This is the 40th income report as part of the zero backlink experiment.
Every month I will publish a post like this one that shows you how this blog is progressing and everything I have done across the month to get it there.
These reports will help me track my own progress while teaching you what to do and more importantly what not to do.
What I Have Done In January
It’s been a slow start to the New Year as I have spent time looking back at the previous year and looking ahead to this year.
It’s interesting just how many things you forget have happened throughout the year and how many things you forgot to action or follow up on!
So this month was all about planning for the year ahead.
First Course Update Released
At the start of November I opened and closed enrollment for my premium private blog network specialist training program.
It has been a great success so far and it’s great to see students progressing and having their first successes.
However during that time and based on student feedback I identified a number of areas that could be improved, so this month I released the first update to the course.
I published 14 updates in total including 3 all new never seen before video tutorials which ensures students keep growing and stay on the cutting edge of things.
When Will Enrollment Be Open Again?
Now that the first batch of students have completed the program and I have just released an update, I am going to open enrollment this week again for 48 hours.
If you would like to be notified of when that happens, please sign up here.
That also means I will make the amazing free training videos available again for 48 hours if you missed them the first time around!
I’m A Savvy Business Woman
Make no mistake about it, I’m officially a savvy business woman!
It’s not every day you get an email like that and naturally I jumped on the opportunity comedy aside =D
Annual Reader Survey Results
Last month I put a short survey together to find out more about you guys and what you want from the blog.
Thank you to everyone that took part, with nearly 500 people completing the survey I was completely overwhelmed.
It took a long time to go through all of the answers especially when 7 of the questions were open ended but it was totally worth it.
Each and every response I received has been fundamental to my planning for this year and radically changed my views on various aspects of the blog.
Thank you again to everyone that took part, your responses will help me to improve on how I help you.
Content Creation
Last month I published a total of 4 posts which has remained steady this month.
I kicked the month off with these time management strategies for marketers.
Then we took a look at how to hire a virtual assistant to help grow your business.
Other than those we just had the regular income report roundup post and best of internet marketing feature this month.
Crunching The Numbers
So let’s get our hands dirty and take a look at what my lack of attention to the blog has done to the important metrics.
Visitor Statistics
Traffic increased from 46,223 (1,491/day) last month to 49,696 (1,603/day) this month which is a welcomed increase!
Most Popular Content
It’s great to see one of the older articles focused on how to make money with Fiverr jump to the top spot this month!
That was followed closely by the time hacking for marketers post.
Top Traffic Sources
Like last month Not much has changed really in terms of the top traffic sources this month except a bit of refer spam showing up which I have blocked with this free plugin.
Search Engine Traffic
Traffic from Google saw a small increase this month from 37,824 (1,220/day) compared to 34,652 (1,117/day) last month.
YouTube Views
I lost all of my historical YouTube views because of changes I made to the branding – so I keep track of them separately.
YouTube views also grew this month from 20,731 last month to a total of 23,053 this month.
That also saw total minutes watched for the month jump from 101,250 to 108,334!
Social Shares
This month the total social shares across Facebook and Google+ increased from 47,660 to 48,486.
Subscribers
The most important metric on the entire blog – earning a subscription from someone is the ultimate form of commitment and conversion.
This month brought 1,421 which is roughly inline with last months 1,490 new subscribers.
There are now a total of 129,301 subscribers across all of the various channels!
- E-mail – 919 (919 last month) / Total: 70,402
- Twitter – 234 (205 last month) / Total: 10,942
- YouTube – 249 (265 last month) / Total: 10,240
- Facebook – 90 (218 last month) / Total: 19,536
- Google+ – 14 (1 last month) / Total: 17,876
- RSS – -57 (-118 last month) / Total: 305
Unable to post graphs at the moment – will update asap
Income Report
Here are the numbers you really want to see-
Affiliate Earnings
- 48HoursLogo – $40.00 (case study)
- 99CentArticles – $33.02
- Active Campaign – $1.80
- Ahrefs – $83.88 (my Ahrefs review)
- Aweber – $224.00 (my Aweber review)
- Blog Advertising – $944.54 (Advertise)
- BlueHost – $130.00 (discount coupon / Siteground vs Bluehost)
- BuyProxies – $103.40 (SEO proxies / residential proxies)
- BuzzBundle – $11.20 (review)
- CheapWindowsVPS – $0.85
- CMS Commander – $9.63
- Drip Revolution – $75.02 (discount coupon)
- FCS Networker – $322.36
- FreshDrop – $105.54
- GSA Captcha Breaker – $667.96 (review / discount coupon)
- GSA Search Engine Ranker – $200.70 (review / discount coupon)
- GSA SEO Indexer – $42.73 (case study)
- HQ Biz In A Box – $13.50
- Indexification – $2.48 (case study)
- Juicy WSO Graphics – $7.24
- JustHost – $320.00 (start a blog)
- Kontent Machine – $412.56 (review)
- LeadPages – $249.30
- LinkEmperor – $140.10 (review)
- LongTailPro – $541.96 (my Long Tail Pro review / discount coupon)
- Magic Submitter – $1.78
- Ninja Outreach – $34.00
- OneHourIndexing – $442.46 (case study)
- OptimizePress – $6.80
- PandaBot – $165.00 (case study)
- PowerupHosting – $34.50
- ProxyHub – $2.32
- RankTracker – $143.00
- Raven Tools – $0.13 (best backlink checker case study)
- SEMRush – $171.90 (my SEMRush review)
- SEO Content Machine – $16.88 (read my full SEO Content Machine review).
