If you landed here, it means that you want to know how to make money blogging, right? You’re in luck. This blogging income report will show you that it’s possible to not only make money as a blogger but actually make a full-time income from talking about your hobbies on the internet.
Blogging for profit and the industry in general is approaching 20 years of age. Often, I’ll hear things like “blogging is dead,” or that people only watch Tiktok’s or scroll on Instagram and that couldn’t be further from the truth. This blog – along with other websites in my portfolio – are experiencing month-over-month readership growth and I would argue that now (2024) is the absolute BEST time to start a blog.
If you’re fairly new to this blog, I am Joanna Rahier, founder of this blog where I write content about travel, making money online, life design, style, and cultivating an abundance mindset. Lol, that was a mouthful 🥴😅
Consider this my final income report because I think they’re getting repetitive now and my methods of making money from my sites haven’t changed much over the past year. I’d like to mention that this 2024 blogging income report covers revenue made solely from this blog and doesn’t include the other blogs I have in my portfolio, nor does it include money made from my Pinterest consulting agency.
My Pinterest agency (Amara Media) is by far my highest earner this month. I was able to land my first clients using the statistics from this blog and the Pinterest profile I still use to promote it. I would reckon that the best way to land your first clients as an account manager is by proving proof that you can grow your own account. That’s just one of many reasons to start a blog today – to get your foot in the door of social media marketing, an industry still in its infancy and is shaping up to be the future of marketing.
If you haven’t started a blog yet and might be thinking about giving it a try…
Here are some reasons why becoming a blogger may be right for you:
- You want to escape your unfulfilling 9-5 job and become your own boss.
- You‘re passionate about a certain topic and would love to teach people more about it.
- You are a stay-at-home parent who wants to earn a full-time income while taking care of your kids — or, perhaps, your parents.
- You’ve heard that blogging is the cheapest business to start— and one you can start today from the comfort of your own home.
Everyone is different and we all have our ultimate “why.”
Wee Little Disclaimer: The purpose of this “income report” is to educate, assist, and inspire new bloggers! None of this is meant to show off or brag about any success. I am sharing what worked for me, so it may not work for everyone. The foundation of my own success, however, has been “time, dedication, and consistency,” so I have a teeny little feeling it may work for anyone who really dedicates themselves completely to becoming a successful blogger.
How I started making money blogging: my story!
Ever dream of quitting your job so you can have more freedom by working from home?
I know I did! I was working an incredibly demanding job as a production accountant, clocking in 10-12 hour days on set. Crying on my way to work was super normal for me during those years.
I kept dreaming of a life where I got to pursue my interests, learn more, and finally experience freedom. I wanted to be able to work out of a cafe in Paris if I wanted to; to be able to start projects on topics that give me a deep sense of fulfillment and meaning. The freedom to spend more time with my family and friends if I so desired, and overall, just enjoy life more.
I would also like to mention that I’m an introvert with capital I 😁 I am not built for office politics or small talk. I was looking for a way to make money without having to socialize with coworkers all the damn time. I wanted to have control of my schedule so I could prioritize meaningful connections with people that I have more in common with than just work.
After spending a lot of time reading blogs, I found a bunch of people who were living the life I wanted to live. I even came across a random article about this guy named Max who turned an obscure passion for fish tank aquariums into a blog that generates several thousand in passive income each month. I mean, common! Fish tank aquariums??????
Bloggers can stay at home and raise their kids away from the corporate world. Some (like me, for example) can travel every day of the year just living off passive income generated from blogging. Some were able to create a 6-figure business while going to school, while others have created a new life for themselves that allows them to do what they love.
So I thought: maybe I should start a blog as well!
While on a break after finishing a 6-month movie, I started my first blog as a creative outlet and potential source of income.
This was back in the fall of 2018. And let me tell you, in the very beginning I had some difficulties overcoming limiting beliefs, insecurities, and even, imposter syndrome.
The first part was my limiting beliefs, which came in the form of “yeah, you’re no tech expert, how in the world do you think you’re going to code?” After some research, I came across Bluehost, a website hosting provider that offers WordPress as a drag-and-drop website builder. After signing up, I built my first website in 30 minutes. I was B L O W N A W A Y at the ease of it all!
But then…. another, more serious and crippling limiting belief stepped in.
“Joanna, you ain’t no writer… you’ve never written an article before. Plus, you probably need to become popular and huge in order for it to work.”
But I reminded myself that all of my favorite bloggers were once beginners too.
I’m also well aware that there are probably thousands of other blogs online talking about the very things I write about. Something that I like to remind myself every time I start writing anything – is that there is only one me (or you in this case). You have a unique perspective, and a unique way of delivering your message, and you have to understand that your audience will find you. Just put yourself out there, have faith, and be as real, open, and as honest as you can.
Within a couple of months, I became better at social media marketing strategy, navigating WordPress, writing, and graphic design. I figured that even if my blog didn’t take off, at least these new skills would come in handy. And they have – over the past year, I turned my Pinterest expertise into a successful Pinterest Virtual Assistant business – more on that later.
I have yet to rely on any paid advertising or other social media platforms to drive traffic to my blog. I now have 140,000 followers on Pinterest using the same strategy I have used from the very beginning.
If you’re curious about my Pinterest Strategy >> click here <<
If you’d like to learn more about making money on Pinterest >> read this! <<
Blogging has helped me achieve freedom. I’m actually writing this post from a beach cafe in Bali. I have plans to meet up with friends in an hour to go surfing and watch the sunset. I remember 5 years ago when I was broke, sitting at home working on this blog and imagining this could be my reality but never in my wildest dreams that it would ever come true.
I still don’t know a single line of code, so that goes to show that the little voice inside my head really didn’t know sh*t. I am living proof that you DON’T have to be a good writer and that you actually DON’T have to draft a blog post every day or every week to earn a full-time income blogging.
