Income Report Roundup – Apr 2020
It definitely isn’t business as usual these days. But these are the times that truly test you as a business owner. After all, many of the people on our list started these businesses for that very reason – to have control over their own direction. So while some of these entrepreneurs have seen signs of challenge, they all stay motivated and show a willingness to adapt. There are opportunities out there, you just need to find them.
#1 Takeaway – Follow the Trends – Due to situations outside of our control, things have changed an awful lot in the past months. However, with changing circumstances come changing consumer demands. Our #1 takeaway is to stay on top of these market trends, and identify where the new opportunities lie.
- Use Your Gut – Sometimes the situation is so unprecedented that you aren’t really sure how to proceed. If there isn’t a significant wealth of knowledge to draw on, sometimes you just have to go with what you think will succeed. Many entrepreneurs on our list decided to chase niches that they thought would be successful. Things like online learning, home workouts, home shopping, and more. That being said, even in a new situation, sometimes you can find the best knowledge by looking at your peers…
- Monitor Other Success Stories – You can see just by these income reports that people are more than willing to share their success! Many entrepreneurs on our list have pointed to the relative booms in areas such as dropshipping, online learning, and many other online niches. The information is out there, and people want to share it. Learn from the entrepreneurs on our list who have weathered this storm, and see how you can capitalize on this yourself!
- Signup for TheHustle email list – a great summary of trends impacting entrepreneurship.
Quick April Update on my End:
- 5 Posts at AuthorityWebsiteIncome.com (one of my biggest months)
- Highlight – Amazon Affiliate Earnings – I stayed up most of the night when this was announced and built a tool to be able to calculate how the earnings of Amazon Affiliate sites will change as a result of the reduction in commissions announced by Amazon. This was the most visited article on the site and received more engagement then I have had on almost any other post. It is unfortunate for us Amazon Affiliates but definitely not unusual in the world.
- 16 best online business models MONSTER post was also created.
- Launched EssentialGoods.org to try and use our talents to address a COVID-19 related problem.
- Overall it has been a failure… although it works and gained some traction/marketing the result is that the problem it is solving is simply not enough of a pain point for even the incredibly low price point (which was only there to try and break-even).
- MotionInvest had a big disruption the week Amazon made their announcement but is back on track and the demand for quality smaller money making websites is as strong as ever.
- ContentRefined – With the business manager Maddie heading off on Mat leave we had to do a lot of work to make sure our systems were tight
- New SAAS Project for Helping with Money Sites- Underway and I will be sharing more details shortly
- Free Amazon Affiliate Requirements and Disclosure Plugin – Received a 5* review
My Reason for This Round Up:
When I started my online entrepreneurship journey I took a lot of inspiration from others that were sharing everything they did online. Seeing that people like me were making REAL money and that the opportunity to replace my day job was possible.
It has been almost 4 years since I left my day job – https://websiteincome.com/quit-my-job/
The more transparent the report the more I appreciated and was motivated by it.
Over the years I have tried to be as transparent as possible sharing along the way my goals, business successes/failures and the ultimate results(profits).
After years of sharing monthly income posts I decided that it made sense to stop these… a decision I actually regret as I wish I had found a way to keep sharing some of what I was doing.
My reason for stopping was my online world and “real” worlds became more connected and it was becoming very odd to share these numbers.
Looking at many of the people that originally had an income round up posts they have also stopped. Namely the most famous in the space Pat Flynn no longer does income round ups.
In this post I will cover…
- List of inspiring income report posts and how they earned their profits
- Recognize motivating people showing not just telling people the results they are achieving
- Learn from others – What the key learning is from the people
Last Month Profit – $10,486.91
Name – Ron Stefanski
Website – onehourprofessor.com
Business Model – Authority Affiliate Site
Income Report – https://www.onehourprofessor.com/april-2020-monthly-income-report/
Key Lesson(s):
- Ron had a tough month in April. However, he did anticipate it after seeing the trends in ad rates and traffic.
- However, Ron had a strong month on YouTube, and was happy with that. He had strong growth in revenue and views.
- Ron knows there are tough times but he is hopeful. He has development plans with several websites, wants to continue to produce content with great writers, and wants to continue building content for YouTube.
