I’m currently working on a new version of my Working Holidays site and I need a serious kick in the arse or I’ll be working on it until the end of time. I’ve been talking about launching this site for what seems like an eternity and it’s starting to get to that point where I’m sick of looking at the thing and I want to get it out of my face so I can work on something else.

So, with that said, I’ve decided to set myself a deadline. I am going to aim to have this thing up and running by October 31st. There, I said it… now hopefully I can do it. I work well under pressure and I usually do what I say so here’s hoping setting the deadline will help me get myself into gear.

Here’s a list of the major things I still need to finish:

• Edit the blog’s theme - The blog is only a small part of the site but I want it to fit seamlessly with the look of the rest of the site. I expect I’ll be spending many hours of frustration tweaking CSS and pulling my hair out.
• Add a forum - I plan on buying a vBulletin forum and I need to sort out how to add it to my site. I haven’t even looked at this yet so it could be easier than I expect or it could be a total nightmare.
• Finish writing the major stuff - I’ve pulled together loads of information on working holiday visas so far but there are lots of things I can’t find answers to online which means I need to call and email people. I could get away with leaving gaps but I want this to be as thorough as possible from the start. I need to add a few more articles about working abroad too.
• Create a header image or logo - At the moment there’s a gaping hole where a wicked logo or great looking header image should be. I always have big expectations of myself in this area but usually settle for something that I scrape together at the last minute. This time I want to get it right.
• Draw more cartoons - If you looked at my old site you probably noticed the moose cartoon that changes based on the country. I’m attempting to do this on a major scale for the new site and need to whip up a few more toons.
• Tweak the CSS for the text - My fonts and headers look like poop at the moment. My initial aim was just to get the content up and worry about the look later so now I need to spend that time worrying about the look.
• Meta tags - At the moment they don’t exist and I’ve got to write them and do some basic SEO.
• Little annoying things - All that boring, painful stuff like proof reading, spell checking, link checking yadda yadda yadda.

Most of the stuff that needs doing isn’t totally essential for the site to be functional but I’m being a perfectionist with this one. I’m really happy with the navigation and layout and want the rest of the site to live up to what I’ve already finished. I love that feeling when a new site is launched and I can’t wait to get some feedback. I have some big expectations of this site.

Here’s hoping giving myself a deadline will motivate me!

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I spent a bit of time yesterday checking out some blogs I haven’t read in awhile and I came across a post over at Self Made Minds (which is an excellent blog and should be read by one and all) about what sorts of people are attempting to make money online.

He basically breaks it down into four main types of people:

• The Ideas Person
• The Backend Coder or Programmer
• The Marketer
• The Opportunist

I would definitely say I’m an Ideas Person. I’m rarely short of ideas… although whether or not they’re good ones is up for debate! Having lots of ideas is great for the little sites but it can be really frustrating when I want to do something a bit more complicated. Without any background in programming I can’t implement most of my grander schemes without someone else’s help. This does give the option of outsourcing but not understanding how my own site works would be a bit annoying, I’m sure. So far I’ve kept things on my sites pretty simple because of this lack of behind the scenes knowledge. But then again it’s a lot easier to buy a programmer’s time than it is to buy a good idea.

Despite my lack of programming knowledge I’m still hopeful that, given enough time, I’ll be able to teach myself some of the backend type stuff. I’ll never be able to whip up amazing applications or hugely interactive websites no matter how many books I read or how long I stare blankly at my computer screen. It would be nice to learn enough though for it to make enough sense to me so that I’m less afraid to tinker with things. Programmer types are lucky because, even if their websites flop, they can still sell their services and work from anywhere for a good wage.

I’m no master marketer but I’m sure if I made a concerted effort to market my sites I’d do ok but never come up with anything great. It really is an eye opener when I come across a site that is obviously well marketed. I think this is something that can be learned with time, a bit of trial and error and by watching the masters at work but it still takes a certain instinct that I’m not sure I have.

I think the opportunist is an interesting one. I’ve always begrudged those people who buy stacks of domains and then park them only to sell them on later. I don’t have the foresight to be able to come up with the next big thing and am happy working hard on my sites without keeping on top of the next major money making manoeuvre. I sort of see this group as the ones doing dodgy deals in the back alleys but fair play to anyone who can pull it off.