Today, I spend only 1-2 hours a day maintaining this blog, which allows me the liberty to focus on things that are more important to me, such as reading and exploring the world – things that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I had continued working at my 8-6 job
So, if you’re even considering starting a blog or have started one already, give yourself a huge hug, a (huge) cup of coffee/glass of wine, and a whole lot of grace, because you deserve it.
For those that haven’t started yet, I think it’s finally time!
I created this easy step-by-step tutorial on how you can start your blog today.
I’ve actually helped hundreds of people start their first very own blogs from this very tutorial so I’m sure that it can help you too.
I’m also more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. My inbox is always open… you can message me >> here << or by sending an email to [email protected]
Ultimately, the most powerful, fastest, and best hosting platform (in my humble opinion) is Bluehost. When I first started my blog, I chose to go with Bluehost as a beginner because from what I heard, they host the fastest websites, and also – (this is the best part) – they offer FREE domain for the year, which saved me a cool $13 when I was first starting out.
You can start your blog as low as $2.95 USD per month plus get a FREE domain name when you purchase the 12-month plan. This low price and free domain name is an exclusive deal only when you use this Bluehost link.
BONUS!!: As a thank you to those of you who sign up through my link from this 2024 blogging income report, I’ll add you to my Share The Blog Love group board on Pinterest, so you can get a jump start to your blogging career by promoting your posts to my 140,000 followers! To cash in on this bonus, make sure to message me here after signing up with Bluehost.
Income Report for September
Now is the moment you’ve been waiting for!
To be honest, I still feel weird about publishing income reports LOL. I’m a super private person when it comes to a lot of things, particularly finances. There are so many ways to make money online so I just hope my income report inspires someone to start their own business and put themselves out there as a blogger.
I guess I’m a little bit of a rebel, I didn’t really follow the tried and tested “blogging route/strategies” because I don’t want to be tied down to one niche. I blog about pretty much anything I’m passionate about. I love graphic design, creating products, organization, business, self-improvement, style, and travel. Without a central focus, my blog has a harder time than most generating consistent income. You will have to find which affiliate programs work for you so please understand what may work for me may not work for you!
Every day new affiliate programs are created – and to be honest I would probably be making waaaay more money if I niched down or was more ambitious about applying to affiliate programs. I’ve been really lazy about this.
Why Is Your Name Stamped On The Following Images????
Great question. We’ve all seen the “click the link in my Bio 😍👑🚀🌹❤️” “social media gurus” who made “40,000 last month” from uploading 3 images on Pinterest while sipping Pinot Grigio in Positano. As someone who is a 6-year blogging veteran, I can tell you that 99% of the content you see is FAKE & photoshopped. These people don’t know two shits about the industry, they just decided one day to ask CopyAi to create a 20-page “course” on a social media platform. Next, they just take screenshots from blogging income reports (like this one), photoshop the pictures, and promote this ‘success’ on TikTok/Instagram as a lead-in to sell said overpriced course.
It’s completely inauthentic but unfortunately, course creation is a profitable industry (upwards of $500k per course per year).
Needless to say, courses may give you an advantage but only if they’re created by actual Pinterest gurus.
Traffic
Fall and winter is the time of the year when I usually see traffic to my websites pick up a little. As you can see, most of my traffic comes from the US. Over the past year, I’ve done a significant amount of SEO optimization to my pages with tips I’ve learned from watching free tutorials on YouTube and by utilizing the Yoast SEO plugin. I did this to make sure that my traffic was diversified enough that if something happened to my social media accounts my site would continue to generate revenue.
Display Advertising: $4,102.74
The first part of the income report is completely passive. It means that I can go on a vacation or take a break and I would most likely make more or less the same amount of money (assuming my traffic is consistent).
When I first started blogging, I used Google Adsense for ads. I would consistently get $50-$100 per month in passive income from Google. Once I started getting 50,000 page views about 5 months into blogging, I switched to Mediavine.
Mediavine is a great ad network to work with. This company pays the highest rates to publishers. There is a certain criterion to get accepted to this network, but once approved, you’ll witness a 4X – 20x increase in your ad revenue compared to Google AdSense (depending on your niche).
Here are more screenshots of the revenue I made from Mediavine this month.
Affiliate Income: $1,378.83
I work with more than 20 affiliate programs. They range from large companies like Amazon & Airbnb to independent companies that I personally love and so I reached out for an affiliate link.
My biggest earner was Amazon ($779.61).
Other Affiliates that I used this month were:
- Saving money and budgeting resources (survey sites & cash-back apps)
- Rstyle ($470.24)
- Travel companies (Airbnb, Expedia, Skyscanner, Booking.com)
- Blogging tools and resources (Bluehost, Convertkit, Adobe, & Canva)
Final thoughts on blogging this month
Starting a blog definitely allowed me to pay off debt, save more, and quit my day job.
Blogging is also very therapeutic, I created a routine of writing every day in the mornings and it’s helped me clear my thoughts and improve how I express myself in a clear and concise way.
I knew absolutely nothing and even signed up for a blog on a whim and I’m so thankful that I didn’t spend time overthinking too much. If I had spent too much time researching or making everything perfect before publishing my first post, joannarahier.com probably wouldn’t exist today. I would have burned out from analysis paralysis and not have taken action. I also would not be here today inspiring you to start one too.
And due to my lack of knowledge at first, I truly understand the struggle of a beginner with NO experience.
If you haven’t started your blog yet, then the best time to start is now! Hopefully, this 2024 blogging income report has inspired you to consider blogging as a career!
Have a question or comment about how to make money as a blogger? Be sure to comment or ask away in the comment box below, and I’ll be happy to answer! 🙂
Best wishes!
Joanna
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