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Hello everyone! Welcome to my March 2018 blog, life and (eeek!) income report!
I’m still getting used to sharing money details on this blog – which feels a little ironic for a money blogger. Somehow that this money is a bonus on top of my regular income makes it a little easier to share though.
A lot of bloggers online share their income reports, and while the premise may sound a little odd, it is asuper inspiring read for any newer bloggers or people just started out. Income reports show that we all start somewhere, that blogging is all about that continual, steady growth – oh, and thatblogging is a serious money maker if you get it right.
Because I find blog income reports so inspiring myself, I thought I’d take the plunge this month and share my own with you all. These reports are a big reason that I decided to persevere blogging as more than just a hobby that I attend to once a month, and if I can inspire just one or two people to start their own blog and pursue a passion, I’ll be over the moon.
Check out my previous blog reports here:
- January 2018 Blog Report
How this all started…
Before getting down and dirty with this month’s stats, here’s a little intro on how this whole blogging thing started for me (if you’ve read my story a dozen times just skip this part!).
I started blogging in January 2017 all because I wanted an online portfolio to support the freelance copywriting business I launched in the same month.
I knew that my sensible money habits were a key reason why I was able to leave my job, start my own business, and start travelling the world all at the time time, so blogging about everything surrounding that topic was an obvious choice. I hated the thought of anyone feeling trapped in their job without any options to grow or transform their lifestyle, so this website is dedicated to giving anyone and everyone the tools they need to shape their own life.
While the site definitely started as a hobby, a year on this site has grown more than I could ever have imagined.
In previous years, I’d startednumerousblogs, only to post once or twice and let the entire project fade from my mind.
Of course, The Wallet Moth was different. I’d discovered a topicI’m really passionate about sharing, and secondly,I discovered that blogging can be so much more than just a hobby.
A few months into blogging, I started reading the income reports of other bloggers, and that’s when it hit me. Blogging isn’t just a hobby – it can be a genuine job.
I’m crazy passionate about this blog and its readers, and being able to make money from one of the things that brings me the most happiness is a real blessing.
Reading the blog and income reports of other blogger’s is extremely motivating for me – and in fact was a big reason I decided to finally commit to blogging rather than just stick a post online haphazardly and forget all about it!
This time a year ago, The Wallet Moth had just a few articles published and even fewer readers. I hadn’t even told my family I’d started blogging yet. Now, it’s slowly but surely growing in income, traffic, followers and more as I get the hang of this whole thing.
I’ve never felt somotivated and focused, I’ve met new and inspiring friends online, and this website has opened up a world I never considered possible.
For those reasons alone, I urge anyone and everyone (my friends will confirm this!) to start blogging today if you have any part of you that thinks you’d like to give it a try.
If you’re thinking about starting a blog, check out my step-by-step tutorial here. I haven’t regretted starting this site up for one second!
My Free Blogging Course
When I started this blog, I was all over the place. Everything I did right was followed by 10 things I now know I was doing wrong.
Blogging isn’t easy.
That’s why I want to help anyone who’s thinking about starting a blog with my FREE blogging email course. I talk you through everything from creating your blog to driving traffic (including my best Pinterest tips!), and even making your first few dollars – and then some – with your website.
I’ve had some really great feedback on the course and I really poured my heart into it – if you’re thinking about starting a blog or are a newbie blogger, I’d recommend you check it out.
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March 2018: Blog & Income Report
March was a great month for my blog, but I definitely mixed things up a bit this month.
As those of you who have read my blog reports before will know, the majority of my traffic comes from Pinterest. This month, I wanted to focus on diversifying that traffic and ultimately focus on my SEO strategy for this website.
So instead of sticking to my regular 2 posts per week schedule, I did this instead:
- I focused on updating and improving old blog posts that could be performing better on search engine results
- I guest posted for 4 different websites
- I created a ‘Resources‘ page
I also spent some time out of the country skiing, and have been focusing a lot on my freelance business this month with a new website launch.
I’m really excited at how these changes are going to affect the future of this blog and it just shows that you can mix things up and lay down foundations for the future without damaging your current performance.
Income
This month I earned $833.20 on The Wallet Moth from ads and affiliate marketing. I only started monetizing my site around June/July last year, so I’m really happy with how things are going 6 months on.
Joining MediaVine has really seen an instant boost in my income. This month I’ve already earned more than I did in an entire year with Google Adsense!
You do need over 25k sessions per month to be eligible to apply for the MediaVine network, but if you’re a blogger and you fulfil those requirements I’d definitely recommend you check them out. I can’t wait to see how this new addition to my site’s income changes things.
Aside from that, my affiliate income has steadily been growing each month since I started monetizing my blog around June last year. I do think that some bloggers may look at my high page views and wonder how I’m not earning big bucks with that kind of traffic.
