My First Ever Income Report! - January 2011

My First Ever Income Report! - January 2011

Is there anything in there for me?

One of the things that inspired me to get into this business was reading Pat Flynn's monthly income reports on his awesome blog, Smart Passive Income.  Instead of falling for all the hype that exists in internet marketing (earn untold thousands per day with 4 minutes of work), Pat's income reports showed that money can be made and you can even make a living off of it.  I knew that if I were ever to try my hand at internet marketing, I too, will want to report back on what I was earning, so that I can inspire and instruct other people as well.

And The Numbers Are...0!

Well, I can't even say I earned zero dollars.  Since I just started it would've taken a shear stroke of keyword research genius to earn money in my first couple weeks.  I would've had to picked such a low competition, buyers keyword, that all it would take to get on the first page of google in a matter of weeks would be to slap a site together, and then the money comes pouring in.  

I'm smart (I like to think) but not that smart.

Right now its all about startup costs.  At least with online businesses, startup costs are nothing compared with brick-and-mortar businesses, and since I am gainfully employed, it didn't hurt too much.  My startup costs consisted of:

• .net domain registration w/GoDaddy for 3 years (it was recommended to me to register this for 3 years for SEO purposes, I honestly cannot quantify the value for you): $40.51
• Hosting with Hostgator's Baby Plan: $95.40 ($7.95/month, with a full year paid upfront)
• my review theme for my review site: $39
• Physical Affiliate Guide: $17 (I purchased the ebook first, before the full video course was available, and was lucky enough to receive the video course for free when it was released.  It sells on the Warrior Forum for $97)
• Header design by Logo Nerds: $10
• Hired writer to help me with my product reviews: $49

Total Expenses...$250.91

Total Income...$0

Net Income...$-250.91

So there you have it, one month in and I am $250 in the hole!  Not terrible, really.  In fact, it feels good to put it all down.  It makes it seem more real and makes me feel more accountable (which is one of the purposes of this blog).  

Like I said in an earlier post, I promised my wife I would not spend any more money on my online business, so as long as I am a man of my word, this should be the only expenses I incur until the year is up and I have to renew my hosting.  Once I start making money, I plan to reinvest some of it back into my business, but I have to start making money first.

As a side note, I am choosing not to place a monetary value on my time.  I don't think I am ever going to do that (even if and when I start making money) because I am choosing to use my spare time the way I want to use it, and to me, that is priceless.

My site is live and I have begun my SEO process, which I will detail in my next post.  It is a hodge-podge of stuff that I have been reading about over the past few months and I will be hungry for feedback. 

So, there you have it, my first income report!  What do you think?