Update: 3/13/17: Ever wish you had a cheat sheet to help you build your blog the right way? Not an overwhelming book, just an easy to follow guide that tells you what you need to do next? You can get one for FREE here! https://www.busybudgeter.com/
February 2016 Blogging Income Report
If you’re wondering why I post a blogging income report, it’s because this journey was only made possible by other bloggers posting their blogging income reports and inspiring me to give it a shot on my own. This is kind of my way of “paying it forward”. Plus, I love the fact that I work in the only industry that I know where it’s totally normal to post your income every month. If you are a blogger, or end up being a blogger, I would love to see you post your blogging income report too!
February was absolutely insane. I was able to see all of the hard work come together from the past several months through affiliate income and I spent most of the month pinching myself and trying to figure out if this was a dream or if this was really my life.
But first… About me…
I’m a full-time blogger. Less than 2 years ago, I had no idea that was an actual thing. To say the last two years have been a wild ride is the understatement of the year.
If there’s one thing that I want to pass on to you, is that I am NOT special. I’m not crazy smart. I don’t have a writing degree and I’m certainly not a grammar expert (although a free app called Grammarly certainly helps).
I just love to write and I love to help people and I’m really good at reducing our spending. So, I walk people through the baby steps that we took to completely transform our finances. I’m able to support my family making far more than I ever could in my previous career.
If that sounds like something you want to do, I can help you make that a reality with step-by step instructions (for free!). You can find instructions for how to start your own blog here (even if you aren’t great with computers).
The best part? Blogging is a super cheap (almost free!) hobby that makes you money! Starting your own blog isn’t very expensive! Starting a blog that makes you money while working from home starts at about $3.95/month!
February 2016 Blogging Income Report:
February was insane and I’m actually slightly hysterical just thinking about it. I made more this month than many people make in a year and I’m fully aware of how insane that is.
One thing I was surprised at is that growing your business so fast can make you feel kind of guilty. There are police officers and soldiers in the military who spend a year in the line of fire and make less than I made last month. That’s not something I can easily swallow.
Granted, I need to pay (a lot!) of taxes and some expenses and I’m at the point now where I’m hiring people, but it was kind of a sobering experience. I also took a heck of a risk in blogging by working for 6 months for relatively free to get to this point, but good grief, that’s a lot of money.
I try to remind myself that I’m growing a business and it’s one that I believe in passionately. I can see the good that I’m doing through letters from readers and the debt free stories I get.
Maybe it’s a girl thing? I have a hard time believing that Bill Gates is sitting around his office and thinking “Well, I want to make money this month, but not quite that much.”
I digress, one thing you should know is that this isn’t normal! We had a HUGE affiliate sale for the blogging class that changed my life this month (Elite Blog Academy, which you can find out more about here), as well as a post with affiliate links for Ibotta (my absolute favorite free app that saves you money) go viral.
So, don’t expect these crazy high numbers next month!
We also saw pageviews settle a little from their crazy unnatural January spike, they’re still higher than I was expecting, but I can hardly complain about that.
Pageviews: 619,225 (down from 874,603 last month)
Income: $39,239.57 (up from $9,362 last month) plus about $120 credit to my absolute favorite budget clothes shop- ThredUp (you can grab a free $20 gift card to them by clicking here). Update: Your credit will be automatically added to your cart.
Income Broken Down:
$2,380.00 Sponsored Posts
$5002.00 Ad Networks
$29,396.57 Affiliates
$2,461 Coaching
(further breakdown of my strategy for each category below)
I started offering Pinterest Coaching on a case by case basis. I get almost all of my pageviews from Pinterest with a system (using Boardbooster) that only takes me 4 hours a month to maintain. That system has a lot to do with how I can grow the business with the number of hours that I work each week (about 20 hours/week, always under 30 hours). You can email me at busybudgeter@gmail.com for more information.
My goals for February were:
Brainstorm 2 months of post ideas: Done! I ended up doing 3 months of posts in my editorial calendar.
Link the top 10 posts on my site with affiliate links and links to other posts: I actually didn’t finish all 10 posts, but I got through several and then started writing review posts on the affiliates that I use and love (more on that under my strategy written below).
