Hey Reader,

Last week’s survey provided a lot of good information, but perhaps the most surprising bit is that the vast majority (75%) of my current audience found me within the past two years!

I suppose it was a bit egotistical to believe that all my followers from 10 years ago still follow me today, but this was a bit of a wake up call.

This response informed me that many of you may not know how I got started. Let me tell you a story…a story that even if you have followed me for the past 10 years, you might not know.

The year was 2012. I had recently gotten married and moved to a new city. I was working for Walmart and had gotten a promotion, but I was not enjoying it.

So, I was spending every waking moment outside of work hours (and sometimes during work hours) trying to find something better.

I wanted to find some work I could enjoy, and ultimately, something that I could become passionate about. It’s hard to be passionate about unloading trucks and stocking shelves.

I started writing. Most of my writing found its way on to a revenue-sharing site called Squidoo. On Squidoo, you could write pages (or lenses as they called them) that focused on any topic you wanted. Then when people visited your pages, you collected a percentage of the profits from the ads that were shown on the site.

That ad revenue didn’t really account to much unless your page was a top performer for the month on all of Squidoo, but it was a start. It got better when I realized you could also include your personal affiliate links in these articles.

As the holiday season was approaching, I started looking at all the new toys that were coming out that year. That’s when I found my first big breakthrough!

FURBY!

Obviously 2012 was not the year Furby was introduced, but Hasbro was betting on nostalgia and new technology to make a Furby comeback. I jumped on the train.

I started creating lens after lens about all the Furby news I could find and helping people figure out where they could get their hands on these fuzzy little creatures. (Does this sound familiar?)

Well, long story short, it worked! 🙂

Not only was I able to generate thousands of dollars in affiliate income when people bought Furbys on Amazon, but my articles entered the Top 100 on Squidoo during the holiday season earning me some bonus cash.

Unfortunately, as the holiday season slipped away, so did all my traffic and therefore all my income. It was fun while it lasted, but I needed something more sustainable.

I knew I was on to something. I knew I had the ability to help people through the internet, but I needed to find a way to do it consistently so I could quit my job and dedicate more time to it.

Back to the drawing board. ✍🏻

To be continued…

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SHOP UPDATE

There are a few new storage options in the shop this week, but my favorite is naturally the Tower Case.

We only have one in stock at the moment, so you’ll have to hurry if you want to make it yours.

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AUCTIONS

There will be no auctions this week.

We’re experimenting with monthly auctions. The February auctions have been completed, so there won’t be any new auctions until March.

For the time being though, I do still plan to have a “Chat With Matt” live stream on Friday evening.

Big thanks to DeMeister for creating our brand new Chat With Matt logo. You should be seeing this quite frequently moving forward.

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THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Wednesday:Unboxing Live Stream @ 1 PM CT

Thursday: —

Friday: Chat with Matt Live Stream @ 7PM CT

Saturday: Shop Update @ 1PM CT

Happy hunting!

-Matt