The Rising Damsel – Fifth Blog Income and Traffic Report

This post contains affiliate links.
You got laid off!? That’s terrible! What have you been doing with all of your time? Changing my life, hustlin my finances, enjoying life! When I got laid off I knew it was time to take blogging and making money through my blog seriously.

This month I earned $19.24 compared to last month’s $1.98! It’s obvious my efforts now will amount to a great passive income in the future, and I’m ecstatic!

In this post I’m going to breakdown my traffic, revenue sources, and goals. These posts keep me on track, but more importantly they are going to show you that it’s possible to earn a passive income through blogging too!

Of course to earn a passive income with a blog you need to start your own blog, and I can definitely help with that. Easy setup for your blog can be found here: 15 Minute Quick Start to Hosting with Bluehost. Feel free to message me with any questions, I’m here to help with anything you can think to ask.

What Was Accomplished in August

Blog Posts

This month I was able to publish 4 blog posts and 1 my traffic report

• How to Standout and Gain Followers on Pinterest!
• Cut Costs at a Restaurant, Tips From a Former Waitress
• The Happier Life You Desire is Closer than You Think! A Free Guide
• 17 J.K. Rowling Quotes to Empower Your Dreams and Goal
• +July’s Traffic Report

Views:  1,180 / 2,285
Total Blog Views: 4,788  / 6,875

Launched my Free Guide to Happiness

Creating this guide opened my own eyes to how easy it is to make small tweaks to create a more positive life. This guide focuses on your goals, and helping you to get things done. We forget what a sense of fulfillment accomplishment brings. This is much more than look for rainbows, it provides actionable suggestions for common goals as well as ways to make life easier. Check out the first 11 tips here: The Happier Life You Desire is Closer Than You Think- A Free Guide and get the whole guide by subscribing to the blog.

Chitika Shout Out!

I have so much love for my favorite my favorite advertising network. You might wonder why I don’t use google adsense? Well, I used adsense for 6 years before switching platforms, and Chitika’s up to date analytics and payouts BLOW adsense away.

With adsense, it seemed like I was waiting a whole week for analytics. With Chitika you can run analytics on anything from ad space to referral numbers daily, the program is a dream. Chitika also works with adsense, so you can use both and compare until you make the switch over. Checking on my Chitika stats is a daily ritual that peps me up for the rest of the day. I highly suggest the positivity boost especially if you’re sick of adsense.

Social Media Goals:

• Pinterest Goal 1,100. Accomplished! From 917 to 1,181 followers! That’s 264 in one month! Smashed this one again using my own printables. I better up the goal and try to hit 1,400 by the end of September. I’d love it if you followed me here: Pinterest.
• Instagram Goal 350. Accomplished! I went from 273 to 357 lovely followers on Instagram. This month I hope to get my count up to 435. I always follow back. Find me on Instagram here: Instagram.
• Twitter. Goal 200. Accomplished! I went from 148 to 221 followers. Twitter has been a great source of traffic, and a reshare can be worth it’s weight in gold. My goal will be to hit 310 for September. Find me on Twitter here: Twitter
• Facebook Page Follows. Goal 125. Accomplished! From 98 to 165 follows. Woah! How did that happen? I really have to credit facebook success to facebook groups and pages! Feel free to join mine here: Facebook Page. I’ve learned so much from groups already, and if you have a bad day there’s 1000’s of people to tell you ‘it’s gonna be ok!’
• Blog Subscribers. Goal 70. Failed! From 30 to 65 subscribers. After the month started I realized my goal was a little ambitious, and I can’t believe we got as close as we did. Thank you to all you lovelies who subscribed, I have huge plans for you guys! Soon I’ll be sending out blog interview questions to help my subscribers promote their own blogs for free. This will help to establish more back links for any bloggers looking to up their SEO and page views. When you subscribe you also get the The Social Media Scorecard which blasted my pinterest! I would love to get up to 100 subscribers for September.

