Blog to Travel

Web Earnings for January 2010

Dave — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:00:12 +0000

I really thought January was going to be an average to low month, but it turned out to be my second highest month on record.

In January 2010, I earned a total of $2,055

$1,927 – Direct advertising (banners, text links, paid reviews)
$67 – Woo Themes affiliate payment
$35 – Linkworth text link ad
$26 – Nomadic Matt affiliate payment (for his ebook)

My traffic was the highest on record for a single month at Go Backpacking: 25,000 unique visits and over 50,000 page views. This was helped by the fact that the blog was a top 5 finalist for the Best Travel Weblog award in the 2010 Bloggies.

I don’t usually try to win those popularity contest type of awards because it requires me to appeal to my audience to vote, but this time I really went all out. This is only the second year (out of ten) that they’ve had a unique travel blog category, and I want to win it. Not that it comes with a big reward, $20.10, but because it would be a nice selling point to throw out at potential sponsors. A little recognition can go a long way.

Two weeks into February, it’s looking like I’ll easily be able to surpass January thanks to the successful launch of my new membership site, Travel Blog Success.

If you like what you see and read here, consider joining the course and community I built from scratch to help others achieve the same results, and better, than me!

Join Travel Blog Success and learn to build a better travel blog.

Web Earnings for 2009 (Year End Total)

Dave — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:01:18 +0000

In 2009, I earned $10,390 from travel blogging:

$7,251 – Direct banner/text link sales
$910 – Linkworth
$840 – TextLinkAds.com
$785 – Freelance work
$362 – Google AdSense
$19 – Miscellaneous affiliate sales
$13 – Amazon.com

As you can tell, selling advertising directly is by far the biggest way that I’ve monetized my travel blogs. In the second half of 2009, after updating the theme of Go Backpacking, I began to sell much more banner advertising, which is billed on a monthly basis, or 3 months at a time in the case of the 125 x 125 banners. I learned to use PayPal subscriptions to automatically bill the customers.

Advertisers still prefer to pay for 6-12 months in advance on text link ads. I started turning them down for the first time because I didn’t want to see Go Backpacking overrun with text link ads.

I started to monetize Medellin Living through text link ads, and was earning more than I expected for such a niche travel blog. The consistent PR 3 has helped, I’m sure.

The freelance work consisted of 3 articles I wrote for AskMen.com, and a payment for the Colombia trip I didn’t get to go on (through no fault of my own).

I scaled back the Google AdSense on Go Backpacking, and instead, relied on the Lonely Planet’s Blogsherpa program to help me earn those dollars. I continued to earn a minimal amount of money per month on Medellin Living and this blog, but nothing much. At the time I’m writing this, I’ve removed AdSense from ALL of my blogs.

I received feedback through the Problogger.com forum in the latter half of the year that my traffic numbers should equate to higher earnings, and that I wasn’t making more money was a sign that I wasn’t monetizing properly – specifically that I wasn’t leveraging affiliate marketing. As a result, I started to focus on that area more. It’s not reflected above because I have yet to receive payouts from World Nomads, and my first Woo Themes payout was received in January 2010. Together, these two affiliates account for more than $300.

I should also mention that I spent more money on my travel blogging activities in 2009 then any other year. I bought a new laptop, Blackberry, upgraded my hosting package on GoDaddy, registered a bunch of new domains, invested in premium WordPress themes, joined AWeber, and started hiring designers to help with small projects on a freelance basis.

All in all, I’m super psyched that I hit the $10,000 mark for the first time, and that reflected a doubling of 2008’s achievement. The stars are aligning, and I see no reason why I can’t reach $25,000+ in 2010. And that’s just through Go Backpacking and Medellin Living.

To take things a step further, after 4 months of hard work, I’m launching a new membership site called Travel Blog Success. My goal is to help others build quality travel blogs through a 12-week online course blog, and members-only forum. I’ll be offering personalized support and guidance to everyone that joins.

Travel Blog Success launches at 10 AM (EST) Monday, February 1, 2010.

Check it out!

Join Travel Blog Success and learn to build a better travel blog.

Web Earnings for December 2009

Dave — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:57:38 +0000

Happy New Year!

After my record-setting month of November 2009, I expected to see a dip in December. Plus, with the holidays and people traveling, I knew the traffic to Go Backpacking would dip.

In December 2009, I earned a total of $568:

$520 – direct banner/text links
$35 – Linkworth
$13.50 – affiliate sale (money collected)

Go Backpacking received 16,000 unique visits, up about 5% from the month before.

I’m actually happy with this because I don’t think I had any new sales, so it’s a reflection of recurring monthly income. I was sad to lose a long time $35/month Linkworth advertiser though.

I turned down a handful of text link ads, and my prices were simply too high for other interested parties. I raised them extra high to get a feel for a ceiling on what companies will be willing to pay, yet as my traffic grows, I continue to think the site’s value is headed towards those dollar amounts.

Now that I have 3 years of earnings on record, I can tell January 2010 is likely to be a slow month too, but then things should pick up heading into the Spring.

A few affiliations are starting to pay off for me, though not yet in collected money:

World Nomads – I’m a few dollars shy of hitting their $250 minimum payout for the first time.
Woo Themes – I made 4 affiliate sales in December, and that affiliate link is the 2nd most clicked at Go Backpacking (as it appears on every page in the footer). This is almost enough for me to break even on the cost of the Gazette premium theme I use there. And I am flabbergasted at how many owners of premium themes don’t use an affiliate link in their footer! They’re leaving money on the table and they don’t even realize it.
How to Make Money with Your Travel Blog – I’ve sold a few of Nomadic Matt’s ebook, though in December he was offering a discounted price so the commission was lower.

