Content is King! I’m sick to death of hearing it but it’s true and is key to having a website that stands out from the masses. Great content will really set your site apart but writing it can be a monumental pain in the arse at times. Here’s a little overview of how I come up with the content for my sites.

• Write write write - The first thing I do before starting any work on a site is write. Seems like common sense but I sometimes get caught up with things that interest me more like site design and get lazy with my writing. My actual writing process isn’t anything exciting: I basically just open up Word and go to town. I’ll write article titles and write as much as I feel like and then move onto another article and then another. Once I have a good number I’ll go back to them and add things as I get more ideas. Kind of like ho wI writ emy blog posts. After awhile I end up with a bunch of content and divide it up into folders which makes coming up with a navigation system pretty logical. Sometimes I sort of get myself into a little zone where writing seems easy, but other times it can be like pulling teeth, especially if I’m attempting to write something I’m not totally familiar with or interested in or if I’m just not in the mood to write. I just keep plugging away though and eventually get things done.
• Research research research - Writing is easy but writing quality, informative, useful stuff is a lot harder. If you you know your topic well then you’ll already be a step ahead of the pack. if you spend even more time doing some research and expanding your knowledge then you’ll be even further ahead. So grab a few books or magazines and read up.
• Look for gaps in the market - If I’m searching for info on something and the almighty Google doesn’t produce any decent results then you can bet I’ll find that information somewhere else and write an article to fill the gap.
• Find new angles on current articles - If I’m short of ideas I’ll have a look through travel blogs, news reports, and other websites to see if there are ways to put my own spin on existing article with my own market in mind. Don’t copy anything, ever! Instead use the general topic for ideas before writing something that is completely your own.
• Know what I don’t know - There’s no way to know everything about a given topic. There are plenty of things that I know a little bit about but am not, in any way, an expert. In the past I’ve sort of blagged my way through these sections, putting up content based on research and best guesses but without any first-hand knowledge. I’ve begun to realise that first-hand experience is the best content you can get and I’ve decided that it’s worth paying for it if I have to. I’ve done this for the first time with my London area guide and definitely recommend paying people who know their stuff to write for you. I only paid £10 per area guide but the quality I’ve gotten from everyone has been great and a it’s zillion times better than what I could have slung together.
• Create some tools - Content is about more than words and if you can whip up some kind of cool gizmo then that’s just as good. If you’ve got a great idea ask around to see if it can be done because it seems like anything is possible if you can find the right person to do it (and afford to pay). I’ve only done this once for my London price guide but I think it will turn out to be the best $25 I spend.
• Choose the right tone for your target market - There are loads of backpacking sites out there that write with a really sterile, boring tone. Backpackers are a fun lot and will appreciate a bit of humour and won’t balk at the occasional potty talk. If you’re site is aimed at die hard Christians or something then perhaps talking about shagging in dorm rooms or swearing isn’t gonna fly but if you’re aiming at young travellers heading to Oktoberfest then it probably will.
• Have users generate content - Making it easy for readers to contribute their own opinions, reviews, stories, or whatever is a great way to get content. I haven’t had too much success in this area thus far. I’ve started forums but they get attacked by spam. I stuck a form on my Travoholic.com site for hostel reviews and used to get a few now and then but now the whole system is screwed up. I’ve put links on my site asking for content but I don’t think that flies anymore. But collecting user generated content works well for a lot of sites and I’ll be making another attempt at some point in the future.

Sometimes I get lazy with my writing and just stick something up to fill a space but I’m trying to get out of that bad habit. I now know how important great content is because I can see which pages people read and which ones show up high in the search engines. These are always the ones that I’ve put a lot of effort into. Spending time at the beginning to write great stuff will pay off later so lock yourself away during the early day of your website and write like you’ve never written before! Write like the wind! …you get the idea.

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I thought I’d go into a bit of detail about how I go about creating a new websites to shed a bit of light on the process for any newbies out there. This isn’t meant to be a step-by-step guide on how to build sites because I’m sure some of my methods are pretty old school, but this is what works for me.

Here are the categories I’ll be addressing:

• Thinking Up a Site Idea
• Creating Content
• Design, Layout and Navigation
• Building the Website
• Marketing and Promotion
• Monetising the Site

I’ll write a separate post for each point in the coming days. First up:

Coming Up with a Site Idea

You can be the best writer or web designer in the world but if your site ideas are crap then you’re probably not going to get very far. Coming up with a topic can be frustrating but if you can get a good one then you’re well on your way to success.

