My Egg Noodles

Stuck in Savanakhet

I’ve spent the last few days in Savanakhet, albeit not intentionally, as when I filled out my Vietnam visa application I added a random date to the section that asked me when I would arrive in Vietnam. I did not know that this would be used for the visa valid from date! I’m getting the bus over to Vietnam tomorrow (around 7 hours!) and will make my way down to HCMC. Anyone been before? Any must do’s? In particular must eats?

Shanghai

While I was at Heathrow airport a couple of months ago, I picked up a copy of the Lonely Planet China guide book – flicking through the book last night, I come across this:

Whore of the orient, Paris of the east; city of quick riches, ill-gotten gains and fortunes lost on the tumble of dice; the domain of adventures, swindlers, gamblers, drug runners, tycoons, missionaries, gangsters and back street pimps

Wow… Sounds like my sort of City :)

Work

I know I blogged a lot about work last year and there’s not many posts this year… the reason is pretty straight forward; I’m working on a bunch of sites that are not that interesting. This year is dedicated to recovering from last year (financially), focusing on a core few projects that generate good returns and obviously travels. As I’m not in front of the computer 12 hours a day like before, I have to manage my time carefully.

PPC

For those that are following me on Twitter – You’ll have noticed me chatting a little about Pay Per Click advertising recently. I have dabbled with PPC in the past, but like most people starting out on Google Adwords, I added a site and targeted a few keywords I come up with from the top of my head – which ultimately meant I lost a pocket full of cash.

This time I decided to tackle it differently and before I even opened my Adwords account, I spent 2 months researching keywords, landing pages and general stuff that can affect the bottom line. So far it looks like my efforts are paying off, as I’m seeing some amazing results.

I only started digging into PPC as I lost 2 of my biggest SEO clients a few months back – one company went into administration and the other had to cut costs. I feel such a fool for letting something else push me, as I now realize I have missed out on so much cash over the years – just goes to show, you really do need to explore all monetization methods. So, if you have a site and are not currently running a PPC campaign – Dedicate a small budget and get learning before you kick yourself like I did when you finally do!

Talking of PPC – I have started a Twitter account which I aim to update daily with a PPC tip that I learn along the way on my PPC adventure – It’s not solid advice, it’s just some ideas that are worth testing. You can follow PPC Daily here.

Japan

My buddy Martin has just got back from Japan, and has some great posts on his travels and adventures. I really want to go, but not sure I could sleep in a capsule.

@travelfish

If anyone who is reading this is planning on traveling to South East Asia in the not to distant future – I highly recommend following Stuart, the Travel Fish governor, on Twitter. I often ask him for suggestions on things to do in the cities I am in and get some great suggestions. I’m sure if you ask nicely, he’ll help you out too.

Peace.