The post has made me wonder how many of the success stories out there come from people who are the complete package and how many have to bring other people on board to compliment their own skills. I think that knowing where your weaknesses lie and when to ask for help is important.

So… which one are you? Are there any programmers out there who want to team up and take over the world with me?

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Well I’m back from my little 10 day break up to Scotland and, as you can see, I didn’t do too well in the keeping the blog updated department. My time away wasn’t a total washout though work wise. My little test run has opened my eyes to a few things.

• Blogging - I know myself and having to stick to a routine while I’m on the go will kill me. If I even attempt to blog more than 4 times a week I know I’m going to end up drop kicking my computer into a river. I love the blogging thing but for me it will be just as enjoyable to skip a post here and there as it will be to keep on top of things. I’m expecting that once I start travelling I’ll have a lot to share with everyone so my focus will be on quality instead of quantity.
• Working on my websites - I was only able to hide myself away twice, each for several hours but I managed to get a lot done in that time. Because I didn’t have wifi, I was sat at my uncle’s desktop doing research and doing the actual work on my laptop. Having two screens is handy! A major obstacle that I’ll have to sort out is how to work on my sites when I’m offline. I use the PHP equivalent of Server Side Includes (SSI) which means that I need to view my sites online because offline they’re just bits and pieces of separate code. I could still do content updates but it just makes things messy and confusing. It’s something I hadn’t even thought of so I’m glad to have the chance to sort things out before hitting the road.
• New laptop - My new laptop has been great! I think I am in love with it. Well maybe not yet… it needs to buy me dinner first. And then maybe get me drunk. I didn’t come across any wifi in Scotland so I still have to see how quick it is online but the battery lasts for 5 hours and I’m getting used to the keyboard and small screen.
• Software - I loaded Adobe Photoshop and it runs really well. It’s already got Explorer and Firefox and I want to get Illustrator too since I’ll have a lot of time on my hands and want to spend some of it learning new things. Other than that there’s not a whole lot going on as far as software is concerned. I’ll need to put an FTP program on it and I might make the switch from Notepad to a better text editor. I might even start using Notepad++. I am one crazy mofo.
• Carting my stuff around - I bought a courier style bag that sits on one hip with a strap that goes over the opposite shoulder. It has plenty of space for my computer and SLR and lenses but things were starting to get heavy so I left my camera at home this time. I guess I’ll have to get used to it because I’ll want to carry all my valuable stuff with me when I travel from place to place. I’m really going to concentrate on packing light because I think I had too much going up to Scotland and my shoulders were pretty sore.

So all up I’m pretty pleased with my first little laptop adventure. I even busted it out at the airport and felt all cool and sophisticated. That didn’t last long though. I’m really glad I took my computer up to Scotland for a dummy run. I’ve got a few things to sort out before taking off on the real trip in a couple months. I’m already counting down the days!

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As you can probably tell due to my lack of posting I haven’t had much success getting anything done. I’ve been doing lots of visiting and family stuff and have had to recover from several whiskey-induced hangovers so really haven’t had the time or been in the mood. I’m definitely giving myself a true to life test of what it’ll be like once I start travelling but it looks like I’m failing miserably!

Anyway… on to the post. Because I’ve been catching up with people I haven’t seen in awhile I’ve found myself doing a lot of talking about my travel plans and the question about whether I plan to work on the road usually pops up at some point and that’s when I mention my websites. I think I’ve explained the ways of Adsense and affiliate programs to about 14,563 people so far.

I’m kind of to the point now that I’m a bit sick of explaining everything, not because I don’t like talking about it, but because I assume that people really don’t care. The strange thing is that most people seem really fascinated by the whole thing. They’re surprised that someone can actually earn money from websites and they want to know more and the questions keep flowing my way. Either that or they’re being polite!

It got me thinking about how many times I’m going to find myself explaining what I do to people I meet during my travels. As much as I love talking about earning money with my websites and encouraging people to do the same, I really think that explaining the ins and outs of the business to everyone I meet will start to suck the life out of me.

I’m thinking that I might be better off just saying I plan to teach English in China and moving on to the next topic of conversation. Who wants to talk about work anyway?

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Well I’m off to Scotland in a couple of hours with my laptop in tow. Things might be a bit quiet around here for the next 10 days, depending on how well I’m able to sneak in a few hours or work here and there. It’ll be a big test considering my family are over from Canada and I doubt they’ll appreciate me locking myself away to do computer nerd stuff.

