I wrote, “When you think about it, you should be able to make your $7/yr back on any domain name. With my kitchentilebacksplashes.com domain I am experimenting to see how fast I can make back my $7.00 with no further action.”

It took 41 days for the site to make $7 and break even without me doing anything.

I have done a few things since that time.  First, I noticed that I was getting alot of page views and visitors but hardly any ad clicks.  So I changed the layout around and made the ads more prevalent inside of trying to blend them in.

The was a good article on Net Business Blog about adsense which talked about blending in adsense ads.  It basically states that either your reader knows or doesn’t know that it is an ad.  If the reader knows that it is an ad, why bother blending it in?

I also reduced the total number of ads.  The theory behind this is that the top 3 or so ads that show up on your page are usually the highest bid ads.  By cramming a bunch of ads on your page, your reader may click on the cheaper ads.  What is better, 3 ads that pay an average of $1 per click or 10 ads that pay an average of $0.40 per click.  What are the chances that your reader will click on more than 2 ads if you have 10 showing?

So about 6 months from the day the site was launched, my site has made $77.  Not bad for a $7 investment.

So here are some more pictures of kitchen tile backsplashes with granite countertops!

You can see the previous pictures here:

• Granite countertops and tile backplashes photo set #1, photo set#2, photo set #3, photo set #4 and photo set #5

And of course if you want to do it yourself you can look here:

• My guide to tiling a backsplash part #1, part #2 and part #3.

Here are the numbers for July 2008.  The adsense revenue from this blog and my other sites are staying pretty constant.  My kitchen tile backsplash page is starting to gain traffic and momentum and has made $75 since its inception. I still get a few bucks here and there through my Amazon affiliate.

Ebiz1 had a record sales month.  It was greatly helped with one huge day and one huge sale.  It generated $1500 in profit, the highest to date.  However, I have spent $260 on tshirts to be given away and another $500 for a site revamp.  That brings the net profit to $740.  I’ve decided to post the $1500 since these business expenses really did not alter my sales in any way.  They had no impact on sales for the month.  Conversions were at 13.5%, down from 17% last month.  I also had 4 international sales.

Adsense revenue from this blog: $100
Adsense revenue from other sites: $39
Revenue from advertising sales: $85
Revenue from affiliate sales: $10
Ebiz’s: $1500

Total Revenue: $1734

Real Estate

• The Peoria house is 100% rented now.  I received a security deposit on Saturday and have a signed lease.
• It looks like the parent’s of tenants for the Chicago condo will be wiring me money every month. 
• My SLC townhomes are both rented with paying tenants.

Ebiz

• Ebiz#1 ended in July with record sales.
• Still trying to find a decent niche for Ebiz#2.  I may go a totally different route on this.  More about that later.
• Ebiz#3 - closed
• Ebiz#4 - Coming soon

Questions?

I feel I like have left alot of things open…  For example, I know that next week I should mention how much I sell my furniture for and how much I saved once the transaction is complete.  But I may totally forget to post about it and some of you may be wondering what happened.

I’m sure there are a bunch of those things that I need to close on my blog.  So if there are open ended posts that you been wondering about please let me know in the comments.

I decided to go shopping to get a new leather sofa.  I had a budget of around $1,300.  As I enter the furniture store I get the usual salesman asking me if I wanted help.  He proceeds to tell me that today they have a special sale.  Buy one item and get one of equal or lesser value for $1.  I did a double take…  What????

Yes, it was true.  I can buy a $1,400 leather sofa and get another one for $1.  But I don’t need two sofas.  No problem, you can choose whatever you like as long as it was under $1,400.  Seriously, this has got to be one of the best deals in the world.

Hmmm, I could use a loveseat too.  I can buy a leather sofa and matching love seat for $1,401.  Seems like a great deal right?

But how can I make it better?  The gears are turning.  I think that playing poker has made me think differently.  Like a player with a made hand, I immediately shifted to a different line of thinking.  How can I extract value from such a tremendous deal?

With most furniture stores, the more you buy, the better the deal.  Instead of leaving with just a sofa and loveseat for $1,401, I decided to add an ottoman, coffee table and 2 end tables.  Individually these pieces would be $3,800 but purchasing the whole set costs only $3,100.

So I bought the whole set for $3,100 and with $1.00 I got the exact same set again!

On to the next part of my plan.  I went home and put the 2nd set for sale on craigslist.  Who wouldn’t want to buy a brand new living room set at a great discount price!  I priced the pieces at about 66% of retail and tossed in a discount if someone bought everything.  I already have a buyer.

If all goes according to plan, I will have paid $500-$900 for my new living room set.  A much better deal than paying $1,401 for just a sofa and loveseat.

Note: I was very very tempted to buy 4 total living room sets for $6,202.  I could have sold 3 and came out $1,300 ahead and with a living room set.  But why be greedy.

