Side Income Report – April 2016

My last Side Income Report was done in September of 2014, a long time back.  There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. I don’t ever want anyone to think I’m bragging or rubbing my earnings in their face.  So many people work so hard everyday online, for just a few dollars or less.   I want to encourage people through my earnings, but not discourage them or dishearten them.
2. I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go with this site, or if I even wanted to continue it.  Internet Marketing blogs, which this site falls under, are extremely competitive and also a dime a dozen.   So I just kinda stopped updating the site much to let things marinate for a while, and get my head together on where I wanted my online business to go.  The time off also gave me some time to work on a few other projects I wanted to pursue.

The Return of my Side Income Reports

So after more than a year, I’ve decided to return being active to this site AND publishing ongoing income reports.  Why?

1. I missed it – I’ve had numerous people tell me that my spiritual gift is teaching.  I do love it, and I love helping others.  This site is where my passion is, and while it may not be a big money earner for me, writing on it makes me happy – Sometimes that is just a good enough reason.
2. I need to put my money where my mouth is, per say.  I still firmly believe that if I am going to tell people how to earn money online, that I need to show them I am actually earning money.  Not high level numbers, not made up numbers, but detailed and specific numbers.   I need to show people I am not a fraud, and that the strategies I use really work.
3. Show people the possibilities – I know many people blog hoping to earning money, don’t see any in a few months and just quit.  It always breaks my heart when I see that.   See, you really can earn a living online.  It takes time, and a great deal of handwork, but it can be done.  I hope that by sharing what I am doing, and how much I am earning it encourages people.

My greatest fear though is that I come across as bragging or even worse dishearten someone.  From the bottom of my heart, I share these numbers to encourage and to be authentic, nothing more.   I need those of you reading this to know that, without a doubt.  Bragging and/or bringing people down is just not who I am or what I am about.

Ok, so in the infamous words of Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem/Slim Shay ….

“I’m BAAAACKKK …. ”

Side Income Report – April 2016

My overall earnings haven’t significantly increased since my last income report.  A few of my authority nice sites are seasonal, and really drop off during the winter months.  I’m already seeing, an upswing in income towards the end of April and already during the first few days of May.  Based on last years earnings trends, I would expect to see this continue through the summer until around October.  Honestly I need to work on getting my earnings more spread out – On my todo list.

Compared to April of last year (2015), my earnings are up by almost $1,000.00, so that is definitely a huge improvement and definitely gives me a good indication of what the summer months could hold.

My 2016 Goal is to earn, on average $5000.00 a month.  I really think I can do that if I stay focused.  My average last year was $2,500.00

April Progress and Updates

I spent first quarter really taking a hard look at my online business.   I was spread too thin, doing too much, and strangely enough not feeling like I was getting anything done.   I saw traffic dropping on a few of my sites, and overall slow growth.

I decided I needed to focus, but didn’t want to give up all of the different sites I was working on and the things I was doing.  The obvious solution was to consolidate some, and hire some help.

I started looking for a Virtual Assistant to run my niche sites.  My hope was that I would specify the keywords, and the type of article I wanted written for each of my sites.  My VA would then get an article written by our preferred list of writers on iWriter, then format and publish the article on my various authority niche sites.

After talking with a few Virtual Assistants, I decided to go a little different route.

My son Dylan, who is a Computer Science Major and I decided to partner together.  He is going to take over the duties that I was going to give to a Virtual Assistant, and he is also going start writing some here on Side Income Blogging.   Dylan has been working with me previously on our web development and blog maintenance work, so this will expand his responsibilities here at Side Income Blogging.

I also consolidated a few niche sites that were not growing like I expected into existing related sites that I had.  That actually turned out to be a really good call, as I saw Google rankings for the articles go up almost immediately.  So consider consolidation as one of your options instead of removing or selling a site that isn’t doing well.

Alright!  That was far more rambling than I has planned!  On with the real numbers for April 2016!

April 2016 Income and Expense Numbers

Reminder: These numbers are across ALL of my sites, not just this one.

Income:

• Adsense: $223.79
• Amazon.com: $1231.13
• Sovrn: $62.12
• Commission Junction: $53.00
• BuyerZone (referrals for an online price quote service): $440.00
• Mr. Rebates: $44.32
• Services/Consulting Income: $132.50
• Hosting Income: $10.00

Total Income for April 2016: $2,196.86

Expenses:

• Hosting: $99.99
• SEMRush: 
• PostPlanner: $12.00
• Staff Payments: $75.00
• MailChimp: $50.00
• iWriter: $10.00
• TurboTax Small Business: $184.97
• Domain Registrations/Renewals: $63.83

Total Expenses for April 2016: $564.75

Net Income for April 2016: $1,632.11

Not one of my more stellar months, but a good base month.  I’ve been spending more money this year, to invest in my business, so it’s impacting my Net Income.  But I expect this to payoff later in the year.

So stay tuned, more articles and income reports to come!  Also, if you aren’t subscribed to our mailing list, I would recommend you do.  I am building out a series of exclusive email only articles to send out to my mailing list – Not to mention you’ll get my free eBook – BE a Better Blogger.