- SEO Dominators Club – $172.41
- SEO Powersuite – $342.92 (see my SEO Powersuite review)
- SERocket – $189.00 (tutorial)
- SERP Book – $12.45
- SERPed – $2,069.69 (review)
- SE Slingshot – $50.00 (review)
- SociSynd – $118.00
- SpyderSpanker – $67.50
- SumoMe – $880.00 (case study)
- TheBestSpinner – $336.00 (The Best Spinner review)
- Themify – $10.53
- ThirstyAffiliates – $47.66 (discount coupon)
- Traffic Planet Hosting (now called WPX Hosting) – $280.00 (Case Study / WPX Hosting review)
- Tweet Attacks Pro – $81.10 (discount coupon)
- Ultimate Demon – $514.67 (review / discount coupon)
- URLProfiler – $243.93 (my URL Profiler review)
- VideoMakerFX – $53.70 (how to make money on Fiverr case study)
- View2Be – $5.50
- Website Auditor – $60.79
- WordAI – $127.33
Expenses
- Traffic Planet Hosting (now called WPX Hosting) – $49.99 (Case Study / WPX Hosting review)
Consultation Earnings
I separate out my SEO consultant earnings from the affiliate earnings. The blog drives affiliate sales directly and whilst it does generate SEO consultation leads these are separate projects in their own right.
This month I took on one consultation project for a cost of $2,497.
Other Income
I’m working on another project right now that is part of the blog but not something I’m ready to talk about publicly yet or maybe ever.
I will declare the income here though as it wouldn’t be possible without the blog and ‘technically’ it is affiliate income.
This month that income has increased slightly from $9,395.17 last month to $10,534.96 this month.
Earnings Total
- Affiliate Income – $11,316.30
- Consultation Income – $2,497.00
- Other Income – $10,534.96
- Expenses – $49.99
Grand Total: $24,298.27 / £16,919.03 ($31,286.01 / £21,225.97 last month)
Unable to post graphs at the moment – will update asap
Signing Off
Income took a relatively heavy hit this month as we entered the New Year although I am still very happy with current income levels.
Interestingly affiliate income took a near 50% hit this month across the board which leads me to believe that people are spending less as they recover from the festive season.
It could also be the fact that I’ve stepped a little while conducting my plan of attack for the year.
Either way, it’s a great start to the New Year and I’ll be growing right along with you!
Thank you to everyone that has helped me reach my goals – I couldn’t do it without you, the reader!
49 Responses
I really wanted to send a small word to say thanks to you for the fantastic points you are writing on this site
No problem, I try my best!
Great motivation for others, I’m inspired!!
No problem Salman :)
I was surprised at the popularity of video in your survey. It goes to show that one cannot depend only on their own preferences when creating a plan.Congrats on Impressive numbers (even though you say down) posted and thanks for sharing.
Thanks Tommy. Yeah it is weird because I am known for my video, but I will never watch a video myself haha
Great job !
Congratulations for a good start of 2016 with a good income.I am big fan of your monthly income.I liked it :)
Thanks Anam :)
I am big fan of your monthly income.I liked it :)
Everyone is a fan of the money, not many people are a fan of the work that goes into it :P
Only $50 of expenses? So you don’t have a PBN? You don’t have VA’s and stuff like that?
Not for this blog
Great Sir , What is the use of sumome , I researched but unable to find exactly what it is ?
Here is an example of what one of the sumome tools does https://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk/blogging/reviews/sumome-welcome-mat/
Looks like a solid start to the year. Congrats!
In regards to the survey you did: I am surprised to see how many people actually like video as a preferred method for learning. Can’t ignore video any longer I guess.