I have a developer building me a new site from scratch.  My free OSCommerce template was fine, but there were so many limitations to it and I feel it was costing me money.  My new site will have better SEO, be able to calculate international shipping, be able to take coupons, process orders more efficiently and have a more professional look and feel.  On top of that, I think I’ll keep this developer as my site mechanic.

I also had 50 promotional t-shirts made which I am selling on the site but more importantly I’ve been giving them away in large orders.  I’m just trying to get the brand more popular and I’m also learning alot about the t-shirt business in the process.

So while overall monthly profits will remain inline with previous months, the business is really growing.

Here is a paper trade that I made last month (commissions not included).

I purchased 100 shares of Google at $550.76 for $55,076.
I Bought Jan 10 PUT 550 at $90.90 for $9,090 (gives me right to sell 100 shares of GOOG at 550)
I Sold Jan 10 Call 580 at $105.00 for $10,500 (gives someone right to buy my 100 shares of GOOG at 580)

I spent ($55,076 + $9,090 - $10,500) $53,666 on 100 shares of Google.  This gives me a net purchase price of $536.66 a share.

What I really did here is that I paid $9,090 for the ability to sell the Google shares that I just bought at basically the same price I just paid.  I can only lose $0.76 a share on my stock purchase.  However, I paid $9,090 for this insurance.  To offset the price of this insurance, I sold a Jan 10 580 Call which gives someone else the right to buy my shares of Google at $580.  They paid me $10,500 for that right.

The $10,500 offsets the $9,090 and actually adds $1,410 into my pocket.  This $1,420 lowers my Google share cost from $550.76 a share to $536.76.

So look at my trade now.  I paid $536.76 for 100 shares of Google.  I have the right to sell my shares at $550 up until January 2010.  Someone else has the right to buy my shares at $580 up until January 2010.

I cannot lose money on this trade.  Once January 2010 comes along I either sell at $550, $580 or somewhere in between.

Today

Today Google is at $477.12.  The stock has dropped $73 a share from where I bought it.

How is my trade doing?

Google stock     = $47,712  Net change -$7,364
Jan 10 550 PUT   = $11,805  Net change +$2,715
Jan 10 580 CALL  = $4,905   Net change +$5,595

I am up $946.  However, with these collars its best to hang onto them until expiration.  These trades are made to go almost all the way.

January 2010

What happens if Google goes below $550 on Jan 2010?

I exercise my Google 550 put and sell my shares at $550.  The Jan 10 580 Call is worthless and expires.  My profit is $55,000 - $53,676 = $1,344.

What happens if Google goes above $580 on Jan 2010?

The person who bought my Jan 10 580 Call exercises it and I sell them my shares at $580.  My Jan 10 550 Put is worthless.  My profit is $58,000 - $53,676 = $4,324.  Note, this is also the maximum amount that I can make on this trade.

What happens if Google is inbetween $550 and $580 on Jan 2010?

The put and call are both worthless.  I have 100 shares of Google at a price above $550 so my profit is at least $1,344 and less than $4,324.

Why don’t we all do it?

Wow, a trade where you can’t lose money.  Why doesn’t everyone do this?  Well because the return sucks.  I am spending $53,676 for the chance to make between $1,344 and $4,324.  That is a return of 2.5%-8.0% in a period of 18 months.  You can get a safer return in a CD.

Of course, you can find certain put and call combinations that will increase your returns.  You can use shorter term options to minimize your potential loss.  Aren’t options fun?

I got a call from a couple who has 5 kids and 2 dogs right away.  The reason they are moving is because they came home to find a foreclosure notice attached to the door of the house that they are currently renting.  The auction is set for August 28th.  They had been renting their current home for 3 years.

(BTW, I did a records check on their current residence and their landlord had 26 foreclosure notices in the past 2 months!  Must be a real estate investor who just gave up.)

I also got a call from a woman who was looking for a home for her daughter.  The house that her daughter is living in is also getting foreclosed on!  I see a trend coming with good tenants looking for new homes.

My tenant had agreed to do all the showings, which is great because I live 35 miles away from the house. 

The couple went over to look at the home on Friday and filled out an application on Saturday.  I approved them today and we are meeting to sign the lease today.  The new tenants do not have good credit (not many do) but he faxed me copies of his paycheck stubs and I had his mother co-sign the lease.

I’m so glad that the home was rented so quick!  There was no way I would have been able to sell this house at a decent price.  I know, it’s not done until the lease is signed and I get a check, but I’m about 99% certain that it will go through.  And another bonus, I was able to raise the rent by $125.

I was worried about my current tenants in that house.  Last year it took me 2.5 months to rent the home out and I was getting desperate and would have accepted anyone.  My current tenant is a single mom with 4 kids and her parents are the ones on the lease.  I have not been to the house since and was just worried that it would be trashed.   In fact, Friday was the first time I’ve spoken to my tenant since before she moved in.  I still haven’t seen the house but due to the fact that the new tenants wanted to rent it after seeing it leads me to believe that the house is in pretty good shape.