In 2010, I’ll likely transition Medellin Living and Blog to Travel over to Woo Themes as well. Picking a preferred brand and standing behind it makes a big difference in earning money through affiliate sales. It’s akin to shooting a distant target with a sniper rifle vs spraying machine gun fire in the hopes a bullet strikes the bullseye. If that analogy didn’t make sense, then I’ll just add that affiliate marketing requires a lot more precision than I initially realized.

I intend to post a few more times this month, including a year-end report for 2009’s online earnings. I’ll give you a hint as to the results: I more than doubled 2008’s earnings, and cracked the 5-figure threshold for the first time!

Plus, I’ll share my 2010 goals for travel blogging.

Join Travel Blog Success and learn to build a better travel blog.

Web Earnings for November 2009

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:30:38 +0000

I am writing this as the final hours wane in November, 2009. Just last month, I set a new record for online earnings, and I knew November had great potential due to a lot of links up for renewal. But I didn’t expect the results to be so awesome.

I almost doubled the earnings of October!

In November 2009, I earned a total of $2,971:

$2,752 – direct banner/text links
$143 – Google AdSense
$70 – Linkworth
$5 – affiliate sale (money collected)

All but $200 of this was earned from GoBackpacking.com too, which goes to show that you can earn good money by focusing on a single site.

I was especially excited to sell my first 486 x 60 banner advertisement in the header. It was my highest priced option at $200 per month, and I think I first saw the e-mail notification of payment from PayPal after working out at the gym.

Time after time, I check my BlackBerry mid-morning, as I’m walking out of the gym, and see money being sent to me for building a travel blog I’m passionate about. It’s an incredible feeling. I’ve learned so much over the last 3 years of blogging, with a whole trip around the world sandwiched in between.

The reason I’ve been so quiet here at Blog to Travel is the attention I’ve been giving my new travel blog project – a membership site due to be launched in January 2010.

I’m excited to be putting together my own product to sell, and think it will have a lot to offer the travel blogging community. I’ve already given a few previews, and I am confident it will kick butt when all is said and done.

___

PS – if I factor in uncollected affiliate earnings for Nov ‘09, I surpassed the $3,000 mark Nomadic Matt cites for his ebook about How to Make Money with a Travel Blog. And I’m poised to easily surpass $10,000 for the year!

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Nomadic Matt’s Make Money Travel Blogging eBook

Dave — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:04:28 +0000

Last week on GoBackpacking, I reviewed Nomadic Matt’s popular ebook about how to make money with a travel blog.

I’ll save you the suspense of reading the full review, and say that I think most bloggers can learn something from Matt’s effort and experience of building $3,000 in recurring revenue from internet sites, the least of which might be what goes into an ebook of this nature. He’s sold over 300 copies, which sounds darn good in my book, especially at $27 per copy.

I thought my money was well spent. New bloggers would do well to reference it frequently, while I think one read was enough for me.

Have you read his ebook? If so, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

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Web Earnings for October 2009

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:03:21 +0000

October was a record-breaking month for my web earnings! New, high-quality, high-paying sponsors seemed to emerge from the woodwork. I began to leverage Medellin Living as a lower-cost alternative to advertising on GoBackpacking as well.

I am finally experiencing the benefits of having multiple sites, though I’m still concentrating the majority of my efforts on GoBackpacking.

In October 2009, I earned a total of $1,610:

$1,449 – from direct text/banner ads
$91 – Text Link ads
$70 – Linkworth

As you can see, selling direct pays, and BIG. Probably even BIGGER than I realize because I tend to undervalue my blogs and am not the hardest negotiator.

There’s no sharing revenue with a middle-man, though it does require you build up some traffic, Page Rank, and/or reputation first. The irony for travel bloggers is that the best time to leverage their blogs are before their trip, and even more so AFTER their trips. While they’re away, even though they are reporting back cool activities and photos, they have less time to engage with the online travel community, comment on blogs, and use social media to the fullest.

A cool thing about almost every advertiser that buys space on my site is that they come to me. Great rankings in the search engines (primarily Google) and being listed on the Trusted Travel Blogs Network have accounted for many a new advertiser.

As my traffic has improved on GoBackpacking, I’ve decided to steer away from selling text link ads. My homepage is a sad PR 2 (even after this past weekend’s update) because of them all. Yesterday, I canceled my account with Text Link Ads after being with them for almost 3 years. They were my second highest source of revenue, however now that I’m valuing my blog more, I should be able to make up the $70-$90 per month with one new, quality sponsor.

November will be dedicated to working hard on a new blog project I’ve got going. It has HUGE potential and I am really excited about it. I can’t wait to share more, but not quite yet.

For those that are interested, GoBackpacking received 14,000 visits and 30,000 page views in October, reflecting a 15% increase over September.

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Building RSS Subscribers

Dave — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:43:44 +0000

GoBackpacking's RSS Feedreader Stats

Slow and steady wins the race.

In January 2010, I’ll have been blogging on GoBackpacking for 3 years, with 20 months of it spent traveling around the world. And I am just now breaking the 800-subscriber mark.

See the steep uptick toward the very right edge? That corresponds with the end of my ’round the world trip.

At that time, I began to leverage Twitter to create a new source of traffic, and also compiled my dares from the trip into an eBook which I am giving away as a bonus for RSS/newsletter subscribers.

Being unemployed does have its benefits, at least in the short term.

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Textbrokers & Outsourcing Content Creation

Dave — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:55:25 +0000

Problogger’s new forum has already paid off for me in a tangible, meaningful way. I posted a message asking for recommendations on where to find writers who could create quality content in the $10-20 per article range.

I got a bunch of responses, including a few recommendations for Textbroker. The site was laid out simply, with little distraction. I signed up immediately, and wrote up my first order within 10 minutes. The funny thing was I found myself at a loss for how many words to request. I never look at the word count for my own blog posts, only when writing for someone else, so my judgment needs honing.

