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April was a tough one.  The last time my revenue was this low was in the 1st quarter of 2018 and it was tough to watch.  However, as I mentioned in my last income report, I did anticipate this after various trends I was seeing in ad rates and traffic.  Luckily, I wasn’t impact by the Amazon commission changes like many of you, and I’m truly sorry for those that were. 

That said, it wasn’t all negative.  My YouTube channel had some big growth in April with both revenue and views, and I was able to take a step back from my business and eliminate where I was wasting some resources. 

All things considered, I’m pretty happy with how the month ended up.  I could complain and be upset because it wasn’t as good as it has been in the past, but frankly, I’m just happy I was able to pay our bills considering everything the whole world has going on right now. 

***The income numbers for February-June of 2020 are not accurate due to an "invalid click" issue I had with Google Adsense.  Revising the entire report is not realistic, so you can see the actual income numbers updated here***

You can watch the YouTube Video Here: (Working on this now)

    Personal Life Update

  • My wife and I made a pretty solid fire pit this last month.  It was a nice project we wanted to do, but a miserable project as well.  It was 12’ wide and we (for some reason) dug the hole as opposed to using a tiller.  Live and learn. 
  • Myself and my family are all healthy even though Covid-19 is in full swing.  My step mother had it and I believe my Dad/Mom had it as well, but no one has gotten really sick from it yet.
  • Now that we have nothing else to do, my wife and I are considering some other backyard projects.

Before I begin the actual report, If you’d like to begin a similar journey as myself and try to create a passive income online business, I recommend you read this write-up I did.

It explains the truth about online business and should help educate you before you move forward with anything.

If this is your first time on my website let me explain a few things about my detailed income reports each month that outlines the money I made (or lost) each month.

I’m doing this for a number of reasons:

1) I strive to be transparent about what it takes to make money online.

2) These reports help me keep track of my own progress.

3) These reports hold me accountable.

Keep in mind, I don’t create these to gloat about my earnings. I create them to help you understand the true “earning curve” of online business.

On a side note, I don’t disclose my actual website URL’s on my reports because I’ve had bad experiences with copycats in the past. 

So, in my income reports, you’ll see website generalizations like Website 1, Website 3, Website 5 Website 4, etc.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s dive into the report.

How did the Income Report Turn Out This Month?

