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In a world where seemingly everybody has gone completely crazy and insane… I’m still here, blogging on the Dumb Passive Income blog, attempting to retain at least a little bit of sanity in the world.
For real… look around and see what I mean. Up is down. Left if right. Right is wrong. Bad is good. The world is flat. And you aren’t allowed to question anything for fear of being persecuted as some sort of offender.
But still… the blog must go on. So here I am, spouting off my dumb ramblings on the Dumb Passive Income blog! Lol. Oh! And I’m proudly Blogging in the USA! More on that below…
The Featured Image
Pictured from left to right are my two sons (Eli & Ethan) and I standing at a disc golf basket after finishing up a hole at Hammond Hill DGC in Hastings, MI. I saw the sun setting behind the trees, along with that wildly spooky big tree, and thought that would make a great picture. Even before applying the magic of editing and filters – I think it turned out great!
Both of my sons and I have become completely obsessed with the sport of disc golf. We set a goal for ourselves to complete 100 full 18-hole rounds in 2022, and I’m proud to announce that we will hit our goal with ease! We’ve already completed more than 90 rounds, and it’s only mid-October!
We were playing a couple of practice rounds at Hammond Hills the weekend that this picture was taken – in preparation for a tournament at that course that we entered, which took place the following weekend. My oldest son, Ethan, was stoked after he took home first place in the junior division on the day of the actual tournament!
Matt’s Dumb Ass Weekend Update
A few big life changes have happened since the last time I wrote and published one of these ‘weekend update’ posts. I’ll briefly cover each for your reading pleasure…
Day Job Update
For most of the past 2 years, I have been working 10 to 12 hours per day, 5 days per week as a truck driver for FedEx. Throughout the covid scare (and beyond), work was plentiful for those of us who wanted to keep working.
However, the long hours at my day job made it difficult to focus on any of my internet marketing ventures. Specifically, my main project was to maintain and try to grow the software business that I co-founded – AmaLinks Pro. I was still able to maintain the business, but it became really challenging to find time to do much on my end to try to grow the business.
More recently, things have changed at the day job, and I now find myself on a 4-day work schedule! I’m still working 10 to 12 hours per day, but only 4 days a week now instead of 5. In the near future, I will have Mondays off every single week. What a sweet schedule!
My weekly day job pay is suffering as a result. I sort of got used to those 50+ hour paychecks every week. But it’s good. I now have a full day each week where I can focus on my internet endeavors!
Internet Marketing Update
Partially as a result of my lack of time to try to grow AmaLinks Pro, along with personal circumstances in the life of the other AmaLinks Pro co-founder – we decided to sell the business. We wrestled with the decision and weighed the pros and cons and decided, in the end, that it was time for both of us to move on.
We started the process to list the business with Empire Flippers in mid to late March of 2022 and ended up closing on a deal in early June of 2022. We spent the rest of the summer transitioning and transferring ownership of the business and helping the new owner get 100% up to speed on the processes we had in place for running AmaLinks Pro.
As a result of selling the only thing I had been working on (online) for nearly 4 years – I am now left with pretty much ZERO dollars in monthly internet income. I’ve neglected the Dumb Passive Income blog for many years now and I only have one niche site left that still gets some seasonal traffic with minimal earnings.
100% Focus on Dumb Passive Income!
I’ve been blogging on this Dumb Passive Income blog since 2012. Most of the early years, I used the blog as a place to document my journey as I learned how to make money online. Throughout the years, I found myself venturing off to try various online side projects in an effort to strike it rich online!
Well – I’m back, and now I’m only blogging on this blog 100%. No more side projects. No more software products. No more partnerships. No more niche websites. No more Amazon FBA products. No more nonsense. Just my blog – the Dumb Passive Income blog – 100%!
What’s different this time around? I’m no longer using the blog as just a place to document my personal journey. These ‘weekend update’ posts will still do that, to some extent. But most of my focus on this blog going forward is going to be around publishing SEO content related to ‘passive income’ topics, of which there are many.
I’ve already gotten a good start with some of the articles I’ve published over the last couple of months. I’m not seeing results yet. Not even close. Traffic to this website is pathetic at the time I am writing this. But I plan to stick with the plan and keep publishing SEO content clusters. I definitely plan to get traffic back to where it once was and then keep growing it from there.
The Words Written in Red
Given the hatred and division that I see in the world today, I have no doubt that it stems from the fact that the world (as a whole) has turned away from God and rejected his son (Jesus). Woe to those who have rejected the son of God and woe to those who have caused others to do the same.
Here is what Jesus said about the world and its hatred for YOU… if, in fact, you are a believer, as I am.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
“Anyone who hates me also hates my Father.”
John 15:18-19, 23
That is spine-chilling if you think about it. If you hate Jesus – you hate God himself. The God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them.
Grab your own copy of the Bible for unlimited access to truths like this
Well… This is a ‘Passive Income’ Blog
My efforts to revive the Dumb Passive Income blog consist of articles I am publishing that revolve around what I am calling the 3 main types of passive income. I plan to publish articles that focus specifically on many different professions.
