I Still Remember “She” Abandoned Me

It was a day like any other. I woke up in the morning, had my shower and breakfast; then got myself a cup of coffee, sit down at my laptop, signing in to gmail and began my day.

I can still remember everything happened in slow motion after I received that email from “Her”. My adsense account got disabled with an outstanding balance of $2,212.65 annihilated by big G. What had been the main focus of my work was vanished… GONE!

Jan 13 2012, 10:31AM (Black Friday) — the day where I lost my major income source.

It’s Jan 15 2013 today, yet it seems like it only happened not too long ago. I still continue working full-time on the Internet (although there were times in 2012 I thought of giving up but I did not). I didn’t see it then, but looking back now – I realized getting my AdSense account banned could be one of the best things ever happened to me.

Why is this so, you ask? Because I literally have to “force” myself to acquire new skill sets/capabilities to rebuild my income. I won’t get into the details, but here’s a summary of what I’ve learned, put into action already, and have made me a ton more money online.

#1 Copywriting: I’ll say this is probably the most valuable skill that I’ve learned in 2012. Of all marketing skills on the online/offline world, copywriting is the MOST evergreen of them all. Everything you see, it’s the sales copy (words) that sells that product/service.

From learning how to write a ‘good enough’ copy, setting up sales pages, and putting in the right elements to converting readers into buyers… that means money in my pocket.

#2 Information Product Creation: I used to promote other people’s products as an affiliate (still doing to date). In 2012, I started to learn how to create information products on my own and sell to people who want it. You can find the products listed at the sidebar.

So, did I make 5-figure? Nope. But I manage to make a couple of sales, build my list, have affiliates whom I don’t know generating sales for me, have members continue paying me month after month till today, and above all I NEVER rely on big G doing so.

#3 Offering In Demand Services: I run a make money online Malaysian website and one common question I often receive from my visitors is this: “Can you please send me more information on how to work from home?” If you asked me a year ago, I’d have told you to start with building websites and earn from adsense. But if you were to ask me today, I’d advice you to start with offering services that people are already looking for.

Before my account got disabled, all I know was digging good keywords, building websites, doing SEO, and re-writing articles that I’ve no clue what’s about. I’m pretty satisfied as long as they were making money for me so I just kept doing them repeatedly.

After big G “abandoned” me, I told myself that I MUST learn new approaches of generating income on the Internet. E.g. building membership sites, creating squeeze and sales pages, setting up autoresponder system, and creating sales materials. These are some of the valuable skills that have made me a decent amount of money online today.

There’s a saying that “The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” 1 year ago, I thought my business had come to an end; now, when I look back at all that happened… it wouldn’t be possible if big G didn’t abandon me in the first place. Isn’t it funny how life works out sometimes huh?

Of course, I still rely on big G today for side income from some old sites that I’ve created years ago (adsense under my family name, infolinks, affiliate programs)… except that those income has significantly dropped compared to the good old days (before panda, penguin, emd update). Below is the screenshot of adsense earnings on Jan 15, 2013:

Image Is For Illustration Purposes Only.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is this: don’t give up the whole forest just because of one tree! Always hope for the best, be prepared for the worst, and be surprised with anything in between. After all, life goes on with or without “her” – google.

Have you had similar experiences? What would you do if your bread and butter taken away? It is your turn now. I want to know what you think by leaving a comment below.