Blog Goals 

• Set Up Convertkit. Accomplished! Well technically I chose to not use Convertkit, just yet. I set up my existing Sumo account to send auto-response emails, which is what I was hoping to accomplish for the month! Once I have more time to dedicate to Convertkit I will sign up again. They’re customer service was phenomenal even when I said I wasn’t extending my free trial. They will definitely get my business back.
• Create 5 day freebie. FAILish! Instead of a 5 day freebie I created a 31 day Happiness Guide. Still a win, but not the goal.
• Share 5 blog posts. Accomplished! 4 posts and 1 income report counts!
• Create More Free Lead Magnets. Accomplished! I wanted to create something that would benefit your everyday life and that’s what I did with the Get Happy Guide! We rush, we take things for granted, we do things the hard way, and we don’t have to! Just using some of my tips consistently will get you huge results! Get it today by subscribing to the blog, start taking steps towards change and a better tomorrow!
• Increase Pinterest and Social Media Follower Counts. Accomplished! 
  I drastically increased the amount of pins I schedule with Tailwind. Through a previous error in scheduling I was unknowingly pinning 50-75 times a day oops. My traffic grew like crazy, but of course when I corrected the error my follower count went stagnant! This unprovoked experiment has shown me that pinning 50 times a day is optimal and needed for growth. The only feasible way I can do this is with Tailwind. Before tailwind I was ripping my hair out trying to pin all day and hated Pinterest. Now I spend 15 minutes and it’s my favorite place to share. Without auto-scheduling I wouldn’t have half my traffic. Use my link to get a month free of Tailwind to see for yourself. I’m here to help, so please don’t hesitate to message with questions.
• Research Guest Posting Opportunities. Fail! To be honest I’m scared to have others blog on my blog. I don’t understand the logistics, and unfortunately I let that intimidation get the best of me.
• Engage With My Tailwind Tribe. Accomplished! By actively pinning more content to tailwind tribes, I’ve seen an increase in my repins. You already know the reason I still pin is because of Tailwind. You can utilize the program in a completely free way with tribes! Tribes are a free place for you to post your pins, but need an invite much like a groupboard on pinterest. Go right here: Promote Your Blog- The Rising Damsel Tribe for your invite. Tribes will always be free, but if you do join Tailwind you will get a free month through my link.
• Increase Page Views. Accomplished! Blogging and sharing my content consistently has helped my traffic grow tremendously! I had the most views this month by far, and it was due to engaging in social media. Sharing to facebook, and pinterest have been my biggest traffic drivers by far! If you engage in facebook groups and pinterest group boards you won’t regret it! Spy on my pinterest group boards here: Group Boards are at the top! Join what you can and feel free to follow me while you’re there 🙂

Referrer Views

Facebook: 25 / 100 / 134 / 204 / 600

Pinterest: 83 / 104 /289 / 302 / 591

Stumbleupon: 302 / 305 / 215 / 246 / 144

Blog Income Breakdown

• Chitika: $2.0537
  
• TrustedHouseSitters: $.50 With trusted housesitters you can stay anywhere in the entire world FOR FREE as an international petsitter! Check out the cute animals who need friends while their owners travel by going here. Trustedhousesitters is a great way to see the world, and you can google and research the surrounding area for tons of local exploration.
• Ebates: $.69 I love ebates because of how easy it is to save money. Just add the browser extension and easily cruise for discounts. I check ebates before I buy anything. I’m usually on a buying freeze, but couldn’t resist a few sweaters at 80% off plus 3% cash back.
  
• Shareasale Signup: $1.00 My favorite Shareasale affiliates are: Tailwind, ModCloth, PicMonkey, and StudioPress by Copyblogger. Shareasale has so many brands that I trust and support anyways. Being apart of their affiliate network is a great fit and they have tons of links and resources for your affiliate marketing.
  
• Tailwind: $15.00 credit. I’m excited lots of people are giving Tailwind a try! If you can’t tell from all my raving tailwind is my favorite auto-scheduling program out there. When used properly it has unlimited power to influence your site. Use my link to get a month free of Tailwind today.

$19.24 !!!

This is my best month yet and I have all of you to thank for it.

September Goals

Share 5 Blog Posts Total.

Create a 5 Day Blogging Guide. Pinterest has been so good to me and my blog, I really want to share my easy strategy for you to increase your follower counts. I found out the hard way so you don’t have to!

Questionnaire for My Subscribers to Share. My main goal for this site is to help people with their own career and finances. A lot of us are blogging and I want to provide a space for you guys to share your work and products. Please feel free to message me or subscribe to the blog if you’re already interested. The notifications should go out in the next week or two, of all my goals I’m most excited about this one.

Combine all Blogging Printables to Offer a Comprehensive Pack. I’d like to create a lead page so my printables are easier to find.

Send Out a Package of Stationery. More printables are coming soon.

Focus On Growing Instagram. For whatever reason I’m still shy when sharing pictures on Instagram. I need to start snapping and stop judging if something is ‘worthy’ of being shared.

Final Thoughts

Starting a blog was the best thing that I ever did for myself! I hope to inspire you to find your own creative outlet and become financially independent. If you’re ready to jump into blogging I suggest you read my post Start a WordPress blog with Bluehost. It will walk you through an easy setup, and as always feel free to message me, I’m happy to help

Would you like some lifestyle tips before you go? You’ll love these!

Have you made any steps toward change recently?

Let me know so I can cheer you on! Every step is a step towards financial independence and we are all worth it. 

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! 

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 to earn. 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.