I got an email the other day from Melanie asking for tips on jumping from $250 in monthly Adsense income on to something bigger. She’s been following along and has seen me push my income up pretty considerably in the past couple of years and wants to get a piece of the pie so she can pack it in, pack up and hit the road while earning online.

Sites, Traffic and Earnings

Melanie actually has three websites and since she’s focused on increasing her earnings as a whole, I figured I’d review them all together and give some suggestions for areas where I think the income could grow.

She has two sites about dogs, All About Yorkshire Terriers and All About Labradors and also a site about Andalucia just to mix things up a bit. The dogs sites each get around 250 visits per day and the Spain site around 60 to 100 unique daily visitors. With a total of 550 to 600 visits across all her sites she actually gets more traffic than I do on my eight sites combined. The trick though isn’t how many people you get to come to your site, it’s how to get the people who will do what you want them to do - click on an ad or buy something. But with those traffic numbers I think there’s a lot of untapped opportunity.

Currently her sites are earning a steady $250 per month with Adsense but that’s from the dog sites alone with the Spain site not earning much at all. I earned $250 a month with Adsense as well up until about January this year so I can understand the frustration with being stuck at that point.

Melanie’s Questions

I asked Melanie for some specific questions to give me a starting point for the review so here they are:

Would you advise me building more sites around the andalucia site? I feel this one might be the money maker, what would you advise?

I wouldn’t! Not yet anyways. The Andalucia site hasn’t really earned anything yet so I don’t think it makes sense to keep building similar sites until this one proves that it can earn. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have the potential to earn, just that you shouldn’t create copycat sites until you prove that it can make you some money.

I know a lot of your sites are travel related, what could I add to the site that could push up my affiliate sales?

I know that affiliate programs are the way to go but I haven’t done much about it on my own sites so I’m not sure I can offer too many suggestions in this area. I can say that getting visitors who are in the buying mood is the most important thing so if you notice that you get people from search engines looking for ‘accommodation in andalucia’ then put an accommdation booking engine on your site etc. If you don’t have anyone finding your site in a buying mood then try to write articles with specific keywords in mind like ‘online hotel booking andalucia’, ‘books about andalucia’, and so on.

Would you suggest going for direct links?

I’m all for direct link sales, it’s what pushed me out of my $100 a month rut. But at the time I discovered them, I had a really old, PR5, DMOZ listed, general backpacking site that seemed to be attractive to a lot of people. Your sites are only PR2 at the moment so hitting up the Digitalpoint forums probably wouldn’t be too fruitful since all people there seem to care about is PR.

Approaching companies directly who care less about PR and are more interested in access to your very targeted traffic is an option. I know nothing about the pet industry but for your Andalucia site maybe approach hotel and hostel owners or tour operators to see if a monthly link would interest them. If there’s a lot of competition between them then you might have some luck. I’m not sure this sort of thing would bring in that much money so it might not be worth the time but I guess you won’t know until you try.

