How I Lost $10,000 and What to Do To Avoid This
I’m sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a few days. With the holidays, wedding planning, finding an apartment, and the launch of my audio book all happening at the same time, you can imagine I’ve been a busy bee. I just finished working on 150 or so wedding invitations, and I’m beat. That being said, writing on this blog is a wonderful break from all of that, where I can discuss with you some things that may inspire and teach you whatever it is you take away from it.
So, you may be drawn to read this post via the title: How I lost $10,000 and what to do to avoid this. A more appropriate title may be: How I missed out on $10,000 and what to do to avoid this. Let me explain…
After keeping track of my online passive income for a few months now, I cannot express how much I wish I could turn back time. Why? Because I made one huge mistake – one ginormous (yes, it’s a word) wrong move that if I had the power, I would go back and change. I would have started earlier.
Sick Math
If I had started doing what I’m doing online just one month earlier, I would be $10k richer today.
Now, you may be thinking: “Pat, it’s not like you started out making $10,000 the first month, how could you be $10k richer by starting just one month earlier.” Well, the math tells me so, that’s why.
So let’s say I started my blog in January of 2008, which is true. I didn’t start monetizing it until about April, when I added Adsense, and was getting paid through ad clicks. I then started selling my eBook in October, as you can see in this rough chart of my income per month (these are not exact numbers, but you get the idea:
Monetizing Begins in April
Now, let’s say I started monetizing in March instead of April – just one month earlier, using the same methods and rates of growth and income each month after starting monetizing:
Monetizing Begins in March
I put $10,000 in December, but in reality it would probably be more based on the growth from the previous months. So you see, at the end of the year, at the same exact point in time, there’s a $10,000 dollar difference from just starting one month earlier.
Going Even Further
There’s even more things here that are pretty sickening to think about. What if I had launched my eBook one month earlier too, or even 2 or 3 months earlier? That is money “I missed out on” as well – because the kicker is, I can’t turn back time like I wish I could. No one can, except for maybe H.G. Wells.
Bottom line, in order to not lose (or miss out) on money that you could be putting into your pocket, you must get started as soon as you can.
The old saying holds true…time is money. A classic and similar example can be explained with retirement funds and compound interest.
If you’re 25 years old, and you make $50,000/year and contribute 10% ($5,000) a year to a 401k plan that earns 9% interest, you’d have $2.3 million in your account by the time you’re 65.
If you just wait 5 years (what’s 5 years going to do, right?), and contribute the same amount each year getting the same returns, you’d only have $1.4 million by the time you’re 65. That’s 1 millions dollars lost, just fron starting 5 years later.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
You can’t beat yourself up thinking about these kinds of things. I’ve already beat myself up about it, and what I’ve learned is that you can’t change the past. Beating yourself up will only consume more time and energy.
The only thing you can and should do, is make the best with what you have presented in front of you.
If you haven’t set up a 401k with your employer yet, that’s okay. Don’t miss out on any more valuable time and do it. If you have a blog and have yet to monetize it, do it. If you are trying to think of something to make more money with, stop thinking – and start doing!
How To Take These Thoughts into 2009
With 2009 less than a day away, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about what you want to accomplish in the New Year. What will you do next year that will help you earn more money online? Write more eHow articles? Write an eBook? Monetize your blog? Create a membership website? Partner with someone? Ask for a raise? It’s all up to you…
Ahh, it feels good to post again. Anyways, I just wanted to finish by wishing you and your family a wonderful and safe New Year. Let’s make 2009 the best year ever! Cheers!
p.s. My December monthly report, as well as my eHow monthly report is up next. Good times. Comments welcome!
Posted on : December 31st, 2008
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26 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)
[...] – Pat from The Smart Passive Income Blog provides some motivation into the new year for creating income [...]
Pat, that math is certainly eye-opening. The retirement example is actually quite staggering…it’s hard to believe how such a short time can make that much of a difference, but the numbers speak for themselves.
I look forward to your December monthly report!
Sarah H.´s last blog post..New Year’s Resolutions – The Key to Success
Happy New Year, Pat! You are definitely a motivator!
Jen Brister´s last blog post..Writing for Lifetips
Pat,
I think that the more important question is whether you could continue making $10K/month from book sales and other online revenues. I would much rather make $10K in the future than make $10K in the past
Online Dividends´s last blog post..Passive Income as of 11/30/2008
Money will come sooner or later. The idea is to stay motivated and continue to increase your passive income.
Vik Dulat´s last blog post..Top articles from 2008
It’s quite inspiring to realize that the second best day to start … is today! Yes, yesterday or last year would have been better … but today is better than next week or next year. SO let’s all kick our butts in gear and make 2009 a successful year on all accounts.