PRODUCT OR SERVICEREVENUEEXPENSESNET INCOME
Aweber Email Platform$15.00$15.00
Thrive Themes$45.00$45.00
Consulting$2,000.00$2,000.00
Partners and Affiliates Revenue
Website 8 Partners and Affiliates$4.80$4.80
Website 2 Partners and Affiliates$15.00$15.00
Website 6 Partners and Affiliates$21.63$21.63
Website 5 Partners and Affiliates$37.68$37.68
Website 3 Partners and Affiliates$75.12$75.12
OHP Partners and Affiliates$245.94$245.94
Website 4 Partners and Affiliates$475.32$475.32
Website 1 Partners and Affiliates$3,324.23$3,324.23
YouTube Revenue
YT Channel - Website 8 Compliment$0.53$0.53
OHP YouTube Channel$722.82$722.82
Media.net Revenue
Website 4 Media.net Ad Revenue$0.00$0.00
Website 3 Media.net Ad Revenue$21.62$21.62
Website 1 Media.net Ad Revenue$45.83$45.83
Google Adsense Revenue
Website 8 Adsense Revenue$0$0
Website 6 Adsense Revenue$0$0
Website 9 Adsense Revenue$1.16$1.16
OHP Adsense Revenue$5.15$5.15
Website 2 Adsense Revenue$9.59$9.59
Website 4 Adsense Revenue$152.96$152.96
Website 5 Adsense Revenue$461.60$461.60
Website 7 Adsense Revenue$464.80$464.80
Website 7 Ezoic Revenue$23.73$23.73
Website 3 Adsense Revenue$1,171.50$1,171.50
Website 1 Adsense Revenue$6,498.67$6,498.67
Software Expenses
Namecheap$7.98-$7.98
Adobe Photoshop Account$10.61-$10.61
Tailwind Pinterest Marketing App$14.99-$14.99
Manage WP$15.30-$15.30
Deadline Funnel$37.00-$37.00
Mailshake Email Software$38.00-$38.00
Epidemic Sound$45.00-$45.00
Upwork Premium Employer Plan$49.00-$49.00
Google Business Drive Storage and Apps$58.11-$58.11
Intuit Quick Books$85.00-$85.00
Vid IQ YouTube Software$98.00-$98.00
AppSumo$117.00-$117.00
Shutterstock Monthly Subscription$125.00-$125.00
Siteground Hosting$155.00-$155.00
Active Campaign$225.00-$225.00
Kinsta Hosting$300.00-$300.00
Advertising Expenses
Google/Facebook Ads$13.82-$13.82
Freelance Labor Expenses
Freelance Research, Editing, Video Production, and Misc. Labor$1,678.63-$1,678.63
Freelance Writing$2,279.33-$2,279.33
TOTALS$15,839.68$5,352.77$10,486.91
Revenue By ChannelWebsite 1Website 3OHP WebsiteWebsite 4Website 2Website 5Website 6Website 7Website 8Website 9ConsultingUdemyYouTube
April 2020$9,868.73$1,268.24$311.09$628.28$24.59$499.28$21.63$488.53$4.80$1.16$2,000.00$0.00$723.35
March 2020$15,729.25$1,244.49$401.28$629.15$20.26$599.43$24.68$482.14$61.30$2.37$2,000.00$0.00$324.14
February 2020$22,548.73$2,139.96$261.22$435.32$36.03$543.09$49.32$467.75$0$3.05$2,000.00$0.00$340.49
January 2020$20,512.80$2,646.41$1,334.33$1045.23$12.35$541.68$9.13$382.79$0$2.35$3,240.00$0.00$264.30
December 2019$19,383.27
$2,026.21
$934.81
$1,864.92
$9.36
$694.61
$78.56
$304.53
$2,575.00
$17.69
$202.66
November 2019$21,920.53 $2,173.90 $602.88$1,338.93 $15.77 $617.31 $182.80
$196.02
$0$21.59 $358.91
October 2019$23,620.75$2,546.04$1,073.56$711.71$72.89$230.27$84.62$58.41$300.00$30.00$202.14
September 2019$21,006.31 $2,627.86 $335.35 $585.93 $14.72 $170.04 $50.33 $17.80 $0$35.00 $177.05
August 2019$17,817.28 $2,590.92 $414.58 $553.82 $23.67 $133.92 $97.26
$2.57
$275.00
$40.00
$156.00
July 2019$16,855.42$3,652.24$427.66$574.78$17.16$74.26$76.00$2.10$0$35$130.26
June 2019$15,402.28$5,561.07$709.07$562.63$30.74$46.29$100.19$0$0$141.46
May 2019$17,578.97 $4,900.70 $1,062.34 $749.14 $22.25 $61.17 $35.71$0
$0$116.02
April 2019$16,273.68$4,078.83$239.73$700.42$9.53$46.05$0$0$76.86
March 2019$17,006.79$3,620.30 $439.88$931.22 $19.98$152.99 $0$20.24$76.24
February 2019$15,656.00$2,799.98$551.53$647.94$15.68$291.72$0$28.75$65.63
January 2019$16,483.03 $3,280.64 $469.30$1,009.83$10.41$401.91$600.00$45.75$76.52
December 2018$11,776.03$2,488.53$483.96$2,078.19$20.16$487.37$0$98.43$73.60
November 2018$12,886.78$2,324.75$657.86$789.26$10.67$386.31$0$205.87$79.91
October 2018$13,246.69$3,135.04
$369.22$747.29$15.46$306.89$150$93.27$83.86
September 2018$11,784.71$3,853.20$321.67$628.97$0.00$210.72$175$14.94$82.99
August 2018$11,556.29$3,266.47$512.72$980.89$5.31$39.81$0$97.18$93.63
July 2018$12,864.08$4,991.15$722.76$707.66$8.05$26.84$0$91.48$84.33
June 2018$11138.00$6,858.01$432.01$797.02$11.06$52.42$0$50.92$95.96
May 2018$9152.94$4,288.26$391.63$699.19$6.96$40.23$0$44.40$100.82
April 2018$9637.30$2,028.65$545.01$804.71$11.74$236.23$0$24.90$85.48
March 2018$14236.64$778.01$380.29$1362.83$13.78$224.68$0$80.61$94.79
February 2018$10918.94$382.03 $644.36 $838.51 $22.27 $454.08 $0$23.90$86.86
January 2018$7993.31
$467.71
$757.59
$718.04
$14.26
$486.99
$0$113.95
$67.06
December 2017$6707.43$432.22$785.74$555.72$28.50$114.05$0$59.21$96.12
November 2017$7545.13$574.91$480.41$479.34$17.70$4.31$0$187.01$90.40
October 2017$6859.17$617.67$265.38$319.02$13.06$0$135.59$66.71
September 2017$6781.51$348.16$673.87$223.95$11.31$0$81.39$58.13
August 2017$7429.92$391.68$945.04$181.93$16.36$0$133.91$63.57
July 2017$5658.64$344.91$1055.57$85.84$58.55$1,496.38$41.80$94.84
June 2017$5924.41$423.04$403.84$31.71$11.87$600.00$148.88$79.81
May 2017$6805.18$214.18$79.00$9.67$8.71$51.50$76.08$82.58
April 2017$8175.11$116.65$106.71$3.57$0$80.25$57.76
March 2017$9527.42$224.16$355.12$6.43$0$137.29$59.11
February 2017$3726.98$160.48$438.54$32.99$125$165.43$52.40
January 2017$4005.52$104.19$267.33$0$222.20$41.60
December 2016$3553.43$52.63$384.57$125.00$138.07$41.32
November 2016$3778.45$22.10$357.77$125.00$259.26$48.13
October 2016$3841.36$1.37$213.88$126.00$238.90$48.92
September 2016$3102.56$402.32$112.01$271.02$57.14
August 2016$3318.70$44.72$731.05$423.49$55.08
July 2016$3353.06$347.47$135.19$186.34$52.12
June 2016$3219.41$132.77$330.00$397.55$72.22
May 2016$4677.02$253.67$206.25$135.25$75.89
April 2016$5008.23$286.38$497.50$353.02$62.52
March 2016$2311.67$265.29$556.75$301.06$60.14
February 2016$2760.21$250.70$431.25$324.58$62.00
January 2016$233.00$117.58$1140.00$400.97$46.19
December 2015$121.30$76.00$1163.75$17.15$38.83
November 2015$138.11$39.00$1150.25$245.68$36.78
October 2015$107.72$89.54$760.50$49.50$40.65
September 2015$102.95$113.10$1112.32$17.49$27.46
August 2015$39.68$51.75$1463.75$12.05$25.09

