How we made $6,140 last month side hustling – Well, I’ve finally decided to make the jump and start doing online income reports! It’s a tad bit scary to keep it real. Knowing that everyone knows how much money you make…takes some getting use-to.
For a lot of you that have followed our story over the past year and a half, you know that my wife and I worked extremely hard to pay off our debt and become debt free. Many of you seemed like you were on the actual journey with us and for that we love and appreciate you.
Others who were motivated by our debt freedom journey have asked specifically about our online side hustle, blogging and things we did to earn extra money…hence this online income report.
Blogging as a Side Hustle
Chris Inc. on its own didn’t do Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tea for about 9 months, and the first income I made was from sharing Pay Per Click (PPC) articles as an Influencer which earned about $350 a month on average. We literally had to use other revenue generating mechanisms to bring money in.
I must admit though, LIFE IS GOOD right now. To wake up every day motivated and grateful that we get to do what we love is pretty nice. Somehow, I’ve actually been able to turn a side hustle into a decent living. It’s crazy to even think about.
Whether you’ve been with me from the beginning or are just getting here – THANK YOU.
If you’d like to start your own blog as a hobby or potential side-hustle, check out my free “how-to” blog setup guide. You’ll be able to set up your own blog in as little as 15 minutes. I also suggest that you sign up for my free 7 Day Blogging Course below.
How to Start A Blog Free Email Course
In this free course, I show you how to create a blog easily, from the technical side (it’s not as hard as you think) all the way to earning your first income. Join now!First NameEmail AddressWe use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.I’M READY!We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.Powered by ConvertKit
Before I get to the report here is a little motivation; You become GREAT by being GOOD over a long period time. Maybe it’s not writing a book or paying off debt like we did, but you should absolutely be working towards your goals every day. It’s worth it no matter what it is, I promise!
Let’s dive in! Read this next little blurb to see how our online side hustle income reports work:
If you’re new here, I started tracking my blogging income through income reports to be open, honest and transparent as well as accountable. More importantly, to track our efforts.You can’t effectively measure what you don’t track.CLICK TO TWEET
This is also a great way for me to keep an eye on my progress of what Chris Inc. is doing and it’s a great way for you to follow along as well if you’re thinking of starting an online business.
My income reports are divided into three sections:
- A quick intro to who I am and what my story is for new readers (Must-read if you are new here, skip if you’re not)
- How I made money with my online business (This will change monthly).
- Fun Facts about Life Love & Relationships
It’s been crazy to see the progress and how much our life has changed since we got married and especially over the past year and a half!
Here’s a quick rundown of my story:
I was a former Division I Athlete that accumulated a massive amount of credit card and student loan debt due to that fact that I was a walk-on and not a scholarship athlete.
Like most athletes at major college programs that come from the inner city and low-income communities, I did not have many resources. However, what I did have was $20 that my father gave me on a random visit that I would hold onto throughout my entire college career (you can read more about that here).
While in college, I had a brother who served nearly 20 years in prison so my “why” was a little different. My hope was to have a decent enough college career in athletics that would lead to an opportunity to play and make millions, at the professional level.
My goal was to help my brother avoid having to take penitentiary chances in order to make a living upon his release.
None of what I had planned or hoped for worked the way I had envisioned. However, I did manage to graduate, earn some advanced degrees and eventually go on to get married and become a moderately successful entrepreneur, best-selling author and speaker.
Related: How We Made Our First $100 From Blogging
Aside from student loan debt, I also managed to pay off $18,000 worth of debt in 90 days which helped uncover my passion for personal finance that had been there all along.
And now, here I am. I run a successful online business that allows me to help others along the way.
A lot of you have wanted to start your own blogs after seeing the success that I’ve had, and I highly recommend it. If I hadn’t bet on me, I would only have one stream of income and still be buried in massive credit card and student loan debt.
Just understand – blogging (or any online business for that matter) isn’t easy in any way or for the faint of heart, and definitely not something you should immediately quit your day job for. Most people quit blogging long before they actually “make it.”
It takes time to build a business like this, but if you have some great focus and a good message/story, it is possible to do well.
Take a look at my free blog setup tutorial. You’ll have your own blog set up in just 10-15 minutes, and will receive a lower website hosting price since you’re one of my readers when you use my exclusive link. As a bonus from my family at Bluehost- you’ll also get a domain name for free ($15 value)!
Have you taken my free blogging course yet?
So far I’ve had nearly 1,200 people sign up for my blogging course since I created it, and the reviews have been great! Even if you are just thinking about starting a blog or want to figure out how to get more traffic to the one you already have, this will be useful for you.
Basically, if you want to learn the step-by-step process of how I went from a casual hobby blogger with massive student loan and credit card debt to earning 5-Figures a year annually, you might want to check this out.
How to Start A Blog Free Email Course
In this free course, I show you how to create a blog easily, from the technical side (it’s not as hard as you think) all the way to earning your first income. Join now!First NameEmail AddressWe use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.I’M READY!We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.Powered by ConvertKit
Here’s how we made money with my online business this month:
Digital Marketing Income: $1,500.00
I am open to doing more of this but for now I assist my digital marketing clients by running company blogs and managing there Facebook Ads. We use Facebook Ads to increase sales and reach new customers in a nutshell.
If you’re wondering – yes. I do plan on adding more marketing clients this year. I really like helping entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed with online marketing.
