Update 3/16/2017: If you’re looking to increase your blog's income, the FREE guide to Finding Affiliates that Work for You is a MUST GRAB. It even lists all of the top affiliate programs in every niche, organized by commission and topic. Grab it for FREE here for a limited time.
About two and a half years ago, I lived a pretty chaotic life. I quit my career to stay home with my kids, was running a home day care for 50 hours a week, and we were just finishing paying off over $30,000 in debt.
My husband traveled all the time for work and I mostly felt like a single parent.
The word luxury wasn’t in our vocabulary. We were on a super tight budget. We didn’t eat out, we didn’t buy anything that wasn't absolutely necessary, and when we did, we bought it from the thrift store, we didn't even have paper towels in the house (much to the horror of our well meaning friends).
While we were happy, we were also exhausted.
I started a blog on a whim in 2014.
I wanted to teach people how we paid off most of our debt, and how we overcame our severe disorganization to make saving money and living on one income possible.
I wanted more than anything to make blogging my full time job. But, it seemed like a stupid dream. Something about as likely as me becoming a leading actress opposite Channing Tatum. (Sadly, I’ve given up on the Channing Tatum dream.)
My first month, I worked 10 hours a week and made a whopping $18. Which basically equates to about 45 cents per hour. I was totally thrilled with that $18. I even called my mom weekly with income updates!
However, I didn’t give up, and 27 months later I’m making $86,000 a month from blogging. Which is insane. INSANE.
So, let’s talk about how I did it. What were the steps that led me from $18/month in blog income to over $86,000 a month?
Want to learn how to start a blog? You can get step by step instructions here.
There are actually four distinct steps.
Invest in education.
The absolute best decision that I ever made in my journey to full time blogging was an investment in a class called Elite Blog Academy.
The problem in blogging is that some people do it for YEARS and don’t make money doing it. It’s like busy work. They put in their hours, but they’re not doing the right work. So, they’re just spinning their wheels and not getting anywhere.
I started the blog at the same time I started Elite Blog Academy. I took the class very seriously and I completed every single action step before moving on. It took me 9 months to complete the course.
But, by the end of it, I was making full time income. Then it quickly grew from there.
Elite Blog Academy was really key to me earning full time income from blogging.
In fact, I explained EXACTLY what EBA did for me in this video.
Blogging as a business can be really overwhelming, and not to knock myself, but I‘m not super smart. I’m not the girl that understands things the first time or learns easily. (“C” students unite!)
Because it wasn’t overwhelming, I really succeeded in Elite Blog Academy. I didn't have to understand how to earn full time income from blogging as a whole, I just had to complete the next step in the class.
When I started the class, I had no idea how bloggers made money. Halfway through the class, I had no idea how bloggers made money. At the end, I not only understood how bloggers made money but I had all of the things I needed to succeed.
I had a platform, I had pageviews, I had an email list, and I had built up trust with my audience.
The problem is that you need to have almost perfect timing (and be willing to invest- it’s not cheap) to get into Elite Blog Academy. It’s only open to enrollment for 5 days out of the year. Your best bet is to join the waiting list here.
Commit to a year.
Blogging is kind of a weird business. There are a TON of benefits.
- You can start for very little initial investment (about $3.49/month to start a blog and get your website up).
- You can do it on your own time so it’s an easy second job.
- Most people blog as hobby never even realizing that you can make serious money from it, so it’s way to make a living from something you would likely do for free.
Side note: I don’t mean that growing a blog into a business isn’t hard, it is! It was a long first year! But I do mean that in comparison to my 9 year career in law enforcement or my three years running a home daycare, blogging is ridiculously easy and fun.
The trade-off is that it’s going to take time to make money from this. It’s not something you can start this Friday and be pulling in cash at the end of the month.
Here’s a graphic that shows my income to give you an example. Keep in mind I started in September of 2014, so from then until the chart starts, I made pretty much nothing.
It’s a risk, don’t get me wrong. You can start a blog and find out that you just aren't great at it and not grow into full-time income. But, you risk very little money and all you risk is time. With a traditional business, you usually need a pretty significant capital investment (read:$$$) in order to make the kind of money I make from blogging, and even then you need to wait several years to pay off loans before your profitable.
