I was able to generate total earnings of $5030.25 in September and a net profit of $4638.22. Before I share my earnings and net profit breakdown for the month, here are a few important updates from September. (To learn more about why I started maintaining monthly income reports, check this out!)
The Launch of 99signals App
Embracing the mobile-first approach, I launched the 99signals app on iOS and Android in September. I used the BuildFire platform to develop this app. The team at Buildfire is still fixing a few bugs, and as such, I’ve been a little slow in terms of promoting the app. I want it to be 100% functional before I have users on the app. Nevertheless, I’m really glad I took this step and I’m looking forward to building a robust strategy around the mobile app.
Here’s what’s included in the 99signals app:
Access to 99signals’ ‘Hall of Fame’ content which includes long-form articles and in-depth guides on a wide range of marketing topics Free eBooks on SEO, Blogging, and Marketing Access to our weekly Marketing Mantra podcast Get notified when we publish new content and read the 10 latest blog posts at 99signals Information on the latest marketing deals (updated weekly) to help you save money on your favorite marketing tools and software ‘This Week in SEO’ & ‘This Week in Social Media’ Video Series (updated weekly): Get the freshest news in the world of SEO and Social Media Marketing Video Tutorials Marketing Quizzes and Calculators
You can download the free 99signals app on your iOS device from here. If you own an Android device, download it for free from the Google Play Store.
Marketing Mantra Podcast
I wasn’t able to spend much time on the Marketing Mantra podcast last month. I was able to record and upload just one episode, but I’m trying to make amends in October. I’ve already released two new episodes of the podcast this month and I’ve three more episodes queued up.
A post shared by 99signals.com (@99signals) on Sep 19, 2018 at 5:52am PDT The Marketing Mantra podcast currently has six episodes in total and you can listen to all of them on any of these podcast platforms below: Google Podcasts // Breaker // Radio Public // Spotify // Pocket Casts // Anchor // SoundCloud // Stitcher // Acast If you’ve listened to any of the podcast episodes, please share your feedback and suggestions at podcast@99signals.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge
In last month’s income report, I shared an update on the 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge where I made a pledge to read 100 books in 2018, and at least 25 of them to be business/entrepreneurship books. I read eight books in September and two of them were business books. That takes my total reading tally to 44 for the year. The two business books I read were:
Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss
Enjoyed reading both these books. I’d strongly recommend Chris Guillebeau’s Side Hustle for anyone who’s interesting in starting a side hustle and earning income on the side without quitting your day job. Despite side hustling for over two years, I learned a lot of new things from this book. One of my key takeaways from the book was spending 10 percent more time on the most important tasks and spending at least 25 minutes a day doing one thing to grow my side hustle. A post shared by 99signals.com (@99signals) on Oct 3, 2018 at 2:28am PDT Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss is a mammoth 580-page book which features tips and lessons from more than 100 successful people from all walks of life. Tim Ferriss advocates asking good questions to gain uncommon clarity and results, and he does a great job selecting 11 questions to ask the mentors in this book. Here are a few questions from the book which I think were excellent and the answers to these questions from mentors was illuminating to me as the reader:
What is the book you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life? What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months? What is an unusual habit that you love? In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I enjoyed reading almost all the 100+ interviews in the book since the answers to these questions revealed so much about the mentors. But some of my favorite advice in the book came from Terry Crews, Debbie Millman, Soman Chainani, Max Levchin, Neil Strauss, Adam Robinson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jason Fried, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jerome Jarre, and Yavul Noah Harari. I’m currently reading Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss and Trust Me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday.