You pay per word, based on the quality of writing/writer. For example, “4 – excellent” costs $0.20 per word, while the highest level, “5 – professional” costs almost three times that – $0.67 per word. Since I was seeking an overall introduction to a city, the article’s length necessitated that I go with level 4. Based on the samples from each level, I was comfortable with this decision.

Two days later, I had a finished piece, which only required the correction of one misspelling. Otherwise, I was hooked from the first sentence, and found it easy to read, hitting all my requirements and sounding like something I’d write myself. At a cost of $14, it saved me a few hours of time, and left me with a new writer to consider for future assignments.

Seriously, I couldn’t be happier with my first experience with Textbroker. And as part of the deal, I get the full copyright to what was written. Cool, eh?

By the way, this is in no way a sponsored review!

I’ve already submitted a few more orders to help jump start my newest site.

I’m going to adopt Lissie’s approach to writing for my ever-expanding web empire. She mentioned it in a comment here last week.

GoBackpacking (flagship site) – I will continue to write my best stuff for this site, though will slowly open it up to more guest posts.

Medellin Living – I will maintain an editorial role, ensuring content is created by volunteer contributors (living in Medellin, of course)

Blog to Travel – I will continue to write for this blog, however it will be more informal. I’ll use this blog to experiment and play around, and share my earnings month to month. Along the way, there will be tips, but I’m not going to try and be the authority for making money online. I’d rather tell you the authorities I trust and follow so you can do the same.

All other sites – I will pay for content, seek contributors, and/or write a minimal amount myself to fill in the gaps

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My Favorite Forums

Dave — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:59:42 +0000

Last week I joined two new web forums, so I thought I’d take a moment to share my favorite web forums, why I use them, and why you might want to join them as well.

First, and this applies to all of the below forums, you can add hyperlinks to the sites you want to promote in your signatures. This is a great way to pull in some extra traffic immediately when posting, and to a lesser degree over time. The downside is it takes time and energy to post useful questions, responses, and anything in general. The more useful and authoritative your posts, the more traffic you can expect to receive from readers clicking the links in your signature.

Second, by using consistent usernames across all forums, especially ones that apply to your niche, you can build authority by helping to solve other people’s problems.

Digital Points

Digital Points forum covers all your typical web topics from making money with Google AdSense and affiliates to copywriting, picking domain names, and programming. And I don’t use it for any of those topics! I found out about Digital Points through the eBook by Working Nomad, and began using it to sell text links.

Every few weeks, I’ll search the text link sales subforum for keyword “travel” and send private messages to interested buyers. I’ve made a few sales through the forum, and deem it a worthy resource. Actually, a big selling point is that accessing the forum is FREE. I’ve seen others where you have to pay monthly for access, and I’m not going to go there.

Problogger

Like I said, I have no desire to pay a monthly fee for access to a forum, but there is always an exception to the rule. That exception is the new forum at Darren Rowse’s Problogger. I’ve been reading Darren’s blog for a few years now (well, not while I was traveling the world for 20 months, but both before and after) and learned a lot. I trust him and therefore I was sold after watching his video pitch, even at a cost of $1.95 per month.

I was pleasantly surprised when I logged in for the first time. People seemed friendly and helpful, and lively conversations were occurring already. I’m sure I will be visiting it on/off for the foreseeable future, and I’ll keep you posted on the benefits and what I’m learning.

Working Nomad

I signed up for the Working Nomad forum back in 2007, but never posted until a few days ago. It is a smaller community than the others, however I like the fact that it is tied to my niche – travel. I can’t report much yet, however I can say that I intend to visit a few times a week and participate in the dialogue now that I have some moneymaking experience under my belt with websites.

BootsnAll

BootsnAll is the travel forum I used when I needed help planning my trip around the world. I prefer it over Lonely Planet’s Thorntree, but I can’t exactly say why. I just think the quality of posts is higher, though LP has a bigger reach, I think. For example, there’s not a lot of messages about travel in Tibet on BootsnAll, while when I was seeking daily updates on my chances of visiting last March from China, I accessed useful info on Thorntree.

So there you have it, 4 forums where I feel my time is best spent.

Do you have a preferred forum for learning how to make money online or building authority in your niche?

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New Link Sales Through Digital Point’s Forum

Writing & Selling eBooks to Make Money

Dave — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:22:02 +0000

I’m of the mindset that it will be easier to build my online income through focusing on developing one super-authoritative, high-trafficked site (GoBackpacking) than a lot of little sites. In fact, since buying the 5 new domains last week, and starting to devote time and energy to the first of them, I’m a little concerned that I’m losing focus.

Before I committed some money to that idea, I had outlined and begun work on a new book – one I hope to publish in paperback, as well as in electronic form, by mid-January 2010. I know there is an unfulfilled need for this book, and I have already developed the online (blog) platform to promote it.

Suddenly, I feel like an octopus with my tentacles reaching out in many different directions. Recently, I took note of two book sales updates, which has me thinking the book should be a top priority for me. Let’s take a look.

Nomadic Matt recently announced a contest for affiliates in an effort to sell more copies of his make money online e-book. By the way, I am not an affiliate.

First, he indicates having sold more than 300 copies since first announcing it May 11, 2009. At $27 apiece, that is a gross of $8,100. Sounds good to me. Of course, I’m sure a lot of those sales were via affiliates, and since he offers a 50% commission, that’d take a bite out of his gross earnings. There may also be some admin fees associated with selling the book and/or receiving money that I’m not aware of. Deducting 25%, would still leave Matt with about $6,000 in sales, plus a bunch of happy moneymaking affiliates. That’s about $1,000 per month, though I imagine the initial sales during the e-book launch make up the bulk of the total.

Roosh, a guy I met in Medellin who just launched his second book, A Dead Bat in Paraguay, reported selling about 285 copies (84 were in the first week, I believe). He priced it at $20 for the paperback, and $10 for the electronic version, with a 50% commission for affiliate sales. I’m going to guesstimate he’s taking $12 per sale, or a little over $3,000 in the first two weeks. But because he’s actually putting out paper books, it is probably less. To be honest, I have no idea. I do know there is a certain added level of prestige that comes with putting out a traditional book versus just an e-book.

