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Hey there everyone!
As some of you may know I started this little bloggy right at the beginning of the year (2016) with yarn in hand, creativity abounding, and no expectations.
It’s been 11 months since then and BOY have things changed.
Below is a breakdown of my current traffic and income here on the blog, and some factors that led me here.
Now, you may be asking yourself “Why on EARTH would she put her income and numbers out there for all the world to see? Isn’t that part of the secret sauce?”
Nope! I started this blog a short while ago and have found great success (considering how long I’ve been working on it).
I want to encourage others to blog too!
Actually I put together my 3 Easy Steps to starting your own DIY blog HERE!
In the crochet niche of the internet, I’ve found one thing to be true – lots of people crochet, but not very many are publishing new patterns and putting out content.
There is a very small group of crochet bloggers out there (spend any time on Pinterest and you’ll quickly name several) dominating the market.
And this job is not hard to do!
Let me repeat that. THIS JOB IS NOT HARD TO DO.
It took me about half an hour to set up my blog initially and although I’ve made many adjustments along the way, my blog has been earning me good money with a really basic setup.
Now what do I mean by “good money”?
November 2016 Income
- Mediavine: $2,377.91
- Sponsored Content: $5,825
- Sponsored video: $2,750
- Sponsored blog posts: $3,075
- Youtube: $146.49
- Amazon Associates: $30.89
- Bluehost Affiliate: $910
- Beautiful Dawn Designs Affiliate: $27
- Etsy Pattern Sales: $502.40
- MadMimi: $42
- Adobe Creative Cloud: $9.99
- Etsy Seller Fees: $60.94
- Supplies for blog posts: $100
*Keep in mind that not all of this money is mine forever. I am the sole proprietor of my business and will pay taxes, am responsible for my own health insurance, and other expenses that a traditional job would supply. That’s still a lot of dough for playing with yarn though!
November 2016 Traffic
Some screenshots from google analytics:
Pageviews for the month of September:
Top ten traffic sources:
- My first full month under Mediavine’s umbrella and look at that earnings number! I’m so so glad I dropped Adsense and picked up Mediavine – I’ve earned thousands more than I ever had with Adsense. Especially considering my traffic boost was smaller (more on that later).
- I am still pulling some money from Adsense via Youtube. You’ll see that as it’s own listing from here on out, since it’s my only Adsense income (Youtube runs Adsense ads and technically my check from Youtube earnings will come from Adsense).
- Sponsored content has gone BANANAS this month! (Super grateful to them, thanks guys!) Let’s look at this more closely:
- A good portion of the sponsored blog post income came from one big project that ended in November. I’ve been working on this project, spending hours every week on it, since August. So really I was working for this money for over 3 months. It’s just that the actual payment was issued in November, so it falls under income for this month. Keep in mind that if I was paid as I worked (like a traditional hourly or salary job) this would have been evened out a bit more.
- Sponsored video has been a somewhat new area for me – I’ve stepped away from my Youtube channel since my blog has taken off, but I have been approached to create video content for other sites. Being the busy holiday season, there has been more of this work available to me lately – but it won’t stick around forever.
- The holidays are HUGE for bloggers (or so I’ve read, remember – this is still my first year blogging!). Quarter 4 is the quarter when big companies spend the most money on advertising. So I’ve had a lot more opportunities for sponsorships and collaborations this month.
- The holiday season has brought me more traffic. At least, I’m pinning the increase in traffic on the business of the season. I hear that bloggers see a big spike in traffic during the last couple of months during the calendar year (particularly craft and DIY blogs) and then it tapers off after the turn of the calendar. We’ll see if that’s true! This is my first November as a blogger so I have nothing to compare to. Hopefully the traffic is here to stay and is just a reflection of my organic growth, but I also understand that this behavior could be due to Christmas.
- Expenses were low this month, without spending any money on reinvestment in my blog, and a lot of my supplies being donated or sent for free via sponsorship collabs. I did spend a little too much leisurely money this month, but I don’t think my Lularoe addiction counts as a blogging expense. Perhaps I’ll come back to Youtube and feature my outfits – then it’s a tax write-off right? 😉
If you want to quit that dead-end job and make amazing money blogging at home, check out my
FREE START A BLOG GUIDE!
Gina says
Count me in! I so want to do something like this. Guess I best get started. LOL Thanks for posting this info. 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Taylor says
Hi Ashleigh!