Content Creation
Updates, updates, and more updates! I’ve long believed in the power of evergreen content. And when I realized a few older, more popular articles from the blog needed updates which were long overdue, I put extra effort towards updating these posts and republished them with fresh new content. Here are all the posts I updated and republished in September 2018:
SEMrush vs MOZ: Which is the Best SEO Tool? — This was one of the first blog posts I published at 99signals back in 2016 and it’s an article that still generates massive organic traffic. While I keep updating it on a regular basis, I’ve never really tweaked the content much and the last update was more than six months ago. So it made sense to update the post with new information and make it more relevant and useful for the readers. Link Building in 2018: 18 Proven Techniques to Get High Quality Backlinks – Added 5 new link building techniques and removed 1 technique which was no longer relevant. Updated the accompanying link building eBook as well which you can download for free from here. 8 Amazing SEO Tools You Must Try in 2018: This was a 2017 list which was still generating a lot of organic traffic. So I updated it with fresh content and added a new favorite SEO tool to the list. Serpstat Review – The Ultimate SEO and PPC Tool for Bloggers : Updated the review with new information on pricing and features. 10 Technical SEO Tips to Instantly Increase Website Traffic (2018): It had been two years since the last update. As such, I tweaked the content to make it more relevant for 2018. Mailchimp Alternatives: 5 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2018: I added a new MailChimp alternative to the list.
Now moving on to fresh, new content on the blog. Here are all the long-form articles I published last month:
The Definitive Guide to Google Panda [SEO #Throwback] The Ultimate Guide to Google Tag Manager (2018)
99signals on YouTube and IGTV
Here are all the videos that were uploaded on 99signals YouTube: Tutorial Video
How to Track Facebook Ads in Google Analytics [Using URL Parameters]
The following video were also uploaded on 99signals’ IGTV channel in native formats: This Week in SEO (Weekly Video Series)
This Week in SEO: Launch of Chrome 69 & Other News [September 2018, Week 1] This Week in SEO: Bing’s AMP Update & Other SEO News [September 2018, Week 2]
This Week in Social Media (Weekly Video Series)
This Week in Social Media: Instagram’s New Shopping App & Snapchat’s New Spectacles This Week in Social Media: YouTube’s Vertical Ads + Other News [Sep 2018, Week 2]
Update: I’ve decided to revert to monthly SEO and social media news round up videos as it’s much more viable than weekly roundups which make for short blog posts and videos that provide little value.
Quotes I’m Pondering (Sep 1 – 30, 2018)
Inspired by Tim Ferriss’ Tribe of Mentors, you’ll find thought-provoking quotes in all my income reports. These are the quotes that inspired me and changed my thinking in September. I hope you find them just as insightful as I did: “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist.” — Oscar Wilde (Irish poet and playwright) “We create stress for ourselves because you feel like you have to do it. You have to. I don’t feel that anymore.” — Oprah Winfrey (American media executive and talk show host) “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (American political figure, diplomat and activist)
Income Report
Now let’s move on to the heart of the matter which is my income report for September 2018. Below are my affiliate earnings, followed by other income, monthly expenses, and net profit breakdown. Affiliate Earnings
SEMrush – $3375.25 (review / eBook) AppSumo – $748 (latest deals) AppSumo Briefcase – $97.8 (review) KWFinder – $26 (review) Serpstat – $108 (review) ConvertKit – $203.1 (review) SendinBlue – $15 (review) Landingi – $78 AWeber – $58 (review) Instapage – $71.1 (review)
Other Income
Sponsored posts – $250 (click here for more details)
Expenses
MailChimp (Recurring) – $50 AppSumo Briefcase (Recurring) – $49 Google Ads – $36.76 Facebook Ads – $42.30 Flickr Pro (Recurring) – $5.99 Reddit Gold (Recurring) – $3.99 Alexa Subscription (Recurring) – $19.99 Buildfire (Recurring) – $54 Apple Developer Account (Annual) – $100 Google Play Developer Account (Annual) – $30
Net Profit Breakdown
Affiliate earnings: $4780.25 Other income: $250 Total expenses: (-$392.03) Net Profit: $4638.22
That wraps up the income report for September 2018. If you have any questions about this month’s income report, please feel free to ask them in the comments section or via Twitter. Hope the profit trend continues in October as well; and to all the bloggers and solopreneurs out there, keep crushing it! To get frequent updates on all things SEO, blogging, and social media, follow 99signals on these platforms below:
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest IGTV
If you’re interested to learn more about passive income, I reveal some of my affiliate marketing secrets in this article + webinar. Be sure to check it out!