My Suggestions

• Scrap SBI - Melanie is paying $299 per year per site for some product called SBI. I have no idea what this is but she tells me it’s a great way for people who don’t know anything about HTML or building sites to get a site online easily. Paying an individual to build a site for you is also a great way to get a site online and I doubt very much that a simple site will cost $299 if you look for someone on eLance. Even if it does, it won’t cost you per year, it’ll be a one-off fee. Plus since the sites are already alive and kicking, if you do a bit of research into HTML, FTP and all that fun stuff, its just a matter of copying the source code and uploading to a separate host which Melanie might be able to do on her own and save a bundle.
• Build more dog sites - Assuming each of those dog sites are earning $125 a month with Adsense, that’s more than any of my individual sites bring in and to me that says you’re onto something. They both get a decent amount of traffic and converting it into Adsense clicks seems to be working well so why not stick with the formula and crank out a few more? You’ve got a template that works so just buy a few more domains, research some more dog types, plug in the information and all of a sudden you have a bundle of sites with earning potential. As an added bonus, having a network of several dog sites and linking them all together will allow traffic to pass between them and make each site stronger.
• Linkworth/Text Link Ads - Melanie actually emailed me more recently to say she read about Linkworth on my blog and had just sold a link for $11/month on one of the doggie sites. It might not seem like that much but all of those little bits ad up, especially when they’re locked in on a monthly basis. I look at Linkworth, TLA and Adsense all as being predictable month on month earners. They may take a while but earnings in these areas tend to keep creeping upwards with little effort and having a predictable monthly base earnings level is a big confidence boost. TLA are a bit more difficult to get enrolled in with PR2 sites but the traffic numbers might compensate for that and it’s worth a try. Even if they reject the sites, sending an email off a month or two later asking them to reconsider has worked for me in the past.
• Search for relevant affiliate programs - There are loads of different companies out there with tonnes of affiliate programs on offer. Clix Galore, Affiliate Future and Trade Doubler are the only ones I’ve joined with very limited success but also with little to no true effort put in. If you can set aside the time, there are bound to be some programs well suited for your sites so choose those without being tempted to sign up to everything that might be remotely connected to your themes. For example, avoid general travel affiliates and look for ones directed at Spain specifically. Or even better, join hotel booking sites but only list the ones in Andalucia, each with it’s own page and maybe a writeup of some kind. Instead of just putting affiliate links on every page, write specific pages for each and load them with keywords you think people in the mood to buy would use.
• Sign up for 103 Bees - I think blindly adding affiliate programs to a site is a waste of time. You want to be able to get people to your site who are in the right frame of mind to buy whatever it is you’re promoting, it’ not enough just to have that general traffic passing by. An excellent tool for learning what people are searching for when they find your site is 103 Bees. It used to be free but now I think there’s a small fee but it’s worth it for getting ideas on what sorts of articles people are looking for and also seeing how well new articles you write with keywords in mind actually end up doing.

Summary

I think all of Melanie’s sites are really good. They’re packed with information, complete, easy to navigate, focus on niche areas, are attracting search engine traffic (which I think is the most important for earning online), and they’re just really good resources on their respective topics. On the other hand, I know that having all of the eggs in the Google Adsense basket is scary and Melanie knows this too. But I think sticking to what is working rather than building off of the Spain site is the way to go for now, at least until that site starts performing.

Does anyone else have any comments or suggestions for Melanie? Do you agree with me or think I’m a crazy fool? Comments are welcome and if anyone else would like a review, drop me a line. That cost $0.00. Bargain.

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Now that I’m all cozy in my earthquakey Beijing apartment I thought it might be interesting to retrace my steps. Well not my steps exactly because I didn’t take many - retrace my flights would be more accurate since I’ve flown practically everywhere so far. Sorry environment.

People always seem pretty interested in whether they should buy a RTW plane ticket or just buy flights as they go so I figured a little list of what it’s cost me so far hopping from place to place might help out a bit.

You can check ouy my travel map for a quick glimpse of my somewhat ridiclous route and here are the airfares for the whole thing:

January 2008

• London to Manila - £393 (Expedia/Cathay Pacific)
• Manila to Kalibo - £25 (Cebu Pacific)
• Manila to Cagayan d’Oro - £31 (Cebu Pacific)
• Cebu to Manila - £31 (Cebu Pacific)

February 2008

• Manila to Legaspi (return) - £22 (Cebu Pacific)
• Manila to Dhaka - £275 (Travelocity/Malaysian)

April 2008

• Dhaka to Hong Kong (stopover in Kuala Lumpur) - £235 (Travelocity/Malaysian)
• Hong Kong to Beijing (return but only used one-way) - £230 (Travel Agent/Dragon Air)

My London to Manila flight was booked two months in advance. All of my flights in the Philippines were booked a couple of days in advance except the Manila to Kalibo which was a few months I think because there was a festival on. I booked my Manila to Dhaka flight about two months in advance and Dhaka to Hong Kong only about a week before. The Hong Kong to Beijing was bought two days in advance.

I had to pay a fee of £58 to move my flight to Hong Kong forward so the grand total for all of my flights including changes is £1300.

From my days as a very bad tavel agent in London in 2002 I know that RTW tickets with the One World or Star Alliance networks cost about that price at an absolute minimum. But these tickets have several limitations including the direction you travel, countries their member airlines go to, change fees (sometimes), number of flights you can take (or kilometers you can travel) and the ticket has to be used up within a year. Plus if you want to make changes it depends on availability and there’s no guarantee of a seat.

