[Dumb] Passive Income Report for November 2014

Welcome to my [Dumb] Passive Income Report! This blog is all about what I am doing to create several different passive income streams. This monthly income report details my results. I work very hard and dedicate many hours each week to working on my different online endeavors in an attempt to create passive income. So why do I consider it passive income then? Because I am not trading specified amounts of time for a predetermined amount of money like I do at my day job. Most of the income you will see in this report results from work I have done in the past.

Why am I sharing my income publicly? Hopefully to gain credibility with you (the readers) and to maintain a certain degree of accountability for myself. I could blog all day long about what I am doing to create passive income online, including some of my unique strategies. But why would anybody trust me and believe that what I am doing works if I don’t prove it by sharing my results? This is what I mean by gaining credibility and this is one of the main purposes for sharing my income. I also share my failures on the blog, which holds me accountable. Knowing that I will be publishing a monthly income report will keep me motivated to keep pushing forward and plugging away on the things I need to do to create future passive income.

Happenings in November

Niche Sites

Just like October, I did very little with internet marketing or niche sites during the month of November. I continue to pay my writer to produce articles for my existing niche sites and I still have a VA who works a few hours per week to maintain those sites and post the new articles. But other than that – I’ve put very little effort into growing my current niche sites or even thinking about building any new ones.

Day Job

Things are going extremely well at my day job. I’m making more money than I’ve ever made as a trucker. And my family and I are enjoying the excellent benefits of working for one of the best companies on the planet. But, part of the reason that I am making so much money is because I am working a few more hours. I’ve had an earlier start time for the past several months, which means less time for internet marketing each morning before I head to work.

Spending Money to Make Money on Amazon

In case you hadn’t already scrolled down and noticed – my income numbers kind of shot through the roof for last month! But so did my expenses. This is due to the nature of the selling physical products on Amazon business. You have to buy the products first. Then send them to Amazon. Then wait for them to sell for profit.

So, yes – I am spending a ton of money up front – but I am making pretty decent profits and most of the stuff is actually selling quite quickly. But not all of it sells right away, meaning some of the money spent during the month represents unsold inventory that is still sitting in Amazon’s warehouses. For this reason, my income reports might seem a little bit skewed going forward. In other words, my expenses each month don’t necessarily correlate directly with my income for that month.

Income and Expenses – November 2014

Passive Income

Selling on Amazon

• $5507.01 – Amazon Seller monthly sales (this is NOT net profit – see Amazon Seller Inventory Expenses and Seller Fees in expense section below)

Affiliate Income from Dumb Passive Income

• $261.76 – Long Tail Pro sales via Clickbank (why it is better than the competition) (how to make LTP pay for itself)
• $20.10 – LeadPages sales for this awesome lead generation software (I EASILY created this squeeze page with LeadPages)
• $21.99 – SocialADR sales (go here to learn more and access my custom 20% off coupon code)
• $5.70- Aweber signups ($1 for your first month)
• $17.54 – Ultimate Azon Theme sales via Clickbank (I have not yet reviewed this theme – but I beta tested it extensively – MUST HAVE for Amazon Affilliate sites)
• $33.50 – AmaSuite sales via JVZoo (software demonstrated in video embedded here)
• $50.00 – oDesk signups via Commission Junction (how to outsource content for cheap explained here)
• $0 – Genesis framework and themes by Studiopress via ShareaSale (eleven40 Pro theme as seen on this site now)
• $0 – EasyAzon3 sales via Clickbank (I haven’t even reviewed this yet – but I would not build an Amazon site without it!)
• $77.50 – The HOTH sales (awesome link building service – they do everything for you!)
• $0 – WPEngine sales (my results after upgrading to the fastest hosting for WordPress on this blog)
• $0 – Bluehost (why I buy separate hosting accounts for new niche sites explained within this post)
• $0 – Lending Club signup (I haven’t done anything with or written about my investments here in over a year)

Other Passive Income from Niche Sites, etc…

• $257.35 – Google Adsense (ad click revenue from niche sites)
• $55.44 – Amazon Associates for sales on Amazon.com (explained in detail here)

Non-Passive Income

Website Services by Matthew Allen

• $0 – Website services – build simple websites for private businesses (like this one grmobilewelding.com)

Expenses

Selling on Amazon

• $3816.85 – Inventory Purchases (buying stuff for cheap to send to Amazon and sell for more – (how we got started detailed here)
• $1928.92 – Amazon Seller Fees/Expenses (these include FBA selling fees, transaction fees, inventory & storage fees and service fees)

Hosting and Domains

• $29.00 – WPEngine (why I upgraded to the best and fastest hosting for WordPress)
• $0 – Bluehost – my new favorite hosting provider for niche sites – great price, ease of use, excellent service and overall experience
• $9.95 – Hostgator – my original hosting provider – still keep for some sites 
• $0 – GoDaddy for domain renewals and purchases
• $0 – NameCheap – domain purchases (expired domains)

Tools, Plugins and Themes

• $12.00 – Long Tail Platinum monthly fee (if you have Long Tail Pro – upgrade to Platinum here)
• $29.00  – Aweber monthly fee for e-mail list management (first month trial only $1)
• $4.90 – ManageWP monthly fee for WordPress multiple site management program

Outsourcing

• $120 – to my private writer for article writing for niche sites
• $38.29 – to oDesk for virtual assistant(s)
• $0 – to The HOTH for a link building package (comprehensive and completely done-for-you link building)

Miscellaneous

• $0- Paypal fees
• $5.00 – Google Apps for domain email

Totals and Thoughts

Total income $6307.89 minus total expenses $5993.91 equals a net profit of $313.98 for November 2014!

$6,000 – wow!! Kind of makes my Last 12 Months chart look a little bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? As of the time I am creating this report, I’ve still been trying to decide exactly how to report my Amazon Seller income. Should I call it passive income or non-passive? I decided to leave it under passive income because I am still not directly trading time for a specified amount of money (like a salary or an hourly wage). Instead, my wife and I are putting in work up front then watching the money roll in later.

How much time are we putting in? I estimate that we are spending about 10 hours per week on the Amazon stuff. This includes hunting for products at stores, peeling labels off of products, applying new labels to products, preparing shipments to send to Amazon, and maintaining listings and inventory throughout the week.

How much are we profiting from the Amazon Seller stuff? I’m planning a separate post real soon that will go into much more detail about our numbers and exactly how the retail arbitrage FBA business is going for us. But after Amazon fees and cost of purchasing goods to sell, I estimate that we are profiting somewhere between $400 and $500 per week. Not bad for only about 10 hours worked per week, right!?

Thank You!

Thank You for taking the time to read through my latest income report and Thank You for contributing  if you have previously purchased something through one of my affiliate links! Many of the links within this income report are indeed affiliate links. I will receive a commission if you choose to purchase after clicking through via any of these links. Thank You if you do!

To your success and mine – may we all be profitable online. -Good Day!

Remember that there are several dumb ways to create passive income online, but only one site that is blogging about it! Dumb Passive Income… dot com.

-Matt

Photo Credits:

sharonkubo via Flickr

Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle) 

Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle)