August was an INCREDIBLE month for the DYEB. So grateful for the Do You Even Tribe…now let’s take a look at what worked, and what didn’t!
Let’s be honest…
There are a ton of really useless blog income reports out there, with loads of Blueeeeehooosttt!!1! affiliate links and inflated numbers.
Those usually aren’t useful to you as a blogger.
Am I right?
My goal: I publish ALL of DYEB stats for 3 reasons:
- Do You Even Blog is a business, and I treat it as such
- Transparency is a MUST for ANYONE teaching others how to blog…
- Showing you my goals, wins, failures, and monthly strategies will hopefully add value to your own blogging journey.
The purpose of these monthly income reports is to be an open-book for the Do You Even Tribe.
Those of us fighting blog mediocrity and seeking-income via our blogs.
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Monthly Blog Income Report
Woot woot! I hit my goal this month without too much effort!
I didn’t pitch any sponsors (though I tweeted a broad sponsor opportunity for the heck of it).
Did I reach my blogging goals last month?
Traffic goal of 3,000 views
- FAIL – 2,894 [so close..look at that last day!]
- +28% from prior month
Email list goal of 400
- FAIL – 395 (aw come on! So close!)
- +14% from prior month
Revenue Goal of $100 (with no sponsors or ads)
- WIN – $103.95
- -1.4% from prior month
Other blog metrics
Podcast downloads –> woot woot woot!
- 2,715!!!! This gives me such encouragement, it’s incredible. So happy.
- +123% from prior month
Yeahhhhhh if I could go ahead and continue this growth that’d be greeeaattt
Facebook Group – 29 folks
I haven’t focused on growing this at all, but I’m super happy about the small group of people in the FB group. I thoroughly enjoy real engagement, as opposed to manufactured FB group marketing or link spamming.
Feel free to come join us, or not. I like our tribe lol.
Next month’s goals and how I’m going to get there:
- Revenue – $750
- Traffic – 4,000 views
- Email – 500
How I’m going to get revenue
Ok, September is going to be “hustle month” (see below), and I’m going to focus on growing revenues a few different ways.
- I’ve landed a freelance blog marketing gig with a blogger friend of mine.
- I’m going to take on 1-2 sponsors in September.
How I’m going to get traffic
Same way I’ve gotten traffic so far…work my ass off producing content people care about.
Simple, not easy.
How I’m going to get email subscribers
I don’t really know, and I don’t want to think about this in September.
Going to push out the best content I can, and hope to continue organic growth this month. The Podcast for Bloggers course is starting to gain a few subs every day, so that’s nice.
Published this month:
Holy cow. It didn’t FEEL like such a productive month, but dang if I didn’t get some stuff done. Really satisfied with this content.
- How to crank out content that drives massive traffic and fans – Sarah Peterson
- John Lee Dumas on building a 7-figure online business empire
- From 0 to 2,000,000 views a month in ONE year – Chasing Foxes
- How to perfect your blog post schedule.
- An inside look at 2 new bloggers who are crushing it – Lily and Ms. FAF
- Maximizing blog impact – FinCon founder PT Money
Final thoughts on what worked and what didn’t.
Things I’m proud of:
I’m over the moon about my podcast downloads, and the feedback I’ve received via Twitter and email. Over the moon.
It means the world to me that people tune into my content, but to hear some of you say you got value out of it?
I’m over the moon grateful.
It’s been a fantastic month in Pete-town. I’ve had a blast chatting with the bloggers and entrepreneurs I had on the podcast.
I woke up one morning to my first few Patreon backers (Thank you ADRIENNE for being the first $30/month supporter. You are amazing, and I’m damn-sure going to drive traffic your way over the coming months).
Things that didn’t work:
2 guests posts.
They didn’t work, period…and *I* thought they were spectacular content.
- How to Make Passive Income: A Guide for Real People
- How to Build Real Relationships with Powerful Bloggers
I got really great feedback on both of the posts, and the 2 hosting bloggers seemed quite happy with the content…but they did not convert into traffic and email subscribers for me.
My next few guests posting opportunities are going to be on bigger sites, such as SmartBlogger, ProBlogger, Entrepreneur.com, Inc.com, Forbes, Lifehacker, and possibly Huffington Post.
These are on my radar over the next few months.
The theme for NEXT month:
September is *Hustle Month.*
Here’s why:
In late October, I’ll be flying out to FinCon in Dallas (plane tickets cost me $11. I’m a bit of a travel hacker)…and I need some equipment.
I’m planning on conducting as many fruitful and interesting conversations as I can…and I’d love to own the Zoom H6 to take with me!
I KNOW a few amazing podcasts could come out of the weekend, but I need to raise some cash to step up my equipment game.
So I’m going to hustle.
The goal is to work my tail off for my blog marketing client, grab 1-2 podcast sponsorships, and figure something else out as well. Not sure yet 🙂
Please, please leave a comment below! I’d love to hear…
- Do you publish your own monthly stats? Drop a link!
- How can I hustle for some cash in September?? (ethically, legally, and morally of course. It needs to add value)
<3
Pete
11 Responses
Hey Pete,
Question on the podcast downloads: does that include all listening platforms? I download via google play and not many people ever mention that as a service. Just curious if your number might be even higher!?
Also, thanks for sharing this. Can’t wait to see September with that tease at the end of August. 😛
I….think?
That’s a good question. Podbean stats show most platforms separate, but I don’t see Google Play. However, there is an “other” category, with 400-500 downloads in there.
You reminded me I need to add the Google Play link to the episode pages though. Thanks Zed 🙂
Hey Pete,
First thing first, I found your blog on Reddit via one of your comment. It is great here and I’m hooked. I already read 3 of your latest articles.
Coming to your income report, your blog is growing quickly and I’m sure the numbers will keep growing.
Keep us updated and Good luck.
P.s. shared the article as a thank you note 🙂
I saw that! Appreciate you Shafi 🙂
Hey Pete, remember that just because you may not have gotten immediate traffic gratification from your guest posts, they still build up your backlink profile which will have a long term positive effect on your google rank and organic traffic!
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m still incredibly grateful lol.
It’s just that guest posting is wayyyy different than it was 3 years ago when I was doing this.
I had heard this was the case, but it took doing the first 3 for me to see how it plays out (wasn’t just yours of course. All the guests post have surprised me w/ the lack of click-throughs).
The game has just changed is all 🙂
Pete! This is great. =) I love what you are putting together here! I’ll make sure I sign up and add a subscriber to your list. Gotta love the email lists. =)
Thanks Ms. M! Appreciate those kind words.
And I’ll not to disappoint with the emails as well 🙂
Great job Pete! That subscriber list is envy worthy! I need to up my game with mailchimp marketing :p
Thanks Lily! Appreciate that, and do it!
I know it’s a bit overhyped, but email lists are still where it’s at.
Looking forward to seeing faster growth from now on… Wishing you all the best!
I had to share this post on my Pinterest Board “Blogging Time”. Post like this one should be shared a lot! xoxo
http://hiddeninbeauty.com