This month I became a full-time affiliate. Well, a part-time dad and a part-time affiliate. But either way I gave up the day job to earn my crust soley from affiliate marketing.
Going Full-Time
I didn’t take to going full-time very well and found it very hard to get the hours in. I set myself the target of doing five hours a day but this soon went out of the window and I was finding it difficult to get anything done most days. I decided that if I had such limited time I would spend it outsourcing link building rather than writing and adding content to my sites as this would take the least time and get me the biggest return on my time. I figured spending 10 minutes filling in a form to order some links would be better than spending 10 minutes writing half an article for one of sites. At least I was getting something done. Some of the link building paid off and some of it didn’t. I’m still trying to find out the best type of links to get a small niche site ranking.
Holiday!
After all that hard work it was clear I needed a holiday so off we went for a week in Phuket. There was no internet at our hotel, well there was but I refused to pay £4 per hour so I stayed offline for a week which was nice but also meant I spent about 1/4 of July not doing any work at all.
Staying Motivated
When you are doing affiliate marketing on the side trying to steal an hour here and there, working is quite fun but once you go full-time it just becomes like any other job and after last month’s drop in earnings I am finding it very hard to stay motivated and do some work. This usually happens when my earnings dip. I think “what’s the point in putting in the work if it doesn’t correlate with my earnings”.
July 2011 Earnings
Last month I brought in £1200. This was down quite a bit from the £1840 I made a few months ago.
My gross earnings for July 2011 were £1186 ($1930).
That was a bit of a kick in the nuts and not a good way to start my full-time career as an internet marketeer. But I have been busy the last three months or so a drop is to be expected I guess.
The Future
I’m not really sure how to progress. A grand a month is nice for a few hours work here and there but its not enough. I want to be making a solid £2000 per month by the end of the year and then much more after that. But at the moment that seems like a step too far. I’d love to lock myself away for a month and work 24/7 but that just isn’t possible.
Adsense
I’ve been reading Trent Dyrsmid’s blog: http://onlineincomelab.com/ and have been impressed by the quick progress he has made with Adsense sites and I am keen to give it a go. Anyone else done this kind of thing?
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Hi Joe, Still not too bad considering the amount of time you put in to it.
It’s great you share this info about your earnings to show to newbies that you can make a living from affiliate marketing. Obviously your goal is to achieve more. Fair enough.
Was this your profit after paying out for things like hosting, domain names, link building, content etc?
Goodluck
Gary
P.S. That beach looks amazing
Hi Gary, thanks for stopping by.
Yeah I should be grateful really, that is more than a full time minimum wage job back in the UK (I think) and way more than one out here.
This was my gross profit so I should really deduct my outgoings but they don’t come to much:
ECU: £25
Hostgator: $10
No new domains this month.
I am signed up to Linkamotion for $47 per month but haven’t used it yet.
I reinvest some of my earnings in outsourcing too.
That is the beach we stayed at but it didn’t look quite as good as that!
I understand that it’s hard to be happy when your earnings are down or flat, but you still earn a good amount.
I also had a hard time working proper hours when I went full-time. I do have kids as an excuse but the truth is that I find it hard to stay motivated and focused when it is just me.
But I plan to try harder this Fall. I plan to have a list of things I need to get done and just force myself to do them. I also hope to not do laundry or run errands here and there but act like I have a real job and do random stuff “after hours”.
You know in retails terms
Slowest Months
June
July
August
September
February
March
October
May
April
December
November
Don’t underestimate that ecommerce stores I own take more in November and December than all the other months combined.
I lost about 40% revenue from June to July 2011 as well, though I was only making about 1/3 to 1/2 as much as you were at my highest.
Hey Joe,
Sorry to hear about the slow progress, month has been slow for me as well. But I think the key is really learning where your time is best spent.
Not necessarily clicking and ordering so so links. And working hours are relative. Would I want to work 9-5 deal with the boss and travel to work? Or would I rather dictate my own time.
Sleep in the middle of the day if needs be, work till 2 am and go grocery shopping at 10 in the morning. Stuff I normally would not be able to do.
Cant have something for nothing though mate, to be able to do all of that have to keep working and working intelligently.
Still a bit chunk of money Joe, not to be sniffed at, you’re obviously disappointed because of the £1800 month, but I think as affiliates you’re always going to be disappointed not to make more than the previous month, always wanting more, think back to when you were making a couple of hundred a month, you were probably thinking some thing like “I’d love to be making £1200 a month”, once you hit the £2k you’ll be disappointed not to be making more then too
Very true Darren. It is all too easy to get carried away and set your sights too high. Onwards and upwards!
I agree with the others, what you did make was still impressive! I also wanted to chime in about going full time. I’ve been full time online for a while and I still go through times (like now for instance!) where it’s next to impossible to motivate myself. It’s difficult, so you definitely shouldn’t beat yourself up about it.
Thanks for stopping by. I’ve found I’ve been more motivated this month so I guess it does go in cycles.
Hi Joe
Not had much time to concentrate on affiliate marketing in the last couple of months with having a new baby and a new job to deal with. Was just having a look at your blog and you’ve really inspired me to pick it up properly and get working at it again.
To be making over £1k regularly is a huge achievement and one I’m nowhere near reaching yet. You’re clearly doing something right so hope you manage to keep your motivation as I’m sure you’ll reap the rewards if you keep plugging away.
Hope your August figures are showing that you’re heading in the right direction again.
Hi Phil, Congratulations on the new arrival! Babies are great aren’t they although very time consuming. Glad to hear I’ve inspired you to get back in the game. It definitely can make you money! Good luck!