November Earnings Update!

This month marks an exciting moment in my online passive income journey. I am only $7.50 away from reaching the $100 point! Here's the breakdown:

Suite 101: $33.53
eHow: $19.44
Amazon: $2.61
Adsense: $13.83
Affiliates: $23.10

Total= $92.51

It was by far the best month I've had yet at Suite 101. I'm not sure what caused the spike since I haven't even added any new articles in a while, but perhaps it was from article maturity. Whatever the reason, it gives me more motivation to write up more articles for them! My original goal was to reach 100 articles by the end of this year, but that goal has taken a backseat ever since I started with The Keyword Academy.

As you can see, my adsense earnings were at an all-time high as well. Most of that was earned through the first niche site I established back in September. My second niche site is almost complete, and it has even started earning a tiny amount as well. I have high hopes for my niche sites, but the struggle has been finding time and motivation to work on them. I need to implement a schedule of sorts to help me stay on track!

My eHow earnings continue to remain steady. I'm pleased at how well my few articles over there have been doing since the end of the writer compensation program.

Amazon is ticking along, although I don't really do any marketing for it. My other affiliates are earning nicely though, enough to make a nice contribution to my passive income each month.

My December goals are to finish up my second niche site and begin building strong backlinks for it as well as the first site. I also need to start researching keywords for a third and forth possible niche site, which I will begin by the new year.

Due to the lack of easy-titles (topics in my area of expertise) at DS right now, I really need to concentrate on building up my own sites and writing for them instead. DS is nice when the titles are plentiful in your preferred topics, but it can be a real drag when you start from scratch each time. I'm hoping by the end of next year I will be able to write entirely for my own sites and not have to rely on DS for filler work!

Next week I will be sharing a summary of my 2010 online writing accomplishments- what I learned, what I wish I had done differently and so forth. Be sure to check back!

How did you in November? Did you meet your goals? Do you have any goals you want to meet before the New Year?

October Earnings Update

Sorry I have been MIA lately, and this earnings update is a bit late! I have been focusing on my family and balancing writing life with mommy life. All the good stuff!

Here are the stats for those who have been itching with anticipation to see how I did last month:

Suite 101: $19.13
eHow: $19.57
Amazon: $0.00
Adsense: $3.82
Affiliates: $23.11

Total= $65.63

My Suite101 and eHow earnings seem to be holding steady. My affiliate earnings are also nicely improving. The biggest difference this month are my adsense earnings - which are purely from that single niche site I began last month. This is with limited back-linking and only a few articles. By the end of October, I was able to build up some good back links, and I am now reaping the rewards of them, although I still have some work to do. I was able to get my 2nd niche site up and running, and I am working on building the backlinks to that site this month.

By December, I hope to establish a 3rd niche site while building on the previous 2. I went ahead and renewed my Keyword Academy subscription after seeing the amazing income potential from just these 2 sites. For anyone interested in earning online income from niche sites, I highly recommend The Keyword Academy.

How did you do the month of October? Did you meet or exceed your goals?

September Earnings Update

September was a great month for me in residual income. Although Suite 101 and eHow remained about the same, my adsense and affiliate earnings were at an all time high! Here are the stats:

Suite 101- $18.42
eHow- $21.76
Amazon- $2.61
Adsense- $11.48
Affiliates- $25.00

Total= $79.27

I was able to write quite a bit this month, even returning to Demand Studios for a bit of upfront pay. The new eHow Home and Garden section currently has quite a few easy (for me) titles to choose from, so I have been churning out articles there every few days or so. I wrote 2 articles for Suite 101, making my total there 66 articles. I also added 2 more Hubs to Hubpages. After learning the interface, I am finding Hubpages to be a really fun place to write with decent residual income potential.

I made decent headway on my Keyword Academy sites. I've almost completed the content for the first niche site, and will be spending the month of October working on building links as well as setting up the second one.

By the end of October, I hope to have added more hubs and Suite 101 articles in addition to working on my own sites. I'll also be writing plenty of upfront DS articles in anticipation of the holidays to help us fund our gift and travel fund.

