OK, well mirroring real life I thought I’d write in here even though I’ve not really felt any urge to do so for a few months recently. My personal life took a battering in October but things are a lot better now, although there are still a number of issues I’m battling with, but that’s another story for another day 😉
So how have my earnings/website promotions fared in recent months? Truthfully not too good.
There seems to be a sort of base line of earnings which my money has not dropped below.
I still earn a bit of adsense every day, plus some amazon and clickbank sales each month. I also get traffic to other things I promote but the earnings are not so good.
So how much? Well Its quite embarrassing if I’m honest because they’ve dropped a lot, in line with me “not doing any work on them”.
The Adsense has averaged around $250 to $350 a month, and has never really dropped below that, which is nice, because thats kind of like free money each year coming in and in. Amazon normally sits around the $50 to $100 mark and Clickbank around $30 a month. I also earn $100 a month from some software I promote which has a monthly membership attached to it, plus some earnings from the promotion of none other than the WordPress Goldmineforum I am a devotee of (and have been since October 2009). So about $580 a month coming in.
My issue has always been ramping this up to ten times this level… a level most people aspire to, having all bills paid each month so there are no financial strains placed on me.
The annoying thing is that at one point my adsense was really increasing very well, and some days I was getting to around $40 a day in adsense alone. This came as a result of paying people to write articles for my sites and for backlink promotional work.
I think now and imagine what I could have been earning by now… a full time income should really have been on the cards at this stage.
At the time my earnings were going well, I was devoting around $300 a month to content creation. Then family issues meant that the budget got cut and that then saw a decline in earnings.
These days its been around 4 months since Ive really been “in the zone” and methods change. At the moment people are talking about content curation but I want to concentrate on my sites.
Ive tried to focus on 2 or 3 of my best earners and have regularly placed backlinks to my pages using BMR, but have added very little new content. Im now trying to address this again and increase the content. I did see some earnings increase from this last month but once again Ive eased off because I guess I feel distracted with other aspects of my life.
Some thoughts that go through my mind are the fact that one guy who runs a website on the solar system only writes content, 2 -3 pieces a day, and he now makes over $50,000 a month from Adsense!
So.. should I just go content mad, and forget about linking, or do both… ???????
Im guessing both.. but another thing that enters my mind is that when you set a new site up it can rank on page 1 within days sometimes, just from Google so it makes you wonder how important backlinks really are. I know there is a whole can of worms that can be opened up but it would be good to discuss this… so feel free to discuss below.
With 41 sites I simply cant afford to do this:
- write 1-3 backlinks a day via BMR per site
- write 4-10 content pieces per month
- use UAW or EZAL
- use socialadr
so Ive been trying to focus on my best earning sites… even when theyre boring, lol. Thats why Im outsourcing stuff.
Anyway id love to hear your methods at the moment.. Im just fed up that each month is the same… id like to see progress each month, adding $200-$500 a month in earnings and increasing…
whats your thoughts?
Thanks!
Shaun
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I would probably like that too, to add 250 or 500 more additional bones every month to a base like that. In fact, I’d be overjoyed just to have a base like that in the first place, myself, so the same story that you think sounds bad and embarrassing to me sounds pretty decent. That is why I hadn’t even considered the 250/500 extra next month and the next part. Sort of vaguely but not specifically.
I know the difference in point of view is that you’re now looking at what you saw the potential of at one time, and it seems stagnant in the reality at the moment. You already know the few things behind it, and what you need is for them to be behind you, which they are and will be.
I can tell this just from two keywords close to the bottom, ‘boring’ and ‘same,’ which sort of jumped out at me after reading over the post. So the solution to those two bits jumps out and suggests itself too. What you need is to revitalize, and although for a time it’ll seem easier said than done, when it does come to you it’ll seem like it was almost easier done than said. I am picturing it a lot like the renewed enthusiasm a fresh woman can bring, into your life, out of the blue, but somehow with that kind of energy in your IM stuff.
It’s like you can only afford beans and rice, with the old Weetabix, but if you could at least add tortillas and chilis and tomatoes it would liven it up right away.
So, I don’t know, as to the backlinks and/or contents, you know it’s the dynamic mix of everything. This was a good piece of content, and it probably wasn’t that hard when you got down on it. And it may result in a download of the keyword thing, even though I can’t remember if I already did that before. There’s some action! I think I probably did. We’ll see.
I think 41 sites is too many. I would be inclined to sell about 30 of those sites and keep 10. Then just focus on those 10.
I think you answered your own question
With 41 sites
Sell some off, or ignore them. I have dropped loads of sites over the last 6 months. I just can not do it all, and paying for content+links for 40 sites will kill you.
The guy doing 50k on adsense did it by writing 3 posts a day on one site, not 3 a day for different sites. He was adding 60-90 posts a month to one site.
Spend at least two weeks on one site and do nothing but add content to it. Go for the long tail words and make sure you pick a site that has the legs to grow.
An amazon site about a specific tv model wont work, you need to have something more generic, like Marks Golf site.
