December Blogging Income Report

December Blogging Income Report

And just like that, my first full year as a blogger is over! It’s been an amazing and crazy year ending with an income that I never thought I’d ever make! In my December blogging income report, you’ll see how I not just matched, but surpassed my husband’s income and, I guess, became a real blogger!

I owe 150,000% of my success (every. single. dollar.) to Elite Blog Academy. That was the turning point in my blog and in my life. To date, it’s still the biggest investment I’ve ever made for my blog and it has paid for itself over and over again! Their training showed me step-by-step what it takes to be successful in the blogging world.

But first, a little bit about me…

A little over a year ago, I thought that it was a joke to be a “full-time blogger.” And now here I am making money from home as a blogger!

I started “getting serious” about my blog less than 9 months ago when I enrolled in Elite Blog Academy and it’s been a wild ride from there. 

Thanks to blogging, I work from home between 10 and 20 hours a week. I am a homeschooling mom of 3 boys ages 5, 2 and 1. We live on one low income, and my husband works second shift. We don’t have the luxury of having help babysitting, but I still put in the hours to make this into something amazing (if I do say so myself).

If you only remember one thing about me, it’s that I’m not special… not even close.

I’m so average. I’m not a millionaire (far from it!) who can invest thousands of dollars into a blog. I don’t have the time to spend 24 hours a day working on my blog. I don’t have an English or journalism degree. And I’m definitely not a grammar pro (thanks to a free app called Grammarly, I don’t have to worry about looking like an idiot when I post things).

I do love to write and I love to help people. And I’m really good at cutting out spending and finding new ways to save and make money. Through my blog, I have a way to help people find answers to their questions about how to save money, live on a budget, and get in control of their finances.

By writing about what I love, I’m able to provide my family with a second income, while getting to stay at home with my children.

Why am I telling you about my December blogging income report?

Income reports are what finally gave me the push I needed to get started blogging. Seeing all of the income reports from other bloggers, like (my now-friends) Rosemarie from the Busy Budgeter who made $32,469 in October and Michelle from Making Sense of Cents who made $106,383 in November, gave me the push I needed to get started blogging in the first place.

I had no idea that you could make money blogging. I always figured that you could make money from ads, but I never knew that it could be a full-time income, a career, or even a dream life making more than $100,000 in a month!

That’s why I share my income reports with you. Not to make you feel bad or depressed or angry, but to show you that this is a real possibility for you, too.

Ready to start your own blog?

If that sounds like something you want to do, I can help you make that a reality with free step-by-step instructions for how to start your own blog here.

Because I’m a cheapskate frugalista (hair flip), my favorite part about blogging is that it’s super cheap. I mean, what other hobby costs $3.45/month and can make you $100,000? Honestly!

Side note – To anyone who was a young mom or a teen mom who was told that they’d never amount to anything, would always be on welfare, and living below the poverty line… this is something for you to remember from someone who has been there, too!

Here’s my December Blogging Income Report

Affiliate income: $3,638

• Elite Blog Academy Secret Sale – $1,396
• Bluehost (check out my tutorial on how to start a profitable blog) – $450
• Ebates – $335
• Amazon – $455
• Swagbucks – $350
• Survey companies – $115
• Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course – $97
• Core Affiliate Strategy to Make More Money Blogging – $65
• Digit – $65
• The Ultimate Guide to Building a Profitable Blog – $50
• The Best Freezer Cooking Class Ever – $49
• Real Life Money Plan – $46
• 17 Strategies Used to Go From 17K to 350K+ Page Views in 9 Months – $35
• How I Grew My Facebook Page From 2,000 to 100,000 in Five Months – $32
• Izea/SponsoredTweets – $27
• The Ultimate Pinterest Strategy Guide to Get Seen by 4 Million People/Month – $25
• Make Money Proofreading By Becoming A Freelance Proofreader – $24
• ConvertKit – $22

Ad Revenue: $1,695

Pageviews: 145,838

Total December Blogging Income Report: $5,333

I have expenses that I need to account for:

• Convertkit: $45
• BoardBooster: $40
• Elite Blog Academy (still worth it, always worth it!): $49
• Haute Chocolate stock photo subscription: $25
• Big Scoot (I changed my site host and couldn’t be happier): $13

Total expenses (excluding taxes): $172

Making my pre-tax take-home income $5,161.

Previous income reports:

• November Income Report
• October Income Report
• August Income Report
• July Income Report
• June Income Report

What worked:

Elite Blog Academy Secret Sale

Elite Blog Academy threw everyone for a loop and has a super secret sale that we were only allowed to tell our email subscribers about! It pays to be on my email list! 😉

This is the first sale that really made me feel “official.” I’m not exaggerating when I say that my goal was one sale. If I could get just one sale, I’d be thrilled!

The week-long sale was on and right up until Thursday at 9 pm, I still didn’t have any sales. The very next morning, I had 2 sales. Later that day, 4. I made $1,396 in less than 24 hours! It was insane!

If you missed the secret sale, I truly am sorry. BUT the good news is that Elite Blog Academy is going on sale in February and you don’t want to miss that! Grab their free eBooks here. In a few weeks, they’re going to put on some amazing free webinars that will help your blog that you won’t want to miss!

Affiliate Marketing

I’ve always just said that I stink at selling and that I’m just doomed to a life of sucky-selling forever. I guess that can’t be my attitude anymore! And for that, I have to thank the best affiliate marketing course that I’ve ever had. If you’re like me and are constantly thinking that you just can’t sell no matter what, this is the course for you.

My Free eCourse

My free eCourse, Side Hustles That Work, has been so great! I love sharing the ways that I’ve found to make money from home. We’re growing a little Facebook Community that you get access to through the group and it’s been so great! I’m loving being able to help other people in such a specific way!

Mindset Shift

My goal shifted this month thanks to a mind-blowing realization from my friend, Rosemarie from the Busy Budgeter. She had mentioned that the goal of traffic isn’t to have the highest number. It’s to get people on your email list. Mind = BLOWN. That said, my focus this month wasn’t to obsess over my

That said, my focus this month wasn’t to obsess over my pageviews, but to focus on my email list. That’s why I love Convertkit. The email opt-ins that I can make from them are just amazing. It’s an expense I highly recommend as a blogger!

What didn’t work:

Pinterest is so hit-or-miss. It hurts me at a very core level that my beloved Pinterest has had such a dip in traffic.

And it’s not just me. It’s across the board for bloggers! Everyone’s traffic really seems to be taking a serious nosedive.

Thankfully, I had a post go mini-viral as we lead up to Christmas, Dollar Store Christmas Decorations, and then had another go viral in the week after Christmas, 12 Things to Buy After Christmas. But once the season is over, my traffic will take another nose dive. *Sad face!*

January goals:

• Launch my first paid course.
• Launch my free email blog course.
• Do a better job at record keeping for my business throughout the year and not just in a mad dash at the end of the year!
• Get better at delegating and ask for help when I need it!
• Start a soft launch for my new blog name (coming soon!!!!).

This is arguably the coolest thing that I’ve ever done! You guys… I make money from the internet. Like, it’s my JOB! How crazy is that?!

And I mean it when I say it: if I can do it, anyone can do it! All you need is the right guidance and a whole lot of determination!