How did you do in the month of September? Did you meet your goals? What are your goals for October?

You Are What You Read

As a continuation of my post, 'Helpful Resources for Freelance Writers' I'd like to mention another writing book I recommend. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg is a quick, insightful read writing and life.

In her book, Goldberg takes her readers inside her own process and outlook on writing, encouraging writers to develop their own practice and make it a seamless part of their own life. Although I don't agree with all her personal views on writing, I found her book to be motivating and thought provoking.

As a writer, you should always been searching for new books to read, because as a wise person once said, 'You are what you read'. It is impossible to become a good writer without first reading good writing. Carefully evaluate the books you do (or don't!) read each month, and make it a habit and goal to keep fresh books on the end tables. Your writing will thank you for it.

What are some of your favorite books on writing? What are you reading now?

August Earnings Update

Is it September already?! Although I am very excited for fall and cooler weather (the heat this year has been excessive and draining), I can't believe how fast summer went by. I suppose having a new baby can help make things seem like a blur!


Here are the stats for August:

Suite 101: $18.96
eHow: $20.26
Adsense: $6.32
Amazon: $0.00


Total= $45.54


I added 4 new articles to Suite 101 in August and managed to write 2 DS articles all while dealing with a colicky baby who refused to take naps. So considering the limited amount of time I was able to put in, I am pleased with that. I also added 3 new hubs to HubPages.


At the end of this month, I started the Keyword Academy, which is where I will be placing my efforts in September (if you've never heard of TKA, read my post about it- the first month is FREE). My plan is to get through all the core videos, and make a good sized list of keywords. I also would like to buy my domains and start assembling a few websites by the end of this month.

Depending on how much time I have, I'd like to get to 70-75 Suite 101 articles (I currently have 64) in order to stay on track for my goal of 100 by Thanksgiving.

How did you do in the month of August? Did you meet your goals? What are your goals for September?

June and July Earnings Update

I'm back! The past two months have been unusually busy with the birth of our beautiful daughter. Needless to say, I haven't had much time to update, write or even get online! Now that our family is adjusting to life with a new baby, I finally have time (during naps!) to update my readers on my earnings and writing goals.

Here are the stats for June:

Suite 101- $14.83
eHow- $9.42
Adsense- $1.56
Amazon- $1.92

Total= $27.73

June was definitely a lower than average month. I added no new articles during this month.

Here are the stats for July, which was a much better month:

Suite 101- $24.27
eHow- $20.38
Adsense- $1.56
Amazon- $1.12

Total= $47.33

I'm not sure what caused such a huge difference in earnings on Suite 101 and eHow, but I'm hoping the good trend continues.

During the month of June, I also wrote 28 articles for Demand Studios. Considering my daughter was born on the 26th, and I stopped writing a week before she was born, I think I did pretty good.

Because of the lack of articles currently available in my preferred subject (gardening) on DS, I'm not sure I will be able to write as much for them in August. I'd like to try writing in different subject areas and see if there is anything I can replace it with. So, my goal for DS in August is to just write a few articles.

Due to the earnings increase, I would like to write a few more articles on Suite 101 for August. I'd like to get to 100 by Thanksgiving (I currently have 60). Since these articles are so easy to write, I don't think I'll have any problems reaching that goal.

How did you do in the months of June and July? Did you meet your goals? What are your plans for August?

May Earnings Update

May was a much better month than April. I've started writing regularly again for Demand Studios, and my residual income at Suite 101 and eHow improved if only just slightly. I've finally started earning with amazon, so from now on I'll include monthly earnings from their associate program.

Suite 101- $16.54
eHow- $14.07
adsense- $4.82
amazon- $1.90

total= $37.33

My actual income from writing was much higher than this due to writing for DS again. After a hiatus of DS, it is rather nice to be back. I feel like I have a much better grasp on how to write successfully for them than I did before. I wrote the entire month of May without a single rewrite! My favorite new feature at DS is the 'track changes' application. I love seeing what a CE did to my article since it helps me realize the types of editing my articles undergo.

