First Month Blog Income Report - July 2018

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Hey Guys! As you know, everyone and their cousin is fascinated by income blogs and how much they make. I myself, love reading blog income reports and learning all about others’ income blogs. So as promised, I’m breaking down the monetization of my new blog and spilling all the details so you can make money blogging too! Sit back and grab some popcorn (and wine!) because this first month blog income report is long and detailed!

This post may contain some affiliate links. You can read our full disclosure for more info.

I started my two new income blogs at the end of June 2018 and decided to monetize both from day one with a money making blog experiment. I set out with a long list of Blogging Goals and the intention to make some money in my first month of blogging. Overachiever much?

Well, I am so happy that I decided to set high standards because I ended up earning $135 within my FIRST TWO WEEKS! Now, I must make it clear again that I am NOT new to blogging.

I first started blogging about 5 years ago and moved to my first self-hosted blog back in January 2014 so I knew exactly what to do to start monetizing. The lesson here though is that you absolutely CAN start making money with a new blog.

Below, I share my progress over my first month, how many hours I put in, my first month blog income report and what I did to earn this money.

As a bonus, I’ve also included 5 other bloggers and how much money they made during their first few months blogging too!

Table of Contents

Let’s Recap My First Month Blogging Goals

Did I meet my income blog goals?

The following shows my progress for Blog One (this blog – The Frugal Mom Guide)

-Blog Traffic & Page Views

In terms of page views, I achieved my goal with 1676 in total. Although I achieved more than the 1000 that I hoped for, I was still disappointed with the traffic results. However, I know that this is a new blog and building traffic takes time and requires a lot of work.

(Edited to Add: See how I got over 5000 page views in my second month of blogging here!)

The number of visitors per day averaged 20-30. However, the last two days of July saw an increase of around 500 visitors when this post finally started getting some traction. Fingers crossed that it continues going and becomes viral!

Coincidentally (or maybe not!), my increase in traffic came just after I started implementing the strategies learned from this informative course which teaches how to use Pinterest to boost your traffic.

This month, I’ve been focused on using mainly Pinterest as a source of traffic. Over my five years of blogging, Pinterest has always been the biggest platform to drive traffic to my blogs.

Even though I’m pretty much Pinterest-obsessed and I spend hours on Pinterest every night for enjoyment (Yes, I realize that I have no life), I still didn’t know all the details about Pinterest’s new algorithm and smart feed.

I knew that Carly, from Mommy on Purpose, had such an inspirational story about going from a waitress to a full-time blogger in 9 months. Her secret? Pinterest! She learned everything there was to know about Pinterest and figured a way to use it to maximize her blog’s traffic.

I know that my plan for this blog is to make a monthly income from it, and the sooner the better, so I bought her secrets. She wrote an amazing e-book called Pinteresting Strategies which is chucked-full of all her secrets to boosting blog traffic using Pinterest. In fact, she went from 0 to 200k page views with her NEW blog.

The first day I started implementing her strategies, I got 21 new followers on Pinterest. In. Just. One. Day.

I also used Tailwind to completely up my Pinterest game by scheduling my pins at optimized times when my Pinterest followers were most engaged. In Carly’s Pinteresting Strategies book, she suggests manual pinning instead of using an app like Tailwind.

Since I spend hours on Pinterest anyway, I use Tailwind AND manual pinning. Click here to try Tailwind for free! (Edited to Add: I actually prefer manual pinning but you can still give Tailwind a try!)

-Number of Posts

I set high goals by aiming for 20 posts on this blog. This one was a toughie. I guess I overestimated myself. First of all, I’m a mom of two little kids and I blog mostly at night after they go to sleep or early mornings before they are up.

Sometimes, one post takes me 2 – 3 days to write (if the kids go to sleep late or wake up too early on certain days). I also need to dedicate some of my nights to my husband. He is totally supportive of my new blogs but I am still working on trying to find the right balance.

Needless to say, I failed in this area. I wrote a total of 16 posts. However, I did ensure that these 16 posts were well-written:

1000 words or longer (in the hopes of getting ranked higher in Google soon)
SEO Optimized (using Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress to better my chances of being shown in searches)
Included a vertical picture with clearly written titles to be pinnable on Pinterest
Included content that would be helpful to my readers
Included Share buttons so content could be easily shared

-Pinterest Group Boards

My aim was to join 25 Pinterest Group Boards in my niche and I met this goal by joining 32 new boards. Previously, I was a member of 6 other group boards so that brings me to a current total of 38.

-Facebook Strategy

Imagine my surprise when I realized that blog link up parties are no longer a thing. This was what I used to promote my first self-hosted blog back in 2014 and was a way to connect with other bloggers and to collaborate.

