*This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

 

 

Blogging income reports are great because:

 

a) I want to show other bloggers that you can go from pennies to over $100 a month with the right tools and mindset.

b) My first 12 months of blogging consisted of traffic mainly in the hundreds and my income was barely existent.

c) Now that I see some changes in traffic and income I would like to track my progress for myself.

 

 

 

September 2018 BLOGGING STATS

 

Traffic: 33,663 26,243 pageviews

 

August was my highest traffic month to date. Although September suffered a drop, it is still my 2nd highest traffic month blogging.

 

There are several reasons for the drop in pageviews. 1) We went on vacation for a week. 2) I pinned a lot less. 3) I only wrote 2 new blog posts. 4) Pinterest is currently going through an update which has resulted in a big decline in traffic for some bloggers, myself included.

 

Considering all these things, traffic was still good (thanks to Tailwind), I am still getting new Pinterest followers every day, and I just need to get back into the blogging mindset.

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

PINTEREST:  1,090  1,297 followers

 

FACEBOOK: 556 552 followers

 

INSTAGRAM: 484 483 followers

 

TWITTER: 1,023 1,021 followers

 

My Pinterest following is steadily increasing, while my other social media platforms are stagnant. I know it’s because I am not consistently active and need to change that if I want to see growth.

 

 

REVENUE FOR September 2018: $25.00

 

Ads

 

Google AdSense: $45.08

From September 1st to September 21st I made $45.08 With Google AdSense. On September 22 I switched over to Mediavine. Because Google AdSense has a $100 threshold I won’t be able to cash out this $45.08.

Although it stinks, I am already making more with Mediavine in 5 days than I did in 3 weeks. That’s even with a decrease in traffic. I can’t wait to see what I can make when it goes up.

 

Mediavine: $0

I’ve started making money with Mediavine, but their payment cycle is NET 65. This means that I won’t get paid for the money I made in September until December 5th.

The pay increase, their customer support, and MVP loyalty bonus (increase 1% for every year you are with them for up to 5 years) make the wait worth it.

 

 

Sponsorship

Linqia: $0

 

Linqia was my very first pay-per-click sponsorship opportunity, but I didn’t receive any new opportunities this month.

They offer a lot of support, pay you within 10 days of project completion, and the average earning is $220 per program.

 

It’s a great place for new bloggers to start doing sponsorship opportunities because they look at your combined traffic and social media reach. Other networks require you have a huge following that can take a long time to achieve. When I joined I didn’t have even 1,000 followers on any of my social media profiles.

 

Sign up for Linqia here!

 

 

Referrals

 

I genuinely love these sites because they help people save money doing things they already do and buy and they aren’t blogging-related.

 

Groupon: $0

 

eBates : $25

eBates lets you earn cash back on items that you already buy. They also provide great promo codes and discounts. We earn a few hundred dollars a year though our online purchases.

I’ve had several people sign up through my link and didn’t even realize it! One was in July and another in August. I will only get paid when they make a qualifying purchase.

 

iBotta: $0

Ibotta is an app that lets you get money back by submitting your grocery receipts. I had a few people join my team and am just waiting for them to submit a qualifying receipt to get a referral payment.

 

 

Product Reviews

 

 

Intellifluence: $0

Intellifluence connects brands with influencers who want to try and review their products. Some are paid while others are only given the product to try for free.

I’m currently working on another product review and will get paid for it next month.

 

 

Affiliate Marketing

 

Amazon Associates: $0

I received my first Amazon payment last month. With the holidays and gift guides coming up I hope to earn more money soon.

 

Related posts:

*August 2018 Income Report

* July 2018 Blog Income Report

* 13 Easy ways to get new Pinterest followers

 

Blogging Resources

 

Pinteresting Strategies by Carly Campbell: $32

 

I LOVE this course for several reasons.

 

#1 Unlike other Pinterest courses that say you need to purchase a pin scheduler to get tons of traffic, this course is focused on manual pinning. Carly gets over 200,000 pageviews a month without using a scheduler.

 

#2 It’s super cheap compared to the other Pinterest courses out there.

