This is the second month I’ve documented my income for 2010. As I mentioned before, these posts aren’t meant to brag at all (many people make WAY more money than me) instead I’m trying to use this as a means to help motivate myself to reach my goal of $150k in 2010 while at the same time keeping me publicly accountable. There was a time I couldn’t even afford to pay for my dedicated server’s $200 a month cost with the money I made online so it’s been a long and arduous road. In any case, I believe what I share in these reports will help other internet entrepreneurs so I’ll continue to post them along with the steps I’m taking to improve earnings in each respective category I make money from. I am also willing to help out others that ask questions. I respond to every blog comment as well as personal emails. With that disclaimer in place, let’s move onto the earnings continued after the break:
Income Graph:
Income Analysis:
My biggest earner of the month again was of course the Amazon Associates program with $4,664.22 at a whopping 88% piece of the pie. This is a drop of about $1,000 from last month, but because February is the shortest month of the year I knew the earnings would be lower. It’s also worth noting that because February ended on a weekend and items don’t ship out on Saturday / Sunday (so I didn’t get credit until Monday March 1st) it’s as if February was even shorter. I bought a new WordPress plugin called PHPzon (from the makers of PHPbay) and I’m experimenting with it right now on a few of my niche websites. From what I can tell it should be able to help me make even more money from Amazon Associates. Check out my article on how to improve your Amazon Associates earnings if you’re struggling to make progress with them and be sure to avoid these common pitfalls. My goal continues to be $5,000+ per month earnings with Amazon (even though I fell short in February).
Google Adsense was lower in February than January but not by much. I sold more private advertising so I lost a few slots that Adsense had previously been used in so I’m not too concerned about the results. In January I said I was going to spend more time testing and I have already made a few changes that should really improve my earnings on Google Adsense for March. I’m still going to spend more time testing and analyzing ways to improve my Google Adsense earnings through minor tweaks (i.e. color, border / no border) as well as mixing up the placement. My goal for Google Adsense is to reach $1,000+ per month before Q2 and move on from there, but I need to make significant strides to reach that milestone.
Private Advertisers:
This is something I’m constantly trying to push in 2010 and what I believe will be my best chance at succeeding in my goal of earning over $150,000 in 2010. I think that using Private Advertisers over programs like Google Adsense and eBay Partner Network will always provide more money because you’re cutting out the middle man and locking people into fixed monthly rates that don’t fluctuate. More importantly, if you have a web property that matches up really well with a company that sells a product related to your niche then you can get a solid income stream for ‘life’. Last month I emailed a company asking them to advertise on my blog because I believe it is a good fit. This could end up blowing up in my face and damaging a relationship, but I think it’s worth the risk. (I’ll be sure to tell you how this strategy in procuring advertising works in a follow up post). I truly believe by years end private advertisers could rival the $5,000k plus I currently pull in from Amazon Associates and fortunately this month was the first time I’ve had an increase in this chunk of the pie.
eBay Partner Network InfoLinks and Misc Earnings
I’ve decided to remove earnings from InfoLinks, eBay Partner network, Click Junction and other small earners unless I make more than $100 per month with them so that I can save time compiling these reports. I still believe the absolute best way to make money with eBay’s Partner network is to take advantage of the WordPress plugin PHPbay so if you’re looking to implement ads on your blog from the eBay partner network I recommend try it out. The price is currently $79.
Wrap up:
So my main focus points for March include optimizing Google Adsense and selling more private advertising space. I currently use OIOpublisher to serve ads on my blogs and I use that plugin to help optimize and test my ad space. Without a doubt it’s the best $47 I’ve spent in this space. If you’re a blogger and don’t have it yet, buy it.In any case I’m looking forward to next month and earning more than $5,294.95.
I’ll be giving an update on my Five Figure Niche Network case study this month and I have an exciting new update to my command center I’ll be sharing via video blog post later this week. For the gamers out there you won’t want to miss it 😀
Nice work. Keep doing what your doing and you should hit that goal. You are at the tip of the iceberg.
That is really exciting Chris! I have actually just made my first step into Amazon and so far 18 clicks and no sales. But your story really inspires me and I know that the way you are going you are sure to hit $150k by the end of the year.
.-= Tomt´s last blog ..The 4 Reasons People Unsubscribe Mailing Lists =-.
Hey John thanks! Yah I’m working hard every day (well most days :D)
Hey Tom that’s great let me know if you have any questions. Just hit me up via email and I can offer some suggestions if you need any.
Nice income!
What is the url of the site that you are using amazon associates in? It looks like that this is not the site where you are making lots of money from.
.-= Palabuzz´s last blog ..Legend of the Guardian =-.
I use a wide variety of websites to make the income. For the most part I will not divulge all of them but on occasion I will use some websites to illustrate examples.
Will be waiting for that!
.-= Palabuzz´s last blog ..Talentadong Pinoy First Grand Champion Yoyo Tricker =-.
Hi Chris
Thanks for this report. It’s nice of you to share.
I wouldn’t ask your urls per se but was wondering if you’d mention how many sites you have to earn $5k/month with Amazon? 🙂
I only have one at the moment, using reviewazon, and I’ve had I think 53 clicks and no sales but I must be doing something wrong??
I’ll read your other posts to see if I can learn more but was wondering if you have dozens of Amazon sites and, do you use PPC at all for your Amazon sites?
Cheers and good luck on your goals
Scott
Hey Scott,
That figure is from about 5 different sites. A lot of it has to do with the quality of the traffic.
What stage in the buying cycle are people in when they visit your site? About to make a purchase or just researching?
I don’t use PPC yet, but I am going to try my hand at arbitrage sometime soon. The problem is that I am not sure how to be able to segment traffic so that I could tell if I’m making money from organic traffic or paid traffic…
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the reply. That’s pretty awesome it’s from only 5 sites. Well done!
I have started to read your other pages and found some of my own answers lol but I see you mentioned phpazon. Have you tried it yet and if so, what are your thoughts?
Also, regarding your Amazon sites, do you create 100% unique content and add amazon product info/images manually (that link to amazon) or do you use a plugin for your 5 sites?
I’m wondering if the reason I haven’t sold much despite the clicks (there aren’t many) is because most of my content is from the Reviewazon plugin as opposed to writing UNIQUE articles and inputting hyperlinks within the content like you suggest on your 7 tips site.
Regarding paid traffic, if it’s Adwords I believe you can add your own tracking url or use Prosper202 or similar. I don’t think it’s too hard to track the source of traffic but it’s been a while since I’ve done PPC.
Cheers
Scott
Chris,
Just found your website through Residuals and Royalties blog. I’m fascinated. I’m trying to do what you’re doing and learning a lot about keywords, niche sites, etc.
I hope I can come close to the success you’re seeing, esp. with possibility of being laid off soon.
I’ll be checking out your blog more in-depth. Awesome stuff here.
.-= Moon Hussain´s last blog ..Are You Embarrassed Of Saying �Passive Income� Out Loud? =-.
Thanks Moon, let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to email me and I’d be happy to help.
Chris