Today we answer the magical question “Do bloggers actually make money blogging?”If you want to make money online a blog is great way to do it. The ugly side that a lot of bloggers don’t share, is that there’s actually quite a lot of learning and groundwork to be done. My advice is to learn as much as you possibly can before you put yourself out there. So here we ask again,

If you want to make money online a blog is great way to do it. The ugly side that a lot of bloggers don’t share, is that there’s actually quite a lot of learning and groundwork to be done. My advice is to learn as much as you possibly can before you put yourself out there. So here we ask again,

Do Bloggers Make Money Blogging?

Back Story: I’ve had a craft blog since 2010 that was really a hobby and something to keep me occupied when I didn’t have the energy to do anything else. I suffer from chronic medical conditions and disabilities which you can read about here. I set about to learn absolutely everything I could learn about blogging in that time and over the years blogging has changed completely. When I was told that I had a misdiagnosis and I would never be cured of my illnesses, I decided that it was high time I made a real go of it. I’ve always been a type A personality and confident that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. So, in February 2017 I decided to make a strategic effort to earn income from my blog.

Why do bloggers share income reports?

There are several reasons why I want to share my income reports with you;

• I want to show you that it is possible to make money from your blog, first and foremost.
• Public accountability will be an excellent motivator for both of us (you and me).
• I want to be as open and honest as I possibly can be about blogging, it’s not all plain sailing. But if you have the energy and motivation, starting a blog is worth it, and
• I urge you to start your blog. Check out this post for a video tutorial to help you start your blog in the easiest way possible.

If you’re not ready to start your blog today, then check out this post that tells you everything you need to know and do before you set up hosting.

Do bloggers share fake income to beef up their lifestyle?

Honestly, they may well do. This gal doesn’t as you will see from the next two reports to come (due to ill health we just broke even so earned zero profit in April and May – yaaaay).

Let’s get on to the juicy stuff:

The Breakdown:

Sponsored Posts (2), Ads and Affiliate Marketing were my earners this month. Since March, Ive switched ad networks and my revenue has increased but the payout system is different and I’ve taken Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course and made £50 of affiliate income within a week of implementing a few of Michelle’s strategies.

The 5 Things That Got Me My First £2200 Month!

1. A Blog Business Plan

I have a plan for both of my blogs. It’s quite like a business plan but not as terrifying. It’s a planner that keeps me on track.

My plan includes:

• My ideal readers
• A post outline and checklist
• Goal setting worksheets for yearly and monthly goals
• Monthly check in sheets
• Affiliate program and sales trackers
• A Marketing Strategy/social media strategy
• Guest post tracking
• Sponsored post tracking
• A tracker for brand contacts and people to reach out to for guest posting
• Social media and stats tracking and a lot more.

I created a 50-page version that you can purchase here or just download the free condensed version that’s 20 pages.

It’s important to diversify your income and if you want to know the 12 different ways that you can monetize your blog, check out this post: The One Thing You Must Have Before You Start Making Money From Your Blog.

2. An Instagram Secret Weapon For An Optimised Instagram Account

An active and engaged Instagram account landed me a high paying sponsored post deal and my secret weapon for Instagram that drives traffic to my site regularly and made me excited to be on IG on a regular basis was Have2Have.It.
Using Have2Have.it means that you can add multiple links to each image that you have on Instagram. You get a custom homepage that fills with your Instagram images, and you can add multiple links (including affiliate links) to your images.

A preview of my Have2Have.it profile:

A preview of how multiple links appear:

If you want to get started working with brands, check out Sponsored Content Marketing Secrets Revealed.

3. Writing Helpful Content

How did writing helpful content earn you money?

Great question. Writing insanely helpful content that it begs to be shared, means that it actually gets shared. That means increased ad revenue and affiliate sales. To find out how to write content like this, check out How To Write Content That Begs To Be Shared + template & free content planning printable (included in the 20-page blog planner freebie). The ad network that I use now is Monumetric which is pay per impression (per view) rather than click. My ad income has doubled since March which is great, but the payment structure is odd. The balance is spread out over months, and you get paid twice monthly.

The affiliate income that I received in March was from my new favourite affiliate program, Shareasale. The best part is that many affiliate programs within Shareasale have a two tier affiliate payout system, meaning that you can get paid per lead (per email address/sign up) and per sale.

4. Continued Bloggy Business Education

As a self-employed Lady Boss, education is SO important. I’m learning on the fly. Everything is a learning experience, and I love learning new things.

The last three things that I’ve learned about (in June):

• How to create sales funnels and a timed sales page (online tutorials)
• eBook Marketing (the eBook I’ve been writing is in the pre-sale stages) via BookBoss &
• How to create an effective affiliate marketing strategy via Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing

The last three books I read:

• Get Over Your Damn Self Romi Neustadt
• The First 90 Days – Michael D.Watkins
• Make money with Amazon Affiliates by Carolina King & Suzi Whitford

I can’t recommend those classes enough if you are interested in creating and releasing an eBook or you’re interested in learning how to be a successful affiliate marketer.

5. I wasn’t afraid to get Help

Luckily, my husband is my VA or Deputy First Minister of Heart Handmade. He’s busy as all heck, so I hire outside help to submit my links to Linky Parties every week. It’s well worth the expense as it drives a lot of traffic to the blog.

If you’re trying to do it all yourself, it’s important that you know you don’t have to. You can hire a VA at reasonable rates, check out Fiverr for qualified VA’s in your Niche.

And Finally

I know that was a long one so thank you for sticking with me! Sharing income reports is something that I hope to do on a regular basis; the good, the bad and the downright ugly. This blog has been set up to guide you in the right direction with a blog of your own, helping you to plan a profitable business from the beginning.

I would love to connect with you via Facebook or Pinterest and if you would like more helpful content from this blog, be sure to follow us on Bloglovin or Feedly.To edit my posts I use Grammarly – The World’s Best Automated Proofreader & if you loved this post, I would be thrilled if you would share it on Pinterest. Thank you!

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