Forum Moderators: martinibuster
What if you were making more than you dreamed of two years ago. Say you worked your butt off for 6 years on something and it finally pays off large. But you keep tweaking, fighting for more, even to the negative of your health or quality of life. It's that never-give-up, driven work ethic that got you there in the first place...so do you change that and suddenly relax? Can you even relax if you try? Or do you just stay driven every day for the rest of your life? Maybe you already surpassed your goals by huge margins but you want to keep that increase going. Say you multiply your earnings by 4 one year, and then 10 times that the next year, and then you aim for even more the next. Do you get disappointed when a day or a week is down (in Adsense or other revenues as well), even though it's so many times more than you may have dreamed of previously? Will you ever retire or are you addicted to starting a business? Should you ever stop if that is what makes you feel alive. I enjoy a three week vacation but then I feel like I'd die if I took more than month off.
What if you should be very happy, enjoying your family and traveling or doing whatever you like to do but instead...you are working harder, feeling the need to keep the graph going upward. And what happens if you reach super high amounts and then lose it all for whatever reason? Could you handle it, since anything that can shoot up can also take the same track back down.
My theory for a solution and sanity: I think it's important to live below your means and try to have fun every day (of course in my case, I have more fun working for myself than most things). If you want anything nice, no matter how extreme, pay cash, enjoy it and don't go into debt based on higher dollars. If you can pay cash for it, at least it's your whim and you won't be reminded about for the next 5-20 years. Always keep your bills low enough so you can go to work at the local home improvement store if you have to...and survive. The web wasn't around for us 15 years ago and who knows what it'll be like 15 years from now, so I don't think every single entrepreneur can count on it for the rest of their working lives.
Does this keep anyone else awake at night or make you keep working harder and harder in a spiral?
The web wasn't around for us 15 years ago and who knows what it'll be like 15 years from now, so I don't think every single entrepreneur can count on it for the rest of their working lives.Does this keep anyone else awake at night or make you keep working harder and harder in a spiral?
It keeps me (figuratively) awake at night and motivates me to keep working. Who knows if this revenue model will be what it is today in five years. The people who are making good money now would be wise to invest the bulk of it. That way if the day comes when you need to find another line of work, you'll be at a great advantage...or maybe you'll be living off the interest from your internet fortune. =D
I'm not making enough yet to quit my day job, but we'll see what happens. If I do get a chunk of the internet riches, I'll be socking it away and maybe one day start a more traditional business like a restaurant, or whatever strikes my fancy at the time--if this internet thing doesn't go the distance.
How much is enough and when do you finally sit back? $100 day? $500? $1,000? $5,000 a day?
In my opinion it's not about enough.
It's a pyschological battle within oneself to get the SEOing really good, to see those figures move and prove that one is better than the opposition!
Honestly, I do not look at the USD values, I look at whether I have more traffic, whether it is valid traffic and thereby, purely as a bonus, I am earning more.
Adsensing is seriously ADDICTIVE, it can damage one's health and why?
Because one can see within a reasonable amount of time the efforts one has expended, if done correctly:-)
Then one thinks "Oh, I did that by doing that, what would happen if I did that?" That is where the addictive spiral can commence and then money is not the impetous, success becomes the overriding factor.
I've been there, done it, suffered cold turkey and even now have to suppress my competitive nature not to stay up all night optimising.
Now there's a bit of refreshing honesty:-))
As long as your happy and no one is being hurt (including your health) than why stop?
Do people stop working once they reach millions?
Some do. Most take the millions and make more millions.
Our life styles adjust. People say, if I had $(random) amount than I would be happy. But this rarely ever seems to happen. It is almost like there is a built in desire for more.
AdSense gives me now the money necessary to concentrate my time more and more on this task.
More money means I can better fulfill my task.
In fact, tell my any amount of money, and I tell You what I would do with it for my task in mission earth.
But this rarely ever seems to happen. It is almost like there is a built in desire for more.
I know, but why? Do you think that when people have been living with this extra $100.000/yr for a couple of years, they forget what they wished for and wanted before they achieved this $100.000.
And then they get to $200.000/yr, and then 3 years from then they forget how it was like to just have the $100.000..
Like they are getting used to it over time, and just forgets how it was like when they didn't have this much...
When the day comes where I can say to myself: Oh man, today you've doubled your salary from what your daytime job brings in, and you've done it with google adsense.. I think I would be happy. I would still work on my site, but not because I would like to earn loads of more cash, just because it's fun, like a hobby.
People are obsessed with better/bigger/faster/more,more,more... its a hunger. It's what makes this planet run.
His reply- "Just a little bit more."
I have a feeling that even when I reach my current goal of $25,000 monthly, I will still not be happy.
The old adage "money can't buy you happiness" is true then ;)
tell my any amount of money, and I tell You what I would do with it for my task in mission earth
90 Billion
I must be honest it is no longer for the money as I am quite happy where I am in life and maybe for the same reason I DO NOT DO LOTTERY any more as it would change the balance of my life.
