I made $3,130.99 with my blog in August 2017.
Pretty crazy, right?
I’ve only been taking this blog seriously for about six months.
I remember reading income reports from other bloggers a long time ago and thinking it was insane. How could they make a full-time living by running a blog?!
I thought I had blogged before. I’ve had websites in one form or another since I was in the eighth grade. I just liked building them, but eventually I got bored of them and abandoned them. I estimate I’ve created over 20 blogs in the past 15 years…
So why hadn’t any of them made money?
For starters, I wasn’t trying to make money. I blogged because I loved writing and meeting other people. I’ve made some pretty cool friendships online with people I would have never met otherwise.
Fast forward to 2017, it seems like everyone and their cat has a blog. (And yes, some cats do blog.)
It’s never been easier or harder to make an income online.
I say that because it’s easy in the way that starting a blog is easier now. You can setup hosting, get a beautiful theme, and start writing in like half an hour. (I even wrote a step by step tutorial to start your own blog right here!)
It’s also harder because there are SO many more people blogging now.
If you’re trying to stand out online, you have to compete with BILLIONS of other people. Legit, billions. There are over 1.2 billion websites online right meow.
At first, I wasn’t trying to stand out very much.
I started this blog in February 2016 as a fun side project to complement my day job as a Digital Marketing Strategist at an ad agency. I love marketing so I wanted to write about it and learn new content marketing tips with this blog that I could use for my clients.
By the end of 2016, I started to take the blog more seriously, though my posts were sporadic and not really cohesive.
In January 2017, I decided I wanted to turn this blog into a profitable business. I did a bunch of research and long story short, realized that research is nothing without action. #preach
Starting in February, I took action. I started my Weekly Nerdletter newsletter, got serious about building my list, and honed in on what categories I really wanted to tackle (content strategy and marketing tips for bloggers!).
My traffic has risen every month (in large part to BoardBooster and Tailwind – my Pinterest must-haves!). I’ve met awesome bloggers. And crazily enough, this blog started making me money.
Like, srrrrrrrrrs money.
Not really in the way you think. I don’t make any income from affiliates right now, or ads. I don’t do sponsored posts. This actual website doesn’t make any money.
But, it allows me to make money.
I’ve used it as a writing portfolio piece when I couldn’t show ghostwritten client samples to freelance writing clients. It’s landed me every single client I have (that’s FIVE, yo).
Next month I’m already on track to make even more than this month, and I knew that halfway through August!
I am so excited and thankful that I get to earn so much doing what I love. I am REALLY in love with writing and blogging, you guys (if you couldn’t tell). And I’m finding more and more that I love sharing what I know and (hopefully) helping you with your blog and business, too.
OKAY enough about my life/blog story here.
Why Post an Income Report?
All this preamble was to explain how I got to where I am now. You can do it too!
If your goal is to make money on your actual blog through affiliates and all, stay tuned, because I plan to ramp that shiz up over the next few months, too. Not to be sleazy and just make money. I don’t believe in that. I only share things I use and love in my business.
I’m the kind of person who pays voluntary parking tickets, for Fs sake.
I’m also not a bragger, and I don’t post these reports (this is the first one!) to boast. I am posting this because for so long, I felt like making money with my blog was impossible, or only something people with 100k Instagram followers could do.
Or, let’s be honest, really pretty makeup bloggers.
When it started working for me and I realized I could use my OWN skills (writing, yo… definitely not makeup) to make money with it, everything clicked.
I want the same thing to happen to you. I want to show that bloggers of all types can and do earn full-time incomes, not just fashion or lifestyle or people who sell courses.
If a slightly overweight, acne-scarred freelance writer who never blogs when wearing real clothes or makeup, and also can’t do a nicely styled topknot to save her life, can make money online… YEAH you can too.
So anyway, let’s dive into August’s numbers in detail!
Income
- Freelance writing clients: $3,125.99 aka the whole amount
- Awin: $5 (lol)
Total Gross Income: $3,130.99
Expenses
- ConvertKit: $29
- BoardBooster: $10
- Tailwind: Still on free trial! Woop! Loving it.
- Leadpages: $37
- G Suite: $10
- Ads: $0
- Creative Market: $19
- Namecheap: $12.88
- SmarterQueue: $19.99
Total Expenses: $137.87
Net Income: $2,993.12
Traffic Stats
I’m just gonna put a screenshot from Google Analytics here with the basic stats. See, I told ya I had a small blog!
I am just starting to see some upward momentum in my numbers, which is to be expected as I only have around 30 blog posts right now.