I’ve only really taken three long haul flights for that price so maybe the value isn’t there but I have no intention of going around the world in a year anyways so buying a RTW ticket was never an option. Plus I think the flexibility buying tickets as I go has given me is hard to put a price on. It’s a great feeling not having the next leg of your trip planned and not something I think I’ll be willing to sacrifice on my future trips for the sake of a cheaper set of plane tickets, even if I was planning a trip that conformed to the RTW ticket rules.

RTW tickets have their place for sure and will save you some money (although with all the budget airlines these days that’s debatable) but you have to conform to route and time limitations. Travel to me is about having the freedom to wander around wherever I want on a whim so I’m sticking with buying as I go. The extra money is worth it for me!

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I’ve been in China over a couple weeks now (and still only know about five words in Chinese - oops) and thought now would be as good a time as any to give a little rundown on getting setup in Beijing and what life costs here.

• Apartment - I mentioned in a previous post that my apartment is costing 2,200RMB per month which is about $315 USD. Not bad at all especially since my budget was closer to $500 per month. For the cheaper price I have a flatmate but it’s actually pretty good because I can pick his brain about Beijing and he’s always up for a night out. I met him randomly in a bar but most people find their places on the That’s BJ website. There are places for stupidly cheap prices if you’re willing to share, live out of town and rent an older place. My apartment is pretty swish and is located right on the edge of the Central Business District so is relatively central. I had to pay three months plus a deposit up front which is a bit of a shocker but pretty common here I think. Oh and we both hate to clean so we’ve got a cleaner for 30RMB a go, twice a week. She even does the dishes!
• Phone - I already talked about my phone too but it cost 500RMB (about $70) including a SIM card. It was the cheapest, nastiest one they had on display and I didn’t attempt to bargain so I’m sure someone who’s a bit more savvy could have gotten it for less. Calls and texts seem pretty cheap and my pay as you go top ups last a long time.
• Transport - I’ve been taking taxis pretty much everywhere because the subway stop closest to me is about a 30 minute walk away. There’s a new line under construction that I’m hoping will be done in June, like they say. That’s just around the corner so hopefully that’ll increase my use of public transport. Taxi fares are really cheap though. I was in one for about 30 minutes the other day to go from my house to the complete opposite side of town and that only cost about $10. That’s the minimum fare for a five minute cab ride in London! Subway prices are hard to resist at only 2RMB per ride to anywhere. Buses are about a quarter of that price but I haven’t worked them out yet and they’re usually scary busy.
• Internet - The internet was always running in the place I moved into so I’m not sure if there are setup fees for new customers. To top it up for another five months cost 600RMB and my flatmate agreed to pay half. So for about $40 I’m covered for five months.
• Gym - I joined a Bally Total Fitness near my house for 1500RMB for three months (500 per month). I got them down from 1800RMB. I guess that’s around the same price as I’d pay in London and I think it’s meant to be a pretty fancy one. I think the more months you buy the cheaper the per month rate goes and I’m told you should always bargain.
• Food - I keep getting tempted by the Western food store next to my gym and keep buying expensive things like cheese. I haven’t really gotten into a steady routine yet so it’s hard to know what I spend on food monthly. It’s a lot more than it could/should be though especially since I keep ordering from an Italian place that delivers. Tasty but at about $10 a meal it adds up.
• Partying - I’m back into my old habits of late, boozy nights but am trying to exercise a bit of self control and keep it to two or three nights out a week. There are lots of fun places to go here and having a sociable housemate makes it tough. Beers can be bought for insanely cheap at the shop in my apartment. Only 2.50RMB (30 cents!) for a big bottle so drinking at home is cheap. Heading out, beer costs about 15RMB for a small bottle which is still reasonable. Taking cabs everywhere, eating out and drinking too much adds up though and if you’re the sociable type then factor this into your budget. But overall things are still affordable and you can have a meal, drinks and a taxi for around 200RMB (under $30). In London return cab fare alone would cost twice as much as that.

