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How I Earned $24.84 Last Month
Income earnings at an all-time high? Income earnings at an all-time high!
*Does celebratory happy dance*
And in the busiest month ever!
It’s a bit of an understatement to say that November was a busy month, because it was the BUSIEST. Along with running this website, I had my day job (budget season is no joke), I watched a pair of rambunctious dogs for a week, wrapped up the ASU volleyball season with four matches in nine days, helped out at two ASU wrestling dual meets during that same nine-day period, ate my weight in candied yams at Thanksgiving (plus even more at Friday After Thanksgiving Leftovers), invested in a pair of online courses that are going to take my life and this website to the next freaking level, and dealt with some SERIOUS procrastination on a freelance project.
I’m surprised I’ve had time to sleep.
This is why I wake up at 5 a.m. every single day. This is why I have my computer with me, pretty much at all times. This is what the life of a side hustler is like. It’s the one I chose and I don’t mind it, because it’ll pay off big in the future. For more on a glimpse into a week in my life, check out Side Hustle Schedule: A Week In A Busy Life.
And now that I’ve rambled on about how busy I am—and that I hope I will be a lot less busy in December so I can spend more time focusing my efforts on the investments for project—it’s time for the reason why you’re here: the November 2018 Income Report.
November 2018 Income Report: How I Earned My 24.84
So, where did I earn?
Well, things were a little different this month. I’m still at four sources (and two of them are new). Unfortunately, I didn’t stumble upon any lucky pennies like I did last month. Read on:
1. $7.49 came from the sale of one of my ebooks on TheFakeRedhead.com. Commentary on that next.
2. $3.99 came from Adsense, which is an increase from last month!
3. $11.81 come from my quarterly Ebates payout. Also more on that below the TFR commentary.
4. $1.57 came from my Amazon affiliate account, and courtesy of my 2018 Gift Guide. This was big, because this marked my third qualifying purchase, so my account has officially been confirmed. (For those of you who don’t know, you need to have 3 qualifying purchases from your Amazon affiliate links in 180 days before your account goes under official review to be accepted into the Amazon affiliate program or not).
Nothing doing on Swagbucks this month, but you can still get a 300SB signup bonus by clicking my referral link. Want to learn more about getting the most out of your Swagbucks earnings? Click here.
November 2018 Income Report: Investing (More) Into Tailwind
Every time I tell myself I’m going to focus more on TheFakeRedhead’s Pinterest account and reinvigorate it to the levels it was before I decided to turn most of my focus to Quest for $47, I…well, don’t do my consistent best.
As I mentioned at the very beginning of this post, I am…quite busy right now. That’s just a fact of life. I have a lot going on and it means it’s not easy to go onto Pinterest multiple times a day to manage not one, but two accounts.
So, I guess that means I need something in my back pocket to help me out.
And that’s where Tailwind comes in. I mentioned Tailwind in my last post, about the importance of optimizing your blog posts with vertical images, which you can read here. Tailwind has been an absolute GAME CHANGER for my Quest for $47 Pinterest account, primarily for the scheduling function. I still invest time into curating which pins I’m going to share to my boards, but Tailwind’s scheduler means that I don’t have to worry about hopping on at the most optimized time for my followers. Tailwind does that FOR me. Considering many of my most optimized times are in the afternoon and evenings, and especially when I’m at work, it’s just not possible to hop onto Pinterest and do it all manually.
It all means that it’s time to extend that strategy to my TheFakeRedhead Pinterest account, so I can get all the post scheduled and back to posting consistently, so I can get more eyes back to my website, and more importantly, get more traffic and eyes on my ebooks.
Ready to start with Tailwind? Click here for 100 FREE pins and you can see what it’s all about.
November 2018 Income Report: Yes, Ebates Counts
By now you may have noticed that my newest entry into the income report is my quarterly Ebates payout. I’ve been signed on with Ebates for a few years now, because who doesn’t love getting cash back every time you go shopping online? As I mentioned in 8 Ways To Maximize Your Swagbucks Earnings, being on Ebates as well not only covers your bases for the sites that Swagbucks may not cover, but it also allows you to comparison shop and decide which outlet offers you the most cash back. No, you can’t apply both at the same time, which is a bummer, but honestly—it could be worse?
When you choose the PayPal payout option with Ebates, you get paid every quarter, so long as your earnings reach a certain threshold. And worry not, like Swagbucks, the Ebates payout threshold is super low. If you do a lot of your shopping online, then it doesn’t take long to reach that mark.