Do you have a site on something you like to read about? Something that interests you and you will enjoy interacting with people on?
Good luck
Paul
Shaun life can be very tough, getting money on line is not always easy, especially when on a tight budget, so it’s vital that you work on the sites you feel that will give the best return, and then use that extra money to re in vest.
I know you can do this, keep positive I know this is easier said than done sometimes, but keep going.
Cheers
Lee
Hey Shaun. If you are super efficient at providing some sort of service that is in high demand, then you can focus your labor on this and use the money earned to outsource your passive income work. The more money you get per hour of labor the better. A similar approach is to get some offline clients and use the money earned to outsource your passive income stuff. Another thing to try is to get any kind of a job and again use the income from this to outsource passive stuff. The service or the job that you are doing would be only temporary until the passive income supports you and provides money for outsourcing. So there is no conflict between time spent on job or service and building up the passive income. Things also happen much much faster when outsourcing.
Hi Shaun,
I had a bit of a downer myself recently. I was bored out of my mind in my day job and totally unproductive. I was just waiting to leave. When I finally did, the lack of motivation seemed to carry over and I just couldn’t get started.
One thing I have done recently to get through it is to start a 30 day challenge. First thing every morning, I do my writing ritual and write at least a thousand words on any subject I like. Hopefully business related but the important thing is to write.
I use Dragon Dictate for this as it would take me all day otherwise.
I am half way through and it seems to be working. I used to find absolutely any distraction to avoid starting an article but now it has turned around. Writing has become an easy option if I can’t think of anything else to do.
I am building up a stock of articles and getting blog posts scheduled. I am publishing on 2 blogs every Friday and want to get a 3rd one into the mix.
It helps that they are in similar areas and some articles could potentially go on any of them. I also like the subject.
As to backlinks or content, I would go with content every time. I tend to agree with the people who think that the current backlinking methods are going to be heavily devalued in the near future. They won’t be a good return on your investment.
My own personal blog is more about mindset and motivation than the ‘how to’ of making money online. You could do more of that. It is a vital component that is left out of most training and your honesty about your own experiences can be very valuable to others who are struggling.
I will be trying a new traffic experiment next week. If it goes well I will post about it in the WPG forum.
In the meantime, if you want to chat or go for a pint, PM me.
Cheers
Rich
@pete:
Hi Pete, yes you are right… I do have a new woman in my life too and it has been fantastic and instrumental in my “come back”! – things are still hard but looking up… thanks.. by the way my report is a free download.. if you haven’t got it let me know and Ill re-send it to you.
cheers
shaun
@Rita:
Thanks Ritra.. you are right…
the only reason Ive kept it to over 40 is because I have them set up for use with ezarticlelink, and you need I think 20 sites to have unlimited postonly domains.
will have to rethink .. might just keep 20 for that reason then only focus on 10 others or thereabouts
@Paul Forcey:
Thansk paul… yeah this is something thats got me thinking.. just writing good honest content… isn’t it weird that Google can place you on page 1 even on new sites for a while… they do this to see what visitors think and then re-assign your site somewhere in their rankings.. my opinion anyway… so this has piqued my interest..
@Lee:
Thanks lee.. its also weird how money can drop if you dont tend to your flock… at least in the early days.. Im sure they settle down later and then steadily chug in extra money.. like my sites have done.. I guess we just have to put up and shut up coz google is gonna make us wait for xxx months, and just keep adding new good content..
@cramarc:
Hi Marc… absolutely right.. I do writing and may well be offering it again in the very near future. Thanks for your valued input.. means a lot, same for everyone else who has posted very graciously..
@Rich Russell:
Hi Rich… ys I think a drink/chat/pint is definitely on the cards..
I dont live in mansfield now though, Ive moved ‘up North to Doncaster but its not a million miles away… I think a chat/coffee/beer would be good anyway to catch up and discuss plans!! let me see where Im at in the next few weeks… just making some big decisions at the moment 😉
Hey Shaun, glad to hear things are picking up…
What am I doing? Well like you I have a load of sites that are the bread and butter but they took a hit with the Panda update and others so figures have been down.
This January I decided to focus on offline IM work to bring in seed money for starting a new authority site that I’m going to outsource 90%+ of the work.
I’m leaving all my other sites as they are…when they come up for renewal I look at the money they’ve brought in, in the previous 12 months. If they cover the cost of the domain and a full years hosting I keep ’em, otherwise I let them go.
The 10% of the outsourced authority site is writing 1 x 1000 word post every 2 days and doing basic backlinging on them. That’s all.
The plan is to pump 100% of the revenue it makes right back into the site for 12 months regardless of earnings…unless its abysmal 🙂
I’m basing the site creation on the techniques used in Mark Thompson’s SEO Debunked.
Anyway, good luck with life and keep plugging away, remember it takes 1000 strikes to cut down the oak tree!
Cheers, Colm
@Colm:
Hiya Colm.. thanks for that.. I like the quote at the end
“it takes 100 strikes to cut down the oak tree”.. love it!