I know these guys worked hard on their respective books. I don’t think either sees them as a sole source of income, but rather a way to build a new stream while increasing their authority on a certain subject. That is exactly why I think writing and selling a book should be a priority for me over building new websites.

On a personal note, my first effort at an ebook (“Dare Me!“) has resulted in positive responses, an increase in RSS and newsletter subscribers, 100+ visits to the download site, and 79 views on Slideshare. All within the first two weeks, without proactively seeking written reviews from fellow bloggers. I’ve learned a lot, and realized first hand why it is a great idea to give something away for free (at least in the beginning).

5 New Domain Names Purchased

Dave — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:20:52 +0000

I bought 5 new domain names through GoDaddy this past Friday. My goal is to set up static sites on 3 of them.

It’s a little overwhelming to think of all the work that will go into such an effort, and I’m already fantasizing about paying for content to save me from writing it all. Even though I’m using WordPress as the content management system (CMS), I must remember that I’m not trying to create and develop new blogs. It feels like a full time job managing 3, let alone 6.

Making the switch in my mind is harder than I thought. I spent Friday night shopping for a new WordPress theme, settling on the popular (premium) Lifestyle by StudioPress. Part of me thinks I should’ve used a free theme, but on the other hand, if I’m going to set this site up properly, to make money, then leave it unattended, I want to make sure it looks good from the start. Buying Gazette by Woo Themes for GoBackpacking was my first venture into premium themes, and I’ve been very satisfied with the support and design so far.

Like Woo, StudioPress (formerly Revolution) is well-regarded and popular in the theme design arena, and a company I looked at previously. I really like the way Nomadic Matt customized the Corporate theme for his travel blog.

To sum up, I spent the weekend buying domains, a new theme, and getting a new site set up for the first time in 8 months.

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Web Earnings for September 2009

Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:05:35 +0000

September turned out to be an average month in most respects, except one. I earned close to $60 through Google AdSense for the first time, much the result of increasing traffic on GoBackpacking. Averaging $2 a day versus $1 offers a nice mental boost, however the real goal is to hit $3 a day so I can count on a monthly check of $100 or more from Google.

In Septemeber 2009, I earned a total of $475:

$194 – from direct text/banner ads
$113 – from Google AdSense (payment received from prior months earnings)
$98 – Text Link Ads
$70 – Linkworth

I was approached about a banner deal which will end up netting me a little over $100 per month. I was really excited about this deal. If it lasts 12 months, then it would be my single biggest advertising agreement to-date. I also referred the advertiser to four of my fellow travel bloggers. He mentioned my name when contacting them, which meant I received a lot of “thank you’s” which made me feel good.

I did a lot of work in September over at GoBackpacking – launching a new magazine-style design, releasing my first (free) e-book, and doing my best to pump out great content. I wrote a few guest posts for other blogs, and have a few people returning the favor. I am in authority-building mode, doing my best to network via Twitter and build up awareness. Once GoBackpacking’s premium Woo Theme was in place, I updated Blog to Travel’s theme to Blue Grace.

Looking ahead, I have one advertiser up for renewal in October, and a whopping 6 in November, which could prove to be my biggest month to-date. I anticipate spending in December to be lower than average due to the holidays.

__________

PS – I think it’s against the Google AdSense Terms of Service to share how much I make through them. If anyone can confirm that yes/no, I’d appreciate it!

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Google AdSense Earnings on the Rise

Dave — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:16:44 +0000

I couldn’t wait to share this news. Normally my monthly earnings reports reflect payments received, so I don’t report very often about the money I’m earning from Google AdSense.

Well, I’m excited to say August was my biggest month (by far) at $48, and September has already surpassed that mark with almost a full week left to go!

I’ve had quite a few $4 and $5 days which I never imagined I’d reach. If I can get to the $3.50 mark consistently, then it would earn me a $100+ Google payment each month, which would be an AWESOME addition to my recurring monthly revenue!

And it all came about because of a guest post I read on ProBlogger which highlighted simple changes with AdSense placement resulting in BIG changes in earnings. What did I do differently to increase from $10 or $20 per month to $60+ you ask?

I added AdSense leader boards above the fold (in the top half of my blogs), usually front and center on the page. They aren’t the prettiest advertisements, however they have been effective in leveraging what was once a trickle of clicks into more of a torrent.

Darren Rowse’s advice is to always be experimenting with ad placements and affiliates to find what works. I just wish I hadn’t given up on Google early on.

In all fairness, my traffic has been rising steadily too, since completing my RTW trip and leveraging Twitter and GoBackpacking’s listing in the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa program.

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Web Earnings for August 2009

Dave — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:30:34 +0000

In August 2009, I earned a total of $1,063.

$485 – freelance online/social media promotional work
$418 – direct text/banner ad sales
$90 – Text Link Ads
$70 – Linkworth

This was my third highest month on record, and came just a month after my second highest month. Suddenly, it feels as though momentum is building toward reaching the $1,000 mark more regularly.

The freelance payment was for a bit of work I began in relation to the trip to Colombia I was offered, but couldn’t accept. I thought it was quite generous given I had yet to get seriously involved in the project.

I really need to write out my goals so I make them more definite. The figure in my mind for monthly earnings within 12 months of today keeps vacillating between $1,500 and $3,000. I know I should aim toward the higher end of this range, so even if I fall short by 33%, I’d still land at $2,000 per month which would be simply mind-blowing! I’ll figure out how best to get there in a different post.

One thing is for sure, I’ll need to renovate and market Blog To Travel if I want it to become part of my earnings empire.