Konrad
Yeah I think its weird because I hate it haha
Matthew –
How do I set up my Google Analytics so I can see the traffic coming to each URL like you have under the Popular Content section? Thanks sir!
That is just in behaviour > top content
Wow nice to see your earnings and can you please give us hint regarding your hidden project of which earnings you have shared with us.
It’s to do with the blog
Dear Sir,
Congratulations for a good start of 2016 with a good income. But what are the reasons your income reduced as compared to last month?
January is a bit sluggish because everyone is recovering from Xmas and then also I hae not been as hands on with the blog as I normally would as I put together a plan of attack to grow this year.
Updating the lines. I am reading continuously this blog and getting good start from last 4 months. Thanks.
Thank you for this report, Matt !
It is always inspiring and helpful.
I see that you have not provided any numbers about the sponsored issues. I am currently trying to sell that on my blog and I am struggling in finding information about the different rates on the market.
How much do you charge for a sponsored issue ?
How do you decide this rate ?
Thank’s for your help and your awesome work. The internet would not be the same without you ;)
What is a sponsored issue? You mean a sponsored blog post? I have only ever sold a few of those in the history of the blog
Yes, this is what I meant.
OK, I thought it was something that happened more.
However, would you have some advice or information about the way to define the price of sponsored posts ?
Every sponsored posts is marked as so as well so you can see that is the case but they are few and far between because I won’t endorse anything that isn’t awesome.
I also have this clause in my terms-
“Please be aware if your product/service performs poorly that will be reflected in the review without refund. My readers rely on my upfront, straight to the point transparency. Sponsored post or not this will remain true.”
It’s amazing how few businesses/people believe in their product enough to take that gamble. Actually it’s quite disgusting when I think about it!
I define the price based upon the value I provide to those buying them, eg I know that if I cast a product in a positive light – people are going to buy.
I based my model on yours, I’ll see who’s willing to take the gamble ;)
If I understand well, you only charge once the article is written ? Do you set the rate depending on the number of visitors (as you do for the ads) ?
Nope – 100% payment upfront and people aren’t really buying a review. They are buying my time to look at something and form an opinion that I share and that time is billed upfront
Hi Matthew
Long time reader and fan of your blog :)
I am thinking of setting up an seo reseller site. I was wondering who you would recommend for cheap but good seo services that can be packaged up and re sold with a bit of a margin?
Many thanks
Simon
I hate that type of shady business practice
Yeah! :-D
Hi, Matthew!
I also read your reports full of joy for you and your amazing work.
Maybe you’ve already talked about this somewhere but i can’t find it…
I think it would be great to know about how much worked hours you needed to achieve things every month.
Everybody sees the nice number$ and get excited but we can’t know how many hours a day or a month you really “sit you ass off” to make things happen.
I would love to see this metric in your reports! Thanks a lot and congratulations for your work!
I’ve spoken about this before, and essentially if you have time to eat or go to the toilet – you are not working hard enough.
Wow! That was clear! Congratulations!!!
It would be really interesting to know how your day look like, how you manage the tasks and what is your day off ratio… I will try to find where you spoke about this.
Keep rocking! You’re great!
Day off ratio was covered in the previous response, if you have time for a day off you are not working hard enough. The longest I went without a day off though was 3 months.
I use http://thesecretweapon.org/ to stay organised
It’s always nice to see this much level of income generated by working alone with out much expenditure.
For finding ideal keywords to target,which one do you pick among Long tail Pro and SEMRUSH?
It depends, LTP is for finding new keywords while semrush is good for finding what you already rank for to captalise on.
Another Passive income month.That $$$$ makrs me crazy and It tells me to work hard and get $$$$$.
You should focus on subscribers, not $$$
Great advice!
How do to manage all your affiliate accounts? I have less than 10 affiliates active and I struggle with them. Do you normally check them every day or how often?
Thank you for sharing! I’ve updated you in the Favourite bloggers list like every month at http://passiveincomewise.com/favourite-bloggers/
By the way, I’m living in the UK, in Cambridge, where are you from?
I only ever check stats monthly otherwise I find it counter productive =/
Thanks for adding me to the list :) I’m not longer in the UK but originally from Manchestarrrr
I am a big fan of your income reports.
By making $24,298 this month, you again proved that you are a good affiliate marketer and increasing your income levels every time.
Many congrats for getting your articles printed into the magazine.
Actually that was a drop :) Thanks for your kind words though :)
Congrats Matthew for another great month.
I also can predict that the other income sources can be
Paid Reviews on your site and Youtube Adsense earnings, but looks like, Im still missing something, what it is? :)
Dun dun duuuuunnnnnn
Always enjoy reading your income report, Matthew. Great work!
Thanks Brendan :)