WriterGig´s last blog post..Maximize eHow Earnings with Affiliate Links
Pat–Thanks so much for this post. I too, am on eHow for about a year now. If I had had the successs you have had in two months–I would be elated! Just wanted to tell you that I have gained a lot from Anthony Delgado’s ebook–http://need-extra-cash.net/. I think it has some cool ideas.
Gayle McLaughlin´s last blog post..Avoiding the flu
I made a huge mistake when I started out. I was manually doing affiliate codes for one of my sites. I tested and triple checked my codes but didn’t realize that I had missed out on an essential piece of the code for tracking. So I didn’t get credit for any sales! Live and learn, it’s all part of the process
Wow….hadn’t thought about this before but it is very compelling. Thanks for reminding me to get off my butt and get more and more funnels of income in the pipeline. I have 4 projects waiting in the wings and they aren’t going to get done without me just sitting down and banging them out one by one. Again, thanks for this interesting way of looking at things!!
Yes, I’m the same. Ahhh it’s been a juggling act for me as a single Mum lately. But earning a passive income via e-books is PERFECT for my life style. I’ve put hundreds (if not thousands) of hours into my website and it’s looking awesome, but I always planned to write e-books to generate an income. I love the idea of earning money while I sleep! Actually I love the idea of getting some sleep! Pat, I really enjoy your blogs and the personal approach that you take. You’re right on the mark – it really draws me in.
with thanks from New Zealand,
Charlotte
Thanks for reposting this, it’s great info to know.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It has certainly opened my eyes. However in looking at your figures, what was it that took your income from $365 in August to $7500 in September? That is a huge jump from one month to the next.
a good reminder, Pat, thanks.
This article is insightful. Numbers speak, but so do time! That’s the morrow of this story. It’s like putting in a little more to pay off your mortgage sooner-from an opposite end! (And yes, I am as complex as that last statement)
Time is Money, and More Money! Go Figure.
Thelma
Pat,
this is really inspired advice. We need to get things going now. In the beginning it seemed like it was only 10 dollars a month or so. In the long run you lose out on the momentum you could have potentially had earlier if you had really got things going!
Thanks for the insight into the archives!
Chris
Can not really comment on this Pat, what’s done is done!
Wow. I was just thinking today “I really need to go back to my ebook and get some work done. Nah, It can wait a few weeks.” The truth is I think I lack confidence in my abilities, even though I know I have a good idea and a good amount of experience to back it up. I don’t feel like I’m an “expert” yet, so I keep hesitating. This is an eye-opener. I need to get cracking. Thanks Pat – I REALLY value your advice and openness.
Pat, thanks for resending this to your list. I am your follower and nice to see what happened back to your 2008 Journey. I am sure that you are doing great this year. When looking back, all these are great lessons to help us moving on.
Although I am a newbie, I am open-minded and keep reading, learning, and implementing Blogging tips and what successful ppl do. Keep up your great posts. They are my inspiration. Cheers!
Hello Pat,
You are a great mathematician. hehhehe… I will look forward for the next income report SPI.
By the way, I want to read again your ebook because I want to make it as a guide for my upcoming ebook…. But the problem is that, I lost the copy in my files, would you send to me the link in my email?
Thank you…
Blogging Access.com
Starting is the hard part, I am almost there.
Do you know what? I have read this before… or if not this post then the same story you wrote somewhere else. But thanks for sending me the email telling me about it again because it did make a big impression on me and it did and does make me determined to get a product out there asap. So thank you for that. I have your ebook on ebooks and am working on it:)But first I need to stop being such a perfectionist and recover from the Problogger conference in Melbourne.
They asked the panel of 4 (Darren Rowse, Chris Garrat, Yaro Starak plus Pip from Meet me at Mikes) what their fave blogs to read are and Yaro said Smart Passive Income. Isn’t that fab! 150 bloggers were taking notes. I was nodding sagely:)
OMG are you serious? I literally just jumped 5 feet into the air because I think you said Yaro said one of his favorite blogs was mine. That’s amazing! Thank you so much for giving me a huge smile and motivation to do even more now!
Pat
You shouldn’t be so surprised. Your blog is excellent and your honesty and candour is refreshing on the Internet. I ‘big up’ you a few times a week on the Warrior Forum.
Paul
I have one of those quoatable cards that reads: Your life begins today. How true is that? Thanks for the call to action! I’m a perfectionist who needs more doing and less thinking!
Inspiring – thanks for the repost.
Good post! I only found it though your email newsletter. It seems like other people found it through the newsletter at different times. Do different newsletters go out to different people at different times? That’s pretty cool that you can control it that much.