This post may contain affiliate links
We have traction! Do you wake up everyday excited to take one more step towards your dreams? Blogging gave me the ability to do just that. I’m excited to invest time in myself and be able to make connections with like-minded people who are also trying to succeed.
The journey is a breath of fresh air alongside others trying to better themselves. So nice not just dealing with the grind and counting down the hours. To me, freedom means never having to clock in again, even if it means working 100 hours a week, I will do it for myself.
This mantra has kept me strong. For me there is no other option. I was just let go from my job. I’m looking at it as a scary blessing in disguise and I am determined to not waste away this opportunity.
I dashed and rekindled my dreams several times this month. Losing your job is hard. Despite not wanting to work for a company, I did get self fulfillment from helping people find employment.
It was bittersweet, but once I felt freedom, I immediately felt doubt. ‘I’m going to take a chance at blogging instead of immediately jumping onto a new desperate opportunity?’ “Yes”….’You turned down a job to keep blogging?’…. “Yes”. That’s how much I believe in this. Call me naïve, but I know success is out there for all of us.
If you haven’t already read my past updates, you might wonder “Why is she publishing when she’s such a newbie?” Well, it’s because I know a lot of us are in the same boat. Our successes, failures and ability to learn and share will help us all grow together.
Blog Cost
When I signed up for hosting through Bluehost I opted for a 3 year plan. It’s a good idea to do likewise as you can get a refund at any point. You will find that paying upfront for most monthly services will save you considerably. I also chose a yearly plan with Tailwind, which netted me a free month. At this point, my blog costs can be estimated at $14.00 per month.
Ready to monetize your site, add widgets, offer any service, or freelancing? Being self hosted is a must. For $3.95 a month you can own your site and all its content through Bluehost. Run your own advertisements, sign up for affiliate networks and start pulling in money for the views you are already getting. Use my helpful guide to get set up with WordPress and Bluehost Start Your Own Blog with Bluehost.
What Got Accomplished in June?
Affiliate Research
I love the affiliate networks that I work with. I’m going to share with you a huge secret; look into the affiliate programs that are successful in your niche. Seems obvious, but what I’m saying is actually this: If a successful ‘100,000 visitors a day’ blogger makes $25 bucks a month on an affiliate product; assess if it’s worth your time based on your follower count. Typically popular affiliate products breed more questions on how to best be used. This can be your competitive advantage if you have had great success using the program. Tailwind is a perfect example of this. *Just because a popular blogger isn’t successful with an affiliate, doesn’t automatically mean you won’t be either. You might just need to know more about the products conversion rates.*
Do your research on each affiliate you sign up for and make sure you are an avid user of the product to offer authentic opinions. The more I blog, the more obvious it is to me that someone hasn’t actually used what they are peddling. This is simply what has worked for me.
Chitika If you’re a blogger looking for alternatives to Adsense, I highly suggest Chitika. Chitika pays out at $10.00. I switched last month, and I am so glad I did. The first thing that I noticed is Chitika offers a much more consistent analytics than Adsense and their site is easier to navigate. Their advertisements are easy to place and their analytics are super easy to understand. If you are looking for an addition or an alternative, I love Chitika and the ads that they place are much more relevant to my niche.
Printables
My printables are officially available by subscribing to my blog.
The Ultimate Social Media Scorecard– An interactive Scorecard that helps you to track your goals and social media progress on up to 12 accounts. Challenge yourself weekly to increase your score and see how positively it influences your stats!
Blog Post Planner– A place for you to plan a post and make sure all viral elements are present.
Hashtag Tracker– Use this to ensure you are implementing a hashtag strategy on every post and every picture that goes on your blog.
Password Keeper– Keep track of past and present passwords to avoid future confusion and crossover.These printables have saved me SO much time and confusion. Using The Ultimate Social Media Scorecard I increased my pinterest followers by 220 this month alone. You can get PDFs of all the printables right to your inbox by subscribing to the blog.
Facebook has been a continued source of great traffic for my blog. Get involved with Facebook group boards! The amount of positivity is infectious. The like-mindedness is perfect for when you are feeling a little discouraged. Promo days and share days let you potentially share your link or social media with thousands of people. I think a misconception new bloggers have is that they need to create their own group board. You absolutely should do it, but the way you are going to get traffic is by interacting on boards that are well established.
Tailwind Utilization / Pinterest Follower Increase
If you have followed along, you know I love Pinterest. I had some insane success with Pinterest this month and completely smashed my goals. I honestly couldn’t thank Tailwind enough. It’s the first product I ever invested in for my blog, after my hosting. I continue to use Pinterest and Tailwind in conjunction with Facebook Groups. When you can easily schedule 1 pin on a 15 day interval over 12 boards, you don’t have to worry about spamming your friends. Stay tuned in for a detailed Tailwind Post soon as I sense there are tons of questions.
