Affiliates vs Adsense. and a confession.

Which is better? This month it looks like money made from affiliates will surpass money made from Adsense for this particular blog. I started tracking profit this month just out of curiosity. I am not really an advertiser, but I'm interested in marketing and the psychology of advertising. If you are focused on making the most profit from your site, then you are doomed to fail, I feel that money should not be your ultimate motivation. I feel like a hypocrite because I've become focused on the bottom line from time to time. The joy of activity is the best motivation in my experience, when it starts to be about just making money then the passion wains, greed grows, and the real creativity is swallowed by meritocracy. I have wavered between writing for fun and just posting for financial gain. When you accept assignments for cash then you are hiring out your writing ability to help someone else. My wife says that I'm "pimping myself out to the computer". I got so caught up in making a little cash that I lost the true enjoyment of writing. If you want to something special, always look to create value first, don't worry about profiting. If you have something of value that is useful to others the profit will come. It is easy to get caught up in statistics and rankings and popularity, but somethings recognition can hurt you more than it helps. My original goal with this site was to chronicle my path to 1 million (which is selfish and greedy, and useless) and share the knowledge I learned along the way with others that have a similar goal. I am consumed by this imaginary internet world sometimes and find myself obsessively checking stats and comments. I go to get back to my roots and focus on providing quality for the readers that subscribe and get them the info they need to help their own financial situations. I want this site to have an overall positive effect on those who read it and participate in discussions. If I become a millionaire by selling other peoples' products, I will become something that I despise. The most important things in life are God, family and friends. Everything else is just baggage which we can't take will us when we die. Other than making life less stressful and more comfortable having money is not that great. In fact many of the poorest people I know are perfectly happy, while those who are much better off find themselves unsatisfied and empty. I digress.

Making a million is like running a marathon

My friend persuaded me to join him in running a marathon in the end of April. I starting from square one. Yesterday was the first day I started training and I ran 3miles, I will run 3miles tonight as well. Then I realize that running a marathon is much like making a million dollars. Both are considerably lofty goals that can be attained through discipline and hard work. Neither are impossible but it takes perseverance and strong willpower to reach the end. It is easier not to run, and it is easier not to save money. The hardships of today will grow to be the rewards of tomorrow. I started my quest for one million (from nothing) last year. So far I'm made close to $250. Now I know that is not much, but it is a start. As I continue to learn and hone my skills I hope to accelerate the money making process which I've put into motion. Build a blog, write on a regular basis, get sponsors, make money from advertisements. I will continue to work until I reach my goal of making one million dollars from nothing (except my brain). Steve Pavlina should thank me I made him $100 richer by making it through Google's Adsense barrier. Currently my site brings in roughly $20-50 a month, which is small potatoes, but I'll keep working and striving to bring that number up a little bit each month until I reach my goal. Many people have recommended that I buy a domain name with a .com website to reach a larger audience and increase money from advertising but that is for another day.