I’ve said on multiple occasions that if I kept everything I’ve ever built, I’d probably be blogging from a beach telling you that I’ve beaten my $100 a day target and I’ve got a lovely tan.

On the flip side, I’m not one to cry over spilt milk and I regularly take advice, ask for opinions and learn as I go. I’ve been successfully building sites for years now yet I’m still not half as good as some of my peers and regularly get told off for small errors.

However, I’m grateful for the advice and because I sold most of my profitable sites, I was able to clear £7,500 of credit card / student debt in one year, something I am extremely proud off.

This week, my good friend and business partner on some ventures, Rob, told me it would be wise to stop looking for the next venture so quickly, sit down and write a strategy. A business plan wouldn’t work in this situation as I don’t have a single “business” as such, I spend my time on multiple sites.

So I sat and wrote a few pages worth of content and it really got me thinking. I would love to retire by the time I was 30 – what I mean is live off my website earnings – and this plan really put things into perspective. It is amazing how valuable putting pen to paper can be and I’m determined to follow my strategy once Rob has scrutinised it with his hugely pessimistic attitude!

To be fair though, joking side, Rob is a successful Internet Entrepreneur so his guidance is much appreciated…although his spammy comments taking the piss aren’t (I guess when Jeremy Kyle is finished things can get a little boring).

Anyways, I just thought I’d share my tips with you and hope you can do the same.

Good luck with your pursuits,

Khalid.

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.

Google is already trialling search voting whereby users can vote for or against the rankings of a site – do you really think someone will vote a MFA site well? An easy business is easily flawed, and whilst you may be making money now it probably won’t last.

I agree, content is King and people may just think your 5 page mini site is useful, but what they are looking for is regularly updated content, fresh media and up-to-date resources. And, this is why I am building a stronger, better network this time round.

But, like anything you want badly, it comes with a price. I don’t need to remind you of my daily routine to highlight the extend to which I will work for success. Recently though, it shows – my eyes are bloodshot.

Stupid yet significant, it highlights that you need to go that extra mile if you want to succeed. I work before my job, I work after my job, I think during my sleep and I work on my holidays too. Still, I am not collecting enough money from my persuits to pay my food bill nevermind drawing a full time income from it.

And whilst some people reach nearly seven figures, I plod along, towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

Stick in, and good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

I’ve worked hard to achieve this amount and it is a fraction of what some webmasters earn online, but $1k is still $1k…except its in my pocket. As my network grows, my earnings will also, and those little trickles of income will become rivers in due course.

Work hard, work harder and keep working – it will become worthwhile eventually.

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

I guess I need to attain the wealth that comes with success and the position it offers. Sometimes my motivation can literally die and I have a scary reality check that says “you’re never going to make it, don’t waste your time chasing a dream“.

However, for the majority of my free time – and by free I mean my brain is not being engaged – I spend it day dreaming about living the dream, having chased it for so long. Life is what you make out of it and you don’t need to invent the next Google or Facebook to live your dream (unless it involves owning half the world or controlling a public domain!).

This post isn’t a rant or emotional speech, I just wanted to say that you need to keep focused on your dream by first turning it into a reality, breaking it down into achievable milestones. I want to earn $200 a day online, but how am I going to do that because I can barely earn $0.05 per click on my ads! My answer to myself was to divide and conquer.

I built a network of similar sites over time and they share visitors amongst themselves. People thus stay on my sites longer overall and click on more ads. Some sites are extremely popular and/or have a good SERPs ranking, so this helps boost visitors and earnings (too the smaller sites as well!). As a result, I now have one network that earns $10 – $12 per day online. I divided a the tattooing market into small, separate areas and conquered the niche (to an extent).

So now, my $200 a day aim has become $190. And by the time I build another network, hopefully the tattoo network will have aged and become even more popular, increasing its earnings to $20 per day. So, before even finishing my second network, $190 becomes $180. And so on and so forth.

It sounds easy, but it’s not. You need to work hard, put in the hours and set good, solid foundations. If you put the time in you’ll get the money back. I only spend 1 hour per week updating my sites, so in theory for my $200 I should only need to work 20 hours per week.

I’m now working on my second network whilst experimenting with a number of different factors, including SEO, marketing strategies, ad networks and ppc. My time spent will go towards building another revenue stream and maybe one of my experiments will be successful, this increasing my earnings. If this is the case, I can then re-apply this to my tattoo network and boost my earnings further!

Do you see my point? You need to break down your success into manageable areas, like breaking down your salary to cover your rent, bills, food allowance etc. Patience is one key element, because like a good meal, you can’t rush cooking it by throwing in all sorts. Passion is the other, because without a true love for good food, you’ll never treat your cooking with the time and respect it requires.

Good luck with your persuits,

Khalid.

You’re born, you study, you get a job and you work. When you’re 65 you retire and live off pennies in an attempt to enjoy your last twenty or so years. << The most typical life cycle known to man.

I was having a conversation with my mother the other day and we were discussing our lives and how different things are now. Close to 50, my mum has worked all her life and now her two of her three children are independant, she’s getting to enjoy her own personal comforts more.

For many, we live to work and work to live. Society, culture and the economy have all changed and now the price of a loaf of bread and some milk is close to a half of the average hourly wage. At present, over half of my monthly salary goes to rent, bills and food…and I earn more than the average hourly wage.

This is what drives me to becomes successful. Since 8.30am this morning, a bank holiday, I’ve been adding content and building sites in an attempt to earn a few extra dollars per day, adding to my total and bringing me closer to financial freedom.

I work in the morning before work, I in my lunch hour, I work after work and I work on my holidays. I live to work right now but I don’t want to work to live forever. Success isn’t easy otherwise every Tom, Dick or Harry would wear an Armani suit and drive a Porsche. Failure is easy and not trying even easier.

I don’t blame those who work their whole lives, there are elements you can enjoy without a fat wallet and certainly the stress of trying to become successful can often be too much for many. Starting a family can be costly but it is certainly affordable and watching your children grow up bearing your family name is probably one of the most beautiful things a parent can experience – a success it’s own right.

For me, I’d like to do all that in time, for now my eyes are still stuck on my goals. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever make it, other times I dream about driving that 4 x 4 or sunning it in Greece. A dream, a reality? Who knows, but I’m not prepared for failure…it is simply not an option.

I’ll try and try and try until I can’t try no more, all because I want to be able to live my life without financial worries. I want to enjoy every moment without having to think about how I will afford to pay for things. A little worry is a good thing, too much can spoil everything.

So, for those who think you can simply log on and become the next John Chow or Jeremy Schoemaker, forget it. Work hard, work harder then work till you can’t work no more. Then, when you taste success, you’ll work until your fingers bleed because the taste of being at the top is better than all the foods in the world.

Sorry for the rant, happy easter.

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! 

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?

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???)