What worked this Month:
Affiliates that you believe in: I’ve turned down a lot of money over the past year in affiliates that I just didn’t use myself and love. But this month showed me in no uncertain terms that’s the right path to take. I only promote about 10 affiliates and each of them are products/services and companies that I use routinely and love.
I saw the power of that strategy in the Elite Blog Academy sale this past month. This is the class that took me from $18/month to well, now $39,000/month. I’m crazy passionate about Elite Blog Academy (two of my best friends and my sister even bought the class!) and I ended up being the top affiliate for the sale.
Which is shocking, because I am most definitely still a “little fish” in the blogging world. (Okay, maybe not this month- but usually I am!)
By concentrating all of my efforts on things that I love so much that I think you would be crazy not to use too, it makes using affiliate links super easy and natural on my part and I see fast success from them.
Splitting my income streams: I started as a budgeting blog and didn’t write anything about blogging. A few months ago, I started sharing my blogging income reports when I was inspired by Michelle Schroeder Gardner (who is totally a “big fish” blogger). I started writing content and newsletters for bloggers as a way to get all of the exciting stuff out of my head and on to paper and maybe make someone else’s journey a little easier.
While I didn’t realize it at the time, that decision split my income streams. This month, I made about $12,000 from my budgeting list and the rest was from my blogging list. Last month it was about $6,000 from my budgeting list and $3,000 from my blogging list.
I often hear people say “The only people that make money blogging are people that blog about blogging” and I completely disagree. $12,000/month from writing about budgeting is an insane amount of money to me. Insane. But, I also can’t deny that splitting your income streams into separate email lists and content is a profitable idea.
My recommendation is the same as always, write about what you love. If you grow to love blogging as much as you love your “usual” blog topic, then go for it! If you never have an interest in that, then you don’t need to “blog about blogging”.
What didn’t work this month:
Knee jerk reactions: Pinterest (reportedly) released a new algorithm on February 1st, and I caved to the increasing panicked Facebook status updates from other bloggers and spent almost 6 hours digging through Google and Pinterest analytics to find out if I was affected.
I usually have a strict rule to ignore things like that and wait a few weeks to let things settle and then a/b test small changes over time to figure out if my system needs tweaking.
While spending 6 hours checking into that may not seem like a big deal, I made about $392/hour this month… In opportunity cost, that 6 hours cost me about $2,356 and in the end was pointless. I saw that the change (if there was one) seems to favor me but I would have seen that without wasting 6 hours if I had just stayed the course.
Stress: I touched on this above, but one of the most surprising things that happened this month was my reaction to having the most profitable month of my business ever. Instead of being elated and thrilled, I was tense and stressed. No idea what that means.
In the words of my best guy friend, “If it was me that grew a business to be that successful, I’d be rolling around on the bed in Benjamin’s and taking selfies for Facebook.” Which cracked me up and made me feel a bit better.
I mention this, so that if it happens to you, you know at least that you aren’t alone.
Goals for next month:
Efficiency plan- I’m slowing down a lot for March and not focusing on income at all so that I can set up processes and get ahead of my writing schedule to work more efficiently. It’s a good time to set myself up to make things easier going forward. I’m getting my bookkeeper sorted out, getting my email flow chart working correctly, and working through Ruth Soukup’s Productivity for Bloggers Guide. (This hasn’t been released yet, I got a copy in the Elite Blog Academy Launch).
Launch a second opt in- I’ve been getting between 3,000-4,000 new subscribers a month with my current opt in, and I have a new one being released this month that I’m hoping will eventually double that.
My Income Strategy:
I earn income in three major categories with my blog. I’ll run over my strategy for each of them.
Sponsored Posts
I focus most of my sponsored post efforts on reaching out to brands that I use and love and offering a sponsored post package at a rate that’s a little lower than “industry standard” (which is highly debatable). That let’s me increase the “yes!” emails I get in response, and ensures that I can count on making a certain amount every month on sponsored posts while still being really picky about which brands that I’ll work with. I also go through each of my brand networks (places like Tapinfluence and Clever Girls) to see if there are any assignments that would be a good fit for my blog.
