May 2017 Income Report

Welcome to my May 2017 Income Report. Here's the cool thing about this report... it's my 12 report meaning I've officially been doing this for an entire year! Woah.

The past 12 months have been a complete whirlwind.

I bailed on my plan to go to law school
I decided to start a blog (if you want to, as well, click here to learn how)
I started freelancing
I started affiliate marketing
I created digital products to sell

Now I earn my full time income right from my blog. That means I spend a bunch of time working from home in my PJs, in local coffee shops, on the couch... pretty much anywhere I can find reliable internet connectivity.

It's been an amazing year and the best part by far has been twofold:

Seeing my own progress unfold (it's crazy to look back on day one and see how far I've come)
Helping others find their own success whether that be through the facebook group I manage, through the blogs I publish, the freebies I offer, or through the courses I offer. That has been the most unexpected aspect of blogging but by far the best. Truly rewarding.

Now for the good stuff...

May was a surprising month. I surpassed a lot of barriers I never thought I'd surpass.

In May, I gained over 700 subscribers. To put this in perspective for you, one of my goals for the end of 2017 was to have 1000 subscribers by December 31. So, to get 700+ subscribers in just 31 days is something that I do not take lightly. It was monumental for me.

Clearly I underestimated my capabilities. But it just goes to show you how you can improve with effort, focus, and determination.

Among other milestones, this month I also broke 5k.... Here's how much money I earned on the blog in May.

$5,482.19May 2017 Income

Did I reach my goals last month?

My blogging goals for the month of May were:

GROW MY EMAIL LIST BY 280 PEOPLE - WIN

I declared May 2017 as List Building May and it was a HUGE success for me. My original goal was to grow my email list by 280 people. If you read my April Income Report, you know that I was scared sh*tless about this goal. I'd never before grown my email list by that number and I wasn't sure I'd be able to succeed.

My results from last month just prove that lofty goals PUSH you to the limits and make it that much more likely that you'll see growth and improvement. 750 new subscribers to my email list in 31 days? THAT'S MADNESS!

Here's what I did to see the growth:

Hosted a webinar on 5-Steps to Get Better Traffic to Your Site
Ran a giveaway on the Strategic Blogging Bundle
Posted blogs twice per week and promoted them heavily
Shared my freebies more regularly in my Facebook group

I also focused on optimizing my site to make sure that every page welcomes and encourages people to subscribe!

IMPLEMENT SALES FUNNELS FOR MY COURSES - WIN

This month, I spent quite a bit of time refining my email marketing strategy, which includes implementing automatic sales funnels for my courses.

But, I decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of creating sales funnels for Bread & Butter Blogging, I decided to close the course and move it to an open/close launch format. This means that the course will only be available during certain periods of the year. I'm really excited for this!

That said, Pinterest Unpuzzled is still an evergreen course (meaning it's always available for purchase no matter what time of the year). I've begun incorporating tripwire offers into my strategy on thank you pages and in emails, and that has significantly increased the amount of revenue generated on auto-pilot throughout the month.

GO "FACEBOOK LIVE" IN BLOGGER INSIGHTS AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK - WIN

I did really well with this particular challenge. While I used to HATE being in front of a camera and going "live" the saying "practice makes perfect" really does hold true. I'm no longer afraid. No longer nervous. My live feeds may not be perfect, but they are real! And people really do seem to enjoy them!

Live feeds are a great way to engage with your audience and provide value. Do you do them? Let me know in the comments.

If you're interested in checking out the live Q&As and trainings done this past month, click here to request access to the Blogger Insights community.