With the end of eHow, I have decided to pursue other residual income opprotunities besides Suite 101. I wrote 3 articles for Hubpages this month. I'm just testing the waters at this point, so I'll update with more information once I've gotten a better article library established.

My goals for June are to write the 10 Suite 101 articles per terms of my contract as well as continue writing for DS. I also plan to add a few more hubs.

As a side note, I've started a new blog if any of my readers wish to check it out. It's called Mothering Blindfolded and is just a fun blog about my family and my journey into motherhood. I'm officially full-term as of tomorrow, so if you're wondering where I am and what I am doing when I'm not posting on Pen Meets Wallet, check it out!

How were your earnings in May? Did you meet your goals? How will/does your writing schedule change once the summer months roll around?

April Earnings Update

I'm a little late on this earnings update! But I wanted to share what I earned nonetheless. I've been very busy settling into our new apartment, and thus have not had much time for writing. Learning to navigate a whole new city alongside social obligations, camping trips and my husband starting his new job has kept me occupied.

Suite 101- $15.41- Did not add any new articles.

eHow- $11.95 - My eHow earnings are holding steady despite the cut of the WCP.

Adsense- $0.95 - Not much, but I put blogging on hold this month.

Total= $28.31

It was my lowest month since Janurary! But note I didn't write a single article during the month of April. I suspect more people were outside enjoying the nice weather rather than surfing the internet and clicking on ads!

May Goals:

-Finish organization with home office

- write 5 Suite 101 articles

- write 5 articles for DS

-resume blogging!

My goals are quite modest this month since I'll be busy getting things ready for the baby, and I'm a lot more tired these days. I hope to get into a nice writing groove nonetheless. The April break was nice, but it's time to get back to work!

How did you do in April? Did you meet your goals?

March Earnings Update

March certainly was an eventful month. Not only did we move, but we moved twice. After discovering a major problem in the original apartment we moved into, we became nomads for 4 days, living at the Holiday Inn. Thankfully, everything was resolved and we managed to find another apartment fairly quickly. However, it was very stressful, and I'm just glad it's all over.

As a result of all this, I didn't write much. Here are the stats!

Suite 101 - I wrote a total of 6 new articles at Suite in March. I am finally getting my 10% bonus! It feels so good to reach this milestone, and it just gives me more momentum to continue writing. I earned $21.18 for the month of March, which was less than I was expecting, but not all of my articles were SEO friendly in the rush to get to 50.

eHow- I wrote 4 new articles at eHow in March. I also resubmitted all of my articles to google, since someone had mentioned they might have had trouble during the UK fiasco. I'm so glad I did, since I saw a tremendous increase in earnings! I earned $14.74 for the month of March, which is my highest since November. Another thing I did was delete articles that were duds.

Google Adsense- After killing my oldest blog, I was unsure how my adsense earnings would turn out this month. I was pleasantly surprised when my earnings totaled $5.04! I didn't work on promoting my blogs at all in March, so I am pleased with it. Still pretty far away from payout though!

Total March earnings: $40.96

April Goals:

-Write 8 articles for Demand Studios (for extra baby savings)

-Write 5 eHow articles

-Write 10 Suite 101 articles

-set up home office!

I'll be working on decorating our new apartment, but I should be able to meet these goals pretty easily. I'm also in my third trimester of pregnancy, so planning for the baby will keep my busy too!

How did you do in March? Did you see an increase or decrease in earnings? Did you meet your goals?

February Earnings Update

March is officially here! Spring is literally just around the corner, and that makes me very happy! Although February was a bleak month in terms of weather, I managed to stay quite productive and write a lot.

I launched my first niche blog mid-month, and so far, I have earned almost $2 in adsense from this site. With only a small amount of content, it is already earning, which I am excited about.

February was my best month at Suite 101. I tried really hard to make it to the 50 article mark, but only managed to get up to 45. All said and done, I wrote 21 new articles- smashing my goal of 8! I also made $18.58 for the month, my highest earnings yet. Most of these articles were written mid-month as well, so March should bring about an even bigger increase in earnings.

