How I Made $4,612 From Blogging In October – Blogging Income Report

How I Made $4,612 From Blogging In October – Blogging Income Report

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I started this blog in 2013 for fun. I never thought I’d make any money from it. 

In 2016, I decided to take this blog seriously. It wasn’t easy. In fact, blogging has been one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had. I’m my own boss which has a lot of responsibility attached to it. I worked for free for a long time before I ever made any real money.

I’m happy I stuck it out for the long haul because I’m now a full-time blogger. I was even recently featured on Forbes for my unique story. I made $80,000 my senior year of college with blogging and side hustles.

Are you interested in starting a blog and becoming a full-time blogger?

If so, check out my FREE 7-day course that will tell you everything you need to know, including how to create your own blog from scratch, essential blogging tools successful bloggers use, how to monetize your blog, grow a loyal audience, and so much more!

Previous income reports:

How much time do you spend on your blog?

I spend around 20-30 hours a week on my blog.

When traveling, the hours tend to be all over the place.

During Fincon, I only spent maybe 5-10 hours on my blog due to being at the conference all week.

I also bought my pass for #Fincon18 in Orlando, which I’m super excited about!!

How to make money blogging

There are many ways you can make money blogging. Some of these are:

  • Sponsored posts
  • Affiliate income
  • Ad revenue
  • Creating and selling your own products

How much did you make in October of 2017?

Sponsored posts: $2,178

Affiliate Income: $859

Virtual Assistant: $900

Ad Revenue: $675

My first product: Making Sense of Sponsored Posts 

Learn everything there is to know about sponsored posts with my course Making Sense of Sponsored Posts.

Sponsored posts helped me become a full-time blogger and is my favorite way to make money blogging!

Over 600 students have taken my course so far and have landed major brand sponsorships, charged 3x what they’d usually charge, and worked with brands multiple times.

You also get access to a private mastermind group where you can ask any blogging questions and get help from me and other successful bloggers.

Take action now: Before we begin, get access to How To Send An Email Pitch To Land Sponsorships checklist. This quick checklist will help you stand out from other influencers and increase your brand sponsorships. 

Top affiliate companies

My #1 Recommendation For New Bloggers

If you’ve never taken a blogging course and aren’t sure which one to choose, Blog With A Full-Time Job is IT.

Do you want to build a successful blog but have a full-time job?

Do you want a profitable blog but aren’t sure what steps to take?

If so, you must check out Blog With A Full-Time Job.

This is THE course to take if you want a step by step plan to build a profitable blog.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll get:

  • A specific plan for launching, growing and monetizing your blog while working full-time
  • The exact strategy to grow and monetize your blog to a six-figure blog
  • Learn how to manage your mind, productivity, time management (all VERY important for working at home and running a successful business)
  • How to set up a beautiful looking blog that is completely customizable
  • How to write blog posts specifically for monetizing
  • Sooo much more + tons of bonuses, templates, worksheets, etc.

What worked

  • Creating infographics and savings plans have been a game changer for Pinterest. My most seen pin (very different from most clicked on, but regardless, great for my Pinterest profile) is a travel savings plan which has been doing amazing for months.
  • Creating a free resource library has increased my email list dramatically. People love free stuff! I add printables to this monthly, and they’re also a lot of fun to make.
  • I also created a How To Start A Blog free email course, which has done tremendously well, too. This email course is my highest converting opt-in on my blog.
  • I also decreased the number of ads that are on my blog. My website has too many ads, and I feel like this is hurting my affiliate income. No idea if this helped, but my ad income almost tripled, which is awesome!
  • My Instagram is improving! I am now posting an inspiring quote every 3rd picture, along with my fitness and travel posts. Follow me here!
  • I also added a Pinterest sidebar to my blog, which (I believe) has helped me increase my followers! You can follow me on Pinterest here.