• Think of things I love - I’m not one of these people who will just chuck up a site on any random topic that I think will make me money. I want to build sites that I’m proud of and that are useful and to do this I’ve got to pick a topic I’m passionate about. My main passion is travel, narrowed down to backpacking, throw in a bit of working abroad and these are what most of my sites revolve around.
• Think of my target market - For a site to produce an income it has to be treated like a business and identifying a target market is, I think, essential to building  a money-maker. I find the best target market to go for is people like me. If I belong to my target market then I know exactly what sorts of things they want to know. As an example when I moved to London I started hanging around with Aussies and Kiwis, reading their magazines, going to their pubs etc. As a result, I know loads about this niche and I’ve aimed my living in London site squarely at them (and other working holiday types). This has made writing content really easy because I know what their questions are and have the answers. I think it will also help down the road when I go to sell ad space because there are loads of companies who target this lucrative market directly.
• Check out the competition - Before I spend loads of time whipping up a site, I do a few Google searches for some keywords that fit with my idea. If there are loads of great websites from big players then I might think twice about using the idea. If there are a bunch of crappy sites that are never updated at the top of the search engines and I know I can build a better site then I’ll go for it for sure.
• Aim big - I always aim to be the best site for whatever my topic is. It doesn’t always turn out that way but I don’t think there’s any point building a site that doesn’t aim to be the best. I always tend to bite off a bit more than I can chew and attempt to build super huge sites that cover everything in my niche. I often have a zillion categories and page ideas and end up trimming things down as I realise the site would never get finished if I include everything I want to.

Loads of webmasters use tools to help estimate the number of searches done across the web and look for info on which keywords pay most with Adsense and build sites that way. This method has been done to death. Any topics with high paying keywords and a high number of searches will be have loads of competition. It’s one thing to go for a topic with lots of potential visitors but when there are a zillion sites vying for that traffic, all of a sudden it doesn’t seem so appealing.

I think the key to coming up with a great idea is marrying up something you’re passionate about with a niche that pays well in an area that’s not already completely saturated with websites. It’s tricky but spend some time brainstorming because if you can nail it at the beginning it’ll pay off later.

If you think of a topic you love but don’t know a lot about it yet - learn! Devour as much information on the topic as you can and become an expert. If you’re not interested in becoming an expert then you’ve chosen the wrong topic! Get out there and get some first-hand experience with whatever it is you’re writing about. Don’t do things half-arsed… become an authority on your topic and it will show and it will pay off.

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I’m writing this post with a hellish hangover so if parts of it don’t seem coherent it’s because my head is about to explode. It can tend to cause a bit of a distraction, the old head exploding thing.

Well I’ve been blogging now for one month and I though I’d check in with a sort of progress report. I’ve hugely exceeded my expectations! Of course, not having any expectations to begin with sort of helps.

Stats

• Posts - I’ve eeked out 31 posts and I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with myself for keeping it up. I find it pretty enjoyable when the topic is something I love talking about.
• Comments - At first I felt a bit like a psycho who was talking to myself but now that I’ve got a wee group of fab readers who’ve contributed 81 comments so far, I don’t feel so crazy anymore.
• Visitors - Lately I’m getting about 30 to 40 visits per day. My best day was last weekend with 93 people wandering over for a read.
• RSS subscribers - This one can fluctuate quite a lot but at the moment it’s at 54 subscribers. I reckon this is a decent number for a month old blog but who knows.
• Technorati - My authority thing is at 20 and my rank is 324,580. I don’t know much about Technorati except that the first number needs to go up and the second needs to go down so here’s hoping that happens.
• Alexa - I think Alexa is a pile o’ poop but for the record my rank is 805,232.

Other Stuff

• Search engines - I get barely any traffic from search engines so that’s something to look forward to. I’ve had a couple of obscure searches point to me though such as “banner ads play music” and “2007 money found this site”. However I don’t think those will be keywords I’ll be targeting.
• Links - I seem to be appearing on a few people’s blogrolls which is sweet. I like how bloggers share links pretty freely. With my websites I’m very careful about who I trade links with and rarely give a link without swapping. It’s nice to throw caution to the wind and send out some link love and it’s even better to see the love coming back my way. There’s a lot of love in the room.
• Contacts - This blog has reminded me that the internet isn’t some big faceless void and making contact with so many people with similar interests has been great. Hopefully I’ll see some of you out on the road working and travelling and we can have beers, get drunk and fall down.

