Welcome to another edition of the Income Bully income reports, something I do each month to track progress or lack of.
All income reported is through this blog, a project announced on this blog, or wouldn’t have happened without this blog.
I don’t include offline businesses, investment income or any other income away from this blog.
The reason I do this, is for accountability purposes, and perhaps someone else can learn a thing or two along the way. It’s been beneficial to me just to be able to see monthly progress or decline, and identify why certain things are happening.
I’ve also received a lot of great suggestions from the awesome readers here, so keep that up!
Let’s get started.
What Happened In July?
Well, it’s been hot as hell. I have a problem with productivity when it’s super hot out like a week of 100 degree days and the air conditioner not keeping up.
Pair that with a lot of barbecues, the 4th of july and cops getting called because we like to light off illegal fireworks, and then my birthday “celebration”, it wasn’t a good month for creative thinking and content creation.
I turned 30 this month, and have been a little depressed about it. I know the older people I talk to think it’s silly, and that the best years of my life are in the future. Honestly, I think they’re just in denial.
Really, I do believe I’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I guess I’m just more upset about the fact that I really didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy my 20’s. The initial struggle I had when getting started, then the non stop hustle and grind to grow a business. I didn’t have time for friends, traveling, and enjoying life.
Now that I’ve had a little bit of time to grieve, I’m ready to make my 30’s the new 20’s.
Moving Away From AWeber
One of the things I wanted to work on in July, was to revamp my autoresponder. Well, I ended up making this a much bigger project than expected.
Not only am I revamping my autoresponder sequences, I’m also changing to another service. I’ll do a more in depth post on why, and what the impact was and how I’ve (hopefully) benefited from the change.
To keep it short, I have no problem with AWeber. I believe the deliverability is good enough, and they seem to be making some decent changes with the introduction of “campaigns” for automation. However, I really like control and decided I’d like better automation.
Preparing To Launch a Facebook Ad Campaign
This is really kind of a transition from the last point, moving away from aweber. I wanted to set up a new funnel so I can increase sales for my Ultimate Blueprint on How to Start a Web Agency. I’m not sure how effective it will be, but since I’ve noticed sales drying up a bit, I want to bring in a new audience.
It also helps with reaching a wider audience for this blog. As long as I break even on the ads, I’m happy. After all, breaking even on the front end of a funnel allows for massive profit on the backend.
Will it work the way I want? I really don’t know… but at the very least, it will make for an interesting case study!
You may be wondering what I mean by “preparing” to launch the ad campaign.
One of the reasons content has been thin this month is because I’ve been focusing on a mini course as a lead magnet for the FB ads. It’s a 7 day boot camp style course delivered through email. A lot of time has been dedicated towards setting up my new email platform, along with creating content for the emails.
I’m STILL not finished with it!
Working On My Local SEO Course
Some of my other content creation efforts have been going towards a local SEO course I’m working on.
My hope was to have everything ready by August 1st, so I can work on some edits and other things to prepare for a September 1st launch date. I’d still like to be at that launch date, but I’m not sure that will happen.
There’s a LOT left that I need to put in there. If you’re one of the people that has already purchased my agency blueprint or Ice Cold Email Gold, then you know I like to be very detailed. This guide, is no different. In fact, I know there are a lot of courses/guides out there, and I want this to be far above the rest as far as quality of information and depth.
Content Created in July
Despite what you see on the blog, it has been a big month for content creation.
Working on the SEO course, also making edits to my agency blueprint, and then preparing content for the boot camp lead magnet I will use with FB ads, along with general autoresponder content, it’s been pretty busy!
On the blog, I published just a few posts:
The Follow-Up: How You Can Instantly Double Your Sales
Your Website Sucks and It Has Nothing To Do With Design
And of course..
The June 2016 Income and Traffic Report
Not much for blog posts in July, but the “Your Website Sucks” post seemed to get the most traffic, even out performing some of the other popular posts that continue to get a lot of traffic, like Matt Diggity’s guest post on transitioning from client SEO to affiliate SEO as well as the Ultimate Guide on Using Parasites for SEO.