Assuming I spend 200RMB per month on phone top ups then my base costs including the phone, gym, apartment, cleaner and internet come to 3080RMB or about $440 USD. Assuming I keep my taxi rides, Western food and party time under control then I see no reason not to be able to live on $1000 per month which is what I was hoping for. Of course my ultimate goal is to spend less that I’m making each month so that gives me plenty of wiggle room if I decide I want to go a bit nuts with the spending now and then.

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Just a short note to let you all know that the ‘Map‘ link at the top of the page has finally had some life breathed into it. All of the links will take you out to my Wanderstruck travel blog but it might be handy for anyone who wants to read about the travel side of things by location.

I rigged the thing up with Google Maps which I think are great little things. I’ve got so many ideas for sites using Google Maps and wish I had more knowledge on how to use them. I managed to struggle my way through and the people over at the Google Maps Group are ridiculously helpful and saved me from pulling all my hair out on several occasions. I keep meaning to sit down and learn more but I really should master CSS first before branching out.

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I’m sitting here in my new apartment in Beijing and am happy to report that I managed to travel for three and a half months without having anything stolen. Yay! What did I do to prevent theft of my electronic goodies? Absolutely nothing!

I have to admit that I wasn’t the most responsible person when it came to looking after my precious laptop. I started off mainly in single rooms and would tuck it out of the way or stash it under my pillow but that’s it. Then when I started staying in more dorms I just did the same thing. I don’t even own any luggage locks! I guess the attitude I’ve taken all along is that I don’t want to be paranoid about my computer and I don’t want to worry about it or to have it become a burden. I bought it used, it wasn’t that expensive, and I would be annoyed if I had to buy a new one but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

If you’re not quite as laid back (er, irresponsible) as me with your electronics then there are a few things you can do to keep things secure:

• Dorm lockers - Lots of hostels these days have lockers in their dorm rooms. Most times you have to bring your own lock but sometimes they’ll give you a key for an existing lock. These are great for stashing everything or even just the important things.
• Hostel safes - Many hostels also have safes behind their reception desks that probably started out as being for passports and wallets but have grown in size with the whole flashpacking trend. Instead of a safe, many have big metal cabinets you can leave your valuables in when you go out. Be aware though that staff can get surly if you’re always asking them to take things out and put them in loads of time seach day.
• Luggage locks/pack safe - If your hostel doesn’t have any extra security then you can take matters into your own hands and keep your pack locked. If you want to make sure your entire pack doesn’t go walkabout then pick up a Pacsafe (one of those mesh things that go around your bag). I didn’t see anyone with one of those things and personally I think they’re lame but if you’re really worried then I’m sure they act as a deterant.
• Keep things out of sight - I think many backpacker thieves are opportunists and if you leave a nice, shiny laptop out on a table in your dorm it’s probably less likely to be there when you get back.
• Stay in single rooms - Single rooms aren’t 100% secure by any means but not having 10 people wandering in and out of your room at any given time is probably an advantage.
• Carry it on your back - If you really want to keep your stuff safe then having it with you at all times is an option. Unless you fall into a lake, or leave it on the bus… etc etc. The advantage of this is being able to do some work if you stumble onto a Starbucks.

Maybe another reason I was pretty slack in the laptop security department is that I guarded my hard drive with my life. Anytime I went out I would put it in a little pouch in my purse. The purse is one of those over the shoulder bad boys that I never take off so there’s no way I’d put it down or have someone steal it from me. I’m not sure what would have happened if I managed to spill a pint of beer all down myself (which, miraculously I didn’t) but that setup ended up working well for me. I had the piece of mind of knowing that all of my important files and photos were hanging safely in a bag next to my right ass cheek.

So my advice is do whatever makes you feel comfortable but I will also say that worrying about your stuff all the time will become old fast. Bring an old laptop that doesn’t cost the world, back everything up as much as possible, take some precautions, and think happy thoughts and your laptop and other electronic essentials will hopefully stay with you for your entire trip.

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Well damn. I had my best month so far and, yet again, I didn’t seem to feel like I got any actual work done. I think there’s a pattern developing here. Maybe I do more work than I think I do? I don’t know. I seem to tinker around a lot on little things but as far as adding new content, tweaking SEO, getting inbound links and all that stuff, I don’t do any of it. I ended up earning $2568 in April but I have to be honest that $800 of that was for a yearly link on a niche site of mine.

