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September 2015: Killing it on the Passive Income

Killing It

Jackie’s Big Life Question, Answered

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I’m moving to Canada in a few months (Feb. 2016) and the big, big question was what I was going to do for work. I wavered, here and there and there and back again but eventually I decided to just go all-in on the digital entrepreneur and write more books and get a whole lot more content out there into the world on my blogs. And it felt good, really good to make that decision and my closest friends here told me that they thought it seemed like the best choice.

What Makes Me Feel Happy

Doing online stuff and writing books is what actually makes me feel happy, unlike teaching which I’m entirely burnt out on. Going back to school wasn’t a great option either and I know that I’d regret it after the first month or two. Getting a 9-5 job? Likely possible because I do have a varied set of useful skills, but I know that every single time I woke up and put on the fancy clothes and commuted to work would make me feel like I was dying a little on the inside. And dying a little on the inside is what I generally try to avoid in my life.

However, I can sit down at the coffee shop and power through a few hours of keyword research and feel so, so happy about it. I can write 5 blog articles in a single afternoon and feel like I’ve accomplished something awesome. I trouble-shoot a problem on my website and feel like I’ve just learned this awesome new thing. I sell another book on Amazon and it gives me a little boost of joy. Someone from my email list replies back and tells me that my stuff is awesome and totally helps them and I feel great. I hear a story about how something I wrote inspired someone to take some action in their life and I get super pumped up about it. Even the haters don’t get me down these days and I just feel good that people are talking about my stuff.

February 2016 is Coming Soon, Real Soon

So, digital entrepreneur it is because isn’t life all about doing what makes you feel happy? Since making that decision, I’ve felt like I’m under the gun and that I really, really need to be making more money off of the empire than I previously have been. It has been far too easy to just cruise along, satisfied with the pocket money I’ve been making from my books and websites while I still have a very lucrative day-job teaching in a Korean university. Those days are soon to be over though, thankfully, because I have a feeling that I’d never really see how good I can be doing Internet marketing while still doing the 9-5.

Time to Level Up

In these past few months, I’ve levelled up and gotten way more serious about self-publishing a whole lot more books, as well as using LongTail Pro and Elance to hit the content marketing hard. I’ve stopped going out and drinking. I’ve stopped watching TV or movies. I’ve stopped listening to podcasts all the time. I’ve stopped wasting time online. I’ve stopped sleeping so much. Now I just work. A lot.

Money Talks

My hard work has started to pay off: September 2015 was my best month ever for passive income: $1752.09 of income that was not earned through my day job. It’s huge. Like I could actually live off of that amount in Canada if I were really frugal. Here’s how it breaks down:

Dividends: $460

Book sales: $497

Rent: $300

Freelance Work: $450

Affiliate stuff: $100

Now, I do realize that this is not entirely passive, especially the rent (I have a roommate, which I likely won’t have in Canada) or the freelance work, which requires some actual work! However, even minus the $300 for rent, it’s still around $1400 which is a good chunk of money. And I feel pretty good about doing a bit of freelance work to keep me feet in the “steady paycheque” world for at least a few months after I move.

Book Sales: Wicked

The most hopeful thing for me is the book sales. $500 is huge for me, a wee little self-publisher to an extremely small niche market. I have 3 more books in various stages of editing and ideas for even more that I want to do in the next few months. I’ve only barely scratched the marketing surface and while many English teachers in Korea know me, there are still plenty more countries to get my name out there. My email list just broke 1000 in the past month and grows by at least 10 people a day, so the potential there is massive.

Future Plans?

The main plan is to stay the course, to keep motivated and continue along the path of passive income awesome. Putting in a ton of hard work now so that the move to Canada will be as painless as possible and I can avoid bleeding my savings and investments dry. I’m kind of getting emotional as I type this right now-maybe it’s just the emotional music in the coffee shop, but like I’m super-excited and pumped up. It’s going to be a massive challenge, but I’m ready for it.

What’s your Action Plan

What’s your plan to make some passive income awesome in your life? Comment below and tell me. If you need a bit of inspiration, check out these posts:

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting an Online Business

How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon

2 Comments

  1. So, you made $500 in a month with just these eight books I can see in the sidebar? That’s pretty good! I should get writing. 🙂

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