How I Made $5,047 in August 2017 From Blogging

Welcome to my first monthly income report. I’m nervous about this, so bear with me! People often ask me how to make money blogging, which is why I’m excited to finally publish an income report.

I know I’ve said that I don’t like income reports, but I’ve decided to try it out at least once and see how it goes.

Related:

• 5 Things I Did That Exploded My Traffic From Pinterest
• 6 Educational Tools That Helped Me Become A Full-Time Blogger
• 16 Real Work From Home Jobs That Pay Up To $75,000 A Year

There are several reasons why I’m not a fan of reporting my income online, which I’ll state below.

1. People get weird when they know how much money you make.

2. Some people might even start using you or asking you for money. (I’ve seen this happen way too many times).

3. Bloggers tend to compare themselves with others, and I’m definitely guilty of this. You start to wonder why you’re not at a certain point and why a blogger who started out is already making 6 figures. I don’t want anyone comparing themselves to me or vice versa.

I’ve had this blog since 2012. Although it was a hobby for a few years, I ended up taking giving it a full-time effort. It took a year of full-time blogging and taking it very seriously to start making a decent income. Though there are stories of people making 6 figures in their first year, it’s quite rare. So don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t made an income from it in the first 6 months or year. Blogging takes time. I’d say 97% of people who start a blog don’t ever make a full-time income off it.

I thought about quitting my blog and selling it several times. If I had sold my blog, I’d be working at a job that makes me miserable. Plain and simple.

I’ve had friends start blogs and YouTube channels and come to me asking why they aren’t making income yet. Making an income from a blog is HARD WORK. Harder than I’ll ever be able to explain.

Tons of bloggers like to paint a picture that it’s easy. If making a full-time income off a blog was easy, everyone would have a blog and work from home. Educate yourself with blogging courses. Network with other bloggers in your niche. Learn from the pros.

Don’t give up. If you want it bad enough and put the dedication and time into it, you will succeed.

---

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 between 30-40 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

---

How much money can you make from a blog?

The amount of money you make from blogging is up to you. A vast majority of bloggers out there make no money, while others are making millions every year.

---

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
• Opinion Bureau
• Nielson Computer
• Raw Till Whenever
• Maxbounty
• Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
• $5 Meal Plan
• Swagbucks
• Ebates

---

Free Products:

I asked GlassesShop.com to send me a few glasses in exchange for a product review.

Glasses are expensive. This online shop makes it more affordable to get prescription glasses. I received both regular eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses. All but one of the pairs fit well.

---

Courses I’m currently taking and recommend:

1. The Blogging Blueprint

The Blogging Blueprint is the one course I wish I had when I started blogging. If you haven’t started a blog yet, or you’re a beginner or not making money from your blog, this is the course to take. The course lays out everything you need to know about blogging in detail.

“The most important thing I’ve learned about blogging is that there is no magical technique that will grow your blog fast. There are, however, tried-and-true strategies that when implemented, will allow you to grow your blog the right way.” – Tiffany (the creator)

What’s included in the course:

• 7 modules, from how to create a blog, content creation, SEO, social media strategies, Pinterest tactics, blog growth, and earning money.
• Why you need to choose a niche and how to find yours
• How to write attention-grabbing content that goes viral
• How to get your content ranked in search engines like Google
• Practical strategies for growing your social media accounts
• How to use Pinterest to explode your blog’s traffic
• The best way to make strategic connections with bloggers
• Proven ways to make money with your blog
• Plus a lot more.

Also included are 8 helpful bonuses.

• Bonus #1: Access to Private Support Community
• Bonus #2: My Bestselling Premium WordPress Theme
• Bonus #3: Spreadsheet of 50+ Facebook Groups for Bloggers
• Bonus #4: Ultimate Guide of Free Blogging Resources
• Bonus #5: Weekly Planner Worksheet
• Bonus #6: Blog Income and Expenses Tracker
• Bonus #7: Pinterest “Save” Buttons
• Bonus #8: Media Kit Templates

This course is less than $200. Some of you may think that’s a lot, while others might think it’s priced too low once you go through the course. Coming from someone who has taken a lot of courses (especially “expensive” courses – close to $1,000), this course is inexpensive and should cost more.

You can learn more about The Blogging Blueprint here to get started.

2. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

Do you talk about products you love and use often? Great! I did the same, but I was making a huge mistake.

Any time I mentioned a product, I never linked the product. By linking the product, you’re making it easier for your reader to find the product, which helps them and you since you’ll be making a commission off of it.They’lll be able to try a product that will help them as well. That’s affiliate marketing. Easy, right?

Not so much.

There is so much to learn when it comes to affiliate marketing – which is why my sister created an entire course on it, called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. 

