Many thanks for the discussion, the info here from you and others has been very helpful.

Yes, I have a familiar, it seems, dilemma: Another virtual know-nothing who thinks I know something - my dream - to share. Well, we shall see…

By the way, John, your internet presence is captivating. I gather you planned it that way but after surfing all over your neck of the woods in the www, it looks to me like you are consistently idea-rich and communication-diligent. Two gifts suggesting winning alliteration in anyone’s DREAM acronym perhaps:

Dream diligently.

Best ahead in 2010.

~pdw

(I normally don’t approve comments with keywords instead of names, but I made an exception because your comment is obviously on-topic. I still prefer to know to whom I am talking, however.)

I certainly had my “kick in the pants” last year and things are already looking up this year.

I’m still thinking about how I can take advantage of my love of the mountains and I’ll be doing something with it, for sure, this year.

Struggle makes us stronger, even if it takes awhile to learn the lessons and take advantage of our new strengths.

Thank you for your kind words.

JD

Tipper created a new group, Blind Pig and The Acorn, on Murphy Connections, yesterday. I’m happy to have her on board. I started a discussion in the group on Grannies and Grandpas.

I got to where I was earning $30 to $50 from Squidoo every month, but that was awhile ago and it has steadily decreased every month. It seems to have stabilized at about $5, now.

Things change, indeed.

I was sorry to see the Powerful Intentions site go, too. I don’t think the new site hosted by Ning is nearly as effective or easy to use, even though I’m a fan of Ning communities. I’m sure it’s a lot less work for them, though, since they don’t have to do all the custom programming and maintenance.

Adsense has been good to me. It’s funny how much difference there is between sites, though. Some of my sites earn pretty well from Google and others earn just a few cents per month. Currently, I’m earning about half what I was a year ago, but it’s slowly starting to rise, again.

I used to enjoy promoting products on Amazon, but I can’t say that I ever did really well with it. Some months, I earned $100 or more. It wasn’t nearly enough to justify all the work, but I was getting more passive income for previous work until they canceled me this year.

I always look at sites where the owners claim to make thousands of dollars per month from Adsense or Amazon and just have not identified a common denominator that would work for me.

I’m not trying to be greedy, but I would really like to get my income into the $50K+ range.

I’m not there yet, and I may not get there, but I’m going to keep trying.

Act on your dream!

JD

I was making between $60 & $150 a month with Squidoo, but the last 3 months not even $20 a month (with 300 lenses). Even updating lenses everyday, I can’t get them back to even the top 10,000. I haven’t built a new lens in a while.

One law of the internet: Things change!

I was doing well with my google ads on my forums and my blogs on Powerful Intentions. I was really sad to see that go.

I’ve never had any luck with Amazon!

I had to laugh when I read your response.

You’re right. I’m not seeing the forest for all the trees.

In addition to promoting local business owners on Murphy Gold, I’m going to write about some of those topics and talk about how and why they add to my love of living here.

I should have thought of that myself. (grin)

I probably won’t make a lot of Squidoo lenses, however.

With my slow Internet connection, it is getting harder and harder to work on a lens at Squidoo. Sometimes I have to reload the workshop several times before all the modules will completely load and I can actually get some work done. It usually takes at least 15 minutes or more to get the workshop to load before I can even get started.

It didn’t use to be that way. I used to be able to enjoy working on lenses, but now it’s getting to be more of a chore to endure.

Plus, I’m not earning from Squidoo what I used to earn. Do you remember when you had the forum on Powerful Intentions and we talked about earning at least $100 per month from Squidoo?

At one point, I was making progress in that direction, but now my income is down to $5 or $6 per month directly from Squidoo.

I still like Squidoo for some things. For example, I build a lens for each of the businesses I promote on Murphy Gold. It helps in the search engine rankings and provides a small, but steady, stream of visitors.

On the other hand, I want to develop my own Internet “real estate” and want most of my hard work to go into websites, blogs, and forums over which I have control and ownership.

I really want to find a way to get my Act On Your Dream! site back on target and find a direction in which to proceed.

