help is better in Twitter, because there can be somebody who can answer your concern.

Facebook

Facebook is a more advanced Friendster account to me, but I’m still keeping my Friendster account intact to connect to non-blogger friends. Facebook lets me put in a lot of timely content – Tweets, blog posts, Diggs and StumbleUpon submissions. Most of the content automatically posts out to my Facebook profile, so I get to promote all the other social networks to my friends in the profile.

Everyone is Still Invited

Of course my first impressions may be wrong. I’m still trying to learn a lot from these sites. If you are experienced in any of these social networks, do leave me a tip or two.

More Traffic

Why? I had to figure out ways to gain traffic – not only from Entrecard, but from other sources as well – primarily from different social networks.

Just the other day, I was working out my stuff on my StumbleUpon profile. Then yesterday, I got myself Digg-in some articles. I have not touched my Del.ici.ous account, but maybe I will. Oh yes, I have a Facebook account too. Some of you might notice that I had Twittered too much – well, it is really a good platform for me to do micro-blogging without the need to post out something in my blogs. Now with Twhirl installed in my system tray, managing those little tweets get a little better.

I just came back from BlogCatalog – I got hooked with all the discussions going on. It’s like a mini-forum with the IntenseDebate feel.

Don’t forget me to fave me in Technorati. I got a MyBloglog account too.

Leaving Entrecard?

Of all these networks, I plan to be active in Digg and StumbleUpon. I will still doing the daily 600 drops in Entrecard, but I still have no plans of stopping myself from learning new things in blogging.

Everyone is Invited

I am inviting everyone to connect with me in any of these social networks, preferably in Digg and StumbleUpon. If you got your existing profiles already, add me up using those links above or using the BlogCatalog widget below.