I had no idea it was so interesting to read a blogging income report, until I read someone else's. I was like, oh wow! That's how you make money blogging?! And then a few people asked me about how much money I made. At first I thought, oh hell no. I don't even know. Then I decided to hold myself accountable, and track every little thing for August (I should be anyway.)
I really enjoyed seeing my blogging income. For one, it keeps me on track and two, it helps me set goals for the next month. So let's take a look at what my August Blogging Income was:
August Income:
Sponsored Posts $2,149.44
Sidebar Advertisements $325.28
Google Ads $75.39
Affiliate Links $344.65
BlogHer $417.10
Total Income for August: $3,311.86
Total Expenses for August:
Webinar Course $297
*LeadPages $400
Sponsorship on other blogs $155
Photobucket $4.99
Facebook Ads $59.11
Pinterest Ads $122
Photo Editing Tools $15.50
Giveaways $50
*BoardBooster $75
*MailChimp $15
Total Spent: $1,193.60
Total Profit: $2,118.26
*Denotes affiliate link
This month I spent more money on my blog than I EVER HAD BEFORE. That's because I'm really excited to start offering live webinars! I want these to be as informative and professional as possible, so I took a lot of classes, bought all the software, and decided now is the time to invest in my blog.
So far, I feel pretty good about that. Next month, my goals are to bring in more and spend a little less. However, since investing in my blog (just over the last month) I've seen a huge increase in my page views and affiliate sales. So all in all, I feel like sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
The biggest expense, but so far, most helpful, is LeadPages. I'd heard bloggers talk about how wonderful it is for a long time, but it wasn't until I launched my newsletter that I decided I needed it. Boy, where had I been!? This is the best tool ever.
Basically, it's a very easy to use landing page generator. I've used it for all of my pages for the Free webinar “Get Paid to Blog.” I also used it to gain more emails for my newsletter. It's all super customizable and I basically wouldn't have been able to do any of the things I have planned without it. LeadPages is an investment, but definitely worth it if you're interested.
Next, is the newsletter email marketing service I use: MailChimp. It can be free but because I've increased my subscribers a lot recently, I only pay $15 a month. Also, a super easy to use tool.
I also bought BoardBooster, which helps you manage your Pinterest boards. I think I might need to do a full review post on this one, since I never really looked into my Pinterest boards quite like this before. I've already seen an increase in followers and redirects back to my blog. It's usually only $5 a month, but I opted to have the team walk me through getting started with BoardBooster.
Goals for next month are to cut way down on spending, pull back on the sponsored posts, and focus more on webinars and coaching.
Want to hear the exact way I make money blogging and how you can too (plus do really awesome things with your blog?!) You'll find my top secret tools and tricks and how you can start making an income with your blog. Check out my eCourse for Bloggers: Quit Your Job to Blog.