We made some money this month! I was tempted to not share it, and treat this as a traffic report. BUT I want to encourage others who might be scared to share their results too. Remember we are accomplishing something by not giving up and also having the courage to try for a better life!
Results
Chitika – $2.29 (8,763 Impressions, CPM $.262)
Shareasale – $.50 from a Tailwind lead
Cj.com Commission Junction – $.43 from Skyscanner
Awin.com– $5.00 for an Awin.com signup. Awin is an Affiliate Network that you can use to sign up for Swagbucks, Fiverr and Trustedhousesitters.
Drum Roll Please ! We earned in total = $8.22!
Ebates– $18.26. This is based on a tiered system as well as the purchases I’ve made. For that reason I did not include it in the blog earnings. However money was earned / saved based on blogging research and having signed up for ebates. You just need to be proactive and check to see if there is a deal through their site before you make a purchase. If you haven’t heard of Ebates, it’s a cash back rewards program. You get $10.00 cash just for signing up using my link. So that’s easy. Make money when you spend money. Access Ebates’ links to merchants, then shop as you normally would.
Blogging Posts:
Between my job termination and a bit of traveling this month flew by! I accomplished 4 posts in total.
Blogging Goals For May – How Did I do?
- Share 6 blog posts. FAIL. Including my traffic report, I posted 5 times.
- Get Ahead of Posting. Accomplished! Despite not posting as often as I wanted, I got ahead of future posts. I can already feel the stress relief.
- Increase Pinterest Follower Count. Accomplished! Smashed! It was a close race at the end but I ended up destroying my goal.
- Use Tailwind More Efficiently. Accomplished! Currently, I have 886 pins scheduled and 186 drafts ready to be assessed. I love not worry about Pinterest. You can accomplish SOOOO much with that new found hour or two a day.
- Begin to Create My First Freebie. Accomplished! You can get a description of some of my helpful printables above. They have helped me tremendously in my organization and honestly, as an added source of encouragement. I would love it if you subscribed to the blog. Not only do you get blog post updates but free printables and the opportunity for future contests that i am working on.
- Narrow Down and Focus. Accomplished! I can’t believe the amount of work I accomplished this month. It never feels like enough though. These traffic reports have kept me aware of all the work that has been done, and all that still needs to be done.
- Increase Page Views. FAIL. Guess what happens when you don’t post for 2 & 1/2 weeks? People start to forget about you. My follower count was just stable this month, and I know that’s my fault. Thankfully, I had my pins auto-scheduled through Tailwind, which kept my traffic up.
May/ June – Ideally we want June to be Green
Best Ever Day: 141 / 162
Followers:
Pinterest: Goal was to add 165 people to reach 600. Accomplished! New Total = 655 On June 1st. Added 220 in ONE MONTH!!!!!! Current 676 goal = 820
Instagram: Goal 116 Accomplished! New Total = 180 On June 1st. Added 93 in ONE MONTH! Current 183 goal = 283
Twitter: Goal 70 Accomplished! New Total = 94 On June 1st. Added 34 in ONE MONTH! Current 98 goal = 140
Blog Subscribers: 3 / 5
Facebook: 0 / 11 page likes. Now up to 75 facebook follows!
Connect and Share Facebook Group Board: Brand New. I did not promote this at all this month. So it stayed stagnant.
Referrer Views:
Pinterest: 83 / 104 /289
Facebook: 25 / 100 / 134
Twitter Engagements: 0 / 72 / 20
Search Engines: 4 / 4 / 8
I’m really happy to see that my Pinterest referrals are steadily climbing. With all the pinning that we do, it’s imperative that you keep good track of your stats. Just like with weight loss, SHOW ME THE RESULTS!
Blog Goals For June
- Get Convertkit. Huge one. I want to efficiently grow my subscriber list. I’m currently using the free version of Sumo, which is amazing. However, transferring my subscribers later sounds unnecessary. The most successful bloggers I see online all utilize a combo of Sumo and Convertkit. Honestly not getting on board with convertkit feels like it will hold me back at this point. The cost is miniscule in relation to what the program offers, and it will be my next smart investment.
- Share 6 blog posts. *Let’s try this again*
- Get Ahead of Posting. I don’t have the excuse of being busy with work anymore. I’ve been busy writing random thoughts, but nothing solid. It’s going to be my goal to pull all those posts together and get ahead of content.
- Increase Pinterest Follower Count.
- Use Tailwind More Efficiently. Even though my pins are scheduled, I need to continue to monitor timing of posts. Sometimes I unknowingly schedule 5 workout pins in a row, and I want to ensure varied content for my readers.
- Narrow Down and Focus. I feel more focused than before. Even if I don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough accomplished, I definitely feel like my persistence will pay off.
- Increase Page Views.
What’s the Plan?
Keep at it! I feel like I am constantly writing and gathering my thoughts, but not posting. Once I get my Convertkit set up, I think my emails and thought process will be much more organized. Month 3 through 6 must be hard for bloggers as you don’t see many income reports from this time frame. Maybe this is when people quit? I’m feeling the burn, but I’ll never quit.
