Back when I was up to my knees in SEO, building a web empire (been there, worn the t-shirt), I used to read a blog called “Lost In High Weeds”. I have no idea who the person was behind it but he called himself “Splork” and he was evidently a talented writer. A lot of his posts (I assume it was a he) were about his ups and downs making coin on the ‘interwebs’ or the ‘web sewers’ as he referred to them.
The fact I don’t know who this person was adds to the mystery of a blog which gained a certain amount of presence to its audience, which I suspect consisted mostly of people building niche websites, monetizing them with Amazon and Adsense ads.
Ah, the glory days of Adsense (Anyone who remembers Traffic Equalizer raise your hands). What about BotCandy?
Sadly this website/blog is now a casualty of time and the only preservation of it is presented to us, courtesy of Wayback Machine.
Here’s a screenshot of what it looked like back in the day (source: Wayback Machine):
Again, sites like this from back in the day form part of my inspiration for creating a relatively simple blog as you see presented before you, many years later in what is currently 2024.
I think if the owner of this blog had built some kind of list and sold a few things, it may have stayed the course over time. The writer certainly had something to say and I think that has real value, irrespective of whether or not someone agrees with their point of view.
The owner of LostBall was obviously doing well for a while with their niche sites, but things seemingly took a turn for the worse and the writer of the blog appeared to have become disillusioned and jaded with the business of generating income on the internet.
What Are The Lessons Here?
Your time has value. Even if you are putting things out into the universe with the intention of helping people or voicing your opinion, you ultimately need to monetize it in some way in order to not only keep the lights on but also so you can justify the time you are putting into it. In the early days you shouldn’t be focused on the stats and the money, but no matter how much you love whatever it is you’re doing, it also has to at least contribute towards the rent.
Doing the same things over and over is by definition, insanity. If something isn’t working and you’ve given it long enough (long enough is at least 3 months and more like 12) you need to review and objectively work out what it is that needs changing.
MONETIZE what you are doing and build your audience. If you’re genuinely helping people, they will join things and buy things through you, just don’t do it from a position of desperation as people can smell that a mile off. Don’t just slap contextual ads on your website, that kind of thing is botttom of the food chain and for most people is only ancillary income in my opinion.
Be consistent with your income producing activities and prioritise them. Scrolling through feeds on Facebook and saying LOL isn’t working.
Don’t be a kind boss to yourself. It’s easy to slack off and let yourself off the hook because you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck online. If you do nothing, you’ll make nothing.
If you really want to make a meaningful income online, you must be consistent and develop a strong mindset where you are aware the pay-off is further down the road. Do not subscribe to the mentality of push button riches, they do not exist.
I’ll end this post with a tip of the hat to a fallen comrade in the form of LostBallInHighWeeds – I always thought that was a great name for a blog.
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Thanks for reading. See you in the next post, dear reader.
