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In a world where January 1st seems to open up new possibilities and resolve, where people everywhere declare their intentions and goals for the next 365-day cycle… I’m here to tell you that January 1st is just another day on the calendar – just like every other day. The only difference is that the number for the year has increased by one.
Peace out 2020!! You were a great year in so many ways. But now 2021 has taken your place! 2020 is but a fond memory and 2021 has the potential to be the best year ever!
Don’t get me wrong. I too had renewed feelings of purpose and determination brought on by the new year. But I’m not naive and I’m completely aware that New Year’s resolutions are just like promises – they’re made to be broken. For this reason – I NEVER make any dumb ass New Year’s resolutions! I know they’re going to be broken anyway… so why put myself through the nonsense.
However – I do set goals. Goals are different than resolutions.
- A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something.
- A goal is the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
I’ll share with you some of my goals in ‘Matt’s Dumb Ass Weekend Update’ below…
The Featured Image
The picture above was actually taken on January 1st, 2021 – next to a small lake near our home in West Michigan. My 10-year-old son, Eli, and I decided to take what we called, a ‘Carhartt walk.’ We both received some pretty sweet new Carhartt gear as Christmas gifts a week earlier – and we felt like taking a walk through the snow and into the woods – like a couple of tough Carhartt dudes. Here is Eli in the same location…
We got some cool pictures of ourselves wearing our new Carhartt gear – with a plan to use these pictures as part of one of my plans/goals for 2021 on this blog!
Matt’s Dumb Ass Weekend Update
Okay. Here it is… I’m going to say it. I’m going to write down one of my goals right here. I know I’ll probably regret it later this year – but here it is anyway.
Matt’s 2021 GOAL: to revive my Dumb Passive Income blog by publishing content regularly and building an audience and returning it to it’s glory days of actually bringing in some substantial passive income!
I have a few ideas and some plans in the works.
For one – I want to TRY to publish one of these ‘Weekend Update’ posts every single weekend. But I know I won’t possibly be able to actually write one of these every weekend. I’m still going to try.
Besides the ‘Weekend Update’ posts – I have an idea for another “series” of blog posts. I’m going to call them, ‘Do you even…’ – much like the title of THIS blog post. Except, most of my future ‘Do you even…’ blog posts will be product review type posts. For example – the first one will likely be titled, “Do you even Carhartt?” Pretty cool, huh? I’ll write all about the Carhartt brand and include some of my photos and promote Carhartt gear for sale on Amazon using AmaLinks Pro elements to show it off!
Building and nurturing my email list is one of my goals. I still have my email list from years past – but it has been severely neglected. I don’t even currently have ANY way for anybody to sign up to get on my email list right now. That needs to change quickly and I will get something in place soon.
Lastly, I have another plan in the works right now to build up traffic to this blog. I’m using the same plan to increase traffic to my AmaLinks Pro blog. I’ll probably write about this plan in detail in my next ‘Weekend Update’ post.
The Words Written in Red
Given all that is going on in the world and in the United States at the time I am writing this post – I think the following words from Jesus are appropriate…
And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.” Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.
“But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution…”Luke 21:9-12 (NLT)
If you don’t already own a Bible, or if you do but it just sits around collecting dust – now would be a good time to pick one up and read it. I would suggest starting with the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
Well… This is a ‘Passive Income’ Blog
Passive income is kind of a farce. It truly is an absurdity, if you think about it. This probably sounds strange coming from a guy who has built his brand around a blog with the name ‘passive income’ included right in it. Lol.
But I’m here to tell you that ‘online passive income’ is not really passive at all. Take this quote from a ‘passive income’ blog post, for example…
People love talking about passive income online. But, everyone seems to have a different view on what’s passive. For me as a blogger, it means doing the work once and continuing to earn money on that work for months or years down the road with minimal upkeep. Sorry, folks. Passive income doesn’t mean getting paid for doing nothing ever. You’ve got to put in some effort.
This quote was written by Angie Nelson in this post on her ‘The Work at Home Wife’ blog.
I don’t disagree with Angie at all. It’s absolutely true! I still earn affiliate commissions and bring in advertising income from blog posts that I’ve written many years ago. But here’s the thing… traffic tends to dwindle on older blog posts. Unless you update your older posts and continue to put in work to keep and build your audience, the traffic will eventually die off. If you put in the work to keep the traffic coming to your blog – well, then – that isn’t really passive at all, is it?
For example – I found Angie’s post by searching Google for ‘passive income with a personal blog’ and I clearly see that she updated this post in 2020, but it was originally written in 2015. I can tell by looking at the dates on the comments at the bottom of the post. If Angie didn’t update this post in 2020, I doubt it would be showing up towards the top of the search results.
I also have first-hand experience. I’ve built up websites and blogs to earn respectable monthly incomes – but found out the hard way that if you neglect them, the traffic and the earnings all but disappear. You have to constantly ‘work’ online to nurture your ‘passive income’ sources – which makes them not very passive at all.
Sorry for the reality check. Just keeping it real. Lol. Now, why don’t I make an attempt at earning some ‘passive income’ by promoting some products for sale on Amazon.
I Can’t Stop Buying Stuff on Amazon
On Christmas Day, this past year, we realized that we needed to purchase a few more items after our kids opened all of their gifts.
Wireless Headphones for Elena
Both of her brothers got wireless headphones for Christmas and she did not – so we purchased this stylish pair of cat ear headphones, perfect for an 8-year-old girl!
