I Spent 6 Years Blogging— Here’s How It Changed My Life
Plus the future of independent publishing & what might come next
I first started blogging at This Online World in January, 2018.
Back then, I was still in college. And I remember writing my very first blog post about a side hustle called phone farming, which basically involved running a bunch of reward apps on spare phones to commit advertisement fraud (lol.)
This first year of blogging was also when I discovered Medium and began writing here. And as I worked through my college degree, I began becoming pretty obsessed with the idea of making money online.
I was still in the process of growing This Online World to its first couple hundred dollars a month in revenue. And in its first year, it barely made more than $100 a month.
I was also diving more into freelance writing around this time…So much so that I quit my office job, got a one-way ticket to Colombia, and went all-in on writing and blogging without much of a backup plan:
I honestly find it hard to believe that I made that decision over 4 years ago at this point. Time truly does fly!
Since then, a lot has changed. Both for This Online World and what I’ve gotten up to in life.
And so, I wanted to write a brief update outlining what’s changed for me, the blogging world, and also what’s around the corner.
Let’s dive in!
Turning This Online World Into A Business — How Blogging Changed My Life
In 2020, I was still trying to scale This Online World into a business while ramping up my freelance writing career from a handful of clients.
That year, my blog earned about $22,000 between display advertisements and affiliate income.
To me, this was a sign that blogging as a business model could work.
It also meant that moving forwards, I was going to double-down on blogging, launch a YouTube channel for it, and pretty much put this Medium account on the backburner for the next couple of years.
Here’s a brief snapshot of what happened in the following years until now:
- This Online World kept growing and earned $92,000 in 2021
- Then, the blog grew even more and made $272,000+ in 2022
- I briefly got a 9–5 job again as a commercial content writer before realizing I hate having a 9–5 job and quit after a few months
- I managed to grow my freelancing writing roster to include clients like Forbes
- My YouTube channel passed 50,000 subscribers
- I lived and worked remotely from 12+ countries on 6 continents (this included living in Dubai, Cape Town, and a sheep farm in rural Australia.)
- This Online World earned over $500,000 in 2023.
The income reports I’ve linked above outline the steps, process of thinking, and everything that happened to This Online World over the years.
This also includes exactly how I monetized TOW, some epic wins and fails, and the true start-to-finish story as it’s panned out until now.
If you’ve been following This Online World since the start, first of all, thank you.
None of this would have been possible without your readership. And over the 6+ years of running TOW, I’m incredibly thankful for all the emails, comments, and in-person chat I’ve had with readers and people in the space.
If you’ve been following along, I also hope this 6+ year experiment proves that anything is possible with the power of the internet and consistent effort.
In its first year, my blog earned $1,700. It didn’t even pay me minimum wage for the time I put into it…And it sure didn’t help my college grades or relationship at the time all that much either!
But fast-forward just a couple of years, and This Online World had completely changed my life on a personal, career, and financial level.
What’s been amazing about the whole thing is just how quickly effort can compound and snowball. What starts as a small side hustle can grow into a life-changing business if you give it the time and attention it requires. This is, perhaps, the coolest thing to me about pretty much any online venture.
Once again, thank you for your readership and support over the years.
This truly has been the experiment of my lifetime. And, thankfully, the journey is far from over.
However, it sure is changing a whole lot, and that’s what I want to discuss next.
Publishing Is Changing — But Here’s Why I’m Excited
I didn’t publish an income report on This Online World in 2023, which was the first year that happened.
This was for a couple of reasons.
For starters, I was publishing income proof in interviews like the one I linked above.
Secondly, it felt a bit weird to keep publishing blog income reports as more people in my personal life learned about my blog and YouTube channel. My accountant also said it was a bad idea.
And, finally, This Online World was beginning to tackle an industry-wide issue thousands of small publishers are still facing: Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU).
It’s no secret; any analytics tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush will show you that TOW got hit in this wave up updates like plenty of other publishers.
This algorithm update definitely impacted my revenue, but also the publishing industry as a whole. So, I didn’t want to publish yet another blogging income report that only highlighted the past year of wins without covering what the road ahead might look like.
Now, I have my own opinions on parasite SEO, domain reputation abuse, and the state of search. But I’ll leave these thoughts for another post. You can also read this article — the man who killed Google Search — for an amazing write-up on what’s going on.
The bottom line is that publishing is changing. And small publishers like This Online World have to keep up with these changes and adapt to thrive.
This brings me to what’s going on at This Online World, some massive changes, and why I’m excited for what’s coming.
