Blog Income Report - September 2008
After taking a few months off, the blog income report is back! The income report took a little break while I worked with Unique Blog Design to give John Chow dot Com a whole new look. The new theme is phase one of a makeover that will shift the blog’s dependence on advertising as its main income source.
The income report started back in September 2006 as part of a case study to see if you can really make money by blogging. The goal of the case study was to make full time income ($3,000 per month) with part time blogging (2 hours per day). In its first month as a monetized blog, John Chow dot Com made $352.94 and by September 2007, blog income hit $20,512.17. How well did John Chow dot Com do on its second anniversary as a monetized blog?
Total Blog Income for September 2008 - $38,030.57
September 2008 goes down as the blog’s second biggest income month. The blog did break $40K back in June but that was due to a $10,000 blog post. If that post was not taken into account, September 2008 would be the biggest month ever. Here’s the income breakdown.
- Affiliate Commissions: $12,807.69
- Private Ad Sales: 11,730.00
- Appearance Fees: $4,000.00
- ReviewMe: $4,000.00
- Text Link Ads: $2,028.59
- Shoemoney Tools: $2019.60
- Kontera: $1,000.00
- RSS Ads: $444.69
- Total Income: $38,030.57
At its current rate, the John Chow dot Com is on its way to a $400K year, which is pretty good for a blog that just rambles about whatever is on my mind. For the first time ever, affiliate commissions overtook private ad sales to become the blog’s number one money maker. This is something I’ve expected to happen and was working on. It’s part of my effort to make the blog less dependent on advertising sales.
Shoemoney Tools is part of affiliate commissions but I’ve separated it in order to show the residue income power of affiliate marketing. Shoe offers 20% for life on any sales you referred. Shoemoney Tools are sold by monthly subscription so you can make that 20% month after month after month. Refer enough people and it can create a nice pension. This is how affiliate commissions have overtaken private ad sales. I am still being paid for sales I’ve made years ago and that income will continue to come in even if I shut this blog down.
Blog expense for the month was $296.25 for contextual advertising. Hosting for John Chow dot Com is sponsored by BlueFur Webhosting. They provided the quad-core server that powers this blog. Use coupon code JohnChowRocks for 15% off any BlueFur hosting package.
How To Be a Six Figure Blogger
The key to making money by blogging is to drive a lot traffic and then maximize the hell out of that traffic. These are the two elements that you really need to work on. It doesn’t matter how great your content is if nobody reads it. However, if you have a ton of traffic but only run Google AdSense, then you’re leaving a ton of money on the table. Google AdSense is known as welfare for webmasters. You need to run as many revenue options as possible while still preserving the user experience. Check out my recommended money makers to see what systems I used to produce my blog income.
I also recommend you download my free eBook, Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com. The book explains the methods I used to create content, drive traffic and make money online. You can get it for free by signing up for my free newsletter at the top of the page.
- Posted in Blogging, Make Money Online, The Net
- 247 comments what's your take?
Wow Nice to see the income report not only back but with a considerable increase on the last one. Congratulations John. I love these reports as they continue to keep me inspired!!
Reply to this commentI was wondering what happened to it… great job John! it makes up for the condo shopping yesterday…
Reply to this commentWhat does a person do with that much money? Gosh!!
Reply to this commentI can think of a few ways I can do with that money if it was me
Reply to this commentMe too :-). First of all buy good quality stocks trading at bargain prices..
Reply to this commentAll I can say is ‘Woah!’
Reply to this commentWell John did just get that condo yesterday so I’m sure a big chunk of it goes there.
Reply to this commentYes, I got the condo. I get the keys on Oct 16. Now to find a renter.
Reply to this commentWell done John, congrats on the killer month. Still raking it in. Is there a picture of the condo on the site yet?
Reply to this commentI like to see a smart investor. Put the money you make into real estate, and if there is ever another dot com crash, you’re still set on making money.
Reply to this commentYou should also consider investing in dividend paying stocks that have a history of increasing their payments to shareholders for several decades. It’s much less work than renting out condos.
Reply to this commentWith the way things are so expensive now…a WHOLE lot!
Reply to this commentJohn,
If you manage to invest your online earnings in stocks and fixed income yielding 4%-5% annually you would be able to generate additionally up to $2K/month.
thanks for bringing this report back!
Reply to this commentYeah john doing real good keep it up and u may kick bill gates butt one day lol
Reply to this commentI doubt he’d ever beat Bill Gates who is worth 40 billion and has 800 million in dividend income alone.
Reply to this commentI want a new condo.
Reply to this commentI was wondering what happened to this report… thanks for bringing it back… gives us newbies something to shoot for… Awesome job by the way… makes up for the 250K condo yesterday…
Reply to this commentPretty impressive.
Reply to this commentWell Done John, Nice Haul there. I wonder if this is now your top earning site? Would be interesting to know.
Reply to this commentNo, the blog is not my top earning site.
Reply to this commentWould it be too much to ask how many other sites you own other than this one and techzone?
Reply to this commentDang John, I’m not even going to ask which one is the top earner as I’m jealous enough of the stats from here let alone another site of yours.
