I have been blogging for more than 12 years. I started back in 2002. At this time barely anybody made a living from blogging.
I started really small. Just added some posts to my travel blog once or twice a week.
When I began blogging I just wanted to share my passion for traveling with the rest of the world. It was never my intention to make money with Google AdSense.
I really only started to think I could monetize my blog when I saw I was getting almost 1 million (unique) visitors a month.
I had an amazing Idea, what if I quit my dead boring office job and start blogging full time and do what I love most, traveling and exploring new cultures and countries.
One month later I was on long haul flight to South East Asia. All paid by the money I got from AdSense. I felt really happy the first time in my life.
After arriving in Bali, I felt my life changed from black and white to full color. I explored all the beaches, made friends with really good people on the island.
I went to different coffee shops everyday in Kuta to update my blog and share all my amazing experiences on my blog.
I made about $18000 a month from AdSense. I was living in an Bali Style villa with my own private swimming pool,and my own house maid.
After 5 months living my dream, AdSense out of the blue banned my account. Suddenly on my blog only public service ads were showing.
I got really confused, why the hell did they suspend my account? I never bought any fake traffic, nor did I ever ask my family or friend of myself click on any Ads.
I felt like I am getting kicked out of paradise. I was scared to loose my Bali Style villa as well my new life I fell in love with.
I started to research online why and how people get banned from AdSense. I started to realize very fast, I was not the only one that had his account suspended.
My first idea was to monetize my website differently. I started to add banners from cj.com, I also tried to advertise some Clickbank products on my blog.
To make it short, it did not go well. Conversations were extremely low. The same traffic that generated almost $18000 a month suddenly was worth less than $500. I was shocked.
Once I realized that there are not real alternative to Google AdSense, I started to open new accounts. It never took more than a couple of hours until my new AdSense account was banned again.
I started to get really desperate. I had no intention of ever leaving Bali. I felt like Bali was my new home.
I am not a guy who gives up easy. I know I will find a way to open a new AdSense account and monetize the traffic on my blog.
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