Interview with Marhgil Macuha A Top Pinoy ProBlogger of 2007

Marhgil Macuha runs Macuha.com and a lot of other more blogs. He is known for his wit, ingenuity and blogging power. Marhgil is considered as one of the Top Pinoy ProBloggers of 2007 compiled by Basapa.

Enough of the introductions, let’s get into Marhgil’s head!

Marhgil Macuha: First of all, thank you for interviewing me. Now, to answer your questions.

Back in 2005, I’m not sure on which blog I’ve first saw those Adsense ads. I just got curious I’m seeing those ads everywhere, so I googled it and landed on Google Adsense sign-up page. I didn’t even know back then that it is a pay-per-click program. Since I just love blogging, so, I just put those Adsense codes on my old blog and continued blogging. They were not optimized. I just told myself that if it gives me money, then, good, if it doesn’t, I have nothing to lose.

For a couple of months having those ads on my blog, I just earned an average of $1 per month, telling myself that at least I’ll get my first Google check after 100 months. Hehehe. I even thought back then that Google Adsense is not true. Until I’ve read this news article from USAToday about Google’s hidden payroll. That article opened my eyes. There is really money to be made out of Google Adsense thru my blog. So, I researched. Found Yugatech’s blog. Found Macalua’s SEO contest. And the rest is history.

Marhgil Macuha: Yup. I have several blogs. Most of them, I set up when I was just learning to make money from blogs, trying to earn from free articles but to no avail. Maybe due to duplicate content penalty. birthdayguide.blogspot.com and wantusawa.blogspot.com to name some of my flop blogs My text messages blog still gives me the highest income, 60% of my Adsense income come from it.

Marhgil Macuha: Per month, I think, I’m earning an average of $600+ in all blogs and all money making programs combined. Most of my income come from Google Adsense, followed by Widgetbucks, Kontera, and Adbrite. So far, affiliate programs don’t work me. I don’t know. I still haven’t discover the trick on how to make more money on it. That’s why I just stick to PPC.

Marhgil Macuha: On MSN, my blog hit the first page on the keywords after 2 weeks. Just got lucky, I think. But on Google, it took me more than a year before I conquered the first page. I did not invest any money for promotion. Blog hopping did the trick.

Hopping from blog to blog (especially blogs of teenagers), I just left a comment on their tagboards telling them I have lots of text messages on my blog. Bloggers finding it valuable link to it automatically on their blogs, not even asking for a link exchange. When it’s already popular, I don’t need to blog hop anymore. Links come naturally and search engines deliver the visitors everyday.

Marhgil Macuha: Am I? I think, you’re mistaking me for Marc Hil Macalua. He’s the man. It was just a coincidence we have almost the same name and the same interest.

But seiously, when it comes to SEO, I still have so much to learn. I still don’t consider myself an expert. All you see I’ve been doing were just products of my SEO experiments. I only have 1 SEO client ever since I started SEO. Make it 2, including myself. Hehe.

I’ve been doing SEO only for my blogs, joining SEO contests, sharing my experience with my readers, and helping some of my friends start a blog and optimize it. I only started last June 2006. My advice for people wanting to learn about SEO? Keep reading. Be updated. The search engines update their algorithms from time to time, don’t get left behind. Subscribe to my blog. Anyone wanting to give me a full-time SEO career?

Marhgil Macuha: Actually, I’m a part time problogger. I still have a day job, a telephony application programmer/analyst in one of the companies here in Manila, totally not SEO-related. Hehe. I’m optimizing my blogs at night and blogging during office break time. If my officemates have yosi breaks, I have my blog break Some of them already started blogging too.

Marhgil Macuha: I’m online 8 hours a day, 5x a week. We have internet in the office. If I have assigned tasks, you’ll not see me online, you’ll not see updates on my blog. After finishing my tasks, most of the remaining times were spent on blogging activities.

Marhgil Macuha: It’s just an anagram of my name. Coincidentally, my first blog’s theme before is humor, so, when I discovered that my name has that anagram, I grabbed it and put it on my blog.

Marhgil Macuha: Like what I’ve said, I’m still a part time problogger. But I’m looking forward to be a full-time problogger 2 to 3 years from now. If I’m already earning at least $3000 per month, I think, it’s time for me to say goodbye to my day job. Hehe.

Just an advise to people who are trying to make money online through blogging. Don’t quit. Generate traffic + Optimize ads = Success

There is indeed money to be made online. I sincerely hope this interview can further serve as an inspiration to you and to others who are looking into earning passive income online. If he can do it, so can you!

Again, I would like to extend my gratitude to Marhgil for giving us his valuable time in answering all the interview questions. He is actually having a mini-SEO contest for the anniversary of his latest blog. Do check it out.

I’m going to leave you with something to think about. Marhgil said that he may quit his day job if he is already earning $3,000 per month online. How much earnings will it take you to quit your day job?

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