Income Report – November 2011

I can’t believe how fast this month went by.  I worked more in the month of November 2011 then I think I have in my entire life, and it paid off.  My income nearly doubled, but as I explain below I’m not sure I can keep it up in the coming few months.  Still I’m pretty excited about what I’ve got planned for December.

Before we talk about December let’s do a quick recap of what went on at Chasing Pace last month.

November 2011 Highlights

I Got Hacked. This was definitely the biggest thing that happened to me in November. If you don’t have at least some type of security set up on your site, make sure you change that pronto.

Case Studies. I started a few different case studies that I hope ya’ll get some use out of.

My Wife Created 2 Sites. While I didn’t mention this above, I talked my wife into building out 2 domains I purchased in the past. She’s been a little frustrated trying to learn WordPress and figuring out how to add content, but so far she’s made around $5! She actually did a little dance when I told her someone purchased items from her site. I’m trying to talk her into writing a Guest Post on Chasing Pace, because I think her view on things is pretty unique.

Created the Chasing Pace Newsletter. I’ll be sending out a monthly newsletter that contains information that won’t be posted on the blog. Also, if you sign up you get a FREE copy of Niche Chaser, the series of spreadsheets I use to set up and track all my sites.

Income Breakdown

Google Adsense Earnings

• TOTAL: $988.66
• Last Month: $562.21 
• Difference: + $426.45 

Affiliate Earnings

• Amazon: $221.01
• Commission Junction: $100
• Click Bank: $44.12
• TOTAL: $365.13 
• Last Month: $24.62 
• Difference: + $340.51 

NOVEMBER 2011 TOTAL: $1,353.79

• Last Month: $696.83
• Difference: + $656.96

Earnings Summary

While I did nearly double my income this month I expect the next few months to be more like October 2011.  Why?  Well, my main earning Adsense site took a small hit and dropped from #2 to #4-5 over the last week or so and it had a HUGE impact on earnings.  I’m down about $15/day just from that one site.  In addition, my top earning Amazon site started the Google dance and while it is still making sales each day I’m on track for around $100 next month in Amazon.

My prediction is that December, January, and February may drop back down, but I expect to have a big spring as a lot of my sites will be around the 6 month mark at that point.

My Goals for December 2011

Write 20,000 Words a Week.  Lostcyclist started a thread back on November 1 at The Keyword Academy Forums to hit 10,000 words a week until Christmas.  Well I’ve yet to hit my 10,000 words a week, so I decided to raise it to 20,000 words a week.  Somehow that makes sense to me.

Launch 1 Adsense Site.  I’ve got a domain I purchased about a month ago and I’m planning to launch that site with only a few pages of content and see what happens.

Launch 1 Amazon Site.  I recently purchased a pretty awesome (brandable) domain name.  This is going to be my 3 year site.  Competition on the first page is insane, and all the keywords I’ll be targeting get over 200,000 exact match, local, monthly searches.  I’m scared and excited all at the same time.

Launch 1 Affiliate Site.  Even though this site will be mostly monetized with Amazon I’m also planning on contacting a few individuals that sell products they personally make.  This site idea actually came from my wife and I’m very hopeful.  The competition seems super low, while the searches are pretty decent, around a few thousand a month.

Choose 1 New Niche.  I want one more more “supersite” that I can build out over the next few years.  I have tons of small niche ideas banked, but for some reason it is difficult for me to come up with larger niches.  My goal is to find something I’m passionate about and can monetize with Adsense.

Announce A New Case Study.  I mentioned previously that I’ve got a new case study planned to start January 1, 2012.  I’m pretty excited about this case study, though a little concerned at how much time I may have to put into it.

Purchase and Learn Camtasia.  I’ve been wanting to add video to some of my niche sites as well as Chasing Pace for a while now, but I’m a little intimidated.  I’m not that great with the technical side of things and learning anything new is a huge time sink for me because I’m one of those people that has to know every single detail.

A Little Bit of Motivation

I know this is the moment everyone has been waiting for…this month’s Rocky Image.  Well there you have it, Rocky and his dog Punchy running the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I figured some of you aren’t huge Rocky fans (though you should be), so I may change it up in the future to other movies that pump me up.

Quote of the Month

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Your Thoughts

I would love to hear any thoughts you have or even any questions.  Feel free to leave a comment below, or if you’d rather not leave a comment you can contact me.  How you guys did in November and what  do you have planned for December?