This is a super helpful and inspiring post! I’ve been wanting to start a blog for years but definitely get intimidated once I start trying to figure out where to start. I would love to blog about crochet but haven’t made any patterns myself yet. I’ve wondered if I could make videos using other patterns (giving credit to the person responsible for said pattern) for the people who can’t read them or would just like to see it done instead of reading. What do you think about this idea? Would the original pattern creator be upset even though I would give credit? Thank you for your help! I’m going to start making a plan to move forward with my blog asap
Ashleigh says
Hi Taylor! I started out trying exactly what you’re talking about and let’s just say the pattern designers weren’t too happy (which I never expected – I thought that I was increasing their exposure and we were all sharing the love but I got some nasty emails that said otherwise!) and had to take those videos down. So if you want to try this route, email the designer or blogger first and ask for their permission. But you probably won’t get anywhere with this (super frustrating for a newbie, I know). The problem is that if you make a video teaching someone how to make a blogger’s hat pattern, the viewer is getting everything they need from your video and likely not visiting the original blogger’s site. Thus, you are ‘cheating’ the blogger out of that traffic and revenue. At least that’s how it was put to me. (Can you tell I’m still a little sore over this stuff?) Anyway, I would start with maybe some stitch tutorial style videos. These seem to do well and don’t involve any pattern designing just yet. Get your feet wet with something simple 🙂
Taylor says
Oh wow I didn’t think of it that way! Thank you for sharing! Stitch videos sound like a safe place to start..would you recommended writing a few posts and publishing them at the same time when you first start the blog? That way the reader has more than one thing to look at?
I have to say I am starting to feel more confident about this the more I talk about it! I made a blogger account a little while back but don’t like how limiting it is.. I will try your suggestions!
I do have an Instagram started called bodhi.life.creations , I also follow you on there ?
Thank you for responding so quickly! I appreciate all of your suggestions and advice!
Melissa says
I would love to do something like this, but I’m a little nervous in doing so. I’m still a little new to the whole Crocheting thing, I have only started making small little things. I’m not sure if I should start blogging about my adventure now or wait awhile to do so. I really love reading your post. It gives me more hope that I can do something like this in the future. 🙂
Ashleigh says
When I started my blog, I had never designed anything on my own. I started by writing about things I made and linking back to the original designer (not posting their actual pattern) and when I tried something new, I would post about it. For me, having a reason to keep the crochet fire going really motivated me to try new things and push myself. And that was less than a year ago! I say start it up, even if you find your way later 🙂
Natalie Desrochers says
I would be curious to know how much time you spend working on your blog and projet. Is it more than a full time job? cause I couldn’t keep up mine and working full time, I was just too much!
Ashleigh says
Really the answer to this question will vary with each blogger. I’ve been fortunate enough to maintain my blog as my full time job since I went on maternity leave early this year. But it’s different for everyone. I’ve seen incredible growth due in part to how diligently I’ve worked on my blog. Blogging can DEFINITELY be a part time gig – I know several successful bloggers that still have full time jobs! Just expect your growth to be a bit slower and more even. Like with anything, the more hours you put in the more you get out. But even if you worked on your blog 1 hour per day (instead of 4-8 hours a day like I do) you could grow a very successful blog. They key is consistency!
Debbie Gartner says
Those are amazing results, Ashleigh. I’m just starting to monetize my blog. I should have done this sooner. Thanks for the inspiration here.
Aixa E. Muniz says
Hi Ashleigh!
I been struggling with the idea of start a blog for about a year, now. I have to tell you that it scare me a little. Thank you for your help and support. That’s one of my goals for 2017.
Do you know a good site or page where I could learn to design crochet patterns? Or could you help me in this adventure? Thanks again for your advise.
Ashleigh says
At the time I don’t offer mentoring or specialized blog guidance, but I can tell you that the only way to start is to start! You really just have to jump in with both feet and stick with it to find success. And I’m not sure if there are sites or services to help you learn to design crochet – I learned by crocheting often and paying attention to what types of stitches made certain shapes and kind of fooled around with it until I learned the ropes. Good luck!
Machelle Operia says
Could you point me in the right direction to get a pattern I made published or copywrited
Ashleigh says
To publish on a blog, you can do that yourself – just set up your blog via my How to Start a Blog tab at the top of this page. And for copywriting I would ask a copyright lawyer for that legal advice!
Jessica says
Ashleigh,
Since your first post about starting a blog I went ahead and jumped in both feet dirt. Obviously I’m aware that it is a slow to start process that will hopefully start snowballing in page views.
I noticed on most blog sites that Pinterest is your highest draw for page views and clicks.
My question is how did you get Pinterest to start working for you? As of right now I’m having a hard time drawing followers and getting people to re pin my posts.
I think I’m posting quality stuff (might be biased lol), and some of it has been original patterns that I’m pretty proud of.
Anyways, any tips you have would be appreciated.
Thanks! Jess
Ashleigh says
Jessica – I’m so glad you’ve started your blogging journey! I am actually in the process of putting together a guide to growing your traffic – specifically driving traffic from pinterest. So watch out for that in the next week or so!
Lindsay says
I started my blog a bit ago using your tips and bluehost, but have no idea how to monetize it…? Any advise???
Ashleigh says
Here’s my article on monetizing 🙂 https://www.sewrella.com/2016/11/how-to-monetize-your-blog.html