I love this time of year. It remind me just how fortunate I am. While many people across the country will be looking forward to spending some extra time with their families over Christmas, I get to spend as much time with my family as I want every day of the year.
That was always one of the big motivations for me as an online publisher: I wanted to be free to decide when to work and when to spend time with my family. I never wanted to be in a position in which I couldn’t turn up for my kid’s piano recital or ball game just because the boss needed me in the office.
That doesn’t mean I spend all day ironing children’s clothes and making packed lunches. But it does mean that I get to set my own schedule.
Each Christmas, I get to feel grateful that my work allows me the freedom I want to plan my time. Forget the fat checks from Google. Money is rewarding, but life is about people. And quality time with the family is the most important goal I achieve every year.
As we come to the end of another year, this is a good time to assess what you want out of your AdSense site.
Sure, you want to make lots of money. Everyone wants to make lots of money and if you put in the effort and follow the strategies that I’ve found effective with AdSense units then there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t make a lot of money.
But just as there’s no limit to the amount of income you can generate through AdSense, there’s also no limit to the amount of time you can invest in your sites. I’m certain that if you worked 20 hours a day on your sites and did all the right things, you could become Google’s top-earning publisher.
It wouldn’t be worth it.
I’m not saying that making a good income isn’t a legitimate goal. There’s nothing wrong with a goal like that. I’m just saying that before the new year begins it’s worth thinking about what else you want to get out of being an independent online publisher.
And that you plan your schedule so that this time next year, you’ll be able to say that you achieved everything you wanted.
So how about you? What are your goals for 2007?