Google Adsense – Losing My Google Virginity, My First EVER Adsense Cheque

All the big-time ‘big-dick’ bloggers and online marketers who earn a significant amount from their online endeavours will tell you about the benefits of adding Google Adsense ads to your website or blog. The earning potential is there, but don’t expect to be bathing in crispy notes overnight, it takes real time and effort to earn any type of significant amount from the platform.

I received an email from Google a few weeks ago saying I had reached my threshold of £60.00 so my first cheque would be released. Got it through the post last week!

For those of us who don’t know, Google Adsense is a revenue system for webmasters where Google places relevant ads on your site and you get paid every time someone clicks on the ad. You might get one visitor, out of hundreds who visit your site, who clicks an ad and you get paid (usually pennies per click) once the click is verified as genuine. The majority of people never make ANY money of it simply because the number of clicks required would in-turn require a huge number of visitors to your site. (You can see my ads on my homepage in the right-side grey sidebar, underneath ‘Related Ads’).

I can remember seeing pictures of the big-timers with their revenue cheques for hundreds of thousands of pounds and dollars. People who were getting 50K+ visitors to their blogs per month. Seemed like a ‘mission’, as they say in my hood. I was envious but understood the time and effort required, and the acute possibility that I would be another ‘one click wonder’ who tried Adsense and then gave it up after a couple of months of earning pennies.

Me, my blog and my cheque - 'just the three of us..' (shot is a re-enactment of my reaction at the moment of revelation)

I first set-up this site back in late-2009, when I was getting my feet wet with WordPress and it’s capabilities. In fact, ArtbyHerbie.com was my first EVER wordpress installation and I’ve never looked back. Since then I have had numerous other client sites and personal projects using WordPress. It’s simply too good. I installed the code and ads in mid-2010 once I had launched the site and was regularly sharing ideas and posts. Since then it became my personal beacon to the world in regards to my work, thoughts and ramblings. It took me six weeks to get my first click!

At first, I would religiously check my Adsense total every day, but I soon got sick of it after seeing no clicks and played around with ad sizes and placements. I then placed a single ad on my homepage to be visible site-wide, and then two ads on the top and bottom of my blog posts. I noticed a trickle of pennies come through but I knew I had to concentrate more on the content of my blog to draw more visitors in. So I did!

The cheque itself, although quite ‘boring’ in appearance, doesn’t even have the Google logo on it, just their addresses in Buffalo, New York and Dublin, Ireland. However, it’s something that most of us will never see, hence the big ‘hoo-haa’. For me, it’s value is close to £60K! If you’re thinking, ‘Why the fuck is he getting so excited over a cheque for £61.94?’, then you simply do not understand how the web and online marketing works. (no offence, but I’m relying more on the techies to relate to here).

The 'glory'..

My blog is nowhere near even the top 80%. I’m still small-time. My Alexa rating is (at time of press) 3,262,842 (hmmm). Dudes like John Chow, Darren Rowse of Problogger and Pat from The Smart Passive Income Blog are ‘big in the game’ and have done well through blogging. Pat even gives a detailed rundown of his monthly earnings! You’d be surprised.

However, most of these blogs blog about making money blogging(!) Making money online through internet marketing and various other means is one of the most searched for terms in the search engines. That’s a reason why these blogs are the most popular. Mine was never about money but my work and business, and everything else thrown in between. It’s a channel of expression and personal space where I can reach out and share shit. Ya know? I only added the most basic income streams and Google Adsense is THE first-stop for EVERYONE. That’s why any income from it is an added bonus, since that is not it’s primary aim. On the journey I’ve met cartloads of other bloggers who, like me, love blogging about what they do. Katana Barnett, an artist, author and illustrator from Los Angeles is one, she lives at Katanaville. Check her out.

I started writing from the heart and tried to convey my eccentric personality through my writing. Just being me, fuck it, be who you are, write the way you are and people will connect with you more. It worked! I stopped trying to write for the search engines (for SEO reasons) and adopted the attitude that I was me, and ArtbyHerbie.com was me, so my writing style reflected this. I also started regularly updating my portfolio which added more fresh content on a regular basis (to me it’s like a pet, gotta feed it).

I noticed a steady stream of people reading my posts and the Google Analytics traffic count went up too. This resulted in me earning a jaw-dropping £5.87 in my first month after this change.

Since then, a few clicks every month took me to £60.00 in just under 12 months! Woohoo! Google sent me an email telling me my first cheque was released once I had reached £60!! I nearly ejaculated upon reading it. I’ll leave to your imagination my knee-jerk reaction when i finally had it in my hand(!) (forgive the terrible pun).

Another shocking re-enactment..

I wish I had more time to blog as I love sharing my work, ideas, trials and tribulations with you great people, my fans and readers. This cheque just made it all worth it. No, it’s not gonna buy me a house on the hill, but it’s the principle that is worth more to me.

To the millions of amateur bloggers running Adsense out there still waiting for their first cheques, remember ‘Head up, chest out, eyes open – you’ll get there in the end!’ Stick to what you do and the web traffic will come.

I’ve always wanted to say this (c’mon, I gotta milk the situation right?) even though my blog posts and site have a good standing with Google already, but ‘You don’t know who I am? Google my name, soldier, GOOGLE my name!!!’

I’ll cash the cheque in this week. Any ideas on what I could spend the £61.94 on? Maybe buy myself a new hat? Your suggestions are welcome in the comments section below.

Salute! Here’s to the next one!