Last month wasn’t as profitable as my all-time high of September, but I’m still really happy with this blog income report!

Read on to discover how I made $1,755.56 in October 2017.

Why I Write Income Reports

I don’t write blog income reports to brag, or make it seem like blogging is an easy path to endless riches. 💰 (Spoiler alert: it’s fackin’ not, okay.)

To be honest, every month I post one, I feel a little squicky about it. Should I be putting my blog income report out there? Will people judge me, either too positively, or negatively? Will it affect my relationships with other bloggers or, gah, clients?!

But, I push through, at least for now.

When I first set out to turn my blog from a $0 hobby into a profitable venture, I remember seeing income reports from well-known bloggers. Those were the turning point for me. Before seeing those, I never thought my blog could make any money at all.

Related: How to Choose a Niche for Your Blog

I thought that was only for famous people with huge audiences, and people who blogged full-time.

Now, I realize that’s far from the truth! Anyone can make money blogging if you treat it like a real job, and that means putting in the time and effort to grow. These reports are a glimpse into how I do that for my own blog, and I hope you can find a new tip or tool in this report to help your blogging journey. 💁🏼

Blog Income Report

• Freelance writing clients: $1,517.18
• ConvertKit: $62.37
• Leadpages Referral: $176 (HOLY BALLS)
• Tailwind: $0.01 (YES REALLY)

OK, I just gotta talk about this Tailwind shiz for a sec. Last month, I earned a 1 cent commission from Share A Sale. This month, I earned another cent. WHAT IS HAPPENING.

Does anyone know what this 1 cent is for? Cause honestly, it’s not paying the bills. 😂

Total Gross Income: $1,755.56

And yes, to clarify, I do make most of my money from freelance writing for clients, instead of with products or affiliate marketing from this actual blog. I do have some products planned for the near future, though, to diversify and scale my income!

Believe the hype, yo. I used to think making an online course wasn’t for me, but now that I’m creating one about a topic I am passionate about, it’s actually really fun.

Expenses

• ConvertKit: $29
• BoardBooster: $15
• Tailwind: $0 (still using free version)
• Leadpages: $37
• G Suite: $10
• SmarterQueue: $19.99
• Bank Fees (PayPal + currency conversion): $51.13
• Namecheap: $159.14 (I went on a domain buying binge 🙊)
• BackBlaze: $5

Total Expenses: $326.26

Net Income: $1,429.30

Please keep in mind that the “net” amount I write above does not include deductions like income tax (which is about 30-40%!) or other things that a “typical job” would pay for, like health insurance, mandatory pension deductions, or Employment Insurance (EI) <– that’s what we call it in Canada. 🇨🇦

Net income is NOT the same as PROFIT!

Here’s an idea of how my income has changed over time! I started blogging in February 2016, for reference, and started freelancing in March 2017 (there was a delay until I could bill clients/receive payment for the work, which is why the chart starts in May).

Sidenote: As you can see, I am already at the same income level as the entire month of October, only being 5 days into November. Woo!!

Traffic Stats

I think is scarier than sharing my finances, LOL!

There’s so much judgment out there about what a “successful blogger” looks like. Is it someone with a minimum of 25,000 sessions per month, like many ad networks require? Is it someone with a giant email list?

For me, I judge my success based on if people like my shiz, follow my blog, and if it helps them.

When I first started out, I didn’t get any messages or emails. I had no idea if anyone was reading my stuff, or caring about what I wrote at all. Now, I routinely get emails and comments on social media from blog readers. I LOVE THAT!

I mean, who wouldn’t. But every time someone takes the time to send me a note, I smile SO BIG. It almost cracks my Resting Bitch Face.

THAT is my definition of success.

Now onto my numbers… ha.

As you can see, I don’t have crazy amounts of traffic or a huge audience. I’m still a little baby blogger.

But, traffic doesn’t mean you’re successful or not. After all, if you sell products, you only need 5, 10, 20, whatever number of people to buy, right?

So if you are attracting the RIGHT people, you have what you need.

I’d rather attract a few thousand of the right people (that means you, boo) than hundreds of thousands of the wrong audience!

Goals for Next Month

Last month’s goals:

• Earn $3,500
• Get 3 modules of my course done
• Unveil a BIG NEW FREEBIE I’ve been working on, exclusively for my subscribers ❤️
• And, lose 5lbs

OMG I failed all of them. Seriously.

I didn’t do jack shit of those goals. I did outline my upcoming course, write some written content for it and I did work on the Big Epic Freebie I have planned for you. I was going to shoot some videos, but I came down with a gross sinus infection that would not be good to live on in my evergreen course online for all eternity.

Nobody’s paying to see that.

So, I didn’t finish those things and I CERTAINLY did not lose 5lbs. 🙄 Can only go up from here, right?

This month (November), I want to…

• Earn $2,000 (a big client of mine recently winded down, so let’s get more realistic here…)
• Launch my BIG F*@KING FREEBIE for you guys
• Redo my freelance writer website to focus in on my marketing/business topic niche

What About You?

Do you have a blog? What are some of your goals for the next month? How are you taking action to achieve them?

Share with me in the comments! I love to connect with other bloggers and hear your inspiring goals. ❤️