• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Modest Man

  • .
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • About
  • Outfit Ideas
  • Free Stuff
Home / Blog / Resources / Income Reports

Income Report: Q3 2018

Published on October 21, 2018 by Brock McGoff · Income Reports May contain affiliate links (what's this?)

It’s been a whole year since the last TMM income report. Let’s see what happened since Q3 2017…


Income report Q3 2018

Note: you can find the full version of this post at brockmcgoff.com.

I know, I know…it’s been a while. I haven’t published a quarterly income report since Q3 2017 (about a year ago).

Rather than going back to fill in the gaps, I’ll just pick things back up at Q3 2018. Let’s get into it!

TMM Revenue (Quarterly)

Let’s start with the big picture:

TMM Quarterly Revenue 2016 to 2018
TMM Quarterly Revenue by Category

Now let’s get into the weeds…

Show Me the Money

Revenue from TMM falls into three categories:

  1. Advertising (includes sponsorships)
  2. Affiliate commissions
  3. Selling products

Let’s look at each category for Q3 2018 (note: some of the links below are affiliate links).

TMM Revenue Breakdown

Advertising – $16,927 (down 30% from same period last year)

During the same time period last year (Jul, Aug, Sep), I did 3x as many paid partnerships (compared to Q3 this year), hence the 30% drop year over year (YoY).

Honestly, I’m okay with this.

The rest of the advertising revenue comes from display ads you see on this site, plus YouTube ad revenue (Google AdSense).

Affiliate – $7,314 (down 27% from same period last year)

I think this YoY drop is due to two things:

  1. Q3 2017 was an unusually strong quarter for affiliate revenue
  2. Amazon lowered their commission rates last year, which has caused a steady decline in revenue from that program

Affiliate programs have always been a small part of my business, but I know other content creators who do really well with them.

It’s definitely something I want to focus more on going forward, especially since affiliate income is truly passive.

Products – $1,643 (up 49% from same period last year)

The Modest Man Style Guide
The Modest Man Style Guide

This category includes digital products (The Modest Man Style Guide) and physically products (the occasional sale on Grailed, etc.).

In July, I paired down my watch collection by selling a bunch of them off via Instagram. This is more for fun than for money. It’s nice giving someone a good deal and seeing a watch or article of clothing go to a good home.

The Style Guide is good for about $200/month on average. It’s a solid guide, but I haven’t updated it in a while, and I do almost nothing to promote it.

But again, that’s 100% passive income…the best kind!

Grand Total = $25,885 (down 27% from same period last year)

Passive = $21,095 (up 3% from same period last year)

I decided to start tracking how much of the revenue from TMM is passive (i.e., doesn’t require routine, direct input from me).

Sponsorships are not passive. Display ads are passive. Affiliate programs are passive.

I like passive income. To me, it’s way more valuable than any other kind of income.

What About Expenses?

I’m not going to list out every single one-time expense anymore because, frankly, it’s very tedious. Of course, I do track these in my accounting software (Wave).

But here are the monthly recurring expenses, totaled for the quarter:

  • Rent (Studio) – $2,025
  • Virtual assistant – $900
  • WP Engine – $747
  • Phone – $330
  • ConvertKit – $202
  • LeadPages – $201
  • Internet – $120
  • Adobe CC – $63
  • SmarterQueue – $60
  • Bluehost – $60
  • Canva – $39

Total Recurring Expenses = $4,747 (roughly the same each quarter)

That leaves us with a Q3 2018 profit of $21,138 (or about $7k per month).

I hope this report is informative and maybe even a little inspiring. If you have questions about any of this stuff, feel free to ask me down in the comments.

Income Reports blogging, online business, passive income

Related Posts

Income report
Income Report: Q2 2017
Income Report 1
Income Report: Q1 2016
Income report
Income Report: Q3 2017
Income report
Income Report: Q1 2017

About Brock McGoff

The Modest Man founder, Brock is an aspiring minimalist who enjoys working out, spending time with his family, discovering new brands and creating great content.