What failed

  • I’ve been wasting too much time on Twitter. I’ve been attempting to gain traction on this platform, and it’s proving to be useless, haha. I have 4,000 followers, yet my views from Twitter are very little. I think this is because people don’t usually go on Twitter to read articles, but instead read tweets.

What I’ll be working on next month

  • I also started a free Facebook community. There are currently around 70 members, which is awesome! However, there is very little interaction between readers, and I need to work on this.
  • My affiliate marketing strategy needs some work. Though I managed to double my affiliate income this month, I still believe there is a lot of work to do in this area.
  • My digital product is finished, and now I need to create a sales page for it. Super excited about this!
  • A few of you have been telling me to create a digital product related to scoring sponsored posts. I’ve been considering this, so I might start working on it!

Blog related posts

New posts from FITnancials this month

Future Plans

  • Since I started full-time blogging, I made approximately $30,000 in the past 12 months. I’d love to double that income to $60,000 in the next 12 months. I’ve been making a steady $4-5K the past few months, so I feel good about this!
  • Work more. Yep, you heard that right! I need to work on being more productive. I’ve only been working around 20 hours a week. Although, I dedicate the entire day of Monday to school work and that burns me out pretty hard.
  • Stay above 100,000 page views. I just hit 100,000 page views last month, but I know keeping it up is going to be hard!
  • Improve my Facebook strategy. I’m stuck at 3,000 likes and would love to increase this and reach more people.

Tips To Become A Blogger:

1) Choose a niche that already makes money (personal finance, health, and fitness, travel, etc.) and subniche from there. This means to go even deeper into a niche. Ex. Niche: Personal finance > Subniche: Personal finance for college students or personal finance for moms. 

2) Take a comprehensive blogging course. My #1 recommendation for new bloggers who want to build a profitable blog is Blog With A Full-Time Job. 

Blog With A Full-Time Job consists of:

  • A specific plan for launching, growing and monetizing your blog while working full-time
  • The exact strategy to grow and monetize your blog to a six-figure blog
  • Learn how to manage your mind, productivity, time management (all VERY important for working at home and running a successful business)
  • How to set up a beautiful looking blog that is completely customizable
  • How to write blog posts specifically for monetizing
  • Sooo much more + tons of bonuses, templates, worksheets, etc.

If you’ve never taken a blogging course and aren’t sure which one to choose, Blog With A Full-Time Job is IT. 

3) Learn and absorb as much information about blogging as possible. Pinterest is a gold mine for this. Type in “blogging tips” in Pinterest’s search bar and hundreds of helpful articles will come up. You can check all of my popular blogging articles here.

4) Figure out what outlet you want to use for blogging. Do you want to have your own blog? Or do you want to create a YouTube channel? Find out where your audience is and go from there. If you don’t know yet, don’t sweat it. You’ll learn as you go. 

5) Create a blog with this easy tutorial. 

Recap

I hit over 107,000 page views this month, which is soooooo awesome!

I also just got back from Fincon. Fincon is a 4-day conference targeted to online influencers in the personal finance niche.

I met so many people that I’m going to miss SO much over the next 11 months.

If you’re in the personal finance niche, you must go to this conference.

This was a great month for me and I’m loving where the blog is headed. I also feel like I’m in such a good place mentally.

Conclusion: Start a blog that makes money

If your dream is to become a full-time blogger and start a blog, I recommend starting a blog with Bluehost.

I started this blog in college and graduated my senior year making $80,000 a year. Now, I work from home, spend time with my family and dogs, and I get to take my family on nice trips and donate to my favorite charities. 

Bluehost has 24/7 support, a money-back guarantee, and makes it as easy as possible to start a blog. 

Start a blog today for just $2.95/month with my step-by-step tutorial here. It’s easy, painless, and takes less than 20 minutes to start a blog of your own. With my link, you get a discount from $7.99/month to $2.95/month.