PC Gamer Speakers for Eli
Eli got a pretty sweet gaming setup for Christmas, including a new gamer desk, a gamer chair, some gamer headphones and a curved monitor to plug his Xbox into. What we didn’t realize (or even think of), is that a monitor does not come with speakers like a TV. So, the only way he could get sound was through his headphones. And there are times that you want to play without headphones – so we purchased this set of ‘gamer’ speakers, to plug into his monitor, from Amazon.
Wireless Audio Adapter for Ethan
Ethan received a pair of Beats wireless headphones (with mic) for Christmas, and he wanted to be able to connect them to his Nintendo Switch, wirelessly, for both listening and talking via the microphone. We purchased this wireless audio transmitter adapter, that plugs into the Nintendo Switch and works to connect the Beats headphones and microphone wirelessly!
A Day In The Life of an Internet Marketer
It’s all about the email. A day in the life… it always starts with email. I know I’m probably doing it wrong. I shouldn’t check my email first. But I always do and it almost always ends up dictating what I do online for that particular time period.
Conventional wisdom, from those who are successful online, says that you should prioritize YOUR tasks first and not let email dictate your time. Perhaps I should make that one of my goals for this year – to prioritize email only AFTER I accomplish other things that I wanted to get done online that day.
Mark it dude… it’s a goal now.
Your Book Report is Due
I have not quite yet completed this book, but I’m almost finished with it and expect that I will finish it this week. This one is called, . If you don’t recognize the name, Jim Gray has been a household name in sports broadcasting for decades now. He wrote this book which is all about his amazing experiences talking with some of the greatest athletes (and other well-known people) of all time. That is what the acronym GOAT stands for – Greatest Of All Time.
Jim has led an incredible life and has found himself smack dab in the middle of some of the most amazing and outrageous scenarios with some of the most storied athletes of all time. He tells the stories so well.
I needed a break from the ‘normal’ business and entrepreneur-style books that I typically read. As a lifetime sports fan, this book was the perfect escape.
Products You Want but Probably Don’t Need
I dare you to check out ‘Today’s Deals’ on Amazon. I double-dog dare you! You might find something in there that you want, and it’s on sale right now! You probably don’t need it – but, why not? Amazon can have it at your doorstep within just a couple of days. Why not just take a quick peek. See what kind of deals are available today.
Today's Deals on Amazon
McDonald’s – I’m Lovin’ It!
My oldest son, Ethan, and I just re-watched the movie The Founder on Netflix last weekend. We both love that movie about the founding of McDonald’s – regardless of the obvious spin to try to make Ray Kroc and the McDonald’s corporation look bad. Want to see all my thoughts about that movie and what I did as a result of my first time watching it (including the trailer for the movie)? Check out my full post about how the story of the founding of McDonald’s motivated me to keep ‘grinding it out.’
Fake News!
Don’t even get me started. I’m purposely avoiding politics on this blog. I’ve already said too much.
Did You Know?
Did you know that DOG spelled backward is GOD? Dog is said to be man’s best friend, and God created man. Hmmmmm…. Something to think about.
Where Are They Now?
Tom Hanks, the first big celebrity to announce that he (and his wife) had contracted Covid-19 – is now a citizen of Greece! What?!? Why?
According to Tom Hanks…
“… I’ve been around the world, I’ve been to the most beautiful places in the world, none of them tops Greece.”
Source: this article on pennlive.com
Products That Don’t Compare
When was the last time you used bar soap to wash your hands (just your hands) while standing next to a sink? It’s almost a nostalgic practice now – as most everybody keeps some form of liquid or foaming soap dispenser next to their sinks for hand-washing. But I’ve got to say – there’s just something about using a good old-fashioned bar of soap to wash your hands. Perhaps you should think about getting a soap dish to put next to your sink so you too can experience the nostalgia!
CLICK ANY image below to see ratings and reviews on Amazon
Fortnite, Fortnite – Let’s Go!
I’m proud to announce that I consider myself to be probably the best Fortnite dad that currently plays the game! I got my second ever solo win recently! If you don’t play the game – you have no idea how satisfying it is to get a win. Especially a solo win, with no help from anybody else.
It’s funny – I always play on Eli’s account on his Xbox (sometimes on Ethan’s account on his Nintendo Switch) – because those are the accounts where all my money has been spent to buy my kids cool stuff within the game – and I want to use some of that cool stuff that I paid for when I play. So, when I get on Eli’s Xbox to play – without fail, all of Eli’s friends who are online at the time think that Eli is online and they want to play Fortnite with him. Probably because he is really good and they have a good chance of getting wins with him.
But when they find out it’s me playing, instead of Eli – they think it’s the coolest thing in the world that Eli’s dad is playing Fortnite. They all want to play with me and help me get another win. Lol. I’m not nearly as good as all these middle-schoolers – but I sure do have fun playing video games with them from time to time. Apparently – not all dads are as cool as me. Playing Fortnite is cool! Believe me. Believe me that it is.
AmaLinks Pro is Cool – Just Trust Me on This ?
All of the links in this post that lead to Amazon were created and inserted using AmaLinks Pro – a premium WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates. Full disclosure… I am the co-founder of AmaLinks Pro.
If you like the elements on this page that link to Amazon and want to be able to create them super fast and easy on your own WordPress site – check out AmaLinks Pro.
The End
This concludes this mid-January ‘Weekend Update’ on the Dumb Passive Income blog. Feel free to reach out if you want to connect with me for any reason.
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He is the only known trucker who is blogging about creating passive income online. He is also the co-founder and co-creator of the most popular WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates – AmaLinks Pro.
dumbpassiveincome.com
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