How I Made $3,001.36 Blogging as a Side Hustle

Welcome to another blog and income update. This month was pretty similar to last month with almost the same traffic and income. I am happy to see there is no dip in traffic, and I will tell you shortly what I did to keep the traffic at the same level.

Last month was quite eventful for many reasons. My main blogging list increased exponentially, and there has been a good increase in organic traffic too.

There is something I want to share with you. I recently got a comment from one of my readers asking me why there is a dip in my income. This got me thinking about the kind of expectations new bloggers might have regarding growing their income.

Blogging is a business, and like any other business, you will see ups and downs. And it is totally normal. There might be many reasons for a dip in income/traffic like season, your participation in growing your blog, technical issues, and many other things.

But there is a big advantage that blogging has over any other hustle; it’s passive income.

For example, I wrote a blog post in March, and till now, it has earned me over $5,000.

Though I spend time promoting it, the writing part was only once. I am not saying you are going to get rich within a year by starting a blog.

But if you put in the hard work and use the right strategies, then it is possible to make money from a blog.

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.

Now for all the details.

TRAFFIC

Like last month, page views were around 100,000. When your traffic is mostly from social media channels, it can be affected by seasonal changes. My Pinterest page views were pretty much the same as last month. Some of the posts published during the previous month did get good traction.

How to Work from Home as a Pinterest Virtual Assistant
How to Make over $4,000/month Working from Home

Diversifying my traffic is also on my to-do list, and I hope to do this soon. I understand that depending on one source of traffic is not a good long-term strategy.

Here are some of my past month’s income updates:

How I Earned $3,331.67 Blogging from Home in One Month
How I Earned $3,278.32 in One Month Working from Home
How I Earned $5,898.73 Blogging from Home in August
First Year Blog Update: How I Earned over $36,000 in One Year of Blogging

SUBSCRIBERS

I am delighted with my list’s growth. It has always been a big challenge for me to grow my subscribers, and I am slowly getting there. My subscribers are at 3,700 and around 20–30 subscribers are getting added every day.

Apart from my other freebies, my free blogging email course and my recent opt-in are doing well. Every email I get from my subscribers gives me more inspiration to create more useful content for them.

PINTEREST

I have been spending 80% of my time on Pinterest (most of the pro bloggers suggest spending 20% of your time on creating content and 80% on promoting it). I have been creating more related boards, trying out new pinning times, and experimenting with new pin sizes.

One thing that’s changed since last month is the number of my followers is increasing.

The Pinterest course that I bought last month digs quite deeply into all aspects of Pinterest. If you are not a new blogger and are stuck with your traffic, then you will love the content of this course.

But my all-time favorite Pinterest resource that still helps me to get traffic is Pinteresting Strategies.

FACEBOOK

My traffic from Facebook is growing, and I also see an increase in organic likes. I do experiment with Facebook ads once a month, changing some parameters. The reach of my posts is growing, which means the times I post at and the kind of posts I am sharing are working.

TWITTER

This social media channel needs a lot of attention from me that I am unable to give right now. I always end up promising myself that I will spend time on Twitter. Hopefully, I will do it in the coming months. But for now, I am sharing other’s posts.

INSTAGRAM

If you have read any of my other blog updates, you know by now that I love photography and Instagram. After Pinterest, this is the social media platform that I really love. My followers and engagement (which is more important) are growing slowly on this social media channel. Instagram is one platform where I get to share my passion for photography and travel apart from blogging.

Now for the income report:

Last month, I earned $3,001.36 from my blog. The earnings were mostly through affiliate marketing and ads.

INCOME REPORT

Affiliate Income

Survey Affiliates (iGain, MaxBounty, Panthera Network) – $783.20
Bluehost – $480
Pinterest VA – $151.60
30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success – $85.60
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – $84
Bookkeeper Launch – $81.75
Pinteresting Strategies – $38.40
Transcribe Anywhere – $25.40
Instamazing: Passion and Profits – $23.28
Amazon – $8.31
BookScouter – $7.45

Ads –$1,207.37

EXPENSES

BoardBooster – $15
Technical Assistance – $47

NET INCOME – $2,914.36

As I mentioned before, income was slightly lower than the previous month. But what I am happy about is that I had more affiliate sales last month, which helped in diversifying my income. I know when it comes to affiliate marketing, it can be tempting to promote everything under the sun. But you will see good results only if you promote the products that you believe in and that are highly recommended.

My affiliate marketing journey started when I bought the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. As a new blogger, every term or word in affiliate marketing can be very confusing. I was lucky to have invested in this course because it taught me everything about making money from my blog with affiliate marketing. If you are a newbie in blogging, then you need this course to monetize your blog.

Things I Did

Last month, I worked on creating a BIG freebie for my readers, which is giving me good results. Apart from working most of the time on Pinterest, I dug deep into Google Analytics to bring up my traffic. Let’s see how that does next month.

I had some sponsored post offers last month, but they were not suitable for my niche. If you are looking for detailed info about sponsored posts, then read this post from Tracie Fobes.

I am working on another FREE course, which I planned to launch in November but could not. I am trying to make the course absolutely loaded with great content for my readers. Hopefully, I will be able to launch the course in December.

What I learned

I have not looked at my traffic stats in Google Analytics for around three months. I believe that is one of the reasons for the dip in the traffic. I know blogging can be overwhelming sometimes, but it is vital that you analyze what is working or not working and work on it.

Last month was kind of proof for me that if you create good content, you will surely get results. My freebie that I created last month is getting around 10–15 subscribers for me every day.

What’s Next

For the next quarter, my goal would be to break this plateau with page views and also income. I love with experimenting new strategies, and hopefully, I will see some change in page views and revenue in the next couple of months. Next month, I will also launch my new FREE COURSE. Watch out for it! 

Update: All the below resources have helped me immensely to reach this point. I highly recommend them, and they can be quite helpful to all of you—no matter what stage of blogging you are at. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about these resources.

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.

Facebook GPS – Tracie is a pro when it comes to Facebook strategies, and her course is a complete guide to growing your Facebook followers. My reach is increasing every day as I keep implementing tips from the course.

Traffic Transformation – I love Lena’s eBook for the fact that she dives into getting traffic from other social media platforms.

Strategies Worth Sharing – I bought this eBook before even 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 resource to grow your traffic.

About Sireesha Narumanchi

Hi, I am Sireesha, and thank you for stopping by to get to know me. I am a work-at-home mom, a side hustler, and a firm believer in making "working from home" a success for everyone. I have worked in a remote job for over 11 years and tried many side gigs. I have been featured on many popular websites like Forbes, Business Insider, American Express, QuickBooks, The Muse, Moneyish, Virtual Vocations, Spark Hire, Bustle, Fairygodboss, Side Hustle School, Payoneer, Jobbatical, and Skillcrush.Read more...

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