On the other hand I’m sure there will be times when everyone is just vegged out in front of the TV and I’m planning to get some things done when that happens. I’m excited to see how it all goes and will do a wee write up of how I’ve found the whole experience - even though it’s not the real deal just yet.

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This was going to be a short little post with a few random thoughts on selling direct links and it has somehow grown into a beast with a mind of its own! Direct link sales rock my work. I think it’s fun wheeling and dealing and it can be very lucrative as well and here’s pretty much everything I have to say on the matter…

Setting Links Prices

• Don’t undervalue a link on your site - Link sales can seem like easy money when an offer is made and I think people, me included, have a tendency to undervalue them. It only takes a couple of minutes to physically add the link to your site but you shouldn’t forget about how many hours it’s taken to get your site to the point where people actually want to advertise on it.
• Look at what Text Links Ads sells your links for - If you’re signed up with TLA and have most of your links sold then that tells me that people are willing to pay whatever that price is before TLA take their 50% cut. I offer links at TLA prices but since I’m making the sale myself I get to be greedy and keep the whole amount.
• Look at what similar websites are charging - Have a look at your competition and see if they’ve got a page with advertising rates. If they don’t, get in touch and ask what they charge. You can either do this in a friendly up front way or, if that doesn’t work, you can always be evil and pretend you’re interested in buying a link and get their prices that way.

Setting the Link’s Duration

• Have discounts for buying long term links - You will earn less overall this way if you look at the yearly totals but keep in mind that there’s also a chance that the buyer will cancel after one month and it might be a safer bet to grab the cash up front. Plus locking in a deal for a year means less chasing people to renew and less work is always good.
• Don’t sell permanent links - I don’t think there’s such a thing as forever with the internet but when you sell permanent links, it’s implied that they’re locked in for a long time. When you do this you lose a bit of control over your site and prices aren’t usually high enough to justify this.

When Someone Approaches You to Buy a Link

• Try to get a higher price than they first offer - When a company approaches you looking to buy a link on your site don’t be afraid to talk them up. What would you do if you wanted to buy a link on another person’s site? Probably go in with a low price and hope for the best. In the past I’ve been so excited to discover that people actually wanted to pay me for links that I’d eagerly take their first offer. I was afraid that if I had the cheek to ask for more they’d get pissed off and go off in search of another site to advertise on but it turns out that most people are willing to bargain.
• Turn link exchange offers into link sales - If someone gets in touch offering a link exchange that doesn’t really appeal that much to you, send back an offer to sell them a link. This has worked a few times for me. Remember that often these link exchange requests come from companies that are working for the site doing SEO. If the site’s owners are willing to pay someone to do SEO for them then they’d probably be willing to pay for some links as well.

My Experiences with Link Sales

My main site for link sales is Travoholic.com and so far I’ve had very few people tell me to stick it when I’ve told them my prices which leads me to believe they’re fair. I currently have nine TLA links on the right side of the main page. Their price is $15/month but I only see $7.50 of that amount. I charge $15/month for text links in the same area and that suits me fine because I get to keep all the money when I make the sale myself.

When someone contacts me about buying a link I give them the price of $15/month but make it clear that I’m willing to negotiate if they can pay in advance. I’ll usually knock the price down to $10/month if they pay a year in advance and I do the same thing with my footer links. I offer those links for $8/month when first approached but drop to $60 for the year if they’re willing to pay in advance. For reasons unknown people seem to approach me fairly regularly now looking to buy links on my sites and most of the time the contact results in a sale.

 If you’re just starting out with direct link sales and haven’t been accepted to TLA yet, have a poke around the Digital Point link sales forum. I don’t tend to look for sales in there anymore because the sites can sometimes be a bit spammy, but it’s a great place to find your feet and see what sorts of prices other similar sites are offering. Selling my first few links through that site was really encouraging and it also put a bit of money in my Paypal account that I could use towards reinvesting in my sites.

I’m a huge fan of selling links directly to other webmasters and major companies. If you’ve got a quality website with a well defined target market then this is an area I would recommend for some fast cash. There are rumblings that Google aren’t happy about this practice but screw them! I love that webmasters have all the power when it comes to direct links sales and nobody else is getting a cut.

Stick it to the man and get out there and make some sales!