July 2016 Income and Traffic Stats
Self Created Income/Courses
Income: $1,443
Coaching Income
- 1 Sessions
Income: $275
Note: Page coming soon for coaching.
Miscellaneous Income – $6,000
Out of the ordinary, a little bit of consulting I picked up that wouldn’t have happened without this blog.
Affiliate Income
- Long Tail Pro – $149 (see my review here)
- NameHero Hosting – $150 (review)
- Clicks Magazine – $17
- Mobile Renegade – $90.12 (See it in action here)
- Mobile Renegade Mega Deal with Facebook Plugin – $93.12 (Blog post + Video)
- TeamWork Project Management – $6
- Social Pilot – $3
Affiliate Income – $508.24
TOTAL Income Bully Blog Income – $8,226.24
Thoughts on July Income
Considering the lack of posts on the blog this month, and a dip in traffic, the income is pretty good. Granted, 6K is from a not so typical source for this blog. Without that $6,000, I would have remained about average with $2,200.
The affiliate income has been pretty steady lately, and I’d like to boost that. I believe eventually it will be something that increases as I promote or try out different products, but that’s always been a struggle for me.
One of the most alarming things about the blog income is the downward trend of course sales.
That’s the reason I want to reach out to new audiences with FB ads, hoping to get those numbers back up.
Overall, good month considering the lack of new content.
OTHER METRICS FOR THE BLOG
Alexa Rank – 293,400
Twitter Followers – 3,416
Youtube Channel Subscribers – 66
Google+ Followers – 40
Aweber Email Subscribers – 2,414
More Metrics:
Unique Visitors – 4,745
Bounce Rate – 72.18%
Pages Per Session – 1.71
Average Time On Site – 2:00
Thoughts on Metrics in July
Very low growth in July, maybe we could chalk that up to everything I mentioned in the beginning of the post, but also because of a lack of content. Maybe everyone is out playing Pokemon Go, I know I’ve had my fair share of time playing the game (level 21 right now).
There’s actually quite a few reasons for lower traffic this month.
- I had less content
- Less content means less shares / promotion on social media
- Less content means not as many emails sent out to my subscribers
- I also slacked on Twitter, I could have easily matched my Twitter traffic from last month
In June, social traffic was 400% higher. In July, there wasn’t enough content to regularly promote.
My email traffic was also cut in half. Obviously when there’s a new post, I send it out, and I get traffic.
A lot of traffic concerns seem to stem from not having new content. I need to get on track with new content otherwise I will see these same results in August.
All Time Stats For The Blog
Month & Year | Unique Visitors | Affiliate Income | Total Revenue |
---|---|---|---|
December 2014 | N/A | $18.10 | $3528.10 |
January 2015 | 921 | $46.48 | $4062.48 |
February 2015 | 1361 | $223.65 | $3239.65 |
March 2015 | 2324 | $70.58 | $2697.58 |
April 2015 | 2528 | $400.90 | $2391.90 |
May 2015 | 6422 | $400.90 | $2829.90 |
June 2015 | 9830 | $449.96 | $3378.27 |
July 2015 | 8015 | $586 | $3621.86 |
August 2015 | 6209 | $777.93 | $8386.24 |
September 2015 | 2372 | $132.06 | $1912.06 |
October 2015 | 2249 | $267.59 | $1277.59 |
November 2015 | 2331 | $331.68 | $1757.68 |
December 2015 | 2191 | $306.56 | $1981.56 |
January 2016 | 4126 | $463.09 | $2411.09 |
February 2016 | 4850 | $754.95 | $3219.95 |
March 2016 | 4505 | $419.77 | $2239.77 |
April 2016 | 7393 | $525.57 | $2821.57 |
May 2016 | 6469 | $457.29 | $2585.29 |