 

#3 The book focuses on a unique pinning strategy using Google Analytics that I have not read about anywhere else and I do my research.

 

#4 Carly runs a Facebook group that is full of the most helpful people, it’s even has some big name bloggers. They all give great advice (FREE) and answer questions ASAP. Carly also does Facebook Live videos and gives updated Pinterest traffic tips.

 

#5 My traffic got a huge spike after implementing her tips and my Pinterest follower growth has consistently been growing since taking her course.

 

 

 

I bought Carly’s book because all of the great advice she gives, her honesty, and the fact that she doesn’t actively promote her book. The majority of her book promotion is through word of mouth. I read the reviews on her page and they were all singing her praises. Check them out here at Mommy on Purpose!

 

 

The Billionaire Blog Club (BBC)

 

BBC has been going through a massive facelift, overhaul, change, call it what you will. I am dying to dive into the new course offerings and take my blog to the next level and share my success with you. Stay tuned for this update!

 

BBC also offers a $39, 165 page Pinterest Manual that he periodically updates to give you the best and most current information.

 

It is currently in its 3rd edition and has a bunch of pictures. I’m a visual person so it works for me. If you liked my post on how to gain new Pinterest followers you will absolutely love the BBC Pinterest Manual because it goes into such detail.

 

TAILWIND

 

I took the plunge and paid for a 1 year subscription of Tailwind.

Before going on vacation I scheduled a bunch of pins, which worked out because we were in Alaska and Canada and had every limited internet service.

Tailwind helped me keep my traffic up the whole week we were gone.

 

I use Tailwind to look at my stats and used Tailwind Tribes to triple my traffic in August. With Pinterest doing updates and not creating any new content I can’t yet determine the full effect of TW, but will update when I can.

 

Sign up for Tailwind here and get 100 free pins and a $30 credit!

 

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 

I finally have Mediavine ads up on my site and my traffic is still decent despite not actively working on my blog this month. I only wrote 2 new posts and wasn’t active on any social media platforms or groups.

 

My most popular posts are:

 

11 Things rich people do that poor people don’t

Things we stopped buying to save money

6 Bank accounts you should have

13 Important Things to Do After Becoming Debt-Free

Interview with a millionaire (an old post that I created a new pin for)

13 Easy ways to get new Pinterest followers

 

 

My long streak of getting over 1,000 pageviews a day came to an end, but I know why so I can work on creating a new streak.

 

 

SEPTEMBER 2018 GOALS

 

Create a spreadsheet for my financial blogger roundup post and start emailing bloggers. For real this time. FAILED

I started the spreadsheet, but haven’t contacted anyone. I don’t know why this has been so hard for me.

 

Start accepting guest posts so that I can fill up the more neglected categories on the blog (lifestyle, motherhood, DIY).

I had someone contact me to do a guest post, but need to start advertising in FB groups too.

 

Create a new strategy for my Facebook and Instagram account so that I can gain new followers.

Knowing what needs to be done and doing it are 2 different things.

 

Make a “Resources” page that includes money making and saving tools, blogging resources, and any must-have products. I think this could be a great way to make some money without having to write reviews or individual posts.

Right before I went on vacation I started a recommendations page. It should be complete by the end of this week.

 

If the guest post that I wrote in August isn’t approved by the blog applied for I will either use it for another blog guest post or add it to my own blog. There are actually several financial bloggers I admire accepting guest posts so it’s still a win-win situation.

Contacted the site and waiting to hear back.

 

GOALS FOR October 2018

 

Create my first roundup post instead of just talking about it.

 

Be active on each social media platform once a week, minimum.

 

Publish 7 new posts.

 

Work through the new courses on BBC and some of the resources from the Genius Blogger Toolkit I purchased previously.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

I only wrote 2 new posts in September and my traffic didn’t suffer a major hit.

I now have Mediavine ads up on my site and even though I won’t get paid until December for the income accrued in September, I see myself making more on ads each month than ever before.

I now have decent traffic to my site, but now need to turn that traffic into cash. A refined business strategy needs to come into play so here we go!