Hey budgeting friends! Can you believe it’s June already?! Where is 2018 going?? 2018 has been a great year for my online business and I’m excited to share with you what I’ve been up to!
With that said, I’ve been working hard on my blog in 2018, and I wanted to share a little update with you guys. I used to share monthly income reports, but haven’t for a while. Mostly because my blog isn’t huge-yet! 😉
I love reading other blog income reports because it’s encouraging to see that others are making money from a blog, and it’s true! You really can make money blogging. If you’re interested in starting a blog of your own, learn how to start a blog here. Blogging has been such a fun outlet for me, and I love being able to make money doing something I love.
An Online Business Update
My blog has been doing well, but I’m not going to lie, traffic has been pretty stagnant since the fall. But I will say that my brand and business is growing in many other ways.
I have been putting more time and energy into my YouTube channel with over 2,000 subscribers now! I post twice a week, so make sure you’re subscribed to my channel!
My YouTube channel is actually growing a lot and I really enjoy creating video content. It’s nothing fancy. I film on my iPhone 8 and edit on iMovie, but it works well right now for the size of my channel.
Currently, I am still waiting on YouTube to approve my monetization. I reached their monetization criteria around Easter, and they said they’ll hopefully get back to me around the end of June so we’ll see… It will be nice to make some extra money with YouTube from creating the content I already love to make! My goal, once approved for monetization, is to purchase an actual camera to film with. Hopefully this summer!
I have also realized that I have spread myself quite thin when it comes to my online business. My day job is over 40 hours a week, and then come home to work on the blog and YouTube channel and it’s been a lot. I feel like I’ve more recently been doing the bare minimum with my blog to get by, and I know I need to be investing more in the long-term health of my online business.
Upcoming Business Goals
- Quality content over quantity of content: I’ve been going so hard at writing so many posts and having guest authors that I don’t think that my content has truly been amazing. I plan to spend more time writing a few really good posts rather than just trying to get a bunch up during the week.
- YouTube channel growth: As I talked about above, I’m working on growing my YouTube channel. I’m doing more research on SEO and plan to spend more time growing this outlet.
- Understanding Pinterest: Pinterest is an amazing SEO tool, but I’m honestly still trying to understand it and see how I can use it to get more traffic to my site. This is something I know I need to spend more time on.
I’ll be sure to update you guys on these goals as time goes on. I am hoping that by the end of 2018, I’ll see some serious growth with my blog. My ultimate goal would be to do this part-time or full-time, so I am hustling now in order for it to pay off later!
May 2018 Online Business Income Report
Now the part you’ve been waiting for… Again, I want to emphasize that my blog is pretty small right now. But we’re growing little by little. I get about 5,000 page views per month at this stage. Which also goes to show… You can make money blogging. Even with a small blog (this is especially what I love about affiliate marketing).
Here’s how I made $541.43 this month.
Ads: $1.30
This isn’t really a priority right now for me with such a small blog. You’ll see a couple ads on my site, but that’s about it. As I grow, I intend to place a few more ads on my page.
Affiliate Income: $462.77
Affiliate income is my favorite way to make money blogging, and I learned all about it from taking the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing class. If you’re wanting to learn how to make money blogging, this is seriously the class for you. It’s 100% worth it.
Bluehost: $300
Erin Condren: $70
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Class: $63.04
Ebates: $25
Amazon: $4.73
This was actually a great month for my affiliate income! I’m hoping to continue and build on months like this one.
Young Living: $77.36
Also new this month, but I started with Young Living! Simply because I have fallen in love with essential oils. I have begun to realize the importance of the things we put in our bodies, on our bodies, and in our homes, and Young Living’s oils and additional products have been the answer to that.
I have previously used a few essential oils and loved them. But this month, I bought the premium starter kit, and I have have loved using the oils and diffuser in my home. It’s something I feel good about using in my home, and makes everything feel so cozy and welcoming.
And an awesome part of this company (besides the products I first fell in love with) is that you can get paid to share your love for these products–similar to affiliate marketing!
You may be thinking… Marissa, Young Living is a multi-level marketing company. Aren’t you getting involved in a pyramid scheme?!
Nope! Sure, it’s a multi-level marketing company, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I love Young Living because their oils and other products are incredible and something I used before doing the business side. And the cost to start and run with the business is just the premium starter kit for $160 (which is amazing anyway). That’s it.
I’ve heard of so many other MLMs where you have to buy your own inventory. That’s a lot of money spent with no promise that anyone will buy… Yikes! With Young Living, I share my link for others to purchase, and if they do, I get a commission (yup, sounds very similar to affiliate marketing in that sense). So it is very low risk from a business side. And I truly believe in the products that the company has to offer.
Anyway, I started with the business side of it in mid-May and made $77.36 this month. I signed up only one person. And while it’s not a ton of money to write home about, it’s my first month! I’m excited to continue with this business and community and products that I truly do believe in. If you’re interested in learning more about essential oils or even starting a side hustle with Young Living like I am, email me at marissa@thebudgetingwife.com.
Cheers to What’s Next
My goal is that this blog and online business will continue to grow. And I don’t plan to share income reports every month (unless my blog blows up like crazy. ha!) but I did want to share a quick update with you guys as a reminder that you can make money blogging! You don’t need to be chained to the 9-5 for the rest of your life. And starting an online business is incredibly exciting.
Also, I wanted to share with you that I recently learned that I won a trip to FinCon18 in Orlando! This is a huge convention with thousands of personal finance bloggers, YouTubers and influencers. There’s a great line up of speakers coming and I’m so excited to attend this September! I won this trip based on a post that I wrote for #FinHealthMatters day. You can check it out here, and be sure to follow along with me during my FinCon trip on instagram (@thebudgetingwife).