How I Made $779 In My Third Month Blogging
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Whether it's freelance writing, house sitting, or dabbling in affiliate marketing on this blog, I’m passionate about learning new ways to make money online. It provides me with the freedom I crave to explore new places and take on more hobbies.
I decided to start blogging again this year because I needed a creative outlet. This blog has allowed me to share my knowledge with a bigger audience and of course, make money blogging.
Last month, I earned $779. This is a huge accomplishment. Especially considering the fact that much of that month was spent driving around small towns in Ontario and exploring places close to home.
In this post, I'm going to break down my traffic, income, expenses, accomplishments, and future goals. I want to be able to look back on these posts in the future to see exactly what did or didn't work for my blog. And I also want to inspire you to make money online and through your blog!
If you haven’t started your blog yet or want to reroute the direction of your blog, I highly recommend reading my How to Start a Blog in 1 Hour guide, which includes helpful tips about SEO and monetization.
Since writing this income report back in 2017, I have completely changed my blog hosting provider (I’m a Squarespace girlie now) and blogging strategy. So, open that guide in a new tab and scroll on to find out how I made money blogging in my third month.
Blog Traffic Breakdown
When it comes to these income reports, I like to be as transparent as possible. In August 2017, I had a total of 7,720 page views on my blog. The majority of my traffic came from Pinterest and Facebook, which brought in a combined total of 3,754. And, the rest came mostly from search engines and Instagram!
My most popular posts in August:
Powerful Pinterest Strategy | 2,035 views
How to Start a Lifestyle Blog | 1,050 views
Second Income Report | 745 views
Blog Income Breakdown
It's no secret that most of my income comes from affiliate marketing. But I am SO proud to say that this past month, I was able to earn $175 through my own services! Oh, and I started earning a few bucks from ads! Let's take a closer look:
Airbnb: $44 credit | For most of my adult life, I've been living in Airbnb apartments full-time. In August, one of my readers signed up for Airbnb using my referral link - which gave them $50 off their first trip AND gave me a $44 credit! It's a win-win situation. (Airbnb no longer offers a referral program.)
Adsense: $12.68 | In July, I ran a few MediaNet ads on my blog and unfortunately didn't make a dollar. So, this month I decided to make the switch to Adsense and so far, I’ve made $12.68 through an ad on my sidebar and a couple embedded in my posts. (I no longer display ads on my blog.)
Bluehost: $340 | In August, I had 4 people sign up for Bluehost using my referral link. (I have since switched over to Squarespace, which includes your domain, hosting, and site themes in one place.)
Ebates: $55 | I had 3 readers sign up for Ebates using my referral link and make a purchase of over $25. And, thanks to an amazing referral bonus happening right now, I earned $55 for the referrals instead of only $15!
Fiverr: $60 | A total of 4 people signed up through my link and bought services on Fiverr, earning me $60 in total!
Freshbooks: $8 | For the past two weeks, I've had a Freshbooks ad on my sidebar. In turn, 4 people signed up, earning me a whopping $2 per person.
Grammarly: $20.40 | Two people signed up for the free version of Grammarly through my link and one person purchased the premium version, earning me just over $20 this month.
Linqia: $45 | This month, 9 people signed up for Linqia through my link, bringing in $45 total.
Tailwind: $15 credit | Last month, I purchased an annual Tailwind, wrote about it in a couple of posts, and had a bunch of people sign up for a free trial. One of those people ended up buying a membership, earning me a $15 credit.
TrustedHousesitters: $3 | After mentioning how I like to use TrustedHousesitters to travel the world, I had two people sign up through my link, earning me a few dollars this month.
Swagbucks: $6.60 | I had three people take advantage of a free sign-up to Swagbucks through my link, earning me $2.20 per person.
Services: $125 | In July, I started offering blogging services, audits, and coaching. I had 5 people take advantage of my $25 brilliant blog audit promotion in August, earning me $125. In all honesty, I was hoping to make more money through my services this month, but we'll get to that later.
>>> Total Income for August 2017: $779.68
Blog Expenses Breakdown
This month, I barely spent any money on my blog, and to be honest, I kind of feel bad about it. I think it's important to invest money into your business but with a pre-paid hosting plan and Tailwind membership, I didn’t have any big-ticket purchases this month. Maybe just some office supplies.
August Achievements
My Social Media Grew! Even though I didn't spend as much time on social media this month, I still saw an increase in my numbers. Here is a breakdown of my social media numbers in comparison to last month:
Facebook Page Likes: 595 to 625
Twitter Followers: 1,432 to 1,685
Instagram Followers: 3,612 to 4,167
Pinterest Followers: 462 to 757
I launched a Facebook Group! One of my goals for August was to start a Facebook group and I'm so proud to say that I did just that. My group, The Blog Nest is a place for online entrepreneurs to make new connections and promote their content. I ended the month with 94 members and I would love to see the group grow even more this month. (I no longer manage a Facebook group)
I participated in free courses and webinars! Although I didn't invest a lot of money into my blog this month, I did invest my time. I participated in several free courses from other bloggers like Melyssa Griffin and Solopreneur Sidekick. And I also joined in on a couple of webinars.
September Goals
Be More Active on Social Media - As I mentioned earlier, I was traveling for most of August and will continue to do so next month. I want to prioritize this blog and being consistent on social media. To help accomplish this, I'm going to use Buffer to schedule my Tweets in advance. I'm also going to run a "Feature Friday" on my Facebook page, where I share one of my favorite bloggers each week.
Grow My Email List - In all honesty, sometimes I feel really discouraged about my email list. It doesn't grow as quickly as I would like despite following all of the advice I read online. I offer a subscriber-only page that’s full of freebies relating to my past content and although it brings in a couple of new subscribers each day, I’m not sure how to take it to the next level. I'm thinking about creating a free email course but I don't know if that will be finished by the end of September.
Invest More in My Blog - In September, I want to invest in my blog. I might hire someone to design a new logo. And I'm thinking about purchasing a paid course or ebook. If you have any recommendations for me, please let me know in the comments!
Final Thoughts
Although I spent less time working on my blog this month, I made more money than ever before. That’s the power of passive income and it feels pretty sweet.
If you’re feeling inspired to start your own blog, check out my guide where I detail how you can get started on Squarespace in less than 1 hour. You can find more of my blogging tips here.
Let’s talk about online income in the comments. Have you started to monetize your blog yet?
