THIS blog income report will show you why blogging is worth the effort
For me this isn’t just any old blog income report…this is the one that changes everything.
I had always HOPED that I could make a living blogging, and I had HOPED that I could generate enough passive income to make it “worth the effort” – but until this past week I have been putting in about 1000% effort. (Not kidding, I’m talking about 6-10 hours per day, every day, for the past 8 months.) Waking and sleeping (yes, even in my dreams) I have been blogging.
I have nightmares about email service providers and pinterest crashes. I have never been more invested in anything in my life.
And it was TOTALLY paying off, so I knew I wasn’t “wasting my time”. (By “totally paying off, I mean I earned over $8000 in the past two months alone – with a blog I started in MARCH. So less than 7 months to a full time income.)
BUT, there has always been a little picky doubt at the back of my mind as to if the blog could generate an income if I wasn’t able to invest as much of my time. What I’ve been doing – the time I’ve been putting in – isn’t REALISTIC as far as what’s possible long term. And so I’ve worried… what will happen to my blog when I’m forced to put it on the back burner for a few minutes?
And this month I got my answer to that question.
I have not pinned to pinterest, I have not written new content, I have not responded to emails or comments in a timely manor. I have not done a speck of email marketing.
Instead I had a baby – and I did not blog at all. I’m just enjoying my time with him and letting my body recover without worrying about “work”. I am in awe of his tinyness and blogging is the farthest thing from my mind.
And, while I’ve adored my little man, I’ve made over $4000 in passive income. So I have the answer to my question – I can absolutely make a 100% passive income with this blog, and blogging is worth the effort.
(THIS POST PROBABLY CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY IS REALLY BORING, BUT YOU CAN FIND IT HERE.)
Don’t get me wrong, traffic fell this month AND I missed taking part in two of the biggest online sales days in the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – not to mention I missed out on promoting the ultimate bundle gift certificate sale… so I absolutely lost income by being un-involved in blogland. I just don’t care. I have a baby ♥ and I have enough passive income to allow me to spend far less time on the blog and still pay the bills (and buy things).
And to be honest, this is all because other bloggers shared their income report and inspired me to start a blog.
UPDATE: I have decided that I will no longer share new income reports on the blog. Because I understand the value of income reports as a learning tool, I am still sending these reports out to my blogging email list. To read 2019 + 2020 income reports, get access here:
I am not great with computers. I never even took a computer class in high school. I am not formally educated on any specific topic, I have nothing more interesting to say than anything you have to say. ANYONE who can write well and is willing to persevere when it’s tough can start a blog and make a living online.
What are you waiting for?!
Related: How to Start a Blog for Profit and Work From Home
November 2016 Blog Income Report (& Traffic)
(I am reporting in Canadian dollars at the exchange rate for today of 1.3283 USD to 1 CND. Some of the money comes to me in CND and some comes in USD, but it all ends up as CND dollars in my account.) Note that this does not include expenses or taxes. Next month I plan to publish a blog expense report- what it has cost me from start to finish this year for getting going with my blog. THAT will be an interesting read (UPDATE: read it here!)!
Total November Income: $4768.47
Adthrive Ads – $2917.63
Travel Hacking book affiliate program – $19.92
BestMark affiliate program – $6.64
Cj.com affiliate program – $386.78
Shareasale.com affiliate program– $12.30
Elegant Themes affiliate program– $224.46
Ultimate Bundle affiliate program– $463.87
Amazon affiliate program- $378.92
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing affiliate program- $104.70
Transcribe Anywhere affiliate program- $106.27
Proof Read Anywhere affiliate program- $41.88
Amy Lynn Andrew’s Knowtbook affiliate program- $ 22.32
Traffic Transformation Guide affiliate program- $39.86
Survey affiliate programs – $22.92
Various – $20.00
November Traffic: 168,665 users & 223,907 page views
Like I said, traffic really tapered off towards the end of the month as I was in the hospital with my babe for five days and didn’t pin a single pin for NINE days… and even now, nearly two weeks later I am hardly doing any pinning or promotion. (I’m pretty thrilled that I can maintain 4 – 5k pv per day with NO promotion! WooHoo!!) I expect December traffic to be down even farther as I do NOT plan to get back to my computer in the same capacity I was able to be there before. I need to spend my hours with my little boy. Priorities!
What made it possible for me to start making full time income in just a few months?
I invested in a blogging education. I did not waste my time with trial and error and google and not knowing which advice was good advice and which advice was outdated. I firmly believe that investing in learning to blog properly will take you far.
Here are my recommendations for the best blogging courses.
If you have some blogging experience but you aren’t “getting anywhere”:
If you already have a blog up and running and are struggling with getting page views, (and let’s face it… when you have enough pageviews to get accepted by a great ad network then pageviews = income): You need Lena Gott’s book, the Traffic Transformation Guide . She talks about strategies I had never even heard of before. This book is a must read as far as I am concerned. (I’ve read it three times, and will read it again.)
