How To Create Passive Income At Home – Wealthy Affiliate Journal #6

Hello, and welcome to my 6th installment of my ongoing Wealthy Affiliate Journal. This article will continue in the same theme, and will further discuss how to create passive income at home.

At this writing, I have reached Course 3, Lesson 3 in the Wealthy Affiliate membership, and this is what we’ve all been waiting for. This course and subsequent lessons finally discuss some of the numbers associated with successful affiliate blog sites, and the course finally reveals some of the income that is possible.

Course 3, Lesson 1

In Course 3, Lesson 1, this lesson, basically, serves as a reminder to those who are going on to become successful affiliate marketers. This lesson talks about helping people (potential customers) find what it is they are looking for, and it also talks about the basics of product and life-cycle keywords used in attracting internet traffic during the different phases of customer research and purchasing decisions. It’s a very important lesson on understanding the whole purchase process.

So, How Much?

In Course 3, Lesson 2, the course begins to identify some of the major affiliate networks out there right now. These networks serve a number of different companies, and they offer a multitude of products. But, Lesson 2 finally offers more information on the whole point of affiliate marketing, and it begins to answer the questions everyone wants to know. How much can a person actually earn? How much is actually possible, and how do you go about creating passive income at home as an affiliate marketer?

It’s a Numbers Game

Well, and I know you don’t want to read this, but it’s pretty simple, actually. It all depends on the traffic you create. In short, the more traffic you generate from your blog site, the more “click-throughs” you will get, and the more click-throughs you get, the more conversions (sales) you will generate. OK, for some of you “newbies,” I know… “Huh?” You’ll get it, I promise.

A “click-through” is basically a “give me more information” type of visit from a potential customer. Someone who is surfing on the internet trips over your blog site, reads about some topic you are writing about, and then decides to check out the product. This click is considered the “click-through” to an affiliate link. Ok, great, but where’s the money? Don’t worry, I’m getting there…

The Customer Purchasing Process

Out of the number of click-throughs, you will realize that a certain number of those who click through will actually proceed to purchase whatever item is associated with that link. And, that is called your “conversion rate.” Those are the people who actually buy, and that’s how you, as an affiliate, get paid for your work. Here are some hypothetical numbers provided in this lesson:

Hypothetical Example:

Assume that your site receives 1000 visitors each month. Out of those 1000 visitors, you can (conservatively) assume a 20% click-through rate. That is 200 click-throughs. Out of that number, an extremely conservative conversion number (actual sales) could be 2% or even 5% – meaning 4 to 10 sales made per month. Now, consider the fact that you will be updating your site from time to time with new content while your old content is generating cash.

That is the concept of Passive Income! You’re being paid again for work already done. To sum up, you would be creating passive income at home because the income being generated from the pages or posts you have already created continue to generate this income on a monthly basis while you relax somewhere. All you need to do is update your blog site from time to time to keep things active and interesting. Like my mom always says! “Less Work, More Money!”

So…, How Much, Again?

Many affiliates pay, on average, $30 to $50 per sale. It all depends on the product and company you have “affiliated” with. Some pay more, and some pay much less. This is being used as an example only, but let’s just say, for example, the affiliate pays you $50 for each sale.

Well, do the math!

If you’re blog site is generating 4 sales per month, that’s $200 a month.
If you’re blog site is generating 10 sales per month, that’s $500 a month.

But Wait – There’s MORE!

Seeing that we’re discussing how to build and earn money from blog sites, etc., you will likely have more than just one article focused on one keyword – am I right? Is that a safe assumption?

Of course it is. So, again, conservatively speaking, let’s just say you’ve written maybe 20 different articles on whatever niche you’ve chosen, and they’re all using different key words. It is possible to generate even more traffic than originally suggested – Right?

So, let’s increase the possibility slightly more. Let’s just say your site receives a conservative 1,500 visitors a month. (I chose that figure on purpose, and you’ll see why below.)

A 20% click-through rate = 300 click-throughs multiplied by the conservative 2% conversion rate = 6 sales per month. If using the 5% conversion rate, that’s 15 sales per month. Do you think that’s possible?

Well, I believe the traffic figures are a definite possibility. Why, you may ask, do I think that’s possible?

Because my static real estate site that I already have up and running receives, on average, 1,500 to 1,700 visitors each month targeting a very localized geographical area. I’m NOT even using spectacular key words, it is not a blog site, and my site is optimized for only one County located in only one State in the U.S.  Further, I’ve done nothing with that site since I can remember, and since the whole point of this Wealthy Affiliate Journal is to document my journey and my own experiences, I know the traffic figures are definitely achievable especially when you consider that the internet is also known as the “world-wide-web.”

So, What’s the Bottom Line?

Where do we stand right now? While I can’t state yet that I am actually generating any income or creating passive income yet from this or any blog site. What I can say is that, using the figures in Course 3, Lesson 3, I realize that this effort to earn passive income will likely work – assuming the click-through and conversion rates are true. I know, from personal experience, that it is possible to generate that kind of traffic without much effort as I am already doing that on a site I own. In short, if those conservative figures and averages turn out to be true, I should be able to generate passive income very soon from my blog sites – assuming I have some sort of affiliate product or service with a good amount of demand and low competition.

Sooo, How Much Can Affiliate Marketers Make?

Well, after spending time on Wealthy Affiliate, learning and reading other blogs by various members, I do know that there are affiliate marketers earning four to five figures – a month – every month.

I will continue on in this series, and I will be providing a status update for those who are interested in learning more about my journey with Wealthy Affiliate. Please feel free to ask questions or comments below, and I look forward to your next visit!

To Your Success!

~MMH

P.S. To read previous articles posted as part of my Wealthy Affiliate Journal, the links are below for your convenience.

Wealthy Affiliate Journal Series

1) Feb 21: How to Make A Passive Income Online

2) Feb 22: Working At Home: Wealthy Affiliate Journal

3) Feb 26: Building Passive Income Online

4) Feb 27: How to Earn Money With Blog Sites: Wealthy Affiliate Journal-4

5) Feb 28: How to Earn Money From Blog Sites: Wealthy Affiliate Journal-5