Now that I’ve taken the Amazon.com links off of it, I’m not earning what I used to earn there, but I love that site and want it to do well. I just have to find a way to make it work.

Perhaps I need to get others to help me with it.

I loved the Foxfire books, and have the complete collection about a dozen feet from me. I never really thought about using them as a springboard for ideas to write about, but you’re absolutely right.

If you liked those books, you would probably enjoy the Blind Pig and The Acorn blog written by Tipper Pressley. She lives about 20 miles from me in Brasstown, NC and writes about her Appalachian heritage. (We’re in discussions about her becoming more active on Murphy Connections and possibly creating a new group to discuss local mountain traditions.)

I especially like her page of Grannyisms.

Thanks, Pat. I appreciate your thoughts and encouragement.

Act on your dream!

JD

You’re exactly right. A lot of change has happened to me, rather than being chosen by me, in the last year.

Most of us know that it’s not a good idea to make major changes in our lives during, or closely following, a period of stress, and I’m taking that into account as I look at what I’ll be doing next year.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing something related to affiliate marketing. At the very least, I’ll continue promoting SBI for people who want to build a real business online.

One difference, however, is that I’ll be doing more of that promotion offline when talking to business owners who want a website for their business, but don’t really know how to approach it or have a lot of time to learn all the technical issues.

So, while it will be a change, it’s just a course correction and not aiming at a completely different destination.

Does that make any sense?

On the other hand, I spent a lot of time on the traffic exchanges over the last few years and was earning income and getting more people to sign up for my offers. The problem arises when I look at all the time I wasted doing that.

There is a never-ending flood of new things on the traffic exchanges and the quality of most of the visitors is rather low, because they want something for nothing and rarely do the work required to accomplish something. I know that’s a general statement, but it comes from my experience of contacting thousands of people and finding only a small handful who follow through with their initial stated interest.

I’m happy to be off that treadmill and won’t go back.

While it works for some people and some products and services, it’s not what I want to do.

I truly appreciate your support. That means a lot to me, Mitch.

Act on your dream!

JD

You are so close to the trees that you are not seeing the abundant forest in front of you.

Topics you can write about? I quote YOU!

“I love the people, most of the traditions, the music, the outdoor recreation, the scenery, the peace and quiet, the lack of crowds, the low crime rate, and many other things.”

That ought to give you 6 months of writing without thinking about it!

You have written about these very things in forums and emails, making me wish I lived in such a magical place!

I would be one of your avid readers and promoters!

(I could see a whole bunch of Squidoo lenses in there, also!)

Maybe this IS your “freedom castle” of 2010.

I remember (in my younger days) some of my favorite reading:
“Foxfire”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_books

Check it out.

Yes, I do love living in these mountains, but it really isn’t just the mountains that I love.

I love the people, most of the traditions, the music, the outdoor recreation, the scenery, the peace and quiet, the lack of crowds, the low crime rate, and many other things.

I’ve found a home here in Murphy and I’m surrounded by people and things I love.

That’s one of the reasons I’m working on building my Murphy Gold and Murphy Connections sites.

The problem arises, however, is that a niche that will work for me?

I would love your input on topics I could write about. You can either post them here in the comments or email me.

Thanks, Pat.

Act on your dream!

JD

I like your attitude. Never give up.

That’s the way I like to think, but it doesn’t always work. I’ve seen people in such pain that they can’t think of anything else, even when on strong medications. For some of us, not giving up becomes untenable at some point.

Still, for most of us, we can probably endure more than we think we can. Working through pain, problems, and bad situations is just a part of life.

I just re-read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay on Compensation a couple of days ago and he says…

Our strength grows out of our weakness. Not until we are pricked and stung and sorely shot at, awakens the indignation which arms itself with secret forces. A great man is always willing to be little. Whilst he sits on the cushion of advantages, he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood; he has gained facts; learns his ignorance; is cured of the insanity of conceit; has got moderation and real skill. The wise man always throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point. The wound cicatrizes and falls off from him like a dead skin, and when they would triumph, lo! he has passed on invulnerable. Blame is safer than praise. I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said, is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honied words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.