Project Updates

    Website 1 Update

  • Worst month in pageviews since Feb 2017.  Confident it’s due to the niche and Covid-19
  • Still my number 1 earner for month, just less than usual.  Seeing things starting to bounce back already. 
  • PLAN: Continue revising content to make the content better.  Three articles a week

Graph of the last 13 months of progress:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

170,513

663

$9,868.73

Mar-20

227,545

752

$15,729.25

Feb-20

435,145

781

$22,548.73

Jan-20

320,773

759

$20,512.80

Dec-19

246,409

746

$19,383.27

Nov-19

269,639

718

$21,920.53

Oct-19

323,681

669

$23,620.75

Sep-19

309,050

651

$21,006.31

Aug-19

296,076

659

$17,817.28

Jul-19

302,646

623

$16,855.42

Jun-19

270,447

602

$15,402.28

May-19

296,686

594

$17,578.97

Apr-19

270,983

638

$16,273.68

Mar-19

257,616

639

$17,006.79

Udemy Update

I don’t focus on Udemy any longer. They sell my courses for too cheap.

OHP Website Update

  • No new content aside from last month’s income report.
  • One course sale for month.  Not very much, but still focused on OHP YouTube channel.
  • I think soon I will be republishing YouTube videos as blog posts on the website.  Have to figure out a process, but should be doable.  Like the idea to increase website traffic and in theory should work, will have to put it in practice.  

Website 3 Update

  • Website has no new content published and no revisions underway.
  • PLAN: Going to review when things are over to see if I can find more topics to have written. Not doing this now as capital is being used elsewhere. 

Graph of the last 13 months of progress:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

123512

481

$1,268.24

Mar-20

136593

576

$1,244.49

Feb-20

144411

575

$2,139.96

Jan-20

184147

571

$2,646.41

Dec-19

125286

556

$2,026.21

Nov-19

125330

535

$2,173.90

Oct-19

138041

494

$2,546.04

Sep-19

143883

417

$2,627.86

Aug-19

152799

424

$2,590.92

Jul-19

191629

432

$3,652.24

Jun-19

256176

427

$5,561.07

May-19

257171

421

$4,900.70

Apr-19

194433

482

$4,078.83

Mar-19

174087

473

$3,620.30

Website 4 Update

  • Pretty good month overall, mostly focused on Amazon Associates so will be impacted next month.
  • Still need to revise content, not hiring for position yet.
  • Interestingly had a huge spike in visits but not in revenue.
  • PLAN: Nothing for now, need to focus on bigger projects.

