How I Made $830 In My Sixth Month Blogging
This post contains affiliate links. This does not cost you anything extra and it helps support this blog. For more information, please read my disclaimer.
I publish my income reports for two reasons.
The first is that I'm a huge nerd when it comes to this stuff. I'm always curious to know how much money people are making online and exactly how they're making it. I hope to fulfill the needs of other curious bloggers.
The second is because people are usually confused or in disbelief when I tell them that I work online and travel full-time. I've had plenty of people say that they wish they could do the same and the truth is, they can.
Yes, it might mean having to work harder (and longer hours) than at a traditional job. But it comes with the freedom of being able to work whenever and from wherever you want.
If you want to learn how to start a blog from scratch and turn it into a profitable business, check out my in-depth guide here.
Scroll on to read my full income report from this month, including blogging income, expenses, traffic, and achievements from last month.
November In Review
After spending a few months at home in Canada, I embarked on another nomad adventure this month: I moved to Poland! I'm renting an apartment in the city of Lublin until mid-January. If you want to know how I'm able to find apartments in Europe without breaking the bank, check out this guide that I wrote!
Needless to say, the majority of this month consisted of me traveling, adjusting to my new surroundings, and eating delicious Polish treats. I also hit a couple of milestones with my blog...
1. I made the switch to Siteground
If you’re on WordPress, then you know all about blog hosting providers. I was previously using Bluehost but made the switch to Siteground after experiencing slow loading times and increased prices.
In 2022, I switched from WordPress to Squarespace. While my services with Siteground were stable, I ultimately made the switch to Squarespace for ease of use. It’s an all-in-one platform that includes your hosting, domain, website templates, and literally everything in else in one space for a fair price.
2. I revamped my Secret Library
I offer a subscriber-only library of exclusive resources including worksheets, styled stock photos, custom pin-it buttons, social media master lists, and more. This month, I spent time adding new freebies and updating the overall "look" of the library. Now it's much more interactive.
I removed this resource library as it no longer aligns with my vision for this blog.
3. The Blog Nest surpassed 500 members
In September, I launched my own Facebook group for bloggers called The Blog Nest. And this month, it surpassed 500 members! In fact, we ended the month with around 580 members altogether.
This Facebook group is no longer active as I stopped using the platform.
Traffic Report:
I experienced a slight dip in traffic this month, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I didn’t spend as much time promoting my content on social media so naturally, I saw less traffic from these platforms. However, I did see a huge increase in search engine referral traffic - and that’s what counts.
Social media is great for driving traffic but it’s only temporary. The average lifespan of a tweet is only 18 minutes. The key to driving consistent traffic to your blog is having an SEO strategy in place. You need to be ranking for “evergreen” keywords in your niche. That’s why you should prioritize high-quality, keyword-rich content. It will continue to drive traffic to your blog long after that tweet fades away.
November 2017 Income Report:
Advertisements: $44.68
Affiliate Commissions: $660.45
Bluehost: $255| Three people signed up for Bluehost using my referral link last month.
Booking.com: $13.55 | One person booked a hotel stay in Prague after reading my Budget Trip to Prague guide!
Career in the Making eBook: $12 | Two people purchased this eBook through my referral link.
Convertkit: $8.90 | One person starting using Convertkit using my referral link. I'm currently testing out a free trial of this email marketing tool and can definitely see why it's so popular amongst pro-bloggers.
Ebates: $75 | Three people signed up for Ebates (a must-have tool for every online shopper) through my referral link & made their first online purchase last month.
Fiverr: $30 | Two people made a purchase on Fiverr by using my referral link.
Freshbooks: $10 | Two bloggers signed up for a Freshbooks free trial using my referral link.
Linqia: $30 | Six influencers signed up for Linqia as per my recommendation last month.
Siteground: $200 | Four people signed up for Siteground through my referral link during their epic Black Friday Sale.
Swagbucks: $11 | Five people started using Swagbucks after signing up through my affiliate link.
Tailwind: $15 credit | One blogger bought an annual Tailwind plan after using their free trial through my referral link.
Services: $125
Total Income in November: $830.13
November 2017 Expense Report:
Siteground Hosting: $54.60 | I signed up for the 12-month "Grow Big" hosting plan during the Black Friday Sale after using a free trial. If I break it down to a per-month cost, it's only $4.55.
Bluehost Hosting: -$129.90 | I got a refund for my unused months with Bluehost. For reference, I had a "Plus" hosting plan with them.
Tailwind: $10 | Earlier this year, I bought an annual Tailwind membership. So, this amount has technically been prepaid already.
G Suite: $5 | Last month, I started using this cloud-based set of tools, which helps me collaborate with other bloggers and stay organized.
Leuchtturm Dotted Notebook: $20 | Before leaving for Poland, I decided to purchase this weekly planner which helps me keep track of #allthethings.
Total Expenses in November: -$40.30
Goals for Next Month
Next month I’m focusing on content. I have lots of post ideas lined up in relation to affiliate marketing, Tailwind, and Poland.
Let’s continue to talk about blogging and making money online in the comments below.
