YugaTech | Philippines, Tech Reviews Blog

The first Filipina problogger in my series of inteviews is Melissa Atienza-Petri, more commonly known as AnP in the blogging world. AnP current works for the mother company of one of the world’s top 5 providers of servers and PCs. Since her expatriation in Germany, she has been on the look-out for the best (and cheapest) VoIP provider hoping that one day the “beam me up, Scottie!” technology would go beyond the drawing board of George Lucas.

Her other online involvement reflects her passion in life. She is the founder of PINOYexpats, an ezine for Filipino Expatriates. She is also a professional blogger for Creative Weblogging’s Travel and Parenting sites. When everyone else is asleep and her eyes are still wide awake, she blogs over at Aboutweblogs’ Budget Travel Europe & SnowboardingMOM and at her personal site, Pinayexpat in Deutschland.

• How would you define problogging?

  One is a professional if one engages in an activity as a source of livelihood or as a career; One is a professional if one gets paid for what one does; One can also be called a professional if one shows great skill or if one is an expert.

  Pprofessional Blogging is just about the same. If you earn from it, well and good; if you are good at it, even better.

  I cannot understand people who try to make it sound as if it’s something to be put in a pedestal. It should be treated the same way other professions are treated.

• 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’ve had Confessions of a Coke-Addict since 1997. I used it as a repository of my travel pictures and to keep my friends and family updated of my life abroad.

  Back in 2003, Julie Moos (Managing Editor of Poynter) invited me to join one of her personal online blogging projects, DotMOMS. That was where it all started. I saw the potential and started looking around. After which I applied and got accepted over at CW. It was in April 2005 when I started to really earn from blogging. After that, sunod sunod na.

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

  Escape Blog (Travel/Culture) – 9rules

  Europe String (Budget Europe Travel) – b5media

  Flyaway-Weblog (US/Europe Travel) – Creative-Weblogging
  
  Road Gladiator (Business Travel) – KnowMoreMedia
  
  Parenting-Weblog – Creative-Weblogging

  I am currently undergoing PREP and Training over at About.com for another travel site. It’s pretty tedious but I am crossing my fingers (and toes) that I “graduate” and become an official About Guide.

• 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 am a part-time problogger. And I do not think that I will ever give up my career to become a full-time blogger.

  However, my present condition is going to allow me to get a taste of pseudo-full-time blogging. Since we are allowed to take 3 years of maternity leave, I will now have the chance to stay home (temporarily), spend more time with my kids AND earn on the side. Thanks to ProBlogging.

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

  My contract for 2 of my blogs is on a fixed-payment scheme. I get a fixed amount per blog per month and they get their money through Direct Ad Sponsors and Adsense.

  Network #2 contract is set on a per-blog entry. They have a big VC behind the blog so they can afford to pay a lot. Basically, I can decide how much I would like to earn per month. We do have a minimum & maximum number of entries per month.

  Network #3 is based on Adsense, BlogAds and Text Link Ads.

  Network #4 is based on Adbrite, Adsense and Text Link Ads.

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

  It all depends. Some networks (like CW and KMM) prefer those with the right background. CW needs a sample blog entry, in addition. Others, on the other hand, only need bloggers with passion.

  Segurista ako so I prefer flat fee. I only work on revenue-share IF I believe in the project.

  Note: Though I can’t publish AnP’s specific earnings, she is basically earning in the four figures per month (i.e. $USD x,xxxx).

• How much time do you spend on problogging?

  Including reading my rss feeds and looking for photos, I spend around 3 hours per day and produce 8-12 entries per day.

• What other benefits do you get from problogging?

  I am learning from the other pros.

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

  Making the B-list of Blogebrity. I know that a lot of people say that it is BS but, hey, it does help get me more problogging gigs.

  When I was invited (last week) to cover a Travel Event/Conference in New York, with an all expenses paid plane ticket, hotel and stipend. Unfortunately, I am heavily pregnant and flying from Frankfurt to NY is not possible.

  This May, I have been given 2 different Press IDs to cover another travel event. This time, it is possible because IMEX will only be held 5 minutes away from my home.

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

  Unless it is for your personal blog, do not blog about everything under the sun. Blog about what you know and like. It will be obvious if you are bored or pilit with the topics you have chosen.

  Develop a niche. It is easier to get problogging gigs if you can show archives from other blogs that belong to the same niche instead of having lots of blogs but with different topics.

  IMHO, more pinas-based bloggers should try and get a problogging gig. It will be more financially “meaningful” if you earn $1500 in Manila. For us who are based abroad, it does not really amount to much kasi ang mahal dito!

The first time I personally met her was during the 2004 PinoyBlog Christmas Party. She practically introduced me to most of the expat bloggers I know nowand am very glad she was part of the PTB group blog we started July last year.

From the blogs she handles, we can see that she has found a strong foundation and identity as the ultimate travel blogger. AnP is surely one pinay power blogger!