It’s not about the amount of traffic you get, it’s about the quality of traffic! Blogging Bible verse 1:1 mmkay.
If you want to take a deep dive into Google Analytics and how to use it as a blogger, I’ve got a post for that right over here.
Goals for September
In September, I really want to keep my traffic growing with Pinterest. Joining Tailwind Tribes has been huge for me!
Income-wise, I’m on track for $3,500 already with my freelance writing, so I know I’ll be really busy with that, but I’d like to publish 3 new posts here at Nerdy Organized, too. #EEK
I also want to switch over to annual billing for a few subscriptions, like ConvertKit and Leadpages, because it’s cheaper.
Alsoooo if you’ve been wanting to try out ConvertKit for your email marketing, I have a super special link right to nab you a not-publicly-available 14 day free trial! Just click here to grab your free trial. But hurry, the offer expires September 8th!
What About You?
Do you have a blog? What are some of your goals for September? How are you taking action to achieve them? Do you even like reading income reports? lol. Holla at me! 😉
Free Blogging Resource Library This Way ??
Hi, Michelle!
Thanks for sharing your income report and goals. To me is the inspiration I need to keep going sometimes, to know that other people could make their blog stand out and turned it into an income stream.
I just started but I hope at some point I can start seeing some results with my traffic. It seems amazing to me how you get so much traffic. I get 100 views and I get super excited :=)
Thanks for your comment, Irene! Glad you liked the report. That’s why I decided to start making them, because reading other people’s really inspired me when I started… and still does!
Starting out, traffic is hard to come by for sure! It will improve steadily over time, I promise. For me, Pinterest has been huge. Have you heard of Tailwind Tribes? It’s like submitting your content to a group of other people who may repin it, too. It’s great for growing traffic!
Hi Lauren! Thanks for your comment and kind words. If you’re looking to research more about freelance writing, I highly suggest checking out Jorden from http://www.writingrevolt.com. She is amazing, and I learned so much from reading her site and her free course. Highly recommended!
I do love reading income reports cause I’m so nosy haha. I love that you made your income from gaining freelance clients rather than actually using your blog, I haven’t heard of people doing that before.
Thanks for the comment, Megan! Yeah, that’s why I decided to start posting them. I’ve always read them from bloggers who sell courses or do a lot of affiliate sales, and while those things are great, I don’t see many who talk about using their blog for freelance work. So, here I am. 🙂 I hope you continue to check back for future months reports!
This is so encouraging to read. Often we want to see the money right away, but we forget that it takes time to build a genuine readership, AND that blogging is opening the door to bigger opportunities. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your kind words, Emily! So true, blogs can take YEARS before generating any money. I’m happy to be able to use it to land my freelance work and meet amazing clients from all over the world. 🙂
I LOVE reading income reports, as it’s so inspiring! August has been amazing for you, and it’s so great that you are on your way to beat that for September! Keep rocking it, girl! 🙂
— Lisa // FjordsandBeachesCreative.com < Social media hacks for bloggers & business owners
Thanks for the kind comment, Lisa!! Appreciate it! It can be hard hitting the publish button on something a little more personal like an income report, so I appreciate the well wishes! 🙂
I love this post because freelancing is exactly what I’ve been wanting to do but wasn’t sure about the income potential and whether I should even try it while still learning the blogging ropes. Your success makes me hopeful that I can balance both! Because I really want to write about stuff I care about, not just clickbait topics in order to earn affiliate $. 🙂 Can I ask how many articles or how many hours a week you spent on freelancing in August? Thanks for sharing this info, it was really helpful!
Hi Brandi, thanks for your lovely comment! Yes, it’s totally possible to balance both – hard sometimes, but possible. I also work a 9-5 job still… I’m a bit insane. But yes, writing about stuff you’re passionate about is key to long-term success. If you don’t believe in it, your readers will sense that. For me, I just love marketing.
Right now, I write an average of 3-4 articles a week for clients (2,000-3,000 words each) and try to fit in 1-2 of my own blog posts per month, plus my weekly newsletters which get quite long sometimes, haha. So that, and my 40 hour a week job. It’s about 65-70 hours of work per week right now.
On just freelancing – about 20-25 hours of time.
Hope that helps…! What kind of freelancing are you interested in – writing? 🙂
I love hearing about people making money blogging. I look forward to reading more of your posts. I used to work at an ad agency, too. Such a fun atmosphere. I worked on the IT side of things though so I was more behind the scenes.
Thanks for your comment, Julie! Ad agencies can definitely be a fun place to work, stressful but fun… never know what’s gonna happen the next day. I do love marketing because of that. 🙂