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Graph of Total Online Earnings

Dave — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:12:00 +0000

This graph (which will open in a new window) represents October 2006 to August 2009*. It was produced using Google Docs, which is the way I track my online earnings. This approach was very useful given I began traveling in late 2007 without a laptop, and even when I bought one a few months later in Hong Kong (because my Asus AC adapter kept breaking on me…3 separate times to be exact – Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia).

I take heart in the slow upward trend. I’m on the right track, and it could very well be a slippery slope to much greater income.

An old childhood friend of my brothers, who is the co-founder of an internet start-up in NYC, recently commented to me that “it should be easier to go from $500/month to $5,000, then $0 to $500.

I bet he’s right, and I’m looking forward to finding out!

____________________

* I am not sure if this link is static or will dynamically reflect future data, therefore these dates are reflective of the graph as it looked at the end of August.

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Web Earnings for July 2009

Dave — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:58:53 +0000

In July 2009, I earned $155.

$85 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth

After two great months, way above my average earnings the last 1.5 years, a month like this is not unexpected. Still, it sucks! I’m glad I’ve been able to keep $150+ coming in even when all other income streams aren’t producing. Again, every dollar makes a difference in terms of my financial situation and my mental beliefs about the long term prospects of making money online.

Also, I think the Summer months are typically quiet since people are on vacation, including the buyers of advertising!

I’m almost caught up with my earnings reports, which means I’ll be more consistent in posting month-to-month going forward. Hopefully, I can also share some tips as well, which ways always the purpose of starting Blog To Travel.

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Web Earnings for June 2009

Dave — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:53:53 +0000

In June 2009, I earned $716.

$220 from a Direct text link sale
$200 from Freelance Writing
$106 from Google AdSense
$105 from Linkworth
$85 from Text Link Ads

Normally I’m use to a significant drop in earnings after a really big month like May, but the strategy of having multiple income streams paid off well. The only effort I really had to make above and beyond normal, smart blogging, was writing a few freelance articles.

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Web Earnings For November 2008

Dave — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:22:39 +0000

November was a higher-than-average month. Unfortunately, it would be followed by two lower-than-average months which resulted from non-renewals. The world’s economic troubles were pinching the budgets of advertisers.

In November 2008, I earned $678.

$389 from the direct sale of a text link
$88 from Text Link Ads
$105 from Linkworth
$97 from reader donations

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I’m Still Here!

Dave — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:18:54 +0000

Hola amigos.

This is just a quick update to let you know I’m still here. If building one successful blog (GoBackpacking) is a lot of work, then I’ve learned the last few months that building a second one from scratch (Medellin Living) is about double the work! No shortcuts.

Thankfully my gamble on the second one paid off with almost immediate SEO and traffic results. I’m even making some money from it already, and arranged my first contributing author to help keep the content fresh when I leave Colombia for home in the USA next month.

I’m still very dedicated to sharing what I’m making from my sites, as well as how I’m doing in growing that income. I’ll need to catch up with the Earnings Updates, and then my postings should start to become more regular.

As a teaser, I’ll let you know exactly where I’m at right now.

May 2009 was my second highest earnings month on record. I earned over $1,300! And as expected, June is down from that, and closer to my monthly average for the year. Overall, my earnings are up about 20% over 2008, and that doesn’t discount the donations and cash gifts I received last year while traveling. The real growth number from paid advertisers is probably closer to 30%.

My goal is to reach a sustainable traveling income over the next 12 months. At the moment, I’m setting that figure at $1,500 per month, which means I’ll have to figure out how to double my recurring income. Then, I’ll really open up my options for being able to take another long term backpacking trip!

I’ve begun a new series over at GoBackpacking called Developing A Successful Travel Blog. I haven’t hit the monetization aspects of travel blogging yet, but there’s still a lot of good info being posted each week. Be sure to check it out, and I’ll talk to you soon.

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Web Earnings for May 2009

Dave — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:46:18 +0000

In May 2009, I earned $1,338.

$1,134 from a Direct text link sale
$105 from Linkworth
$85 from Text Link Ads
$13 Amazon.com

This was my second biggest earnings month on record, and the biggest if I am disregarding the highest month (which was something of a fluke because the advertiser made a mistake in purchasing 3 links for the same URL, just with different anchor text…though he let me keep the money).

As you can see, direct sales made up the bulk of earnings. Selling links for 6 or 12 months at a time is the way to go as neither the advertiser, nor I, want to keep up month-to-month managing a single link.

Earnings from May were more than enough to cover the purchase of a brand new HP Pavilion Entertainment PC. This purchase was the first step toward really investing in my blogs as a future source of significant income, whether I am living at home or traveling abroad.

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Web Earnings for April 2009

Dave — Sat, 30 May 2009 06:38:23 +0000

In April 2009, I earned $474.

$187 from a Direct text link sale
$105 from Linkworth
$100 from a freelance writing assignment
$82 from Text Link Ads

Adding the new income stream of freelance writing was awesome! It is money I now realize has to be treated differently with regard to taxes (self-employed earnings vs. the blogs which are a hobby), but it’s worth it to start getting my name out there as a published travel writer.

The opportunity was the direct result of my backpacking blog, which was over 2 years old by then, and my newest blog called Medellin Living which I began back in February when I saw a HUGE opportunity to write about an up-and-coming South American destination from a foreigner’s perspective (in English).

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Web Earnings for March 2009

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:29:17 +0000

In March 2009, I earned $267.

$97 from a Donation
$81 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth
$18.92 from a Direct text link sale

Not the greatest month, but the cost of living was lower in Colombia, so every dollar I earned felt like more money. Plus, the exchange rate was really in my favor due to the economic downturn. Taking the time to actually live in one place abroad, I realized the power of earning money online in US dollars. Earning that money back at home, it was and is easy to take it for granted.