The key to my success in blogging was that I committed to one year. No matter what, I would be blogging for 10 hours a week for one year. When I had the flu, I blogged all weekend to make up those hours missed; when we had our daughter, I blogged in the recovery room. (No joke!).
While 10 hours a week seems like a pretty simple thing, in reality people struggle with going to the gym 3 times a week or logging their calories eaten (Which takes, what? 10 minutes?) so as simple as it looked on paper, it was actually pretty difficult to do.
This in one of the biggest reasons that blogs fail. They “fall off the wagon” before they ever see any income.
There were SO MANY times I wanted to quit during those “45 cent per hour” months. If I had, I would never had made it to full time income from blogging and I certainly wouldn’t have made this high amount of income.
Having an end date helped me push through those hard months. Being able to say “It’s just for this year, then I’ll stop” gave me an exit strategy that helped me push through. By the time the year was over, I was full time and it was a lot easier.
Calculate your ROI constantly.
ROI means the return on your investment. To me, in its’ most basic form, it means that I always try to do more of what makes me money, and less of what doesn’t and I track that weekly and monthly.
Every week I add up the income earned from each of the income sources for the blog, and compare it to my goal for the month. This gives me an opportunity to get a feel for what the results are of the things I change and to get really familiar with what makes money and what doesn't.
When an opportunity comes up, I try to figure out the potential ROI before I make a decision. And each week, I look at the tasks that I completed for the week and figured out which tasks made the biggest difference to income, and which tasks were things that were wasted time.
Side note: While focusing on ROI is super important, I should point out that building a trust with your audience (and maintaining it) is the foundation of a profitable blog. So everything you do should be serving your audience.
Outsource, outsource, outsource.
I quickly figured out that I had a lot of weaknesses in the blogging world. I am absolutely awful with technology, I can’t type (Seriously… I hunt and peck and it takes forever for me to edit.) I’m fairly bad with grammar and spelling. The list goes on.
I calculate my hourly rate (the profit for the month divided by the hours I work) and then anything I can get someone else to do faster, cheaper, or better… I outsource.
I explain my system of outsourcing and the order that I outsourced here…
Life now…
It’s been an insane two and a half years. At this point, my life looks so different from what it did then. It’s still busy, but it’s good busy, the kind of busy you have when you love what you do.
I work between 20 and 30 hours a week from home, and I totally went to Great Wolf Lodge last weekend on a whim because we could AND we have a super fancy trash can. (Okay, not exactly impressive… but we’re still pretty frugal; old habits die hard).
I guess I’m saying all of this to emphasize: If you’ve ever thought about it, if you’ve ever heard of blogging and wondered if you’d love it. Then try it. Even if you can’t invest in Elite Blog Academy.
Grab the free blog training and just try! You have no idea what you’re capable of. I certainly didn’t. But the only thing I couldn’t stand the idea of is living with regret and not trying.
Update 3/16/2017: If you’re looking to increase your blog's income, the FREE guide to Finding Affiliates that Work for You is a MUST GRAB. It even lists all of the top affiliate programs in every niche, organized by commission and topic. Grab it for FREE here for a limited time.
More You'll Love:
Full Review: Elite Blog Academy… UPDATE: If you want to start a blog but aren’t sure where to start then I’d love to tell […]
Three Steps We Took First To Start Paying Off Debt
Thank you so much to Wells Fargo for sponsoring today’s post about the three first […]
90 Day Budget for Beginners Boot Camp
If you’re sick of living paycheck to paycheck, being stressed about money, and being […]
How to Make-Over a Room on a Budget This post brought to you by CORT. The content and opinions expressed below are that of […]
Holly says
February 19 at 9:59 pmWOOHOO GIRL! You are rocking it! I love reading your income reports, they are so inspirational!
Holly recently posted…Blogging For Beginners | Money
Rhonesha says
February 19 at 11:14 pmThis is just the motivation I needed. I really wanted to take Elite Blog Academy but could not afford it. I’m so glad this free class is coming up. My husband and I are trying to have a baby and I don’t want to go back to my traditional job. There are so many resources out there and it can get overwhelming which causes frustration. I’m hoping this class will help me get more organized and goal oriented.