Graph of the last 13 months of progress:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

65,070

246

$628.28

Mar-20

42,865

302

$629.15

Feb-20

39,358

304

$435.32

Jan-20

45,034

316

$1,045.23

Dec-19

39,787

311

$1,864.92

Nov-19

45,328

305

$1,338.93

Oct-19

54243

273

$711.71

Sep-19

52337

248

$585.93

Aug-19

52905

244

$553.82

Jul-19

50016

266

$574.78

Jun-19

47102

269

$562.63

May-19

51419

260

$749.14

Apr-19

51688

286

$700.42

Mar-19

56758

283

$931.22

Website 5 Update

  • Drop from last month, but still doing good.
  • Had a writer/editor working on content and had to reallocate resources. They were both very good, but this website shouldn’t have funds spent on Amazon associates content right now. 
  • PLAN: Pausing all production right now. Sit and wait, watch traffic and affiliate earnings to see how things change due to Amazon Commission changes.

Graph of the last 13 months of progress:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

94605

388

$499.28

Mar-20

58922

428

$599.43

Feb-20

63597

412

$543.09

Jan-20

70411

412

$541.68

Dec-19

72621

416

$694.61

Nov-19

61908

412

$617.31

Oct-19

51442

379

$230.27

Sep-19

41366

357

$170.04

Aug-19

31226

350

$133.92

Jul-19

4171

328

$74.26

Jun-19

5443

311

$46.29

May-19

6847

318

$61.17

Apr-19

14922

346

$46.05

Mar-19

41295

372

$152.99

Website 6 Update

  • Earnings decreased a little from last month but look stable.
  • Traffic dropped 27% MoM and seems to be impacted by Covid.  
  • How Much Have I Invested in This Website: $5,718
  • How Much Money Has This Website Made? $785
  • Total ROI: -$4,933
  • How Much Content is on the Website? Keep in mind this website is mostly focused on affiliate content with some informational content.
    • 222 Blog posts
  • PLAN: Pausing all production right now.  Want to sit and wait to see how website does with Amazon changes.  Considering adding adsense as well.

Below is a summary of the website so far:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

3841

187

$21.63

Mar-20

5278

269

$24.68

Feb-20

6244

275

$49.32

Jan-20

7884

272

$9.13

Dec-19

7287

257

$78.56

Nov-19

7681

235

$182.80

Oct-19

5184

191

$84.62

Sep-19

4915

148

$50.33

Aug-19

4591

136

$97.26

Jul-19

6432

92

$76.00

Jun-19

7914

87

$100.19

May-19

5989

73

$35.71

Website 7 Update

  • Best month yet, continues to grow. Pageview increase of 54%, but small revenue increase.  Not sure why they don’t coincide…yet.
  • Testing Ezoic. Letting them do full optimization.    
  • How Much Have I Invested in This Website: $19,610
  • How Much Money Has This Website Made? $1,919
  • Total ROI: $-17,691
  • How Much Content is on the Website: Keep in mind that this is an informational type of website, not affiliate related at all.
    • 794 Informational pages on the website
    • 82 Informational Blog Posts
  • PLAN
    • Continue to invest in content.
    • Growth continues even though I haven’t done any link building. Today was one full year and about $500/month is a great number to see.
    • See if Ezoic can beat current earnings and if so, migrate all traffic that way.

Below is a summary of the website so far:

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

43953

105

$488.53

Mar-20

28642

125

$482.14

Feb-20

36935

122

$467.75

Jan-20

33069

114

$382.79

Dec-19

23112

109

$304.53

Nov-19

18308

97

$196.02

Oct-19

9118

67

$58.41

Sep-19

5185

46

$17.80

Aug-19

3163

40

$2.57

Jul-19

2464

22

$2.10

Jun-19

1618

10

$0.00

May-19

2393

7

$0.00

Apr-19

2045

2

$0.00

Website 8 Update 

  • This website is focus for the rest of 2020.
  • Have two writers hired, carefully editing content now and establishing best practices.
  • Website starting to see some Google SEO traffic, has a very high ceiling.
  • Working with wife on this project. Have establish social media followings and YouTube channel
  • How Much Have I Invested in This Website: $1,565
  • How Much Money Has This Website Made? $66
  • Total ROI: -$1,499
  • How Much Content is on the Website? Keep in mind this website is mostly focused on affiliate content with some informational content. 
    • 57 Informational Blog Posts
  • PLAN: Train writers, increase writer output.  In tandem, train editor.  High quality work is very important on this website.  Also, continue testing social media, particularly YouTube.