I appreciate the reply, and once again ongoing content seems the be the way forward.
shaun
Shaun –
With regards to EZAL, you can pear those down. If you are focusing on 10 sites, then have EZAL on only 10. Don’t focus on the EZAL sites at all. Also, make sure you don’t have adsense on your EZAL sites.
@Rita:
Thanks Rita.. yes .. I’m seeing a way forward here…
I forgot to say.. my new partner is wonderful.. she LOVES making money and sells loads of stuff online via ebay etc and weve been talking non-stop!
@Shaun:
Reading your responses to the comments, it seems like things are picking up already. Didn’t realise you had a new partner. Those hours in the gym must have paid off. 🙂
Somebody you can bounce ideas off too. I’m really chuffed for you.
@Rich Russell:
Yeah she is absolutely fantastic!! we actually drove to buy some joblots today off ebay to re-sell… you wanna see the living room floor with hundreds of items strewn around! lol.. I love it!! at the same time Im sat at the pc working on these sits and the buzz is immense!
Hi Shaun.
I got hit badly by Google last May when I had over 80 sites. I’m now down to 20+ sites which will be reduced even further this year. I now only concentrate on a few of my best sites now and it’s working great for me.
A lot of my original sites weren’t able to be ‘converted’ into authority sites (they were tight niche sites), so whilst I’ve gotten rid of most of them, I’ve also started a few other new sites specifically to be authority sites (go broad).
It’s good that the new love of your life has the same interest of making money online as you do, as that can be a great help (my business took off more quickly when I got Jan interested in it). It’s great to bounce ideas around, especially so when things are not going well (two heads are better than one).
I’ll be meeting up with Keith Evans sometime soon in Whitby (he’s in Donny) so if you want to join us for fish n chips, then drop me an email.
Chin up … you will get there.
Be lucky,
G.
I got the ‘already subscribed’ message. I’ll try the sideways keyboard on the crumb, and if that fails I am sending in a platoon of ants to eat the thing. Still hard but looking up will probably get you there, I think.
I like Rich’s idea on the articles, how he is doing it.
Shaun, I am going to echo what others have said, time to sell off some of your sites and focus on the best performing ones. It will be much easier to get 5-10 sites maxed out than 40.
Once you can’t squeeze any more income out of them, then add a few more
@pete:
Hi pete, Ive emailed you the link to my guide… thanks
@Mark:
Thanks for cementing things Mark, got ideas round in my head now including an idea for the 2012 challenge – time to jump in!!
Shaun,
The Solar System person told me he wrote 10 articles a day and outsourced an additional 10 . Maybe he has cut back but he had that site for years…so if he is only writing 1-2 pieces now, he didnt before.
41 sites is to many to do properly. Cut back to just a few and focus on pages not the whole site. Develop the site but focus on the “money pages”.
I also think you need to diversify your links more.
Just my opinion.
@Fitgal:
Hi Fitgal… firstly, thanks for popping by… means a lot. I agree that I need to cut down and focus on a small handful… Ill look at combining what I can and ignoring the rest then look to add lots of content with some ezal promotions and occasional BMR/social linsk/article directory linsk etc etc bit by bit.
cheers
Shaun
You’re a good dude and I have the utmost confidence that you will persevere and be incredibly successful. I think we all get the fever where we think that we need to build a site for every niche that we think is profitable. A lot of the time, it may take building a handful of sites that just aren’t profitable to help us spot the ones that are. I imagine that what most of the folks are saying is true… you need to scale back. Pour your resources into the sites that are the most profitable and sell off any that may be dragging the rest of the operation.
Good luck to ya!
@Brandon:
Thanks Brandon.. I’m overwhelmed with all the responses to be honest… to top it off Ive just decided to switch jobs offline to give me more time on my online activities… scaling back is definitely going to happen.
Hi Shaun,I stumbled across your website which I find very interesting. This is something that I am very keen on, although the money I earn is pin money (compared to yours) My normal 9-5 job is very mundane but the income that I get from it i am very reluctant to give up to work full time at this as the fluctuation of the earning is so diverse. Can I ask how you plucked up the courage to leave your offline job to do this. I have mentioned this to the missus and she will not allow me to walk away from a secure job, how did you manage to do it? lol
@Jeremy:
Hi Jeremy.. lol… well I got divorced and that helped… to be honest there are lots of things you can do online to support your earnings. I dont mind writing, so I am able to offer writing services to other people and it is hard work but does help to go towards the bills… why not change your job (as long as it makes sense!!) to an early morning job so you get more time int he day to put into internet marketing?
The only other option is to work hard for a few months until things the earnings pick up. Here to help… any more questions don’t be afraid to ask coz we’ve all been there!! 🙂
Hi Shaun,
Thanks for getting back to me so quick. I will have to look into other avenues as like I said this is something I enjoy doing. Re the getting divorced a bit drastic for me, plus you have not me my wife (lol) 🙂
@Jeremy:
Lol! all the best!