Getting Excited About Rewards

I'm really starting to get excited about the rewards I've decided on. While I haven't met any of the requirements yet, I know it is only a matter of time.

I really need that new desk and chair. The one I currently have is not really designed to be ergonomic. The desk chair is going to be fancy, too. While Herman-Miller gets all the press for ergonomic desk chairs, I can say that they are just ok. I have one at work, and maybe they bought a lower grade version, but it is just ok. I want a nice plush leather chair that has all of the adjustments like lumbar support and stuff while still feeling nice and cushy.

Then there is the Blackberry Bold. Aside from the fact that I need a new phone, this one is going to allow me to stay on top of things as I build my team. Plus the fact that it is just very cool=)

Anyway, before I can get my prizes, I need to hit $100/profit per day. Wish me luck.

Stupid Mistakes

Last night I launched 2 new campaigns. Actually, there was only 1 new one. The other was really a relaunch of what I had thought was a dud.

Somehow, when I loaded my campaign (and I don't know how this happened), all of my adgroups had the word "Broad" as their keyword. Not one of them had the actual keyword I was trying to bid on!

This ran for several days and I was about to cut the campaign off. But while working on a new campaign, I went back to refer to some of my spreadsheets and saw "Broad" everywhere. I checked my account and couldn't believe I had made such a stupid mistake. Thankfully, not many people look up broad so I only spent about 2 buck in those days it was up. It's fixed now and running smoothly. We will see how the other new campaign goes.

I've cut some campaigns and have really cut back on others. I'm still losing money each day but my gross has been pretty good. After I do some serious optimization, I'm thinking I should be at a pretty good net/day.

The coaching is going great and I think that once that campaign is up and running, it will hit like gangbusters!

Rewards List

While I'm no longer a member of PPC Coach ( the program I'm in now is much better), there was one thing that I really liked about it. They advocated creating a rewards system so that each milestone you achieve means a personal gift for yourself. In that vein, here is my list=) All values are based on profit, not gross.

• $50/day - New desk and fancy leather chair
• $100/day - Blackberry Bold or iPhone
• $150/day - New Sunglasses
• $200/day - New House
• $250/day - Execute the Exit Strategy (i.e, quit the jobby job!!)
• $300/day - Fix Up My Car (new paint job, etc.)
• $350/day - Domestic Trip

I went all the way up to $1,000/day, which is a Trans Atlantic Cruise, but my list is in my car=) I'll get the rest posted later.

New Coaching

This seems to be a recurring theme with me. I've been looking for coaching to show me exactly what do to in this PPC game. PPC Classroom turned out to be mostly for newbies. After messing with PPC for the past 4 years, there really wasn't much new that I've picked up from them yet.

However, I just joined a coaching program that is different. The coach only took on 12 people and he set up a project management page for each of us to use. He's been giving us tasks to complete and giving individual help. It is great!

Aside from the coaching and the product I've chosen to use with him, I've launched another campaign in the past week. However, this one has pretty much fizzled. I'm going to raise the bids and see if that helps any.

I have also tried my hand at the Content Network again. The difference this time is that I started to get some results=) Yesterday I had a few conversions with it. We will see if that continues. I've also stopped promoting my product in Adwords Search. I've been losing money hand over fist and making no conversions there. After looking at the analytics, most of my conversions have been coming from the Content Network. I'm going to start focusing my attention there to see what I can pull off.

Other than that, I'm still plugging away. I'm going to make 2009 work!

2009

Yes, it is 2009. Last year was a blur, I think, mostly because I had a massive goal I was trying to achieve. Going full time with my business before I was 27 would have been a massive achievement.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it. I did, however, learn a tremendous amount about this game. I learned about CPA programs and the power of focus. I went to my first affiliate marketing conference and enjoyed the fruits of business travel. More importantly, I discovered that beating myself up over $0 income days was counter productive. I still do it to a certain extent but I try not to do it as much.

Anyway, in the vein of the New Year and the tradition of New Year resolutions, here are mine:

1. Go Full Time - This is a must. The job is killing me, literally. These 2 weeks off have shown me just how much it affects my life. I've been less stressed (even about the Business), I've been happier, I've launched 6 campaigns without very much effort, etc. Life is better without a day job so I need to get rid of mine.
2. At Least $1000/Day - There is no date associated with this one. As long as I continue to launch campaigns, I should be able to make it to $1000/Day. But I need to focus on the baby steps.
3. Get a New House & at Least 1 Rental Property - I've really slacked on my real estate investing. I bought my current duplex before I hit 25 but haven't done anything since. That changes now. Once I get the second duplex and move out of this one, I should be able to cashflow $500+/month with the two fully occupied. This would be a nice chunk taken out of my own mortgage.
4. Start Investing in FOREX - Some of the biggest, most successful companies in the world make their big bucks from foreign currency trading. I will be taking my profits and building on them through trading.
5. Travel More - I did more traveling between Aug 07 and Aut 08 than I did in the previous 5 years. I want to do even more this year.

Big goals but I'm more than capable of doing it as long as I keep focused. What are you goals?