This is where I share the blog income details and give you some tips to help you increase your blogging income! August was exciting because I exceeded $2,000 in blog income! I’ve been hovering around there, but it was nice to finally surpass it even after expenses. You’ll get the whole scoop below. To give you a little background, I’ve been blogging since the fall of 2013. I started my blog as a way to stay accountable and motivated as my husband and I paid off six figures of student loan debt. It grew into a nice side income for our family over since then. For the complete list of past income reports, you can check out the blogging income report archives. To get the current reports as I make them available, please join my Behind-the-Scenes Blogging email list. On to the August numbers!Blogging Income– $2,242Since I started tracking my blogging income by category, I have noticed one thing is consistent. And that is change– especially when it comes to how my income divides up among the three categories below. That being said, August’s pie graph actually does look really similar to June’s. Even when my income as a whole is fairly consistent, the way it divides up changes each month. I guess that just shows how important it is to diversify and have various streams of income rather than put all your eggs in one basket. The figures below show money I actually received during August. Another reason for the differences from month-to-month is that every source has a different pay schedule. Some companies pay me the same month that I earn it, and others lag several months or require a certain minimum before dispersing funds. My total blog income for August was $2,242 before expenses. Here’s how that income breaks down: Ad Networks– $825I do my ads through AdThrive. Before I had enough pageviews for AdThrive, I had Google Adsense and Media.net. If your monthly pageviews are under 100K, then that’s what I recommend. If you’re getting close to 100K, you should get on AdThrive’s waiting list (it’s long). Private Advertising/ Sponsored Posts– $1,000I get my sponsored post opportunities through companies who match bloggers up with brands. In June’s report, I wrote about some of the companies I’ve used and some details about them. Another good strategy is to pick out the brands you want to work with and approach them yourself. I haven’t done this yet, but it’s in my long term plan. Right now I am busy with too many other projects, so it’s easier to just look through opportunities that come up through a middleman Affiliate Sales & Referral Bonuses– $417YNAB— $168 Blogging Expenses– $120I try to keep my blog expenses to a minimum, so I really don’t have much that I pay for. I paid for a year of hosting upfront with Bluehost, so I don’t have that as an expense. Internet– $35 I charge half of our internet bill to the blog, since at least half of our internet use is blog-related. MadMimi– $16 I use MadMimi to send out my blog newsletter and this one. I also use it for my RSS subscribers (for those who receive every new post). Domain Name– $14 My domain name was up for its annual renewal. My domain name is registered with Namecheap. PO Box– $15 My PO Box auto-renewed for another 3 months. I have yet to actually get any real mail there, but because of the CAN-SPAM act you need a physical address to be legally allowed to send a newsletter via email. Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle– $30 I am a new Ultimate Bundles affiliate. I got the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle. You don’t have to buy the bundle to be an affiliate, I don’t want to promote something unless I personally know it’s awesome! Grocery University– $10 This was another resource I wanted to check out. Grocery University is an audio series about cutting your grocery bill, mostly by using coupons and planning meals around ads. Net Income– $2,122 |
Interested in growing your blog or starting one?
If you’re interested in starting an income-producing blog, then there are two comprehensive resources that I recommend:
Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook— If you’re looking for a great resource to get you started off on the right foot, this ebook, planner, and set of videos is awesome! Abby, the author, will guide you along every step of the way. One of the packages even includes an active and helpful Facebook group.
Elite Blog Academy— If you are committed to sticking to blogging, then this course is well-worth the $500 investment. Registration only opens up once a year, so you’ll want to sign up to be notified when it happens. They’ll also send you a great free ebook on blog moetization when you get on the waiting list.
Of course you’ll actually need to set up a blog too, if you haven’t already. If you’re planning to make money, then you want to set up a self-hosted (meaning you have to pay for your website to be hosted) WordPress blog. I put together a complete photo tutorial for setting up a self-hosted site with plenty of screenshots to walk you through the process.
And finally, be sure to subscribe to my exclusive behind-the-scenes blogging emails where you’ll get my full income and expense reports in your inbox, along with insider tips and other gems.
After you subscribe, hit reply on the first email and tell me about your blog. I’m looking forward to “meeting” you!