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Hey there everyone!
As some of you may know I started this little bloggy right at the beginning of last year (2016) with yarn in hand, creativity abounding, and no expectations.
It’s been a while 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”?
October 2017 Income
- AdThrive: $4,333
- Sponsored Content: $1,475
- Sponsored video: $250
- Sponsored blog posts: $1,225
- Youtube: $545.88
- Amazon Associates: $17.20
- Bluehost: $825
- Beautiful Dawn Designs Affiliate: $13.50
- Etsy Pattern Sales: $582.35
EARNINGS TOTAL = 7,791.93
- MadMimi: $42
- Adobe Creative Cloud: $9.99
- Etsy Seller Fees: $75.86
- Supplies for blog posts: $0
*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!
October 2017 Traffic
Some screenshots from google analytics:
Let’s talk about what happened this month:
Quite a few things changed as far as income, expenses, and traffic. Let’s look at it a little more closely!
- I need to start with something HUGE. This month, I figured out that my website was unlisted as far as SEO (search engine optimization). That means that Google and the internet as a whole did not recognize my website. All traffic I’ve earned in the past 2 years has been social media traffic. This may not seem like a big deal, but basically I’ve only gained readers and pageviews as I’ve sent social media followers there directly. There has been no passive or SEO reach at all. This is a HUGE untapped area for me, and I’ll be spending the next several months getting a handle on fixing this issue. I’ll go way more in depth once I figure out exactly how to get right side up, but for now – it means bright days ahead!
- In laments terms, a huge window of opportunity has opened up here. I’ve been quite discouraged lately as I’m working more than I ever have, staying up late nights and investing in my business, with minimal growth. I’m proud of my numbers and my income, but want to see more long term growth overall. Getting a handle on SEO will help me loads!
- AdThrive is still amazing.
- My RPM (Rate per 1000 pageviews) is still making over $10 which is amazing! Such a difference from this time last year.
- The AdThrive video player is continuing to make more money, which is awesome! I’m excited to see how this continues to grow when I add more and more videos to the player. Thanks for watching my videos, guys!
- I’ve worked on YouTube videos some this month and it’s helping my channel to continue growing. I uploaded several new videos this month & I’m continuing to restructure things to devote more time to YouTube.
- More videos to come – make sure you’re subscribed to my channel!
- I’ve earned a few more dollars here than in previous months, but YouTube is not a world of quick gratification (maybe it is if you go viral). For my niche and my videos, its a slow and steady climb to great income. I’m still at the bottom of that hill, but with time and consistent watering – this plant is sure to grow.
- My subscriber count is really starting to grow! I’m nearing 50,000 subscribers which is amazing! I hope to create lots more video tutorials during the coming winter months – let’s really take advantage of that busy season!
- Sponsored content was awesome this month! This is one of those areas that’s always changing and will never be predictable income. This is the time of year when sponsors are starting to spend more money on campaigns for the holidays, especially in my niche.
- I’ve hit a nice stride with one of my regular sponsors, and I think we are moving and grooving through the season. Yay! Also, I’ve gotten all of my supplies covered, so the money I’m saving on supplies is in the neighborhood of HUNDREDS per month. Not a bad gig, y’all!
- I’ve got several sponsored posts lined up with new companies this month (November) and can’t wait to add these guys to the roster. Onward & upward!
- Pageviews are growing!! yay!
- Still not numbers I’d like to see moving through the season, but these next few months will bring higher numbers in this area, and thus – more ad revenue. (Getting a handle on SEO will really help to change this number!)
- I’m still not producing content at the speed of lighting like I was last year, but I’ve got a few guest posters coming on the team to help bring you more free patterns & that’s bringing me a little boost in traffic while letting them start growing their blogs! Win/win for everyone!
- With getting my new spinoff business (Happy Yarn Mail) up and running, my blog has gotten less attention than it usually would. I’m trying to pay as much attention to my blog as possible, but I’m not posting as much as I was before starting up HYM. It’s all good though, because there are entire weeks of the month I don’t touch or think about my blog but guess what? IT’S STILL EARNING MONEY.
- All of these things combined resulted in less traffic and less moo-lah. I’ve still got enough to pay the bills, though so I’m a happy camper!
- HAPPY YARN MAIL IS STILL AMAZING! (Click HERE if you haven’t heard of HYM!) We sold out again this month and that means that where my Sewrella productivity has dipped, HYM is making up for it.
- I’m not including those numbers here because it’s really a separate business from my blogging business.
- Bluehost and Beautiful Dawn Designs have continued to do well – I’m so glad you guys are taking what I write to heart and starting those blogs!
- If you haven’t started your blog yet, need I say more?? Click here to get started!
- Expenses were high this month, without spending much money on reinvestment in my blog, and a lot of my supplies being donated or sent for free via sponsorship collabs, I did invest in one big new thing.
- Mama got a new camera, y’all! Rather, my fiancé/photographer/hunk of a guy got a new camera setup – and let me tell you, it is a HUGE upgrade from what we were working with. You don’t need a fancy camera to blog and design great patterns, but when you’re earning enough to reinvest in equipment that enriches your business, I think you shouldn’t be afraid to invest in your business just as one would with a brick and mortar business. You don’t see that storefront keeping the lights off to save money do you? That’s because they invest in the necessary expenditures of their business. Same goes for bloggers! Especially when the photos are what sell the blog posts, get you more partnerships, sponsorships, and readers’ attention. Photos really are the cornerstone of your blog so I saw a new camera as a well deserved expense (also it’ll be written off on my taxes, which doesn’t hurt).
What do you want to see from my blog in 2017? I have so many ideas up my sleeve, it’s hard not to start them all at once! Leave me a suggestion in the comments below.
If you want to quit that dead-end job and make amazing money blogging at home, check out my FREE START A BLOG GUIDE!
