Few weeks back I published my first ever income report that demonstrated 3 of my websites generating $23,596.88 in the month of June from various revenue streams within those sites. You can read that report here.
Interestingly enough, a couple emails followed within the very next week, attempting to extrapolate these results to my entire portfolio of websites and proposed that the numbers suggest that generate a total of $1,982,137.92 from my websites each year.
Interesting conclusion from deductive reasoning. Here is how it was arrived at.
Since I have over 20 websites (the assumption used was 21), and three of those generate $23,596.88 per month, it was suggested through simple division that each website generates $7,866 per month.
That number multiplied by 21 websites yields approximately $165,178 per month, or $1,982,137.92 in online revenues per year.
As you can imagine, it’s not that straight forward simple.
Below is an income snapshot generated by a set of 3 different websites in the month of July. The snapshot shows the bank account tied to these three websites, which collectively make up one legal entity, an LLC or Limited Liability Company.
Note that the June income report of $23,596.88 was generated by another legal entity, which is also comprised of three web properties.
Here is how July’s income breaks down….
A – Amazon Associates Program Affiliate Commissions $12.50
B – eBook Sales on Barnes and Noble $82
C – eBook Sales on Amazon Kindle $153.67
D – Google Ads $511.08
E – eBook Sales on Amazon Kindle (Europe) $17.04
TOTAL: 776.29
While the 3 websites that made up June’s income report were all in the financial niche, the 3 websites that made up the income for July are in the self help / productivity niche.
This is what makes it so difficult to project, and answer the common questions I get from so many readers that look like the following:
and the list goes on…
I believe that money can be made in most niches. However, there are too many variables at play to confidently conclude how much and how long it will take.
I will continue to write about my niche websites periodically to share how they are performing, what I am doing to make them successful, what is not working and so forth.
But that said, my main focus outside of this blog has been my authority website, which I recently previewed. You can read more about the shift in my direction and why here.
And if you are interested in following or participating in the process, you can access the Authority Site Duel portal here.
What are you focusing on these days? Numerous, smaller websites or one large authority website? Why? What topics would you like to read about in the Authority Site Duel? What are you struggling with in your online business that you need help with?
Previous: The Authority Site Duel Challenge Portal
Hi Sunil, i really like your transparency enough because it motivates us more to keep trying knowing that someday, the cash will be flowing in a large manner. I like your style, just keep it up.
I planned joining the challange, but i still have a lot to put up on my current blog, i just changed my theme and conducted other changes. I hope it wount be late if i join you in two weeks time or less because I’m sure i will be free then.
What i want to know is how you make use of the Amazon associate, do they place banners or links?
Thanks.
join in Theodore.
the Amazon associates program is their affiliate program. you can post banners and links alike on your site similar to any other affiliate program. they also have astore, which you can integrate with your site (ecommerce store)
I only have one blog so I’m going to go with Authority site. I really would love to be an authority in my niche much like GRS has become, but that is many years down the road at this point!
Lance, don’t you think that particular niche is too saturated? what do you think is your USP/separation quality?
Sunil,
You are an inspiration to new bloggers like me. Thanks.
Rick
thanks Rick. welcome to the blog
When I first started blogging in 2005 I went with what is now called and authority site. It was in the finance industry (debt, credit, retirement etc). After I sold that blog I went the small nice site route and got hammered by Google. Each update made it worse for me. As I look back if I had stayed the authority route I probably would be making a nice chuck of change from that one blog site.
For me I will probably never go back to small nice sites. I found out I like the social interaction of an authority site and over time can be the foundation for a complete business based on that site alone.
Regards
ditto Ray. tell us more about your previous blog and its sale. I am very interested
Sunil,
The first blog I create was called The Millionaire Blog (you can see it at http://www.themillionaireblog.com). It was all about personal finance and I wrote articles about my own experience getting out of debt, investing in real estate, and would often interview other bloggers in the personal finance niche.
Around the end of 2005 it started gaining some traction and was making about $15-$30 per month. I figured I might as well sell it since I didn’t figure on being in blogging for a long time. I sold it on SitePoint Marketplace (Flippa.com) for about $550.00. The guy who took it over changed things around and changed the focus to more Forex like products. The blog is still running.
Hindsight being 20/20 I never should have sold. I get emails from advertisers all the time wanting to put ads on the site ( The new owner still has my email on the about us page, lol). I have estimated that it would be generating about $500-$800 right now with the ads and Adsense, that’s a conservative number.
But you live and learn so that’s why, now that I have the time, I have started a new authority blog. I think of it more as a business that will allow me to add additional streams of revenue once it gains traction. I no longer work on small niche sites having learned my lesson with Penguin and Panda.
Regards
oh man. it’s about longevity in this industry. thanks for sharing your experience Ray. hope we can help the next venture become a big success
Hi Sunil,
This is my favorite blog by far, I think because you make it seem possible even for us beginners. But, I wondered how you find the time? Seriously, how do you get so much done…do you get any free time at all?! Would you maybe consider a future post on your schedule/how you manage your time? Even just your list of future projects seems a huge amount to get done to me never mind the rest..would love to know how you get do much done/your tips. Thank you.
thanks Vee, that really means a lot. I’d appreciate your help spreading the word.
we all can find time if we are committed enough in my opinion. I didn’t start with so much going on. the key is to take one project at a time, refine it, automate as much as you can, delegate and then establish systems to monitor. once you can do that, you can repeat that for several subsequent projects. a few habits help along the way if you can develop them, such as batch processing chores/tasks like email, etc. I also use my calendar effectively and block out time for each task. when performing that task, I try to do nothing else but that task alone.
yes – I will definitely write about how I manage my schedule and find time for projects
Thanks Sunil, will definitely spread the word!