Checkout the video I did with Ron and be sure to read his gripping story here!
Last Month Profit – $4,552
Name – Lidiya
Website – letsreachsuccess.com
Business Model – Blogging
Income Report – https://letsreachsuccess.com/working-from-home-income-report/
Key Lesson(s):
- Although it continues to be unpredictable due to Covid, Lidiya is happy with the way things are going with her blog.
- Her email list continues to grow, and she is happy with how many people actually respond with and engage her emails.
- She continues to offer courses and coaching on succeeding through blogging, and has had more people reach out to her about this.
Last Month Profit – no update this month
Name – Spencer Haws
Website – NichePursuits.com
Business Model – Authority Affiliate Site
Income Report – https://www.nichepursuits.com/get-ready-niche-site-project-4/
Key Lesson(s):
- No income report published this month.
Last Month Profit – $8,738.29
Name – Johnny FD
Website – johnnyfd.com
Business Model – Mixed – Dropshipping & Investing
Income Report – https://www.johnnyfd.com/2020/05/income-and-expenses-during-lockdown.html
Key Lesson(s):
- Johnny is still in Sri Lanka. He has more freedom now that the lockdown is lifted.
- Johnny is happy with where he is at, and actually found he is quite productive living alone in Sri Lanka.
- He is lucky that during this time, e-commerce stores are thriving. Two of Johnny’s stores saw a lot of success in April.
- Aside from dropshipping, many of Johnny’s other businesses have taken a big hit. Specifically, Amazon affiliates are no longer making the same percentage of sales, which is why he wants to shift away from that.
Last Month Profit – $37,103
Name – Jon Dykstra
Website – fatstacksblog.com
Business Model – Authority Website (display ads)
Income Report – https://fatstacksblog.com/income-report-for-april-2020/
Key Lesson(s):
- Solid earnings from all niche sites in April.
- Jon continues to invest heavily in content. Specifically in writing product reviews and creating podcast content.
- Jon knows that it is a turbulent time, and is investing heavily in areas where he is seeing returns. He understands that some of his online businesses will be more successful than others.
Ryan Robinson
Last Month Profit – $21,262.60
Name – Ryan Robinson
Website – ryrob.com
Business Model – Authority Website (affiliate earnings)
Income Report – https://www.ryrob.com/blog-income-report-april-2020/
Key Lesson(s):
- With all the changes around the world, Ryan has spent a lot more time thinking of how he can support people, such as through his Blog Support Scholarship.
- Ryan has also stayed busy creating free resources for readers.
- Ryan increased his blog income in April, and traffic increased a sizable amount too.
- It was a successful month, as blog income rose thanks to affiliate commissions and enrollments in his comprehensive blogging course.
Create and Go
Last Month Profit – $203,457.16 (Quarterly Revenue)
Name – Alex & Lauren
Business Model – Affiliate Blog & Online Course
Income Report – https://createandgo.com/blog-income-report/
Key Lesson(s):
- Alex and Lauren do not publish expense figures, only revenue.
- They continue to focus on fresh content in their Pinterest, in order to stay on top of the algorithm.
- They updated their Pinterest course to reflect these changes.
- Much of Alex & Lauren’s income comes from selling digital products and services, such as eBooks and online courses.
Yeys
Last Month Profit – Negative $721
Name – Anne
Website – www.yeys.com
Business Model – Web Publishing Blog
Income Report – https://yeys.com/april-2020-traffic-revenue-report/
Key Lesson(s):
- Despite the negative numbers (still a new blog), this was the best month to date! With growing traffic, growing revenue, and the best bottom line yet.
- Anne continues to work with editors and freelancers to create content to serve different niches.
- Saw an overall 42% increase in traffic in April!
- Although revenue went up, it is not going up at the same rate. CPM and RPM rates were declining. Luckily, because traffic increased so much, Anne was able to still grow revenue.
Honourable Mentions:
Although they don’t do exactly income reports, there are a few reports that are worth mentioning and when they publish new reports I will be sure to include.
Am I missing any I should include? Please drop a message in the comment section below with anyone I should include next month!