To give you an idea of what $267 could buy me in Medellin -

$160 – cost of a room rental in a very nice, furnished, 1-year old apartment building
$40 – 1 month gym membership which includes support from personal trainers
$30 – 7 taxi cab rides across town
$20 – 3 lunch specials at Sushi To Go in Parque Lleras (main nightlife district)
$10 – 1 month’s worth of pre-paid cell phone minutes with Tigo (carrier)

Needless to say, I really became motivated to grow my online income.

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Web Earnings for February 2009

Dave — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:12:06 +0000

In February 2009, I earned $501.

$359 from Direct text link sales
$71 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth

February 09 was the first month in almost a year that I did not receive a reader donation or cash gift. This was basically the end of my trip around the world, as I arrived in Medellin, Colombia, and decided to try living there.

This year is turning out to be a great one, as my earnings continued to grow despite the lack of donations! Plus, I was offered my first paid trip abroad. I’m currently changing my personal reality to believe what I want from all this is possible – self-sustainability, being my own boss, and able to work remotely as I travel.

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Web Earnings For October 2008

Dave — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:55:32 +0000

I love the months where I pick up a new advertiser to pay for a 6 or 12 month commitment on a text link sale turns out to be gre

In October 2008, I earned $501.

$289 from the direct sale of a text link
$103 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth
$30 from reader donations

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Web Earnings For September 2008

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:33:48 +0000

September was a great month as I contacted an advertiser early to see if he would be willing to renew 5 text links a little early. He was happy working with me, and happy to renew a little early in support of my travels. I also gained a new advertiser on Linkworth to up my earnings through that marketplace.

In September 2008, I earned $681.

$411 from the annual renewal of 5 text links
$103 from Text Link Ads
$97 from reader donations
$70 from Linkworth

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Web Earnings for January 2009

Dave — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:11:52 +0000

In January 2009, I earned $272.

$131 from Donations
$71 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth

The earnings from Text Link Ads hit their lowest since my third month with the company – February 2007. Yikes! Hopefully I’ll start getting more sales again now that my Alexa Rank is improving, but Page Rank is important too, and Google most recently dropped me from 3 to 2.

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Web Earnings for 2008 (Year End Total)

Dave — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:32:48 +0000

Happy 4th of July to all the Americans reading.

In 2008, I earned a total of $6,141. I doubled my 2007 income, which represented my first year of blogging and learning how to monetize my site. But about $1,000 of this represents cash gifts, donations, and payments for Dares, so the advertising growth was perhaps 75% over 2007 versus 100%.

Either way, this was my sole income for 2008 as I traveled around the world. It easily allowed me to travel longer than I would’ve done otherwise, and in more style. Having some money come in also provided a mental boost, and encouraged me to put in the hours of work each day and week required to keep the blog updated daily.

Next, time to catch everyone up on how I’ve been doing in 2009.

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Web Earnings for December 2008

Dave — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:27:39 +0000

In December 2008, I earned $290.

$101 from Google AdSense
$71 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth
$48 from reader donations

My Text Link Ads stream is drying up by this point. Down from a high of about $136 nine months earlier. I think my drop in Alexa Ranking and Page Rank, combined with tough economic times, has accounted for the lack of new sales. I wrote TLA regarding the poor performance lately, and they offered to have their sales reps help to push it.

I also lost a Linkworth ad which hurts because I get 70% of my $50/month rate, or $35 per text link, per month. Much more generous than TLA, but with a lower volume of sales.

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Web Earnings For August 2008

Dave — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:37:03 +0000

August marked my 5th straight month of decline for income from TextLinkAds.com. As I write today, my income has declined even further, with months passing between new ad sales. It appears as though this source of income is going to dry up once the remaining ads expire.

I recently contacted Text Link Ads after reviewing the way my site is listed in their marketplace. Changes to the listings, and what I feel are gross inaccuracies in the stats are clearly hurting me, yet the company didn´t see a problem. They did offer to push my site to their salespeople to hopefully spur new interest.

In August 2008, I earned $305.

$110 from reader donations
$100 from Text Link Ads
$60 from Review Me
$35 from Linkworth

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Web Earnings for July 2008

Dave — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:48:50 +0000

The last four months evened out to a nice figure for July. The direct sales of text links continue to offer the boosts I need to see a higher average income per month. Best of all, the advertisers come to me, so my part in the process continues to simply be the development of a interesting content and negotiating rates. Seems easy enough!

In July 2008, I earned $396.

$144 from direct text link sales
$119 from Text Link Ads
$98 from reader donations
$35 from Linkworth

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Web Earnings for June 2008

Dave — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:45:54 +0000

Nothing much to speak of last June. It was the second time a very good month was followed by an especially low month.

In June 2008, I earned $171.

$116 from Text Link Ads
$35 from Linkworth
$20 from reader donations

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Web Earnings for May 2008

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:24:19 +0000

May turned out to be another good month for direct sales of text links. Together with the recurring revenue from TLA and Linkworth, I am starting to enjoy a regular income month to month.

I had doubled my rate for ReviewMe from $60 to $120, mostly because I do not enjoy writing reviews, nor subjecting my growing audience to them, however if a company finds the value gained worth the cost, I want to reap a bigger reward for the time and effort. I sold one, so clearly I was undervaluing my site when the rate was half as much.

In May 2008, I earned $637.

$365 from direct text link sales
$119 from Text Link Ads
$110 from reader donations
$60 from ReviewMe
$35 from Linkworth

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Web Earnings for April 2008

Dave — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:09:02 +0000

April’s earnings were meager compared to the fantastic March numbers, but I still hoped the overall trend would be heading higher over the months ahead.

In April 2008, I earned $208.

$129 from Text Link Ads
$70 from Linkworth
$10 from reader donations

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Web Earnings for March 2008

Dave — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:25:52 +0000

March was (and has been) by far my biggest one month total thanks to the direct sale of 3 text link ads to a new advertiser for $1,000 (minus PayPal fee). I remember how excited I was when we negotiated the rate. It was chilly. I was in Hong Kong. I had just bought a new ASUS eeePC laptop. I don’t care where you are traveling or living, a grand can make a BIG impact!

