KhalidsLife.com

As my realistic but tough challenge continues, I wanted a visual way to keep track of my daily average and to let my readers see how well I was doing.

After a quick scan of Google images for a suitable themometer and a few photoshop edits, I’ve now got myself a lovely money meter.

My daily average is sitting at around $5 and hopefully it’ll being increasing with the full launch of StudentUncovered.com and some other content sites.

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

I decided to change my WordPress Theme as I thought the old one was too plain and unprofessional for someone trying to promote themselves as an Internet Entrepreneur! What do you think of the new theme? Personally, I like the three boxes at the top that display the latest posts, comments and my most popular entries.

In addition to changing the theme, I’ve monetized it slightly by adding some 125 x 125 buttons so check them out and signup! I’ve also placed some discreet text links relating to making money which were there before but now have a better position, hopfully increasing my CTR.

So that’s the new look…what about the new start?

One of my personal goals for 2008 that I never blogged about was to clear my debt. Being a young and influential student, credit was extremely easy to come by, and who wants to live like a poor student when you can live like a rich one? I didn’t buy anything during my time at University, I just made sure I had nice clothes, was able to socialise etc. I should have been more careful, but we live and we learn.

My “new start” is to begin the year without using any credit facilities (except my account overdraft) and to pay off as much as possible. I will be flipping (buying then selling) websites but will carefully hand pick a couple from my network and keep them. I need to ensure I am building an income for the future and not just aiming for something short term.

I am eagerly awaiting Media Jump to fix their webmaster’s admin panel then I can check my earnings and get some quality, informative posts done. Until then, good luck with your earnings!

Khalid.

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I’m really pleased with my progress online recently. I have managed to begin covering my costs and start making some profit, I just hope this success is long term! Running quickly through my sites, Off Beat Ink continues to pull in around 1,000 uniques per day and provides $2 income, Featured Links on Kortaz are sold out with a whopping 12 sales this month and this blog has generated a few dollars through post sponsorship!

So far so good, the next stage is to increase the popularity of my site’s further thus increasing my income. I have began on a third project that I mentioned here, I just need to add content and flood it with traffic. This is another blog but not one I need to update daily. I plan to launch either this week or next.

Taking advice from dedicated commenter Marc, I intend to attempt to sell advertising space on Off Beat Ink to private bodyart companies in the near future. Roll on 2008!

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

p.s. I have decided to blog 1-2 times per day in an attempt to increase my readership! 

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When you are bored you tend to do things you regret…especially on the web. No I’m not talking about surfing porn and getting loads of popups appearing (how do I know that?), but buying domains when the light switch suddenly goes on in my business head.

One of them I’ll definately monetize as I want a recurring income without need to update daily. With OffBeatInk.com and my future gadget site (still in the pipeline), I need to post something new every 24hrs. Although this has its advantages, it can become a headache, especially when working full time.

Some nights I won’t go to bed till after 12am. I don’t mind because I always thing of the long term gain but I couldn’t manage a handful of sites like this unless they generated enough money for my to work part time.

The new project aims to target bloggers, a market that has experienced rapid growth in recent years. With the success of dot com moguls like John Chow and Darren Rowse, blogging has evolved into a very profitable industry. I want to tap into that market by offering products that will benefit bloggers…more info soon!

Anyways, I just thought I’d tell you my plans. Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

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As the week drags along and you look forward to the weekend, most people think of relaxing, take it easy, chilling out. Me…I think of time to work on my sites. I’m sure this view is share by fellow webmasters who also have the unfortunate rat race lifestyle I do.

In a bid to keep myself going, I’ve been reading other blogs, watching inspiration youtube videos and thinking of how nice it would be to actually be out my overdraft for a change!

To make things worse, it started snowing here in Scotland today and I got caught in it…lovely eh?

Tonight I’ve got no plans so after eating dinner and tidying up I’ll continue what I started earlier. That consisted of updating OffBeatInk.com, driving traffic to the site, researching new ideas (I can’t help it!) and trying to sell the last few remaning links on Kortaz.com.

