Blogging: Income - January 2013

I wanted to start a new series this year.  I'm taking a nod from one of my favorite blogs, Pinch of Yum, and talking about my goals to make more money blogging and how I'm (hopefully) going to do it.  

Lindsay is the cook, photographer, and author behind Pinch of Yum, and her husband Bjork writes their monthly income reports.  Seeing one of these reports is what got me subscribed to Pinch of Yum.  I couldn't believe how much money they were making blogging.  I know I can't do things exactly the same way they did, but they have a good foundation to learn from....and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'm not an idealist.  I didn't think I would be making $4,000+ my first month.  That's not reasonable.  So I went back to the beginning of their income series.  The first month they made $104.48 - that sounds a little more where I was just a few months ago (if that).  I'm taking notes and seeing what worked for them, and what goals I can make for myself to help my blog income become what I want it to be.

I'm not saying everyone has to run out and make a million dollars blogging.  Heck, a lot of bloggers aren't looking for money at all.  But one of my goals IS to make enough blogging that I can be a stay-at-home mom again.  I don't mind working outside the home, but a steadier income and setting my own "work" schedule are high on my list of To-Do's.  Let the journey begin.

Breakdown:

• Google AdSense - $101.90
• Sponsored/Paid Posts - $221.97

Google AdSense

This payment is November and December together.  I'm going to put money on the roster the month I was actually paid, but I will notate when it was earned.  I want to give an actual picture of how things work around WLOW.

November - $41.13

December - $60.77

*Increase of $19.64

Sponsored/Paid Posts
Pollinate Media Group

• Diet to Go $100 (January)

Social Spark 

• Dig.Drop.Done Bulbs $15 (November)
• Ad Payment $0.90 (November)
• Ad Payment $3.07 (December)
• Mrs. Smith's Pies $15
• Duck the Halls $15

Clever Girls Collective

• Hyundai Santa Fe: Families That Rock $75 (December)

With the move to WordPress coming up in a week or two, I wanted to document my traffic as well.  I've heard that with WP's SEO optimizations that traffic can get a real boost.  But more than that, I want to see where my traffic is coming from so I can maximize what those sites can do for me and WLOW.

Current traffic sources:

I think it's cool that almost 1/3 of my traffic is direct.  That means people are searching for me, not just clicking through from somewhere else.  Since referrals are the biggest chunk of my traffic let's see where it's all coming from.

Ummm...holy Pinterest.  I had never heard of ChefPins.com until I looked at my sources.  It's a Pinterest-esque site for recipes.  

It's nice to see some of my other efforts making an impact as well.

I am a contributor for Something Swanky, and having Ashton's blog be my #4 source makes all the hard work worth the time.  I'm normally a link party hussie too.  Giveaway slut, link party hussie...I'm all over the place.  Chef In Training and The Country Cook are a couple of my favorite parties to hit each week.

You can see all the blogs I party at on my Link Parties page.

I hope this gets the ball rolling.  I plan to use this to help me push myself and really pursue my goal.  First goal is $2,000 a month.  I have some ideas, but we'll get into those later.

Thanks for all of your support!  I hope we can all grow together.  If you have every thought about making money from your blog join me!  We all started with nothing, let's make this into something!  I'd love to know if your pushing the money envelope with me.