I also received a Google AdSense payoff, and upped my Linkworth earnings thanks to another text link sale through their marketplace.

In March 2008, I earned $1,494.

$1184 from direct sales of text links
$136 from Text Link Ads
$106 from Google AdSense
$68 from Linkworth

March turned out to account for 25% of my total earnings for 2008. Unfortunately, the advertiser chose not to renew in 2009. As you will soon see, the economic crisis which started to spiral out of control in late 2008 has had a noticeable impact on my renewals and new sales.

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Web Earnings for February 2008

Dave — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:27:24 +0000

Wow, what a year! I wish I had the time and energy to keep this blog updated while I traveled the world and wrote for GoBackpacking, but it was just too much. The good news is I continued to earn money online the whole time, and it is still going strong!

I am currently trying to earn a sustainable living in Medellin, Colombia, by teaching/tutoring English and developing my online income even further. To that end, I recently created Medellin Living to highlight my experience taking on this challenge in another country. I have enough savings to last me until the end of March. 4 weeks! Will I make it? Subscribe to Medellin Living and find out!

And now back to my earnings updates so I can catch you all up to the present day.

In February 2008, I earned $477.23.

$187.60 from a direct sale of a text link
$136.46 from Text Link Ads
$75.88 from reader donations
$46.29 from Linkworth
$31.00 from ReviewMe

During this month, I was excited to have my first sale through Linkworth, which offers a higher payout than Text Link Ads (70% vs 50%). And unlike TLA, I only feature the Linkworth ads on my home page, so that leaves plenty of open real estate on the right sidebar of the blog.

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Web Earnings for February 2008

Dave — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:43:07 +0000

I began to receive more frequent inquiries from advertisers by February, as my trip was in full swing. I found myself quite excited to check my e-mail each day, with the hope that additional advertising would have a noticeable impact in extending my days on the road.

In February, I earned $477.23.

$136.46 from Text Link Ads (2nd month in a row)
$187.60 from a new direct ad sale
$31.00 from Review Me
$75.88 from reader donations
$46.29 from LinkWorth (representing my first ad sale through them)

It was a banner month!!!!! In addition, since I only report earnings deposited into my bank account per month, this number does not reflect another $100 I’ve earned through Google AdSense. It will likely be reported in March’s numbers.

My Google AdSense earnings are certainly up per day since I began to travel – a reflection of my higher traffic numbers. I need to think about further capitalizing on this revenue source I had once give up on.

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Web Earnings for January 2008

Dave — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 06:20:05 +0000

By January, I had covered French Polynesia (Tahiti) in the South Pacific and New Zealand, and was hoofing it around Australia.

In January 2008, I earned $304.28.

$136.46 from Text Link Ads
$143.85 from the renewal of a 6-month text link ad sale (direct with me)
$23.97 from reader donation

The Text Link Ad income was the highest so far for a month without a referral bonus! I continue to see my 10-link inventory maxed out, which is good because I can count on the income immediately, though bad because it means I cannot earn more through new sales based on my higher ad rate.

Still, after 2 months of travel, I was increasingly excited about any money I could bring in.

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Web Earnings for December 2007

Dave — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:20:03 +0000

After a whirlwind first 3 months on the road, I feel the need to resume my earnings reports. Despite a lack of updates on Blog to Travel, I’ve managed to schedule posts almost daily on GoBackpacking as I travel around the world.

In December 2007, I earned $233.00.

$129.91 from Text Link Ads
$60.00 from Review Me (1 review written from the island of Moorea in French Polynesia)
$43.09 from reader donations

This income took on a whole new meaning when it was deposited into my bank account. It provided a mental boost given I had severed my ties with life in the USA and was half way around the world in New Zealand.

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Web Earnings for September and October 2007

Dave — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:06:30 +0000

In September, I earned $653.51

$126.11 from Text Link Ads
$527.40 from the renewal of a direct sale (5 links on different pages for 12 months)

In October, I earned $108.00

All of it from Text Link Ads

I would’ve earned an additional $30, however I declined a Review Me request. I raised my TLA rate to $42 per link, per month, however because I’m usually running at full capacity (10 links) for the majority of each month, it’s going to take many months for new buyers to purchase my links at the higher rate.

In November, I expect to earn $134.36

All from Text Link Ads again

I raised my Review Me price over $100, given the amount of work they require. I’m not inclined to do any now, however I may change my tune once I’m on the road. If I can continue to earn $134 a month while I’m traveling, that could cover a few splurges, an extra activity or two, or who knows!

Since I’ve saved enough to make it around the world *without* having to work, I’ve down shifted and intend to fully enjoy myself, updating my primary GoBackpacking Blog for fun instead of profit. I expect my traffic to potentially decrease as I will be posting less often. I’m still happy to have retained a PR 4 after the last Google Page Rank update, and was surprised to see Blog to Travel hit PR 2.

I depart New York City on November 30th for Tahiti!

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What If Google Abandoned PageRank?

Dave — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:42:11 +0000

CashQuests posted an interesting piece today about the possibility of Google abandoning PageRank in favor of a different strategy, much to the exclusion of paid text links. While I believe the post was meant more to elicit a reaction than make a serious case for that side of the debate, it did get me thinking.

Text link ads are currently my biggest moneymaker, and a sudden cessation of Google’s PageRank system would likely have an immediate impact on my ability to make money online. Though it’s been 5 months since the last PageRank (that boosted my backpacking blog from PRO to PR4 overnight), I believe the delay is the result of updates being made to the algorithm to detect or place less emphasis on paid text links.