May Blog Income - the numbers

May Blog Income

Client Work - $4,690 (this income is from clients whopay a monthly fee to retain me for my services - social media marketing, SEO, website development, etc...the whole marketing shabang)
Bread & Butter Blogging & Pinterst Unpuzzled - $570
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing (ecourse for anyone looking to make money through affiliate marketing) - $224.40
How to Make Your First Affiliate Sale in 24 Hours Using Pinterest (an ebook!) - $10.00
ConvertKit (email marketing tool that I use and love) - $17.40
Blue Host web hosting - $65
Elegant Themes Membership-$40
DreamHost web hosting - $105

Total MayBlog Income: $5,7218.80

My MayBlog Expenses

Canva for Work - $12
ConvertKit (my email service provider) - $29 >> Read how to setup an email funnel with CK(or click HERE to get 30 days free of ConvertKit)
BoardBooster (what I use to put Pinterest on auto-pilot) - $30 >> Read the BoardBooster review here
Freelancer/VA - $109.61
Teachable (what I use to create and host my ecourses) - $39
Zapier $20 (facilitates a ton of automation for me)

Check out the full list of tools and resources I use for my blog.

Total May Blog Expenses: $239.61

TOTAL NET BLOG INCOME FOR MAY: $5,482.19

Check out how much $$ Eden made #blogging this month #IncomeReport #Blogforprofit

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Major WIN This Month

One of my best wins for this past month was hosting a webinar. While I've done a ton of live feeds in the Blogger Insights community in the past, I have never run a webinar before. It was amazing!

Click here to get access to the replay of the 5-Steps to Get Better Traffic masterclass. Don't worry, I'll talk more about this below.

Blog Posts Published this month

Learn How to Speed Write Blog Posts in Less Than 60 Minutes (for the person who's spending waaayyyy too much time writing)

Your Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing and How You Can Get Started (If you're still not sure what affiliate marketing is, this one is for you... plain English explanation and tips)

(Next time that awkward conversation comes around, be prepared)

How to Setup ConvertKit for Beginners (If you have a ConvertKit account or are interested in getting one, this guide will help you configure your account properly)

How to Stay Sane as a Full Time Blogger (because we're all on the verge of insanity, let's be real)

How one BoardBooster Feature Helped Grow My Email List by 240+ People (BoardBooster is magical... learn how)

April 2017 Blog Income Report

Why I think I was Successful This Month

This month's major success?

Trying something NEW. I never hosted a webinar before and I decided to take the leap and go for it.

I knew that I'd NEVER do it if I didn't set a date and start planning. So, I published a sign up page and promotional content BEFORE I even created the live training. That meant that people were signing up... FORCING me to get it done.

And it was a complete success. Here's what some people said about the live training:

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from hosting a webinar, but here's what I gained:

webinars allow you to engage with your audience
webinars are a great way to provide free value
webinars allow you to sell and promote your courses without being too spammy
Webinars help grow your email list
Webinars nurture your audience

I was able to think of the idea for a webinar, create it and promote it all within 7 days. It was a major success all the way around and I will 100% be doing more of them in the future! The best part... I spent next to NO money developing and hosting the webinar. Such a bonus!

If you're interested in watching the reply of the webinar, you can click here to register.

Health & Fitness

I started a crazy journey this month to really refine my eating habits. While I'm very physically fit, I am prone to (far too) frequent ventures to the local ice cream shop.

So this month I've cut out all processed foods and sugars. I'm still eating natural sugar, but my snacking is all "clean" snacking and I'm loving every minute. I'm taking inspiration from my brother, Jordan, who recently started a journey to get abs in 90 days. If you're interested in tuning into his journey, you can check out his stuff right here.

Since cutting out the processed foods and sugars, I've found that I'mless tired and more focused. That could just be a coincidence or it could be directly related to my diet change. Time will tell!

Final Thoughts

I'm finding it hard to believe that it is already June. I celebrated my year anniversary of deciding to bail on law school and start a blog this past month. Isn't it just insane how time passes so quickly?

It's been an incredible journey and I am SO ready for year 2. If you're ready to start a blog and join in on the fun, click here to learn how.

Leave your comments below!

You just read my May 2017 Income Report. Want to travel back in time and read April's?