Life and Times of a Brit Living in the Philippines

Focus on the Future But Use the Past to Guide You

December 26, 2012 by Joseph 7 Comments

I guess it must be almost a month since I last wrote for this blog. And a lot has happened since then, not least Christmas! I hope you all had a good Christmas no matter where you are in the world!

For me? Quiet. One of the quietest Christmas’ I’ve ever experienced. A time to reminisce and get all sad about the number of poor choices I’ve made in recent times I never receieved a single Christmas present nor a single Christmas card. Is that progress in life or regression? Depends on your point of view.

Nevertheless, there’s been a lot of good too and there’s a lot to look forward to during 2013 and beyond.

One thing that’s got me all excited is a new project I’ve just embarked on. At the moment it’s a secret. A work in the making. And there’s a lot of work to be done, but I’ll be sharing it with you very soon, don’t despair

Actually, this new project may very well formulate the backbone of my business for the whole of next year. I envisage growing it from strength to strength and no doubt it will have a major impact on this blog. And I suspect it could in fact have a fairly large impact on a number of people who are reading this, even if they (you) have no interest in the specific niche I’m going to focus on.

Basically, and in a nut shell, I’m going to be sharing more of my life with anyone who wants to enjoy that experience. Opening up more. Doing more to help you. Doing more to help myself. 2012 has been a year of trial and mostly error. Well, I intend to make 2013 a year of trial with a whole lot more success!

But here’s a bit of a clue to what I’m intent on.

Do you listen to Pat Flynn’s podcasts about people who are successful (oftentimes VERY successful) in a niche other than the make-money-online niche? I do. It’s one of the very few podcasts I listen to regularly. But, my problem, or so I thought, was that my passions consist of making money online and nothing much else.

For sure, making money online is a means to an end. Making money online leads to choices that other “normal” people can only dream about. Making money online, in the passive sense of the “word” gives you freedom – freedom to choose. A freedom that very few others ever have. And that is more than IMMENSE!!

My move to the Philippines which occured only some five months previously has “forced” me to make a number of reassessments as to where I’m at in the world. It’s been a painful experience actually. Regularly I’ve felt that I’m moving backwards, not forwards. That leads to frustration and for me, to sadness and a true sense of loss.

Nevertheless, it’s been a necessity so that I can move onwards rather than sit tight and live out my days in mediocre.

So, what’s now happened is that one or two of my previous interests have progressed to becoming passions. It merely took a little bit of a push, a change in my circumstances, to realize it.

And fortunately I’m in a position to extend those passions into the creation of an online business (businesses).

Although I have big ideas, one step at a time is a wise precaution. I’m guilty of biting off more than I can chew, as many of you are aware, and I have no intention of doing the same here.

My next blog post will reveal more… a lot more!

And that blog post will be completed prior to the turn of the new year – promise!

Filed Under: Assess Your Own Online Goals

Breaking Away from the 9 to 5 Grind

April 9, 2012 by Joseph 11 Comments

If you are desperately keen to get away from the 9 to 5 grind and work online by establishing your own business, how can you actually go ahead and do it?

Its all very well to read something in the newspaper about someone making a million a year online from internet marketing.

Fact of the matter is, you’ll not make a million in your first year. You may in fact make nothing at all in your first year, no matter how hard you try.

Truth be told – you may never make much money as an internet marketer. Its much more difficult to make money online than “they” portray.

But this does not mean you can’t escape the drudgery of the 9 to 5 for something far better. Something “location independent” if you prefer that way of describing your ideal life scenario.

A life in the tropics, perhaps? Yup, I’ve managed to fulfil that “NEED” for myself. I have no regrets – my life in Malaysia is far better than my life was in the United Kingdom.

What Comes After Build My Rank? Back to the 9 to 5 Grind?

March 21, 2012 by Joseph 128 Comments

I’m not usually the one to jump on the bandwagon and start writing about a big event in history such as the downfall of BMR. But in this case because I’ve been a heavy user of BMR and also because I was earning a pretty healthy income from my affiliation to the BMR service (thank you very kindly to all those who used my affiliate link over the past 18 months or so!!!), I feel obliged to discuss this matter to some degree at least.

As you probably know by now, BMR is no more and they’ve closed their doors entirely.

Why so?

Because Google have apparently de-indexed a large part, if not all of the network of sites.

Thus, no more gaming the system a la BMR. Bummer!!

So what can we as gamers of the search engines now do?

Well its becoming apparent that the game is becoming more tricky to play.

Should we thus give up and return to our 9 to 5′s?

Well, if that thought appeals to you, then yes – why not.

But for most of us, the thought will be totally unappealing.

If I were to get a job as a toilet attendant here in Kuching, Malaysia, I’d earn about 4 RMG an hour. That’s about $1.30 US, or about 1 euro, I think. But if I were to get a job as a toilet attendant in the United Kingdom, I suspect I’d get paid around 6 UK pounds an hour, which is about 7 euro or $10 US. However, I prefer to live in Kuching, so the toilet attendant option is, well – not an option, is it?

