Hello and welcome to my November blog income report! If you’re new here, welcome to my little corner of the internet. My name is Joanna! I started this blog 11 months ago and today I wanted to share my first-year blog income report.
I love blogging in general, but I am also inspired by making money online and starting online businesses. I started publishing these blog income reports here to show you it’s possible to make money online with a small blog like this one.
READ THE LATEST INCOME REPORT!
Learn how this tiny blog made $5,500 passively last month in my latest income report.
I share some of the affiliate programs that have made me the most money as well as some of the automation platforms that help my small business grow (without costing me a lot of money).
The simple fact that I can share my interests with the world and meet so many incredible people that are interested in the same things is mind-blowing. In real life, I’ve always felt like I was a little bit of an oddball but it turns out that I had just been talking to the wrong people 🙂 🙂 This past year I spent blogging has profoundly impacted my life and is the single best thing that has ever happened to me….. and the fact that I can make money from all of this is just the icing on the cake.
What I also love about blogging is every hour of work you put into your blog and every article you write has the potential to earn you income for years to come. So if I ever decide to step away and not write for a month, I would still make some money passively.
Blogging is an extremely lucrative way to make passive income online. However, the blogging landscape is constantly changing and it does take a little research in order to find out what affiliate programs will be worth your time.
This month I am celebrating one year as a blogger! I can’t believe that I’m able to generate some modest part-time income from this fledgling baby blog. I hope this first-year blog income report will inspire you to start your own blog!
When I first started blogging I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I just knew that I loved reading other people’s blogs and that I wanted to join in on the conversation.
So I started JoannaRahier.com on a whim and created a new Pinterest account for my blog in November 2018.
In the first month (December 2018) I wrote five blog posts and shared it on Pinterest. I ended up getting 13,000 pageviews from only 5 posts! I realized then and there that I was onto something and it motivated me to take blogging more seriously.
So I started reading blog income reports & looked for newer blogs (created after ’16-’17) that achieved moderate success (making over $3k a month). To my surprise, I found a couple of newer bloggers making some serious $$$. Some were multi-niche blogs, others were really focused on a specific topic, but all of them were using only Pinterest to get traffic.
Seeing other newer bloggers achieve success was so inspiring to me, so I learned how I could incorporate affiliate marketing and Google Adsense in my blog posts. I quickly found out that some programs only make money at a certain time of the year, and others have already been promoted so much that writing about them doesn’t really impress readers. I learned a lot within the first month.
By the second month (January) a couple of my posts went viral resulting in around 24,800+ visitors to my site 100% of the traffic was coming from Pinterest.
I honestly thought that it was a fluke! I ended up making $350 in my second month of blogging. Talk about proof of concept.
I remember being really surprised especially because I never really considered myself to be a “great” writer. I think that deep down I had this fear of putting myself out there.
Over the past year, I somehow created a little community of people that were interested in the same things that I loved, and it kind of changed my life, to be honest. I’ve always kind of felt like an outsider in real life and like I’ve never really fit in. But with this blog, I feel like I created a little home for myself on the internet.
So from the bottom of my heart, thanks for coming back every month, especially to the people who left the most heartwarming messages, you guys rock!
I had no idea when I first started blogging that I would get to meet so many amazing people, and I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.
Are you interested in starting a blog?
If you like the idea of making an extra $5,000+ per month, you can start your very own blog today with the same hosting company I use, Bluehost!
I am so happy to announce that I was able to negotiate a really low monthly subscription for my readers. For a limited time, you can start your blog for only $2.95/month when you sign up with Bluehost That’s over 50% off regular pricing!
BONUS!!: As a special thank you to those of you that sign up through my link, make sure to message me here, & I’ll add you to my Share The Blog Love group board on Pinterest, so you can get a jump start on your blogging career by promoting your posts to my 140,000 followers!
If you would like to learn more, please head over to my easy step-by-step tutorial for beginners here.
Want to make some extra money this month? Read these:
15 Creative Ways To Make $100 Every Day In 2024
How To Make Money On Pinterest For Beginners
Learn How I made $3,278 Blogging in September
How To Land Your first job on Upwork in 24 hours
The Complete Guide To Starting A Profitable Blog In 2024
Freebies: 67-Page Minimal Budget Planner For 2024
What’s New To The Blog In November:
I’ve been indecisive recently. I kind of just write about what has been inspiring me lately. Sometimes I want to write about mindset & mental health, other days I want to write about travel. It’s been an entire year and I sill haven’t come to a conclusion as to what niche I want to write about.
When I first started blogging I kept on coming across several posts about what it takes to create a successful blog. Many people say that you have to niche down in order to be successful. But I have such a horrible case of ADHD that writing about the same thing all day felt like such a bore to me. I figured if Chasingfoxes and Just A Girl and Her Blog could write on multiple topics, so could I… & so far it hasn’t affected me from earning money.