Affiliate income: $1,004.26
Personal Capital: $250
Online Surveys: $33.50
ConvertKit: $150.40
Betterment: $100
LeadPages: $70.36
Alright – here we go. This is an area of my business where I want to reach $5K per month consistently through my affiliate income alone. My plan is to be hyper-focused on my affiliate income and convert better than I have so far.
Currently using a VA aka Virtual Assistant, but those efforts haven’t been directed at affiliate income. That will change soon though. Instead of checking emails and creating graphics, their job will literally be to go back through and optimize every piece of content to produce affiliate income.
There are some other tricks up my sleeve as well of course, but basically, I need to step my game up a lot more.
Top affiliate companies
Physical Products: $555.74
Dumb Athlete: How MY Biggest Fear Became My Biggest Motivator
Spearheaded by the media’s portrayal of African American men, it is believed by many, that most urban inner-city youth will be dead or in jail by twenty-five. Although cliché, with high school drop-out rates escalating and unemployment impacting minorities much more severely than other races, today’s urban youth who lack hope and direction, have embraced dying young or spending the rest of…click here to read more.
Finding Real Love in the Love and Hip-Hop Era: LOVE is the highest aspiration we should have! Chris Sain Jr. educator, domestic violence activist, speaker and relationship expert, has coined this generations quest for love as the Love & Hip Hop Era where finding real love has been an evasive roller-coaster ride that has eluded most men and women. Everyone is on a quest to find real love. Who isn’t looking for love? Love is the goal for everybody in life!
Digital Products: $780.00
How to Become A Speaker: This e-book is a step-by-step guide intended to teach you how to launch your career as a speaker, get booked, go on speaking tours and get paid. I share in-depth details about what I did to become one of the youngest and most influential speakers in the country.
How to Prepare for A Speaking Engagement: Getting on stage is one thing, but a great speech starts way before the MC reads your introduction and hands you the mic. A few degrees of separation separate the good speakers from the great speakers. Learn preparation techniques that take your speaking to the next level.
How to Write A Book: Is a step-by-step guide of everything you need to know to publish your first book. No fluff just the information you need to begin telling your story.
How to Launch Your Book: Regardless of where you are at in your process, whether you have already written your book or are in the process of writing your book, at some point you must Launch Your Book! Launching your book is regarded as probably the most important aspect for authors. The launch is as or if not more important than the writing of the book.
Blog coaching: $500.00
Blog Coaching consist of either 1-on-1 coaching or group coaching to help individuals get started making money online. From minor to nuanced issues and details to more advanced issues with running a blog, I get folks coached up every month.
Business Coaching: $1,000.00
Business Coaching is for individuals who desire to grow their business and their income. I help individuals through monthly coaching with various aspects of business.
Display Advertising / Ads: $0
Traffic is picking up steam, but ad revenue is at zero. I really don’t care too much about ad revenue right now. I currently don’t have any ads on the site.
At some point I do plan to add some ads. Once my website traffic justifies it, I will let some ads run on the site. No need to leave money on the table, right?
Now, just like affiliate income, I can turn some of my attention here in the future and get some things optimized.
I’ll address this at some point for sure though.
As far as traffic goes, things are going in the right direction again. I will also focus on this area more moving forward.
Traffic leads to potential customers and potential customers give you the chance to earn more income.
Sponsored posts: $800.00
I was actually a little disappointed with this number. The reason is, I basically had two sponsored posts fall through at the last minute.
I’ve learned a couple things about sponsored posts since I’ve been blogging:
- If you haven’t signed a contract…it’s got about a 70% chance of falling through. Not sure why, but if you are a social media manager for a company I’d love to know!
- Don’t be thirsty. Turn down more sponsored posts than you accept. If you work with a horrible company, you may get called out by your tribe. Trust is a huge factor for building a brand, so be prepared to turn down shady companies.
Fun Facts about LIFE LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
My wife and I love family and friends. We are young, love to have fun but to be honest, most weekends are spent at home. However, we make it a point to travel at least three times per year.
My wife is a Registered Dietitian. She can throw down in the kitchen and loves to look at labels while grocery shopping. Thanks to her, I have not seen a horror movie in nearly 10 years. Yup! She’s terrified of scary movies. So please don’t ask me have I seen {scary movie x} because more than likely the answer is NO!
She is also a runner. I’m talking beast mode; 25K and Marathon type runner. She was a star track athlete in high school. We run together often.
But she runs by herself even more.
Related: How We Paid Off $18,000 in 90 Days
We attend cross fit three times per week together. A couple that works-out together, stays together.
Now a little bit about me…well there is not much here… 😊
But in all seriousness…
I’ll say this. I share as often as I can about all I am doing. From speaking tours, keynote speaking engagements to mentoring hundreds of young men (read the blog post) I never know who I might inspire.
Can We Say Thankful
I am truly thankful for my wife and the support she gives me. The patience, the love and the support.
She makes it easy to want to be GREAT each and every day.
Having a partner who wants the same things out of life financially and spiritually as you, is truly a blessing.
There will more updates, I promise.
New to blogging? We’ve got a ton of resources for you if you’d like to get it popping right now:
Best Articles for People Who Have Not Started Blogging:
- How to Start a Successful Blog – Step by Step Beginners Guide
- 7 Helpful Blogging Tips For New Bloggers
- Why You Should Start A Blog
- How Creating Your Own Products Is Key
That’s it!
To those of you who have been with us from the start, we thank you. I hope you can tell that we work really, really hard to accomplish goals we set.
