New Site?

One of my goals when I started writing this blog was to see if I could start making money online. My day job is a casual position, meaning that when there is no work, I do not work. Most of the time, I get full time hours, but about a month ago I was only getting 3 or 4 shifts a week. Money is tight, what with saving for a wedding, trying to pay rent, and staying out of debt. So after a few days off, I wanted to see if I could start making money while "working" from home.

My initial foray into the world of making money online came through Associated Content. I created an account, started writing content, and even managed to attract the attention of a PR manager and a category editor. I even got one of my articles featured! Now, this hasn't been the most profitable venture to date, as during the month that I've been apart of the site, I've made about eighty cents. Which, actually, is a fair bit more than I thought I would have earned by now.

When I started looking at various online money making sources, one of the one that attracted me was blogging for money. Essentially, you create a blog, get followers, and somehow monetize it, whether through advertising, selling paid posts, sponsorships, etc. I'm not a huge fan of any of those options, sadly, but I do have an idea or two for the future. The problem is, before I want to try to make money off a blog, I need to have a readership. And the best way to get readership is to put yourself out there. And the best way to put yourself out there is to brand yourself. And blog.alan.schram doesn't exactly scream "personal finance".

So I've started messing around with a few options. One of the potential ideas can be seen here. It's a blog that will eventually be called "Saving For Serenity", and that is a potential look for the new site. What do you think? The site explains a bit more about what it would be, the ethos, the direction, the motivation. Let me know what you think.

A Look Forward

Last week I wrote about the slow start that I was having trying to make money online. I had only earned a few cents, I was frustrated because I wasn't finding enough time to write, and I was becoming worried that my time investments may never pay off. At this point, I am proud to say that I have significantly increased my earnings. I have earned over a quarter! In even more exciting news, one of my articles was featured on the Dating and Relationships category page! I am not sure how being featured is going to affect my pageviews, as AC hasn't updated their stats since Friday. In addition, the PR manager from AC commented on my Weekend Review post, encouraging me to continue writing articles for them. Looks like someone is getting some attention. Laura, from AC, reminded me that while I might not have made very much money so far, "the longer your articles live on AC.com, the more they'll continue to earn for you". This is something called "passive income", something that I would like to continue building upon.

Passive Income

Passive income is money that you are earning without doing anything for it. You put in an initial investment (time, money, etc), and then as time progresses, you continue to earn additional money from that investment. For example, interest earned in your "high" interest online savings account is passive income. In my case, I make the initial investment (time) into an article, and I earn passive income from it for the rest of the time that it is featured on Associated Content. Granted, sometimes certain articles will not make much, or any money, and will with time most likely fade, but there is always going to be a chance that another six people will view that article, and I will earn one more cent.

I used to scoff at this type of income, because it is so minuscule, and it takes forever. What I've begun to learn, however, is that time is on my side. While it might be a small amount of money now, it just may grow into a decent amount of money in a year or two. All it takes is a few minutes writing, something that I've been enjoying doing, and I have set up the potential for some future income.

The Great Blog Off

In other news, The Great Blog Off is entering its final week. I've been enjoying reading these guys blogs, and it has certainly motivated me to blog consistently. I know that I am planning on continuing to blog even after the votes have been tallied, and I hope that they will join me.

For this last full week on blog.alan.schram before The Great Blog Off vote, I will continue to write about how you can save $100 this month. I will also be outlining some of my goals for the blog and for Associated Content as I strive to continue to make money online by writing. New and exciting things are on the horizon, and I hope you join me as I learn by living.