I just got an exciting email from the guys at Text-Link-Ads.  In fact, I get emails from them pretty often, always From: Patrick Gavin, and of all the mailing lists that I am on, this is pretty much the only one that isn’t auto-archived, and that I actually read on a regular basis. Way to go Patrick! I don’t really know how you do it, but your emails don’t annoy me.

It’s probably because when they do interrupt me, it’s either to bring great news (Yea, I just made some money!) or to tell me about something new that I actually find exciting (umm...a purple cow).  For example, about a day ago I got an email announcing the launch of Shopping Ads.  They go something like this:

At first glance they look a lot like Chitika ads, and just like those, you’re allowed to use them alongside AdSense, which is a bonus.  But I inherently trust the TLA team because I think is a great product, and so I’m much more willing to give Shopping Ads a try.  Aahhh, the beauty of selling to existing customers…

Apparently, I was just kidding about being back from Neverland.  Or at least here I was.  I’ve been busy at work on Argentina’s Travel and a couple of new projects, not to mention my day job.

After a summer of inconsistency (albeit lots of fun), fall is shaping up to be a very consistent time and it’s exciting to see the results.  Online earnings continue to increase, links are trickling in, and I’m being contacted ever more frequently about advertising spots.

I’m quite excited about my two new projects (and maybe three), especially since this time around I’ve made the effort to bring other people on board.  These are joint ventures, which means I won’t be doing all the work myself, and which also means I get to focus on what I’m good at.

These should be up within the month, and you’ll definitely hear about them on here.

If I have any readers left out there, let me start out with a sincere apology to them for the lack of content on Flee The Cube.  I know a few of my friends used to check the site regularly to see what I was up to, and I hope they’ll come back!

As I mentioned back in April, the reason for the lack of content is that I am focusing my efforts elsewhere.  In terms of my personal projects, I’ve been putting most of my effort into Argentina’s Travel Guide.  The idea was to make that site the traffic and link authority leader in the Kokua Web network.  Argentina’s Travel is now the traffic leader by far, but interestingly enough, Flee The Cube is still the link authority leader.  Must’ve been all those memes I jumped head first into.
Also, I’ve been working on a large web development project for Karen Hill Scott & Co. It’s a portal dedicated to preschool planning in the state of California, and it’s built on Expression Engine.  All I want to say here is that the project is going well, and oh yeah, I *heart* Expression Engine.  In terms of flexibility and power, it leaves most other CMSs I’ve used in the dust. (NB. I haven’t used that many...)

And to complete my disappearing act, this summer I went to three out of town weddings and had both my parents and my little sister visiting me for a month, so I made a conscious decision to take a vacation from my virtual life.

The one [very] interesting result from this period of inactivity is that despite the relative dormancy of the network over the last 45 days, both traffic and income held relatively stable (traffic dropped some, but somehow, income increased).  It’s not how I would have wanted to do such an experiment, but it was a very encouraging thing to discover.

And now, it’s time to jump right back on the horse.  I’m excited to get back to work, and I have a few ideas to grow the content base, the traffic, and perhaps to launch a few new projects.

I don’t necessarily want to say “Stay Tuned” but at least, subscribe to the RSS feed!

Alright, I did it.  I signed up for Yaro’s Blog Mastermind mentoring program.  If you don’t know Yaro (what rock have you been hiding under??) he’s one of the best known bloggers in the internet entrepreneurship space.  I first started keeping track of him back in late 2005 when I started on this journey and ever since he has consistently been full of good advice, written in a clear manner.  I love his in-depth articles, and more than once he has nudged my efforts, shall we say, in a better direction.  And so, I’m recommending his free e-book and his mentoring program as an affiliate, but because I believe in them.
Recently, when Yaro released his free Blog Profits Blueprint, an e-book on how to make money through part-time blogging, I jumped on the chance to download it.  This 55 page guide is a gem.  It takes you from the basics of blogging to the overarching concepts that should guide your efforts.  If you do nothing else, you should at least download this free guide.

For me personally, Yaro’s Blueprint, and also his mentoring program, couldn’t have come at a better time.  Over the last few months I’ve been working hard to turn Argentina’s Travel Guide into the premier site on travel in Argentina.  I’ve had some success, even landing a significant advertising deal, but over the last two months I seem to have hit a traffic plateau.  And I’m planning on using Yaro’s mentoring program to smash through it.

Just a quick note on a great event going on tonight here in Los Angeles.  It’s an event called Twiistup, and it is a showcase of tech talent and startups in the area.  Sorry for the late notice, but I only signed up myself yesterday, and there are a few tickets left.

There will be some great companies presenting, such as CrazyEgg, Mint, and BuildV1.  Many of these have been features on TechCrunch and at the DEMO conference.  So if you live in LA and are looking for something to do tonight, maybe I’ll see you there.