How I Made $3451 in my 6th Month Blogging

Bloggers have a love-hate relationship with Blogging Income Reports.

Now-a-days, anyone can start a blog. And I highly recommend you use Bluehost to start your blog because it’s very cheap and efficient.

I’m pretty sure even my dog has her own blog.

But earning from your blog is not easy. You have to set up a blog and be super dedicated. You can read my step-by-step on guide on creating a money-making blog right here. Or you can take my free email course that will teach you how to set up a blog the right way.

In my opinion, I feel there is a lot to learn from Blogging Income Reports because you get to realize where a Blogger’s strengths lie.

By reading other Bloggers’ Blogging Income Reports, you will realize that they reveal what works and what doesn’t.

This is super educational, and it’s like testing the waters without actually dipping your foot in it!

I have always wanted to publish a Blogging Income Report, so here goes nothing!

This is my first Blogging Income Report. And most probably my last. So, I’m going to be brutally honest with my income and what I did to get up to this point.

I started blogging in April and this is my 6th month blogging.

Woot woot!

If you don’t already know, my name is Angela and I’m an Illustrator, Blogger and Comic Artist. My blog – Stray Curls is all about helping young, bright women start their own online businesses and grow their businesses creatively.

Related Post: 10 signs you’re a natural born artist

So, it not only focuses on blogging, but creativity as well!

My goal is to make Stray Curls a fun-filled community for women (in all walks of life), who want to start something new and earn money from home.

So, I don’t yet have ads because I want to build trust.

Affiliate Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links – meaning I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through the links. This money is used to maintain my Blog expenses and feed my beloved cream and chocolate puffs dogs. 

Before I begin, please understand that I was able to earn this income, only because I have had one failed blog before. I made a lot of mistakes with my previous blog.

And I was a little ahead of the curve when I created this one because I researched a ton in that year I took a break from blogging.

My previous blog was without direction and I ignored a lot of tips that I should I have paid attention to as a new Blogger. I was piggybacking on my husband’s clients and it took me almost a year just to make $100 in affiliate income.

You can read my whole personal story here.

So, if you’re just beginning, and have not yet achieved what you are aiming for, don’t lose heart.

Take courage because once you have enough traffic, the money will automatically pour in.

If you don’t already have a blog, you’re missing out on a lot of potential income that you could be earning from home. So, read my step-by-step guide to start a money-making blog from scratch!

It will take you less than 15 minutes to start a blog.

No kidding.

Okay, let’s begin!

Blogging Income Report:

Patreon: $200

Affiliate Sales: $177 (includes Bluehost, Skillshare and Amazon)

Digital Products Sales: $29

Freelance Services: $3045

Blogging Expense Report:

ConvertKit: $24 (I purchase annually so I get a good discount)

Tailwind: $10 (I purchase this annually too)

Hosting and Domain: $15 approximately (I purchased my hosting  for 3 years at a stretch)

Accountant Fees: $25

Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign Monthly Package: $51 (paid annually as my livelihood practically lives off these programs:

I talk about all the necessary expenses for a Blog in this post.

Total Profit after expenses: $3326

Please note:

I usually make $1500-$2000 freelancing, but this month I undertook a massive illustrating project for a company.

I had to create quite a few illustrations for their training manual, hence my income went up.

That’s the fun bit about being a freelancer. You can never predict how much you will earn each month. It fluctuates.

Related Post: 10 things I should have known before becoming an Illustrator

Takeaway 1:

Affiliate Sales are directly proportional to Blog Traffic and Blog Content.

I learnt this the hard way.

Last month, I was able to make over $300 with affiliate marketing, because I used Social Media to share my post. But in August, I shared 0 posts as it was my Birthday and I was traveling the whole month.

Therefore my Affiliate sales tanked in September.

Lesson learnt.

A few posts to help you gain traffic:

• 13 Proven Strategies to Decrease your Bounce Rate
• 27 Easy Ways to Double your Blog Traffic
• 13 Free Ways to Market your Blog and Business
• How I used Pinterest to gain 18,000 views in my 3rd month Blogging!
• 17 Killer Ways to get Tons of Blog Comments

I have recently created a free 5 email course that will help you grow your Blog Traffic effortlessly!

So, what is Affiliate Marketing?

Basically, it means that you are selling other people’s products. That is affiliate marketing. If you make a sale, you earn a commission from said company/person.

That is an Affiliate sale.

Let me show you this little illustration.

Okay, the concept is pretty simple.

You become an Affiliate for a product you love. You talk about that product on your blog either in the form of a review or a tutorial and link to that product using your Affiliate Links.

A reader of your blog clicks the link, likes what he/she sees and buys the product. You make a small commission at no extra cost to them.

And that’s how it works!

It’s easier to make a lot of money affiliate marketing when you’re in a proven, profitable niche.

You can read these two posts to help you understand how I go about affiliate marketing:

• Is affiliate marketing worth it? All your questions answered!
• 7 affiliate marketing hacks to skyrocket your conversions

Anyone reading my Income Report will realize that I’m basically a workhorse.

