Finally Made Payout as an Amazon Affiliate

I must say that I am pretty excited since I finally made it to the $10 payout threshold for United States affiliates and received my direct deposit of $11.47 a few days ago.  It was great to see that money adding directly to my checking account.  This is a direct result of the ability to add Amazon capsules to my Hubs right here at HubPages.

Now you may not think that $11.47 is all that much money and you would be right.  But it represents so much more.  It represents the potential to earn additional passive income month after month.  It is exciting to read in the forums about those Hubbers who are making hundreds and thousands of dollars each month.  I am thrilled each time I see those reports of Amazon income that has been increasing month after month and that this month has set a new personal record.

In fact, this past month was a personal best for me as well.  I had a total of 6 items shipped and am already half way toward the next payout.  The first one took 16 months to achieve.  I know that the second will take much less time even though I only manage to sell an item here and there.

You see, I am not a salesperson.  I am not writing Hubs for the purpose of selling products.  I have a few that mention some products but my primary purpose is to share and convey information.  I strive to be helpful and provide tips.  In doing so, most of my Amazon capsules have books related to the topics on which I write which tend to be investment related topics.  That just happens to be the topic about which I have a fair amount of experience and knowledge due to my own reading and study.

As a result of the fact that most of my Amazon capsules contain books, most of my sales have been books.  I have a few other sales which seem related to a few of my Hubs as well.  So, I have yet to have the surprising Amazon product sale on an unrelated topic.  I also have yet to have the expensive item sale which I will occasionally read about.  But that is OK.  By having the capsule available on each of my Hubs, someday I could very well see those types of surprises occur.

The point is that the income is totally passive for me.  I simply set up the capsule and then go on my way writing other articles as I have time.  I know that as I increase traffic over time I will benefit from additional exposure and opportunity to readers clicking on the Amazon products and even purchasing a few on occasion.

Needless to say, my goal would be to see this income source develop over time.  I have no intention of becoming a salesperson and writing hundreds of product Hubs.  I don't think that I have the talent or disposition to do that.  But I can write a few Hubs about products that I use and enjoy.  I already have a couple in mind that I could do.  Too bad I didn't get that done before the Christmas shopping season but I will always have next year.  I don't expect this income to develop all that quickly since I don't focus on it.  But I would expect to see the next payout occur in less time and hopefully collect two payouts in 2011.  I would also hope that by the time I get about 400 Hubs, I could be making monthly Amazon payouts.  I think that would be a decent goal for which to strive.

I am grateful that HubPages offers its writers the opportunity to make money through multiple sources.  I have seen my Amazon income slowly increase and expect it to continue to increase albeit at a quicker pace.  I know that one day I will be selling products each and every month and will be seeing monthly deposits to my checking account.  It only comes down to the amount of work and effort that I devote to that source of affiliate income.