In the first month of using affiliate marketing, I made over $400 by placing a few links on my blog. It took a few hours work to do and will lead to passive income for the years to come. Many bloggers shy away from affiliate marketing because they don’t want to come off as salesy. You won’t ever come off as shady or salesy as long as you’re talking about products you genuinely recommend and use.

What’s included in the course:

• 6 modules, 30+ lessons, best tips to succeed at affiliate marketing
• How my sister has received $300,000 from one single blog post
• Access to a private Facebook group, where you can ask questions, learn valuable information from others
• How to pick the right affiliate products to promote
• Required disclosures that need to be talked about
• Strategies to use in your marketing
• How to succeed on Pinterest
• PDF forms that will help you succeed
• How to never get rejected from a company, written by an affiliate manager
• + information is added regularly to stay updated and help you get the best education

3. Strategies Worth Sharing

Strategies Worth Sharing is an ebook for growing traffic on Facebook. Brittany (the author of the ebook) went from 2,000 followers to 100,000 Facebook fans! We all know how important Facebook is and it’s getting better and better, which means we MUST learn how it works to get the best traction possible from it. For the price of the ebook, it’s definitely worth it.

4. Six Figure Blogger

After being a full-time blogger for a year, I’ve realized it’s time for me to create a digital product.

Not only am I learning how to create an ecourse or ebook, I’m also figuring out what type of product to make.

It’s not news that the health and fitness field is saturated with products and books to buy, which is why I’m so grateful to have bought this course.

Six Figure Bloggers has given me other ideas of products to create that will be successful on my blog.

What you’ll learn in the course:

• How to build an authentic relationship with your audience
• How to make money with affiliate marketing
• Learn how to create a profitable ebook
• How to create a profitable and successful ecourse
• Learn how to create high-converting sales pages
• Find out how to get the right visitors to your sale pages
• Access to a private support group

This is the course that is helping me create a profitable digital product.

5. Pinterest Traffic Avalanche

If you’re not on Pinterest or you aren’t sure how to use it, it’s time to figure the platform out now, and here is why.

Pinterest users are going on Pinterest to spend money.

Pinterest users spend more money on the platform than ANY other social media platform. Even Facebook. (I’m surprised, too).

This is important because this means that Pinterest can be an incredible way to get readers who want to buy items onto your blog.

Not only that, but an increase in page views means you’ll also increase your ad revenue.

If you want people to see your blog and get real traction on your website, Pinterest is crucial.

The Pinterest Traffic Growth course helped me increase my reach to 2.3 million, which simultaneously increased my ad revenue income and my affiliate marketing income.

6. How I Went From 17k to 400k+ Monthly Page Views In 9 Months

How I Went From 17k to 400,000 page views in 9 Months is one of the main reasons my page views are increasing at such a rapid rate. Even though Pinterest’s algorithm changed a few months ago, my blog has managed to overcome that obstacle and get more page views than it’s ever had. That is NO small feat, and I owe a lot of my success to the information and tricks I learned from Lena. She dove into topics that I would’ve never even thought about. I’m currently on my 3rd read-through, as she’s updated it again!

That is NO small feat, and I owe a lot of my success to the information and tricks I learned from Lena. She dove into topics that I would’ve never even thought about. Lena (the creator) recently updated the entire book, and now provides

Here are a few things you’ll learn:

• How to Duplicate Your Blogging Successes
• Interlinking Secrets
• Leveraging Google+
• A Few Words On Keyword Selection

Check out the course that helped me double my page views in 1 month here.

7. Pinteresting Strategies

I just purchased another Pinterest ebook and I can’t believe how helpful it was! I’ve taken 3 courses in total related to Pinterest, and they ALL shared completely different tactics and tips. See, the thing is, Pinterest is friggin weird and everyone reacts to it differently. You need to learn what works for you. In Pinteresting Strategies, Carly talks about how she only manually pins to Pinterest, and what she does to get crazy results. She gets anywhere between 5-10k views per day with her relatively new blog and shares all of her tips in her ebook, Pinteresting Strategies.

---

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.

My affiliate income is low this month. Part of that is because I don’t the products I’m an affilaite for have a low payout per sale.

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.

Waking up every day was a pain. 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.

Don’t get sucked into the cycle!

---

College Life:

Some of you may be wondering why I’m still in school. I’m so close to graduating and don’t want all those years of school to go to waste. I want to get my degree in case I decide to use it one day.

I also like the idea of teaching English abroad in Asia or Europe. Generally, you need a bachelors degree to do that (and you get paid better compared to not having a degree). We plan on moving abroad one day, and having a bachelors degree makes it easier to get a visa in certain countries.

---

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. If you’re a blogger, you’ll definitely want to check out her blog where she shares amazing content related to being a successful blogger. She’s helped me a ton with Pinterest and increasing my page views.

