Monthly Round-up: October 2011
October started off really well for me and I was earning on average £60 a day which meant I was on target to equal my best month of about £1850. But then around October 14 something went wrong!
Panda will get you in the End!
There was a Google update which I think was part of the infamous Panda and my sites took a hit. I had escaped the previous updates that made up Panda but was not so lucky this time. Nearly all my sites took a hit. Sites that were exact match domains still ranked for their main keywords but any long tail keywords they ranked for got knocked right down the SERPs. Sites like amazon, ebay and wikipedia seemed to benefit most from the update, at least in the niches I am targeting and I lost out to them for most of my long tail. I went from earning £60 a day to £30 a day overnight!
Before and After October 14 2011
Another site Before and After October 14 2011
Private Blog Network Deindexed
As part of my link building I have been buying posts on private blog networks. These services are advertised on sites like Wicked Fire and Warrior Forum to mention just two. They might not be to everyone’s tastes but they were working well for me and I was getting a good return on my investment. However, as part of this Google update (or at least at the same time) one blog network I was using got de-indexed which removed all my backlinks from those sites. It wasn’t the only blog network I was using but it still affected some of my sites quite badly. I know people will say it serves me right for using such services but they do work and I still made money while my sites were well ranked. It might not have been as long term as I’d liked but I did get a positive effect. I’m still going to use them in the future but if anyone has any suggestions of better places to get links I’d love to hear them.
Unique Article Wizard
I finally bit the bullet and signed up with Unique Article Wizard. For those that don’t know this is a service that lets you submit your spun articles to other peoples’ blogs and directories. I posted about signing up before and didn’t get very good feedback but two people I’ve been following lately (Spencer @ Niche Pursuits and Trent @ Online Income Lab) swear by it so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s too early to tell if it has any effect but to read about how it can be used go here: http://onlineincomelab.com/backlinking-strategy/
- If you want to know more about the Unique Article Wizard click here on my affiliate link.
Other Stuff I Did In October
Apart from crying when my sites got hit I didn’t do much work in October. We went on holiday to Penang in Malaysia for a week at half term which was really good. The food was amazing, much better than Thailand I am afraid to say, and so cheap to eat out at the best curry places. There wasn’t free Wifi in the hotels but it wasn’t too expensive – about £10 a day – so I did a few hours of work but not much. As the floods started to get closer to Bangkok my partner’s school was shut so we got an unexpected two weeks off work. We decided to go away again and went to Koh Chang, one of the Thai islands. This time the hotel had free wifi so I managed to do a few hours a day of work which felt good as I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed with what to do next and how I could try and fix my sites or whether to give it all up and get a proper job.
Lifestyle Affiliates
While I was away it got me thinking about what I would do if I could start over again. As the cost of living is so cheap out here in South East Asia I would recommend to anyone who is just starting out and who is making a couple of £100 a month to save up and move out here. Get a little place by the sea, lock yourself away and work your socks off without all the stresses of high overheads back home. You will get a good holiday and can hopefully lay down some good foundations on your internet business while you have little distractions. Of course if you have a mortgage and family this isn’t an option but for those that are young, free and and single: go for it!
Earnings for October 2011
Last month I earned £1490 which was pretty good and although this month started off well by the middle of the month it was clear I wasn going to be lucky to beat that.
My gross earnings for October 2011 were: £1439.29 / $2309
Not bad considering what happened mid-month but a bit disappointing when you look at how well things started off. The downward slump is continuing which is a shame. Pretty sure I won’t hit my long-term goal of £2000 a month by the end of the year.
Goals for November 2011
You can read what I am thinking about doing in my What Would You Do with $1000 post.
My main focus for November will be to get 5 Adsense niche sites up and running with 8-10 pages on and some backlinks for each.
Alongside that I will be trying my hardest to get my existing sites back to where they were. I will pick the five top earners from the last couple of months and focus on them for now. I will be adding content to them and getting them a few links where I can.
How was your October and what are you goals for the last few months of the year?
Nice one Joe, a good month still! October for me was my best ever month outside of Christmas time (Nov/Dec), I’m not sure how I’ll do this Christmas time as my area of focus has shifted this year.
Looking forward to seeing how you do with Adsense sites, it’s something I’m toying with too.
Darren recently posted..You can make some money from small Niches
Hi Joe,
Well done, not a bad month considering you got the panda effect, like most sites.
Thought you might be interested in this on Flippa, buy into existing earning adsense sites;
https://flippa.com/2661416-101-month-10-adsense-sites-1-1-2-year-old-passive-income
Tempted myself but got to keep as much cash aside for a bigger project I’m working on
@Gary Thanks for the heads up. Do you think 10 sites making $100 a month in total has potential? Buying sites seems like quite a gamble. Will have a look and see what I can see.
@Darren Yeah not bad, just not moving in the right direction. I’m going to pick up the pace this month though.
Glad to here you had a good month. What kind of Adsense sites/model are you thinking of trying?
Not too sure to be honest, mainly information sites where a product is not easily available, for example I have a domain about a particular diet which seems to have PPC activity on it.
Darren recently posted..You can make some money from small Niches
wow, good job! i’m working hard so i can reach my goals too.
Laarni recently posted..Getting Pregnant Quick
Wow, you are still getting some awesome results though. You seem smart enough to figure out what to do about these Panda updates and how to fix it.
Justin | Personal Growth recently posted..11/11/11 and Manifesting Your Reality
Hi Joe,
Still not a bad month considering the panda hit, well done.
Was interested in what you had to say if you were to start over again, as it is exactly what I want to do myself. I need to get my affiliate sites earning a little more first. How much money do you need to live a comfortable life in Thailand, and what are house prices like there for something basic, but with aircon?
Mark
Interesting information and thanks for your openness.
I envy you the lifestyle and it certainly beats a London commute.
Stephen
@Stephen yeah its ok, don’t miss the crush of the rish hour Tube but do miss London, if only it was sunny everyday back home!
@Mark Yeah was not bad but doesn’t bode well for this month unless I can make some good progress.
Depends where you want to live in Thailand. Bangkok is probably the most expensive place but you can get a 1 bed apartment for 10,000 baht per month which is about £200. That is probably the cheapest though. For £500 a month you will get somewhere nice with pool, gym etc.
If I were heading out here I’d probably move to Chiang Mai which is another city but in the north of Thailand. Its much cheaper up there for everything and its more laid back and more ‘Thai’ thank Bangkok but still with everything Western you would need. Its also not as hot and humid all year around.
As for cost of living you can do it very cheap if you live Thai-style but you can also spend as much as you want if you want to live like back home. If you eat Thai food you can get a meal for about £1-£2 in a Thai restaurant. Electronics aren’t cheap though so bring your laptop!
Then there are the beaches and islands but I’d probably save them for holidays rather than living. If you’ve got any questions fire away.
@Justin thanks, we shall see!
Cheers Joe, i may pester you with some more questions
Yeah no problem. I should add that Western things are pretty expensive compared to back home, even stuff made out here like Nikon cameras. Sports equipment and clothes are expensive too. You nearly always pay full retail as there are no online deals as there is no amazon and ebay etc
But if you just want the simple life then it is very cheap!