Month

Pageviews

Referring Domains

Total Earnings

Apr-20

1951

5

$4.80

Mar-20

1187

1

$61.30

Feb-20

398

1

$0.00

Jan-20

514

1

$0.00

Dec-19

528

1

$0.00

Nov-19

2

0

$0.00

Oct-19

0

0

$0.00

Website 8 Complimentary YouTube Channel

  • Pivoted wife’s old channel to be this instead. General topic, lots of reach potential.
  • How Much Did We Invest in This YouTube Channel: $0
  • How Much Money Has This YouTube Channel Made? $1.94
  • Total ROI: $1.94
  • PLAN: Continue publishing different video types to see what does best. 

Month

Views

Monthly Subscribers

Earnings

Apr-20

7,479

-72

$0.54

Mar-20

558

-121

$1.40

OneHourProfessor YouTube Channel

  • Very good month for the channel. Earnings increased 123% and subscribers increased by 62% MoM.  Views increased by 49% as well. 
  • Editing and posting process outsourced, now I just focus on content.
  • Polished production and created branded transition.
  • Had my first sponsored placement last month ($300) and have another one in the queue.
    • Great for me because these are videos I would have made anyway, now with the incentive of making money it just moves priority.
  • How Much Have I Invested in This YouTube Channel: $1,170
  • How Much Money Has This YouTube Channel Made? $1,769
  • Total ROI: $599
  • How Much Content is on the YouTube Channel?
    • 100 Videos
  • Subscriber Updates
    • Subs this month: 415
    • Total Subscribers: 6,710

Below are the metrics of the YouTube channel so far:

Month

Views

Total Subscribers

Earnings

Apr-20

24,875

415

$722.82

Mar-20

16,663

257

$322.79

Feb-20

15,838

261

$343.06

Jan-20

15,625

419

$235.19

Dec-19

12,164

162

$165.18

Nov-19

11,104

129

$154.62

Oct-19

10,897

148

$149.41

DM YouTube Channel

  • Interestingly, this experiment came out of nowhere to show some validity. Video went viral and now other videos are doing much better.
  • How Much Have I Invested in This YouTube Channel: $0 (Thalita is editing all videos)
  • How Much Money Has This YouTube Channel Made? $0
  • Total ROI: $0 (Still no ROI because it can’t be moetized…yet)
  • How Much Content is on the YouTube Channel?
    • 37 Videos
  • Subscriber Updates
    • Subs this month: 65
    • Total Subscribers: 105

Below are the metrics of the YouTube channel so far:

Month

Views

Total Subscribers

Earnings

Apr-20

10,831

65

$0.00

Mar-20

859

14

$0.00

Feb-20

339

23

$0.00

Jan-20

218

18

$0.00

Lessons Learned

Every month, I’m going to reflect back and tell you a few different lessons that I’ve learned. My hope is that the lessons each month will be a cautionary tale for you that makes it so that you don’t make the dumb mistakes that I do along the way.

  • YouTube is pretty random at times
  • Even in a bad situation, my business does pretty well
  • Build a real BUSINESS, not a website

Did I Meet my Goals for April?

Revise Website 7 Core Functionality:  Done!  This was a challenging project, but it has been completed and now I get much less erroneous information.

Heavily Monitor Income:  Done and took a deep breath.  Things will be okay. 

Make Sure Freelancers are Doing Well:  I had candid discussion with all of them and cut back where needed.  They all appreciate my candor and we worked it all out. 

What Are my Goals for May?

Website 8 Custom Programming Project:  I have a really important idea with this website myself and my wife agree we need to implement, but it’s complicated.  Want to engage developer to establish the base of everything and have him make a module in backend of website we can use. 

Website 8 Train Writers Better and Hire Editor:  By end of month, want to be hands off and have very high-quality output from writers on this website.

Website 8 YT Channel:  Produce at least 20 videos on channel to see how they do

What are your goals for the month?  What questions do you have?  Let me know in the comments below!

  • Hey Ron, thanks again for sharing your entrepreneurial journey. April was a tough one indeed! I saw a little improvement at the end of the month so I naively believed things started to come back to normal.

    But while I thought April was bad, May just kicked in. A timely mix of low adsense CPC and a tough Google core update and here we are, possibly on a way to a 2 years-time low.

    But hey, I’m confident this challenging period will soon be over and I’m pretty optimistic about what’s coming.

    Best

    • Yea, it sucks but it is what it is. Two of my websites look to have been impacted by the core update, but neither of my vital ones so it’s okay. We’ll see how this all plays out, but it’s definitely been rough lately!

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