One Big Sale or Money Every Month? How Eric and I Get Paid Online

If you earn a $20 commission, you need 50 new sales every single month to make $1,000.

Fifty. Every month. Starting from zero again on the first.

That number is why Eric Green and I ended up recording Episode 2 of the podcast about the different ways you can get paid online. Eric is in sunny Ecuador, I'm in Cornwall in the UK, and we get paid in very different ways. Here's what we covered, with the maths we put on screen.

You can watch the whole episode on the episode page.

We boiled it down to four commission models, and asked a simple question of each: what would it take to make $1,000 a month?

$20, one time. You need 50 new sales every month.

$128, one time. You need 8 new sales every month.

$128, every month. You still need 8 customers, but next month it can be the same 8.

$1,000, one time. You need one sale a month.

That's the whole difference between one-time and recurring income. One-time money needs new sales every month. Recurring money depends on people staying subscribed, which is called retention.

I used to think a low price meant the product would fly out of the door. Eric thought the same at one point. We were both wrong.

We've lost sales because something was too cheap. People didn't see the value. There are car salesmen at Mercedes and Rolls-Royce and Tesla, just like there are at Toyota and Hyundai. There's a market at every price, and the cheap end is not any easier to sell.

You'll hear a lot of YouTube advice about selling a $27 ebook and keeping $20. It's a fine commission. I just don't know anyone making a living off $20 commissions, because of the number above.

Eric leans towards mid to high ticket programs that pay $500 to $2,000 a sale, and he likes the ones that pay quickly. The commission arrives and it's gone, then he's on to the next one. But you can actually do something with $1,000. You can put it straight back into your marketing and buy more traffic, as long as your offer is converting.

His example: one $2,000 sale a month would more than cover his bills in Ecuador, with money left to invest and travel on. Last month we had a $1,000 sale come straight from YouTube. I never spoke to the guy. He found one of our videos and joined.

I'm the lazy one, and I'll say so. I like recurring income because my bills are recurring. Water, electricity, the car. When I moved to Cornwall I didn't work for three months and it was brilliant.

Recurring has two catches. You have to build up the numbers before it feels like anything. And people don't pay forever. Life happens, and there's a lot online now to distract them.

But think about what people keep paying for. Website hosting. An email list they'd hate to lose. A community that supports them. Some of the customers in my business have been with me for three or four years.

One new customer a week at $128 a month gets you to $6,144 a month by the end of month 12, if nobody leaves. My best month ever was 25 new customers, and I wouldn't plan on that. This is maths, not an income promise.

In the gold rush, the people selling picks and shovels had the steadier income. Eric would have been out there hunting for the big chunk of gold. I'd have been in the shop.

He could make a lot more than me on a good day, but if he takes a day off he doesn't find any gold. I can close the shop and customers still come in tomorrow. There's room for both of us. And if you're promoting a tool, people keep paying for it month after month, and you get paid each time.

Eric made this point near the end and I think it's the most useful one. Check what the company is willing to pay you. A lot of big affiliate programs pay 5%, 10% or 15%. The tools platform I promote pays 80% commission monthly, and the high ticket one pays 100%.

Then check how long they've been around (both of ours are over 10 years old), and how good the support is. Will they do what they say they'll do?

If you're new and you want the recurring side, the HBA Turnkey System is the one I use. I've been a customer, and I use the tools to promote another business. I earn a commission if you join through my link. If you want to ask me anything first, ask. I'd rather you pick the right fit than rush in.

See the HBA Turnkey System here

The link to the high ticket program is on the episode page too. Talk to us before you join either one, because we really do try to help our people.

Required Legal Disclaimer: Typical affiliates earn no income. This is not a get-rich-quick program. No sales = no income. Full earnings disclosure: thehba.app/income