I didn’t do much work on promoting The Frugal Mom Guide Facebook Page (feel free to like my Facebook page :))but I did use Blogging Groups on Facebook to connect with other bloggers.

Many new bloggers underestimate the importance of collaborating and working together. Other bloggers should be seen as colleagues rather than the competition.

-Monetizing Strategies

I met this goal by joining a few ad networks and affiliate networks. I joined Google Adsense, Media.net, ShareASale, Activate and Bluehost to name a few

. I implemented Google Adsense at first but then the Ads stopped showing on my site (until I confirm my postal address). I am currently waiting on the letter which was mailed so I can verify my address and start displaying Google Ads again.

-Other Strategies

I commented on many other blogs however, I did not see this as a major source of traffic.

First Month Blog Income Report – July 2018

Now that you’ve seen my progress, here are the different ways that I made money this month.

In the month of July, my first month of blogging, I made a total of $258.47

This is so much more than I thought I could make in one month of blogging with a new blog!

Here’s a breakdown.

Ad networks – $15.01

Google Adsense – If I didn’t have to wait until my address was verified to continue displaying ads, this number could have been quite higher.

Media.net – I ended up removing this later in the month because I didn’t see much results from it but perhaps you can have better luck with it.

Affiliate Income – $243.46

Bluehost – It is what I have used for the past 5 years for hosting and I have always been a satisfied customer.

ShareASale – Find a sponsor for your website. Get paid for your great content.

Tailwind – This app was a Pinterest Game Changer. Click here to try Tailwind free.

Grammarly – Double checks my grammar while I write. Click here to try Grammarly free.

WebBased – Website experts specializing in Web design, SEO, online marketing and so much more!

Expenditure – $32

Pinteresting Strategies by Carly from Mommy on Purpose – This book has helped me SO much. I’m a very thrifty person so I didn’t want to spend too much so soon. The book was affordable and informative!

After implementing the strategies outlined in the book, I started seeing more followers, repins and blog traffic. Note that I only got the book within the last week so traffic is now starting to pick up.

I recommend it to any new blogger trying to gain traffic from Pinterest!

FIRST MONTH BLOG INCOME REPORT NET INCOME – $226.47

Not bad after one month of blogging, huh? This is PROOF that you don’t need a million and one page views to start monetizing your site! You CAN make money from a small blog from Day One.

Blog 2

I didn’t work much on my second blog (blog for my high school students). Growing two new blogs is hard work, Y’all! I had aimed for 10 new posts but only created 3.

I promoted it a little on some facebook groups and I got positive feedback. That site got a total of 1403 views with almost 1000 of those views occurring on the day that I posted a lesson and shared in a Facebook Group.

I need to work a bit more on posting this upcoming month. I implemented Media.net ads on this blog but this didn’t pay off much.

(Edited to Add: I no longer dedicate time to building my second income blog. I’m focusing on this income blog for now.)

Second Month Blogging Goals (August 2018)

So I’m going to try to set goals that are a little more realistic and wouldn’t result in blogger burnout.

This month I plan to work on my traffic and get it up to 10 000 sessions. Like everyone with a new blog, I’m aspiring to hit that 25000 sessions to get accepted to Mediavine Ad Network. I’m working my way towards making a monthly income from my blog!

You CAN make money from a new blog!

To end my first month blog income report, I’ve rounded up 5 other bloggers who made money from their brand new blogs also.

Check out Samantha from Journey to SAHM. She shared how she made $87.67 in her second month of blogging as a mom blogger! In her income reports, she explains exactly how she used Amazon Affiliates, Collabor8 etc. to make money.
Thomas from This Online World shares how he made $57.86 with his new blog. Check out his income reports to learn exactly what he does to earn this.
Angela from The Truthful Tutor made $4.54 during her first month of blogging! She used Amazon Affiliates to earn this money.
McKinzie from Moms Make Cents shares how she made over $400 in her second month of blogging here. She explains everything from her traffic numbers to what programs she used to earn her money.
Ravindra from Digital Sitemap is a Mechanical Engineer turned Professional Blogger. He provides tips and strategies on blogging successfully. During his second month of blogging, he made $7 from Google AdSense. His earnings increased to $350 in his third month after implementing affiliate links.

So stop procrastinating and start your blog already! You too can have an amazing first month blog income report to show! If you already have your blog, stop waiting until your traffic increases to start monetizing! Get started today!

Tips for New Bloggers interested in starting an income blog:

-Keep Researching

-Work on your blog every day

-SEO is important

-Use a social media platform to promote your posts. (I recommend using Pinterest and Facebook Groups)

-Enjoy the journey

Well, guys, this post got really long but I wanted to ensure that I included everything that could be helpful to new bloggers trying to monetize their sites. Stay tuned for the next month blog income report.

Don’t forget to share and pin for later!

Until next time,