Hello and welcome to my blog income report, where I share how I made $4, 789 blogging in one month, with a profit margin of 90%!
This is my very first income report. In this report, I sharehow much money I make,the affiliate programs I use, plusscreenshots of each program to back up my claims.
Make sure you read to the very end to see, in real-time, all of my earnings.
I’m excited to share this blog income report with you, but I also have butterflies in my stomach
I’m excited because I want to tell you that it’s possible to make money with a blog. You could have it as a side hustle or go full-time. Whatever you choose, it is totally doable.
I started with$0and now I’m at $4,789. If I can do it, you CAN DO it too!
If you are ready to get started, head over to Bluehostand grab a domain name plus hosting for only $2.99 per month
Now onto the butterflies.
Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes patience, handwork, making mistakes, learning from them, discovering what works, and implementing as fast as you can.
I have butterflies because even though this is my 9th month, I still feel like a beginner. I see myself as a lifelong student when it comes to blogging and making money from a blog. There is still so much more to learn and implement, but we are off to a good start!
Want to know more on how to make money blogging from a professional? click here.
Why Am I writing this income report?
If you love reading my blog, you will notice that I had promised to write an income report a while back. I was earning $700 to $1,000 at that time. I could have written one but I felt like the time wasn’t right. But, now is the perfect time to do it.
I’m doing this to:
1. Motivate You
I’ve decided to write this blog income report so that I can motivate and encourage you to get started as soon as you can.
Having your own blog will open up so many doors for you that you didn’t know existed.
For example, my blog has allowed me to meet like-minded people, share my ideas with the world, earn passive income, and achieve financial freedom. All of these are something I have craved for a very long time.
You might also like: 17 Passive Income Ideas You can Start Today.
Right now, I can buy whatever I want without having to worry about money.
I cannot tell you how happy it makes me when I wake up in the morning, go to Mediavine or FlexOffers and find that I’ve made $100 while I was sleeping. It’s such a good feeling and very fulfilling.
Related: How to Make Money Doing Nothing
2. Show You What’s Working
I want to show you what’s working for my blog right now and how you can implement the same strategies to make money with your own blog.
There is no need to fumble in the dark as I did in the beginning. You will have everything you need to succeed as a blogger. Basically, I show youhow to make money with a blog for beginners.
3. Keep Myself Accountable & Keep You Updated
I’m also writing this income report so that I can keep myself accountable and keep you updated. It’s one thing to achieve something and it is another thing to keep the momentum going.
By having these income reports, you get to know what’s happening with Earn Smart Online Class at the same time I keep myself accountable. I may not write income reports on a monthly basis but I will do my best to keep you informed.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start with traffic
January 2019 Blog Traffic
I am still in shock even as I write this income report. My traffic for January exploded and I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. As you can see above, my blog generated 191k page views in January alone.
I know seeing this number raises the question, “but, how did you do it?”
Well, it’s simple. I used Pinterest and SEO.
So, let me back up a little bit…
When I joined Mediavine in August of last year, I had 30k page views.I was happy about this number ( I even wrote a post about it) but I didn’t like how low my traffic numbers were.
As you know with ad income, the more page views you get the more money you earn. Obviously, I wanted to earn more. I set out to find more ways to increase my website traffic.
While networking in Facebook groups for bloggers, others recommended Pinterest and SEO as the two best ways to get blog traffic.
I was keen on this and decided to buy Mike Pearson’s course: Stupid Simple SEO. This was around the end of October and then in mid-November, I got Pinning for Pageviews ebook by Caroline Simmons. My traffic moved from 30k to 80k page views by the end of November.
Another fantastic SEO resource is Trinity Owen’s Get Your Keywords Together. In the eBook, she teaches beginner and intermediate bloggers how to find keywords you can actually rank by using only FREE SEO tools.
But, that was not the end of it. After seeing the increase, I wanted to get it to 100k. The journey to get more page views was still on.
While browsing on Pinterest in the first week of December, an article written by Allie of Soberalley.com caught my attention. She was talking about how she exploded her blog traffic by creating niche boards on Pinterest.
As I was reading the article, I noticed that she was attributing her success to an ebook she had bought from Jennifer Maker: The Pinterest Launch Plan.
I liked what I was reading and immediately decided to buy the ebook. I got the ebook because group boards were no longer working for me and I was trying my luck with my own personal boards. This is something she teaches really well in the ebook.
I created niche boards and implemented some of the strategies explained in the ebook. I couldn’t implement them all in December because I had already scheduled pins for the whole month using Tailwind.
Even the few changes I made saw me increase my traffic by 10k pageviews. I got 90k page views in the month of December 2018.
Come January 2019 I implemented every single strategy that Jennifer suggested, then used Pinning for Pageviews’ tips to schedule pins using proper intervals. My traffic went through the roof.
One of my yearly goals for 2019 was to reach 10k pageviews per day. I am happy to report that I hit 11.6k page views on 30th January 2019. Achieving one of my yearly goals in January is a huge thing for me, and I really thank God for making it all possible.
I could not have done this without the help of Tailwind. Tailwind automates my pinning and I spend around 30 to 45 minutes of scheduling pins for the whole month. The ROI is out of this world.
Click here to sign up for a FREE Tailwind account and see for yourself!
My other goal was to make $10,000 per month. I am at $4,789 in January. This also makes me very happy, but let’s see how it goes.
January 2019 Blogging Income Breakdown
I know, you’ve been waiting patiently for this part and I thank you for your patience. Let’s see how my blog made me money in January.