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September has topped August by just over $100 as my best month to date. My earnings came in at $1385.28 but not because of anything new I’ve tried. I think I’ve sort of neglected things a bit this month, actually.

Here’s my earnings breakdown:

• Google Adsense - $288.90 - This was my best month ever and for awhile there I thought I was going to make it to the $10 a day mark. I’m working on a site at the moment and once that’s done I expect to be earning well over $300 a month.
• Affiliate Sales - $667.32 - This was lower than I was hoping for but I’m still counting on one main affiliate program and until I can find others then I think I’ll be floating around this amount. What have I done about finding more programs? Not a thing! I’ve got to fix that.
• Linkworth & Text Link Ads - $77.06 - Linkworth only accounted for $8.40 but it’s nice to see them come back from the dead, even if it’s only one link. TLA have been steady but still no word about getting Stuck in London accepted into the program. I think it’s because it’s only a PR2.
• Private Link Sales - $332 - I had 5 out of 6 links renew for a total of $92. Getting renewals is pretty easy. My PR has since fallen from 5 to 4 but I’ve only ever had one person ask for a reduced price because of it. Getting a renewal is as easy as sending a friendly reminder email. A bit of work and I have to keep track of them but all up it’s no big deal. I was approached out of the blue from a company wanting to buy two links for $90/year on Travoholic.com’s main page. I got them up to $120/year per link so that was an easy $240 out of the blue.
• Writing - $20 - I was lazy this month and only wrote one article for my pals over at Brave New Traveler. The extra money is nice but it’s not how I expect to make my living online by any means. I’m all about residual income and making money in my sleep so writing will be something I do on the side because I enjoy it.

So all up, not only am I pleased with this month but I’m pretty amazed too. I’ve been working hard, but almost exclusively on a site that still isn’t finished. So it feels like all of my efforts are getting sucked into some black hole and until this site is launched I won’t get rewarded. So I definitely wasn’t expecting to have my best month!

A big part of this month’s success was those links I sold for $240. If they hadn’t come along it would have been just an average earnings report. It seems like I always have at least one or two nice surprises like this each month. Things just seem to pop out of nowhere right into my lap. I’ve got another sale supposedly lined up for $180 next month so if that goes through then I’ll be off to a good start.

My goals for October are to maintain this level of earnings and to get this friggin’ new site up because I’m sick of looking at it. I’ll be up in Scotland for 10 days for a wedding and some family time and I’m really curious to see if I’ll be able to sneak in any work… or if I’ll want to. It’s the first road trip for the new (used) laptop too so hopefully it doesn’t explode or anything.

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I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I’ve been really well behaved of late… spending nights in, working hard on my sites over the weekend and generally just being a nerdy loser as much as possible. Well I can only take so much hiding out and this weekend I made up for it in a big way and can safely say that all day drinking benders are not good for productivity.

I’m pretty easily led astray and I’m wondering how much work I’ll realistically be able to get done once I hit the road. When I start out, the plan is to do some Couchsurfing and the whole point of it is social exchange so being an antisocial computer nerd isn’t gonna cut it. Plus I’m pretty sure I’d much rather chat to people than work anyways. I suppose I’ll have to hole myself up at a guesthouse now and then to get caught up.

I think when I’m settled with an apartment in Beijing I’ll be ok because I’ll probably be living in my own place and hopefully won’t be tempted too much. But then again, I’ll be in a new and exciting city and I’d be stupid not to take advantage of it. But I don’t plan on working a regular job so I should have plenty of time on my hands.

During the Olympics I’ll be totally screwed because it’s looking like a big group of friends will be descending on Beijing and it should be two solid weeks of debauchery. After that, the plan is to hit the road again but this time I’ll have a friend in tow and I doubt she’ll be too impressed with me wanting to hide away to work on my sites. Overall, I think the times when I’m on the move will be my least productive and it will be especially challenging when I’m travelling with a friend.

I’m going up to Scotland on Thursday for 10 days for my cousin’s wedding and the laptop will be coming with me. My parents and brother are coming over from Canada and it’ll be interesting to see if I’m able to sneak away now and then to get some work done. The whiskey will be flowing but I’m sure there will be a lot of down time in between so it will be a good test of how well I’m able to motivate myself and manage my time.

It’ll also be the first time I’ll really be using my new laptop so I’m excited to see how everything goes. Hopefully I’m not expecting too much out of what I can get done when I’m on the road but I guess time will tell.

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