As promised in my last post, I'm going to show you more of the “big picture” of my life & income as a Super Affiliate.
I'm a full-time Super Affiliate. For me, it's all about lifestyle. About working from home and raising my two children. Being a great mom, and creating the life I want to live - and one that I absolutely love.
I usually share that with photos. The photo to the right, that's me hiking the trails by the Rock Island Falls where I live in Tennessee.
Over the years I've shared a lot of the highlights from my mobile, work-at-home lifestyle. You've seen photos of me traveling the world, goofing off, trying new things. And just hanging out with my kids – whether we're flying off to Las Vegas or playing in our own back yard...
The most significant point, that you can't actually see in these photos, is that they were all taken on a weekday – between 9am and 5pm...
During a time when most people are stuck at work, at a job that they hate, making less money than they prefer to live on.
I've been there. I had a low-paying job, 6 of us lived in an 800 sq ft rented house, the car was always breaking down.
It was a struggle just to make a paycheck last the week. Those were tough times, to say the least.
Changed seemed impossible. When I did finally decide enough was enough... making that lifestyle change required dramatic measures. I quit my last "real job" cold turkey at the beginning of 1997, and started my first business.
My children were 5 months and 5 years old. This year they will be 14 and 19.
I've been home with my two children full time, running a successful home business, for over 13 years now.
But what I want for my life, and what lifestyle design means to me... may not be the same for you.
So today we're gonna do something a little different. Instead of just giving you a sneak peek into my fun easy-going lifestyle, we'll take a look at just some of my income as a successful super affiliate. Actual screenshots and real numbers.
That's what you really want to see, isn't it?
You want to know if there's really any money in this whole "work at home" Internet Marketing thing, right?
So let's talk Proof.
Real proof.
Here's a screenshot from my PayPal account, taken just a few months ago - in December 2009:
This does not show you my total incoming payments. It doesn't show you how much money I made online. It also doesn't show you how much of it I spent through PayPal which was over $2,000 that month alone. It doesn't include affiliate checks I get in the mail, or payments I received through my other payment processors.
All this shows you is how much I transferred out of PayPal last month, into my bank account. And if you add those numbers up, it comes to $10,300.
That's one month. December 2009.
Here's a screenshot of the PayPal payments that I received last year - during the year 2009 – totaling just over $80,000:
And how about this year: a partial month, Jan 2010. Over $31,000 in income:
Again, that's just PayPal, which only represents a portion of my online income. A lot of my affiliate commissions still come via check, some by direct deposit, and some from different payment processors (like 2checkout, for example).
You'll rarely ever see me talk dollar figures, or discuss my income. There's a reason for that. Personally, I feel it's irrelevant. The amount of money I need to maintain my ideal lifestyle may be completely different than your own goals.
Some people just want to make $1,000/month online for extra money, others want to become multi-millionaires. And there's plenty of people in between with their own set of lifestyle & financial goals.
The point is that you want to make money online. And my point with this post is that you can make money online. Good money. As much or as little as you personally want. I'm doing it, and so can you.
I know what you're going to ask me next, so I'll just go ahead and tell you. You want to know where that income came from, and what those payments were for exactly - right? The partial online income I shared with you above came from a variety of sources. I work in a variety of niches, across dozens of domains. I use pen names on most of my niche affiliate sites, and add email addresses into my one PayPal account to receive affiliate payments there.
The income sources include: payments for short low-cost reports I sell in various niches, affiliate commission payments from a variety of merchants, membership sites I manage, advertising I sell on some of my niche sites, etc. But the majority of the income I earn online comes directly from Affiliate Marketing.
I hope this inspires you. In closing though, I have to share something else with you that I've learned along the way. Money is not the end goal. Money alone will not make you happy. While that may sound cliché, I'm telling you that from the heart.
Figure out what you really want out of life. How you want to spend your time day in and day out. It's all about lifestyle. Then work backwards from that vision, and figure out what it's going to take to achieve and maintain that ideal lifestyle. That's where your financial goals come in.
Best,
p.s. I love my Super Affiliate lifestyle. While I've been involved with Affiliate Marketing for more than a decade, it was Rosalind Gardner's Super Affiliate Handbook that turned me into the successful Super Affiliate I am today. I continue to study and model Rosalind's methods, and highly recommend this $47 investment if you're genuinely ready to make dramatic life change...
Want to know something funny? I waffled over spending that $47 myself for more than 3 weeks when I first discovered her guide. It seemed like a lot of money to spend on an ebook. I look back on that now, and I laugh. 😛
About Lynn Terry
Something I picked up from Earl Nightingale is “a successful life is the sum of many successful single days.” That sounds too simple to be true, but it is.
Let me explain. If you look at Lynn Terry’s “proof” stats, you don’t always see like $10,000 in ONE day. She has MANY $18 sales or $5 sales and so on. You don’t have the sell big ticket items to be wealthy. You can sell a lot of smaller priced items and be equally as wealthy.
As far as the “I need a little money to get started crowd”, well I can’t always agree with that. And here’s a simple strategy to fight that.
You can use a Blogger blog as your website. You can even use the Blogger blog as a squeeze page. Promote your affiliate link on the blog and write articles to send traffic to it. Then bookmark your site every time you make a post. You’ll get traffic and you’ll make some sales.
I still make sales on some of my Squidoo pages and that’s free too. You won’t get rich with that method, but you will make some affiliate commissions. Once you’ve made a few sales you can get your own WordPress website and post the same way Lynn does.
Happy blogging folks.