If you need a little more help starting your blog, I even have a free How To Start A Successful Blog quick 5-day course that shows you step-by-step what to do AFTER you started your blog. This quick course is filled with a TON of value giving you everything you need to get started the best way.

What to read next: How I Made $80,000 My Second Year Blogging Full-Time In College

What else would you like to see in my next blogging income report?

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This Post Has 19 Comments

  1. Karen

    13 Nov 2017 Reply

    Thank You, Alexis, for the very informative post! I don’t usually comment but reading your article is something I can relate to.

    I am a 51-year-old Mom who just began a food blog back in June! I can relate to Special Needs and your burnout. My teen son has Autism. So I have been there done that. He had ABA Rx for years. But you are inspiring and trying to run a blog while in school? Impressive! I am struggling with visitors to my website. One day at a time I guess. Twitter? Haven’t found it to be useful for social media at all.

    1. Alexis

      15 Nov 2017 Reply

      Oh wow, that’s so cool! Yes! It has been tough and I can’t wait to graduate so I can totally focus on my blog.

  2. Holly

    14 Nov 2017 Reply

    I just recently decided to stop bothering with Twitter (for now). I realized only like 2% of my traffic comes from Twitter and I just don’t have the bandwith to work on it right now.

    1. Alexis

      15 Nov 2017 Reply

      Yeah, same here.

  3. Lily @ The Frugal Gene

    15 Nov 2017 Reply

    Twitter is the worst place for conversions but I go on the hang out and waste my time with other blogger friends…so bad ;( I need to start being more serious.

    I totally shared this on Twitter for irony by the way 😀

    1. Alexis

      11 Feb 2018 Reply

      You are too funny! Haha

  4. Daniella

    6 Jan 2018 Reply

    Congratulations on all success you have had with this blog so far! I love this blog and can’t wait to see more from you! I have thought of doing income reports but I think my blog still may be too new. We shall see. Cheers!

    1. Alexis

      7 Jan 2018 Reply

      Thank you so much!