Reply to this commentYeah, I always figured that you were making more on other sites, including TTZ.I remember when you talked about making affiliate commissions off TTZ.
Reply to this commentThats even more awesome …..
Reply to this commentMust make waaaay too much money. Wish we could be that fortunate.
Reply to this commentThat is simply incredible!!!!
Reply to this commenthey John,
I congratulate you on your success to this huge number of monthly income. I hope you continue to be like this and become the worlds richest man one day :P. I know its possible.
Reply to this commentI fully agree. Congratulations are in order.
Regardless of whether I agree with John Chow’s new profile, I can still congratulate him on good results.
Reply to this commentI agree. The one thing that we all gain from reading John Chow’s blog is that we get the inspiration to make money.
Reply to this commentnice as usual John!
Reply to this commentGreat Income Report. Its good to see how much this blog has come along since it first started. Ive been a reader since Month 8 so yay for me.
Reply to this commentCongrats John. You are really living the dot com lifestyle.
You will break 50k until next year. 
Reply to this commentNice income and glad to see the report is back!
Reply to this commentJohn,
It is nice to see the income report come back as I have always enjoyed it. It really gives me something to strive for. I am glad you had such a good month and that the blog continues to do well.
Adam
Reply to this commentwao! your internet income really awesome! man, i got to sign up everything in your make money tab!
Reply to this commentGood stuff as usual, keep up the good work. But please, I would have preferred to see 3,500$ instead and 4,000$ in review me and no “Weight loss pill review”…
Reply to this commentIt doesn’t matter. John will review ANYTHING for money.
Reply to this commentI usually have to wait a couple days after the month to post my report, as some stats are delayed 24-48 hours.
Reply to this commentWhats your point Zac?
BTW–Congrats John..
Reply to this commentThe point is I’m surprised John doesn’t have some delayed stats as well. He always posts on the first on the month.
Reply to this commentI wonder if John works on a cash basis, as in that the money he reported is actual receipts during the month of September as opposed to account receivable.
Sorry if I mis-used any accounting terms here… it’s been a few years since business school
Reply to this commentWell the question is valid.. In USA businesses under $5 million in revenues report income on cash basis.. While the larger ones report it on accrual basis.
Reply to this commentOther than that it shouldn’t really matter since he seems to have exceeded the minimum payment limits
I work on the accrual basis, which complies with GAAP more than the cash basis.
Reply to this commentThat makes sense.. Most advertisers pay what you earned on a net 30 to 60 basis ( except for TLA which pays very quickly) and in most cases you are expected to receive 100% of the money earned.
Thanks for clarifying!
Reply to this commentGood to hear you’re familiar with all these terms. I’ve heard a big part of running a business is making sure you manage your books correctly.
Reply to this commentBig cash John, nice job!!!
Reply to this commentCongrats John
Reply to this commentAmazing news! Two years and look where you are at! Kudos! This sure beats my 7.75 for the year. :o) Keep it up!
Reply to this commentHey John what about your blog’s traffic. What is monthly uniques and pageviews, can you give us a little insight in this field please ?
Reply to this commentIncredible!
Can anyone beat you?
I don’t know if Jeremy or Darren post their results, but yours are amazing!
Rich Hill
Reply to this commentCongratulations!
How about putting one month’s income into a contest for us blokes to win?
Reply to this commentYeah one months income contest.
Reply to this commentGoodness, think of the possibilities….
Probably would go a lot further for us anyways
Reply to this commentWhat an awesome jump in the past three years! Congratulations, and you are very inspiring.
Reply to this commentWow! Thanks for sharing. It tells everyone how real and possible it is to make real money online. Of course, you need to tell people the amount of effort you had to put in to get this up and running.
cheers
Reply to this commentDaniel
What’s that Appearance fees??
Is it from any of the conferences where you spoke in the last couple of weeks?
Reply to this commentThe appearance fee is the money I made for showing up at a conference or event.
Reply to this commentMust be nice
Reply to this commentWow, have you thought about consulting or doing motivational/internet marketing speeches for profit? I was once part of a student organization which paid several thousand dollars for a keynote speaker with the help of the university. Not bad for the speaker..
Reply to this commentDam u get paid just to show up at events and conferences.. wow just to a hot product man
Reply to this commentNice work John. Maybe it’s time to increase my review price from a bowl of pho.
On a side note, this is not your third anniversary, because John Chow dot Com has only been monetized for two years. This is your second anniversary. The first month would be, I don’t know, your “zeroth” anniversary, because it would be akin to your wedding day. You wouldn’t say that your wedding day is your first anniversary, right?
Reply to this commentYou are correct! I’ve changed the post.
Reply to this commentGood job spotting that buddy.
Great to see good eyes and people that don’t skim posts (like me)
Reply to this commentReally impressive score!
Reply to this commentCongratulations John!
John, you totally rock, you have fun, travel around, laugh at Michael Kwan’s Segway crashing and are a motivator to newbies like me.