I’ve said it many times that blogs are crap but I’ve changed my heathen ways and am really glad to be a convert on the road to recovery. It’s been good times so far but I’m really looking forward to sharing tips and advice on working on the road. That’s when things will start to get interesting! Bring on January I say.

Just one last thing… without going too much into arse kissing mode, I just wanted to say thanks for reading and commenting, your emails, link love and sharing your ideas and all that good stuff. Arse kissing done.

Woohoo, my hangover is gone!

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It seems like the thing to do if you have a blog about making money online is to write reviews of other sites and charge them for your expert knowledge. I’m not sure about how much of an expert I am but I quite the like the whole idea of reviews because I think that everyone, not just the site’s owner, can benefit from a site review. I like seeing different points of view and it’s also interesting learning about other site’s stats, earnings and what the webmasters’ questions and concerns are.

So in the vein, I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon and do a (free) review. I’ve never done one before so the plan is to answer a few questions, say what’s on my mind, and give a few ideas of what I would do if it were my site. Maybe I’ll be spouting a load of rubbish or maybe I’ll come up with some useful advice… who knows!

GoBackpacking.com

I got an email the other week from Dave Lee, the guy behind Go Backpacking, with some questions about how to earn more money with his travel site and blog. He got in touch because he’d seen a post on my earnings and felt that his website should be doing better than it is. I’m not sure he realised at the time that I have more than one site to earn that amount, but I agree that his site should be able to earn as much as Travoholic.com which also focuses on the backpacking niche.

Site Background, Traffic and Earnings

Dave started his site back in 1999 and added a blog in 2007. He had a forum but disabled it a few months ago because he was sick of spammers. The site is PR4 and has an Alexa ranking of 119,000 and his Technorati ranking is 46,088. He gets 2,000 visits a month and 4,000 page views and has 113 RSS subscribers to his blog. He ranks really well across Google, Yahoo and MSN for the terms ’backpacking around the world blog’ and ‘backpacking blog’.

His earnings were pretty bleak at first, bringing in about $130 over 10 months with Adsense which, at the time, was his only earner. He now earns about $150/month almost exclusively with Text Link Ads. I just thought I’d point out that Travoholic.com only earns $70/month with TLA and about $100/month with Adsense so already you’re not far off earning what I do. In the past I’ve sold a lot of links through Digital Point. If you’re looking for some extra cash, troll through their link sales forum looking for buyers or post an ad of your own. It can make your site look spammy but if you hide the links down in the footer it’s not so bad.

Dave’s Questions

Because I’ve never done a review before and need my hand held a bit I thought I’d get Dave to let me know some specific questions so here goes:

How appealing or unappealing is my theme (in particular, the light grey sidebars on the blog)?

I don’t really find the theme to be either appealing or unappealing. It doesn’t stand out to me as a great design but it looks organised and serves its purpose. More important is having a good navigation system that makes it easy to get all around the site. It took me awhile to find his categories section and without this, navigation is pretty difficult. I would move this drop down menu to the right hand column somewhere above the fold (probably above the fold) to make it easier to get around the site. The overall look is fine and everything seems to work although this latest post ‘GoBackpacking Needs Your Vote’ seems screwy with all the content being pushed way down to the bottom. I think it’s something to do with polls. It could probably stand to load a bit quicker, too.

As for the website part, this looks pretty old school and could probably use an overhaul at some point. The navigation could be better though. At first it seems like the links on the left (the ads) are your navigation menu which isn’t a good thing. Group things together into sections: travelogues, planning, articles etc.

Is the advertising (banner, text links, new “partners” page) too much, too little, or just right?

He mentioned that affiliate sales have been non existent so I would find another way to incorporate affiliate links into the site because what he’s doing now isn’t working. This is something I have yet to master but I can go so far as saying that the World Nomads ad on the left sidebar probably isn’t going to cut it. As for the ‘Partners’ page, we’d all love to think that readers will support us by remembering to come back to our site whenever they need to by something that’s on sale but in reality I don’t think this ever happens so I’m dubious about the point of pages like this.

