Keeping with my new-found idea of creating passive income while leaving the laptop computer at home, I am writing this post from a public-access computer at the Salt Lake City Main Library. My laptop is at home feeling unloved.

The New York Times is no longer charging for online content

In a nod to the growing income potential of internet traffic, and the ability of search engines to draw traffic to a website, the New York Times is no longer charging for its “Times Select” service. I was fascinated by the Times’ decision because it speaks to the ability of internet traffic to bring in revenue through google adsense and other online advertising services. The newspaper reportedly made about 10 million dollars per year on subscription fees. It seems to think that it can now make that money through online advertsing. I would tend to agree.

Can google adsense be a meaningful passive income stream?

When google first came out with adsense, I remember several bloggers scoffing at the idea and saying that simply putting ads on your website was never going to pay your bills. They mentioned that adding adsense to your sites did not a business plan make.

They were right and they were wrong.

They were right because most niche blogs and websites do not get enough traffic to make more that a few dollars per month in adsense revenue. They were wrong because websites are cheap and easy to create and take little to maintain. Ten websites making ten dollar per day is a $100 per day in passive income. It’s a start. Plus, if you DO get significant traffic you can earn substanitally more.

What is google adsense and how much money can you earn with it?

To refresh your memory, google adsense is a program that automatically puts clickable advertisements in selected areas of your website. When someone clicks the ad, google gets a paid per-click (called pay-per-click or PPC) and you get a portion of the revenue. How much per click? I have recieved as little at 3 cents per click and as much as 2 dollars per click. You can get more or less.

Pay Per Click Revenue

The amount of money that you can earn wiht PPC is largely a factor of how much traffic that you recieve. My sites have click through ratios of 1% to 6%. That means that for every 100 visitors, 1 to 6 people click on the ads. For the sake of comparison, lets say that the ads generate 50 cents per click. On a site with an average click-through of 2%, I would be getting 2 clicks per day and, earning on average, $1.00 for every 100 visitors.

Does is add up? Assuming the above numbers, a site getting 100 visitors per day earns $1 per day and $365 dollars per year. A site getting 1000 visitors a day gets $10 per day and $3650 per year. If the site gets 10,000 visitors per day it will earn a solid $100 per day. Congratulatons! You now have a part-time job making you $36,650 dollars per year. Even better, you can skip work for a few weeks or even a few months and you will still be making that income!

Interested? Me too. In fact, I am going on a three month tour of some remote areas in South America - paid for by my google adsense checks. But not yet! I am still in the processing of setting up some more revenue generating websites. Bill and I (Ryan Nagy) will be telling you more about it in the days and weeks ahead.

Cheers for now! - Ryan