Every three months I sit back and have a look at my business – and myself – and analyse where I’m going and what I’m doing.
I’m in a riverside cafe in Phnom Penh at the moment trying to get a visa for Thailand after being in Bangkok for a few days. This gives me a good excuse to catch up with one of Cambodia’s foremost bloggers, consultant for Norske Casino and old friend, Santel Phin (above). My visa application was rejected but I’m reliably informed it’ll be OK in Laos, so tomorrow I’m flying to Vientiane.
That’s 4 cities in a few days. All this time, I’m Skyping with freelancers trying to move various projects forward, creating content, making money, etc., whilst I negotiate flights, hotels, taxis, etc. All great fun! But work, diet, meditation and exercise routines tend to fall by the wayside when life gets like this.
Inheriting money
It feels funny talking about inheriting money on my blog. This is kind of personal. But, as I’ve always tried to be transparent about my business so it’s appropriate I should say why I’ll be less transparent from now on.
To do this properly, I’ll tell you a story. Over 10 years ago, I started a business and a marriage while I was working in London. The marriage is over but the business is still going strong. The business was doing the same sort of design work at home that I was doing at work.
As the years went by I started making more money from content than I did from design work and I started travelling. I was making $5000+ a month from just one platform alone. (It’s only $2000+ a month from that platform now but still enough to live off). And, of course, there’s been more income coming in from various sources.
Then two years ago my dad died. I always knew there was going to be some money coming however, now it’s here, it seems to have changed a lot of things, including other members of my family.
All trading and investment entails the risk of loss. Don’t invest capital you can’t afford to lose.
This is another sudden change of direction of this blog. When I was blogging about content creation and passive income, I was saying: “do this, it’ll be good for your business”. Now I’m saying: “this is what I’m doing: you can follow me or not, it’s up to you!”
Investing in Amazon FBA
I had profits sitting in my business anyway which I was about to invest into more products and brands on Amazon. I hope to speed this up going forward.
After an extremely rocky start to my Amazon FBA project, I suddenly realise my only product is making me a solid $1000/month. My second product is now live and I can hopefully get that to sell without making any of the horrendous errors I made with the first one.
I’m also starting a new product line and brand in a different category on Amazon.
I was trying to avoid getting hit by a car in front of Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh in the above photo.
Merch by Amazon – why MBA could be the new FBA
The latest buzzwords in make money online circles are “Merch” or POD. This is Amazon joining the Print On Demand (POD) / Merchanizing gravy train. At the moment this means you can upload a design and, if someone buys it, Amazon will print your design on a t-shirt and deliver it to the customer, and pay you a royalty.
I was alerted to this opportunity by my friend Lisa Irby of 2createawebsite.com. Because of my experience on the Amazon platform as well as my design background, Lisa thought that Merch would be ideal for me. (Isn’t it amazing to have entrepreneurial buddies like that?) I was delighted that my application at merch.amazon.com was accepted in a matter of days rather than months as it is for some people.
I’ve dived (or do Americans say “dove”?) into this with both feet, uploading designs not only on Amazon but also on Sunfrog, Redbubble, Zazzle, Cafepress, Teespring, Spreadshirt, and Teepuplic. That’s in order of importance. I have also set up a Printful integration with Amazon meaning I can upload multiple designs to more products, not just t-shirts, than my little “Tier 10” Merch account will let me.
Bear in mind this is Amazon, bear in mind they have only started Merch with t-shirts in the US, bear in mind that you have no inventory or transportation costs, and bear in mind that people are already reporting huge profits with this venture … and you can see the potential in this opportunity.
So far there’s no great successes to report. In fact, there’s zero success to report. However I will, as always, keep you posted.
Selling courses
During the last three years my company has made most of its money from selling video courses online, whether that was through platforms such as Udemy or my own platform.
After making videos on my YouTube channel and blogging, making video courses was a natural progression for me.
This year, after I’d cleaned up a horrendous hack on my old membership site, I launched my new self-publishing course to my audience.
I was pleased with the way the launch went. I sent out three emails (you can see them as three spikes in the above graph). I was able to sell the course for $47 as a 50% reduction on the $99 list price. (I love Teachable.)
So I made $2500+ from the launch on my site added to $2000 from the launch on Udemy.