On the question of, “Is this really passive income, Kathryn?”
My answer is yes.
The cash back I earn from this outlet is cash I don’t have to actively work for (other than spending money buying all the things I usually buy online). Ergo, passive.
Not signed up with Ebates? You can do that here, and you’ll even get a $10.00 sign-up bonus. Free money? Yes please.
November 2018 Income Report: Traffic Update
It’s time to talk traffic!
November definitely saw an increase in traffic, which is nice. But at the same time, I am reconsidering my current strategies, so this may drop off in December. Also, I’m not expecting much by way of traffic due to the holiday. We’ll see, but I’m not worried.
Why am I not worried?
Because i’s also important to remember, that even as I track my website traffic, traffic is FAR from the be-all, end-all. It’s about the engagement you have with your audience, more than just the number of people who come visit your website each and every day.
Website Traffic: 1,327 page views, 682 users, 957 sessions (October: 1,144 page views, 598 users, 753 sessions) SUBSCRIBE
Pinterest Followers: 292 FOLLOW
Facebook Page Followers: 130 FOLLOW
Instagram Followers: 61 FOLLOW
Twitter Followers: 34 FOLLOW
When it comes to traffic, one of the keys is posting consistently. That’s key, especially for your long-term SEO efforts.
And seriously, you should subscribe to my email list, because there is going to be a TON of awesome coming up, and that’s where you’re going to see it all first. Click here to get on that! (And get a free workbook too!)
November 2018 Income Report: eBooks
In the October Income Report I talked about going big, and how my current monetization strategies aren’t getting the job done. Of course, then the rest of November, you know, happened, and I barely had time to sleep. And not all the sleep I got was that good, quality sleep you need to recover from all the million things that go on during the day.
Remember to take care of yourselves guys. You won’t reach the success you’re aiming for, the goals that you want to reach, if you don’t take care of yourself too.
That said, December is going to be ebook month. I am SO excited to put this together and get it in everyone’s hands. If you want to be the first to know about it, then sign up for the email list.
If you wanted to get a jumpstart on earning passive income and bought an ebook all about it, what information would you want? Leave a line in the comments, or sign up for the email list and shoot me a message there.
November 2018 Income Report: What I Posted Last Month
November was a good month for posts, if I do say myself. Not only did I totally hit it out of the park with the October Income Report (read: the story of the penny I picked up while dog walking), but I shared one of my favorite books that I’ve read for Required Reading so far, an ever useful gift guide, and one of my favorite Pinterest tips that no one talks about.
And the motivation last month was on point! And it’s only going to get better, because I am saving some awesome motivational quotes for these next few months. Some of them are not going to be from people you’d expect. I can barely contain myself I’m so excited about it.
The November Posts Include:
47 Motivational Quotes For The Badass Entrepreneur – Part 3: Tony Robbins
October 2018 Income Report
47 Motivational Quotes For The Badass Entrepreneur – Part 4: Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Required Reading: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
47 Motivational Quotes For The Badass Entrepreneur – Part 5: H. Jackson Browne Jr.
15 Great Holiday Gifts For Bloggers & Side Hustlers
47 Motivational Quotes For The Badass Entrepreneur – Part 6: Tim Ferriss
5 Reasons To Optimize Your Posts With Vertical Images
Coming Up In Required Reading For Entrepreneurs
So, I have a problem, and it’s called my ever-growing TBR pile. Be it science fiction or personal development or Power Rangers comics, the damn thing keeps growing. And growing. I just can’t stop it.
And while I LOVE my 2018 Gift Guide, including all those books on there like I did has just given me the urge to put in a MASSIVE Amazon order. But…I am going to save that for my family and sit on it, especially now that I have Mel Robbins’ 5 Second Rule and Ruth Soukup’s How To Blog For Profit Without Selling Your Soul on the floor next to my couch, waiting to be read. Not to mention Fierce Optimism by Leeza Gibbons, both You Are A Badass and You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero and finally finishing Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek.
Repeat after me:
Kathryn does not need to buy more books.
Really.
I don’t need to.
Not before I read all these books first.
That said…do you have a book recommendation for me? Something I should add to my TBR, since it’s just going to keep growing no matter how hard I try? Leave a comment and let me know.
Check Out My Other Income Reports
August 2018 – How I Earned $11.61
September 2018 – How I Earned $18.20
October 2018 – How I Earned $13.23
February 2019 – How I Earned $32.02
Ready To Start Your Own Side Hustle?
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