This Online World Is Joining WebMonkey + Other Updates
The following is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter, which you can sign up for free by visiting This Online World.
This newsletter also shares weekly money-making tips, news, and updates. So, I hope you’ll consider joining me there! 🙂
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I’ve been teasing some big news for the last month or two, and it’s finally time to share what’s been going on behind the scenes…
This Online World is joining WebMonkey.
I want to outline what this change means for everyone right now and moving forwards because there are some awesome improvements happening 🙂
1️⃣ These weekly emails are going to get even better (and help you make more money):
This Online World’s mission has always been to help people make money online. And this mission isn’t changing.
In fact, This Online World is becoming more focused on delivering helpful content and guides to people via email every week.
If you visit the new homepage, you’ll see a new landing page welcoming people to The Online Income Club.
Since you’re reading this email, you’re already in the club! 😎 But new readers will be able to join too as we work on growing this community…which brings me to the next exciting change.
2️⃣ We’re launching a new Discord Server for closer communication and having fun
This is something I’ve wanted to do for ages.
If you haven’t heard of it, Discord is a free messaging platform that makes it easy for members of a community to chat, share ideas, and get important updates.
This Online World has thousands of readers, and I appreciate every one of you. So, it only makes sense to take this community to a platform that encourages more communication and sharing of ideas.
You can join the server for free. It’s just gone live, so I hope you’ll be one of the first members and help me turn it into a hub of resources to help people earn more money online.
P.S: I’m brand new to Discord, so I’m sure we’ll work out some of the kinks together over time! 😅
Also, if you want This Online World’s new 7-day welcome series that shares how to make $1,000 online in 7 days, send me a message on Discord and I’ll send it over!
3️⃣ This Online World’s content is now living on WebMonkey
WebMonkey.com is a website with a very cool history.
It’s been around since 1996 for starters (the year I was born!) And over this time, it’s helped thousands of people break into online business, digital marketing, programming, and all the opportunities the Internet has to offer.
I’m happy and excited to say that This Online World and I have joined the WebMonkey team.
The team is a super talented and fun group of digital marketers and people I’ve gotten to know over the past year. And after 6+ years of running This Online World, I’m excited for a change and to take the content I’ve been creating for years to another level.
So, you’ll still have full access to all the money-making guides and tips This Online World has put out; just over at WebMonkey.com now.
We’re also publishing heaps of new content there every week. And that’s where these weekly emails will come in handy since we’ll send you the best tips and guides so you don’t miss out.
This change is also going to let me spend more time focusing on what I love (and what’s most helpful, I hope): creating honest, actionable content about earning money online.
4️⃣ YouTube is ramping up!
This Online World joining WebMonkey means we’re able to publish way more helpful guides on online side hustles and money-making ideas.
This also extends to the YouTube channel.
I really appreciate all the support and comments over on the latest videos. So, I’m pretty stoked to have more time to put out quality videos and useful resources for everyone
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Wrapping Up
I started This Online World to write honest guides about the side hustles I was trying at the time.
I also started it to try out the whole ‘make money blogging’ thing. Back then, I never would have guessed that TOW would turn into my day job and that I’d travel around the world, making a living with my laptop.
I’m incredibly grateful for the last 6 years and what’s ahead. So again, thank you for your readership and for every email and comment.
It honestly saddens me to see many independent publishers throwing in the towel, or people losing their businesses right now. And at many points, I felt quite disheartened during HCU at the prospect of figuring out what comes next for us smaller publishers.
This is a large part of why joining WebMonkey and focusing more on quality content and community building is so refreshing.
I’m looking forward for things to go back to basics…building real communities, more personal connections, and continuing to help people make money online. Google or no Google: my mission remains the same.
So, if you’ve stuck around until the end of this ramble-disguised-as-an-update, I hope you’re excited too.
The publishing landscape is changing, there’s no doubt about that. But it doesn’t mean quality content is going anywhere. In fact, I think publishers will increasingly step-up their game, build real value within their communities, and let search engines do what they will.
If you’d still like to be a part of This Online World’s journey, I’d love if you could join me over on Discord. And if you want a steady stream of money-making guides and tips like I’ve always published, WebMonkey.com is the new home for that content.
The last 6+ years have honestly been unlike anything I could have imagined. And I’m incredibly excited for the new chapter that’s opening.
Once again, thank you for your readership and support over the years. It truly means the world, and I hope you’ll stick along for the ride and what’s in store.
Sincerely,
Tom from This Online World.