The answer is that right now a huge amount of my traffic comes from one blog post that went viral on Pinterest. Since January, that traffic has slowly dropped to more realistic levels as that post evens out.
While that may sound like a worrying thing, it’s actually a drop I predicted as soon as the post went viral – I knew I couldn’t hope for that post to bring me insane amounts of traffic all year! My plan is to simply continue to publish the same quality content I know my readers love, and to have eventually enough popular posts that the balance isn’t quite so one-sided.
Page Views & Email List
Page views were at about 60,000 in March. While this is lower than the two months previously, I’m really pleased to see a more even balance in my traffic – in January, about 80% of my traffic was to one viral post which was awesome, but I knew it wasn’t going to last forever.
This month, my pageviews have been lower but I’ve seen a nice even spread of traffic across my site.
This month my email list grew by more than 500 people which is amazing to me. Before November, I’d largely ignored my list, but it’s crazy to see the difference a few cool freebies can make! I’ve had a lot of success after creating a Freebie Library that holds all of my free printables, ebooks and more in one place.
To get exclusive access to it and download all my freebies, simply sign up here.
I also just want to say to any new blogger or anyone who’s thinking about starting blogging: my blog is just one year old and I never dreamed I would be getting this type of traffic or following ever, let alone just a year on.
I am not special, or lucky. I’ve just worked really, really hard. The amount of time I have poured into this site out of pure passion for my subject and for this website is insane. If you want to create a successful blog, you just have to start and keep going. That’s it.
A few months back I spoke about how excited I was to reach 1,000 views after a few months of blogging and every single month, that excitement never wanes. Every single view gives me a thrill of excitement and cheesy as it sounds, you are all so valued to me.
What I Did Differently This Month
I recently read this fantastic guide to SEO for bloggers (thanks, Mike!), and it got mesuper fired up about finally learning the ins and outs of SEO for my blog, rather than purely relying on Pinterest for traffic.
So this month, I contacted loads of bloggers in my niche (with higher domain authorities than me) and asked if I could guest post on their site.
I know a lot of people find my whole ‘quit-job, started-business, travels-world’ backstory pretty interesting, so I was only too happy to share some advice and tips for other bloggers to share with their readers.
Even better though, is that these guest posts all got me links back to The Wallet Moth. And as we learn in Mike’s guide, backlinks are key if you want to rise in Google’s search ranks.
I’ve also been compiling a list of posts with keywords to rank for and edited a lot of posts to make them more SEO friendly. SEO always seemed a bit confusing and scary to me, but I’m feeling way more prepared and ready to tackle this beast in 2018!
March Blog Goals:
- Maintain at least 50k page views – Yes!
- Increase Instagram following to 720 – No! My Instagram page was neglected a lot this month in favour of holidays with friends. You win some you lose some.
- Make at least $700 with my blog – Yes!
Key Blogging Lessons:
Posting consistently
Last May, I created an editorial calendar and planned out posts for the next month. I’ve continued this each month and it has made me so much better at getting blog posts written, edited, formatted and scheduled in advance.
Having a plan has allowed me to take the time to write far better quality blog posts with time and research put into them, which has definitely helped my traffic! A consistent posting schedule will bring in the traffic, but quality posts are what will actually engage people – and that’s the main aim.
Pinterest
If you’ve heard other bloggers harp on about Pinterest before, there’s a reason for that: it is amazing at driving traffic to your site.
Over this year, I have gotten far better at designing pins and knowing how to get the most out of this brilliant platform. Recently, I also started using BoardBooster as well as Tailwind, and those two services together have blown my traffic up.
Pinterest is my biggest referrer of traffic by far – growing my traffic from 0 to 100,000 monthly page views in just one year. My strategy takes me barely any time each week to set and go. I’ve got a huge ebook on my exact tactics coming out soon so be sure to subscribe to the site so you don’t miss it!
I also go far more in-depth into how I drive traffic using Pinterest here.
Life Update
I’m still in the UK for now, although I did fly out to Austria to visit a friend who is working as a babysitter at a ski resort out there. 5 days of catching up, racing down the mountains and taking in the jaw-dropping beauty of the alps are just what I needed. I’m planning on learning to snowboard after seeing so many impressive boarders this trip too!
I haven’t got much planned in April in the way of travel, but that’s actually a really nice thing to be able to say. After a year of being constantly on the move, it’s nice to take each day as it comes without thinking too far ahead. My ski trip basically gave my back the seal of approval, so I’ve started training again which feels SO good! I’m feeling more and more myself than ever.
Plans for the blog this month also include budget-friendly recipes. Some of you will know that I’m eating a plant-based diet and LOVING it, and I would love to share my love of cooking with you all. So be on the lookout for a brand new category!
