# Trying to Figure Stuff Out



## Thatguy79x (Nov 16, 2011)

Looking forward to interacting within this community and learning more about personal finance and wealth.

So my story. 32 y/o married with 2 kids. I have a job that is netting me 3450 a month after taxes. I started an online business March 11 and from then on I've been netting about 50k-75k per month profit. I have no debts, except my mortgage which is about 200k left to pay, current market price of home is at about 300-325k 

I have no knowledge of investing, just a bit I've just started reading online. I met with a couple financial advisors and I just didn't like what was being offered. 

I have 400k I can invest with and can add about 40k per month to it.

Business info: Online marketing, consulting and own a variety of income producing websites. Incorporated in Canada. Thinking of moving to Panama, researched lots, save on taxes. I spend about 10-15k per month on my credit card buying online advertising. I mix it up between Canadian Tire MC or one that collects Shoppers Optimum points.


Finance goals: Start investing the money I'm making and get it working for me. I like the idea of having dividend payments sent out to me to create a nice cash flow. I also want to set something up for retirement savings. Look into better credit card deals and earn better rewards for the amount of spending I do with it.


Action so far: Reading up on investing and savings through forums and blogs. Purchased a fair bit of physical silver coins. Registered for a Quest Trade account and deposited 1k for playing around with.


Anyways I'm going to use this space to document my actions and results. My ultimate goal is to be able to continue to work from home for myself and live off of the money my investments make. For this goal I imagine 3000-3500 a month would do if we decided to stay in Canada 1500-2000 a month if we decide to move to Panama.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

50-75k a mth from a website business.....your doing something right!

Whats your website?Id be interested to check it out.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Our online businesses sound very familiar , BTW i never disclose my own websites in forums as then you lose your privacy .I have shared with two local members who I have grown to trust but would never put it in a public forum.
I have other webmaster friends who left Canada for more tax friendly havens but you do make some sacrifices that money cannot replace.I would recommend you discuss with legal professionals your options to move part of the business offshore .My friend set up a new business in Cayman Islands then sold his Canadian biz to that business and paid his Canadian taxes then left the country.It means he never has to worry in future and did it the honest way.Many online business people will just change the payment details and start moving it offshore but not sure if that will keep you safe from CRA.


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## loggedout (Dec 30, 2009)

How do people make so much from "online" businesses, I don't get it. I'm in no position to offer anyone advice making an income like that.


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## Helianthus (Oct 19, 2010)

loggedout said:


> How do people make so much from "online" businesses, I don't get it. I'm in no position to offer anyone advice making an income like that.


Indeed -- A good month for this person is my yearly salary


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Sorry to hijack this thread, but can you describe the business model you use Marina, without revealing which site(s) you operate? Advertising, referrals, membership, etc.?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

It is not as easy as some may think to run a internet business.I think back when I started it was probably easier than it would be to start from zero today.But there is lot of advertising dollars out there to be made ,for example my friend has a homework help website for Math and he gets paid $25 for every audible lead he sends that results in a sale.He is sending over 100 people a month to them.I know a guy that is on page one for proactive s-olutions that is netting $6000+ a month on referral fees.But I also know people who have been doing a website for a year who cant make $300 .
Andrew I actually have Three companies:
#1 is a SES/SEO Company and we have 38 clients and not looking for anymore as this arm of the business we are swamped.

#2 is a media company in which we buy media ads for our clients and we take a percentage off the top.Currently two of my largest clients are UK licensed sports book and publicly traded companies.We do some live events for some other clients as well ,for instance we did a VIP party in Toronto a couple months ago for our client who hosted their 50 top clients.We work with the hotel set everything up ,hire the entertainment etc and charge a fee to do so.

#3 is what I consider my day job , I own at least 200+ websites and I am an affiliate for probably every thing you can imagine .cj.com ,audible.com ,linkshare.com to name a few.Plus we are using Google ad sense as well on our high traffic sites to generate a revenue stream as well.

I have had many people ask me to help them 'do what I do' and I do not think it is something you can learn ,online marketing you either have it or you don't.This is my opinion only and I have this opinion after dealing with many business/website owners who come to us and say how much will it cost for us to get to #1.Money helps but it takes quite a bit more than money to be successful online.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

Seems like a streach-800-900k a yr from a online business.Question is why are still working a common "day" job for 3450 a mth?lol.....your yr salary is like 2 weeks revenue(net/gross whatever)


1+1 doesnt = 2 here.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My guess is he started just 6 months ago and he may be in gravy now but until you have many years of established revenue you cannot count on it.Piss off Google they ban your site and things can change overnight.I have years of being in business but i live like it will end tomorrow


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I guess what applies to the big players also applies to the little ones: the internet is a tough marketplace, and you can't count on your business model working indefinitely.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Google changes their search algorithms pretty often, someone I know that worked at a consumer product review site is on the brink now because they were considered a content farm and got dropped from the queries. Demand Media is an example that uses this business model... NYSE- DMD


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## Thatguy79x (Nov 16, 2011)

@ Donald: I'm currently under contract for my real job, so it is not as simple as just giving my 2 weeks notice. I have to give 6 MONTHS notice 
I wish I can just walk out, but I cant.

@ Marina628: I'm in the same boat as you. I work for about a dozen affiliate companies. I've create my own offers and have affiliates promote them. I'm also in the midst of launching my own affiliate network. I also have built up a huge collection of valuable websites with adsense (no autoblogs or content farms here!) I also own a website where users can make their own iPhone and Android apps for a very small fee, this is a newer venture but it has just started to rocket off!

I do agree with your statement about you either have it or you don't. I've tried teaching a few family members, and it was a complete failure. 

I've been doing well with the online stuff for about a year now, and things look great for the future because I didn't put all my eggs in one basket, but created various streams online that produce revenue.


For investing this income so far I've just bought physical gold and silver coins. I'm looking into some dividend paying stocks. Also looking at some real estate down south as I think Canada's market is still a little too high.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

I was reading today that google profile will replace facebook for self-promotion,i read if you can "lock" your name with them you can secure a top spot worldwide....ive always wondered how something like that works.

Say if your company is "cedar creek homes" worldwide there is 80 "cedar creek homes"....who gets top spot on google or is it random?Does anybody know,how that works?number of hits im guessing?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I gave up long ago trying to figure out google , I am on a % with a few advertisers ,where i send the leads and they pay a % of their business for life.One of the best markets I have is book sales ,cd etc ,I have many audio book websites online and over the years have thousands signed up under me.Amazon stores are good as well ,part of the reason I have so many websites lol


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Do you have to deal with distribution and inventory management stuff for those stores or do you strictly handle web stuff? I know simplyaudiobooks.ca is the biggest distributor in NA kind of like Netflix, used them a few times eons ago.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My sites are like simplyaudiobooks (that site can't be big websales with the traffic stats it has!)Totally virtual and I handle nothing in terms of inventory , payments etc.It is all done with trackers and I have admin where i can see my daily sales ,details of my customer name and email only .At end of month we get a payment for % of my sales ,we do so well as we pass % of that to the customers by emailing me coupon codes to use in the payment processors.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Wow.... very interesting thread we have going on here.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

shoemoneydotcom has lots of stuff.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Ok I stand corrected, they were one of the largest at the time, it looks like Amazon themselves have taken over the space? Bought Audible in 2008, Audible is now the largest for web sales.. So you don't sell any of the actual product yourself, assuming its similar to my friends review site, Amazon tracked the clickstream and if someone made a purchase after following the link he received a cut.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Exactly that way , I had a huge network under a UK company and many affiliates signed up under me. I own 25 sites all ranking for the same terms


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