Still Trying To Make Money With My Computer

I've been working on this affiliate marketing venture for some time now, just about over a year. And to be honest, I'm still trying to make money with my computer.

When I started this campaign, I fully intended to pursue this with no out of pocket expense. But, the greatest asset you expend when trying to cut cost is time. I have been saving expenses for some time now, but I have spent an enormous amount of time researching and learning through trial and mistakes.

My first article was published Feb 17th, 2012. It linked to a Squidoo lens I had started developing in December of 2011 but didn't post until mid January of 2012.
It's funny thinking back to how long it took to write a 400 word article.

When I first started writing, it would easily take me three days to complete the process and finally publish something. Whether it was a post on a blog, page for a lens or writing an article, I took way too much time to write something that should have been a lot better if it took that long in the first place.

Normally, I would have given up, but I kept going. I have finally got my page posts and article writing down to a manageable hour or two, depending on research. It's taken awhile, but it did get easier the more it was practiced.

And using simple recommendations from the article sites themselves were useful. Offering template ideas and form suggestions, they have helped break down some of the overwhelming issues into manageable pieces when writing.

I started a website, but began to think about the domain and realized it was inappropriate for the niche I was pursuing. Something I should have reconciled before starting a fan page on Facebook, but no sense crying over spilled milk. Besides, I think I can use it for a different angle.

Right now, I'm in a transitional phase, figuring out how I'm going to approach another campaign while continuing the one I'm currently managing. I've got the steps and just need to apply what I learned from the first one to avoid time consuming mistakes that have hindered my progress in the past.

I could have continued a fee free endeavored, but the downside I have discovered is you won't own any of your sites.

So, I'm considering setting myself up with a budget now to help purchase necessary things such as domain names and help.

Working Towards Consistency

The first thing I need to work on is consistency. Consistency in my article writing and blog submissions, consistency in when I do my work and can write effectively, a general consistency in how I approach self management and stick to something that works. I feel like everything is discombobulated and out of whack.

Since my son has been home, I no longer have the early mornings to concentrate on my article marketing and writing. I used to get up at 3 AM and spend a couple hours writing before my regular job would start and nobody was awake yet. Since then, I get ever chance of sleep I get. I spend my early mornings with our new son now, trying to give mom a couple hours rest before I go into work. I enjoy every second, but that was the only time I truly had for my affiliate marketing campaigns.

Prior to beginning work, I had some time I could slip away and work, but it was never anything consistent.

It can get frustrating, too. When you're working on something, moving along and then, all of a sudden, something interrupts your thoughts and you can never remember the original content. Nothing you can come up with seems to replace it sufficiently, so you're left thinking aimlessly. At least that's what seems to happen for me.

I can't even listen to a radio in my car while I attempt to write articles on my break at work. That, too, didn't work. Even without the music, you can only get so much done on a 10 minute break. 6 minutes if you want to get back to your station on time. It just seems impossible to keep track of the short thoughts you can come up with in that short amount of time available.

After looking at how my schedule is now, I think I have come up with a plan and simply need to have the support of my wife (not a problem) and self motivation (working on it) to implement it.

During the week, I'm allocating 2 hours a night instead of morning to work on my article marketing. 8 PM to 10 PM is now the only time available for me to get anything done without being away from home. My wife and newborn go to bed at 8, which would give me plenty of time if it wasn't for needing to get up early in the morning, so 8-10 have to will do.

My Article Marketing Landing Page

Obviously it's been a while since I have updated anything, but have been busy “behind the scenes”. The last couple of weeks have been extremely reveling to what I really want out of life and I have been lucky enough to enjoy it.

I have not been to my 7-3:30 job since 5/15, a Tuesday. My beautiful son was born at 8 PM on 3/14, and I took a 2 week leave of absence to spend time with the family. It has extended another week due to complications, but everything appears to have settled down for now. I thought I could get some affiliate work done while I was on my leave, but medical issue and paternal duties have occupied a majority of my time. So I haven't got much done, but that's ok. Like I had said before; It's given me an opportunity to experience what I really want and why I am pursuing the chance to work from home.

After all the scares settled down and I no longer spent my days at the hospital, I got an opportunity to get back to work again. I began a lens introducing people to the fantastic world of article marketing. The way I see it, I am going to come across all sorts of things that I can learn and share my knowledge on, so why not make a page that can help others achieve a self-sufficient lifestyle?

The more and more I participate in article marketing, the more I come to appreciate it and benefit from it. I've said it before and I will say it again; article marketing can be great therapy. Working with the recently separated/divorced niche can be exhausting, but every day I learn more about myself.

I had written quite a few articles earlier this month and have seen an increase traffic in bit. The biggest thing that surprised me were the click throughs I received from my articles on EzineArticles were up substantially and I haven't really figured out why. A majority of the articles were there for a couple months prior to now but never received this much attention. I'm not complaining, just surprised I received the attention I got this month considering I lost half a month. But overall, my numbers pleased me. My total visits to articles on Ezine totalled 182, while URL clicks were at 19, which gave me just over 10% click rate

I only had three submissions for StreetArticles this month and have reached an author rank of 506. I did break 400, but I have fallen back the last couple weeks, assuming because of the lack of submissions.
 I have changed my approach just a touch and designating StreetArticles for my affiliate marketing campaign and EzineArticles for my niche Getting Over Divorce For Men. It just seems to simplify it for myself.