Starting on an Ebook

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting here as much as usual.  That is because I have been busy with blogging and HubPages trying to develop alternative sources of income.  Right now, I have been making money with AdSense, the HubPages Ad Program, and Amazon affiliate income.  I may also soon be getting a payment from Host Gator, but I am not counting anything until it is in my account.

This blog doesn't make me a lot of money, and I really don't see any way to change that.  However, I will be trying to develop another online income source and wanted to keep you in the loop.  Today, I plan on starting an ebook.  I already have a topic and a partial outline so I wanted to begin writing.  I haven't done much since starting the outline because I have been incredibly busy these past two weeks.

I have been posting at Cash Flow Mantra twice per week, Grand Per Month twice per week with some posts on Saturdays.  I have also been taking my contributors' posts and getting them up daily at Penny Thots.  (By the way, if anyone is interested, I could probably use another few contributors to maintain a daily posting schedule).

I have also been trying to publish up to a Hub per day this month because I really want to get to a monthly PayPal deposit from the Ad Program.  The money will come in real handy for continuing to pay my writers and offset some of the expenses associated with the three blogs.  I actually spent more than I made last month which was disappointing.

This is one of the reasons that I wanted to develop a new online income source, namely the ebook.  I know that it won't happen right away, but if I don't get going, it will just pass me by like blogging did.  One important aspect of trying to make money online is by diversification and this will be just that.  So I am thinking I might have some time to get some writing done today.  With that, I will close this post so I can get started.

Launched My Newest Blog Project

Last week on April 1st, I launched my newest blog project.  It is a personal finance site that has many personal finance bloggers contributing a few articles per month to offer a wide array of topics and viewpoints.

I have also instituted a fairly unique compensation scheme for the contributors based upon views with a profit sharing component as well.  Ultimately, should the blog ever be sold, the contributors will also share in at least half the proceeds.

I doubt any business typically gives up that much upside, but I am more interested in seeing if the combined efforts of many can build something much greater than the efforts of a single individual.  I am operating on the premise that daily content will prove to be a big asset to the blog even though it would be impossible for me to write on a daily basis.

I suspect it will take a few years to realize the full potential of this arrangement.  My biggest concern is the loss of contributors as the level of interest wanes.  I figure that I will lose some and will have to replace them.  I am hoping not to lose more than half.

Goals

I would have liked to see 2,000 visits this first month as a major stretch goal.  However, the pace will have to pick up quite a bit.  I am thinking that 1,500 will be more realistic and even then, we will have to get some more traffic.  But being only 10 days old means that there is still lots of time left for marketing.

I would then like to see the traffic grow each and every month as daily content is added.  I would like to be able to pay an author for an article based upon views by the end of the second month.

I am pleased to say that the site has already made a little with AdSense.  I figure it will take about 3 months before I can cover the initial costs.  After that, profit sharing should kick in so that at least the authors are making some money.

I have placed the RSS feed on the right margin since for my personal blogs, this blog is a major source of traffic.  I trust that this will prove true as well in these early days.

The URL of my latest project is:  PennyThots.com

Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts on the site.

Progress with Online Income

Making money online is a marathon and not a sprint.  This is what I had planned when I first started with $30 monthly income in July 2010 and figured that I would try to grow that figure by 5% monthly.  In so doing, I figured that I could get to $1000 per month by 2016.

Little did I realize that I would surpass that figure for 3 months in a row.  However, there has been some fluctuations and income for February and March will be down but well above the $96 figure that I would need to earn by July.  In fact, it appears that simply the HubPages Ad Program and AdSense alone could almost account for that total in this month.

Even with some set backs, it seems that I am on track for meeting the online income growth targets for the first two years.  The biggest driver of that success has been the development of 2 personal finance blogs.  Now I am not sure what the future will hold, but it seems that developing a few more blogs would seem like a reasonable thing to do.

In fact, I will be coming out with a collaborative project in the next few days and will announce it here sometime during the month of April.  It has turned out to be a bit more work than I anticipated, but it is coming together.  I will be spending some more time working on it this weekend in preparation for the April 1st launch.

I am fully expecting the new blog to add to the AdSense income although I will have to pay for some content once certain goals have been met.  I do think that the costs should be covered, but only time will tell.  I have set aside a couple hundred dollars from my other earnings to cover the initial costs of author payments.