Money and the pursuit of it can mean many things to many people
Success , Recognition , Bigger Better , and some do equate money with happiness.
I was talking to my brother about a new website I am working on and he said Great Idea but how will you make money and I realised one of the most important things money provides is freedom to pursue dreams and ideas without having to worry about money.
just my own thoughts and thank goodness we are all different
steve
Addiction is a compulsion to repeat a behaviour regardless of its consequences. A person who is addicted is sometimes called an addict.
Addiction is often characterized by a craving for more of the drug or behavior, increased physiological tolerance to exposure, and withdrawal symptoms in the absence of the stimulus. ...
If you are making good money with Adsense or other website revenues, does it ever bother you when you hear of a family member struggling to make say, a couple hundred a week. Of course, this is when you are tempted to say, hey, make a website and put ads on it...but you keep your mouth shut because it will cost yourself more work and trouble than its worth. But it's hard to see those that you may love struggle at times when you make more money while you sleep.
Does one sometimes almost feel guilty that they can roll out of bed and walk to their computer, not having to go to a daily job, and see that they have already made more than many people are earning that whole day, possibly even the week or month? I find the better I do, the harder it is to deal with (some, not all) people who are serving me coffee or ringing up my groceries. I should say it's a selective feeling, not everyone. I only start to sympathize with the people who seem friendly and sharp and hard working, not the lazy rude ones. They seem to deserve their dead end position.
when you are tempted to say, hey, make a website and put ads on it...but you keep your mouth shut
I realised one of the most important things money provides is freedom to pursue dreams and ideas without having to worry about money.
Absolutely steve40.
Until just over 10 years ago before I decided to convert all of our businesses entirely to being Internet focused, I used to drive and average 60,000 miles (96,000 kms) and fly 250,000 miles (400,000 kms) per annum and had done so for more than 20 years.
I invested every penny I had and have never been so mentally and physically relaxed since. Sure I work incredibly long hours, too many some would say, however I very rarely feel stressed since life's real stress-making factors no longer exist for me (read traffic jams, airport queues and weeks away on end from family and children).
The biggest problem me and my family now have is trying to decide where to move to since we could be anywhere we like.
I have a feeling that even when I reach my current goal of $25,000 monthly, I will still not be happy.
And when it dips to $20,000 you get frustrated. It is easy to get lost in the numbers, not thinking that your $20,000 a month is the entire year earnings of many publishers.
Web sites are not for everyone, not all sites make good money, and most do not make money at all
I tell myself that all the time when I'm thinking about how "easy" it is with other people. It seems easy now but it wasn't at one time. It sometimes seems like anyone should be able to do this, but not everyone can work for themselves or have the discipline that is required. I'm driven to try and try again and work unlimited hours to complete a project. I need to give myself more credit for what I do and the fact that I have old and steady websites back to 1996. It's much harder to start a new domain and be successful today.
The biggest problem me and my family now have is trying to decide where to move to since we could be anywhere we like.
Exactly. I'm glad I don't have stress of traffic, time constraints, schedules, etc.... but I am trying to figure out where to move to or to remodel my house. Where to buy lots of land....things like that. I guess those are good stresses.
And when it dips to $20,000 you get frustrated.
That is the key to my frustrations. I get irritated or concerned when something dips to levels I only dreamed of 6 months ago. And I want to keep topping previous levels. I'm kind of disappointed that each week is not a new record high. I may set a record every other week, but I want it to be every week! Every day! Wild how that works in the head.
who knows what it'll be like 15 years from now..It keeps me (figuratively) awake at night and motivates me
The web wasn't around for us 15 years ago and who knows what it'll be like 15 years from now, so I don't think every single entrepreneur can count on it for the rest of their working lives.
Not everyone I agree however do we all remember only a few years ago they were sounding the death nell of newspapers and magazines? Heavens, there are more than ever now.
The important factor about contextual advertising is its simplicity and similarity to the classified ads.
I only see one way for it and that is more and more since it is financially controlled advertising by the advertiser. The advertisers know exactly how much they are spending and they know (should know) how much they are converting and earning.
Realistically never before in advertising have advertisers had so much promotional information at their finger tips.
We publishers are merely their conduit to the purchaser so we had better do it well.
If someone had told me 12 months ago I would be earning 4X the earnings I was doing then with Adsense I would have told them to go feel their bumps. I'm up 50% in the first 3 months of 2006 vis-a-vis the last 3 months of 2005.
I don't know where, and how far, the ride's taking me but sure as hell I'm enjoying it:-)
when we lost about 75% of our income with Jagger last year.
Have you regained that now?
If you did what was the solution?
What really sucks is when you hit your peak and can't reach it again.
Our traffic is the same as it was 18 months ago, but our earnings are just over half. Then the realization hits that when you have a lot of income from adsense and the smart-pricing or whatever kicks in - how much control the big G has on your revenue.
At present, our goal is to reach what we had before. Then it will be another to surpass that.
I think the better goal and more stable is probably to look more at traffic than the $. The $ will follow as ad programs come and go.