The Busy Budgeter says
February 22 at 3:22 pmThe free class is amazing! Seriously, you won’t regret it. Best of luck 🙂
nc says
July 4 at 11:44 amhow did you free class go, usually you do not get much in a free class let me know thanks
Caroline – Cow Country Housewife says
February 20 at 10:45 amGirl, you’re AMAZING! I’m SO happy for you!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Caroline – Cow Country Housewife recently posted…The Blogging Class that Made Me a Full Time Blogger
Nabankita says
February 20 at 11:12 amCongrats for this huge achievement!
You have seriously skyrocketed your income in an appreciating manner!
I just loved your “return on your investment” concept. Thanks for sharing your strategies!
Melissa says
February 20 at 1:17 pmSo what exactly makes your blog so much money? The advertising?
Megan says
February 20 at 3:57 pmThat’s exactly what I was wondering! I even went back, thinking I’d missed income part.
Affiliates sales? If so, which ones? Own product? Ads?
And even tho $86k sounds great, did it take 5k to make that? Or 75k?
Traffic?
There’s just no information here. :/
The Busy Budgeter says
February 20 at 10:08 pmThanks for the feedback! I linked to information on how I make money on the blog here: https://www.busybudgeter.com/how-do-bloggers-make-money/ I release income reports every month to explain where the money comes from specifically, and expenses this month were about $20k, but most of that is outsourcing to grow. My expenses at this level are completely different than a newer blogger though. I have a full time employee and 5 contractors.
The Busy Budgeter recently posted…How I Went From $18/month to $86,000/month Working From Home
Erin @ View From Our Terrace says
February 21 at 7:25 amOkay so I am having my second baby in the next month but I don’t think my computer will be there will me – too funny!! That is real commitment!
But seriously, you have been such an inspiration to me – can’t believe how far you have come in a year! Congratulations!!
Erin @ View From Our Terrace recently posted…Four Ways to Make Money as a Stay at Home Mom
June says
February 21 at 10:56 amThis is so inspiring! I come back to your posts again and again for motivation to persevere. Thanks for sharing your story and income reports.
Natalie @ NatalieBacon.com says
February 21 at 1:16 pmThis is awesome!! Congrats gf!! Can I put a special request in for monthly income reports?! 🙂
Natalie @ NatalieBacon.com recently posted…Should You Focus on Making More or Spending Less?
The Busy Budgeter says
February 21 at 3:13 pmAlways! 🙂 I’m SUPER BEHIND right now. I need to do December (92k) and January ($86k).
Melissa says
February 21 at 2:16 pmRosemarie, this is awesome!! I’m taking EBA 3.0 this month, and I’m super excited. I recently quit my job (don’t worry, I was side hustling long before and know I can pay my bills! :)) because I want to take my blog to the next level. Your tenacity is inspiring!
Deacon says
February 21 at 2:38 pmYou are my hero, way to go!
Heather says
February 21 at 8:34 pmI’m so excited to see this! I just signed up for EBA 3.0 and I can’t wait to get started!
The Busy Budgeter says
February 22 at 3:18 pmOh, yay! Congratulations 🙂 It’s an amazing course and it totally pays off. (clearly!)
Misty says
February 22 at 6:45 pmThis is incredible- congratulations! What a blessing that your success is allowing you to employee others… looking forward to reading about where the journey takes you in 2017:]
Misty recently posted…13 Indoor Games to Get Energy Out of Active Kids
Holly says
February 22 at 9:40 pmGive the people what they ask for. We want the next two income reports! 😉
Holly recently posted…How to Become a Morning Person
Mahesh Kumar says
February 23 at 1:19 amWow! Your income has raised exponentially from 2015 to 2017. I’ve heard of the Elite Blog Academy course from different mommy bloggers that I am connected with. I think it should be worth getting enrolled to this course, especially for stay at home mom bloggers who want to get some good returns with their efforts. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Mahesh Kumar recently posted…5 Characteristics That Define a Professional Transcriptionist
Leah says
February 27 at 12:52 pmJust curious, do you get affiliate advertising commission from EBA if we go through your link? I’m hoping to sign up, and if it helps someone else in the process I’m all for it 🙂
The Busy Budgeter says
March 2 at 3:52 pmYes we do – and I got your email. Welcome aboard 😉
Lisa says
February 27 at 3:31 pmThat is quite inspirational. I’m new to your blog and have enjoyed poking around; I’ll definitely be back!
