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Hi everyone! Welcome to my January 2018 blogging income report! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll notice I used to share these every single month, and then suddenly stopped for the past six months or so. The reason I stopped was simply because my income – as you’ll see below – tends to stay the same month after month. I felt inclined to share this month’s income report to show you that it really is possible to make money blogging even if you don’t have super high traffic and you don’t post often.
Why Do I Share Income Reports?
Just as I said above, to show people that it is totally possible to make money blogging while working part-time. Now, this is NOT to say it’s easy. It took me 1 1/2 years to make consistent income from my blog (about $500 or so a month). It takes a while to discover your own voice, get traffic, and figure out how to monetize. There is no secret recipe for success, it really is just time. You’ll learn as you go and figure it out along the way. I wish there were an easier answer, but the truth is there is no such thing as overnight success. The good thing, though, is that anyone can be successful blogging if they are willing to put in the time!
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January 2018 Blogging Income Report
In January, I made $1,737.77 blogging! It’s definitely not my highest month, but it’s not my lowest, either. And, if you’ll notice, I don’t post new posts too often (I average 1-4 posts per month). Right now, blogging is pretty much on auto-pilot for me. I did a whole post on my blogging schedule, if you’re interested in the specifics. (So, yes, I do make over $1000 a month for very minimal work!!! You can ABSOLUTELY get to this point, too!!)
My pageviews for the month of January were 45,802! I usually hover between 30,000-45,000, so I am happy with this number. Please keep in mind, though, that the income you see below was what I was paid on in January, not what I earned. Most of this income was earned in November and December (49,000 and 36,000 pageviews, respectively).
Here is a breakdown of my blogging income:
Ads: $256.90. I use Monumetric and MyFinance. If you’re a personal finance blogger, let me know and I’ll connect you with someone from MyFinance! The ads are very tasteful and useful, in my opinion, and show up at the bottom of posts.
Product Sales: $52.25. I have a few different products I’ve created over the years. The first is my eBook – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging. This helps new bloggers get their blogs up and running once they purchase their blog. People that use my Bluehost link when purchasing their blog will receive my book for free 🙂
Affiliate Sales: $1,428.62. Affiliate sales are my absolute favorite way to make money blogging. In fact, because I’m very limited on time, this is going to be my main strategy moving forward. I want to make $5,000 per month as an affiliate blogger. Since I blog about finance and blogging, all of my affiliate links are centered around that. There are affiliate opportunities in every single niche!
How to Be an Affiliate Blogger
An affiliate blogger focuses on recommending other people’s products and promoting them. While you can supposedly make more money with your own products (and I do believe this to be true!!), this is just not something I have the time for right now. And guys, trust me, you can make plenty of money as an affiliate blogger!!
You make money as an affiliate blogger when someone makes a purchase using your unique affiliate link. It is at no extra charge to the buyer, either! You can make anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars for each purchase, depending on the product you are promoting.
So, what do you have to do to be a successful affiliate blogger?!
First, you have to start a blog! Bluehost is my favorite hosting platform – it’s affordable, they offer 24/7 customer service, and your domain name is free. Think about what products or services you want to promote and base your blog name around that. A quick example would be if you’re a mom and consider yourself an expert at all things baby products. You could perhaps create a baby product review blog and simply buy the domain name babyproductreviews.com (this is being used for example purposes only, and is most likely taken, but you get the idea!!).
Next, find products you use and believe in. You absolutely should not be recommending products or services you haven’t tried. Every single thing I recommend on this blog is something I love and/or have used. Once you have a general list of products, Google that product followed by “affiliate program.” So many products and stores have affiliate programs!
Third, write posts around your affiliate products. You can do reviews, tutorials, round-ups, or even just casually mention a product/service in a related post! The more posts you have that have your affiliate link, the more sales you are likely to make.
And finally, start building an email list. You can offer freebies to get your readers to sign up for your email list, and then email your readers any deals or new products you think they may be interested in! Since this people gave you their email, they most likely trust you and your recommendations and you’ll make more sales!
Now, this is where some patience comes in. New bloggers are not going to rank in Google right away or have a solid email list immediately. So, you’re going to most likely be blogging away for months without making any money. THAT’S OK and totally normal!!! Do not give up!!! This right here is the crucial point that separates those that make money blogging from those that don’t! The ones that don’t simply gave up too soon. Please keep this in mind!!
If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, I really recommend you do so as soon as possible. So many people let fear get in the way and they believe they don’t have what it takes to build a successful blog. I am here to tell you that that is a lie!! You absolutely can be successful blogging if you do not give up! Instead of viewing it as this huge task, break it into teeny tiny daily tasks. I always tell new bloggers to do one blogging-related task every single day. To this day, I still follow this advice!!
Here is your FREE guide on how to start a blog!
My Favorite Affiliate Marketing Course
If you are serious about making money as an affiliate blogger, I highly recommend my friend Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. Michelle makes $50,000 per month from affiliate sales!! The course will show you in detail exactly how you can do the same, too! She shows your her exact strategy from increasing her affiliate sales from $0 to $50,000+ per month. The course is an investment at $197, but due to her advice and strategies, you will absolutely make your money back!
I took her course in October and am beyond pleased with what I’ve learned. You’ll also be added to her members-only Facebook group. You guys – this group on it’s own is worth the price of the course. It is FULL of bloggers looking to grow their blogs, make money, quit their jobs, and more. Tons of really good advice is shared their daily! I love it!
Learn more about Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing here >>
Do you have a blog? Do you make money from affiliate sales? If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask in the comments!
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