I spent a few hours on Sunday with Neale, a guy I have known online for a few years now. I met him virtually over on the Working Nomad forum and have seen him go from no websites and a little bit of knowledge about web marketing to being on the verge of being able to do this work full time.

It was really inspiring talking to him because he has stuck with this for several years now and is finally seeing the payoff. We agreed that this is no get rich quick scheme but, with some hard work and dedication, there is no reason anyone can’t do this as long as they stick with it and don’t get discouraged. Another reason this meet up was inspiring is that Neale started with only a bit of knowledge in this area and he also hates to write. It’s a great example of perseverance and something I will take on board myself when I’m feeling discouraged.

It was also an eye opener to hear how much some of his sites were earning with Adsense and how many visitors some of his other sites were getting. These are all pretty simple sites with only a handful of pages each but they address some very specific niches that people need information on. It hit home with me because I have always gone for the approach of building huge, content rich sites and steered clear of the small, made-for-Adsense looking sites that I see as clogging up the internet. Neale has managed to create sites that go beyond just being made for Adsense but still remain small and to the point. I had a few brainwaves while talking to him so I might try to pull together a few small sites and see where this takes me.

So keep at it, don’t be discouraged if you don’t see results straight away (Neale and I agreed that 2 years is a good amount of time to give each site before it produces), and most importantly, if I’m heading to your area, get in touch because I love meeting with people who are giving this internet marketing a go. It’s great to like-minded people, share experiences and trading ideas with others always inspires me to start doing some work!

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As many of you know, I have been stalking Hands On Disaster Response since I first worked with them in Bangladesh in January, 2008. I’ve just taken a break from working with them in Haiti but will be heading back in a few weeks because I’m completely hooked on the work they do and the way they run things. I’m completely passionate about what they do so when I thought of a way that could potentially help raise a lot of money for their cause, I was pretty happy to share it.

Hands On operate both in the US and internationally and have seen thousands of volunteers pass through their program since it began shortly after the Tsunami. This is a huge base of people, most who are as passionate about the cause as I am. I see this as a great opportunity to tap the volunteer base for donations, without them actually having to give. It’s great to be involved with an organisation like Hands On who are interested in your ideas and put the good ideas into action almost straight away.

Most people who read this site know all about affiliate marketing, but that doesn’t mean that people not working in the internet marketing industry know a thing about it. As it turned out, Andrew the fund raising guy, didn’t know much about it at all. I gave him a quick crash course in affiliate marketing, suggested a few programs that might be useful to volunteers and he had this page up and running within a few weeks.

The idea is simple: volunteers need to travel to the projects, they usually take out travel insurance, many buy guidebooks and other suggested reading, and they usually stay a night or two in a hostel or hotel on arrival into the destination country. All of these steps have excellent affiliate options and Hands On signed up with several including Kayak, Expedia, World Nomads, Amazon, Lonely Planet, Hostelbookers and Hostelworld. By adding affiliate links to their site, they will essentially be able to receive donations without the volunteer actually having to give their own money all while giving them a service that is useful.

I don’t doubt that future volunteers will make lots of bookings through the affiliate programs but what is really exciting is the possibility that other people will start heading to this page to make bookings even if they’re not heading to a Hands On deployment. I’ve given my friends and family, and now you guys, the heads up in the hope that some people will bookmark the site and visit it when looking to make these sorts of purchases. I have never felt comfortable steering friends, family and readers of this blog through my own affiliate pages but, because I am so passionate about the work Hands On do, it’s a no-brainer for me.

I love the fact that I am able to use my web marketing experience to help them in this area and am happy to see them act on the idea so quickly. I would love for people to have a look at their affiliates page and chuck a few comments this way about how you think they might be able to improve it. Or to take things to the next level, feel free to bookmark the page and make a booking or two next time you head off on your travels! I’m really excited to see whether this idea pays off for them and the mor epeople that know about it, the better.

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So far, February has been crap for earnings. My main affiliate is way down, other affiliates sales are non-existant and private links sales are the same. It’s a bit scary to see earnings drop drastically but I have to remember to keep it in mind that I have been doing some extreme slacking… and then there’s that whole economic downturn thing.

Despite February’s apparent crappiness, I’m not really that worried. I have been (slowly) building new sites here and there and I have some good ideas up my sleeve. The never ending problem for me seems to be taking time out to dedicate to putting my head down and doing some serious work.

I am due to leave Haiti in two days and will be in Miami until February 23rd. I am hoping to do a bit of work then but the reality is that I will have to shop for a lot of annoying things (wedding dress, clothes to replace everything I destroyed here, camera repairs) and when I’m not doing that, I will probably want to just veg out on the beach, take hot showers and eat bad food after three and a half months in the mud of Gonaives. Then I’ll be in Australia for what will be 12 days of complete debauchery as I catch up with loads of friends I made a few years ago in London.

I didn’t have any plans for after Australia. I was trying to get on a yacht, considering taking a Spanish course somewhere, and contemplating travelling around Central America with a friend on the most ridiculous form of transport we could find (donkeys and chariots were both considered). I should have known that Hands On would, once again, make things interesting and they have by extending the project here until March 28th. So now I have a one-way flight back to Haiti on March 10th and it doesn’t look like I will be dedicating any time to my websites anytime soon. Not the sort of attention they need, anyways.

So even if February stinks, I won’t really have the time to do anything about it until the end of March. Like I said, I’m not worried. Yet. If March proves to be another poor earning month then I will have to consider locking myself away somewhere in an attempt to catch up on everything, build some new sites and get things moving in the right direction again.

I wonder how bad things have to get before I get scared into action?

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Wow, that month went fast. I still haven’t managed to do much work but I’ve had a great comeback after a terrible month in December. My earnings came in at $2207, more than double what I earned last month which is a huge relief considering my super expensive decision to head to Australia for a wedding at the end of February.

Earnings Breakdown:

• Google Adsense - $382 - This seems to happen every January… the number of visits to my sites jumps up and Adsense earnings rise as a result. After a terrible month in December it’s really encouraging to see things are back to normal with Adsense. I’m expecting Adsense to rise as I start to get more visitors to my new city guide sites.
• Affiliate Sales - $723 - My big earner hasn’t been doing as well lately but not all is lost because a few other affiliate programs have been doing well. I’ve got a few affiliates on Clixgalore who have earned me over $150 this month plus a few t-shirt sales from my Waitangi Day site and some other bits and pieces. I really want to diversify so this month has been encouraging in this respect.
• Linkworth - $23 - I could have sworn they cancelled my one remaining link but when I went to take it down, they emailed me to put it back up. So maybe it’s cancelled for February or maybe it’s not cancelled at all. Either way, it doesn’t ear much so no big deal.
• Private Link Sales - $1055 - After earning a measly $30 in this area last month, January has been a great comeback. Most of it is due to an $875 renewal for a yearly link. Most of my link renewals actually cancelled due to a loss in PR so it will be interesting to see how this category fares in the future.
• Writing - $21 - I will be writing two articles per month over on another blog and am being paid for it which is pretty sweet. This month I only wrote one so my earnings from this will be around $40 per month, depending on the UK exchange rate. Not a huge amount but every bit counts!

The weak British pound and Australian dollar have had a negative effect on my earnings so I’m hoping they get their act together soon.

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