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  • I had no idea what personal development was until I was 21. I picked up a book at the airport before boarding my flight to Vegas. It was called You Are A Badass. Ever since then, I've been a personal development fanatic. For a while I'd do a lot of passive learning, meaning I never implemented what I learned. Only recently did I realize you have to actually implement what you learn in order to get the results. Who would've known?! (sarcasm). These are some of my all-time favorite books in no order. A book that really surprised me (that I honestly didn't think I'd like) is Awaken The Giant Within. It's THICK and takes a long time to read but it is so so worth it. I plan on reading it again. Another book (or two) that surprised me is Girl, Wash Your Face & Girl, Stop Apologizing by @msrachelhollis . They're both great reads, especially for women. Have you read any of these books?
  • One year ago I was exploring South Korea with my mom. 💕 It was such an amazing trip. We went from Seoul to Busan via train and hit some smaller cities along the way. I 100% recommend visiting here during the autumn season, it’s incredible! Fun fact: I’m half Korean! My mom was born and raised in Seoul. Have you ever been to South Korea? Do you want to go?
  • 5 years ago my finances were in a totally different place. I was driving an unreliable car, living in an apartment complex in a high-crime area, struggling to pay medical bills and accumulated over $15,000 in student loan debt. ⁣ ⁣ Fast forward to now, I'm debt-free, my new car is paid off, credit is almost at 800 (I only have 1 account open, otherwise it'd be much higher), student loans paid off, maxing out my retirement account and my business is thriving. I get to spend money on things that truly matter to me (life coaching, dogs, animal sanctuaries, a nice place to live, my gardening and plant hobbies). ⁣ ⁣ Your financial future can be in a totally different place in 5 years. You just have to believe that you can get there. Change your thoughts to things you want to believe and that feels good to you. Instead of saying you'll never be debt-free and you're just *unlucky*, think something like: I can become debt-free by taking action today in my finances. I have control.⁣ I can do this. I can start a budget, have weekly budget meetings with my spouse or best friend, and get an accountability buddy. ⁣ Are your finances different than they were 5 years ago?
  • One article on @forbes has lead to so many new relationships with other bloggers, brands, and friends. 💕 I landed this article all due to networking and meeting new people (which are now friends) at @finconexpo. Today, I went for a walk today on this beautiful autumn Colorado day. Didn’t listen to music or a podcast, just walked with my thoughts about how grateful I am for everything in my life. The trees are changing and the air feels so clean. It’s the little things. Thank you for being apart of this journey. 💕
  • Today’s Monday! Tomorrow is October 1st. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This a fresh start to:⁣⁣ 1️⃣ Start and STICK to your budget. Have weekly check ins (or daily if you need more accountability). ⁣⁣ 2️⃣ Create a workout schedule. Even something as simple as 30 minutes of daily walks with the pups or kids is a great goal. ⁣⁣ 3️⃣ Stick to your schedule/planner. Set an alarm to create a to do list for the next day. My alarm is set at 8PM and that’s when I create tomorrow’s to do list. ⁣⁣ 4️⃣ Eat healthier. Start slow and easy with one healthy meal a day. Make it something simple and easy as a smoothie. I make a daily smoothie that consists of @vivolife salted maca caramel + almond milk + banana + peanut butter + dash of turmeric. ⁣⁣ 5️⃣ Get more sleep. I drink Calm (magnesium) at night to fall asleep by 11PM and wake up at 7AM. ⁣ ⁣ Pick 1 goal and get started with a small, simple task each day. Make today (or tomorrow!) your Day One. ✨What are your goals for this month?
  • No one taught me how to save, manage, or invest my money so I taught myself. There's no reason you can't be amazing at managing your money. You can. ⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ If I were to recommend a book to read ASAP, it'd be ALL OF THESE. Usually, I can pick one book to recommend to read first, but all of these books are so good. I especially loved Everyday Millionaires because it dispels a lot of myths about millionaires and I had NO idea how many people have a net worth of $1,000,000+ in the U.S. Did you know there are 11 million millionaires in the U.S.?⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ My favorite PF books are:⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 1. Work Optional by @our_nextlife ⁣ 2. Broke Millennial by @brokemillennialblog ⁣ 3. The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing⁣⁣ 4. Everyday Millionaires by @chrishogan360 ⁣⁣ 5. Love Your Life Not Theirs⁣ by @rachelcruze ⁣ ⁣ What’s your favorite PF book?
  • One of my favorite quotes. 💕 We have a fun autumn festival this weekend with @themostlysimplelife and I’m excited. 🍂🍁⁣ ⁣ I also just said bye to my sister @michelleschro and I miss her and @sailingsvparadise already! ⁣ ⁣ Today I’m working on my business even though I’d rather be out on my bike or reading this new graphic novel I just got. Every day I go into my notes app and read my favorite quotes/thoughts to keep me motivated. Some of these are: “Believe you are at your goal already and the thoughts you have when you succeed” & “Use other peoples success as what is possible in the world”. I don’t remember who I got these quotes from, but I think I heard them from @natalierbacon. They’ve been so helpful. ⁣ I hope you all have a great weekend! Happy fall 🍂🍁🎃
  • This has been a CRAZY month as far as unexpected financial emergencies go. I had to fix my windshield after a rock blasted to it (and figured out I didn’t have glass coverage), and Ba’cho finally had his leg surgery completed. I also had expected expenses like signing on to life coaching for the rest of the year, Ba’cho’s dental cleaning, my own teeth cleaning, and my car’s annual registration renewal. I’ve always had a lot of scarcity with money, so this month (money wise) almost put me in full blown panic attack mode. All of this made me realize how my relationship with money isn’t where I’d like it to be, so this is what I’m currently working on with my life coach. What is your relationship like with money? P.S. Who loves fall? 🍂🍁🎃

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