Try to incorporate affiliate links into your posts but not in a way that looks like an obvious ad. Do it so that you’re adding valuable content. For example put reviews of gear that you’re using that has come from REI or talk about the benefits of World Nomads insurance in your own words and why you chose them over the others. Avoid sales speak and be honest.

What could I do to increase the stickiness of the site, and get people to stick around, comment, and come back for more?

Stickiness is something I used to obsess over. I wanted to start a great forum and create a wonderful community but I gave up. I came to the realisation that my sites have useful content that people need but once they find it, they move on. I get a lot of search engine traffic and my content doesn’t change that often so having repeat visitors isn’t that important because they’ll just bust me for being lazy and rarely updating.

For my blog, on the other hand, I love the sense of community and the instant feedback that comes in the form of comments. I want readers to keep coming back and the only way I can think of to do this is by writing stuff they want to read. It gets drilled into everyone’s heads and is annoying to hear all the time but writing great content is the best way to keep people coming back. Learn as much as you can about an area and people will keep returning to your site because they’ll see you as an expert. Become an authority on whatever subject you’re writing about.

But if you really have your heart set on creating a sticky site, try to think of useful online tools that will keep people coming back. I’ve had some success with this on my London site with a London prices tool and a photo area guide. Forums are great for getting people to come back to your site but they’re very difficult to get going and, in my experience, they’re more hassle than they’re worth. Blasting spam takes up loads of time and forums are not known for being good earners. I’ve tried allowing users to submit photos for one of my niche sites which created a bit of stickiness because their friends would come back and comment on them but it was short-lived.

What I Like

• I’m not too keen on asking for donations but I do like the idea of people getting you to do wacky things on the road and then contributing once you’ve completed their request. Making this a focus by giving the section it’s own page and more promotion is something that I think will make your blog stand out. The crazier the things you do the better. This concept has been done well over on The Savage Files and was something that I was considering adding to my travel blog when it’s up and running.
• I think the site has a lot of potential based on the real estate it’s sitting on alone. The domain name is fantastic and I have a hunch that, because it was created back in 1999, it should do well with Google. Try experimenting by writing some articles aimed at popular keywords and see how they do in the rankings.
• I like the incorporation of photos and videos. They add not only to the aesthetics of the site but are also relevant and well done. The written content is really good too.

What I Don’t Like

• In amongst the latest blog entries are posts about previous trips. These are entertaining but I find them a bit out of place in the blog area. I’d prefer to see these posts re-written into articles and placed on the main site. Or even take each trip and create an archive area to put them in chronological order, keeping them separate from recent posts.
• The site isn’t consistent from page to page. Sometimes the Google ads have different backgrounds, some pages still have a link to the message boards… stuff like that. Create a template that is the same across the entire site. If you can get it to look like your blog, even better.

So there ya go… everything you ever wanted to know about my opinion on GoBackpacking.com! I think it’s important to note that I neglected my site for a few years while I was travelling and only started to see results once I got back into it in a big way. That has meant hours of work each day but it has all started to pay off so it’s been worth it. Stick with it and try to get as much content up as you can on the original website before you start travelling and then focus on the blog once you hit the road. Good luck!

Does anyone else want to chuck in some comments for Dave or give me some feedback on the review itself so I can improve? I’ve enjoyed doing this so if anyone else has a travel-related site and wants a review done for the low, low cost of £0.00, drop me a line.

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A couple days ago the Guardian published an article on their website called Top 10 Hostels Around the World. I opened the link fully expecting to see the same 10 ‘best’ hostels that have been bantied about on other websites for years.

Most of the places mentioned on these sorts of lists are huge, spotless, and full of amenities with a hotel feel at a hostel price. To most people this would seem like a good thing but to me these places are backpacker factories in the business of separating travellers from their money any way they can. Huge, purpose built, hotel-like hostels are clean, fun and usually well-located but they’re big business and lack the soul and character of smaller, owner-operated places.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find a new list consisting mostly of smallish hostels, each with a seemingly unique atmosphere. I know the list is a good one because my favourite hostel, Backpack Guesthouse in Budapest, comes in at number five. This hostel is about as far away as you can get from my hated backpacker factories and it’s really encouraging to see such a small, unimposing place make a list like this.

I haven’t been to any of the other hostels but I’ve heard of a couple. Lists like this have to be taken with a grain of salt because everyone has different tastes, but based on the inclusion of my beloved Backpack Guesthouse I will definately be booking myself into these other hostels the next time find myself in the neighbourhood.