I’m going to continue to do research on affiliates, because I love it frankly. When passion strikes, you can’t get enough.
How are you feeling with your blog right now? Are you in the beginning stages looking for some blog friends? Or are you a veteran who is already racking in the profits? I’d love to know where everyone is on this journey.
Ready to become more savvy when it comes to your life and finances? You’ll love these!
- Be the Keeper of Your Money. Tips for savings and retirement
- Live a Happier Life- Tips Inspired from Abroad
- How to Have a Successful First Week at Your New Job
- 10 Ways to Make Your Workspace More Comfortable
Ready to start your own blog? Starting a blog was the best thing that I ever did for myself. I hope to inspire each of you to find your own creative outlet and become financially independent. Check out these posts to get you started:
- Start a WordPress blog with Bluehost will walk you through an easy setup.
- Ultimate Tips and Widgets for Monetization for immediate results.
Don’t forget to get the printables. You can subscribe at the bottom right of the blog or in the right sidebar.
When you Subscribe to The Rising Damsel, you will get access to The Rising Damsel’s Library and the exclusive Social Media Scorecard! It’s the only one of it’s kind to help you track all your social media in one place. Learn more about it in this post: Skyrocket Your Traffic Using The Ultimate Social Media Scorecard. Take all the mystery and struggle away when you share enough!
What have you done that has gotten you tons of traffic to your site? Use these tips to make sure that you are including what you need to make your post go viral every time!
Be sure and find The Rising Damsel on Pinterest! You can also subscribe for future free printables, and exclusive content using the ‘Subscribe’ button in the right column. Join my Facebook Group Connect and Share for Success. I’d love to help spread your content. If you are looking for a free Tailwind Tribe try The Rising Damsel’s brand new one: Promote Your Blog – A Rising Damsel Tribe. Much Love!! Together we will be great!
Questions and comments are always welcome. I really hope this post inspired you.
My Go-To Resources
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing to earn money blogging. There are tons of ways to make money on your blog. If you want to make money by promoting an affiliate, you need Michelle’s course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. It was an invaluable resource to me despite 1,000+ hours of research on how to earn. The money didn’t actually start coming in till I took this course. Save yourself from frustration, Michelle has it figured out for us.
Ebates Coupons deals and cash back. When you’re shopping online if you aren’t stacking your savings, you’re losing serious money. Get rebates from 1%-20%+ on thousands of stores and get $10.00 for signing up. I won’t shop without Ebates.
Swagbucks Use my link to get $5.00 just for signing up. With Swagbucks you can browse the app, watch videos, take surveys, and play games. Swagbucks pays out in gift cards which makes it really easy to collect your earnings. *Protip* Best way to spend your Swagbucks is on a $5.00 Amazon gift cards they are only 450 points, and cheaper in comparison to other offers. (Personal savings and a great affiliate program).
Ibotta! I save on all my staples from eggs, to paper towels, to coffee and even uber rides! With Ibotta you just snap a picture of your shopping receipt and match it with current deals available online. Get $10 just for signing up through The Rising Damsel. Redeem your first $10 by verifying a purchase from any of their stores. It’s an obsession.
It’s a start!
I can’t believe I’ve made anything. I went for 6 years on another blog and never once tried to monetize. Definitely a great adventure. Thanks for stopping in and commenting.
That’s a fine set of juggling you’re doing there. Great to see how it’s building. I’m 3 weeks in, and it’s a wonderful never-ending list of things I’m trying to get to and sort. It’s an exhilarating ride!
It really does feel like that. I have confidence in us. We can absolutely succeed. Thanks so much for the comment and the encouragement.
Such a great report! You’re growing and I love to see others celebrate successes!!
Hmm, this is interesting! “Month 3 through 6 must be hard for bloggers as you don’t see many income reports from this time frame. ” . I wonder what the drop out rate is for bloggers? I am now in month 4 so hope I don’t get burned out! Great job by the way!
Congratulations on month 4! Maybe it’s just that people stop sharing for some reason. I appreciate the support and the comment.
You´ve done a great job! 🙂 I made 1 cent in my second month haha 🙂
Congrats! It’s a start, I think that’s what I made in my 2nd month too. We just have to be diligent success is definitely possible. Thanks for the comment.
I love reading traffic reports from younger blogs, it gives me hope and ideas on how I could make money with mine… I’m definitely taking notes! Thank you!
I appreciate the support. Absolutely. I definitely feel like I learn more from new bloggers, because they are still exploring the best techniques. Best of luck on your blog too. Thanks for stopping in.
Samantha, I love this article! You’re ALWAYS going to do better as a blogger if you hold yourself accountable and stick to your goals. Definitely not as easy to make money from a blog as many people claim, but diligence and resourcefulness go a long way. Keep on keeping on! Thanks for posting 🙂