In an attempt to make this monthly income report more useful to YOU, blogger…I include revenues, expenses, downloads and other metrics, monthly wins and fails, goals, and more! Transparency is key.
Yes. I made money last month.
Yes. I’m going to use this post for marketing my blog.
Yes. I CAN add value to your life through a monthly income report.
Many bloggers understand the lucrative appeal of a juicy monthly blog income report. We’re all guilty of searching through those reports showing $25k+/month from a blog.
We want to see how they did it!
But bad news is…
Many reports don’t share much with regards to how.
I am THRILLED to share my blog income reports, for one reason:
To show every single one of you that anything is possible.
- I am NOT a mega-blogging-marketer-influencer.
- I am NOT the smartest person on the planet (or even the coffee shop I’m in).
- I am NOT better than you. (taller maybe, but not better or smarter)
That said, if you desire to produce income via your blog, whether it’s for some extra cash to pay bills, save for FI, or to build a full-time income for yourself…it IS possible.
I am proud to be evidence of that, and even prouder to be 1,001% transparent about the process!
But first…
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Here’s why I publish ALL of DYEB stats, even though I kind of hate blog income reports:
- 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.
The Blog Monthly Income Report
Did I reach my blogging goals last month?
- Revenue goal of $750 – WIN ($2,306.75)
- Traffic goal of 4,000 views – FAIL (3,676)
- Email Sub goal of 500 – FAIL (453)
For more info on what worked and what didn’t….scroll down yo!
Other blog metrics
Podcast downloads – 5,389 (2,715 prior month)
Ok. I’m excited. My grow remained exponential last month. I’d give my left arm to experience this month-over-month grow for like, another year. Omg.
(ok not going to happen. That’d be 22,000,000+ downloads)
Private Facebook Growth – 55ish (roughly doubled)
I love this group so far. There’s zero promotion, and I kinda wanna keep it under 500 people forever. Probably a little selfish of me?
Next month’s goals and how I’m going to get there:
- Email Subs – 750
- Traffic – 4,000
- Revenues – $1,000
How I’m going to get revenue
I’m not pushing this at all in October. I have my freelancing work, my loyal, BEAUTIFUL subscribers, and that’s it. I’m not exploring any products at all this month.
How I’m going to get traffic
Organically. Don’t care.
How I’m going to get email subscribers
Aside from over-delivering to the monthly challenge participants (challengers?)…THIS is my focus this month.
October is list-building month for us over at Do You Even Blog. Here are a few ideas I’m playing around with:
- BlogBox – A physical assortment of blogging goodies, shipped to you 🙂 🙂 These are sooooo much fun to make and give away. I’m going to assemble a few BlogBoxes and give them away this month.
- The one-on-one hustle at FinCon – I have Do You Even Business cards, and I’ll be hustling to connect with people! I’m sure this will result in a few more additions to the email list.
- Big giveaway? Want anything? Can I do a sweet giveaway? $1k range? What do you want?
- Create a massive content upgrade – Not quite sure what this will be yet, but I’d like to create a little something special and use it as an opt-in. Thoughts?
Published this month:
- The 20 best Email list building strategies for beginners – mega resource!
- A strong case for why you SHOULD promote Bluehost and put ads on your blog – Millennial Boss – REALLY solid interview here.
- My Failure Resume: A walk through 40+ failed blogs and biz ideas – most popular piece of content this month
- Why Chris left the American Dream to focus on blogging for a year [coaching session]
- How to “stumble” into national PR coverage, save $82k from side hustles, & travel the world for a year – Round the World Couple
Final thoughts on what worked and what didn’t.
Ok folks. Let’s get into the meat of this month.
I REALLY want to dig in deep to the 30-Day Challenge launch (which generated $1,550), but I’m going to save the nitty-gritty “product launch!!1!” stuff for a separate case study.
However, I do want to talk about what I learned from this.
1 – Launching your first paid product is…scary.
(read: but also incredibly exciting)
- What if nobody buys it? My audience is still SUPER small.
- What if nobody gets value from it? Who the hell am I to teach/help/lead people?
- what if what if what if….
I’ve pitched sponsorships, I’ve Skyped with multi-millionaires, I’ve been responsible for $750,000,000 in revenues for a Forbes’ top-25 company.
Yet I was stressed to the max asking 25 people for $100.
It was silly, and shouldn’t have been….but it was.
2 – WHY are product launches scary?
For me personally, it was due mainly to transparency.
I *knew* I was going to release the details of the launch to you, my audience, eventually. Success OR failure.
And if I’m building a business around showing people an alternate way to provide income for themselves (creating content via the internet), well, I’d better make money then, yes?
In retrospect, it was still silly, as
- I already shared 40+ failures with you, and
- Another in-depth failure case study could still be valuable.
Still, putting yourself out there is scary. Asking for people to trust you is scary. Asking for money is scary.
I’m incredibly thankful 18 people came through and signed up 🙂
3 – I keep rediscovering the same truth: Content is still king.
It’s why you’re a member of the Do You Even Tribe (wait, are you?). Content.
It’s the reason I have any traffic, followers, and revenues at all. It makes me think…what the podcast was only 50% as valuable as it currently is?
Would any of you stuck around after one listen?
To the same point…
What if the podcast were 200% more valuable? How many more people’s lives could I change for the better? How about my revenues?
This is my current food for thought, and I’m hungry.
4 – Screw traditional marketing channels (sometimes)
Can we be frank? Pinterest marketing is doing nothing for me right now.
I have implemented strategies from some of the best in the game (literally gotten free Pinterest consulting from Rosemarie Groner, Michelle Schroeder, Grace Moser, Eden Fried, all brilliant at Pinterest).
I’m on 30+ group boards, my images are….better than they were. Is it my niche?
In fact, social media in general is completely lackluster right now.
I have seen VERY little growth in Twitter, despite tripling my follower count since July 1.
I’m aware podcasts work a bit different, and maybe I should publish more regular blog content (probably not though, don’t you already have enough of this??)…but still.
#traffic
But you know what IS growing? My backlinks and SEO authority.
IMPORTANT: I have done exactly ZERO outreach to get backlinks! They have all come organically.
I’ve been mentioned briefly on 4-5 podcast guests’ sites recently, and in addition to sending new eyes on my content…it has given me extended credibility and SEO juice.
In the coming months, I’m expecting organic traffic to continue to grow, and I might even publish 3-5 bigger pieces of blog content targeting specific keywords.
The theme for NEXT month:
DELIVER for 30-day challenge folks, and grow the email list.
DELIVER value promised. Grow email list.
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Please, please leave a comment below! I’d love to hear…
- Do you publish your own monthly stats? Drop a link!
- What sweet thing for bloggers could I give away this month? Let me know!
- Do you find these reports useful at all?
<3
Pete