Did you publish an income report for November? Link to it in the comments so we can check it out! Are you thinking of starting a blog? Feel free to get in touch with questions!
Congrats on your newborn. So exciting, and yes, you have your priorities straight.
One of the great things about having a passive income blog is that it is passive (or a portion of it is), so as you take care of your new baby or go on vacation, the blog still earns money for you.
I just started the ads on Dec 1st (via Monumetric) and I was pleasantly surprised by the results so far. I know this month is misleading (as ad rates are higher and it will decline in Q1, but I should have done this sooner.
I’m now trying to pump out a lot more content as it can lead to more success.
Thx for your inspiration. And, congrats on your continued success.
Hi Debbie! Thanks so much – I’m pretty taken with him – lol. I just can’t quite get enough snuggles! Seeing the blog earn an income while I don’t pay it much attention has been one of the greatest baby gifts I could ever have imagined getting… Ad income is ESPECIALLY passive! I have heard good things about monumetric as far as earnings go. The fourth quarter earnings DO seem to be higher than normal, but I couldn’t honestly complain even if I went back to making half this ad money in January. Plus if you’ve just started with ads, it will STILL be more than you were making before! That’s a major win!
Hi Debbie,
I run a lifestyle blog. I signed up with Monumetric last month and got approved earlier this month. I received email that they have started process for my site and will install ads as soon as the tags are built.
The problem is it’s been more than a week and I’m still waiting for the process to complete. I’ve sent them an email asking for the update but didn’t receive any reply.
Is this normal for them taking more than a week for building ad tags after the site is approved? How much did it take in your case? Please share.
Thanks.
Hi Kimberly! I hope Debbie has some info for you 🙂 I don’t know much about Monumetric, but I DO know that they are a big company and LOTS of bloggers work with them – so maybe they are just busy and take a bit to answer emails?
Congrats on your success Carly! I am so happy you get to stay home and enjoy every moment of your little newborn–I know that makes all this blogging work worthwile.
As a fellow EBA student, I love reading success stories from folks who are in the class too. It’s amazing just knowing that if we put in the work, we will get there! Thank you for posting your story 🙂
Hi Sandie!! Thank you 🙂 every day Im still afraid the sucess will go away but I’m gonna enjoy it while it lasts lol. I’m hoping to work thru EBA again in feb. See you there??
Definitely! I didn’t have the time I really wanted to dedicate to it this year, so I’m finally just now getting to the final units. I’m trying to hurry and finish it before February so I can take it again fresh 🙂
Time is my biggest problem now too. That is the one thing that might realllllly hold me back in Feb!
Congrats on your little one Carly! Thanks for sharing your income report. It’s very encouraging to hear how well you’re doing especially given the age of your blog. Excellent job!
Thank you so much Alaya!! I sure am loving that he’s here and getting to know him is the greatest thing ever! Even tho it means the blog is more or less getting ignored LOL. (THANK GOODNESS I HAVE A COUPLE GUEST POSTS TO POST IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!! 😉 )
Thank you so much for sharing this income report! It’s so amazing, and so incredibly inspiring. I’m so happy all your hard work is paying off.
Thank you for reading Gladys!! I hope things are going GREAT for you and your blog – happy new year 🙂
Congrats on the little one’s arrival!!
I just loved this post. I always trust the information that you share so I’m thrilled to know that it can really happen. I’ve read a few of the resources you refer to and they are brilliant.
Your traffic is amazing!! but you have a great blog so no surprises there 🙂
Enjoy the time with your little 🙂
HI Bee! Thank you so much! I am so excited that he’s here, and mom-hood is certainly an adjustment… but I’m loving it. Thank you also for your kind words – blogging has been such a learning curve for me LOL. I’m loving it though… I constantly wonder when it will just disappear! Praying I can keep it going even now that I’m distracted.
Your affiliate income is great. How do you manage to get so many affiliate sales in a month? Could you share me some tips to make the best out of affiliate marketing?
I actually have an affiliate marketing course coming out in the new year! I am very excited about it and VERY hopeful that it will be different from the other affiliate marketing courses out there already 🙂 Join my mailing list here if you’d like early access to it 😉 https://mommyonpurpose.com/subscriber-blog-income-reports/
How is your affiliate marketing course different from many others on the internet?
Hi, I want to start a blog too, and I wanted to ask how many post did you write in your first year of blogging and did you start writing on one topic only?
I wrote on a number of topics while I was still figuring out what would “work” for me – and I probably wrote around 80 posts in the first year 🙂 There are no rules tho!
Your Blog is so inspirational, I am so happy for you and your family. Keep up the good work.
Aw thank you!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!
Hi Carly, I really enjoyed reading your blog and seeing how it is possible to have passive income from blogging. I have been thinking of starting my blog and your blog really inspired me. Thank you for that!