Regardless of changes to Google’s PageRank strategy, I’m confident the “make money online” community is so strong at this point, it will adapt and evolve to whatever challenges come their way. People are making thousands, if not millions, of dollars from text link ads. For those of us focused on earning some pocket change online to fund our travels, we need only continue to subscribe to a few of the leading moneymaking blogs to see how they adapt and change.

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New Link Sales Through Digital Point’s Forum

Dave — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:05:28 +0000

I had recently asked Kirsty of Nerdy Nomad a few questions about how I could better monetize my travel blog. She went above and beyond by writing up a full review (pro bono)! As I read her feedback, I realized how much perspective I had lost on a web site I work on every day.

One of her tips has already paid off to the tune of $55 in the past 24 hours. I joined the Digital Point Forum which is dedicated to internet marketing and search engine optimization. I jumped straight to the sub-forum dedicated to the buying and selling of text links, and performed a search for “travel.” I found quite a few results, and send out about 8 private messages to potential buyers. In less than 24 hours I had received $55 (via PayPal) for two different text link ads on my travel blog (1 month duration).

Despite my quick success with opening a new revenue stream via the text link marketplace in this forum, it is not my preference. Here’s a quick breakdown as I see it:

Pros’s

Publisher receives 95-100% of sale price
Greater flexibility with pricing (to suit individual buyers’ needs)
Relationship building can lead to bigger sales in the future

Con’s

If advertisers aren’t contacting you, then it’s work to go find them
Manually managing short term ad buys takes time and good organizational skills

I consider myself lucky to be receiving the occasional ad inquiries through my site. The line from Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come” can ring true online. Being proactive from time to time in soliciting ad sales will be a nice compliment to the dependable and automated marketplace of Text Link Ads.

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Stay Organized with Google Docs and Spreadsheets

Dave — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:44:23 +0000

A few months ago I began to use Google Spreadsheets when I realized it would allow me to easily access and edit my ‘Round the World Trip Plan while on the road. The editing functions and charts are a bit rudimentary, however it’s still a Beta service, and Google appears committed to making regular improvements.

More recently, I began to track my web earnings and expenses via this service. As much as I don’t like to think about it, I will have to report my earnings on my 2007 income taxes, and having the information at my fingertips will make it easier to file online from anywhere in the world (I hope).

Also, it is a great way to share Word and Excel files online, without the need for visitors to own Microsoft Word or Excel.

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Text Link Ads – My Biggest Moneymaker

Dave — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:15:29 +0000

Back in April, I wrote about my experience getting started with Text Link Ads on my GoBackpacking blog. The post was called Text Link Ads – Create Recurring Revenue With Ease. To my surprise, it was read by quite a lot of bloggers, and received mentions in the context of some very informative articles about the value of text link ads to advertisers and publishers. Below are a few of the more authoritative pieces which were kind enough to highlight my personal experience.

YoungGoGetter.com – Do Text Link Ads Really Work

Travelhapphy.info – Make Money While You Travel With A Travel Blog

WebProNews.com – Paid Links Economy

My association with Text Link Ads continues to pay off month after month, and I’m happy to sing their praises. I project them to be my biggest earner for 2007. Sign up today and see for yourself!

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Another $9 Domain Name Purchased via GoDaddy.com

Dave — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 13:40:39 +0000

I bought my first domain, GoBackpacking.com, in 1999, and I hadn’t bought another until last week (the one you’re on now). So far, I’ve been happy with the domain and hosting costs through GoDaddy.com, so I figured why not pay another $9 for a third domain name. $9 buys me the rights to the domain for an entire 12 months! I have two others in mind, however I do not want to get too ahead of myself.

I have less than 3 months to focus on growing these new domains and any others I buy before I’ll want and need to put them in auto-pilot mode. By auto-pilot mode, I mean the site design and affiliate/advertising placement is established, enough inbound links are created to build traffic, and the only work is to post new content.

Posting new content from the road should be easy enough to do from internet cafes and the occasional couchsurfer’s residence (for free!). Any money spent at the internet cafes will be an investment recouped through future web earnings. If I want to be savvy, I could even write the costs off on my federal taxes.

For those just starting out, I would recommend picking one killer domain, and investing your time and energy in building a blog or website around it. Once you learn about the various steps involved in developing an audience, and begin to earn a little money (by subscribing to this blog), you’ll find it’s easier and faster to develop additional ventures.

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Web Earnings for August 2007

Dave — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 15:46:30 +0000

At about $200, my monthly earnings for August did not set any records, however I did reach a new monthly high for Text Link Ads. I also received my first donation, thus opening the door to a new potential revenue stream. Like investing in stocks and a retirement plan, diversification is key.

Based on my experience thus far, some of my streams may only pay once a year (Google AdSense, which has a $100 threshold for payout), while others have become dependable monthly sources of income (Text Link Ads, $25 threshold).

Diversifying is akin to fishing with a net, instead of a fishing rod. You could be using the fanciest fishing rod in the world, yet you can still only catch one fish at a time! Improve your catch by adopting a net mentality.

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Let’s All Blog to Travel

Dave — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:43:13 +0000

I am excited to launch Blog to Travel today. The purpose of this site will be to track my web income from GoBackpacking.com, which includes a blog created to document my upcoming trip around the world. Along the way, I hope to share what I have learned about earning web income from a travel blog. Web income equals freedom – the freedom to work from anywhere you can reliably access the Internet.

Over the last 9 months, I’ve taught myself all about blogging from the ground up: culture, etiquette, search engine optimization (SEO), marketing, writing, WordPress design, advertising sales, and more. In less than a year, I have gone from earning $0 from my website, to an average of $180 per month. While this is still a bit shy of allowing me to sustain myself abroad, it is certainly enough to pad my budget in a meaningful way in countries such as India and Thailand.

There is a small, passionate, and growing group of independent travelers who are utilizing the Internet economy as a way to fund their lives abroad. It is a tantalizing thought, and may be easier than you think to achieve!

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