Although the end of 2011 is still three weeks away I plan on taking some time away to spend some quality time with my husband and kids for Christmas. Being able to do this is definitely one of the perks of having your own online business and having passive earnings.
See ya 2011!
Last December I set several goals that I wanted to accomplish with my business. As I was going through my 2011 goals I got a little sad and frustrated that I didn’t accomplish as much as I would have liked. But, 2011 was a big year for my personal life and I don’t think I factored that in to my business as much as I should have.
Having my third child in late February meant that March, April, and May was mostly spend adjusting to having a newborn and two other kids home with me all day long. I totally underestimated how much time I would have to work on my business with a newborn. Even know that the baby is 9 months old I still am adjusting as I am super lucky and he still gets up once at night (note the sarcasm). My health and being able to fully take care of my children is more important than making 6 figures a year and I am finally getting that balance down once again.
Even though I didn’t get to work on my sites as much as I would have liked I was still able to publish 500,000 words of content and increase my earnings by quite a bit.
Let’s take a look at my 2011 goals and what actually happened with them.
1. Get at least 10-15 posts on all the websites I own and plan on keeping.
Yep, didn’t happen. I have several domains that I still want to build and I even purchased more of them. I simply just didn’t have the time to get content on them. Plus, this year there were many times I just lacked focus. I wouldn’t be able to work for a couple days and then when I could get some time I wouldn’t even know where to start. I think for me consistency is key and I am hoping that in 2012 I will accomplish that.
2. Continue working on the Keyword Academy methods for my sites and backlink, backlink, and backlink some more.
With the change to Keyword Academy 2.0 I’m truthfully not even sure I would completely follow this method anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still recommend Keyword Academy for beginners and people looking to learn how to make money online, but at this moment I just feel like I am beyond learning anything new. The only reason why I stay with TKA is because of Postrunner and even that I am considering dropping the membership.
When it comes to backlinking, yes I did a lot of backlinking. I even joined two other back linking networks and have had some good results with them. I still believe that backlinks play a huge part of SEO and will continue to do so.
3. Do some more article marketing following the Easy Paycheck Formula.
After the whole first Google Panda slap, which hit article directories like Ezine Articles, I no longer wanted to pursue this route. I don’t want to put all this content on a 3rd party site only to have to have it never rank because Google doesn’t like content farms. This is my opinion was a wise choice to not waste my time and instead focus on writing quality content for my own sites.
4. Write 40 Suite 101 articles to make my total 100 articles on the site.
Let me just say I am so glad I didn’t write another article for Suite 101 because their rankings have gone completely down the toilet since Google Panda. Before Panda hit I was making around $70 a month and guess how much I made in November? $5! Yes, only $5! This is one passive income stream I don’t see myself every pursuing again.
5. By the middle of summer 2011 I would like to be reaching payout for all the monetization methods I use every month.
I do reach payout for Amazon, Adsense, Commission Junction and a CPA company I work with every month (so far). The only one I don’t seem to do well with is Clickbank and that is probably because I only have 2 sites that I haven’t given that much time that promotes Clickbank products. I will say that I will be getting a 1099 from Clickbank this year, which didn’t happen last year.
6. By December 2011 I want to be making at least $3000 a month in passive income.
I came so close to reaching this goal until Google Panda showed her head again in October. I was heading for at least $3000 that month and then on the 14th I lost quite a bit. One of my main sites that had at least 35 good keywords for products ranking on page 1 got hit. All those keywords that were on page 1 are now on page 2 or 3. That site gets a little over half of the traffic it used to get before Panda.
This is probably one of the most disappointing things that happened in 2011, but there is really nothing I can do about. I continue to work on the site and backlink and plan on cleaning it up even more and hoping that it starts ranking on page 1 again.
So, how was your 2011? Was it a good year and you reached most of your goals or are you looking to change things up in 2012?
Right now I am working on my business goals for 2012 and will have the post up soon and I do have some lofty goals. Just writing down my goals is giving me a renewed spirit for this business right now and I really think that is what I need to achieve real success in 2012.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I think a lot of people have had a rocky 2011 with the Panda changes. My year was going well, then I lost a site and now I am having some success with Christmas sales. But I have no idea where I will land in 2012 once the holiday rush is over.
Hoping to have some goals set for 2012 before January but like you I am focused on family for now. Look forward to seeing what you have planned!
Carrie – That’s good that you are still having success with Christmas sales even though you lost a site earlier. I also worry about what my earnings are going to look at once Christmas is over.
Here’s hoping that 2012 is awesome for both of us!
Hey Tiffany. It is nice to see that you have accomplished so much since you started with Internet marketing. It really sucks when you have something good going for you and then you wake up the next morning and it is all gone because of an algorithm change from Google.
Not much you can do i guess it is the kind of risk we take as business owners. It is cool to see that you are so close to hitting your income goals. it sure does take quite some time before your traffic increases a lot. Hopefully by the end of 2012 you will have reached all of your personal goals. Good luck and just keep doing what you do.
Take care.
Julian – Thanks and good luck to you in 2012 as well!
I have already posted in my blog. I wanted to make $50,000 online and re-invest huge some to make this process and business.
Things that didn’t work out are just stepping stones to eventual success as far as I see it. The fact that you tried things and they didn’t work out means you are that bit closer to success…provided you stick at it and don’t throw the towel in. Good luck in 2012….isn’t the world supposed to end next year or was that just a Hollywood movie !
Rahul – Good luck with your goals!
Scooter – Thanks! Good luck to you in 2012 as well!
Hi Tiffany,
2011 was the first year of my blog and I knew absolutely nothing about blogging, the internet, SEO and all the other stuff before I started. So, 2011 was all about learning and familiarizing myself with the whole blogging experience.
2012 will be more focused on creating multiple passive income streams/monetization methods for my blog.
Justin – Good luck with your blog in 2012!