I hope you have been keeping up with my income reports at Grand Per Month.  In case you missed it, here is the income report for February.  The March report will be coming out shortly.  It will be down, but will have some AdSense income and HubPages income to help out.  I am suspecting that April will be even worse, but we will just have to see.

Still Chugging Along

It has been a busy month.  I am working hard to bring another blog to life and will share more details once it is up and running.  The other two blogs are doing well at this point.  I have been able to make some money and get some debt paid off.

I had hoped to add more Hubs to my arsenal and get to 400 by the end of the year.  I really don't think that will be happening since life is so busy.  However, I am publishing more content and have some goals for the HubPages Ad Program.  I would like to at least get to monthly payments to help offset the fact that I am paying for content for Grand Per Month.

AdSense really did well last month.  It was a record month for me.  But of course, this month has to fall back to earth.  That is the nature of the beast and what would drive me absolutely nuts if I had to depend upon the internet to make my living.  But since I am just working to pay off debt, it is all good.

Amazon also did well last month.  I was pleased.  It is nice to see some consistent orders coming through.  This month is slow, but see the paragraph above.  Roller coaster on the earnings can just drive you batty.

Well, I don't have a lot.  I am wanting to work on another post so I can spend the weekend working on a non-internet related project.  That way I will be somewhat ahead of the game.  I have usually been writing my posts at the last minute and it is no fun.

Until next time.

Best Month for AdSense

I am actually somewhat surprised, but February 2012 has been the best month for AdSense for me yet in the almost 3 years that I have been writing online.  I really hadn't been thinking about it or was expecting it.  It has just been a consistent month.  There have been a few great days and one really awesome day, but the thing that I noticed was consistent traffic and activity.

Now the total is still not enough to get monthly payments from Google, but it does mean that I am closer than I have ever been with about 48 hours left to go.  It really doesn't matter if I earn anything else, I am still happy with the month.

I would dare say that by summer (thinking July), I will be getting monthly checks in the mail.  Then I will feel like I have hit a major milestone in my online income.  From there I can work on growing the daily average into the double digits.  I will be at the point of being able to begin reinvesting profits into my online activities and hire out some more tasks.

One of the biggest reasons that I have been able to do so well has been the addition of my newest blog, Grand Per Month.  By itself, it is not yet a huge money maker, but it has been just enough to increase AdSense to record levels. 

I am now putting together a blog where I will be responsible for day to day editing and publishing but will have little obligation for creating content.  The contributing authors will be getting paid per views and will be able to participate in a profit sharing arrangement, but once I get it set up, it should only take me about 3 hours per week on average and yet I will be publishing at least once per weekday with quality content.

I will share the name of the blog when it is closer to the launch date in April.  In the meantime, I want to be able to set aside some of the profits from my other online ventures to have available to pay for costs.  Hopefully, I will be able to earn a little more than what it costs me.  The model is a little different from Grand Per Month.

At Grand Per Month, I am paying for 4 articles per month and writing the rest myself.  It takes a lot of work and cost me money in January.  I have covered my costs in February, but could easily lose again in March.  I will just have to see how it goes.  The potential is good, but there are some upfront costs for the content.

For the new blog, I think the potential is even better and the upfront costs should be minimal.  Other than putting in some time, it should be profitable from day 1 since the articles will not be paid for until a certain number of views have occurred.  I already pay for hosting, and the theme is free.  I am hoping that earnings can stay ahead of the costs.

All of these projects have been keeping me busy so I don't write here as often.  Nevertheless, I think it is important to share what I am doing.  I have been following others who have been working on their online income and derive much encouragement so wanted to help add my encouragement to others.  Just keep with it and gradually growth will continue to happen.

I Hate Writer's Block

Dang it!  I have writer's block and have no clue what to write about for Friday's post tomorrow on Cash Flow Mantra.  It is almost 11:30 at night, I am tired, and I just can't get motivated to really write anything.  It needs to be a financial topic, but I am totally stumped.

I really don't have any strategy for dealing with writer's block.  I suppose it would be a good idea if I did.  It would be nice to have a couple posts all ready to go and scheduled out.  I have tried every once in a while to get the posts done and stay one to two weeks ahead.  Unfortunately, it seems like something always comes up such that I find myself in this predicament.

I am thinking that the best strategy right now is to go to bed, get some rest, and start fresh in the morning.  I had also wanted to write a Hub tonight as well, but am having no luck there either.  My goal for February is to publish 30 Hubs in the month so that I can get a strong start toward 400 total Hubs by the end of the year.  Right now I have to publish at a 16-17 Hub per month pace, so getting 30 done would put me ahead.