Ad Networks
In general, more pageviews equal more ad earnings. I use Adthrive (you can apply with them once you have 100,000 pageviews) and love them. My RPM (The ad revenue that I get per 1,000 pageviews) bounces between $6.40 and $10.00 depending on the season.
I increase my pageviews by marketing my blog content through Pinterest using a fantastic tool called Boardbooster. I a/b tested everything on Pinterest (and still do) for about 6 months until I figured out a system that works for me. My favorite thing about Pinterest (at least with Boardbooster) is that I spent only 4 hours a month running my Pinterest Strategy. That leaves me tons of time to grow in other areas.
Affiliates
I focus on a core group of affiliates that I think almost everyone in my target audience should be using. Since I run a budgeting website, I factor cost into the equation. If something is a great product, but is too expensive for my readers, I likely won’t add them to the core affiliates list. Having the core list lets me easily track special sale dates that my readers should miss and lets me focus without getting overwhelmed with the barrage of affiliate “offers’ hitting my inbox daily.
To me, the key to affiliate marketing is to never ever promote anything that you haven’t used yourself and you don’t love. My philosophy is that if you only promote companies and products that you would tell your best friend about enthusiastically, then you’re doing it right.
If you want to see my full list of blogging resources that I use, you can find them here.
Need a step by step guide on how to start a blog? You can find one by clicking here (you don’t even need to be great with computers!).
Kudos, man. My eyes about popped out of my head when I read that title.
I think I can sort of relate to the guilt you’re feeling. I mean, not in the sense that I’ve ever made that much in a month (or a year!) but I think I understand!
Not to be a nosy busybody, but maybe finding ways you can give back would help you enjoy your income more and feel less guilty! I know domestic violence shelters can always use additional funding, but obviously there are tons of charities to choose from potentially.
Someone in the same boat as you told me the other day that it’s something they want to do and they felt stuck as to how to do it. So that could be something for a future brainstorming list!
Leah recently posted…How To Write A Meal Plan (When You Hate Meal Planning)
That’s actually the same plan we came up with Leah! 🙂 Great minds think alike!
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
Wow, I’m impressed – I’m a blogging newbie and I haven’t realised this type of income is possible with blogging! I can only imagine the amount of effort you put in to get to this point so fast! I’m glad it has paid off for you. This is really inspiring and super informative.
Sarah recently posted…Recipes I’m loving this week: 18th March
It’s crazy Sarah! Blogging is the most fun hobby I’ve ever had and the fact that I can make any income from it is amazing. The fact that I made more in a month than most people make in a year is just…. insane.
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
Don’t ever feel guilty for making money — it’s what you do with your money that matters. 🙂 And besides that you – you were in the line of fire once and deserve every penny you work for. 🙂 🙂 🙂 And I’m so freaking excited for you! You are my inspiration! 🙂
Jessi Fearon @The Budget Mama recently posted…Overcoming Retail Therapy Addiction
You’re the best Jessi! Three cheers for The Budget Mama! You’ve been my inspiration!
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
It seems like EBA really changed your life. I am new to blogging and will be enrolling next time around. Do you attend FinCon?
I did Aliyyah! And I can’t recommend EBA enough. Did you go to the last FINCON? I taught a session (along with Jessi Fearon actually- the commenter above you!) about Mastermind Groups.
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
This is awesome! You did extremely well last month, but you don’t need me to tell you that, haha. I hope future months are just as great 🙂
Michelle recently posted…Make Money At Home By Becoming A Transcriptionist
Thank you! You’re the best affiliate coach ever! (Make a course! We want to buy it!)
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
This is awesome and super inspiring! ! I decided with my new blog I wanted to post income updates from the get-go…and got very mixed reviews on it. I honestly find income reports so inspiring, interesting, and motivational… that was why I wanted to start. Even though I only made $5 last month, lol. This is awesome, I’m so happy for you!
Do it! I actually wish I had started sooner. It’s in the growth that’s inspiring, not the final number!
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
Uh… what???? That is insane. Way to go!