Great. I can make 10 video courses a year and live off that. Only I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be the guy that makes money from video courses. I especially don’t want to be the guy that makes money online from telling people how to make money online. I don’t wanna be that guy.
The end of another business report
So, I began this report in edgy Phnom Penh, I’m now in sleepy Vientiane. Tomorrow, I’ll hopefully be back in Chiang Mai with my passport adorned with a visa that will let me stay in Thailand for another year.
I love this part of the world. And I hope to continue to grow my business and make money while I’m out here so that I can help more people. I’m not going to publish my philanthropic contributions – that’s as dead as my income reports. But I am involved with at least three non-profit organisations working in the region. And I’m looking to set up a mechanism to pass my profits onto them way into the future. If you have any comments or questions about this or any of the above please make them down below.
Peace!
Hi Rob,
Congrats on the success you’ve had by creating your own products. I love reading your stories because I am actually getting ready to start creating my own product and feel like there’s always something to learn.
I’ve personally never done anything with Amazon, and definitely don’t know anything about Merch.
That’s really cool that you get travel the whole time while running your online business. That’s what makes the Internet so great. It opens doors to so many opportunities.
Thanks for reminding me to sit back and take an analysis of my business. Sometimes I get so busy creating content that I forget what my goals are.
So would you say that you like creating videos or ebooks the best? Looking forward to reading more about your travel ventures and product creation.
Have an awesome day!
Susan
Hello Susan, thank you so much! The best thing about what I do is that I can change what I’m interested in from time to time and do that. So I wouldn’t say that I like creating videos or ebooks the best – I like loads of different things now 🙂
Incredible.
Thanks for the transparency in your reporting and I’m just LOVING your experimentation and diversification.
You’ve come a long way Rob – literally — and here’s to even more diversified success.
Thank you so much, Naima. I’m so grateful for your support.
Hey Rob, sorry to hear about the visa woes and hope everything gets sorted. I know we keep missing each other so I thought I’d drop a note here. I think we have a lot to catch up. We just started experimenting with printful and now that we have some branding designs up, I think it’s time to experiment with some more designs or with getting something up on Amazon. My goal this year if all goes well is to launch 2-3 food related products that we can make locally and ship or sell in our cooking classes. Still so much work to be done, but would love to get some advice and compare experiences in the future.
Interesting to hear, Dwight. Yes, we’ve got loads to talk about. I sent you a request on Skype.
You had me at Beer Lao. 😉 We spent many a lovely late night with Beer Lao and the World Cup in various guest houses around Luang Prabang. Will finally return to Thailand this summer!
I just wanted to thank you for posting this as I remember at some point you were going to put a halt to your income reports. Although the income is an interesting aspect, I’m more interested in what you’re interested in–and no longer interested in. Keep that coming, please, Rob.
I’m glad to hear you like Teachable so much as I’m co-creating a course (almost done: Book Sales Page–http://passthesourcream.com/bsp/) and I’m glad we didn’t go with Udemy.
Good luck on the visa and cheers!
Yes, I must confess I’ve been spurning Thailand’s Chang and Singha for Beer Lao recently!
Yes, great that you prefer hearing people’s ideas over details of their income. Not sure if everyone else is but it’s better to publish interesting ideas than interesting figures.
Thank you!
Hi Rob,
I think my brain came close to exploding as I read your report! Of all the Internet entrepreneurs I follow and in my small way, invest in, you must be one of the most interesting and inspiring out there.
Thanks for being there and having the courage to do what so many of us aspire to do.
Allan
Haha, Allan, awesome! Not sure about courage. I think I’ve been really lucky. Hope you continue to visit the site and my stuff, Allan. Thank you so much.
You have a fascinating story and experiences!
You definitely have lots of courage being able to pivot in your business, its very inspirational.
I look forward to returning to hear more about your business and experiences.
-Dan
Thank you, Dan.
Hi Rob. Condolences on your bereavement and yet congratulations on an inspiring Q1 2017 report.
I’ve finally discovered how certain friends were selling T-shirts with their artwork on Amazon. 😉 Another place you might like to add to your adventures is FineArtAmerica.com. My Mom’s artworks are there for print (and it works well for serious buyers who want actual paintings). They have a program where art can be printed on coffee mugs etc too.
To your future adventures!
Hello Vatsala, Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for that suggestion for yet another place to sell your designs on t-shirts, etc. All the best for your further adventures too!