Kecia | OnlineIncomeMom says
February 27 at 5:59 pmWOW, that spreadsheet is amazing! I have been blogging for almost ten years, but I just signed up for EBA at the end of December on your recommendation. I am not making anywhere close to what you are each month, and I want to change that!
The Busy Budgeter says
March 2 at 3:53 pmEBA is definitely going to help you with that! I’m excited for your journey 🙂
Melanie @ Gather for Bread says
March 3 at 9:29 amSo encouraging! Way to go!
Melanie @ Gather for Bread recently posted…Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Bread
The Busy Budgeter says
March 11 at 9:43 amAbsolutely! The first year of blogging is definitely the hardest. You’re putting so much time and effort in while wondering if it’s going to pay off or if anyone’s even reading. But that’s okay! You’ll get there – and you’ll have that much more experience by the time you get that first subscriber 🙂
Bill says
April 14 at 12:33 pmGreat article! I hear what you say about getting discouraged the first year. I’m about 3 months in and it’s depressing to see that half your Google analytics hits are coming from your own house lol. I’ve never been so psyched about my career as I am about this, so I’ll keep at it. But it’s great hearing your tips and ideas!
Thanks,
Bill
gurpreet says
June 7 at 11:15 amThat is really inspiring.
I jusy wanted to know what are the source of your income?
If you have already published blog post on it then please let me know that.
Thanks
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says
June 7 at 11:15 amThank you for such an inspirational post! It’s so amazing that you decided to share with us what has helped you so successful at increasing your blog income for free. 🙂
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance recently posted…May 2017 Blog Traffic (2nd Month) – 11,014 Views
Smith says
June 7 at 1:32 pmThis is amazing… got inspiration from this post.. Thank you
Rinkesh says
June 8 at 1:33 amThis is superb. Is this totally from affiliates or contain income from advertising too?
The Busy Budgeter says
June 12 at 9:20 amIt’s a mixture of affiliates, advertising income, sponsored posts, and creating products 🙂
Karen says
July 9 at 6:21 amI absolutely love the layout and style of your blog I’m so jealous. I am new to the blogging world and hope to become successful also. Thanks for all of the helpful tips
Rayhan Islam says
July 17 at 1:00 pmGlad to read your story. Thanks a lot for sharing.
The Busy Budgeter says
August 7 at 8:56 amHey there! Email busybudgeter@gmail.com and we’ll get it sorted out 🙂
Erin says
August 27 at 4:20 pmHi Rosemarie! Just curious – what gave you your first big boost? You blogged for four months and had over a hundred dollars coming in Month 5. Any tips?
Thanks for your post! It’s super encouraging to hear success stories! 🙂
~ Erin @ LittleYellowHouseAdventures.com
Crystal says
August 31 at 10:32 pmMakes me want to work harder on my blog and not give up. Need to give it some time and see where I can go with my blog.
ali says
September 24 at 2:13 amI really appreciate that you present the reporting requirements in a brief and concise way.
Jolisa says
November 15 at 12:21 amI love writing. I love talking. I’ve been told a dozen times that I should blog. Do you have to have a specific topic to blog about? I mean, what do I blog about?
Stormy says
September 4 at 7:20 pmWhat an inspiration! And I love the blog update. Looks gorgeous.
Stormy recently posted…Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Review: Is it worth the money??
Suladys R says
October 27 at 1:05 amWoohoo!!! I love seeing women growing and becoming amazing.
What is the most memorable moment you had with your blog?
Elaine says
June 26 at 1:14 pmI’m only inspired by you. I am currently working as a nurse assistant in a rehab facility all day 3-11. Mainly because of a car accident, it falls for all age groups, and it is a good job, but sometimes I’m super tired, I work 16 hours in a shift to earn extra money, but … I don’t do anything literally. I get paid, pay my Car insurance and everything else and pay my rent, which is 1000. That’ll kill me! And I work every other week. I’m new to YouTube and want to make money as I said, while I do what I love … I just got Inspiration from you!