June 2018 – How I Made Money in My Second Month of Blogging

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This post may contain affiliate links. I may get a small commission if you purchase through my links, but it is of no extra cost to you. I only use affiliates that I know, use, and trust.

When I started blogging, I knew that I wanted to write some form of income report, goal report, or something along those lines.  When starting my blog, I found that these articles were very helpful and insightful.  I actually enjoyed the income reports that were more like “How I made $232 from my blog this month” rather than the six figure ones.  They seemed more my speed and grounded in reality.

Excitement of Making ACTUAL Blog Income

I actually did it.  I made money blogging.  It is something I can ACTUALLY do!

The Pinterest Debacle

I kept requesting to be part of group boards.  Some people don’t answer, some answer weeks later – but overall, everyone is kind and helpful and happy to add you!  I don’t sit down and ask to join several group boards at a time.  I know this works for some, but I don’t have that kind of time.  And if I’m honest, not that kind of patience either.  So, I would aim to message 2 different group board owners a day – and that was the days I had the time. (Remember, I’m working full time as well!)

I also downloaded tailwind for the free month trial, and I was immediately impressed.  I loved the idea of being able to know there was pinning/blog work being done for me while I was at my full-time job.  I am still manually pinning, too.  I have read different things in favor of manual pinning and in favor of automation.  I think I am going to combine them for now.  I’ll keep everyone informed on any strategies I develop.

Google Adsense

I haven’t learned much more about this.  I can go see my click rate and balance, and that’s about it.  There are ads present. I read somewhere just to let them run and leave them alone until you have massive traffic.  So that is what I shall do.

Tigers, and Bears, and Affiliates, Oh my!

The first three:  I started with Amazon, as I had some knowledge of it.  This is also where I earned my first money!  I chose Craftsy.  I actually went HUNTING down how to be an affiliate with them.  I LOVE them, and I own a billion classes!  I also chose Bluehost – I actually use them, and they were actually super helpful.  (When I tried another blog long ago to promote a business, I used Host Gator, and wasn’t super happy with their customer service.)

Since those first three, I have added additional affiliates.  I added Checkout 51, which was an app I was already using to save on groceries.  Since I have it, and use it, it only made sense to become an affiliate through them.  I also joined Butcher Box.  Again, it’s something I actually subscribe to and use, so it only made sense.  I had even already reviewed the box prior to being an affiliate.

If you are interested in being an affiliate, I would start with ShareASale.  They have multiple businesses (Craftsy and Checkout 51 are through them), and I found them very very user friendly for a beginning blogger.

Building an Email List

I’m still learning more about Mail Chimp on a daily basis.  I chose Mail Chimp because it’s free up to 2000 subscribers.  This is the best way for me to be frugal starting out.  I do actually have some subscribers, and I’ve sent my first newsletter.  I also developed my first freebie, which is a downloadable PDF checklist for a weekend road trip.  (You can find it here!)

I am also currently working on a free e-course.  I will keep you posted.  It is taking some time, but I want it to be valuable to those who sign up!

Money made:

So, grand total of any money made: $6.60!  These come from different affiliates.

List of purchases I’ve made this month:

• Picmonkey, to make pinterest pins and images mostly.  I plan to pay monthly until I’m financially able to do a bulk purchase.
• Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
• an e-book on manual pinning in Pinterest (which with the new Pinterest algorithms, I’m wondering if it’s of any value now)

Yes, I know I’m trying to make money, but I also need to learn a few things to help me along the way.  I’m hoping I can make this money back.  Once, I made my first $1.60, I went immediately to the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing class because I knew I was on to something.

I purchased my Bluehost site hosting for a year when I started, so I won’t count that into my money spent this month as I paid up for a year at the time.

Free Blogging Resources I Suggest:

I have learned THE MOST from Pete, with Do You Even Blog?  He interviews the best of the best podcasters, and covers a variety of topics on blogging.  I would also highly recommend his FREE New Blogger Bootcamp.

That’s my second month. Lots of learning curves, even more money spent, and my first money made.

Let’s review my June blogging goals, and see where I got with those:

Blogging goals for June:

• Have 200 individual views.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
• Figure out Google Analytics!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!  The funniest part is, I had it installed and didn’t even realize it. 
• Continue with only the three affiliates I have, and promote them.  (I like these affiliates, and use them personally, so I’d rather spend time on them instead of add new ones.)  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! (even though I did add more affiliates)
• Tying into the above, make 1 affiliate sale.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
• Continue to produce 3 blog articles a week that are original, fresh, good content.  I’m not saying each will be an epic post – some may be recipes or such, but still of quality and worth putting out there.  My goal is to help my audience and readers.  If it’s not helpful, I’d rather not blog about it.  I am also finding it takes a while to get the hang of writing in general.  I’m in health care, so I don’t write anything creative.  Heck, we don’t even write in full sentences in health care and we have our own abbreviations that make no sense to the outside world.  So, yeah, writing has been an adjustment!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
• Continue to promote in the FB groups I’ve joined – those have been helpful, but also fun!  Met some great people this way.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
• Now that I am a member of a few Pinterest group boards, I plan to join more and keeping using those!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
• My biggest goal is to stay positive and have fun.  If this isn’t fun, it’s not worth it.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Blogging goals for July:

• Make 5 affiliate sales.
• Finish my free e-course.
• Continue to add Pinterest group boards (goal is to be part of 30 by the end of the month)
• Add 5 more email subscribers (I have four now)  (If you’d like to help me fulfill my wish, you can subscribe in the sidebar!)

I know it is only four goals, but I feel like the are very lofty goals.  I’ll leave it at that for the month.

My Top 3 Most Popular Post in June:

• How I Lost 30 lbs in a year….
• What To Pack for a Weekend Trip
• 5 Tips for Working Moms to Juggle It ALL

I hope you enjoyed my round up of my crazy month, trying to figure it all out while juggling the rest of my life.  Do you have any pro tips to share?  Funny stories?  Disaster stories?  Share them!

By the way, I set up an easy step by step guide of setting up your own blog, so you won’t have to suffer like I did.  Do as I say, not as I did!!!  I want this to be easier for you than it was for me!

Related Posts:

How to Start a Blog

Blogging 101:  What’s a Niche?

May 2108 – What I’ve Learned in a Month of Blogging