My goal for eHow was 4 new articles, but I only wrote 3. Part of this was due to the publishing issues the site was having in the beginning of the month, and I wanted to see if it would clear up. I made $9.15 on eHow, meaning I didn't make payout. I contribute most of this to the fact that there were only 28 days in February.

I orginally wanted to write 4 examiner articles this month as well, but I have decided to let it go. There just isn't any real residual income coming in from that site. You only make money if you write, and it seems like Examiner is turning more into an upfront pay site. So for those reasons, I am quitting, choosing to focus my efforts elsewhere.

I didn't manage to query a magazine or write any fiction, but this is because we have decided to move. I've been busy packing and preparing for our relocation to a new city. This means my writing time will be limited in March, so I have adjusted my goals accordingly.

Here's the grand total for the month:

• Google Adsense- $5.06 (highest month to date!)


• Suite 101- $18.58


• eHow- $9.15


• TOTAL= $32.79

My March goals are...

• Write 10 new articles on Suite 101


• Write 4-5 new eHow articles


• Write 3 articles for niche blog (I only wrote 7 last month)

I think I can easily exceed or meet these goals if I stay on task and focused. Like I said, we will be packing and moving to a new city this month, so I'll definately have my hands full for a while!

How was your earnings in Febraury? Did you see an increase or decrease due to the Olympics and Valentine's day? What are your writing goals for March?

January Earnings Report

It's that time of month again- evalution and reporting of earnings. My actual earnings will be down the following months, mainly because I've stopping writing for Demand Studios. If we need the extra money, then I'll write for them, but otherwise I'm choosing to stick to residual income opprotunities such as blogging and writing for sites like Suite 1o1 and eHow.


And without further ado, here are the stats!


Suite 101- $14.89 (this is almost double what I made last month, with 7 new articles added)
eHow- $11.18 (up a tiny bit from December, but still about half of what I was making)
Examiner- $0.92 (I did not focus on examiner this month)
Adsense- $0.55 (I have not launched my new SEO focused blogs yet)
Total= $27.54

This past month was largely spent outlining my specific writing goals I want to achieve in the upcoming year. February will be the first month to implement my weekly goals, so that should bring an increase in residual earnings. I hope to stick to the plan and remain focused throughout this new month. I just need to keep writing, writing, writing!

February, I'll be focusing on...

• Launching 1 new niche blog
• writing 2 new articles per week for Suite 101
• writing 4 new eHow articles
• writing 4 new Examiner articles
• Query 1 print magazine
• write 1 short story

In order to hold myself better accountable, I'll be rewarding myself with a manicure if I get all this done! I have MUCH more time available to write this month, so this is very doable.

How did January go for you? Did you see a jump in residual earnings from December? What are your goals for February?

2010 Online Writing Goals

My husband and I are currently following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, and we also like to listen to his show on the radio or podcast every weekday. Last week he talked about goals basically being dreams in workclothes. Goals have to be specific and have a time limit. I decided to write up some more writing goals, and in doing so, came up with a more detailed and specific course of action I want to take with online writing.

2010 Writing Goals Defined

Online:
-Increase passive income from $25mo to $100mo by June
**Create 2-3 new niche blogs with 10 pages of content, domain names, SEO focused, pictures**

-Write 10 articles a month at Suite 101 (2.5 a week)
-Write 1-2 articles a month for e-How
-Write 4 articles a month for Examiner (1 a week)

-Continue writing for my existing blogs, At least 2 posts a week
-Buy a domain name (choose a more SEO focused title)
-Comment on 5 blogs per week

Freelance w/ Magazines:
-Send out 1 query every month

I want to build up my passive income, so my main focus this year will be starting niche blogs and writing for Suite 101 and eHow. I've yet to build a successful niche blog, so this is a new area for me. I will be sharing my progress on them throughout the year here on Pen Meets Wallet.

Happy writing!