With just over 1k uniques per day and no money spent on advertising, OffBeatInk.com is making around the $2 mark. If I could double it by the end of this month and keep it consistant I’d be really pleased. However, waiting on the SERPS updating is a nightmare! Most of my traffic is from November’s exposure, fingers crossed that’ll continue and I’ll get a good search rank…double the traffic…double the earnings?

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

November was a rather productive month for me, with Off Beat Ink receiving 60,000 unique visitors despite being only two months old! That was an increase of 40,000 visitors from the past month which I was extremely happy about. The site took in, on average, $2 per day. Although this isn’t a large amount, it is a start.

Kortaz was less productive, only taking in $16 for the month. That was due to the fact I had such a large downtime with Host Nine. However, with the site now hitting 8,000 uniques per day and PR4, I am surprised nobody is requesting to advertise despite me offering links on this thread at Digital Point Forums??? Any ideas?

Finally, Khalid’s Life is back online but not earnings really. As I’ve said before, I never had any plans to monetize this blog however I have placed a Media Links Box on the right hand side below the Blog Rush widget.

I am now at a crossroads, where I wonder whether to continue with Off Beat Ink until the earnings double or triple or move on to another project? I am currently posting 5 times per week on the site and would continue to do so but do I concentrate my efforts monetizing another site? What do you think?

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

Monday turned out to be a good day afterall! Work went quickly, I got a few sales (bonus money!) and I logged on to check my website stats/earnings.

Things are looking brighter and the clouds beginning to fade. I can see a positive future online but I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you…I’ll be posting my earnings at the end of the month along with a number of quality posts explaining how I did it. Afterall, sharing is caring!

In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a few links to keep you occupied…

>> Al at Self Made Minds made his first $1,000 Adsense day! - Link

>> Ashley Qualls: Teenage MySpace Millionaire! - Link

>> Have you heard of the Rubicon Project? - Link

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

I’m writing this post just as we roll into Monday. It is 00.02am and I should really be asleep considering I’m up in less than 8hrs. By planning ahead and setting wordpress posts to automatically roll out on Friday, Saturday and Monday, I’ve managed to spend some time away from OffBeatInk.com and relax a little.

Now normally on a Monday I’d wake up slightly early and sit in bed with a coffee, checking my e-mails and stats before getting up to join the Mon-Fri rate race and living with the “Monday Blues” for the day. However, I’m hoping this Monday - today - will be slighly more cheery. You see, I managed to hit the front page of eBaumsWorld.com and a few other sites with my Extreme DIY Tattoo Removal article on OffBeatInk.com. This flooded my site with traffic and increased my earnings a little so I’m really happy with the results.

I decided that I’ll be writing an article with some pointers on getting on the front page of big sites as I’ve had some success so far. I really do need your help in monetizing my site a bit more…anyone have any suggestions?

I’ve decided not to take on any other projects until I have secured a consistant revenue stream for my current ventures. If I have an idea, I’ll make a note of it and may have a quick look at the possibility of it as an investment, but no further action will be taken at present.

My progress seems to be slow. Although I am continually working on my projects, I have never seemed to have achieved any major milestones recently. My earnings are still extremely low, my sites are still receiving the same amount of traffic and my patience is wearing thin.

It may seem like I am moaning, but I’m just being honest. I am not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and the days just seem to be passing by. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could increase my earnings, particularly on OffBeatInk.com?

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

In short - to live off my website earnings.

With a little more detail - To earn a around £100 a day from my websites and live in an apartment overlooking the sea in Greece, a country I have fallen in love with.

Why £100 per day? - That figure is a substantial amount but is also achievable. In addition to being able to live comfortably on that amount, I would also have the finances available to invest outside of the internet, such as in property, a generally sound investment. There’s no point “putting all your eggs in one basket“, spread your risks evenly over multiple platforms to ensure financial security.

Why Greece? - After visiting Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Corfu and other surrounding islands, Greece is a place I have fallen in love with. The lifestyle, culture, food, weather and views are simply outstanding. I would love to spend my days on the beach with my laptop and a wireless connection (I’d need to think that one through…wireless on a beach???)