Last year I had set myself a personal goal of reaching 150k profit. I made 143k USD which translates to 150k AUD.
This year I’m going to set myself a goal of 150k USD again BUT I’m going to break it down to the following,
- 25k from a NEW long term site/asset
- 45k from Teespring/Custom Products
- 80k from Affengineer
Why the same Goal?
2014 was a great year for me. Apart from making a lot of money I was able to learn a lot about Internet Marketing and most importantly get into the right entrepreneurial mindset.
I called 2014 the year of ‘The Grind’. Meaning my focus was to make money via anything and everything I came across. 2015, for me, is the year of ‘Stability’. I need to start making decisions that provide my business with long term security and will allow me to make money even if I decide to take 3 months off.
This year I wanted to take a more ‘long term’ approach. You see, it’s great I made all that money last year but I didn’t build anything. I have no asset, no email list, nothing I can grow apart from this blog. This is a very risky business model. In fact, it’s kind of wrong to even call it a ‘business’. A business is one that you build and grow and service. One that will keep running if you take a break. One that has a client base you can reach out to. This is why CPA offers pay a whole $2 for a valid email because they understand the value in growing an asset, (email list). My approach with Teespring gives me none of this. If I were to stop Teespring Activity for a couple of weeks my Teespring income would drop to a big fat 0$. I need to change my business model and so this year I’m going to focus on learning long term business skills instead of just making dollars.
25k From NEW Long Term Site/Asset
This is probably my main focus this year. To build a website, apart from this blog that brings in 25k. Some ideas,
- Subscription based website
- Social Media run custom product website
- Anything else that comes to mind
I have a lot to research to do here but I know it can be done. Building and maintaining your own website teaches you a lot of skills. I would consider it more of a business than what I’m currently doing. My approach to the above will be documented in this blog and progress will be thoroughly covered in my income reports.
45k from Teespring/Custom Products
Teespring has become more of an addiction than a business. I can’t stop myself from continuously researching and launching campaigns. It’s exciting knowing that you could be just one design away from 10s of thousands of dollars.
This year I’m going to try force myself to back up a bit. A good Teespring focussed business requires a LOT of work. You need to be constantly launching and designing campaigns not to mention all the research and monitoring that goes on behind the scenes.
I’m a one man team with no one that works with me so I find I spend the whole day doing the above. I’m still going to make money with Teespring except it’ll be lesser of a priority than it was last year.
Also, part of this goal is also to make money though other custom product platforms. I want to build a niche site around custom products and drive traffic to it via FB/Pinterest.
80k from AffEngineer
This blog is one of the best things that ever happened to my business. It’s made me realise the reality of true passive income. With a forecasted mid 4 figures in January, it’s bringing me more money than the average wage in Australia!
I write about what I love so it hardly feels like work. It’s more of a mind dump on my journey as an affiliate. I try and be as transparent as possible without giving away my campaigns of course and it seems it’s the transparency that has made this website valuable to people.
This year I have massive plans with AffEngineer.com. I don’t make tutorials about anything unless I’m making money from it. By money, I don’t mean a few bucks, I’m talking a full-time wage or better. That’s why, even though I’ve tried a bunch of different Affiliate methods, the only one I’ve made tutorials about is Teespring.
I’m going to continue with this mentality. Every time I ‘master’ something, I’ll make tutorials on the EXACT way I’ve done it. My motivation comes from all those crappy business products I see everywhere. Also, if anyone wants to learn about what I do, it’s all there. It’s also a great way to increase traffic to my blog and meet new people.
The Unknown
Who knows what I’ll come across this year. The above goals are just guidelines and focus points. They help me lock on to something and base my work habits around it.
There will always be a certain level of experimentation in my business. I love trying new things and always dedicate a set amount of time to fulfil my shiny object urges. I came across Teespring from a forum post on Aff Playbook. Who knows what I’ll come across this year.
All the best
~ Mateen
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Good luck man. Do you mind sharing how much traffic affengineer gets?
Thanks Dave!
About 6-7k/month (2-300/day)
That’s awesome! I didn’t even think it was possible to make that kind of income with a modest amount of traffic. That makes me feel like I’m on the right track. π
Yep! As long as your content is good and your traffic is targeted to what your talking about, you’re on the right track. Start split testing different monetisation methods and see how you go!
Way to go Mateen!
I need to get out from my rug and do something meaningful with my life too.