When I started this blog, my main aim was to gain clients. So, I wrote posts that showcased my work as an Artist and Illustrator.

For the past 6 months, I have taken on a heap of clients and finished those projects to earn a good Freelancing Income.

I didn’t take that scary leap and focus on blogging entirely.

Yes, I admit it.

I am a scaredy-cat.

But my goal for the future is to focus more on Affiliate Marketing. I plan on writing more affiliate posts and promoting them like a madwoman in order to slowly shift to earning passive income.

I have already taken a step toward my Passive Income goal by creating digital content which I sell in my shop here.

Take a looksie!

Takeaway 2:

Gaining clients is super easy if people are able to decipher what you do within 2 minutes after they land on your blog.

On a totally separate note, I’ve just started creating baby/pet portraits. You can get one by booking a slot right now! *wink*

In fact, I even share 17 easy ways you can gain clients in this post. It even includes a free workbook that you can use to identify your ideal client profile.

I spent 2 months designing my website, before I launched it.

People find me via Social Media and my Blog.

But for lots of people to actually find you, you need a good amount of blog traffic.

Blog traffic basically equals more money.

How did I gain good blog traffic?

Pinterest played a huge part in boosting my income because most of my traffic comes from Pinterest. Therefore, I wasted no time in purchasing Tailwind – a Pinterest Scheduler.

I had done my research. And it took me one failed blog to learn that if I wanted good quality traffic, I had to use Tailwind.

I’ll show you proof.

Here’s my Pinterest Traffic before using Tailwind.

And this is my traffic after I started using Tailwind.

This led me to cross over 20,000 blog pageviews!

Awesome, isn’t it?

I reveal 2 of my key blog traffic strategies in this post here. Give it a read.

Like I said earlier, earning an income via your Blog is super easy if you have good quality traffic. And Tailwind will actually help you gain that traffic.

You can give Tailwind a try by enrolling for a free trial right here!

>>SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL OF TAILWIND<<

I have also recently created a free 5 email course that will help you grow your Blog Traffic effortlessly!

Related Post: 17 killer ways to get tons of blog comments!

Takeaway 3:

Another way to boost blog traffic is by having good email marketing software.

With my previous blog, I enrolled for Mailchimp because it was free for the first 2000 subscribers.

I was so happy initially because it was free but as time went on, I started getting annoyed.

If I had 2 opt-ins and one person signed up for both, that person was counted at 2 subscribers!

Now, that’s downright evil!

I had a very tough time switching to Convertkit. And when I did, I never went back.

I purchased a whole year of Convertkit when I started my new blog. It’s $29 a month, but I reaped all the benefits financially straight away, so it didn’t matter.

Convertkit allows me to use a different form for each opt-in. It even shows you how each opt-in performs.

I currently have about 9 opt-ins.

And you can tag subscribers. For instance, if someone downloads my Ideal Client Profile Workbook, I will tag them as a freelancer. If someone opts for my Creative Course, I will tag them as a Creative. And if someone signs up to receive stationery updates, I will tag them as a Stationery Lover.

This means, when I’m sending emails, I can select subscribers under specific tags and increase the probability of my open rates.

And because Convertkit creates such pretty opt-ins, I am able to double my subscribers each month.

Something I failed at doing when I was using Mailchimp.

Therefore; using Convertkit, actually helped me increase my blog traffic. And it helped me build trust with my subscribers. This helped me gain more clients.

Win-win!

UPDATE: Learn how I set up 2 sales funnels with ConvertKit that help me earn over $600 each month!

>>SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL OF COVERTKIT<<

The learning curve is very high when you first begin. And that’s totally okay.

With Convertkit and Tailwind, added to my Blog Hosting, I am spending less than $50 a month on my Blog.

And it’s all worth it! Because I’m making a pretty neat profit.

See a list of all the tools I use for my Blog and Business. It also includes resources that I used to improve my Illustrating skills.

I’d be nowhere without them.

Having a blog is a very good business, especially because I can stay at home and give my family all the love they deserve.

I don’t need to waste time commuting to work, or spend hours in an office under scrutiny… All of that is avoided with a wee, little blog.

YOU’LL ALSO LOVE: 27 EASY TIPS TO DOUBLE YOUR BLOG TRAFFIC THIS YEAR!

If you’re considering starting a blog, then don’t waste any time. Read my super easy step-by-step  guide and create a blog straight away!

It’s worth every penny and every minute of hard work you put in. You will reap what you sow.

I promise.

What is your biggest fear when it comes to blogging? Let me know in the comments below.

And don’t forget to download your free blog planner!

Here are some posts you might enjoy reading:

• 33 easy hacks to gain more traffic immediately
• 11 ways to promote your blog for free
• Pinterest for bloggers – The ultimate guide to increasing your Pinterest traffic
• 10 new blogger tips that every blogger has to implement