The March Numbers
This is a long overdue post but I wanted to update everyone on my 100k challenge. I had mentioned that I was having doubts of my ability to follow up on some of the things that I had intended to do to increase revenue. I had originally thought that my main source would be to begin doing some computer repair on the side. However with my classes and full time job I find that I am really lacking having time that would be viable for most people (ie: 5-8pm) since I don’t make it home most nights until 9-10pm. Because of this, my actions have mostly been focused on Internet Marketing/Affiliate Marketing techniques.
In the month of March I had my strongest month yet of raising money. Now this month is still VERY small in total money earned but I learned SO much by just getting off the forums and trying to put some theory into practice. So here are the results, i’ve broken them down to what each publishing company I worked with earned.
AdCommunal: $8.25
AzoogleAds: $131.90
For an astonishing total of $140.15!!
Ok so like I said, not that much in revenue for a month. Now when I use the term revenue that’s a bit misleading because all of the campaigns that I used to run this were definitely running in the red. So I am still down money but like I said in my original post, I will worry about evening out the money as I go. I know I could’ve easily doubled these numbers but I cancelled campaigns that weren’t turning enough money as compared to what I spending advertising, etc. I also took in a considerable more amount of expenses associated with these numbers. I’ve now attached myself to a $150 dedicated server cost as opposed to my $10 a month shared hosting plan I was utilizing before.
So I made progress….but also shorted my bank roll a lot. Hopefully this can be seen as a necessary expenditure as I can continue trying to make things work for me.
What are my thoughts with the above publishers? Well I am in love with AzoogleAds. Their iPhone app is amazing and lets me check my stats at given point during the day. AdCommunal was a network I joined because they have a ton of niche quiz offers that worked for one small niche I was promoting. Their site is extremely slow and that really gets to me but they definitely have some potential for us niche users out there.
I’ve also checked out a few new publishers and ad platforms. I was pretty impressed with my experience with Elite Clicks Media. Although I haven’t really turned any results there yet, the communication I received from Lance over there (@lancepartin) was amazing. It was literally like having an affiliate manager waiting on you hand in foot whenever I had questions. I definitely plan to continue working with them.
So the way I see it. I earned $140 in March. If I can narrow and scale the campaigns to profitability and double that in April I will be excited. If I could continue a trend like that I could surely hit my 100k goal by the end of the year. Of course since we are like 3/4th the way through April I can tell you that so far that isn’t happening lol.
Introducing the $100k Challenge
Readers of the blogosphere who have stumbled upon this blog, allow me to introduce you to my 2010 New Year’s Resolution.
I promise to earn over $100k this year.
There it is. It is now in digital publication. I’m stuck to it now (assuming I don’t come back to this post and delete it later).
So lets kick this blog off with the goal of following my progress of making over $100,000 in 2010. I will count my current work income and plan to supplement it with additional work doing IT services as well as affiliate marketing. I hope to gain some followers who might willingly contribute their thoughts and encouragement.
The State of the Finances:
I have an amazing job that I am very enthusiastic about that earns me a decent salary. I will be including this into the weekly totals. Because of various performance bonuses that may or may not be a factor we will estimate my salary ranging from $40,000-$60,000 over the year. Following the law of averages here we will narrow it down and say $50k. This leaves 50,000 dollars to be made up of additional work done on the side.
I’m sure many of the affiliates out there will be saying ‘well you can do affiliate work while you are at work,’ and while this is true, I want to make it quite clear that my current ambition is to progress more as an IT professional at my organization as my main income and affiliate marketing/independent consulting is supplemental work. Chances are most of the people that read this blog will be interested in marketing topics so I will probably focus on that. However I have more than a full workload of innovative ideas to progress on at my 8-5 job that those hours are completely blocked off for that job, with the exception of maybe checking emails during lunch, etc.
The Supplemental Plan:
$50,000 is a lot of money to come up with on the side for pretty much anyone. I have two basic plans to achieve this:
- Affiliate Marketing – I have been following the affiliate marketing trend for a few years ago. When I was 12 years old I had my first experiences with it and its now time to dive back into it. There is a ton of money to be made online by promoting other people’s offers on various websites, however this is a VERY competitive industry so it will be pretty hard to squeeze my way in as a newbie. I have been following the blogs of Jeremy Schoemaker (ShoeMoney) and Jonathan Volk as my primary source of inspiration. These two have a wealth of information that they are willing to share and hopefully I can take advantage of some of it.
- Computer Repair Services – Being an IT professional it is pretty easy for me to leverage my skills to earn a bit of side income. It has ALWAYS been my position to not charge friends and family for any services done to their PCs but the more people I meet the more I think I should start doing this on the side to earn money. So I have made it a goal in 2010 to start up a quick little website and see what business I can drum up in my local town for on house pc repair. Of course 99% of all PC problems are Virus/Spyware problems that simply need a deep cleansing. So it’s pretty simple stuff that could earn some serious cash if I stick to it.
The Obstacles:
Well in addition to doing this additional work in my spare time this year is a very busy year for me. To start off with, I am going to be getting married in February of 2011. So my fiance and I are going to be doing a whole bunch of wedding planning at random times that will be distracting from these other goals. Secondly I am still actively pursuing my Masters degree in Applied Communication. This puts a sever crunch on my time as I am always trying to finish homework or crank out a paper. This is in addition to the normal activities, gym, friends, sports, etc. So ultimately time is going to be the biggest constraint here.
What To Do With The Money:
Well as you can see, $100k would be a night/day change for me. In the event I was able to earn that on the side I might have to compare that lifestyle with my current career mindset and determine if it would be worth exploring it as a full time career. Although I have some lavish dreams of massive houses and exotic cars, I would utilize the extra money to focus on down paying my slightly uncomfortable amounts of student loans and credit card debt ($45k+-) as well as help with the wedding and other daily expenditures. I don’t plan on this test of time to be an excuse to jump into anything, ie: I made $100k I need a new car, etc. That can’t wait for the $300k years >=)
Do I Think This Is Possible?
ABSOLUTELY. I have never in my life met a challenge that I couldn’t beat if I stuck my mind to it. I have already made some prompt changes in my lifestyle to accommodate for the future.
So let’s do it. Keep following the blog and feel free to share your thoughts and comments!