Dear Rob, thanks for the share, People say when you have money you make even more money. It’s true as it opens up more opportunities. The fact that you didn’t stop where you are and not the guy that you think you are, show that you are an interesting, curious and intriguing person. Life is an adventure, to fine tune, to learn and to experiment. You will find great success in things you do. I have faith in you.
Hello Eemie, thank you so much for your comment and your wonderful words. Yes, money is a funny old thing. Not good, not bad, but it’s very important not to base your life around it. 🙂 I’m lucky to have people like you encouraging me. Thank you. And I’m sure you’ll find success in the things you do. I have faith in you too! 🙂
Dear Rob
I aways enjoy your emails and am sorry to hear about your Dad – it’s not easy losing a parent.
I’ve been experimeting with POD for some time such as Zazzle and Cafepress. It’s laborious work with no immediate returns. I’ll be interested to hear about your progress with your expertise and knowledge.
Best wishes on your travels! It’s cold here in Britain.
Alison
Hello Alison, thank you for your comment. Yes, POD for me is just a lot of work with tiny returns! I’m sticking with it for the time being. Yes, I know it’s cold in Britain, I came back for 2 weeks!
I am stuck in a dead end job that I don’t like and fantasize about having a lifestyle like yours where I’m location independent, seeing the world and still making decent money. I just don’t know how to get started. I feel overwhelmed when I start thinking of how to get there.
Hello Chris, thank you for your comment. I was stuck in a series of dead end jobs for nearly 20 years so I know where you’re coming from. It does seems daunting if you’re thinking of a way to have a lifestyle where you’re location independent, seeing the world and still making decent money. But that’s three amazing things that you won’t get straightaway. It took me years. One way to start would be to set yourself goals that are aspirational but realistic. So you could set yourself the goal of earning money from something other than your job to start with. That would be a realistic thing for you to achieve and it would be a great start. Maybe you could work online for a client and bring in $500 one month. Double that to $1000 and you could live in Chiang Mai on that.
And I have free courses that will help any entrepreneur online https://robcubbon.com/freecourses you can watch for free how to set up a website with WordPress, how to collect email addresses of customers online, how to earn passive income, etc.
But remember, the most important thing you can do is to take action. Build a web presence and offer something valuable to people.
The problem with entrepreneurship is that it’s very personal. No two entrepreneurs have the same business because they will only succeed at something that they’re passionate about on some level and we’re all different. You have to find something you enjoy that you can make money with. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hey Rob!
Thanks for shout! I absolutely love your posts. Always real, honest and interesting.
What’s so great about being an entrepreneur is you get the opportunity be your own boss, travel and pivot whenever and however you want. And sometimes as business owners (and humans) we need to change things up. Sounds like you are following your heart and that’s what makes your move so great!
That’s exactly what I love about being self employed. YOU call the shots ad when you manage/invest your money right, you can have the freedom to do as you please!
I will definitely keep following your journey and I wish you all the best!
Hey Lisa, thanks for popping by. Yeah, great to be able to make things up as you go along. Thanks again for giving me the kick in the pants to get into Merch. I’ve sold 11 so far and I’m on the 10 tier. Time for me to email AMZ and say “tier me up, baby!”
Hi Rob
Seems like http://plantingpips.com/ currently do not allow new members. I actually looked at this when I read about you mentioning copy trading in a previous post, but didn’t get around to looking more into it (I was too busy in the crypto space, as you know these last months have been crazy!), but was planning on taking a closer look at http://plantingpips.com/
Do you know when they will open up again? Feel free to write me back at me email, also if you want to chat about crypto 🙂
To be honest, Michael, I’ve removed the references to Planting Pips as it was naive of me to mention that scheme above others. I talk about it in this video An Apology, A Stupid Mistake, And How I Feel About Losing A Lot Of Money and in this Steemit post. However, I do believe the will be starting it up again.
I always want to chat about crypto. Maybe email isn’t the best way to do that? Have you found a good group for crypto info?
Hi Rob, do you still use Gumroad? Wondered how that was working out for you. Also, I noticed the courses I’m building on Teachable seemed to be a bit slow to load. – or is this just me?
I’ve never used Gumroad but I think it’s good as far as what other people say. Teachable is fine speedwise for me!
I hope this helps, Erich. Let me know if you have any more questions.