Internet Marketing Resolutions for 2008

Ok, everyone makes new years’ resolutions, and most people rarely keep them. The same is true for making money online. One of the biggest reasons that people fail when they try to make money online is is because they set unrealistic expectations for their income.

This year I have decided to set some pretty reasonable resolutions for my online marketing efforts, and I am going to share them with you. My hope is that my readers can help hold my feet to the fire when push comes to shove, and that people who follow my blog will be able to learn from my efforts and use that knowledge to improve their own online incomes.

Right now my online marketing efforts are separated into four main categories:

• Google AdSense
• Affiliate Marketing
• Blogging
• One Big Project

I have never been a big fan for those who brag about their earnings (John Chow’s monthly earnings report for example) but I am going to lay out my plans for each section, tell you how I did in each category this year, and then my goals for 2008 and how I plan to reach them.

Google AdSense

I really slacked off on AdSense this year. In 2006 I was earning more than $100 a day, but this year I averaged only $400 a month. The main reason for the drop off was because I stopped creating content.

I was really dominant in the anti-spyware niche and the computer tutorial niche, but if you stop making content new infections and problems come along to replace the old ones and before you know it traffic is down by 10K visitors a month and money is WAY down.

My goal for 2008 is to get back up to $100 a day on average, which would be $3,100 a month or $37,200 a year. I suspect that this will be a sloping curve upward as I create a LOT of content in January and February and then come down to a more sustainable, consistent level. I plan on creating more than 150 pages of content the first week of January alone.

Affiliate Marketing

I plan on replicating the success I forged with Joel Comm’s Secret Classroom product in 2008. This year almost all of my affiliate income came from my effort to promote that DVD set. A few other smaller efforts netted me a few hundred dollars, but the grand total for this year was just under $5,000 in income. Of course there were expenses as well, but this is about income growth right now and not degrees of profitability.

In 2008 I want to triple that income to $15,000. I believe that is a reasonable goal if I launch myself heavily into one new affiliate program each month. That means that each program would have to earn a mere $416 over the course of the year. I have a plan to make it happen in a scalable and sustainable way (which you will hear more about when it is ready) that will probably be duplicated by others if it works.

Blogging

This is by far the most elusive revenue stream I have ever pursued. Blogs are great for leveraging other revenue streams like AdSense, or affiliate promotions, but to make money off of a blog its self as a stand-alone product is much more challenging.

This year I earned a mere $180 directly from my blog. Don’t get me wrong – my blog was an invaluable tool to my AdSense income and affiliate efforts, but it’s become pretty clear that if I want to make money off this blog, I am going to have to make some changes.

In 2008 I want to find a way to earn $100 a month from my blog. I know that sounds trivial, especially when you consider that one person maintaining a blog for one hour a day at $25 an hour needs to make over $700 a month just to break even.

But I don’t want to set an unrealistic goal for myself, and knowing that my blog is a useful instrument in my other online marketing efforts, I am happy going from an average of $15 a month to $100 a month.

One Big Project

I always seem to end up with one Manhattan-style project every year that is a little bit out there. in 2007 it was the Schrock Desk, and the 2008 idea is already bulbing to the surface. This one is really going to challenge me to combine my online and offline knowledge and contacts in a new and innovative way. I know it sucks that I won’t tell you more now, bu trust me if I pull this off you will be so sick of hearing about it…

Overall Goals

If you combine all of my 2007 internet marketing income (which does not include the Schrock Desk income that is earned by my staff) I earned a meager $10,000 in income.

If you combine all of my goals for 2008 and assume I hit my marks, I should earn just under $53,000. With all things considered, that is a HUGE annual increase that I should be able to attain most of that without a significant increase in expenses.

The Reports

Every month I am going to report to you to show how I am doing in each category compared to my overall goals.

The point is not to brag about how hot I am or anything… The point is to inspire others by giving an example of a guy who sets a reasonable plan and executes. If I can make more than $57,000 in 2008 on the internet you can too. I’ll show you how I am going to try and do it as the year goes on. What are your new years’ income resolutions?