I’m pleased to announce that after years of struggle, I have finally been able to leave my day job behind and I now work for myself full time. Yippeee!!

Let’s see, it only took, hmmmm, I don’t know, 15 YEARS, but hey I made it, finally!  Better late than never, right?  Just goes to show that persistence does pay off if you work hard enough.

I started this blog 7 years ago wanting to share some of my stories of my online business pursuits.   I did pretty well at keeping up with the blog early on but let things slide over time as it was too much to maintain and I had too many other things going on.

Much has happened over the years, I tried and failed at a number of different projects, too many to even list, but was able to finally get a few of the projects off the ground, including a few sites, iPhone apps, consulting etc. enough to finally give my notice at the end of the last school year, as a elementary school teacher.  So I guess, technically I’ve been on my own now for about 6 months.

It really didn’t sink in until the beginning of this school year as I normally have the summers off anyway, so I didn’t really feel free until late August.  It’s taken me a few months to adjust but life is great and I’m able to focus on my businesses during normal business hours as opposed to staying up all night to get the work done.  What a treat!

I have some time now to post on the blog and plan on jumping back into it.  I’ll try and catch everyone up on my next post.  There are lots of things going on for sure.  Good to be back!

I’ve been listening to the Internet Business Mastery podcast since 2007.  For those of you who have never heard of this podcast, it’s one of, if not the, most popular internet marketing podcast on itunes.

When I started listening in 2007, there were maybe 25 episodes.  I downloaded them all to my brand new ipod and hit the beach for a week of vacation with my wife and one year old son, and listened to all of the episodes, while getting some sun.

I had been making extra money online for years up to that point and knew about internet marketing, seo etc. so I took to the shows very quickly and could really relate to the 2 guys, Jay and Sterling, their stage names.  The first episode was pretty funny, if I recall correctly, they were saying how no one was probably listening except for family and some friends.

Fast forward 5 years and after 140 episodes, these guys are going strong and have built quite a successful online membership site for internet marketing and business.

I really enjoy the shows and always have the latest downloaded to my iphone so I can listen to them on the way to work or on a trip.

Recently, within the last few days, I took that same trip down to the beach and got caught up on some shows.

On the way home, I mentioned to my wife that I really wanted to join the academy although I was always a bit hesitant of the $1997 price tag.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, today I get an email from them with a lifetime membership for $447.  I decided to take the plunge and join up.

I’ve had the best year ever with my online business, far exceeding my annual income at my regular job, and could probably for the first time in my life actually quit my day job.

I really wanted to join to network with some of the other members and finally get to see what the academy is all about.

My first impression of the academy is great!  The site is very professional with some good videos on the home page to help get you started.  I’m a little further along in my online marketing career than a true beginner and was really looking forward to the forums and seeing what everyone else is doing.

They have some great content on the home page, including all the modules which I plan on going through.  There are some bonuses and other content I need to sort through as well.

I’ll keep you posted and let you know if the course is worth the investment.  I swore I would never pay for another “Make Money Online” product, especially after my PPC Classroom fiasco years ago, however, after 5 years of listening, I figured I’d take another chance.

If you haven’t listened to the Internet Business Mastery podcast check it out here.

As an affiliate marketer, I’ve learned that trial and error seems to be the true path to success.  Finding those ads and keyword combinations that generate a high number of clicks to your landing pages and most of all those that convert to sales or leads are the golden ticket in this business.

Split test everything you do! Always have at least 2 ads running so you can see which one performs the best. Pick the winner after enough data is gathered to make a decision and run the winning ad against another slightly different version to see how it does. Keep doing this until you get your conversions as high as you can.

You can do the same thing with your landing pages. Run a few different versions and use tracking methods to determine which landing page converts the best.

Just by using these simple split testing methods, you may be able to double your revenue and that is always a good thing

It’s been a while since my last post.  I’ve been busy working on about half a dozen different internet marketing projects over the past year.

One of the most profitable ones lately has been a site that I have actually been working on for over 2 years with a business partner.

We have built a successful site that generates a fairly nice monthly income for the both of us.  To give you an idea of the power of global ppc advertising, we were starting to average $500 to $1000 per day in pure profit.  That can add up fast so we have been pretty excited lately.  The traffic has been built through PPC and SEO practices with success in both areas.

Recently though, we have run into some issues with our freinds at the largest search engine on the planet, you know who they are.  Seems they have decided to really put the squeeze on us hard working affiliates by reviewing sites that have been ppc advertising and given the boot to those that don’t cut the mustard.

While we have not been given the boot completely, our organic traffic is still very strong, we are in a bit of struggle to make sure our ppc ads are showing.  We have been working round the clock to make sure our site is in full “compliance” with all the rules and I feel our site not only meets all their site standards but offers a more valuable and useful user experience than most sites that advertise in our niche.

This is of course what they are interested in most, a relevant, valuable useful experience for the end user.  So, we have been talking with them and have been pleasantly surprised that we have corresponded with someone who has actually replied to our concerns and not with the typical canned email.

They are in the process of re-reviewing our site and we should find something out soon as to whether or not our ads will continue to run at full force.  We’re crossing our fingers as if we can prove that our site meets their requirements and is of value to the end user, we’ll see our income grow substantially.

Not to worry though, we are working with other ppc platforms and networks and since our site converts well, we know if we can just get the targeted traffic there in big numbers, we will continue to make some good money.

I likened the ride we’re on to a Roller Coaster in the title of this post.  You really have to be able to take the downs with the ups and hang on for dear life.  This game is not for the faint at heart that is for sure!

I’ll keep you posted………..