Do you sell the ebooks direct on your own on the sites? You know amazon ebooks are kinda cheap and it takes luck to get your book to become a best seller.
Sheyi
yes and yes. I do both
Hi Sunil…I’m a newbie and created 2 sites so far and one is doing just a little every month and trying my best to improve it as I move forward. I would like to learn more and be successful in this field. Your posts are inspiration to me and to others. Knowing your successful income really inspired me more to move forward and work hard. I hope to see a new post of yours talking about how to avoid the Penguin and Panda changes and how to resurrect a site that was hit. If you posted that already that I missed reading please let me know the link to read it. Thank you very much!
welcome to the blog Jude. I have written a bit about these updates and regaining some rank. go through my archives. the shift in strategy focuses on link building diversity and velocity (speed). let me know if you have any questions after reading these
Thanks Sunil…I am very happy to join your blog and I will be looking forward to your future posts. I will definitely check the previous posts you mentioned.
The reason why I asked is because I created a site about 8 months ago and it’s been up and down in page 1 Google SERP for short periods of time which they said I believe is the Google dance for new sites. Then the Panda and Penguin came which got affected too, however after a month or so I was surprised it went up again to page number 1 in Google but for a long time in a month and a half then after that time it went down again from page 1 to page 60. I thought it will stay #1 because it went up for a month and a half after the Panda and Penguin.
When I started creating this site based on what I’ve learned I applied the white hat strategy of the on page and off page SEO, however even if I did that my site was affected. I don’t know if I did something that is not supposed to be done. So far at this point I am reviewing it and applying the necessary changes to bring my site up again.
Do you think after applying the changes my site will be up in the next few weeks? I hope I can figure out in detail what’s wrong and will be happy to apply them correctly. I wish I have someone to show my site and tell me what to fix. Thanks a lot Sunil and I will be in touched. I love all your posts and really enjoyed reading them!
you are welcome Jude and I am sorry to hear. unfortunately Google doesn’t reveal much. many SEOs will tell you they can fix it but it’s hard to determine who knows what they are doing. if I were you I’d focus on building solid content over time. keep doing that. if you have over focused on an anchor text, try to build new links with other anchors and dilute it. or change the anchors on existing links. slow, steady and diverse over time seems to be the key these days if I were to summarize it. does that help?
Thank you very much Sunil for your advise! I will definitely do that. I have a question. When you say change the existing anchor text…do you refer to my previous OFF PAGE SEO or the inside links in my site for ON PAGE SEO? On my readings from other sources they said it is better to add more content but don’t do backlinks not until after about 2 months. Is this a post Panda way of doing it? Does this refer to mini sites or to authority sites or both? Thanks!
Jude, the basic premise no matter what type of site is to build links slower and with a lot more diversity. dilute your main keyword as anchor text both internally and externally. many are even going as low as 10%
are you familiar with blogprofitnetwork? it is a site that claims to give you all the information needed to make money with niche sites including how to make a $25 a day site in only an hour. would you recommend buying a product something like this or should I just keep my money? thanks for any input
I have not Tony, sorry. there are many good products out there, the key is to follow through. that said, there are scams as well. the #1 advantage of paying for a course is to speed up the process (not waste time). you can visit my Resources page to see what tools I use. let me know if you have any other questions. I’d be happy to help
thanks Sunil basically I have lots of free time and desire to go from “0 to 1,000” in 30 days if I can. if I do invest in a course I want it to be as good as advertised I see you have niche profit classroom listed but I couldn’t find the review. would something like site build it and your free ebook be enough to reach my goals?
most definitely Tony, that’s exactly why I wrote it. and since I have gone through NPC, I have also taken the attractive components of that course and blended it in with the SBI methodology to create my “own version”. but SBI alone should be good enough for a beginner. if you have any questions feel free to come back and ask. would love to help out
Are you using a plugin for the Pinterest button in your images?
I am using Pinterest Pin It Button for Images. do you have another, better recommendation? I wanted one that stays put but couldn’t get it to work (code compatibility issues)
Thanks for being transparent with your numbers. I found out about your site through Pat’s spi podcast. You shared some great tips.
welcome Lorillia and thank you. looking forward to getting to know you better
First off I want to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was interested to find out how you center yourself
and clear your head prior to writing. I’ve had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Cheers!
try a variety of productivity strategies and see what works best
i have a question, i noticed on your sites that you have quite a lot of good content, do you have a writer you outsource to, and can you email me their contact info, as i cannot write good content for my sites, thanks once again Sunil
Rick, I write all content on this blog
That’s really an inspiring number of achievement you have there Sunil!
Currently my own blog just reach a stable 2 figures passive income and getting near to 3 figures. Gonna build it to at least 4 figures online income in 2013! =D
Thanks for the great contents on this blog. 🙂
most welcome JJ. cheer and all the best in 2013