Welcome to my first monthly income report.

People often ask me how to make money blogging, which is why I’m excited to publish an income report finally.

Actionable Advice: Before we begin, take action now and download the free How To Start A Profitable Blog guide and learn how to monetize your blog from the beginning, how to save time and money when blogging, and the #1 resource I recommend to new bloggers. 

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 the day job that was bringing me high 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 sub niche 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) Are you not sure where to start on creating a profitable blog? I recommend checking out this course roadmap to figure out where you should get started first!

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!

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.

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
• Raw Till Whenever
• Maxbounty
• Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
• $5 Meal Plan
• Ebates

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. Six 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 three jobs.

Life was tough because I rarely got sleep and worked at a stressful job. 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 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 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.

You can save money on business and blogging related expenses with AppSumo. AppSumo is the Groupon for business products and services. Every week, new deals are listed from top software companies for entrepreneurs. I recommend checking out their site regularly for amazing blogging-related software deals.

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!

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 Built A Profitable Blog While Working And Being In School Full-Time

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

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