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I love putting together blog income reports each month. Since I’m already keeping track of my blog income and expenses, it’s not much more work to share the details with all of you. Plus, it gives me an excuse to analyze my income a little more than I would otherwise do. For example, I probably wouldn’t make a cute little pie chart just for myself, but I’m happy to do it for you! 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 since then. Making personal finances public is what I do on the rest of my blog, so sharing my blogging income fits right in. However, I usually send my income report out in an email, as my regular readers aren’t necessarily interested in the ins and outs of blogging, just the total income. After a year and a half of sending monthly blogging income reports to my subscribers, I’m starting to publish the old reports a few at a time. 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 numbers!Blogging Income– $1,436In my June 2015 Budget Update, I reported that I earned $1,316. When I report my income, I report the income that I have actually received minus my blog expenses. Usually payments lag a month or two from when I earn them to when I receive them. Before expenses, my blog income for June was $1,436. Every month is so different from the last. In May, the biggest piece of the pie was from affiliates/referrals. In June, it’s the smallest piece. A lot of it just depends on the timing of the payouts.
Ad Networks– $552AdThrive $552 One of the questions last month was about AdThrive. AdThrive manages and optimizes your ads, including setting up DFP (Doubleclick for publishers). To start with AdThrive you need to have at least 100,000 pageviews per month. They have a long waiting list (I think I was on the waiting list for about six months). I have used AdThrive since March and been really happy with them. Obviously when you start out you won’t have enough pageviews for AdThrive. I recommend starting with Google Adsense. It’s easy to set up. You can choose categories and specific companies to exclude. If you’re just starting out, go ahead and put up a few Adsense ads and call it good while you focus on growing your traffic. There’s no sense in trying hard to optimize your ads until you have built up some good traffic. Private Advertising/ Sponsored Posts– $633There are lots of companies that help connect you to brands. They act as the middleman. While I receive many inquiries about advertising on my site or sponsoring a post, I am pretty leery of most of them. My reputation is more important to me than a quick buck, so I’m careful to only accept sponsored content for companies that I can really stand behind. Eventually I plan to personally approach brands I’d like to work with, but for now I appreciate having a middleman. I can pick and choose between the offers, don’t have to do my own negotiating, and I’m sure I’ll get paid. Below are some of the companies I’ve worked with. I recommend signing up now, even if your blog and social reach are small. You’ll get an idea of the offers that are available. You might be surprised that your blog and/or social following doesn’t need to be huge to qualify. Be picky and choose the ones that are a good fit for your blog and that pay a rate you are willing to work for. Izea— When opportunities are presented on Izea, you see the details of the campaign along with the maximum that the brand will pay. You get to make a bid on what thepay will be. You can write a short pitch as to why you’re a good fit. Affiliate Sales & Referral Bonuses– $251Some affiliates I work with are set up directly through the company, brand, or blog. Others I find through an affiliate manager like Shareasale or CJ Affiliate. Each has their own payout threshhold or schedule, so I don’t get paid from each one each month. Affiliate sales are a great way to get a commission for something you would endorse anyway. YNAB— $78 Blogging Expenses– $120I try to keep my blog expenses to a minimum, so I really don’t have much that I pay for. My expenses this month added up to $120. Internet– $35 I charge half of our internet bill to the blog, since at least half of our internet use is blog-related. Net Income– $1,316 |
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!
