Your 2009 Review

[KevinMcC]

Before someone makes a post about 2010 goals I thought it would be cool to post your proud accomplishments in 2009. I'll start...

- I hit my income goal for the year!
- Expanded into sportsbetting, casino and bingo
- I had about 4 or 5 personal best months income wise
- Started capturing visitor e-mails

[MJ]

This thread really bums me out, I didn't get a single thing accomplished in 09 that I thought I would.

I really spent most of the year positioning myself for 2010, even though signups traffic and income rose I never took a single project to fruition and instead spent a lot of time acquiring domains and launching new projects that will take some time to earn.

Ugh, wake up call. Good thread.

They say execution is everything, in that regard I fail in 2009. Bring on the new decade.

[Ridge]

I hit most of my goals, and a few I never expected. Rolling into non-gaming with ebay sites and Twilight sites have really forced me to get serious about actual marketing and not just Phrase Ranking. Although I had the SEO skills needed to rank and get traffic, I needed actual marketing and CTA skills to make sales. I'm not an expert, but have a much better understanding that I did 6 months ago.

I think I've allowed myself to get too spread out over the last couple months, I made more money in November than I have in any month ever, and something inside my head told me I should relax and enjoy myself. WRONG! December is way below average and I'm at risk of having a horrible December. So lesson learned.

So, I'm now back to my regular schedule and have specifics laid out for the rest of the month. Holidays are great for non-gaming sales, and seem to suck for gaming sales. So I may get to learn a lot the next couple weeks before xmas.

2010


I want every month to be November 2009, I want to have steady income no matter what it takes. I read a great post last night from an old PAP member some of you probably remember. The advice inside this post is gold for all serious affiliates wanting to make it to the next level. What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur This guy has been there and done that when it comes to marketing, but he knows he still has a long ways to go. I doubt he will ever be content. The hunger for success is what drives most of us, money just tells us how we are doing. AMIRITE?

Anyway, now I'm rambling... My goals for 2010 are:

1. Retire From My Corporate Life
2. Roll Out The New Rakeback System (I hate coders)
3. Pay Off house, all debt <----- Should be easy
4. Make $500,000 In 2010
5. Think before I post on PAL
6. Remember I had dumb forum questions too once
7. Go to at least one conference for affiliates
8. Hit the PokerStars Vegas Party at the WSOP

[TheShortStack]

Nice one Kevin - I'm going to wait for the 2010 goals thread.

I missed the 2009 goals thread but definitely looking forward to next years one. There are a few things that I'm pleased with, but I need to get a lot more organised in 2010 to take things to the next level.

[kushmoney]

I spent almost the whole 2009 year looking for the niche I really want to be in. While in my dumb search for the perfect niche. (which was in front of me the whole time - poker) I let my poker blog slip from 9k visits a month to less than 2k visits a month. As far as income goals, Boy did I f**king blow it. Only one month came even close to my simple $2k gross income goal.

Good news from 2009 is I "found" my plan for 2010 and made a few friends that have been really helpful. Man, I love this forum! Thank you to those that helped.

[Stocks]

I did'nt have any goals but if I did I would have hit them income wise from the sale of a couple sites, my goal for 2010 is to only develop and not to sell anymore sites.

[Tom]

2009 was a good year for diversifying and experimenting in other niches outside of poker.

I didn't make any big income gains partly because I wasn't focused on one niche and I was experimenting in different ways to monetize my sites.

Some things I learned/accomplished:

• Made money from cj.com, clickbank and ebay from various types of sites.
• Made big strides in my fitness portal but still not generating too much income yet.
• Learned more about sales pages, squeeze pages, calls to action, and email marketing.
• Developed a successful wordpress theme and getting more efficient in coding/designing websites.
• Made my first casino/slots site that made money.

I am pretty set for 2010 where I will be affiliate marketing and designing websites fulltime.

[Unknown Webmaster]

If I set goals for 2009, I'm pretty sure I have missed them, however, I'm pretty sure that 2009 has learned me how to set goals that will actually help me instead of just being a statement of "what I think I ought to be able to achieve in 1 year".

The stuff I got out of 2009

• Dramatically cut down on the amount of domains I buy and never use.
• Figured out how I can make sites that will actually generate a decent income.
• Began earning enough money online to convince my friends that I'm not wasting my time.
• Got much more comfortable asking "stupid" questions.

[Matt Geer]

I just started affiliating this year and I think this year for me was more about learning about how to build sites including coding/graphics, seo, content and marketing as opposed to actually doing it. However, although I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I would've liked, the skill sets I have picked up or have been taught by others (thanks btw!) will go a long ways since I will have to depend less and less on others to get stuff done.

A few highlights of 2009:

• Learned tons of html/css/photoshop and have gotten misc work as a result

• Have learned how to build a site using a few different platforms. I have also learned how to properly structure a site and how to write content for it.

• Was taught many of the finer points of marketing including SEO & CTA's. The most important thing, however, was that I learned that there is much, much more learning to do

• Made tons of friends/associates

Goals for 2010

• Continue to study html/css to the point to where I can design/code my own sites. Would also like to start getting into other languages as well.

• Get my main site to over 200+ pages

• Start a few other sites that have been idling. I have one more poker site I'd like to get going, a sports/sportsbetting site and a fantasy sports site to start.

• Possibly start a partnership on a larger site (anyone interested? )

I think that just about sums it up for me. Just want to keep moving forward.

As a side note, a big thanks to everyone who has given me a hand in some way whether it's by keeping food on my table or by helping me with my sites - I appreciate it!

[NdeJonge]

-Just barely made my net income goal for 2009 .
-Income has steadily grown with a very good last few months!
-Branched into sports betting and really enjoying it. Especially when one of my players makes a big bet and I can sit back and watch the game.
-Paid off my student loans while still in school!

Here's hoping for a big 2010 with continued improvement.