Yep… those were pretty much my exact words all month. 🙂
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…February 2016 Blogging Income Report
Congratulations! Every time Ruth’s leader board came out, your name was at the top! I’m actually going through EBA again and doing it s l o w l y. First, b/c I was such a new blogger the first time but also because you’ve said how much doing each step well made a difference for you. Great job Rosemarie!
I’m really impressed that blogging could really earn that much. Nice post though. And thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Wow, that’s amazing! I’ve been blogging for only a couple months now. I make around one cent a day using Adsense on my site (unless someone clicks an ad), and I think I’m doing pretty good! Haha.
Right now, my goal is to figure the whole blogging thing out. I’d like to start using affiliates for financial products I use, but my strategy so far has consisted of just going to their site and seeing if there’s a page for affiliates. Granted, I haven’t done a systematic search, but so far I haven’t found an affiliates page for the services I use the most, and I’m hesitant about contacting them since I’m still new at this and I only get about 40 visitors a day in traffic on a good day. I’ll still keep working on it, though, and I’ll definitely be sure to check out the EBA – I even just signed up to be on the waiting list. 🙂
Thanks!
Wow!! Yes, that’s more than our family of 4 lives on in a YEAR! That’s amazing. You’ve inspired me to keep a watch out for when EBA opens up again.
Holy wow, Rosemarie! Congratulations! You are such an inspiration! As a brand new blogger (and proud EBA student) I look forward to the day I can join your ranks. 🙂
Holy Moly! I’m in month #6 of blogging and I can’t even fathom making that much money. But I’ve quickly learned how much work it is to manage a blog that every penny you earn is worth it. Very inspiring to a newbie! Visiting from DIY Sunday Showcase.
Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled recently posted…How To Make Custom Candles With Ribbon
Great job!! I love the “roll around with the Benjamins for fb” idea! I look forward to seeing those pictures haha! In all seriousness, this is extremely inspiring. 🙂
Emily Rooney recently posted…3 Reasons Successful Bloggers use Editorial Calendars and Free Printables
You really are a rock star lady. I hope you don’t feel one ounce of guilt. You’ve earned every penny with all of your hard work. It couldn’t happen to a nice person!
That is awesome! I love the points you shared about affiliates. I also can relate to the weird feeling of being a bit uncomfortable with making more money. While I am not making what you made last month (yet), I was publishing income reports when my months were in the $3,000 earnings per month range. I felt like that was inspiring while still seeming achievable for people and the first time I had a month where I earned over $5,000, I quit writing the income reports because I started second-guessing myself and worrying about all kinds of things about what people would think or whether I could maintain it and if I should count the money that I earned in that month or the money that actually came in in that month. Anyway, I think it’s awesome that you had such a great month and I hope it’s only a sign of things to come for you.
P.S. I look forward to a picture of you rolling around in the money or tossing it up in the air with a proud smile on your face in a future income report!
Congrats! Love your honesty- thanks for sharing and inspiring us all to keep working at it!
~Karina
Thank you for your post. I am taking EBA right now and as a new fish in the blogging world it can get a bit over whelming. I need to focus on getting my numbers up. I have lots to learn. Thanks again. Have an amazing day.
Inspirational stuff Rosemarie. I have just started Elite Blog Academy, which I first saw via your site. I was a bit dubious at first because there are SO many courses out there and it’s not cheap. But seeing proof that it has worked with yours and others sites said an awful lot, so I took the leap. Plus Ruth seems very on the ball, open and honest, plus v successful too. I really like the organised step by step approach in EBA, it reduces the potential UBER overwhelm! My blog is v new but can’t wait to start seeing things start to move. All the best with Busy Budgeter. Cheers, Sarah
Sarah recently posted…How to Make Pesto Sauce From Scratch
That is incredible! I love reading income reports because I can take what I read and flip it into my own strategy and see what works and what doesn’t. Great job!
I found Elite Blog Academy through your site and I still have no idea how! Now I get your emails, and Ruth’s but wasn’t able to join the academy yet. I’m learning as much as I can from you and others for now. Last month I made a whopping $0.96 and this month I’m at $1.17 so far but I’m super new to blogging. I’m really proud to have gone from 1 reader a day to 18-20 and it keeps slowly increasing! Thanks for sharing as much as you do – it helps!
wow!This sounds so much inspiring!Congratulations!