Earnings breakdown:

• Google Adsense - $400 - This is the second time I’ve broken the $400 mark and I’m pretty pleased to see my Adsense earnings rising consistantly. It’s one of my steadiest earners and while it’ll never come through with a surprisingly amazing month out of nowhere, it seems to always be at around what I expect and I’d rather a steady earner than a flukey one.
• Affiliate Sales - $1047 - Yet again it’s one affiliate program that keeps this earnings area afloat but another came through with some sales. It’s frustrating that the other programs aren’t doing that well but then I remember that I haven’t done a thing to help them out. If I’m still saying this in three months I need someone to give me a slap and tell me to get my act together because I know there’s a lot of potential for other affiliate programs to start working for me.
• Linkworth & Text Link Ads - $169 - Linkworth has been stuck at $23 for months now for one link. I haven’t had any new action with them for ages. TLA is frustrating because while the number of links I have sold stays the same, the amount I’m earning seems to keep dropping little by little. I’m not sure why this is but it’s annoying.
• Private Link Sales - $952 - Like I said before, $800 of this was from one link on a niche site. The guy who bought it contacted me and we’ve done business in the past so it was all quick and easy. The rest were renewals. I’ve got a few links now that are paid automatically to Paypal monthly. These are great… they take no work once you set it up and to dat enobody has ever cancelled one of these subscription links.

It’s great to break through the $2000 barrier finally and it gives me something to aim for next month too. My goal was to be earning a steady $2000 per month by the time I start travelling again in September and I think with the new Beijing site I’m working on and some hard work over the next three months (before the debauchery of the Olympics begins) on my other sites, I’ll be able to do it. 

While my earnings have been great this month, I’ve also been spending like a crazy person. My rent and internet is paid up for the next three months though so as long as I can keep my spending under control from now on I should see my bank balance creep upwards. In theory.

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Well I’ve been here for 5 days now, spent two of them in bed hungover (old habits die hard) and have still managed to accomplish a couple of things in the meantime.

I’ve bought a cell phone for 500RMB ($71) with a sim card. It is cheap and crappy looking and I’m sure I could have bargained them a bi tlower but I had an employee of the hostel helping me and I felt stupid bargaining through a translator.

I haven’t been out doing the tourist thing much but I have figured out the subway system after taking a trip out to Wudaokou, the university area. I had originally planned to live out there so wanted to scope it out a bit and see what connections into the city were like. The subway is pretty good but seems to be packed at all times and I’m starting to realise why foreigners tend to cab it everywhere.

As for the apartment hunt, this sounds dodgy, but I met some American dude in a bar the other night and got chatting to him. He needed a roomie sharpish, I needed a place to stay, we chatted some more, I went to look at it and now I’m sitting in the lounge room typing away. My room is huge, the apartment is massive, it’s nice, pretty central in the Guomao area and at 2,300RMB ($330) a month it’s a lot cheaper than what I was expecting to have to pay for my own place. Plus I can stay for six months, he’s ok with me having people stay for the Olympics, he’s been here a while and has lots of connections, speaks a bit of Chinese and is a generally laid back kind of guy. Should be good.

Today’s goal was to suss out the language school scene. There’s a place up the road from me that has a class starting next Monday for $530 for four weeks. I am pretty keen to get started somewhere but this place is four hours per day starting at an agonising 8:30am five days a week. Gadzooks. I’m not sure I want to put myself through that but it’s near to my house, the price seems ok, and if I don’t have a reason to get up in the mornings I can see myself wasting all my time here. Still thinking about it…

I’m also on the hunt for a gym to join and apperently there are quite a few in this area. It’s funny wandering around here because I have no decent maps, can’t read the street names even if there were any, and I don’t even know what to tell a taxi driver if I were to get lost and need to take a cab home. It’s pretty exciting but daunting at the same time.

I’m up for a challenge though so we’ll see how it goes!

