Update On My Self Employed Income Projects

My end of August self-employed income update finds my projects in good standing. I have made significant progress towards completing my projects, however, some have progressed more than others. I found that my last monthly update provided a nice checklist of things to accomplish when I sat down to work. I’m hoping this monthly post will continue to keep me focused.

I’ve decided to add my income to this monthly update. I find it more intriguing and will help me reach milestones quicker. My initial stab at a monthly milestone ladder is as follows: $100,  $500, $1000, $2000, $5000 and $10000. I reached $100+ for the month of August, which puts me on the first rung of my ladder. Now I have to strive for the second rung as well as consistently making it to the first rung.

Marketing a new sports drink online

August was a banner month for marketing a sports drink online. I accomplished (with the help of my Dad) the first 4 steps and most of step 5 from last month’s action plan. We registered an LLC, signed up for a business checking account, signed up for a PayPal merchant account, set up an online store through PayPal and finalized most of the website. The only remaining sections of the website to finalize are the articles (Blog) and a legal page. Otherwise, we are set to start selling. Prices and shipping have been worked out. I expect to begin an aggressive marketing campaign for organic traffic in the next month. Hopefully we make our first sale in September. The following is my current action plan:

1. Finalize the website
   • Articles (Blog)
   • Legal Page
2. Research profitable keywords
3. Perform free article marketing on those keywords

Writing ebooks for academic subject tests

August was once again a slow month for this project. I visited the library and skipped ahead to step 3 of my action plan from last month. I created a rough outline for one of the subject tests. The outline will change once I develop the material, but it is a sturdy enough outline to begin filling in bits and pieces when I have free time. I will do more work on this project once I have completed the bulk of the work on the sport drink project. My action plan from last month remains unchanged:

1. Decide on website name between the two options
2. Set up website
3. Develop outlines for ebooks
4. Begin creating content as blog posts
5. Develop tutoring credentials page
6. Develop contact page

Affiliate marketing campaigns

I finished with one of the two ideas from last month. All I have to do is sit back and see if it converts. It took longer than expected for my article to get published, but hopefully it picks up in the near future. I have done no other work on the affiliate marketing campaigns, although my current One Week Marketing campaign produced one more sale this month despite not working on it. This passive income is what really motivates me.

I bought Keyword Elite and am absolutely thrilled with the product. I really believe that once I’m done with the sports drink project and dedicate more time to the One Week Marketing campaigns, I will be able to use Keyword Elite to discover and dominate niches. My biggest problem was finding keywords and niches. With this tool I will struggle no more. The following is my current action plan:

1. Create one page for the one remaining product ideas
2. Research more products to market using Keyword Elite
3. Create one page for each product
4. If any of them convert, create a full scale marketing assault
5. Repeat steps 2-4

Ebook about taking ideas to products

This project is in a holding pattern until the sport drink is up and running. I did some keyword research and decided on a website name for the sales page. I also developed an outline based on some minimal research, as well as a slogan for the product. I am waiting for my Dad to create an outline, which probably won’t happen until the sport drink is up and running.

Monetize Personal Finance Start-Up Blog

So far my current monetization efforst come from content ads from Microsoft, affiliate marketing (Lending Club, TradeKing, etc.) and text ads. Other than posting to this blog twice a week, I hope to do some article marketing to drive more traffic my direction. Action plan:

1. Drive traffic to blog with article marketing
2. Refer to step 1, simple as that

Create a fantasy sports membership site

I have yet to do anymore on this site. I have a domain name reserved. I don’t know if I will be able to pursue this project much further until I have time to consistently blog about baseball and football. If I’m not consistently blogging with this site I will not be successful. I am targeting the beginning of fantasy baseball 2010 as my starting point. Until then I will be trying to develop the website so that all I have to do when 2010 baseball rolls around is write articles.

Income for August

• Personal Finance Start-Up blog
  • August – $104.85
• Affiliate Marketing Campaigns
  • August – $21.57
• Total
  • August – $126.42

Now that I’ve reached that first milestone, I have to strive for the second milestone, as well as not dip below $100 again. I have a long way to go before I can quit my job and work from home. On the bright side, football starts this week!