Another monthly update, and I have so many things to share with you all. Last month, I saw a decrease in page views because of less traffic from Pinterest (my biggest traffic referral).
Blogging requires constant learning and implementing things, which can help you greatly to grow your business.
I did some experimenting last month with my pin timings, publishing more posts than usual, and many more things.
This is my eighth-month blog update, and it still feels surreal to me that I took the step to start a blog eight months ago. But that’s the best decision I have ever made.
The whole blogging community, the learning opportunities, and the income have amazed me.
There are two reasons I share my blog update and income report: first, to be accountable, and second, to show you no matter how young your blog is, you can make money from it.
Let’s get into the update now.
TRAFFIC
My traffic dip continued last month due to low traffic from Pinterest, but I believe it’s getting better slowly. One good thing that happened is my bounce rate is going down, and my returning visitors are growing. I am thankful to all of my readers, and I hope to provide more meaningful content.
I have heard many things about StumbleUpon, like the traffic from it can have high bounce rate, etc., but in spite of that, I am getting good traffic right from it, the first month of my blog. Many of my posts are doing well on this social media platform, and I will continue to explore how I can get better at promoting on StumbleUpon.
The pins that are still viral on Pinterest and that get me traffic are
rev.com Review: Make Money from Home as a Captioner (45.3K shares)
How to Make Money without a Job – 27 Legit Ways in 2023 (24.6K shares)
32 Top Jobs That Pay $15 an Hour or More in 2023 (6.2K shares)
Secret to Making Money with Online Surveys (2K shares)
24 Legitimate Part-Time Online Jobs in 2023 (3.7K shares)
How to Start a Blog and Make Money – A Free Guide to Make Money Blogging in 2023 (1.8K shares)
These are the posts that I published last month that have been doing well:
How to Become a Certified Bookkeeper without Any Experience
56 Easy Ways to Make Extra Money This Year (2023 Update)
How to Make Money Blogging – A Beginner’s Guide
Below are my past month updates:
How I Got over 16,000 Page Views in the First Month of Blogging
Month Two Traffic Update: How I Got over 25,000 Page Views with a New Blog
Month 3 Blog Update: 50,000 Page Views and My First Income Report
How I Made $2,347.17 in 4th Month of Blogging
How I Made $3,226.89 in 5th Month of Blogging
How I Earned $5,126.59 in 6th Month of Blogging
How I Made $4,051.07 in One Month of Blogging
SUBSCRIBERS
My list is growing at a good pace, and I am so happy that both of my freebies are getting good reviews. I have around 950 subscribers now, and it is growing every day. I get around 8 to 15 subscribers every day, and I’m hoping to reach more readers this month.
Though the traffic has been a bit flat from Pinterest, my follower count has been increasing steadily. My followers have gone up to 4.9K. This is really great as I am reaching more readers on Pinterest.
I mostly use tips from Pinteresting Strategies, and I also work on tips from the bonus section of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. These Pinterest tips are one of the most valuable bonuses this course has.
I am experimenting with Facebook ads, and it is working out well. I focus on Facebook after Pinterest as it gets me around 20% of my monthly traffic. I love the tips in Strategies Worth Sharing, and I owe a large part of my Facebook growth to this eBook.
The slowest growth I see from all of my social media accounts is on Twitter. As I always say, for now I want to focus more on the platforms that are getting good traffic for my blog. My focus on Twitter might increase later this year.
I have seen slow and steady growth on this social media channel (not in thousands!!). I finally crossed 100 followers. I posted consistently last month on this platform, just one post every day, and I have seen results. I plan on working more on Instagram this month.
Now for the income report.
Last month, my income went down a bit, and I earned $3,002.94. The majority of it was from affiliate marketing and some revenue from ads.
INCOME REPORT
Affiliate Income
Survey Affiliates (iGain, MaxBounty, Panthera Network) – $1,779.19
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – $199.60
Bluehost – $65
30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success – $42
Strategies Worth Sharing – $40
Pinteresting Strategies – $28.80
BookScouter – $25.35
Rakuten – $25
Grammarly – $20.80
Traffic Transformation – $20
Amazon – $10.35
The Art of Shipping: How to Package and Ship Items for eBay – $7.80
Indeed – $6.12
5 Ways to get FREE Items to Resell for Profit – $5.60
Ads – $727.33
EXPENSES
BoardBooster – $15
Grum – $18
NET INCOME – $2,969.94
This month was one of the lowest revenue months for my blog. One thing that is working is I am getting more income from other sources. I wanted to diversify my income instead of getting most of it from one source.
Another thing I am happy about is that even though my traffic was low, my ad income didn’t go down much. I started with Mediavine three months ago, and I am quite happy with it. I love its interface, and it has very good support.
Things I Did
Last month, I did many changes like pinning at different times, and it seems to be working. I also started making more than one pin for a post; I know many bloggers who make four to five pins for a single post.
I also started publishing more posts per week. I usually post two posts, and I increased it to three posts per week.
I started working on SEO last month, and I see a slow rise in organic traffic. I know that SEO takes time, and I am still learning a lot. You can find a LOT of great SEO tips on Brian Clark’s Backlinko website.
What I Learned
Regarding social media channels, one thing I learned is that consistency is really important. It is really critical, and timings matter a lot. I finally found out at what times my pins are getting seen the most.
With Instagram, I post just once every day. The growth of followers through Instagram is great, and I believe that consistent posting will go a long way.
What’s Next
I am still planning on posting three posts every week on the blog, and I will continue to publish side hustle interviews, which many of my readers are finding very useful.
I am also planning to make an “Advertise” page along with my media kit. This is important to get into sponsored opportunities. I have been putting this off for a very long time and will be working on it.
Traffic
This month, it looks like I might be getting good traffic numbers, and I am going to work to increase the page views to over 100,000. I am excited to work toward this target.
Income
I never aim for a target income, but this month I will try to push my income numbers up. This month already started with good conversions, so hopefully I might see good numbers.
Subscribers
I will work toward crossing 1,000 subscribers, and the way my opt-ins are working, I am hopeful that I will reach this target.
For new bloggers, the whole blogging thing can feel like too much to handle when it comes to some aspects of getting traffic, making money, and increasing followers.
But it can be a smooth process if you implement the right strategies.
Here are some resources that helped me to reach this stage. I highly recommend them, and they can be quite helpful—no matter what stage of blogging you are at.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – This is by far the best course I have ever taken, and it has helped me with many aspects of affiliate marketing. This course is a must for anyone who is serious about making money from a blog.
Pinteresting Strategies – Carly’s Pinterest strategies helped me grow my traffic exponentially, and, in turn, my income. I have tested them, and they work.
Traffic Transformation – I love Lena’s eBook for the fact that she dives into getting traffic from less frequently used platforms like StumbleUpon and Google+.
Strategies Worth Sharing – This is an eBook I bought even before starting my blog, and it helped me to reach 700+ likes on Facebook. With Facebook being the second biggest referral for traffic for many bloggers, you need to invest in this eBook to grow your traffic.
Bluehost – I have had a great experience with Bluehost. Blogging is a great side hustle, and if you are waiting to start a money-making blog on a budget, then Bluehost is the way to go.
How was your month update? I would love to see your income reports.
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