Maybe you’re just thinking about starting a blog. Or maybe you’re a blogger who’s wondering how to make money from this blogging adventure….this post is for you! Find out how to make $3000 per month or more!
Background of WhatMommyDoes
Writing online is something I’ve been doing for 7.5 years. Writing on my own blog is something I just started taking seriously in September 2014.
I started this blog in 2010, blogged sporadically for a bit, then took off several years in between and after having babies 2 and 3. I picked back up on blogging just after my youngest turned 2 and I felt like I had a bit more mental bandwidth to spare.
My Original Income Goals
I had an initial “pie in the sky” goal of this blog earning $1,000 per month by the end of 2015. In my early days of writing online in 2007-2009, I earned more than that writing for an online magazine (where they split AdSense revenue with the writers) so I knew it was possible with hard work.
One thing that helped me stay motivated along the way was reading other bloggers’ income reports. Seeing how much they made and reading explanations on how they earned that income really helped me see that it’s possible for an ordinary person to make a good income from blogging.
So starting today I will begin sharing some motivational income numbers with others who are in the same boat I was 11 months ago.
Breakdown of How I Earned Nearly $3,400 Blogging in July 2015
There are three main ways I make money blogging. Some if it is passive while some if it is active. Right now it’s about 50/50 passive vs active.
My three legs of blogging income:
1. Sponsored Content (active income)
In my on and off blogging periods, I didn’t realize the social media landscape had changed so much and somewhere along the line blogging became more mainstream than it used to be. These days, all large companies have virtual advertising budgets and bloggers are needed to fill the demand. I have a friend in marketing who says anytime she can get her hands on a mommy blogger, she holds on tight! Apparently we’re on to something here. Sponsored content was earned $1,725 in July 2015. I do all of my sponsored work through blogging agencies – I’ve listed my favorites on my Recommended Blogging Resources page.
2. Affiliate Income (passive income)
It took me a long time to really grasp the concept of affiliate marketing. I’m finding that it takes a lot of page views to any one particular post (or post series) to earn money with affiliate income. With every sale, I’m learning something about the process. This is my smallest bucket this month. I earned $359 from affiliate programs in July 2015 (Amazon included).
3. Ad Networks (passive income)
By far my favorite way to make money blogging. I am with Google Adsense and Media.net (Yahoo!’s ad network). Prior to this month most of my ads were AdSense, but this month marks an almost complete switch to Media.net. I saw a drastic increase in cost per thousand page views, and I am very happy with the switch. Ad networks brought in $1,307 in July 2015. If you’re with AdSense or another network and would like to see my thoughts on Media.net, you can find that on my blogging resources page as well.
Thoughts on Making Money as a Blogger
July was an eye-opening month for me. It was the second month that my blogging income exceed our mortgage payment (my ultimate goal for my blog…to pay our mortgage!). When it happened in June, I was completely blown away. Honestly, I thougght it was a fluke. I thought, “No way can this happen again and again. It simply does not work that way.”
Boy, was I wrong! I can say that because I’m two months late in publishing this post and I actually have August and September income to reflect on. I’ll publish those income reports soon, but let me tell you this for now – blogging is the real deal. It’s a real (and fun!) way to make money from home, even if you only have a goal of earning enough to pay for your kids’ preschool costs or next year’s beach vacation.
To give you a glimpse at the past, here are my earnings for the previous two months:
- May: $1,000
- June: $2,500
I’m finding that once you figure out what you’re doing, this all kind of snowballs on itself. It’s been a crazy ride for sure!
I feel so blessed that I am able to do this for a living. I love writing, I love teaching others (that’s why most of my posts are about ways to improve some aspect of your life whether its parenting, fitness, or finance). Most of all, I love a good challenge.
Oh – I just realized I didn’t provide expenses. That’s because I have been procrastinating on adding them up. Without digging up all of my email receipts, I’d guess it was around $250. This includes money I spent on web hosting, my email newsletter service, paying for blogging books (I read constantly!), and paying a friend to help me write a handful of posts. In future reports, I’ll see what I can do about nailing the expense number down so ya’ll have a complete picture of my net blogging income.
If you would like to know when I publish more blogging tips or income reports, make sure to sign up for my blogging tips newsletter. I will send a new post every week(ish) depending on our school schedule, vacations, family activities….you know how it goes with kids! 🙂
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Michelle says
Love income reports. Great job!
Lena Gott says
Thanks, Michelle!
Lydia Nordhoff says
Thank you so much Lena! Your candor and tips are so encouraging! Congratulations on making it happen!
Lena Gott says
I’m glad you found it encouraging, Lydia!
Cat@BudgetBlonde says
Congrats! Blogging can make you some money if you put the work in, but a lot of people think it’s a good way to “get rich quick” which is totally not true.
Monica says
Thank you for this inspiring post. I just started blogging and try to stay positive. We are a family of seven and I one day hope to help my husband by bring in some income.
Lena Gott says
I’m glad you found this inspiring, Monica! That’s my hope for this series.
Robbie says
Thank you so much for the Media.net recommendation. I started using it two days ago, and I’ve made more money in two days than I have in 7 months with Google Adsense!
Lena Gott says
No way!!!! 2 days?! That’s phenomenal.
Samantha says
thank you so much for this article! i recently heard that adsense was going away and I had no idea where I was going to turn. Media.net sounds perfect. i really appreciate it.
Lena Gott says
Really? I’ve never heard that. but you’re welcome either way! 😀
Rae-An Barr says
Also a stay at home mommy and owner of sewing business. Reading any and every tidbit of information to get started blogging. Thanks for the info.😊
Lena Gott says
I’m so glad you’re finding my posts helpful!
Chhavi @ Mrs Daaku Studio says
Hey Lena, loved this income report. I started blogging a few months back and I could relate to your goal of $1000, earning more writing for a magazine and reading income reports (like these) to stay motivated whenever things looked (or at least felt) bleak.
I use Google adsense, but it is such a problem. The ads disappear sometimes. Should I shift to Media.net completely?
Lena Gott says
I love Media.net but I also had a good experience with AdSense. Could it be that you don’t have enough content OR that your plugin for placing the ads is malfunctioning? I highly recommend Ad Inserter for ads you place yourself.