Pat Flynn
Editor’s Note: The content regarding eHow is no longer relevant. Please visit our Getting Started page, which we keep up to date with advice for getting started with earning money online. (Updated 10/2015)
I’m back from my honeymoon, yay! As much as I wish I was still in Oahu eating Macadamia nuts while watching crazy dudes surf on the 10 foot plus waves at sunset beach, or in Maui kayaking and snorkeling with sea turtles, I’m glad that I’m back and finally have some time to be able to add some new content to my blog for you.
I’d like to thank all of the guest posters I’ve had the last couple of weeks. We’ve had some great topics and also some great comments on each of those posts—so thank you all for keeping this blog going while I was away.
My February 2009 Income Report
I’ll post some pictures from my wedding and honeymoon in a couple of days, but I wanted to start off my return with a bang—my February income report.
As always, I’ll first mention the major events that may have happened within the month that could have made a difference in my earnings. I will also break down the sources of my income so that I can keep track of how each one is doing. Lastly, I’ll conclude with the most important things that I learned and what I have planned for the near future.
Important Goings-On in February
I didn’t do too much in February, as almost 100% of of my time was dedicated to wedding planning, the honeymoon, and moving into a new apartment with my wife. Here are a few minor things that happened with regards to my work online:
- I purchased an iPhone. I’ll explain why this is important later in this post.
- I added more advertisement slots on intheleed.com.
- I’ve contacted my CPA about what exactly he needs in order to file my LLC and personal taxes. This will prepare me for what I plan to do before April 15th.
Everything is still going strong, from my audio and book sales to my eHow earnings. As you’ve read above, I didn’t do much as far as trying to increase my income this month, but every method had an increase (except affiliate marketing, which does require a bit of work). While I was on my honeymoon, I actually had 4 straight days of $1000.00+ in sales, and a record day of $1,400. My wife and I ended up celebrating with a fancy steak and seafood dinner that night.
Important Things I Learned in February
- Use The Right Tools for Your Business Model: As I mentioned earlier, I purchased an iPhone. As you may or may not already know, my buddy and I are developing iPhone applications as another means of earning a passive income, so getting an iPhone was an obvious choice for me. In addition, the iPhone is a great tool for my business too! I use it to answer customer emails “on the fly”, and I was able to spend 20 minutes each night in Hawaii (a couple times on the toilet, HAHA!) answering emails that would normally need me in front of a computer. This allows me to be totally flexible and pretty much anywhere in the world and still run my business. I could be in a cafe in Italy, a mall in China, or in a bathroom in Hawaii, and I’d still be able to run my business. My point here is that the iPhone allows me to work and live how I want. What tools would help you run your business? Although it may cost some money up front, do you think it would help you earn more in the long run?
- Earning More Money Shouldn’t Mean Spending More Money: I think I could dedicate an entire post to this (and I just might), but I wanted to mention it here because it’s something that my wife and I had a good discussion about. Even though I’m earning a lot, our spending habits have not and will not change. Basically, we get to save more! We view it as being able to get to our goals and dreams a little faster, not changing our goals and dreams.
What’s Next
This month is dedicated to taxes, getting used to working from home with a wife and a new puppy, and taxes. I’ll be writing some posts about earning money online and taxes, as well as things I learn from my CPA as I enter numbers from my LLC in quickbooks for tax preparation.
Also, marketing efforts begin on the iPhone applications my friend and I are developing. We’re working on marketing efforts even before the application is finished because it will take some time to script and film the videos we want to help promote the application. In the iPhone app world, marketing efforts are often more important than the application itself. As I mentioned before, one of the top selling apps was called iFart—an application where you can produce different farting noises on your phone. The app is kinda funny but also pretty useless, but the marketing and publicity behind it is what made it successful. More on our iPhone apps to come in the near future.
I also reached my goal of 600 subscribers by the end of February. Let’s shoot for 700 by the end of March.
It’s nice to be back, and as always your comments, questions and concerns are welcome.
Pictures from my wedding and honeymoon are on deck for my next post. I hope you come back and check them out!