June 2016 | 7132 | $747.66 | $5472.66 |
July 2016 | 4745 | $508.24 | $8226.24 |
Month & Year | Unique Visitors | Bounce Rate | Pages Per Session | Time on Site |
---|---|---|---|---|
December 2014 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
January 2015 | 921 | 51.07% | 2.93 | 4:04 |
February 2015 | 1361 | 49.74% | 2.63 | 3:22 |
March 2015 | 2324 | 54.65% | 2.65 | 3:24 |
April 2015 | 2528 | 54.36% | 2.09 | 2:06 |
May 2015 | 6422 | 58.11% | 1.89 | 1:56 |
June 2015 | 9830 | 61.4% | 1.82 | 1:58 |
July 2015 | 8015 | 67.91% | 1.68 | 1:30 |
August 2015 | 6209 | 65.03% | 1.72 | 1:57 |
September 2015 | 2372 | 74.96% | 1.63 | 1:27 |
October 2015 | 2249 | 75.94% | 1.62 | 1:30 |
November 2015 | 2331 | 73.23% | 1.75 | 2:01 |
December 2015 | 2191 | 72.71% | 1.64 | 1:53 |
January 2016 | 4126 | 69.56% | 1.75 | 2:18 |
February 2016 | 4850 | 69.96% | 1.71 | 2:29 |
March 2016 | 4505 | 72.12% | 1.66 | 2:16 |
April 2016 | 7393 | 72.14% | 1.69 | 2:27 |
May 2016 | 6469 | 72.27% | 1.74 | 2:16 |
June 2016 | 7132 | 71.75% | 1.75 | 2:25 |
July 2016 | 4745 | 72.18% | 1.71 | 2:00 |
Month & Year | Alexa Rank | Email Subs | Youtube | Google+ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
December 2014 | N/A | 69 | N/A | N/A | |
January 2015 | 2918591 | 212 | 72 | 0 | N/A |
February 2015 | 1492063 | 336 | 95 | 7 | N/A |
March 2015 | 997051 | 419 | 125 | 13 | N/A |
April 2015 | 786089 | 506 | 399 | 19 | 12 |
May 2015 | 537433 | 611 | 573 | 26 | 11 |
June 2015 | 377461 | 755 | 970 | 31 | 18 |
July 2015 | 290185 | 896 | 1063 | 38 | 17 |
August 2015 | 242955 | 1054 | 1339 | 40 | 19 |
September 2015 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
October 2015 | 369324 | 1162 | 1261 | 42 | 20 |
November 2015 | 372286 | 1190 | 1258 | 45 | 20 |
December 2015 | 349370 | 1236 | 1238 | 45 | 22 |
January 2016 | 350881 | 1374 | 1533 | 50 | 22 |
February 2016 | 320070 | 1577 | 1674 | 51 | 26 |
March 2016 | 344099 | 1675 | 1798 | 52 | 27 |
April 2016 | 319884 | 1920 | 2210 | 53 | 35 |
May 2016 | 338710 | 2074 | 2763 | 56 | 35 |
June 2016 | 306944 | 2312 | 3273 | 63 | 37 |
July 2016 | 293400 | 2414 | 3416 | 66 | 40 |
Plans and Goals for August
Now that July is over with, no birthdays, probably less BBQs, no major events, I should be able to get content on the blog going a bit better. Especially since I’ve made a lot of progress on the FB ads and the lead magnet course.
Here are my plans this month:
Complete “7 Day Agency Boot Camp”
I’m almost there as it is. I need to finish a few things and add another 5 emails to the sequence and I should be good to go. For those of you that have already received my Agency Blueprint, this will be available to download as an update to the product, among other updates. You’ll get an email from me soon!
Launch My 7 Day Agency Boot Camp Ad Campaign
I still have a lot of work to do that isn’t related to the funnel I’m creating.
I still have to create a Facebook for this. I have one already but hate logging in, and will never do it if that’s the one I use. So that means, I need to create a page for the blog, a bunch of ads and copy for the ads, and I need to update the agency blueprint since that’s the product I’ll be pushing. I want to make sure it’s all good for 2016 and beyond.
Publish 8 New Blog Posts
Since I’ve been slacking on creating new blog posts, and as mentioned in last month’s income report, being too picky on what I put out, I figure that giving myself a goal on here will help me complete it.