Sorry for the diatribe.

Here’s the thing though, and I don’t want to make this a long drawn out post, so forgive me for merely making a mention of this without going into detail…

Does Google want to rank new sites that are unproven in terms of attracting visitors?

No, I hear you say.

Does Google want to rank older maturer sites that have something of a track record for attracting search engine visitors?

Yes, I hear you say, correct?

Now, I’m not sure about you, but for me – when I’ve been intent on getting top end rankings in Google (more recently) I’ve sometimes come a cropper. In fact, more often than sometimes. I’ve pushed the boat out just a bit too far, and I pay the penalty for doing so.

Why so?

Time Management – I’m USELESS at Time Management And I Can’t Handle Stress Either!

March 9, 2012 by Joseph 12 Comments

There – the cat’s out of the bag – I’m USELESS!

If you’ve been involved in running any sort of business – be that online or offline, then time management is a thoroughly, very, extraordinarily important factor to factor into your business. And dealing with the stresses involved with time management is part and parcel of the game play.

And no doubt you’ve already read up on how to manage your time more effectively. And very probably or maybe I should say – very possibly, you’ve failed to implement what you’ve learned.

After all, not only are there thousands of blog posts about managing your time better and handling stress in a more appropriate manner, but there are countless books about the topic/s too.
Yes, initially you implement some of what you learn, but slowly and surely your time management fades to what it was before. Which can become unmanageable. And unmanageable tends to mean STRESSED OUT!
To be honest, I’m rubbish at managing my own time and I’m rotten at dealing with the stress which comes from poor time management, but the key here is that I surely know about it. I’m rotten and useless – there, I said it all over!

And what’s even more, I can read all about time management principles till I’m rosy blue in the face, but I still rarely implement any tools or any methods to manage it better.

I Made a Mess – Google Dumps us Down the Rankings!

September 14, 2011 by Joseph 92 Comments

Time for a quick post I’d say!

Well, guess what – we made a mess of it, so I can put that planed windsurfing holiday to bed for now because I am no longer jumping up and down for joy

Who’s we?

Me and Chris is “we” – my young protege (for want of a different word) who hails from Texas in North America and is aiming to achieve an income of over $4,000 within 12 months from a start of zero.

Previously, in a post towards the end of last month, I was shouting my big gob (mouth) off about him making $4,600 for last month, which would have been 8 months into the project – a full 4 months shy of our target date.

Well, we/ I got our/ my come-uppance and guess who is responsible… Do I hear you say “Google”?

You got that right!

In actual fact, not quite – its ME who is responsible and not Google. Its me who is responsible and not Chris. Me, Me, Me!

I’m supposed to be the “tour” guide. I’m supposed to be leading by example, but fact is, I took my eye off the ball, very much down to the reason that I was happy to shout my mouth off about how well it was all going, and also partly because I was and am so busy with many other aspects to my business. So the blame lays at my door step – not Google’s and not Chris’ either.

So, what went wrong?

Good question!

Our top earning site got dumped from the rankings! And believe me when I say top earning, I mean TOP EARNING. I think that site was making around half and perhaps a little more of our total monthly haul. They say to never put all your eggs in the one basket. Well, we don’t, but its just panned out that way is all.

My communication with Chris got to the point of us both emailing each other about how we were going to invest our money in the months and years to come. Where it would have been wiser to be focusing on who was doing what with regards to working on the websites.

How to Push Your Online Business Forward – Starting Today!

April 7, 2011 by Joseph 30 Comments

Reach for the Clouds!

This post I wanted to make a bit more fun than overly serious, but there is for sure a serious undercurrent to the message/messages.

I’ve taken the initial concept which was a very generalized concept and turned it around to be more focused for us internet marketers and bloggers. But at the same time, the points can be applied to most walks of life – to every day living.

Some points touch on each other, but are worthy additions all the same.

There is a whole lot more that can be added, so feel free to leave your own thoughts. Enjoy!

1. Give up striving for perfection: achieving perfection is a waste of time. Perfection to you is certainly not necessarily perfection for someone else. If you can get some task you are doing to 90% perfect (in your own mind) then you’ll save a whole ton of time – its the last 10% of trying to reach that ultimate ”perfection” which will most probably take up 80% of your time!

2. Do not continue to compare your own abilities to those of others: if you do that, you are merely going to be focus in on the “wrong” things. You are you, so focus on your strengths and let everyone else focus in on theirs. By doing this, you will gain a deeper sense of fulfillment, whilst making much more progress than you would otherwise.

Focus on the Future But Use the Past to Guide You

Breaking Away from the 9 to 5 Grind

What Comes After Build My Rank? Back to the 9 to 5 Grind?

Time Management – I’m USELESS at Time Management And I Can’t Handle Stress Either!

I Made a Mess – Google Dumps us Down the Rankings!

How to Push Your Online Business Forward – Starting Today!

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