Guys, it blows my mind that it’s already time for my November income report. Even more than that, it blows my mind that I get to tell you about how I learned how to make money blogging!
Now, before you start questioning my sanity, let me clarify. Yes, I have been making a buck or two every month since I started blogging. But this month, I get to tell you how I made an actually chunk of money (small chunk, albeit).
Why is this a big deal?
Because what few people realize when they jump into blogging is that most avenues of monetizing your blog require you to reach a certain threshold before you can cash any money out. Which isn’t a big deal if you know what you’re doing and have tons of money flowing in every month.
However, it is a big deal when you are first starting out. Why? Because if you don’t meet these thresholds, you can’t cash out the money you’ve made, through whatever avenue. And if you can’t cash it out or get paid, then it’s useless to you. Obviously you can’t use money that you haven’t received!
That being said, this month is the first month I made enough money to actually get paid and call it my own.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
November Wins, Losses, and Goals
Before we jump into the nitty gritty of my income report, let’s talk about some wins, losses, goals, and strategies I had this month.
If you haven’t started a blog yet, these probably won’t be hugely beneficial to you until you have. The good news is that you can easily start one within just a few minutes!
In order to make money blogging, you’ll need a self hosted wordpress (.org, not .com!) blog. Whether you’re new to blogging or an old pro, Siteground is the way to go when it comes to hosting. I couldn’t be happier with Siteground as my host, and I have never had a problem with them.
For more information on how to start a blog so that you can make money blogging, check out my post on starting your own blog today.
Alright, got your blog all set up? Now let’s talk about what you can learn from my fourth month blogging!
Wins
1. Make Money Blogging: Legit Money
Obviously a big win for me this month was making some tangible money. How did this happen?
I’ve been signed up with the Amazon affiliate program for a couple months now, but nothing happened with it until this month. I think it’s safe to say that I can attribute it working this month to the fact that I actually got my butt in gear and write some highly affiliate based posts this month.
This month I made a specific effort to write about gift guides for toddlers, gift guides for babies, stocking stuffers for babies, and toddler Christmas Eve boxes.
And the effort I put into these posts ultimately paid off–literally!
2. Bounce Rate
Another big win I want to mention is that I managed to lower my bounce rate. From the start I have really struggled to get my bounce rate where I want it. It’s still not quite there yet, but I was really happy that it dropped considerably this month. Yay!
3. Pinterest Followers
This month I made it my goal to reach 70 followers on Pinterest. I know, that doesn’t sound like a lot when compared to big, full time bloggers who have thousands of followers. But remember, this is my first blog and I started it from scratch. No followers, no traction, no nothing.
That being said, gaining traction is a slow process guys. But, it is possible.
So far I’ve tried to gain about ten followers a month (I know, not a lot), and have barely made it each month. This month I decided to push myself and try for more. I am so, so excited to say that I not only met this goal, but actually exceeded it!
This was so encouraging to me. And, it has reminded me to make my goals a little bigger. Not unrealistic, but just outside what I think I can easily swing. It is so important to push yourself to do better. When you do, you’ll find that the majority of the time you will rise to the occasion and make it happen–even when you don’t think you can.
Losses
1. Tailwind
One of my biggest losses this month was not renewing my Tailwind subscription.
Agh! I almost did, but I was curious to see the difference after using Tailwind for a month, and then going back to manually pinning. Let me tell you, it was a mistake.
Tailwind has been a game changer for me on Pinterest. It saves so much time and helps me to be so much more consistent with my pinning.
If you’re interested in trying out Tailwind for yourself, you can get a free month through my referral link here. You won’t regret it!
It will definitely give you a leg up and help you to make money blogging by freeing up a ton of time so you can focus on your content.
2. Thanksgiving Week
I’m still kicking myself for this, but Thanksgiving week I completely failed to post any new blog posts.
Originally I had meant to write a few in advance and schedule them to post during the week, but it just didn’t happen.
Real life got in the way. We spent the week at family’s, which included a nine hour drive and rare chances to hop online and check on things. While we had a great time and enjoyed being with family, it was not an ideal week for blogging.
That said, I should have made the time to write the posts ahead of time. And I should have used Tailwind to schedule my pins so that my blogging strategy would go on even when I couldn’t get online.
November 2018 Income Report
Sources of Income:
- Adsense: $1.52
- Affiliates: $17.85
This month my income from ads was a little lower than last month. However, I had multiple affiliate sales through the Amazon affiliate program. I was so excited!
It’s so cool to go from being suspicious and thinking the whole “you can make money blogging” thing might all be a huge hoax, to realizing it is indeed a real thing. And not only real, but possible and attainable too!
For the longest time I was skeptical that a regular person like me could make money blogging. I’m so glad to find that it is possible.
It takes a ton of work, but it is totally possible if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.
Traffic From November: 1,500+ users
I’m so excited that I was not only able to maintain my traffic from last month, but to exceed it as well!
If you’re struggling to get traffic to your site, remember that you need to be consistently posting to social media and engaging with your followers. In my four months blogging I have learned that consistency is so key in the success of blogs.
Your content needs to be quality and have value, but if you fail to promote it and get it out where your audience can see it, it will come to nothing. So if you’re struggling to get readers to your blog, keep at it!
Most Popular Posts This Month:
- Christmas Gift Ideas for Babies 2018
- 4 Reasons to Not Fear Labor and Delivery
- Christmas Gift Ideas for Toddlers 2018
This month two of my top three viewed posts were new ones that I wrote this month. Consequently, they were also both posts that I focused heavily on affiliate links and recommendations.
Do note, I do my best to only recommend products that I either have used and love, or products from brands that I know and trust and would buy myself.
My second most popular post is one I wrote my very first month blogging. Let me tell you, I can’t believe how popular it was when I first published it, and I can’t believe that four months later it remains one of my most read blog posts.
For me, this really reminds me that quality content that has value is the most important part of blogging. Without it, things just won’t work out no matter how much time you spend promoting it. Focus, focus, focus on quality content if you want to succeed at blogging!
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I decided to start blogging four months ago. And it’s not even all about making money! I genuinely enjoy writing, and the challenge it presents to succeed at blogging.
Do you blog? If so, drop me a link to your site or send me an email so I can check it out!
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