I'm gutted!
Why?
Google has withdrawn their Adsense from my Blog due to a violation. They can't say what violation, but I had the right to appeal. I appealed the decision but they came back saying their hands were tied. I can no longer make money through ads via Google.
The frustrating part is they can't tell me how I or the Blog have violated the terms. Therefore, I'm not sure how I can move forward and not repeat the same thing. Anyway, what's done is done. It doesn't look like I can do anything about that now. For those of you that are interested, I made just short of £30 a month at the end of last year, and over the last 2 months I had made £15 a month. It's not the end of the world, but it's money for seemingly nothing.
So what next?
I haven't made up my mind yet, but in my mind I have three main options:
- In a Goodfella's accent 'Forget about it'. Just carry on and be content with not making money via the Blog. I'm going to be a Kindle Millionaire soon anyways!
- Move provider immediately and set up my own domain name, improve the Blog and change things up.
- Stay where I am for now and look to move in the not to distant future.
I'm somewhere between 2 and 3 right now. One of the main reasons I used Blogger was to get some revenue streams from a free platform. Now this is no longer available, I'm likely to be able to make 'some' money, albeit small from setting up my own platform.
The problem I face is this will all take time to do, and I don't have a lot of spare time floating around right now, hence number 3.
The future of FFBF
My plan all along has been to set up my own domain name and have more choice/ownership of how my Blog looks and what goes onto it. I'm sure the time will come when I will do this, I just don't know when.
If I did, what would I call it? Would I keep FFBF as people know it, or is it a good time to try something new?
I'm not the most creative type, so I'm not too sure what I'd call it to be honest - Any suggestions?
I was thinking of keeping the photo of me looking out to the sea in Sweden, but turning it into a black and white logo.
My Ultimate Goal
Get the message of Frugality, Investing, and Early Retirement out there to more people. I want to make it easy to understand and fun to do. Which in my mind, it is!
"Who's with me?!" (cue large cheers)
I was only recently talking about my plans for this Blog and my Ultimate Goal with Lou. Now seems as good as time as any to share that with you.
Podcast/Youtube
I'd like to take my approach out to one of these domains, keeping with the FFBF, (dare I say) brand. I'm a big fan of Podcast's and Youtube, and I don't think there's a lot of presence there right now in this genre. I'm a big fan of 'Spartan Up' and 'Barbell Shrugged' (podcasts/youtube). They interview successful people in their field, find out what they do, their secrets/tips and share it with all the listeners. I'd like to take a similar approach and interview the successful people in PF/ER as there are plenty of people out there to talk to, and I for one would love to hear what they have to say.
I love the idea of meeting people where they live, spending time with them, learning from them, and being part of the process for getting their ideas 'out there'.
UK Gatherings
I'd like these gatherings to continue to grow as we do more and more. After we've gained a core audience who attend them regularly, I think we can start adding a learning/developing link to it by having guest speakers coming along to help us in a certain area of investing, frugal living, or making Beer! (Weenie/M?!)
I won't rush this process, as I think we all want to get closer to each other first and use these weekends to 'catch up' and exchange ideas. Perhaps more when we're bored of each other.... :-)
Book Creation
You might not be aware of this, but I publish Kindle books! Well, I've had a very recent revelation that would involve me writing my own books on all of the stuff I cover in this Blog, but in much more detail. For example, how I live on less than £10k a year, how I budget my money, how I invest, how I make kindle books, how I schedule my morning rituals/evening rituals/weekly reviews, meditate, exercise etc etc etc........
I'm feeling compelled to re-write a chunk of the work I get back from my writers, so I'd like to put my writing to the test and see how I compare against them when I'm writing about a topic I'm passionate about. This process will inevitably take longer to produce, but I have a sneaky feeling that I'll sell more as a result. I will be continuing to manage writers and release books as that system works (I've paid off my first book in 2.5 months!), but I have a strong desire to try my hand at writing now I know how to publish and test the income potential.
Coaching
I've already dabbled in this already and I'd like to continue dabbling for now. I plan on making it an official business eventually, much like my own publishing company above. I could have a separate section on my site or create a new one for that alone.
What do you think?
The Google Adsense situation could be a blessing in disguise, as it's brought these thoughts to my mind now, when I might have sat on them for years. I'm not planning on changing anything just yet but I will in time.
So what do you think of my ideas above? Do any excite you? Which ones in particular would you like to see happen? I'd love to know your thoughts!
Labels: Blog Update