Amila recently posted…Mouthwatering Food & Beverage Photography
You are such an inspiration! I started in the Fall 2014 EBA group with you and worked hard through May of 2015. Then, I set my blog aside (at 30,000 pvs/month and making maybe $30/month) to focus on other things. I kept the blog running but didn’t post or promote. A few weeks ago, I finally realized exactly what I want to do with it and am determined to see it through (plus, I finished the degree I’d been working on that was overwhelming my time before). I love reading these stories of blog succes…especially from those whose names I remember from EBA. Thanks so much for sharing, and way to go!!!
What optin do you use? Thanks for bringing your post to Inspire Me Mondays,
Janice, Your hostess
The absolute best part of this income report was how you felt about checking up on the Pinterest algorithm. Time is MONEY! We say it all the time, read it everywhere, try to live by it, but very few people completely embrace that mentality.
You wasted 6 hours, and calculated exactly how much that six hours cost you.
I’m currently going through EBA and this is so inspiring. I have so many questions, and I have to remember…at one time, you were me. So, I’ll keep my questions and focus on my journey because I know that anything I need to know… I’ll find out by doing.
This is by far one of the best income reports I have read so far and I’ve read a lot! I am feeling very inspired after reading this and feeling a bit more confident, so thank you! I have only done one income report so far. You can read it here: http://savingsaplenty.com/income-report-blogging-earn-income/
Rosemarie, Thanks for your constant inspiration! I also signed up for EBA through you. Actually, I signed up for Bluehost and wordpress one day (to start my blog) and EBA the next. Clueless, absolutely clueless, I was! So, EBA was WAAYYY over my head! Now I’m just trying to figure out what everything in the blogging world means, then, I’ll pick back up with EBA when I have a better grasp of blogging. I am focusing on writing posts for now (not publishing them though) so I will actually have some decent content on my blog when I launch it. I’ll get it together and will keep tuning in to you for inspiration and motivation.
Marshella@thislifelivedwell recently posted…Time to get dirty!
That is SO awesome!!! Your post is an encouragement to me. I have been blogging for over 18 months so I need to make some changes. Thank you Rosemarie for your honesty!!!
Debi@Add Value To Your Home recently posted…NO More Popcorn Ceiling Reveal! – Week 2 ORC
I’m a fellow EBA student and saw the kudos you received from Ruth when the Feb sale was going on and just had the chance to check you out. I’m blown away, this is truly amazing! I found the statement about the only people who make money blogging are those that blog about blogging… Funny. It really does seem that way! I come from the corporate world and I’m now gravitating towards helping other moms who want to achieve flexibility by working for themselves. It’s a variation of helping other people with business strategies, I think that there is some truth to that’s where the money is. Regardless, kudos on an amazing month!
Wow! This is impressive! My blog is around 18-months old and I am not anywhere near this level. Thank you for sharing your tips!
Karla @Small Town Rambler recently posted…Charlottesville Design House Tour: A Benefit for the Shelter for Help in Emergency
Wow! Congratulations!!! Your Pinterest picture also caught my eye. It looks like a magazine cover. 🙂 Great job!
Lynn
Lynn Winters @Suburban Health Nut recently posted…Eat a Rainbow, It’s Not Just For Kids
I totally get feeling stressed and guilty when you have a good month. I had my best month ever recently (not as high as yours but high enough I was pretty excited about it) and I spent the entire month completely stressed. I think it is mostly because it took me by surprised and I worried about maintaining it.
I posted my most recent income report here – http://busymommymedia.com/blog-income-report-made-10700-last-month-working-home/
Haha! Yes! Isn’t it weird?
SO inspiring Rosemarie! Your story is amazing! I’ve followed you for awhile now, but I loved hearing more from you in the Elite Blog Academy! I love reading these income reports as they get me fired up to work hard. Although I’m still so small, I have hope that I can continue growing my blog. I’m going to link this post to my most recent blog income report! 😉 http://www.mommawren.com