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.
If you’ve been following my income reports for a period of time, you may have noticed that way back when, they started out fairly short and simple. Over time, they have gotten much longer and complicated as I’ve added lots of features and text – in addition to just my monthly numbers. Each income report has turned into an informational blog post, in and of itself!
As much as I enjoy writing these longer reports – I need to temporarily get back to the basics and report just my numbers each month. In an effort to vastly increase my income numbers – I’ve decided to completely drop everything and FOCUS on just ONE website until I reach satisfactory success. Feel free to read all about it in this (last) blog post that I wrote (for awhile).
– Follow One Course Until Success –
After I reach the success I am aiming for – my normal (longer) income reports will resume. But for now, the following features have been disabled…
Happenings in September
Some Personal Stuff
This Blog
Niche Sites
Weird Things Purchased from Amazon that I Didn’t Promote
Selling Stuff on Amazon
Motivation and Learning from Others
Income and Expenses – September 2015
Passive Income
Selling on Amazon
- $56.08 – 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
- $145.04 – Long Tail Pro sales via Clickbank (why it is better than the competition) (how to make LTP pay for itself)
- $42.30 – LeadPages sales for this awesome lead generation software (I EASILY created this squeeze page with LeadPages)
- $3.99 – SocialADR sales (go here to learn more and access my custom 20% off coupon code)
- $5.70 – Aweber signups ($1 for your first month)
- $66.35 – Ultimate Azon Theme sales via Clickbank (read my full review here and see one of my niche sites revealed that uses this theme)
- $613.00 – AmaSuite sales via JVZoo (software demonstrated in video embedded here)
- $242.50 – RankXL Niche Site Course (mentioned at the end of this post)
- $55.96 – Genesis framework and themes by Studiopress via ShareaSale (eleven40 Pro theme as seen on this site now)
- $14.50– EasyAzon4 sales via Clickbank (I haven’t even reviewed this yet – but I would not build an Amazon site without it!)
- $0 – Social Warfare sales (customizeable sharing buttons – as seen on this blog right now)
- $105.00 – The HOTH sales (awesome link building service – (read my full review with case study results)
- $0 – WPEngine sales (my results after upgrading to the fastest hosting for WordPress on this blog)
- $0 – Bluehost (why I recommend Bluehost if you are just getting started)
- $0 – Lending Club signup (I haven’t done anything with or written about my investments here in over a year)
- $123.69 – Human Proof Designs – ready made or custom website sales (as described by Dom at the end of this guest post he wrote)
Other Passive Income from Niche Sites, etc…
- $217.75 – Google Adsense (ad click revenue from niche sites)
- $195.46 – Amazon Associates for sales on Amazon.com (explained in detail here)
- $81.00 – affiliate commissions for undisclosed CPA advertiser on one of my niche sites
- $0 – Surveys for Cash – formerly promoted this on one of my niche sites – did not perform very well
Non-Passive Income
Website Services by Matthew Allen
- $0 – Website services – build simple websites for private businesses (like this one grmobilewelding.com)
- this is not a service I actively promote or sell – just built a few sites for some friends of mine who own local businesses
Note: Bluehost banner above is an affiliate link
Expenses
Selling on Amazon
- $0 – Inventory Purchases (buying stuff for cheap to send to Amazon and sell for more – (how we got started detailed here)
- $83.05 – Amazon Seller Fees/Expenses (these include FBA selling fees, transaction fees, inventory & storage fees and service fees)
Hosting and Domains
- $104.00 – 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
- $0 – GoDaddy for domain renewals and purchases
- $0 – NameCheap – domain purchases/renewals (expired domains)
Tools, Plugins and Themes
- $12.00 – Long Tail Platinum monthly fee (if you have Long Tail Pro – upgrade to Platinum here)
- $69.00 – Aweber monthly fee for e-mail list management (first month trial – FREE!)
- $14.70 – ManageWP monthly fee for WordPress multiple site management program
- $0 – LeadPages paid annually in March – probably the most powerful tool I pay for and use to grow my online businesses
- $13.50 – Pro Rank Tracker – previously free rank checker tool – they started charging and I couldn’t live without
Outsourcing
- $240.00 – to my private writer for article writing for niche sites
- $84.47 – to UpWork (formerly oDesk) for virtual assistant(s)
- $0 – to The HOTH for link building packages (completely done-for-you link building service – my full updated review)
Miscellaneous
- $19.06 – Facebook Advertising
- $0- Paypal fees
- $10.00 – Google Apps for domain email
Totals and Thoughts
Total income $1,968.32 minus total expenses $649.78 equals a net profit of $1,318.54 for September 2015!
September was a pretty good month. Totally income was slightly higher than August. But notice the red line on my chart. It has been gradually and steadily decreasing ever since February. This means that my expenses have been decreasing month after month! I really don’t see how my expenses can get much lower, unless I decrease the amount of work I require from my writer and my VA. And that’s not happening anytime soon.
So – if only I can maintain this low level of expenses (by not buying more plugins and tools, etc) and continually increase my overall income. Sounds like a plan for increased overall net income.
Plus – if you didn’t see it at the top of this post – I’ve recently done something drastic in an effort to increase my internet side hustle income. I’m dropping everything to FOCUS on just ONE project. One website. Until success.
Although – I will continue to publish these scaled back versions of my income reports each month. Numbers only, a chart, and very short commentary at the end.
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!
Photo Credits:
“Purple Haze, Malibu Ca” by Pacheco via Flickr
Matthew Allen
The email in my inbox says to click the link to read the one thing you decided to focus on; i follow the link only to be told I should click another link…what’s that? predatory blogging?
Not sure what you’re talking about exactly? If you’re talking about the email I sent out to my email list – there were 2 different links to choose from. One led to my “FOCUS” post and the other led to this income report. You must have clicked the one leading here (to this income report) where, indeed, there are links leading to my ‘focus’ post. Sorry for the confusion. No – it is not predatory blogging. Whatever that is?
It’s the bureaucracy that keeps you from making real money. Why don’t you start building affiliate sites with reviews of health products. It’ll make you way more money.
Okay Guest. I’m all over it! 😉