Oh well, maybe I can catch up on the weekend.  The first priority is to come up with a financial type topic.  Preferably it will be one that doesn't require much fact checking.  I want to be able to get it done rather quickly, but it is going to have to happen in the morning.  I am tired and will be going to sleep now.  Good night.  I hope this is gone by morning.

January Has Been a Good Month

Well, January has been a pretty good month to me and there are still a few days left.  The month saw the launch of my newest blog which has gotten over 1800 visitors in the last 30 days.  I will probably end up January between 1800 and 2000 which seems like a decent launch considering I am not a professional and only do this part-time.

I also completed the give away for my other blog, Cash Flow Mantra.  I will be announcing the winners tomorrow, but they have all received their money.  Plus I still have enough in the PayPal account to cover February and March blogging expenses.

AdSense revenue is the highest it has been in almost 1 year.  It is a really solid month.  I expect that I might come in close to or just over $50.  A little bit of growth in February would mean that I could get another check after two months.  That would be nice since I am trying to pay off a Discover Card balance with blogging earnings this year.

Finally, I was able to meet my goal with the HubPages Ad Program.  I am just over $26 right now and have been adding a lot of content this month.  I hope to hit it hard in February and get to monthly payouts with HubPages which would require $50 each month.  I figure that $2 per day would do it.  I have had only 2 of those in the past 30 days, but I have had several greater than one dollar which I had only done once in the previous 8 months.  I am definitely headed in the right direction.

Ultimately, I would like to be able to cover my author costs for Grand Per Month with HubPages income so that I could start another blog.  I won't have any additional time to write so I would have to pay to have it done.  At $25 per article and 2 articles per week, I would have to pay $200 per month for content, but I think it would be worth it to be able to expand into other areas and try to multiply revenue even if I can only do this part-time.

How has January been treating you?

Passive Income While Playing Golf

This is my favorite part of the year for passive income.  Why?  Because for one week in January, I get to go and play golf with my wife's brother in South Carolina.  It is something to look forward to following the Holidays and breaks the cold weather in half since it usually starts to warm up a little in March.

I also like it because it provides me a good comparison from year to year on the amount of passive income that I can earn while away on vacation.

Looking back at 2011 during the 7 days while we were away, I earned a total of $6.98 with AdSense or not quite $1 per day.  This year I am pleased to report that I earned $14.15 or more than double with AdSense during those same 7 days away while playing golf.

I am also especially pleased to report that I received an additional $82.47 while away due to efforts on my own blog.  This is what is most exciting because I only started Cash Flow Mantra in late May and now have 2 blogs that I will be working on for the next year.

I would dare say that I could more than double the amount that I can earn in that time frame so that I am earning almost $30 per week with AdSense by January 2013 and about $200 per week with my blogs.  At least that is the target at which I will be aiming.

There is no reason not to think that it will be possible.  I recently published my 100th post at CFM and at a rate of 3 per week should be more than double that number in a year.  Also with GPM, I should be at about 150 posts as well so that will be more than 250 additional blog posts compared to the 100 this year meaning that doubling my income in the next year would seem reasonable. 

Then in another year, I might even be earning enough to cover the whole trip.  Of course, I will be using the money to pay off debt first, but every little bit will help.  Ultimately, though, once the debt is paid off and the kids are out of the house, traveling on blogging income would be so cool.

Announcing a Cash Give Away

I just wanted to take the opportunity to announce that I am giving away cash prizes to celebrate the 100th post of my blog, Cash Flow Mantra.  I am giving away $150 total with $75 going to the first winner, $50 to the second winner, and $25 going to the third winner.

The main criteria for winning is that you must have a PayPal account so that I can get the money to you.  I am using money that I have earned from the blog itself to pay out the prizes keeping with my trend of not investing any of my own money into my online ventures, but only my time.

It has been wonderful to be able to attract advertisers and make money since I have been able to expand using some of that revenue and start a second blog hiring some writers to help with the content since my time is limited.  I am hoping that I can start making some revenue with the new blog as well, and continue to expand.

Extra money is being used to pay off some debt as well which is really nice.  I am hoping to pay off the Discover Card this year.  You can follow my progress as I report it periodically at Cash Flow Mantra.  In the meantime, be sure to go enter the contest.