I did a wee write up on a few of my favourite hostels (so far) which might be worth a read if you love a great hostel as much as I do.

Looking for feedback: So that was my first travel-related post and I’m curious about whether you guys think it fits in with the theme of the site. I’m not into writing blow by blow accounts of my travels but have lots to say about backpacking in general and plan to compliment the nerdy parts of this site with a bit of nomad stuff. What do you think… can travel stuff and web stuff live side by side on this blog?

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It really annoys me when I come across a great idea for a site that I could have totally pulled off myself. This one is a perfect example of how a simple idea can be combined with a bit of coding (that can easily be outsourced) to create a great wee tool. If you love travelling and you love beer then check out Pintprice.com to see how badly boozing it up on your next trip will blow your budget.

With a domain name like ‘Nerdy Nomad’ you’d think I’d be up on all the latest gadgets and gizmos for the flashpackers among us. As it turns out, travel gadgets don’t really do it for me. Fortunately, Geeky Traveller comes to the rescue with reviews on lots of cool little travel gizmos.

Think adventure travel is dead unles you want to climb Everest or trek to the South Pole? Think again! The Adventurists are thinking up wild and wacky ways to bring some craziness back to a world where everything seems to have been done. They’re the organisers of the hugely popular Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run that my friend and I plan on doing at the end of 2009.  If you’re looking to spice up your travels, why not drive some shit heap of a vehicle across mountains for thousands of miles on dodgy roads for charity? Can’t wait!

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Well the countdown is on folks! My flight from London is booked, my last day of work is set, and the pressure is on. I’ll be heading home to Canada for three weeks on December 14th, returning to London and then jetting off to Asia a few days later to wander around aimlessly for a few years.

Though my departure date is approaching painfully slowly, I’m very aware that I have at least a hundred thousand website-related things to do before then. Add to that I’m on a mad money savings mission and it is starting to seem like I’m spending less and less time away from my computer. I think I’m becoming a bit of a recluse, actually.

Lately it seems like all I’ve been doing is hiding in my room typing my life away. I think my friends are about to disown me. Sure, I put the occasional guest appearance in now and then for birthdays and leaving parties but those crazy days of midweek all-nighters and general debauchery are long gone. I’ve changed. Do I like it? I don’t know.

While I really love this whole website development thing, I love the pub more and my internet pursuits alone would never be enough to keep me chained to my computer. I think the thing that’s transformed me from party girl to web recluse is that I’ve had that little taste of success and I want more. I now know that being able to earn a living online is definitely possible but I’m also very aware that it’s not possible without putting in a lot of work.

Being able to wander around the world at my own pace, changing my plans on a whim is what I’ve always dreamed of and anyone who loves long term travel will be able to relate. If achieving that dream means locking myself away most nights to work on my sites then I guess that’s the way it’s got to be.

Does anyone else find it easy to make sacrifices now knowing that the long term payoff is so good or am I the only boring one?

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Most of us bloggers don’t make the kind of coin that makes it possible to do this full time. We have to trek into work every day to be able to pay the bills and, as a result, blogging becomes a part time gig done in our spare time. Well rejoice because it doesn’t have to be this way! If you you can manage to land a cushy office job for yourself then you will be able to blog at work on the sly with these super sneaky strategies:

• Use your time wisely - Save your work (the stuff you’re paid for) for when your boss and co-workers are in the office and and try to do your blogging when nobody is around. You’ll be able to relax a bit and won’t have to constantly be on your toes.
• Blog under cover - If being on the internet becomes too obvious, do your blogging in Word or Outlook and then copy and paste the text over at a more opportune moment. Working this way gives the added bonus of a spelling and grammar check.
• Make office-type noises - Sitting in silence for too long can cause suspicion so if you’re doing a lot of reading and things are starting to get a bit quiet, make sure you hammer at your keyboard a bit or rustle some papers around every now and then. Asking your boss if there’s anything they need done is good for added effect.
• Make lots of tea/coffee - Keep your boss sweet by offering to make tea. Bringing in donuts or cookies occasionally is also recommended. Be careful not to kiss too much ass so as to not raise suspicion.
• ALT -TAB switcheroo - Bosses can be known to spring on you with little or no warning. To counter surprise attacks, open up another screen (preferably something important looking like a spreadsheet) and follow these instructions: Hold down ALT… that’s right, do it with me now… and then press TAB and let go. Watch that screen change in an instant! Saves you from frantically clicking on the minimise button as your boss approaches. Super sneaky and an essential strategy for blogging at work so make sure you practice.
• Keep on top of your work - As much as I’d like to burn all of my filing and ‘accidentally’ misplace all of my data entry stuff, I can’t. Being able to get away with murder means being good at your job and get things done on time.
• Get a corner computer - If you’ve got a prime spot in the office so that nobody can see your screen then you’re in luck. If not, try to swap your way to the deepest, darkest corner of the office to be able to have a blogging free for all. Continuing to rustle papers every now and is still important, you don’t want to get too confident. If a secluded screen isn’t possible, make friends with the people who can see it so they don’t raise the alarm. See the point above on cookies and donuts.

