How To Make Money Blogging: $1,135 in My First Month (2024)

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I am so glad you are here! Did you stumble across this article because you are wondering how people quit their jobs to make money blogging? I wondered the same for many years until I decided it was time to figure it out and join them!

Blogging Background

In January 2016, I left my corporate job to work for a small company from home. I used the flexibility that I gained from transitioning away from the office environment to start turning this blog into a business. Here are my tips for how to do the same:I Quit My Corporate Job for Flexibility: 3 Tips for You.

I began writing my first eBook, Busy Moms Building: 12 Steps to Running Your Own Online Business for Busy Moms, in June 2016. I turned Redefining Mom into an LLC in preparation for my eBook launch on September 29, 2016.

By August 2016, I had grown my blog from under 10,000 page views to 30,000 in three months by creating a content strategy and being intentional with how I promoted my content on social media. The best part is that I grew significantly through the summer months when website traffic (especially for moms) is at the lowest for the year.

I quit my full-time job the first week of August 2016 to blog full-time!

How I Quit My Job to Blog

I began to network with other bloggers in Facebook groups and attended an in-person mastermind in May. The mastermind was aturning point in transforming my blog into a business. Most bloggers do not make their money from one income stream. I learned a ton from the ladies in my mastermind group and began to implement many of the steps immediately when I got home. You can read about the steps I took to begin monetizing my blog here:Ultimate Beginners Guide to Blogging: How to Blog for Money.

Important Facts About My Income Reports

I do my accounting on a cash basis. This means I only count revenue and expenses at the time the money comes into my bank account and leaves my bank account. All of my income reports will be done on a cash basis.
Affiliate payments for items I promote are usually on a 60-90 day pay delay. This means that most of the affiliate income in this report was earned in previous months.
I spent roughly six months building my blog while I was still working full-time. My primary focus was not on making an income during that time but rather building a foundation that would allow me to make money through multiple income streams later on.
This income report will not take into account income I make through contracts that do not directly relate to blogging.

Why Do I Want to Share My Income Reports?

This is my job now! I plan on using these reports to hold myself accountable.
Three years ago, I was sitting in a cubicle in corporate America feeling trapped and anxious. I felt like I spent way too much time at work or traveling for work. I needed more time at home with my baby. My plan is togive you a look into my journey through sharing these income reports.
It helps new bloggers or potential bloggers to know how people make money so they can see that it is realistic for them to do it too.

[clickToTweet tweet=”See how I made $1,135 in my first month since quitting my full-time job! #blogger” quote=”See how I made $1,135 in my first month since quitting my full-time job! #blogger”]

Redefining Mom Stats

10,099 Pinterest followers
5,027 Twitter followers
1,837 Facebook page likes
1,816 Instagram followers

August 2016 Income Report

August was my first month being self-employed. I worked about 20 hours a week in August because of family commitments. Payments from affiliate sales from earlier in the summer started coming in during the month. Unfortunately, I did not regularly post during the summer months because of a hectic travel schedule. Overall, I am very happy with the results for the amount of time I invested. I expect my income to significantly grow between now and the end of the year. Everything I have been putting into place should be coming to fruition soon!

Income

Affiliate Sales

$30.00- Building a FrameworkeBook (check out my review:Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook Review)

$18.00- Blog by Number eBook

$15.00- FlexJobs

$82.30- Ultimate Bundles(this was from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle back in May-June)

Total:$145.30

Freelance writing

$400.00- from 2 writing assignments

Freelance client work

$450.00- from 2 new client retainer packages

Product sales

$139.58- from my product Easy Budget and Financial Planning for Busy FamiliesSpreadsheet (I do not promote this at all except for a Pin on Pinterest and an upsell funnel that happens when people download my FreePrintable Budget Planner).

Income Total

$1,134.88

Expenses

Subscriptions, Services & Fees

$9.00- SendOwl is the e-commerce tool I use to sell the budget spreadsheet I mentioned above (it’s also what I will use to sell my upcoming book and start an affiliate program of my own).

$45.00- iMark Interactive for tech support on my website. Grayson Bell is the guru behind the company and has helped out tremendously! I pay him a monthly retainer for his services.

Education & Coaching

$17.00- eBook purchase

$29.00- course purchase

$480.00- business coaching

Total:$526

Expenses Total

$803.06

Net Income

$331.82

My expenses are way higher than I would consider normal. Hiring out a few tasks to virtual assistants was necessary for long-term growth and will not be a regular expense until my income is much higher. My business coach is also a big investment for my income right now but I also expect that to pay for itself by the end of the year (plus much more)!

I am excited to see where I end up income wise in the coming months because of the investments I’ve made upfront.

Accomplishments for August 2016

Reached 10,000 Pinterest followers and 5,000 Twitter followers! I used Pin Practical to get me there!
Got my act together and put up a hire me page and got two new clients!
Invested in Acuity Scheduling so that clients or prospective clients can easily schedule time with me.
Finished a course by Michelle from Making Sense of Cents called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing! <— a seriously amazing investment! Michelle makes over $50,000 A MONTH in affiliate income. Part of the investment in the course is a private Facebook group that is very engaged and Michelle offers her assistance in there on a regular basis.
Put together my launch plan forBusy Moms Building using Abby Lawson’s course Book Boss! Once my book launch is done I plan on sharing exactly what I did with everyone.

Goals for September 2016

Launch my eBookBusy Moms Buildingon September 29th! If I did $500 or more in sales between then and October 1st, I would be thrilled!
Reach 40,000 page views.
Grow my email list from 2,607 to 3,000.
Publish 4 new posts.
Reach $2,000 in monthly income.

I will be starting a Mama mastermind with my business coach later this month. I am super excited to meet new Mama CEOs and make plans for 2017!

May 2018 Blogging Income Update

Since writing this first income report, a lot has changed in my business. A few highlights include:

I’ve launched several blogging courses under the Redefining Mom brand
Trademarked Redefining Mom
Created a successful Facebook group
Reached the 6-figure a year mark
Grew my email list to over 25,000 people
Mastered Facebook Ads and Promoted Pins

I also stopped publishing income reports after the first two months. I explain in depth why in this popular post: What No One Tells You About Blogging and Motherhood

Blogging Resources

50+ Blogging Resources and Tools for Running a Successful Blog!

Ultimate Beginners Guide to Blogging: How to Blog for Money

How I Made $7,000 on Autopilot with Pinterest in 3 Months