Whenever someone finds out I blog, they always assume I do it as a hobby.

When I mention that I actually pay a babysitter a handful of hours per week so I can work on the blog, they are like, “What? Why?”

That’s when I get to explain that I actually make money blogging.

Sometimes I get the oddest looks. If you’re a blogger, you know what I mean. If you’re not, then you’re probably giving the screen an odd look right now. ;=)

2016 Update

I published this post a couple years ago when I wasn’t making much money from my blog. Since then my blog has grown beyond my wildest dreams, and I’ve started publishing my own income reports.

Here’s my latest one: October 2015 Income Report I’m slowly adding more income reports to the collection. I hope to publish December 2015 and January 2016 soon because they were two very exciting months for me!

Read more >> How to Start a Blog the RIGHT WAY

How Much Do Bloggers Make?

For some reason, I always think of $1,000 as some sort of benchmark. I always think, “If you can consistently make $1,000 or more per month from blogging, then you really have it figured out.”

I mean, if you know how to make $1,000, then you sort of have it together, right? And at that point, I look at your revenue potential as a function of how much time you have to devote to the blog and how many people you can pull in to help you out.

I found a few bloggers who have shared that they make at least $1,000 per month online. They all have a different way of going about making that much, so I’ll try to point out a few of the obvious ways they do so.

Funny thing is, once I started looking for bloggers who make $1,000 per month, I found all sorts of bloggers who make WAY more than that! Who knew?!!

Tip Junkie Monthly Earnings

For instance, Laurie from Tip Junkie is very forthcoming about the fact that her blogging income includes $12,000 per month just from Google AdSense! She discloses this on her blog training course site, MomBlogMoneyBlog. If that’s how much she makes from AdSense, alone, I can’t imagine what she makes from other revenue streams!

MyWifeQuitHerJob Income Report

Steve from MyWifeQuitHerJob has just about the most interesting blogging platform I’ve ever seen. It’s almost like he’s blogging FOR his wife, and every married man and woman out there can relate to his site title. In his post How Much Money Do I Make Blogging, Steve discloses that his site has surpassed the 6-figure annual income mark. He goes on to explain the various ways he makes money from his blog, including affiliate marketing and product creation.

Budgets Are Sexy Disclosure

Oddly enough, Steve interviewed J. Money, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the Financial Blogger Conference (a.k.a. FINCON) last year. I”ve been reading his blog for a while and totally get a kick out of his hilarious, light-hearted approach to money on BudgetsAreSexy. In fact, I was the 98th blogger to join his “Millionare Club!” J. Money’s blog posts are really engaging and always relevant, so it’s no wonder he makes a good bit from blogging. He doesn’t disclose precisely how much he makes on from his blog, but the interview is labeled a “6-figure blogger interview” (which I totally believe) and he does reveal that “It took me about 6 months to make my first $100, and then maybe 4 months later to hit my first $1,000, and then around $10,000 the next year and has been growing since.”

Food Blogger Example

Here’s an example from a food-blogging husband and wife team. Lindsay and Bjork at PinchOfYum revealed a $15k monthly income report for October 2013 on their blog. Holy moly!! I am totally not cut out for this because I don’t have the patience to cook that much OR edit photos, but I think it’s amazing they can make this kind of money from a food blog.

Anonymous Blogger Income Interviews

Another look at blogging income is from Paula at BeautyThroughImperfection. She posted a nice roundup of anonymous blogger income interviews. Although you can’t tell which blogs reported in, it’s interesting to see how their stats match up to their income compared to how long they’ve been blogging.

As you can see from the examples above, earning money from blogging is very possible. Of course, you won’t achieve success like these bloggers overnight, but keep in mind that none of them were likely blogging 15, or even 10 years ago, and they were able to turn an idea into a real income.

How much you can make as a blogger will depend on your own unique skill set, the passion you have the topic, the time you have to devote to learning the ropes, your ability to network, and a host of other factors.

Thinking About Starting Your Own Blog? 

I wrote this post for everyone out there who is thinking about starting a blog but isn’t sure if it’s worth it financially.

I can tell you that blogging success doesn’t come overnight, but it’s an achievable goal to replace some or all of your income with a blog if you are dedicated and choose a topic that works for you (i.e. something you can write about at least a few times per week).

If you are ready to take the leap, I wrote a free guide to help you get started – it’s a cheat sheet of the services I personally recommend to my closest friends who are starting their own blogs.

It’s for anyone who wants to start a blog but doesn’t know where to start:

Share Your Blogging Income Milestones Below!

If you, indeed, start your own blog (or already have one of your own), I would love to hear your future or current income stories. Don’t be a stranger – leave a comment below!

In particular, I’d like to know the following about your blogging adventures:

• How long have you been blogging?
• What do you blog about?
• How much money do you make per month? (A range would be great, too).
• How long did it take you to consistently earn that much each month?
• Did you start your blog for fun or profit?
• Would you continue to blog if you couldn’t make any money from it?

Can’t wait to hear from you! 

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