Being a part-time blogger need not mean you have to lock yourself in your room on evenings and weekends tapping away frantically. Use these strategies and you’ll be blogging at work in no time! It also helps if you don’t have any work ethic and aren’t the guilty type.

WARNING: Do not, I repeat, do NOT under any circumstances go out for drinks with your boss and co-workers, get ridiculously trashed and drunkenly admit your evil plan to one and all. Very bad.

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I’ve been going pretty hard with the whole blogging thing for the past few weeks and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that posting 7 days a week will be the death of me. So in the interest of staying alive, I’ve decided that I’m going to spend my Sundays recovering from hangovers, eating takeaway curries and lounging around.

While there won’t be anymore Sunday posts I’ll still be chained to the computer working hard on my websites. Except for today though… I’m off to the pub to watch Canada destroy Wales at rugby. I am an eternal optimist, after all!

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Blogging is fun and things are easy to set up but if you intend on making a living online then I think it’s important to build a few websites to compliment your blog. This is easier said than done, however. The learning curve is pretty steep at first and setting up a website is a lot more time consuming than setting up a Blogger or Wordpress account.

If you’re not the least bit technical minded then you’ll probably get very frustrated along the way but if you stick with it you’ll be at an advantage. Sure, you could outsource and having someone else build you a site but your business is the internet and the more you know the better off you’ll be.

I’ve been building websites for 7 years and have so far learned everything I need to know online. I’ve never taken a class, never read a book about HTML, CSS etc. and have never bought any software that promises instant websites. I thought it might be helpful to think back to when I was learning all this fun stuff and offer up some advice on how to get started if you’re looking to build your first website.

• Read online tutorials - I learned HTML way back in the day by reading Web Monkey which is still a great resource to use. Another is W3 Schools because they set the standard for how websites should be coded. I’m still learning CSS and that site has been a great starting point.
• Look at other website’s layouts - Once you have a vague grasp on HTML, find some websites you like and look at their page source. This doesn’t work quite as well as it used to because many sites use CSS for layouts but this is how I learned how to use tables as a layout tool. Travoholic.com was built into the layout of Lonely Planet circa 2004. I copied the code, plugged in my content, added my own images and voila! My own site in a wicked layout that I never could have coded myself. Then I worked backwards and learned little bits at a time. I’m not sure how ethical it is to essentially steal site’s entire layout though so shhhh!
• Trial and error - There’s no way around it, learning by trial and error will suck up some serious amounts of time but it’s what taught me the most. Tweaking a bit of code and then refreshing the page to see what changed has helped me immensely. Always keep backups though because one seemingly small change can throw an entire site out of whack and finding the mistake when you’re not yet totally familiar with HTML is the hugest pain in the ass ever. Trust me.
• Ask questions - I didn’t discover that there were some great webmaster forums out there until a couple of years ago. Had I know about them soon I’m sure I would have had a lot fewer headaches! If I’ve got a question about anything webmaster related I head to Digital Point. I’ve heard that Webmaster World is good too but I don’t like the way their forum is set up. There are loads of experts out there who want to help and I’d be screwed without them.

I’m making over $1000/month now but if you factor in how many thousands of hours I’ve put into my little online empire it probably works out to about $0.14/hour. I’ve been frustrated, stumped and annoyed at times, but overall the learning process has been fun and rewarding.

My site’s aren’t masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination but there’s a great sense of accomplishment that comes from knowing you’ve built something out of nothing. You’ll learn more and more with each new site you build and this knowledge will be a great asset as you push towards building a business online.

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