- Advertising Income (Mediavine): $2080
- Affiliate Income: $2,728
- Proofread Anywhere – $1554
- iGain Network – $400
- Panthera Network – $180
- Transcribe Anywhere – $40
- Adbloom – $35
- FlexOffers– $119
- Impact Radius – $207
- MaxBounty– $36
- Bookkeeper Business Academy – $49.75
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – $78
- Tailwind– $30 in credit referrals
Let’s discuss a little further how Mediavine, Pinterest, SEO, and affiliate programs/networks made me money.
Mediavine
You know, I’ve come a long way ever since I joined Mediavine. I started with earning $20 per day but the Mediavine team was just awesome. They helped me earn more by showing me ways to increase my RPM. RPM is the amount of money you earn per 1000 sessions.
Basically, they made sure that all my posts were well optimized for ads. I went from earning $20 per day to $100+ per day. This is also a huge win for me.
Today, I am sharing my success and my joy with the world and some of this credit goes to Mediavine.
They require 25k sessions for you to qualify. Believe me, once you join Mediavine you will never look back. I did it and so can you.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Going back to the income breakdown, half of my income came from ads and the rest was through affiliate marketing. All this money would not have been mine if I hadn’t taken Michelle Gardner’s course: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
Her affiliate marketing strategies helped me to identify affiliate programs that were perfect for my audience and that would make me the most money.
Michelle earns six figures from her blog over at Making Sense of Cents and she’s transparent about the programs that make her the most money. She freely shares her screenshots in the course and that’s why I’ve decided to share mine.
If you are a blogger and haven’t taken her course, you are really missing out.
I took her course for $197 and now I’m earning 10 times over. This is the best return on investment I have ever seen.
Don’t waste any more time. Check out her course and see the true benefits of joining.
Related: How to Make Money with CPA Marketing
Pinterest & SEO
This income report would not be complete if I don’t mention the two Pinterest ebooks and the SEO course.
I’ve got to say this. When your blog is new and the money is tight, you shouldn’t waste it buying every book and every course on the planet. Hold off a little and do research before buying anything.
But, investing in worthy blogging resources can not only save you time but can also skyrocket your earnings without a doubt.
I bought a lot of courses and ebooks before getting to these resources and some were more expensive than I would want to admit. This is a mistake that many new bloggers make.
Getting Stupid Simple SEO, Pinning for Pageviews and The Pinterest Launch Plan were the best decisions I have ever made.
Without traffic, I couldn’t have made this money from ads and definitely not from free affiliate programs. You need traffic to make sales and when you make sales you earn commissions. That’s what affiliate marketing is all about.
A screenshot of my Pinterest profile and how fast it has grown
You can also read: How I Gained 9.8 Pinterest Followers Without Much Effort.
I can guarantee you that Pinning for Pageviews and The Pinterest LaunchPlan will send a huge amount of traffic to your blog in a short period of time.
I saw an increase in traffic in the first few weeks of implementing them. I see the same thing happening for you in the near future.
Stupid Simple SEO
I know, SEO is a long-term game but getting Stupid Simple SEO was also a clever move. I used to get around 50 page views per day from organic searches. That number has increased to 500 page views per day.
I haven’t used all the SEO tips and hacks that Mike recommends in the course but I’m seeing an increase in organic traffic. I’m hoping that by the end of the year I should be receiving 1,500 or 2000 page views per day from Google.
Now, let’s look at the screenshots for some proof!
January 2019 Blogging Expenses
As of right now, my blogging expenses are low but they might increase in the future. I am planning on hiring 1 or 2 freelance writers to help me with articles and I might need a VA as well.
I’ve started a second website over at Real Mom Jobs where I share all the work from home companies hiring now. If you don’t want to start a blog but prefer to work for companies instead, feel free to check that out.
- HostGator– I pay for a yearly plan of $141 to host all my blogs. I plan on moving Earn Smart Online Class to BigScoots. Many bloggers recommend it and say that it’s the best web-host once you reach 100k+ page views. It’s a bit expensive compared to other hosts but I can’t risk having timeouts when you are reading my content. So, I’m going to follow their suggestion. If you’re looking for more information on how to start a blog with Hostgator, check this link out.
- Tailwind– This is also a yearly plan. I pay $119 per year for Tailwind and I get to schedule all the pins that I want without limitation. Tailwind is such a time-saver for me. I know, I keep saying this but it’s true. I would be a mess without it.
- ConvertKit– I’ve started growing my email list and they charge me $29 per month. I had an email list with MailChimp but my account ran into some problems. I had to start afresh. My email list is still small but it’s growing fast. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you get all the juicy tips from Earn Smart Online Class. Actually, this is the only blogging expense for this month.
WAY FORWARD…
- Grow my email list to 1000 subscribers by end of February. As you know, an email list is the lifeblood of any online business. Pinterest or any other social media platform may disappear tomorrow, but if I have an email list of raving fans they will stay with me for life.
- Increase my blog income to $6,000 by end of February. I had set a target of reaching $10,000 by the end of December. I’ve started the year strong. I hope to reach this number before the end of the year. $10,000 by June would be a blast!
- Create a free Pinterest course. I’ve been receiving questions from my readers asking me how Pinterest is helping me to grow my blog traffic. I will create this resource to have all your questions answered.
- Create my very own digital product.
- Finally, quit my job. Actually, I forgot to mention that I’m working on my blog part-time. I have a 9-5 job but work on my blog in the evenings and on weekends. Even with the limited time, I’ve been able to achieve so much.
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