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Hi everyone!
Welcome to this month’s online income report, where I share exactly how much money I’m making online and how I’m doing it. This month, I’m not only sharing my June income report, but I’m also sharing a look back at my online income over the years. Hopefully, this will encourage you in your own blogging journey!
Blogging is not a way to make money fast or immediately, but it’s definitely a way to create a passive form of income for yourself after many years of work. Right now, my blog is sort of in “maintenance mode” but I’m still making $3,000+ per month. What is maintenance mode, you ask? Well, that’s where I’m still sharing posts on social media, sending out 2-3 newsletters per month (sign up here!), and writing 2-3 blog posts per month. So yes, I’m still working, and my income isn’t completely passive. But to be making $3K a month for maybe 10 hours of work total is a huge win in my book!
Once my kids go back to school in September (granted, I’ll still have my baby with me!), I plan on entering a more “active” stage with my blog. Active blogging (for me) is posting at least once a week, having specific strategies and goals in mind each month, creating new products, promoting and updating old products, joining more affiliate programs, and more. Hopefully, I’ll see my income increase even more by doing these things!
If you are on the fence about starting a blog, I highly encourage you to just go for it! Don’t overthink it or think you’re too busy to build a successful blog. If you can commit to doing one blogging-related task every single day (even if it’s an easy, three-minute task), you will see results over time.
If you’re ready to start blogging, head over here to receive a special discount on your plan! >>
June Online Income
In June, I made $3,530. This is money that hit my bank account, not money that I earned. In June, I actually earned quite a bit less. Summer months for blogging are slow, so for any bloggers out there – take that into consideration when budgeting! You’ll see my June results reflected in August/September’s income report.
Breakdown of my income:
- Ads: $242.53
- Affiliate Sales: $3,242.87 (I recently joined iGain and I love it!!)
- Product Sales: $44.60
- Sponsored Posts: $0
Most of my money comes from affiliate sales, which I love! Affiliate sales are pretty easy. I recommend a product that I use and love, and if a reader makes a purchase, I make a small commission at no extra charge to them.
If you’re a blogger looking for affiliate programs to join, I highly recommend joining Ultimate Bundles. Throughout the year, the team at Ultimate Bundles offers bundles of products (ebooks, courses, webinars, etc) at a HUGE discount to readers. Topics for bundles include parenting, fitness, homemaking, blogging, working from home, eating healthy and more. Most likely, your blogging niche will fit in nicely with at least one of the bundles. As an affiliate, you simply promote the bundle via your blog and email list and make money! Sign up here!
If you’re curious about all the other affiliate programs I use, what ad program I use, and more, check out this ultimate guide on how to make money blogging.
How My Online Income Has Evolved
I started this blog almost three years ago (it’ll be three years in September!). While I started it with the hopes of making money from it, I didn’t realize how much there was to learn and how long it would take to actually start making consistent money (for me, about 1 – 1 1/2 years!). I also never imagined in my wildest dreams that my blog income would reach a point to where I could quit my full-time job!
Honestly, the only thing I wish I could change about blogging is that I would have started sooner! Most really big bloggers have been at it for 10+ years. In five years, will you wish you would have started blogging today? If so, get started now with this step-by-step tutorial!
My income when I first started blogging…
I started my blog in September of 2014 and my first income report showed I made $1400. But, you’ll notice ALL of this income was from freelancing.
I was a freelancer for about four years before deciding to quit my services and focus solely on my blog. If a good opportunity comes up, I’ll usually take it, but I’m not actively seeking freelance work and I don’t have any regular freelance clients.
In March 2015 (six months after starting my blog), I got paid out on the first $100 I made from my blog! This money came from Google Adsense. It felt SO GOOD to make that money!! All of my hard work over the last five months had paid off!
Switching from freelancing to blogging…
About one year later in February 2016, I had my highest blogging income month to date, making a little less than $600 just from my blog. So by this point, I had been blogging for just under a year and a half! Not bad, right?! At the time, I had a full-time job and two toddlers. I never spent more than an hour a day on my blog and most days I probably spent just a few minutes. If I can do this, so can you!! It just takes time!
Get your free guide on how to start a profitable blog here >>
Increasing my income as a blogger…
From February 2016 to now, I’ve made money from my blog every single month. Sometime months it was a few hundred, others a few thousand. I’m very happy to report that since the start of the year my income has stayed at about $1,000 or more. And in March, I was able to quit my job so I could focus more on my blog and being a mom to my three little girls! You can read all about my first month as a full-time blogger here.
What to Focus on as a New Blogger
I really think the hardest part of blogging is at the very beginning. Everything is brand new, you don’t understand how to work WordPress or get your blog set up, and you have no idea where to begin.
As a gift to you, if you purchase your blog plan through Bluehost, I’ll send you a copy of my book – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging – for free. Just send me an email (sbrooks52111@gmail.com) with your domain name after you sign up!
This is what I would do if I were starting fresh with a blog:
- Publish new posts consistently; once a week or once every two weeks is fine
- Create two images for each post (I use Canva to create my images and purchase my images off Etsy or for free from Pexels.com)
- Join as many Pinterest group boards as you can (follow me here and request to join my board, Mama Entrepreneurs!)
- Start an email list (MailerLite is amazing and it’s completely free up to 1,000 subscribers!); don’t worry too much about emailing your list, just get it started!!
- Brainstorm what products you will eventually sell as an affiliate and create yourself
- Join Facebook blogging groups and get to know other bloggers
Have you started your blog yet? How was your June?! Share in the comments!
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