Meet Jennifer:
DIY / Crafts blogger, 19 months in, making $20,000+/month
Q: First, tell us a little about you and your blog income journey –
when did you start, what do you blog about, how much time do you put into it etc. I understand that you’re not blogging about blogging, so talking about your income in specific numbers is something you might not do – but IF you’re willing to share how much you earn on average in a month, we’d LOVE to know.
A: My name is Jennifer Maker Marx and I started my blog — JenniferMaker.com — in October 2016. I am a designer, maker, and crafter, and I blog about (big surprise here!) DIY projects and crafts.
I work on my blog quite a bit, anywhere from light weeks at 30 hours to 50+ hour weeks. My income varies drastically month to month. In my first month, I made $1.80 from Amazon affiliate revenue. But by my 11th month, I was bringing in $15k. In my most recent month (my 19th month), I earned just over $47k. I’d say at this point that my average monthly income is $20k.
Q: Why do you think your blog is able to make money when so many others aren’t? What have you done differently?
A: I think focusing on building my mailing list has helped tremendously, because my blog is still young (not yet two years old) and most of my income comes from my products and products are far easier to market and sell with a healthy mailing list. Now that I can see how important a good mailing list is, I spend a lot of my time building and nurturing the subscribers on my mailing list. I love that I can connect with my readers on a personal level whenever I need to, without worrying about social media or search algorithms.
Q: What was your biggest hurdle to earning an income with your blog… and how did you overcome it?
A: I’d say it was coming up with and developing a solid product.
I was stuck on it for many months. But I finally sent out the right survey questions to my people and they told me exactly what they wanted — I made it, and they bought it. Making it was a LOT of hard work, but SO worth it. Now I have a great product (a design course) that I open enrollment on twice a year and I’m able to help a lot of people realize their dreams.
Q: Can you share you best advice for how to make money with a blog?
A: When you’re first starting out, your blog content is SO important.
The faster you generate quality content and get it out there (typically via Pinterest as a new blogger, but Facebook was also helpful in my early days), the faster you’ll grow. Add in relevant lead magnets on your most popular posts to build your mailing list, and you’ll be off to a great start!
Once you have a solid foundation, turn your attention to products — looking at my income reports, my products (I now have three: two courses and a PDF workbook) account for 90% of my income. Products are significantly more scaleable than advertising revenue, affiliate revenue, or sponsored content and will be the thing that push you to making more money with your blog.
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Thank you so much for letting me share my story!
Hi Carly!
Thank you so much for this massive post! I’ve read (and re-read) many of the pages.
One thing real quick. I tried to pin from one of the pages (Paul’s page particularly) but an error occurred. It said it couldn’t find any pinnable images whatever that means. Would you like me to create pins for each page for you. I could use pins that already match your brand or you could check out my pin template designs (for free) and tell me if you like any of them.
I’ll ask again on the facebook group just to make sure. 🙂
ah, yes, i haven’t made images for all the pages yet… lol.
Time is a bear. (pinnable images are SUPER IMPORTANT, do as I say, not as I do 😛 )
This is such an encouraging post! I am an interiors blogger and have been at it for two years, and have made peanuts. I was beginning to think there is no way to monetize this blog niche, but I just need to tweak some things and keep looking for the right formula. Thanks!!!
There are LOADS of ways to monetize interior design!! It’s huge – don’t quit!
Yes! It always seems like those who make money blogging are blogging about blogging. It’s one of the reasons I really enjoy reading your income reports based off your mommy niche. You’re definitely a huge inspiration, and I can tell you’re extremely sincere and honest!
<3 Thank you!!! I REALLY do try to keep it real ;) lol
Hi there,
I really enjoyed and appreciated that you share your story in this article. There nothing like hearing people who are succeeding in there business venture.
So again thank you so much for sharing and all the best.
So glad you enjoyed it!!
This is just what I needed to read today. I honestly come back to your blog anytime I am going through a challenging task or having low page views. It’s so inspiring to see what a little creativity and tenacity is doing for other people’s lives. I hope one day I could be one someone’s list as a success story too. Thank you for writing this detailed post! It made a huge impact on me and is helping through a slower summer blogging month.
SO GLAD you enjoyed it Olivia!
Hi Carly, awesome to hear we can actually make a living from NOT blogging about blogging. Hoping to prove you right with my parenting blog. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you prove me right too – it absolutely IS possible girl!
Hello Carly, as always I love reading your posts. Its so true if you stay focused and dedicated making money in any niche is possible.
I am about to start blogging for profit. I have seen Bluehost and Siteground mentioned in a few blogs including yours. In your opinion which is a better host and why?
Hi Carly! I’m a new mom blogger and I have to tell you, your posts and resources have really given me the confidence (and more importantly the knowledge) to be a blogger. I have zero traffic yet, But I’m working hard on implementing, and I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do. <3
If you have a second to peek at my blog, I'd love your feedback, good or bad 🙂