MEDIAVINE IS MY BIGGEST EARNER! I got accepted into Mediavine right after my birthday (in July) and It’s the best thing that could’ve EVER happened to my blog!
For those that don’t know, MEDIAVINE is an advertising company that places ads on your website. I thought that having more ads would affect reader retention but ironically, my bounce rate dropped!?
I was making around $180 per month with Google AdSense and this month I made $450 PASSIVELY with Mediavine. Once you’re getting 25k sessions ~ 30k pageviews per month with your blog you can apply here.
How I significantly grew my page views in only one month.
PINTEREST PINTEREST PINTEREST!! 95% of my traffic comes from Pinterest. I’m not alone, entire businesses and bloggers thrive solely by capitalizing on Pinterest traffic.
I use a scheduler to plan out my posts, it only takes me 20 minutes each month. The only schedule that works and that most bloggers swear by is TAILWIND.
Get a FREE 30-day trial plus $15 credit when you sign up through this link
For more Pinterest hacks and tips make sure to read this article on HOW TO MAKE YOUR PINTEREST PINS GO VIRAL.
Some blogging tips that helped me as a beginner & how I started seeing profits within my second month of blogging.
Starting a blog is the cheapest business that you can start in 2024. Later on in this first-year blog income report you will see my expenses for this blog – $0! You just don’t have that kind of margin in any other type of business model.
My total costs for the blog, in the beginning, was: $109 for the hosting plan (I’m using the baby plan by HostGator) and $60 for the theme. All of my startup costs were recouped in my second blogging.
I did this by having google ads running (apply here), and I applied to several affiliate networks that accepted beginner bloggers. These were: ShareASale, SurveyJunkie, Swagbucks, & Hostgator
I attribute my success to what I learned from reading other bloggers’ first-year blog income reports. Most of the time, if another blogger in your niche is making money by promoting a certain product, then so can you.
WRITING BLOG POSTS WAS THE LAST THING I THOUGHT I’D EVER DO!
Honestly, I’m slightly embarrassed and insecure at times about my writing. It’s not the best, and I’ve definitely improved since I first started blogging. I have learned that you don’t need to be a good writer to make money with your blog!
Anyway, you’re probably curious about my blog income for November 2019. Here are my numbers…
First-year blog income report (November 2019 – 11th month!)
Bloggers can make money a ton of different ways. In this first-year blog income report, I made money from sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, and advertising. Here’s a breakdown of how I earned some money this month. Hopefully, this helps!
Mediavine: $450.56
Amazon Affiliates: $249.44
Survey Company Affiliates: $86.75
Hostgator (hosting referral): $115
Sponsored Posts: $300
Miscellaneous Affiliates (Shareasale, iGain, etc): $9.15
Income: $1,210.9
Expenses: $0
* I paid for Tailwind ($108) and hosting up front and have since paid them off.
Some Quick Affiliate Screenshots:
because 90% of the time, if someone claims they made money online but didn’t share screenshots, please don’t believe them!
Well that concludes my first-year blog income report. Blogging can be kind of lonely but there are a ton of payoffs & freedom that this profession provides.
Just remember to stay positive and have an “I can do it” mindset.
Want to make some extra money this month? Read these:
25 High-Paying Jobs For Introverts
8 Great Podcasts For Ambitious Millennials
I Made Over $350 In My Second Month Blogging
How I Doubled My Blogging Income This Month – $700+ In August
Make Your Pinterest Account Go Viral
How To: Master Pinterest Marketing in 2024
How I Take Surveys To Make Extra Money Every Month (Up to $50/hr)
Hi, Joanna. This is inspirational and sweet. I came from Pinterest *(as a follower) to give a shout out and commend on your nice web-blog. I’m happy for you on your success. I am looking forward to having 10,000 monthly views so I can apply for Ads. Don’t really like Adsense. (Just a newcomer here). Have a great day.
Thank you for visiting! I’m so happy for you, blogging has been a really transformative experience for me so far 🙂
Hi Joanna,
I found you on pinterest and just followed you!
I recently started pinterest and hopefully I will get good results like you do! May I know how many hours per week that you work on your blog? Do you have a full time job? I have a corporate job and needs to work on my blog after work…thanks!
Thank you for stopping by Amanda! I love your blog & I hope you find success with it.
I do not have a full-time job anymore and I should really work harder on my blog but I’ve been lazy lately 🙁
But yeah, that’s the thing with blogging, as long as you put a lot of work upfront, it can be a very lucrative way to make money passively – just make sure you write about a topic that you’re really interested in!
-Jo
Hi Joanna,
By looking at online income reports from successful bloggers like you, it inspires us and encourages us to work harder even though it’s hard to rank number one in google search.
I also know that it’s very difficult to get to your level because competition is so high right now. But at least we try our best. If you have any suggestion or advise to me, do reply to my comment below.
I actually like your blog, but I wish you could share a little more about who you are…. it will seem more authentic & it’ll make readers feel more connected to you.
Like all your posts!
Wow! Thanks, I appreciate it!