You are my inspiration.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello Mateen,
I am a long time reader but never commented on your blog until now…
You are absolutely right about Internet Marketing and how insecure it is. Especially CPA where offers go down on a daily basis. That is one of the reasons why I switched to Teespring. Not because Teespring is 100% secure but I find it more enjoyable until I earn enough money for a more serious and sustainable business. The second reason why I switched is you and your blog, you inspired me and I want to thank you!
Thanks and I wish you to achieve your goals in 2015
Hey Nik,
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
Whatever you do, go into it 100% and fully focused. Teespring is great but you need to be continuously designing + launching campaigns. This is the secret to it.
Good luck to you too for 2015 π
Nice goals you got there!
“Subscription based website” – what are you thinking about here? Course? Coaching? SaaS?
Thinking about doing the same and I’m split between a course/community or a SaaS. Potential is greater i a SaaS but a course is less heavy on the investment-side of thing… decisions, decision.
Thanks Mikael,
Nah none of that. I’m not much of a programmer and I like to focus on real world paid marketing rather than coaching. This blog is really a side thing.
I was thinking more a niche community site, monetising with custom products. Maybe even releasing a monthly magazine, etc.
I have little to no idea how I’m going to do it but I definitely know some people are making bank with this type of model. This year is all about experimenting and seeing what works!
Good luck to whatever you decide to do
Congrats on all your success and here’s to a great 2015!
Thanks for dropping by David!
Nice goals you have here…diversification and more stable businesses!
One thing I don’t agree with though is the fact that you want to reduce your income from Teespring which is your biggest earner. I would advice you to outsource the design and building of these campaigns while ramping them up for more profits. Amp your income goal to $200k instead! π
This will leave you with more time to build your brand Affengineer with content management and email list building while also dabbling in your long term asset websites!
Just my 2 cents! π What do you think?
And we are still waiting for the post on A to Z, step by step teespring campaign building.
What is your take on the future of teespring? Is it still a golden opportunity to try on FB? What about PPV on Teespring?
Thannk you!
H
Outsourcing is part of the plan but Teespring will always be a very hands on business. Even if outsourced, you will still need to do a lot of work to maintain good profits. I’ll definitely try it out though and report how it goes!
Just made the post for you. I completely forgot about it!
There will always be golden nuggets everywhere with Teespring, it’ll just get harder and harder to find. Teespring has opened up the doors to custom products so it’s always best to keep an eye out on different custom product platforms. Eg, Teespring, fabrily, viralstyle, represent, sunfrogshirts, myteestore, fyves, etc.
Haven’t tried PPV on Teespring. It might work!
I can see you reaching these, keep going! π
Fingers crossed mate. Just up to me to continue grinding ;). Thanks for dropping by, I appreciate it.
Hello Mateen, my names David.
I found your teeSpring series on YouTube which led me to sign up for the APB forum. My question is, how can a regular guy like me with no FB fan pages built or any prior knowledge make a full-time income with this. Your my inspiration Mateen, i’ve been glued to my computer for the past few weeks after finding out about this. People are saying that this is a bottomless-pit of opportunity and that it can’t get over saturated, because people will always buy shirts. Do you feel this to be true? Also I’m a noob with photoshop, which version so you use? CS3?
Hello David,
I was just like you when I started. No prior experience with any of this affiliate stuff. The only difference between the me now and the me then is that now I have a tonne more experience. It took me a LONG time to get things working and I just kept pushing forward. Everyone that makes it in this business has a similar experience. As long as you can keep pushing forward whether your activities are bringing you results or completely flopping, just keep taking the NEXT step.
Anyway, I would start by watching all my teespring tutorials and then starting a follow along on APB, showing us your progress. That’s the quickest way to get good at this.
Yes, people will always buy shirts or hoodies or shoes or any other merchandise they like. The possibilities with this business model is endless BUT it doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s up to you to put in the hard work and find pockets of gold others haven’t found yet.
I don’t use photoshop, I use gimpshop which is basically the free version of photoshop.
Good luck!
~ Mateen
Hi Mateen,
I read through these first couple of posts and was well inspired – just like the other readers on this reply page. Keep up the good work letting us know of your accomplishments and also letting us know that there are always stumbles along the IM roadway.
Your site has been well bookmarked !!!
Adrian
Thanks Adrian π
2015, for me, is the year of βStabilityβ. I need to start making decisions that provide my business with long term security and will allow me to make money even if I decide to take 3 months off.