Thanks for spending some time with me at the Market Leverage dinner at BlogWorld Expo 2008, it was a great evening. Glad there was no ’shop-talk’ you get enough of that during the day I’m sure.
Do you ever offer private consultation?
I would WALK to Vancouver and Dot Com Pho, for some one-on-one time with the “JOHN-CHOW-INATOR ”
By the way, did Tyler Cruz ever get his ‘ML-CASHINATOR’ ‘ money-stack back?
Respectfully,
Nicholas Chase - ‘the video guy’ at BlogWorld Expo 2008
Reply to this commentHi Nicholas,
It was great to meet you at Blog World. I do not offer private consultation but may look at offering some kind of group thing in the future.
Reply to this commentOne Day for Diabetes is coming up in November, John.
I’ll be challenging you to donate one day’s sales/commissions to the Team Diabetes effort.
I’m looking forward to you spreading some of that wealth around
Congrats on another great month.
Reply to this commentGreat great great.You are really converting those traffic to money .Great efficiency
Reply to this commentGeez dude. $40,000? That’s cool man. I would like to make money like that fast. Now I will read that free eBook you have and I hope to understand how exactly you have come to make such a lot of money from a blog.
Reply to this commentHis e-book does have a lot of interesting stuff you could learn about online marketing. I have used one of his ideas and it did work.. But you have to be extra careful and modify his ideas in order to work for your specific situation!
Reply to this commentgood luck…
Reply to this commentWhat about google adsense
Reply to this commentI don’t see Google Adsense units on this page…
Reply to this commentHe discountinues using Adsense a long time ago. Otherwise he would still be earning only a couple of thousand per month as opposed to tens of thousands per month..
Reply to this commentGoogle AdSense is welfare for webmasters.
Reply to this commentSay that to Shoemoney. lol
Reply to this commentYeah u are right bryn, shoemoney must name is first on google’s payout each month
Reply to this commentHaha, I am still on welfare for bloggers then. If I could actually somehow transform everyone that clicks on an adsense ad into a person purchasing a product/service from me I could probably make a little bit more than what I am earning now..
Reply to this commentTo some extent–yes..but consider some top earners from adsense–such as http://www.askthebuilder.com– he makes around 30k/month …
Its an easy way to make money using google adsense but if you are popular like John then it might be better to get rid off adsense,,,but its not easy to be like John….
Reply to this commentIt definitely pays off to be diversified with your income streams.. You don’t want to be too exposed to only one of them.
Reply to this commentIf your site targets a specific niche and you get at least 2K uniques/dayly then there are other ad programs that could work for you..
Haha. I agree that it’s good for starting out with though!
Reply to this commentWell its all i got John, i have just start using text link ads and i just start reaping over $100 per month on it.
Reply to this commentBy the John, do you know if ShoeMoney is the person with the record for receiving the most money for its adsense program at any one time
Reply to this commentPosts like these continue to inspire me to keep going with my websites
Reply to this commentNice to see your providing the proof necessary to keep up your ultimate blogging reputation.
Reply to this commentJohn,
It looks like it was another rough month at the office! Kidding! You forgot to add in the money you stole from The Cashinator!
Nice job!
~Debby
Reply to this commentI would if I didn’t give it away!
Reply to this commentWhere has that money gone you raked out from the Cashinator after it closed though!?
Or might they have seen you and taken it back!
Kind regards,
Reply to this commentCarl
I hope i also can get profit like that. it’s cool
Reply to this commentGreat work, John, and thanks for sharing. Also, thanks for going to a dofollow blog, because that lets everyone in on some of the action.
Reply to this commentThat’s Amazing! I see the breakdown, but I still can’t believe it.
By the way, I like Beef Ball and Tendon in my Pho. No onions or parsley though.
Reply to this commentDo you not give a portion of the review money to Michael Kwan? Or is he just your bitch lol
Reply to this commentMichael Kwan works for Pho.
Reply to this commentfinally we see a blast..
Great man..
Reply to this commentwhat is appearance fee ?
Love you or hate you, that is a nice income for making 3 posts a day.
Reply to this commentwow, so impressive. I wish I could earn at least 0.5 percent of it.
Reply to this commentlove money….love money…
^^
Reply to this commentHaha… I’m still on welfare for bloggers. Good job, John.
Reply to this commentI am digging that double column after the first post. I have been wanting to figure out how to do that. Though I liked the colors of your old one better.
Reply to this commentyes…. love money lol
Reply to this commentUAU John,that´s money and just for saying this month i´ve received my first payment on an afilliate £15 and every month i receive more£5…and im happy with it imagine i received that …damn i would go to the hospital with an heart attack…lol
Best Regards
Reply to this commentSoares
You really are an example for all of those Big Shots from big companies who think that they are experts in marketing&co but they are actually useless
I wonder what you can do with a website if you would have their enormous resources.
Cheers
Reply to this commentKontera seems to be constant at 1000 every month …..
Reply to this commentI think John has a fixed contract with Kontera so they provide him with $1000 guaranteed every month, I wish I was that friendly with Kontera!
John must provide them with a lot of members.
Kind regards,
Reply to this commentCarl