---

Fincon:

I will be at Fincon this year, so please let me know if you’re going! I won’t know anyone there besides Michelle (my sister).

P.S. If you’re also vegan, let’s go to Spiral Diner and Bakery together! I hear people talk about this place all the time, and I’d love to check it out.

---

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. Get to 20,000 followers on Pinterest.

2. Hit 100,000 page views per month.

3. Get 2 months ahead on blog posts.

3. Get to 3,000 email subscribers.

4. Get to 5,000 likes on Facebook.

---

Life Goals:

J.D. has 2 years left of school, and then we’re off to who knows what. We have a lot of ideas in the air, such as full-time RVing, moving to Europe or Canada, or moving to Arizona. Neither of us has ever been to Arizona, but it’s been calling out our name for awhile it seems like. We like that Tuscon is both bike-friendly, has mountains, is vegan-friendly, and is super duper cheap. We plan on being pretty aggressive with our student loan payments once we graduate.

---

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 at you. There are days when I’m in shock by the fact that I work at home. I’m my own boss at 24. It’s. So. Friggin. Cool.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been a follower since I started this blog. If you’re trying to become a blogger, I hope I could help you a bit with how to make money blogging.

I’m not sure if I’m going to continue income reports, but I figured I’d post at least one to see how it goes. How do you think I did this month? What else would you have liked me to cover in my income report?

Do you have an income report? Leave it in the comments!

 

If you’re a newbie here, let me fill you in. FITnancials is all about saving and making money. Here is a list of my favorite ways to save and make money.

• Start blogging. Blogging can be difficult because you can’t go to college for it, but you can enroll in courses that tell you everything you need to know. I personally went through and recommend The Blogging Blueprint, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, Pinterest Traffic Avalanche, and Six Figure Blogger. You can check out full details here of all of the courses. You can also read my monthly income report here.
• Answer surveys. I use the following surveys, and my readers use these too: Pinecone Research, Survey Voices, Click Perks and isurvey World.
• Keep track of your credit score. Using Credit Sesame to get your credit score information won’t impact your score. They’ll also tell you in detail what to do to increase your credit score, which gives you a better interest rate when you purchase a car, house, credit card, or any loan.
• Save money on glasses. Use GlassesShop.com to save on prescription glasses and sunglasses, as well as regular frames. I’ve gotten 3 pairs from this store. Each prescription + frame is usually less than $70. All you need to do is type in your prescription, which is super easy to do. GlassesShop.com also gave me this code for my readers for 50% off: GSHOT50
• Save on food, especially fruits and veggies. Ibotta is a super user-friendly app. All you have to do is choose the items you want to get cash back on, buy them at the store, and then take a photo of your receipt on the Ibotta app. (You get $10 for signing up through my link here). $5 Meal Plan is a $5 monthly meal plan (2 first weeks are free) that sends you meal plans and shopping lists to your email. Every single meal costs an average of $2 to make, and sometimes less.
• Save on travel. I use and recommend Couchsurfing for free accommodations, Airbnb (get $40 when you use my link here) when I prefer to have my own place for an affordable price, and always make sure to bring my Discount Travel Card that gives me access to over 160,000 discounts around the world.
• Save money at college. Scholarships are crucial when saving money in college. Using Scholarship Owl will apply to hundreds of scholarships for you with just one registration.
• Save on books. Use Scribd to get 3 books and 1 audiobook a month for $8.99 from a huge library. Read for free for 30 days by clicking here.
• If you’re an online shopper, get cash back with Ebates just for shopping like you regularly do. Ebates is free, and you get $10 when you sign up through my link.
• Do you have pets? Getting your furry friends on pet insurance sooner than later ensures they get an affordable premium, as well as as save a lot of money on vet bills. Embrace Pet Insurance is highly reviewed and rated. We also use Rover for our dog sitting needs, as well as making money on the side. I made an average of $25 per 30 minute walk. Get $25 toward your first walk here.
• Interested in learning a second language? Use italki. The classes range from $5-$40 per hour (my Korean class costs $12 per session). If you enjoy teaching languages, you can also use italki to use as a teaching platform.
• Are you a freelancer? Use Fiverr to display your services.
• Want to exercise at home and ditch the costly gym membership? Use Beachbody on Demand and get unlimited access to workout programs like P90X, Insanity, T25, 21 Day Fix, and more. I also use my Fitbit to track my daily steps. The challenges in the Fitbit app help me keep my steps up, especially since I work at home.
• If you buy protein powder, vitamins, etc., I recommend using Vitamin Shoppe. I’ve been buying my products through them since 2011 because they’re the most affordable, and always have a sale going on. If you buy “health” food often, use Thrive Market since their products are significantly cheaper since they cut out the middle man (supermarket or store).

 

Like this post? Pin it!