I want 2 out of the 8 posts to be product review / analysis type posts that will add value to the readers as well as boost my potential for adding new affiliate income.
Add Sales Pages for My Courses
My Ultimate Blueprint is a WSO on Warrior Forum. That’s where the sales page is, and while I really like the fact that all those reviews are right there below the post, and you can go through 5+ pages of reviews, I can’t help but feel that conversions are lacking because readers from this blog are going to a forum.
I think having a dedicated sales page would help conversions, and make me less dependent on Warrior Forum for course sales. I don’t need anything fancy, just functional!
Final Thoughts
While content production on the blog itself was low this month, I’ve been setting a foundation to move forward and grow the blog to new heights. Hopefully it all works out the way I have planned.
I have a lot of things I’ve been wanting to do with this blog, and it’s time to get on track and get it done!
Pokemon Go has certainly affected my output, although I’m only level 17.
Those are impressive plans for August , is one of the 8 posts going to be your Aweber alternative?
Either way, congratulations on another good month.
Hey Matt, haha I thought about posting a screenshot of my pokemon, but then again… I also mentioned I just turned 30 and it’s maybe not age appropriate to be bragging about pokemon lol.
Yeah, one of the posts is going to be comparing aweber to another platform, showing why I left, difference in open rates if there is a difference at all. I’m not going to bash aweber or anything, I just think it would be good to show a detailed breakdown.
Happy 30th! My 30’s have been awesome lately, but started rough. I woke up 3 years ago on my 32nd birthday to realize I’ve worked my butt off with 15 years worth of IT corporate jobs through college and missed many good years of my life because of it. Pay was great, but at a sacrifice! It was around my 32nd birthday that I accepted that I fit into the corporate world like pushing a ball through a square whole. Anyhoo, soon after that I took inspiration from a friend Sean Marshall with Family Rocketship to start my own gig and change life up, which is now in digital marketing. Two years after starting my biz on the side of my corporate gig, I’m ramping up to leave the corporate. I would have done it long ago, but I have 2 small kiddos so I’m trying to limit risk. Not sure where I was going with that….hopefully it makes you feel better for turning 30. Cheers to days of fun-filled freedom!
Also, I’ve been ramping up my marketing big time. I love your direct mail tips on the Blueprint (also, love the WHOLE Blueprint – full of great tips!) and I’m getting ready to start targeting areas. Considering I send 1000 postcards a month, do you think I’ll find better success repeatedly targeting a larger or smaller market? For example, if I plan to start a 4-postcard campaign to the same list for 4 months, should I target Houston or a smaller city within Texas. Any input would be appreciated!
Hey DP, thanks for sharing your mini story. Congrats on almost exiting the rat race! Direct mail is a great way to start that transition and to build up your leads and sales so you’re on the right track.
As for whether to target smaller or larger cities… the main thing is to just target and send. Don’t get caught up in other details just yet. Once you have some solid success and are ready to scale up, you might want to run 3k postcards total each month, to test out smaller cities, larger cities, and then niche specific statewide. See what has the better results over a 4 card campaign. Chances are all of them will be profitable, but you can see for yourself which works best for you.
Good points! Thanks for the encouragement. Getting started this week – hope it works for me like it has for you! Cheers….
Happy birthday, kiddo!
I think you should balance your life in a way that’s good for you. When I got to my late thirties, I could feel a mid-life crisis coming. It’s the realization that all we’re doing is raise a family and work hard. I LOVE my work (self-employed web publisher for 18 years now) and I LOVE my family, but where’s the adventure?
So we took a break and went on the road, kids and all, for half a year. It was awesome. Two years later we did it again. We now make a point of taking a long vacation to travel at least once every two years (long being at least two months). Yes, it’s probably hurting my business somewhat but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
Anyways, thanks for another report! I just published my own here –
http://www.yeys.com/309/july-2015-traffic-revenue-report/
Have a terrific August!
Great insight, really enjoy reading your posts and seeing your figures. Your transparency is amazing…..
Thanks Bradley