Welcome to my first monthly income report.
People often ask me how to make money blogging, which is why I'm excited to finally publish an income report.
A little about me.
I started FITnancials back in 2013 as a hobby blog and to document my 60-pound weight loss.
I spent around an hour a week on it and sometimes didn't touch it at all.
One year ago, I decided to go full-time on the blog and also quit my day job that was bringing me great income for someone my age.
Now, I'm making a steady $4,000 a month from my blog, and I get to work from home.
Reasons why I've decided to post an income report
1. To keep track of my goals, income, recaps, and also show all you what I've learned every single month from blogging.
2. To be transparent with my readers and show that it is possible to make a full-time income from a blog.
3. To show people that making $5,000 a month from blogging is something to be proud of. There are bloggers out there that think it's not enough. I'm guilty of this, especially since I have a sister who has already made a million dollars from her blog this year.
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.
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
Tips To Become A Full-Time Blogger:
1) Choose a niche that already makes money (personal finance, health and fitness, travel, etc.) and subniche from there. This means 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. Use code ALEXIS15OFF for 15% off.
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.
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!
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.
How much did you make in August of 2017?
Sponsored posts: $2,900
Affiliate Income: $576
Virtual Assistant: $900
Ad Revenue: $431
Free Products: $240
Top affiliate companies
- Ibotta
- Pinecone Research
- Nielson Computer
- Raw Till Whenever
- Maxbounty
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
- $5 Meal Plan
- Ebates
My #1 Recommendation For New Bloggers
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.
Use code ALEXIS15OFF for 15% off!
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.
If you've never taken a blogging course and aren't sure which one to choose, Blog With A Full-Time Job is IT.
Popular posts from FITnancials this month
- 6 Free Monthly Budget Printables That Are Proven To Help You Pay Off Debt
- How To Teach English From Home And Make $14-$18 An Hour
- 50 Ways To Save $500+ Each Month
- 20 Side Hustles Perfect For Stay At Home Moms
- Healthiest Foods For A Tight Budget
- 10 Free Or Cheap Things To Do In Cancun
Blog related posts
- How To Start A Blog – Beginner Edition
- How I Doubled My Pageviews In 1 Month
- How My Sister Went From $0 Affiliate Income to $50,000+ A Month
- Officially A Full-Time Blogger + Tips For You
Recap
The summer is generally a slower month as far as blogging goes. Most people aren't spending their time on a computer. Instead, they're outside and enjoying the weather. My website usually doubles in page views in the winter, which I'm looking forward to.
I'm also struggling with page views, and can't seem to get past the 75,000 mark. 6 of my main group boards all disappeared. Those 6 group boards were also my highest performing.
Life before I was a full-time blogger
I couldn't be more happy with my life.
Before I was a blogger, I was attending college and working 3 jobs.
Life was tough because I rarely got sleep and worked at a job that was stressful. I was a special education teacher, a nanny, and worked around 5 or so hours a week on my blog.
I wasn't making good money and did not enjoy my job.
When I wasn't at work, I was sleeping or working on school work. I thought that's how life is, and you had to suck it up and get used to the cycle.
Blogging Friends
I made a new blogger friend this month, Lisa at Not On A Budget. She's helped me with SEO and ranking on Google.
I also want to mention my first ever blogging friend, Tiffany, from Beautiful Dawn Designs. She designed most of my printables that you can check out here.
My plans for my blog
1. I'd love to start working on a digital product. The health and fitness field is saturated with fitness products, so I'd want to create something in another field.
2. I started a free resource library on my blog and it's doing REALLY well! The library currently contains 10+ printables. There are monthly budget planners, meal plan templates, travel checklists, daily planners, and more.
3. I'd love to do more collaborations and partnerships with other blogs.
4. I'd love to start a YouTube channel. I've always thought about doing this, but people on YouTube are so brutal in the comments. I don't have thick skin, and I already get enough mean comments on my blog, so I'm scared! Natalie Bacon has been such an inspiration for me, and I love watching her channel, which you can check out here.
Goals for FITnancials
1. Hit 100,000 page views per month. Pass!
2. Get 2 months ahead of blog posts.
3. Get to 3,000 email subscribers. Pass!
See you next time
If you would have told me that by age 24, I'd be making $5,000 a month working at home, I would've laughed so hard.
Do you have an income report? Leave it in the comments!
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I loved reading your blogging income report. It’s so inspiring for newbie bloggers like me. I will be at FinCon as a first-timer and would love to meet up!
That’s awesome! I’m so excited for Fincon.
Enlightening! Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your path to where you are now. I look forward to more!
Thank you!
Thanks for the motivation! I keep coming back to your site! I love how clean and well organized it is. You are doing so well for yourself without coming across as spammy or salesy. Can’t wait to see you hit all those goals!
Thank you so much!
This is so awesome and I can’t wait until I get to that point! I am finally making just about $1000/month and almost been blogging for a year (with a few months that I took off due to life changes) and it feels like a lifetime until I am able to make $5000/month with my blog. By the way, do you use a network to get sponsored posting opportunities or do you reach out to companies and brands yourself?
Hey Daniella! You’re doing awesome and making more progress than most people!
I do use a few networks, but many of my sponsored opportunities are from people reaching out to me.