Fine Art of Blogging

Janette Toral

I was already writing for computer publications before I went online. As a result, the natural inclination that came to me was towards organizing communities and informing readers. This reached a high point when I was lobbying for the passage of the Philippines Y2K Law and E-Commerce Law.

When I created my first websites back in 1997 with Infotech and in 1999 with DigitalFilipino, blogging technology was too limited then. I had to rely on hard code html and content management systems.

In the year 2000, I started blogging through LiveJournal and Blogger, putting in content that I can't put in my other sites. I saw its income potential as well after trying out paid blogging communities too.

I blog with the goal of disseminating information, that I find useful, and worth recording. I support the concept of market and content segmentation. Having worn so many hats such as being an e-commerce evangelist, software process improvement trainer, Internet historian, SEO consultant, legislation oversight, researcher, among others, requires me to deal with various groups of interest. Having a separate blog for each allows me to focus whenever I communicate through it.

I see blogging as an extension of everything that I do in my profession, including hobbies. Being able to create blogs quickly, makes it easy for me to start an initiative and finetune it along that way.

I use my network to spread the word on what I do. My primary community is the DigitalFilipino Yahoo Groups that has nearly 3000 members to date. It started in 1999 with the launch of DigitalFilipino.

Those who are serious in e-commerce have joined my club where I organize training and briefing sessions, disseminate research reports, e-books, help new bloggers and those interested in blog marketing, and do further advocacy (too many to mention).

I was involved in the creation of the Philippine Blogging Summit or iBlog that started in 2005 (up to the present). This event was a catalyst of bringing bloggers together and it helped a lot of them be known in the fields they are in. I’m open in helping like-minded individuals who may be interested in organizing one in their respective countries.

I have an ongoing writing project “The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007” that aims to recognize new blogs that are making a difference out there. I hope your readers will also join in this endeavor. It is gaining success, little by little each week, and will be doing such annually to get new blogs recognized.