More than RM 12,000 on 1st Year Blogging
May 31st, 2008 | This article was viewed 1,365 times so far...
What a crappy title for my 1st Anniversary article eh? Well, at least it got your attention. Anyway - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO goldfries.com!
It has been a great year, the progress of this blog was more than what I ever hoped for. I thank God for helping me throughout the 365 days.
Now, I’m sure all of you are interested to know more about the RM 12,000 figure on the title. Read on…
Behind the RM 12,000…….
I did a brief calculation of the total value of the items that my sponsors handed to me such as computer hardwares and games, and I was really surprised that its estimated value did come to a little more than RM 12,000!
While I did not earn RM 12,000, it sure feels good to know that I didn’t have to spend that amount to get the hardware and games for review purpose.
So Did I Earn Anything?
Yes, the site actually managed to earn a little over RM 700 via various monetization means, not bad for a 1-year-old blog. Not the best, not a record breaker but certainly an achievement that I never thought the site could attain within the first year, considering the fact that I haven’t been doing much promotion and marketing for the site itself.
My monetization experiments and my preference of placing ads in the less obvious and less distracting places aren’t exactly helpful in getting more income but it’s a small matter.
What Achievement Are You Most Proud Of?
I would say that I’m most proud of is the recognition given by various brands in the industry, including ASUS.
Not Without Cost
Not all equipment reviewed at goldfries.com are sponsored. In fact quite a portion of hardwares reviewed here were acquired using my pocket money.
The kind visitors who made effort to click the ads helped me a lot. Those additional $$$ helped me much in acquiring those additional items for review.
How’s The Traffic?
So far so good, based on Google Analytics goldfries.com has an average of around 250 visitors and 600 page views daily.
Were There Obstacles?
Yes - Time and Money. goldfries.com is far from being my primary source of financial support.
With many projects coming around, quite often I’m torn between spending time working on new articles and settling client projects - in the end priority goes to client projects, simply because it’s the thing that’s keeping me alive and keeping the site alive.
Preparing articles at goldfries.com is a time consuming process. It’s more than just write, read, change, write more. Testing out a hardware takes time. Experiencing a game takes time. Processing pictures as supporting materials for the article takes time - It’s all about providing a good reading experience.
Looking Forward
I am only looking forward to
- have more brands getting me to review their products
- have an increase in visitors
- earn more via monetization *wishes for more generous clicking visitors*
In the long-run, I look forward to a time where goldfries.com becomes my primary source of financial support, and also being able to dedicate most of my time in producing articles. 
My greatest joy is to know that people treasure the articles I wrote and that I’ve managed to add something to readers’ knowledge and understanding. And judging by the kind comments I received so far - I think my efforts were not in vain and I’m not kidding when I say that the drive for me to churn out more and more articles are the loyal readers of goldfries.com.
Thank you, my dear readers - for all your support. I would also like to thank the companies and brands that put their trust on me. Without them and their support, the site wouldn’t be where it is at.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:49 am
Ha talk about asus and gigabyte these days. I would really like to see how things played out. XD
May 31st, 2008 at 3:01 am
Going off-topic aren’t we?
It’s not an article about ASUS la fren. 
Anyway, http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20080530PD205.html
May 31st, 2008 at 5:01 am
wow.. rm12K.. it did catch my attention
May 31st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hey congrats on your blog’s 1st Anniversary!
May 31st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Wahh, how can u make so much money just for one year blogging?! really salute you lar…. Happy 1st anniversary anyway…..
May 31st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Haha sorry bout that… It just its funny that they seems like two children arguing who have the best toys.
I started coming to your site is becuase of the Pc buying guide. Which is great for someone that been buying dell for ages. XD
It is really an informative and great site. Finally congrats on your anniversary. Hope there’s many more anniversary to come!
May 31st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
congrats =) u’re a lowyat forum regular rite?? hehehehe
May 31st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Congratulations there
Happy birthday to your blog too.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:38 am
@Jason - hehe. good title helps
@sksee - thank you
@Miss Qian - errr no, I didn’t MAKE that much but I did get some equivalent.
@fatty - yup, it was funny. it’s even more funny if you read the thread at LYN forum. All it takes is 1 accusation and you see a bunch of kiddies starting to post about 101 other things that are totally baseless. They’ll probably be switching sides now that ASUS came up with a counter.
@joshuaongys - I have to be a regular since I’m a “STAFF” level member.
@vincent - thanks!
June 1st, 2008 at 12:44 am
earning about RM700 per year is not bad
at least enough to pay back the webhosting cost
June 1st, 2008 at 1:23 am
Keep your good worksssss Brian~:)
Not bad for RM700..good start~:P
Looking forward for the ‘10th’?? =p
June 1st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
Congratz! Happy Birthday!
I love your tech review!
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:26 am
@everyone - thanks
@poyozer - I hoping for more (and so does everyone!)
@lehteck - thanks! I’m sure you know what’s coming up next!
@Johnny - not my birthday….
@a@ron - glad you liked them!
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
happy first anniversary goldfries! Be sure to continue keep up the good work!
June 4th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Congrats on your blog’s 1st Anniversary!
1st time visiting your blog, its nice…
Well done
June 6th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
congratulation friend. that how is blogger life
June 13th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Dude, congratulations. It’s always good to set a target. Set yourself up for RM12,000 and envision the money in your bank for this year. It’ll come…believe me.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
@jayhan , @jimmy, @exinco - thanks!
@danny - yes, I hope so. Even if not within the year, then at least soon to be.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
cool dude. Cheers!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Jensen, you help me get more publicity la. kekeke.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:56 am
congratulations
June 21st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Thanks man! I’m honored that you visit and commented on my site!
It’s gonna take me quite a while to be like you! (if ever!)
July 1st, 2008 at 3:52 am
It will be helpful if you can have time to review more motherboard model, I am sure you can get a lot of traffic. graphic card and heatsink…. emmmmmm….
July 1st, 2008 at 4:03 am
happy birthday to goldfries.com.
i wish to see some review on more hardwares other than GC…. audio, HDD, monitors etc? just some rough idea though
can i get the card now?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am
Congrats on the anniversary + income
here’s a click to the ads for you! *click*
July 1st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
waooo not bad… normally it is hard to get big companies to supply sample hardware nor software for bloggers to test it out and give a through review… can share the secret on how u did it?
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 am
I’m a bit touched when you thank ur visitors *sobs sobs*
Wa.. So nice can earn a bit from your blog ^^ You’ve done a very neat job, reviewing so many com stuff @.@ I’m not too into hardware so kinda blur blur haha.. Anyway, I’m 1 month late but Happy Belated Birthday! lol
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 am
Hoping that u will get more item to be review.. Perhaps in future a DSLR..
Happy Belated Goldfries.com
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
congrats! this is actually the first of the “valid” posts for the competition.