Keeping Track Of What Works

18. Keeping Track Of What Works — And What Doesn't Work — For You!

Start An AdSense Journal

People who want to lose weight often keep a "food diary". Without a food diary, it's easy to forget that late-night snack or the extra sugar in your fourth cup of coffee. A food diary keeps you honest. It helps you figure out the real reasons behind those little ups and downs in your weight.

I'm sure that after reading this book, you would be eager to try out many of the tweaks discussed in here — including some of your own.

Without an AdSense journal, it would be easy to undo your successes, or to repeat your failures. Remember the program that I mentioned earlier, AdSenseDesktop. This tool provides everything you need to keep an ongoing journal of your AdSense activity!

Every little tweak counts, but don't try to do everything at once.

Take the step-by-step approach. Write your own AdSense plan for the first week. Log into your AdSense account once a day, to track your clickthroughs and earnings.

Don't be rigid about your plan. Make room for inspiration. If you've got a great idea, write it down to implement it later. Don't implement your ideas all at once and DO give every idea some time to prove its mettle. You'll find out

within a day if you have thousands of visitors hitting your web pages. If that is not the case, give it a few days. Preferably one week!

Don't be discouraged by minor, day-to-day fluctuations in your click-throughs and earnings. It's normal and probably has nothing to do with your latest tweak.

Join an AdSense forum, several if possible. Share your tips with other members. Discuss what works and what doesn't work for you. Every once in a while, a forum member might alert you to a possible violation of the AdSense TOS. It could be just a false alarm, but I prefer to be safe than sorry!

When in doubt, dash an email to AdSense support, at: adsensesupport@Google.com

Most emails are answered quickly by a real person. They won't suspend your account for asking them, but they might if you don't ask!

Read all you can and jot down every good idea. It will keep your interest levels high and give you something new to work on all the time.

Every new 'tweak' is your stepping stone to AdSense success.

Once you've reached a certain level, it's easy to say 'Cool! I've figured it all out!' But take it from me — Internet Marketing keeps changing and the rules will change for you too.

Don't be like the two lazy little-people in "Who moved my cheese?" Keep looking for new ways to make money with AdSense. Replace ideas that no longer seem to work with new ideas and inspiration. Some people I know are still rubbing their backsides after the dot-com bust.

It's always easier when you see it coming, than when it takes you by surprise!

Remember the story about 'The Emperor's New Clothes'? There's a lesson in it for all of us Internet Marketers, and it's this:

It doesn't matter how much money you've made with AdSense or what the IQ tests say about you: It ain't working till your stats say so!