Peace,
Shane
This is great and inspiring! I have been considering jumping into this with my blog. Have no clue where to begin! Thanks for the info. I would also love for you to do a guest post on this. I think it would fit in perfectly with my blog. Congrats on achieving success - for me, too it is all about lifestyle - not getting rich!
Great post and very inspiring for sure. Keep up the good work and keep living life on your terms.
The one thing that I really notice in this whole internet marketing game is the ones that seem to make money online are all selling how to make money online stuff. It seems to be the only decent market that I have seen really. I just wonder how long it can last with everyone doing it now.
I dont think that is actually 100% true, but it certainly is a direction that some are taking. What you dont see is the other streams of income they have, or the fact they are into this for a short time, and then move onto another thing. There is truth in 'not putting all your eggs into one basket'!
That's simply an illusion, but a common conclusion. There are TONS of people out there making money online selling real products to real people. They just aren't teaching it, so you never hear about them.
And why would they, when they are making plenty of money doing what they're doing, and have no reason to share the details with anyone else...
Okay, so years and years ago, I realized an online business was what I really wanted, and yet here I am at 48 and I have only just begun! Why, you ask? I felt like while I was raising my kids I had to have a reliable, steady income and couldnt take a risk on letting that go. I have now been out of work for just over a year, and NOW is the time, both because I still want to, and because I need to. Going back to a regular job is not an option for me. I have started with Squidoo, and am putting in 10 - 14 hour days and praying hard that it is going to be the start I need. I am not sure if affiliate marketing is the ultimate goal, but a damn good lifestyle is what I want. To not have to worry about money, and to get my partner to the point where he can sell cars because he WANTS to and not because he needs to is important to me. It is scary, no two ways about it, but I know others can do it, and I have the capability to do it too. Just riding on faith and effort right now!
Hey Dee 🙂
Have you looked over this quick exercise?
http://www.clicknewz.com/2281/how-to-choose-a-niche/
You may find that a good starting point in finding something that just takes off for you. Let me know if it raises any questions!
I love honesty... you are a brave women to share so much personal financial information online, and yet it gives so much integrity and authenticity to the advice you are giving. Bravo!
Big time kudo's and congrats are due to you for not only being a supe affilate but also being a super mom! You are truly an inspiration!
Wow Lynn, you are damn good at what you do (affiliate marketing) - those proofs show it; and the best part is you're a good teacher at that.
I have spent close to 40 minutes here, sponging and learning - after landing here from an article on buyers keyword mastery by Shelby Larson, at ezinearticles.com. Bookmarked and signed up to learn more.
Lynn
Long post. Read it all.
I really connected in your last few words about finding what you want from life and working backwards to the amount of finance needed.
It struck a chord. I think most of into affiliate marketing get too caught up in trying to make as much as possible and in the process lose sight of what really should be our goals.
The goal becomes make more, make more.
I believe you hit it on the head. Every now and then take a step back and reevaluate where you are in your great plan. It could be you've reached where you want to be but didn't realise it.
You're rockin it lady.
Please keep us updated. I love stories like yours. Local girl makes good.
Keep up the good work, hope you continue to make money. Inspiring Post.
Thank you! I plan on it 😉
Thank for your article, it motivate me to achieve the freedom of time, money and location by making money with affiliate marketing.
Lynn, I read the whole page on "Lifestyle & Income of a Super Affiliate" and all the comments have been positive. Lynn, I like the way you provide helpful information, straight from the heart, that's hard to find these days keep up the good work...
Thank you Joseph! 😀
I never get tired of great success stories like yours. Thanks for sharing honestly...the should be an inspiration to all those currently struggling to make a decent income online.
Great article as usual, Lynn. You're the real deal. I love hearing from women especially who've made it in online marketing. Somehow they seem more real -- or at least they seem to come from many of the same places we beginners have.
One thing, though: Like many other successful online marketers, Lynn started in the 1990s, a time when the digital marketing landscape was up for grabs, uncrowded. Beginners today have intense competition to waddle through. One of the biggest challenges for me and others in highly competitive niches is how to stand out from the crowd.
Great topic, Ana! I replied here:
http://www.clicknewz.com/3294/too-competitive/
😀
When I read your blog had to laugh. I am currently living in an 810 sq ft apartment with twin 7 year boys, my husband and 1 bathroom and thinking there has to be another way (if you go to my blog's "about page" you'll get more of the back story). This summer I hit a turning point and have been inspired to get more creative about earning money among other changes I'd like to make. I have a good job that I do enjoy but I know I can do more with my creative side. Plus, I want more for my family and to be able to travel more. I have a few product ideas that I am pursuing and I am also interested in doing affiliate marketing. I am having a little trouble getting started and finding a niche. I don't think its that I am having trouble thinking of things but the challenge is really honing in on one thing to focus on. I am finding some helpful idea here and will keep reading.
Thanks!
Hi Jennie,
I have SO been there. 😉 I just now saw your comment, so I hope by now you are well on your way to seeing some of those ideas become a reality for you. I'm really glad you are finding help here at ClickNewz. Let me know if you get stuck on anything in particular!
Hi Lynn, I'm so glad I found your site 🙂
I've never been a big fan of the relentless "squeeze every last penny of profit possible out of every possible scenario" business model either... there is nothing wrong with boundaries, with paying employees a little more than the least possible, with accepting a slightly smaller profit margin in order to keep the quality or the quantity of a product.
Nothing wrong with improvement either...who was it that said "everything in moderation"?
Welcome Erich 😀
Glad you joined us! "Everything in moderation" is a great motto to live by, in all areas of life. My biggest goal is to ENJOY my work and business, with as much fun and as little stress as humanly possible. 😉