I Love It When A "Plan" Comes Together

Clickworker crushed July, UserTesting made its debut, and platform diversification proved its worth through the late-summer slowdown. July through September, platform by platform, in real numbers.

(Quick disclaimer: this is what happened to me. It's not advice or a promise.)

(And if you want to know the process behind the numbers, you can find it here.)

The Numbers

July

• Clickworker: $569.53
• Prolific: $266.93
• Connect: $218.70
• July Total: $1,055.16

August

• Clickworker: $274.05
• Prolific: $153.20
• Connect: $120.93
• August Total: $548.18

September

• Clickworker: $455.02
• Prolific: $134.90
• Connect: $135.35
• UserTesting: $15.00
• September Total: $740.27

Three Month Total: $2,343.61

The Quarter in Plain English

$2,343.61 in three months – averaging about $781 a month.

July set a new personal best, crossing the four-figure mark for a single month ($1,055.16). August brought a noticeable late-summer cooldown across all major platforms, but things picked right back up in September. Compared to last quarter's $2,382.70 total, we stayed virtually neck-and-neck despite shifting platform dynamics.

Clickworker: The Summer MVP

Clickworker took center stage this quarter, bringing in $1,298.60 – over 55% of the total earnings for July through September. July alone saw a massive $569.53 payout. When task volume ramps up here, it really carries the load.

Prolific & Connect: The Summer Cool-Down

Both Prolific and Connect experienced the typical mid-to-late summer slowdown:

• Prolific: $266.93 in July, $153.20 in August, and $134.90 in September (Total: $555.03).
• Connect: $218.70 in July, $120.93 in August, and $135.35 in September (Total: $474.98).

While both numbers dropped compared to spring, having both platforms running meant steady baseline income even when study volume dipped.

UserTesting: Joining the Board

September saw the first official earnings from UserTesting ($15.00). It’s a small start but adding new income streams to the lineup is always part of the long game.

Versus Last Time

April through June brought in $2,382.70 ($794/month). Summer finished at $2,343.61 ($781/month) – just a tiny $39 difference quarter-over-quarter.

Reflections

The summer proved that consistency pays off even during seasonal lulls. Hitting $1,000+ in July was a huge milestone but keeping the quarterly total right on target through August and September showed the real strength of the multi-platform approach.

Where Prolific carried Q2, Clickworker carried Q3. That’s the exact beauty of not relying on a single platform: when one slows down, another may be there to step up.

As always, every dollar cleared gets swept straight into my investment accounts – dividends reinvested automatically, compounding quietly, and building momentum.

Where the Summer Dollars Actually Landed

Earlier this year, my idea of investing was pretty basic: buy a couple of well-known index funds, maybe pick an individual stock or two that was in the news, and hope the market moved up and to the right.

But as the dollars kept trickling in, I started paying closer attention to how all these pieces fit together and how I wanted to shape my investment plan. I didn't want a random collection of tickers; I wanted a resilient, intentional structure.

Over the summer, that evolved into a broader multi-asset approach:

• Core Equity & Growth: Broad market index funds and dividend growth ETFs form the foundation letting the heavy lifters of the economy do their thing over time.
• Fixed Income & Income Generation: Active bond exposure keeps cash flowing into my accounts consistently without relying purely on stock dividends. These are nice steady often monthly dividends that feel like free money.
• Real Assets & Non-Correlated Defense: Precious metals and trend-following managed futures give the account real assets and hedges that don't care what the traditional stock market is doing on a given Tuesday.
• Targeted Yield & Sandbox Space: Holding infrastructure funds for steady yield and keeping a tiny, controlled corner just to learn the mechanics without risking the core strategy (and, to be honest, to have a little fun and take some crazy swings at things – fun to try to hit a home run but not worth betting the bank on it).

Is it a little more structured than where I started back in January? Oh my ears and whiskers, yes!! But the beauty of funding this entire setup with side hustle earnings is that every piece – whether it's fractional shares of a broad index fund, a slice of a bond fund, or a tiny hedge in metals – was built $0.50 at a time.

Onward to Q4!