Hi! Welcome!
This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure for more details.
I’m Jenni 🙂
If you’ve been here before, please feel free to skip to the income report further down.
I’ve been blogging since March of 2019- the year blogging supposedly “died.”
Let me assure you, my friend, it’s alive and well!
I really debated sharing income reports online. The only reason I decided to do so was because I wanted to show a SUPER REALISTIC timeline to making an livable income with your blog.
There is so much information out there. And a lot of the people that are making a ridiculous amount of money right out of the gate either got really lucky or aren’t being entirely truthful.
There is also so much conflicting information about what to do first when you start your blog.
I wasted A LOT of time trying to develop a product when I had NO audience or clear idea of what I should sell!
Sometimes, you figure out your audience as you build traffic. Trust me, the traffic speaks for itself. You’ll start getting a feel for popular posts and what your audience likes to read.
My Story
I started my blog in March of 2019. I was blown away finding pins on Pinterest with people claiming they’d made a 1000, 3000, even 10,000 DOLLARS in a month. From HOME.
(This is what drew me in. I was dreading the thought of my mat leave ending and either going back to work on the farm or looking for another job just for my kids to be in daycare. I wanted something that I could do at home on my own time with no wage cap.)
The thought that maybe I could DO this wouldn’t leave. I read as much as I possibly could because I was extremely skeptical. I finally convinced myself that it *might* be possible.
I started my blog before my baby was born in October but didn’t offically “launch” until March, when I had more posts and felt more confident. I wasn’t in a rush to make money because I was on Maternity leave and here in Canada, it lasts for a year or more but you can’t make any extra income during or they’ll take away your mat leave.
If I were YOU, I would NOT wait that long to launch. It takes a new domain 3-6 months to get out the Google sandbox.
The faster you get content up, the faster it will start counting down the timer for ranking on Google.
I really, really wish that someone would have told me the exact timeline so I knew what to expect.
It will take 1-2 YEARS to see a livable income. Yes, some are lucky and see an income before 1 year. It’s not many.
This is why so many people give up- they may be on the cusp, not know it and quit because it takes so much time and dedication.
Blogging is not for the faint of heart.
I had my first 2000$ CAD month in October, 2020. That’s 19 months since I started. I’ve had a few 1000$- 1500$ CAD months before that.
2000$ CAD or 1500$ USD was my goal from the beginning. That equals working full time (40 hours per week) at minimum wage where I live.
The fact that I made a fulltime wage from my home, on my laptop, with my kids, blows. my. mind.
I am PASSIONATE about helping others reach this goal, or higher. I am PASSIONATE about busting through the 9-5 myth and breaking down the idea that you need to work your ass off for some other person to make a wage that has a ceiling and then retire to enjoy “the rest of your life.”
What about NOW, my friend? What about living NOW? No, money doesn’t solve everything. But it sure helps a lot. Financial freedom brings peace of mind, extra TIME and the ability to pursue your passions without worry.
Our cat almost lost his leg recently. The vet bill was 1500$. I made 1500$ from my blog that month and paid the bill without it putting us into debt or sending us into a spiral of stress, worry and being stretched too thin.
So, maybe you don’t want to travel the world or buy a Lamborghini (but if you do, that’s cool!). But maybe you DO want the peace of mind that an extra couple of thousand dollars can do for you or your family each month.
Is starting a blog even worth it these days? Should I start a blog?
There are 2 answers to this:
IF you fully understand that it takes TIME and HARD WORK- yes, it’s worth it.
If you think you’re going to strike it rich overnight and collect 10,000$ paychecks right away? Nope. Not worth it for you.
May was sweet. This was first month where I thought “This isn’t a pipe dream- I can DO this!”
When you start seeing money come in, it will snowball and start growing quite quickly. This is why I will keep repeating this:
DO NOT GIVE UP!
It might be next to nothing for almost a year. Once you hit 2 years, you’ll be so happy you stuck with it!
The Mommyhood Club Blog Income Report May 2020
(This is gross revenue. Everything is in USD. No expenses or tax related stuff.)
PAGEVIEWS: 73,222 (up 10,150)
AD INCOME: 815.68$ (up 657.21$)
AMAZON: 236.79$ (up 23.88$)
OTHER AFFILIATE NETWORKS: 9.35$ (up 8.22$)
FREEBIES: 21.00$ (up 15$)
AFFILIATE TOTAL: 267.14 (up 47.10$)
TOTAL INCOME: 1082.82$ (up 704.81$)
What it means:
AD INCOME:
This was my first FULL month with Mediavine and as you can see, the difference is astronomical. I was so thrilled with how professional and lovely they were to work with. They truly care about publishers so keep aiming for Mediavine if you’re not there yet!
If you are hitting 10k pageviews per month and want to start making money with ads, Monumetric is a great place to start! They have a 99$ set up fee for the 10K pv’s per month but it IS worth it to get ads up and running if you need to make money. You’ll make the 99$ back within a couple of months 🙂
RPM: 13.79$ (up from 8.00$)
*RPM is your rate per 1000 pageviews or sessions. Mediavine uses sessions.
Tip– don’t wait for your RPM’s to climb. Get in touch with your ad network and ask them for ways to improve and what you should be doing on your site to make them higher.
It sounds great when you have someone telling you not to worry about traffic, right? Just find your avatar and create a product they’re dying to have and watch the money roll in!
That might work if you KNOW your audience right when you start your blog but it’s just not realistic.
If you started a blog, I’m guessing it was to make money. To make money, you need traffic. To get traffic you need CONTENT.
There is no magic blogging pill to take. It comes down to QUALITY content that’s SEO optimized and that’s pretty much it.
Of course, there’s a few other things but the main thing you should be focused on is content. You can’t get traffic without posts and the more posts you can put out, the faster you’ll grow.
The 2 main things to be learning in the beginning are Pinterest (if your niche is Pinterest friendly) and SEO.
Once you have been blogging for a while, you’ll start to understand what type of content your audience is drawn to.
That’s why I don’t think it’s a BAD thing to cast a WIDE net in the beginning to what’s working and what isn’t. You can start to narrow down after that.
(This advice may be backwards to what others are saying or what works for you- experiment and find what works for YOU)
FREE Pinterest Course
AFFILIATES:
Even though a 47$ jump doesn’t seem like much- it is! I’m thrilled! Every time I see a jump in income, I’m amped. It feels unreal still and I’m so thankful 🙂
In the coming months I’ll be adding more affiliate opportunities for mom related stuff. I’ll let you know how it goes!
If you’d like to get the rest of my income reports and see the journey, sign up below. They’ll be dripped out every 2 days until you’re caught up with the current month.
I’ll only share realistic blogging tips and advice 🙂