In general, every evil to which we do not succumb, is a benefactor. As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

It is true that I have learned more and made more progress when I really had to work at it.

Identifying and overcoming our weaknesses is a task well worth doing.

However, sometimes when we do the best we can, it still does not work and that’s when we have to examine our goals and see if we’re moving in the wrong direction.

Something that originally looked like a good idea becomes a millstone around our necks.

A few years ago, for instance, I decided that my primary goal was to build Castle Freedom. Yet, I find that I go days and even weeks without even thinking about it. So, I’ve determined that it was a temporary sidetrack and not really my primary goal.

So, I’m changing it. Now, my primary goal is to create the best marketing system in Murphy, NC for locally-owned small businesses, and secondarily to promote the town, too.

This is something that I think about every day and almost always do something constructive to achieve the goal.

So, am I quitting by moving away from Castle Freedom or making better use of my time, energy, and other resources to put my efforts into something that can be achieved more readily?

The same applies to affiliate marketing.

I’ve done okay with it over the last few years, but not so well, now.

Let’s look at Commission Junction, for instance.

I sent hundreds of thousands of visitors to their merchants in the last few years and very few of them converted into commissionable sales. Why waste my time in sending so many people to those links for a return of less than $100?

It’s just not worth the effort.

For much less effort and in a far shorter time, I can earn much more than that talking to and promoting local business owners.

Perhaps my affiliate marketing career is winding down, just as my local marketing career is starting to take off.

I’m not sure yet, but I do know that I want to put my efforts to where they are most productive, as long as I enjoy what I’m doing.

You’re right that I over analyze things. I’ve done that all my life. I look at a problem or an opportunity from every direction I can imagine.

Whether that’s a good trait or a weakness, I don’t really know. It’s just part of who I am.

The market for Murphy, NC is far less than the global market that I’ve tried to approach for the last several years, but there are some real benefits related to talking to real people face-to-face.

I haven’t come to a conclusion, yet, but I’m still examining these things and which way I plan to go in 2010.

Act on your dream!

JD

Welcome to our discussions and thanks for your comment.

Act on your dream!

JD

Obviously affiliate marketing isn’t working all that well for me, but I just know I’m doing something wrong big time. I’ll figure it out; I just have to.

As for you, I really think you’re over analyzing things. Emotions really get in the way of our real intentions at times, and I still think you’re dealing with the loss of your mother, getting sick, and other things. You’re right, you are still making more money than the rest of us, and you probably always will. If you picked one thing, I know you’d be a killer, and the rest of us could learn some great things from you.

The issue with recommending something is not knowing just what you like. For instance, I could recommend Commission Junction, because it has products, real products mind you, that you’ve seen me put at the end of many of my posts. If you had certain products you liked to talk about and market, they’d be perfect.

Amazon is just another version, at least to me, of Barnes & Noble, and if that’s the type of thing you like to market then you sign up with Google Affiliate Networks and market them, and/or many of the advertisers who are there.

That’s kind of the thing with affiliate marketing. There’s just so much out there that everyone can find something somewhere that they’re interested in. Promoting it properly is where most of us fail, but you already know that beast and how to whip it.

As for your brother, I hate seeing his site falling, but even there, if all he wanted to do was create content, and I assume you mean written content, get him Dragon or some voice recognition software, which he could use in any position, and that would drastically drop the time he had to spend on the computer.

I guess what I’m saying is that, even though I’m failing at affiliate marketing, I always believe where there’s a will, there’s a way. Back in 1990 I seriously hurt my back. The pain was excruciating. Yet, every day I drove an hour back and forth to work. I still bowled 2 nights a week. My will was that I’d made commitments, and I wasn’t going to let pain stop me. I never went to a doctor, never took any pain killers. At least at the time. After 12 years of pain I finally did a little something about it, but I never let it stop me.

I’m not saying there aren’t reasons to slow down. I’m not even saying that it’s possible some people are in more pain than I am, mentally or physically. But at a certain point we do what we do, when we need to do it, or we give up.

And Mitchell never gives up! Mitch´s last blog ..Everyone’s Got An Opinion