Background: Brock McGoff has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a professional background in digital marketing. He believes that men's fashion is just one facet of self-improvement, and he started The Modest Man to help regular guys feel more confident by improving their appearance.

An east coast native, Brock currently lives in Arizona with his wife and daughter. When he's not working, he spends time with family, training BJJ, reading/listening to books and podcasts, and unsuccessfully trying to decide which movie to stream.

Expertise: Brock has built a men's lifestyle YouTube channel with over 400k subscribers. He's also worked as the creative marketing manager in a men's apparel startup. Brock has been quoted in, mentioned by or featured in publications like Esquire, Huff Post, Men's Health, WWD and Forbes.

More Articles by This Author

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

Join the Club

Never miss a post, plus grab this free guide (instant download). No spam. Ever.

Subscribe Now

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Ask Me Anything Cancel reply

    Got questions? Want to share your opinion? Comment below!

  1. atoine says

    December 27, 2018 at 12:35 am

    Glad you’re back at it! I love reading these reports and your thoughts, for some reasons. Thanks for sharing this. There are many similar posts all over the internet, yours is the only one that feel honest.

    I’ve been reading your reports and lurking on your Reddit threads for a while; it was super inspiring to watch you grow your online business. In fact you inspired me to do the same; I couldn’t stand my engineer job anymore so I started my website as a side-project. Fast forward 2 years later, the website is making more income than my office job. It’s weird; I should probably consider that I “made it”, yet all I can think about is “how can I grow the incomes even more”? My revenues are about 95% amazon affiliates, so I don’t really consider my website as a “business”; more like an opportunity as it’s very volatile (I don’t have enough income sources). But like you mention, there’s something very attractive about passive income… First it’s, well, passive. Second I don’t own anyone anything (since I’m not working with sponsors, I don’t need to publish frequently and I’m 100% unbiased which feels GREAT).

    Anyway, thanks again for the inspiration! I owe you a few drinks 🙂

    Cheers and good luck for the future!

    Reply
  2. Chris F says

    November 25, 2018 at 10:32 am

    Love these posts that you do! Very inspirational, and I enjoy the perspective on sponsored ads. You are sacrificing a little extra income for more authentic and non-bias reviews/articles. This is completely respectable and adds further to the quality of your blog Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  3. Jingles says

    October 28, 2018 at 11:15 pm

    Is Peter Manning going to get more t-shirts in different sizes? Seems like they and Jax Everett don’t carry many different sizes or selection for that manner.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      October 28, 2018 at 11:16 pm

      You mean restock, or creating different sizes other than the ones they have now? What other styles would you want to see?

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Join the Club

Never miss a post, plus grab this free guide (instant download).

No spam. Ever.

Subscribe Now

Top 5 Favorites for Spring/Summer 2023

  1. Thursday Boots Captain – still the best Goodyear-welted boot under $200 (full review here) 🥾
  2. Matte for Men SPF Lotion – because you should be using moisturizer with SPF
  3. Darn Tough Wool Socks – possibly the best boot socks you can buy 🧦
  4. Hamilton Khaki Mechanical – perfect everyday mechanical watch under $500 (Amazon/Jomashop)
  5. Flint & Tinder Waxed Jacket – great fit, perfect weight for fall 👍🏼

Trending Articles

Men over 40 style

How to Dress Well In Your 40s and 50s (and Beyond)

Fashion brands for short men

Where to Buy Clothes for Short Men (2022 Guide)

Seiko 5 SNK805

31 Great Watches For Small Wrists (Updated for 2023)

Best Business Casual Shoes for Men

Top 8 Best Business Casual Shoes for Men (2023 Guide)

Business casual outfits

The Complete Guide to Business Casual Style for Men

Topics

  • Clothing & Style
  • Outfit Ideas
  • Fitness
  • Product Reviews
  • Dating & Confidence
  • Grooming
  • Men of Modest Height
  • Income Reports

Footer

The Modest Man logo

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Home • Blog • Resources • Contact • Advertise

 

Privacy Policy & Affiliate Disclosure • Terms & Conditions

 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Copyright © 2023 The Modest Man (Registered Trademark)