The obvious first profession that I decided to cover is truck driving, as I am a full-time truck driver for my day job. While doing my initial research, I found that the search results were lacking on the topic. Google obviously didn’t understand the query and thought that people were searching for how to make passive income by owning a trucking company.
Well, as a truck driver myself and somebody who knows LOTS of other truck drivers – I can tell you that the vast majority of us (like 99.83%) have no interest whatsoever in owning and running our own trucking companies. We are just drivers and we just want to drive and get paid.
However, plenty of us would like to earn some income on the side (the 3rd type of passive income) in addition to what we earn as truckers. And most who are looking for more information on the topic are not even aware of the importance of the first 2 types of passive income.
For this reason, I wrote and published what I consider to be the very best piece of content on the internet for the search query – passive income for truck drivers. My post actually has what the searchers are looking for instead of a bunch of useless information that they don’t want regarding owning a trucking company.
I Can’t Stop Buying Stuff on Amazon
Summer has finally ended, and here in Michigan, we are finally enjoying some cool and brisk fall weather. As we sat outside for 4 hours yesterday in mid-40-degree weather with clouds and light rain, watching my daughter play softball – I purchased this value-pack of disposable hand warmers.
We keep these on hand, especially in our vehicles, during the long winter months here in Michigan. You just never know when they might come in handy. Not to mention… hand warmers of some sort are absolutely essential when playing winter rounds of disc golf.
Blogging in the USA
I had this idea a while back, and I haven’t implemented it quite yet. You know how some physical products brag (usually with some sort of sticker on the box) about the product’s origin with a picture of an American flag and the words, Proudly Made in the USA.
Well… I thought that maybe some of us who blog in the USA could do something similar! What if we proudly displayed the American flag on our blogs, maybe in the footer or the sidebar, with the text – Blogging in the USA (or something similar).
What the heck… I’ll make an example right now!
And I’m back… 2 hours later – instead of making just one example image, I created several images (to give away to others) in various sizes and with different colors of text. I also created a Blogging in the USA page where people can see what this thing is about and access the images for free.
I also implemented my idea in the footer of my blog. Go ahead and scroll down to the very bottom of this page and see for yourself!
Your Book Report is Due
The book that I am in the middle of reading right now is a classic by beloved author C.S. Lewis, who is widely known for his children’s book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. However, the book I am reading is not a children’s book – rather, it’s the author’s attempt at explaining Christianity to Christians and non-Christians alike. It is called Mere Christianity.
I have only two words to say about this book. Picture me with both of my hands next to my head, then slowly extending my arms outward while extending my fingers at the same time – and making an explosion noise with my mouth. MIND – BLOWN!!!
C.S. Lewis explains Christianity and all aspects of it in such a unique way that makes it simple for anybody to understand. This is not a book filled with Bible quotes attempting to persuade non-believers. Rather, it is one man’s phenomenal attempt at explaining the virtues of Christianity so that people can relate and understand.
Products You Want but Probably Don’t Need
It’s always fun to check the ‘deals’ section on Amazon for some great finds. Think of it like walking straight back to the clearance section in your local store, except you don’t have to walk past all of the regularly priced items. You can shop Amazon deals right from the comfort of wherever you are right now via the device you are reading this from!
Today's Deals on Amazon
For example: While writing this post, I checked out the deals section and found this handy little toilet paper holder and shelf combo listed at 44% off it’s normal price. Please note: the deal may not apply at the time you are reading this, which very well could be far into the future.
I Heard It on a Podcast
Here’s something I didn’t know until recently. In 2012, then-President Barack Obama signed into law the JOBS act. One unintended consequence of that act was the birth of the online real estate syndication industry – otherwise known as crowdfunding real estate.
This podcast features four leaders in that industry talking about how and why they got started and where the industry is today.
Did You Know?
The majority of the population of the United States of America fits into a very small geographic area as compared to the total size of the entire country. Look at the areas in red on the map below. The total population in those areas is greater than the total population of the areas that are gray.
Want to see more cool and interesting maps and facts like this? I found this one on this page over at factable.com.
Keepin it Real Estate
I am now a real estate investor via crowdfunding! While doing research for a new post for this blog, I ended up signing up for an account over at Fundrise. I figured that I better have first-hand knowledge on the topic if I’m going to be writing about it.
So far, I’m impressed with the overall platform and the sign-up and funding process. It went smooth (like butter) and I’m already seeing positive returns (after only a couple of weeks).
Fundrise allows you to start investing with as little as $10! That way, you can check out the process for yourself before committing more money to the vast market of real estate investing.
Fortnite, Fortnite – Let’s Go!
Sitting around with my kids this past Saturday night… we turned on Fortnite. I played first. I got a win on my first attempt! Lol. So what if I basically bush-camped, ran from the storm, and tried avoiding other players until I absolutely had to fight. I still got the win. My sons and my nephew (who was staying the night at our house) didn’t get a win that night. That’s right! Ole dad was the better player, at least for one night. And I didn’t let them hear the end of it. Lol.
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 was the co-founder of AmaLinks Pro. I have since sold the business, and I am now an affiliate.
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 latest ‘Weekend Update’ edition of the Dumb Passive Income blog. I’ve got to say… although these posts are not keyword-focused at all – I do enjoy writing them. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle)
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle) Original Article