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For me, the best thing about this whole earning a living online thing is that it really doesn’t take much time to maintain existing sites and to retain a consistent level of income. If I put in a few hours a week, it’s likely that I’ll keep earning the same amount. True, the more work I put in, the more I’m likely to earn, but to stay the same doesn’t require a lot of time.

So… I see this as a huge opportunity to attempt to accomplish a few things I’ve always been meaning to do. I’ll still put in as much work on my sites as possible, but will have lots of free time to get other things done as well.

Here are a few of my goals:

• Learn Mandarin - I’ve always wanted to learn a language that nobody would ever expect me to be able to speak and I think Mandarin is it. I’m under no illusions that in six months I’ll be anywhere close to good at it, but I want to put in a good effort. I’ve been in touch with a language school so will head out to chat with them tomorrow. It’ll be nice to get my brain cells working again.
• Take guitar lessons - I’ve always wanted to learn an instrument. I’m not sure I have a musical bone in my body but if I don’t have a crack at it, I’ll never know. I guess the main issue will be finding a willing, English speaking teacher here.
• Learn PHP - I’m constantly frustrated at not knowing how all those PHP related things work and think if I could learn a bit I’d be able to do some pretty cool things on my sites. I’m hoping I can learn a bit of PHP with some reading, online tutorials and a lot of trial and error.
• Get fit - I love going to the gym but I hate going after a long day at work and a hellish commute. Without these two things forcing me home to laziness, I’m hoping to join a gym and actually go. I want to cycle across a country at some point and am thinking Myanmar or Laos at the end of the year could both be good options. To do that without killing myself I’ll have to ge tmy arse in gear.

I think it would be a waste to have so much free time and not fill it with lessons or things that are productive. If the internet implodes one day and I find myself back in the office you can bet I’ll be kicking myself for not taking advantage of such a great opportunity.

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If you ever find yourself at the airport in Hong Kong with the intention of getting some serious work done I have a bit of advice. If you find a power point, cling to it like your life depends on it. This place is devoid of all power. So while there’s a free wifi connection floating around, it’s not much use if you’ve arrived with a dead battery.

The only one I managed to find is in Terminal 1 and it was sweet. It was behind a coffee place and next to a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream place. Oh ya! Comfy chairs, nice quiet place to work because it’s tucked away and there was a table to spread out on. Only one power point in there though so if someone else is there then you’re out of luck. I had to evacuate to use the toilet and then decided to check in and head into the rest of the airport assuming there would be other places to plug in. Nope. I should have stayed at my secret little ice cream and power point hideaway for longer.

Gotta go. Power… running… out…

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I don’t usually like these link tagging type things but I’m feeling a bit lazy at the moment and in need of an easy post, so why not? Lissie over at Continuing Adventures tagged me in her post so here goes…

The rules are following:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share four things in these themes.
4. Tag four new blogs at the end by linking to them and leaving a comment on their website.

Four Jobs I’ve Had

• Fruit Picker
• Office Monkey
• Cook on a Sheep Station
• Retail Slave

Four Places I’ve Lived

• Galway, Ireland
• London, England
• Australia
• New Zealand

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

• Team America: World Police
• Spaceballs

Four TV Shows I Love

• Amazing Race
• The Apprentice
• Hell’s Kitchen

Four Places I’ve Been on Holiday

• Egypt
• Turkey
• The Philippines
• Italy

Four of My Favourite Dishes

• Thai green curry
• chicken quesedillas
• lasagne
• chocolate ice cream

Four Websites I Visit Daily

• Google Adsense Stats
• Google Analytics
• Facebook
• Yahoo Mail

Four Places I Would Rather Be Now

• China! (going tomorrow)

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging

• Working Nomad
• The Lost Globe
• Ubertramp
• The Poverty Jetset

So now you know some very random, somewhat useless things about me! I spent mos tof today in a Hong Kong coffee shop that has this wicked iced chocolate drink that I may or may not have had three of. And a piece of chocolate cake. I’ve been catching up on emails and writing hostel reviews for my Wanderstruck site but still have a load of work to do over there. I’m really excited about the prospects of having an apartment to settle into in the coming weeks… especially after spending a few nights in the shittiest hostel ever here in HK (review coming soon!)

Speak to you next time from Beijing… sweet.

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