20th Anniversary as Content Creator

Today, 5 January 2023, is a special milestone day for me, because I celebrate my 20th anniversary as a web content creator. I discovered that recently, when I used the domain age checker to find out the age of my websites.



Although I have learned to build website as early as 1995, and have built a number of websites for various purposes earlier than that, it was on 5 January 2003 that I registered the domain for AsiaExplorers, which became my first place information website.

When I started the AsiaExplorers website, it was primarily in support of the travel club of the same name that I had founded, at about the same time. The purpose back then was to show the photos and information about the places we have explored or are planning to explore in Asia. I had no idea back then, that that was the beginning of a lifelong passion.

Within a couple of years of creating AsiaExplorers, I discovered that I could earn an income by placing advertisement on my website through Google Adsense. The discovery of this unexpected stream of income motivated me to create more content for my site.

In the years between 2003 and 2005, I was earning a very, very small amount from Adsense, hardly enough to pay for anything. Yet, it was sufficient motivation for me to add more pages and more content. I reasoned that if I could double the content on my website, then my earnings should likewise double.

(That did not turn out to be true; even when the amount of content doubled, the earnings I made via Adsense grew less than double. But I was not unmotivated.)

2007 was a year of great change in my life. In March of that year, I got married. But on 1 November of that same year, I was laid off from the job that I had held for just one month shy of ten years.

I had to make a decision what I want to do with my life. I was already 42 years old back then. Luckily I have no children, so my commitment was pretty low. I discussed with my wife that I would like to go full time into writing my website, and my wife was supportive of my life's plan, even though it means a drastic drop in my monthly earnings. For that, I am incredibly grateful to my beloved wife for her support - even financially - of me through those tough years.

The benefit of becoming a full time web content creator is a quality of life that could never been provided to me, had I returned to the job market. I actually celebrated my departure from full time employment by creating a website called Happy Jobless Guy (which I no longer maintain).

I was quite clear how I want to earn a living going forward: it should be a life without bosses, without customers, without products, without services to render and without having to handle any enquiries or complaints! However, to earn sufficiently from the web, it also means I have to work hard in pumping content into my website. On hindsight, that isn't much of a problem, as I am naturally curious of places, and love to explore, photograph and document.

1 November 2007, the first day I am off the job market, is taken as the first day I am a full-time web content creator.

It is so strange that nowadays, people often refer to me as a blogger, but when I first started writing my website, I have not even heard the word "blog". YouTube has already appeared on the scene two years prior (14 February 2005), but it is not commonplace to be a YouTuber yet - furthermore, I do not enjoy the Internet bandwidth that would enable me to upload videos as I would be able to do today. Both Facebook and Instagram are still five years down the road (2012). The next milestone in my web journey happened about half a year after I went full time as a web author. On 26 July 2008, I decided to register a new domain called Penang Travel Tips. I did so because, back then, I realised I could optimize my web earnings by having multiple websites.

Penang Travel Tips was just one in a series of websites I created back then. I migrated the Penang content from AsiaExplorers to propagate the new website. And at the same time, I created Malacca Travel Tips, Kuala Lumpur Travel Tips, Singapore Travel Tips, Bangkok Travel Tips, as well as Exploring Malaysia, My China Travel Guide, My Japan Travel Guide ... at one point, I had over fifty different websites.

It became quickly apparent to me that I am unable to manage so many websites. Many of these were created but are thin on content. Due to the amount of time needed to pump fresh content to keep them alive, many of these websites were often neglected.

The Penang Travel Tips website is by far the clear winner in terms of traction. It takes a while for people to know me for Penang Travel Tips instead of AsiaExplorers, which was also quite well known in Penang in those years. Being a full time web content creator, I tracked everything. I am aware of the traffic flow into my website, where they originate, what people are reading, and so on.

It was a constant tussle whether I should be writing based on what people want to read, or what I myself want to read. It was clear to me that if I am not writing what I would enjoy, it will feel like work. So, over time, I gradually disregard the statistics, and focus solely on writing for my own personal enjoyment. It now appears to me that that is the right choice. By writing based on what I myself want to read, I have been able to sustain my passion all these years, and over time, I become well known to people anyway.

Within a few years of becoming a full-time web content creator, I gradually leave behind that tough years, as my web earnings continue to improve, even though my monthly income has always been a seasonal roller coaster. At the same time, the earnings I receive from Adsense deteriorates, even though I have more content on my site. However, my overall financial situation improved through other sources of income, so much so that at one point in recent years, I decided to remove all advertisements from my website, because I feel I could afford to do so. But since then, I have decided to put the ads back, since I could continue enjoying the Adsense income as pocket money.

After the Penang Travel Tips website took off, I decided to use it as the home for my other web content. I tried to house my non-Penang content on a separate domain, but it did not work. I discover that it takes a lot of effort to get a website to be successful, and I am better off focusing on just one website than to split my time, even to just two sites. So, I eventually migrated all my non-Penang content into Penang Travel Tips. I am aware that this is not the ideal, as some users might get confused, but my reasoning is that over time, people will accept the name "Penang Travel Tips" as the brand for my place information website, regardless which place I write about.

One of the most distinctive features of my website is my thumbnail image. Many people who saw me in person told me that I do not look like that thumbnail image. I am not surprised, as that photo dates back to 2005, and as I write this, I am already 18 years older than when it was taken. That photograph was shot at Agra Fort in India. It has become my signature image that appears on all my pages. It is also used as a watermark on all my photographs as well as my videos. I have no plans to change to a newer photo, since it has become the brand for my web content. I did make a subtle change to the background of that thumbnail in around 2020, but other than that, the photo itself will remain unchanged.

I was recently asked, do I ever get burned out from writing my website. Astonishingly, I do not. I continue to look forward to being able to sit down at my desk, to put another new page to my website. As it is, I am able to take photographs and video footage faster than I am able to create a new page or publish a video, so I have quite a backlog of images to work on.

As I now crossed my 20th anniversary milestone as a web content creator, I can say that I am exceedingly glad over the life path that I have chosen for myself. God has been good to me, giving me quite a comfortable life, and I try to bless others through channels such as SojiMart.

I still enjoy being approached by people on the street, who asked me whether I am Timothy Tye. Some know me because of Penang Travel Tips, but others know me from Facebook, and from my multiple brands including SojiMart, AnakPinang, Learn Penang Hokkien and AsiaExplorers.

If you have been reading my website, used the content I have created, or followed me on Facebook, I thank you very much, and if you should see me on the street, do stop and say hello.

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.

您有待出售或出租的房产吗？ 您想购买或租赁房产吗？ 与我联系。 WhatsApp 我 (Timothy Tye) 012 429 9844，我将指派一名房地产经纪人为您服务。 我会根据您的房产需求，为您选择代理。 因此，当您给我发消息时，请向我提供一些您需要的详细信息，无论是出售、购买、出租还是出租，以及房产类型，是公寓、公寓、房屋、商店、办公室还是土地。

 New Properties in Penang

Looking to buy property in Penang? Get the e-brochures right here without having to visit or contact individual developers.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Discover with Timothy YouTube Channel

 PG Food Channel

 Learn Penang Hokkien YouTube Channel

SojiMart Videos

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Latest from Discover with Timothy: Gurney Bay - what to see and do there

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

Robbie's Roadmap