May Traffic & Blog Income Report

During my 1st Year Blogiversary post, I asked you all if you would be interested in my doing both a Pinterest post (since 60% or more of my traffic comes from Pinterest) as well as an income report now that I am actually making some money!  Your response was overwhelmingly “Yes!” so I’m going to start doing these Traffic & Income Reports on a monthly basis!

I believe that more bloggers should reveal their income, as well as some stats about their traffic to inspire and encourage others, so I’m am giving monthly updates about my income and traffic statistics. This is my actual blogging income, folks.  Read on!

Let’s get started!

I am discovering that I’m less obsessed with page views now, than I ever have been before.  Page view fluctuations are completely normal, and I am more focused on having an engaged and present audience than on pure numbers.  That said, numbers still matter, so here are mine:

Traffic –

Retired by 40:

• Pageviews: 112,146
• Unique Pageviews: 55,341 

Time –

I keep track of the hours I work as dilligently as I can because I want to know if I am spending my time wisely.  These hours include hours worked both here on the blog and on The Pinterest Assistant, for my Pinterest clients.

The month of May brought the highest dollar amount I’ve ever made per hour, at $28.94.  During May, here are the hours I worked:

• May 1-2nd: 12.25
• May 3-9: 29.75
• May 10 – 16: 47.25
• May 17 – 23: 38.75
• May 24 – 30: 38
• May 31: 3
• Total Hours: 159

I promised myself when I went into business for myself that I would NOT work more than 40 hours per week (averaged, not exactly) and so I love seeing these numbers!  Based on those hours, and the income I will spell out below, in May I made:

$26.85 per hour

Not quite as good as last month, but I’ll take it!  Just like with page views, in blogging and freelancing, ups and downs are completely normal.  As long as I see my business and blog progressing, I am happy!

If you want to start your own money-making blog, you can do so very cheaply.  I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own in about 10 minutes, and very cheaply, with prices starting at only $3.95 a month.  This low price is only available through my Bluehost link, and when you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting, Bluehost will even throw in a FREE domain name (a $15 value).  Again, this pricing + free domain name is only available through my link, and if you want to make money with your blog, then self-hosting through a company such as Bluehost is essential.

Income –

This is important: Previously, I was reporting the income I earned (not necessarily was paid) and actual expenses paid.  When this blog was smaller, it worked well, mainly because I was so excited to be making money – haha!

So, this month I am reporting the actual income I received, as well as actual expenses.  This will make for a more accurate income report and hourly rate, but it will look a little bit deceiving, because some of the income I reported last month I will show as received this month – so just realize that as you read this!

This does not account for the 30% that I hold back for taxes.  Also, this does not take expenses into account – those will be covered in the next section.

My New Favorite –

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I’m loving The Pinterest Assistant.  Don’t stop reading.  Seriously, because I have some exciting news:

I’m hiring!

The Pinterest Assistant has grown so much that I’m ready to hire some part-time help!  The idea candidate has experience with Pinterest, Tailwind, and is excellent at communicating with clients.  The position has now set schedule, but as such must be able to manage their time effectively and meet deadlines.  I am fully prepared to train whoever I hire, so if you’re interest, please email your resume and rates to me at [email protected].

Oh, and one more thing: If you love Canva like I do for it’s free, amazing design program, as well as affordable images for purchase, then click here to register for early access to Canva for Work – just another way that Canva is changing the face of online design!

Retired by 40!

• Ad Networks: $379.34
  • The Blogger Network: $290.28
  • Media.net: $0
  • BlogHer: $89.06
• Affiliate Sales: $2,981.81
  • Commission Junction: $314.90
  • Tailwind: $24.73
  • EBA: $2,602.40
  • Amazon Associates: $39.78
• Sponsored Posting: $200
  • Moms Affiliate:
  • TapInfluence: usually this is around $400 – if you want to to participate in awesome, well-paid sponsored posts, check out TapInfluence!)
  • Clever Girls: $200
• The Pinterest Assistant: $979.82
• Freelance Projects: $100
• Total Income: $4,640.97

I should note that this month brought a couple of technical issues.  During the middle of the month, my site was not loading correctly, and Kortney, my amazing contact at The Blogger Network noticed it, and offered to have her tech team take a look.  Since I’m not techie at all, I said “Yes!” and they went to work, and solved the problem really quickly.  Besides making more money with TBN, I am unbelievably attached to them because of this crazy level of service they provide!

Expenses

Finally! After a couple of really high expense months, things are finally down to a manageable level!  Also, you should know that these are just the expenses for the blog, the income you see from The Pinterest Assistant is net of expenses already.

•  Tailwind for my Pin scheduling.  You can learn more about how to schedule pins for only $10 a month here.
• MailChimp: $35.00 – I absolutely loooove MailChimp .  For those of us who are technically, and artistically challenged, this is the absolute best way to go for emails.  Check out these 11 Reasons why Every Blogger Needs Mailchimp for more info!
• BoardBooster: $20.00 – I’m still using Tailwind, but this new BoardBooster is amazing!  It is literally a set-it and forget-it method of keeping your  content pinned to your boards at regular intervals.  Your first 500 pins are free, so you literally have nothing to lose!
• Fiverr: $5.50 
• Restored 316 Designs: $45.00
• SSL Certificate: $33.99
• Createspace Proof: $11.35
• Productive Inbox: $5
• PostPlanner: $60.00
• Mozzue: $49
• AWeber: $19
• Misc: $115.04

• Total Expenses: $435.73

Some Highlights –

May was my first full month of self-employment, and boy was it busy!  I am still NOT going to work more than 40 hours a week, which means I didn’t get any work done on my project that centers around being an efficient blogger.  But, as you saw, I am in the process of hiring some help so that I will have time to focus on some extra projects.

I starting taking on clients with the Pinterest Assistant, and if you need affordable Pinterest marketing services for your blog, be sure to head over the The Pinterest Assistant for more information and pricing!

This month brought 6 new clients, and June has already seen 2 new clients, so needless to say, I’m really happy with how things are going!

Thoughts?

May 2015 Goals –

• Business Checking: Will actually get this one done: FAIL! Sort of – I found a free business checking account, but I’m waiting on one paperwork thing.  Then it will be done!
• Make $1,800 – SUCCESS!
• 180,000 page views – FAIL!
• Pick up one new Pinterest Assistant client – PASS!  So, The Pinterest Assistant was featured by two amazing bloggers that I know, and I actually picked up 4 new clients in May – crazy!!!! Thank you, thank you, to J$ and Cat, who wrote about me on their websites
• Develop more affiliate revenue streams: Right now, I have tons of links within the blog that aren’t actually affiliate links!  Crazy, right?  I’ll definitely be working on this during May. – SUCCESS!

June 2015 Goals

• Pick up one new Pinterest Assistant Client
• Gain 1,000 new Twitter followers
• Make $2,500
• Possibly hire help for The Pinterest Assistant?

If you want to start your own money-making blog, you can do so very cheaply.  I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own in about 10 minutes, and very cheaply, with prices starting at only $3.95 a month.  This low price is only available through my Bluehost link, and when you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting, Bluehost will even throw in a FREE domain name (a $15 value).  Again, this pricing + free domain name is only available through my link, and if you want to make money with your blog, then self-hosting through a company such as Bluehost is essential.

How was your month?  I would love to hear about it!

*This post may contain affiliate links

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June Blog Traffic & Income Report Traffic & Blog Income Report – March 2015 Traffic & Blog Income Report – April 2015 2-Year Milestone: July Traffic & Blog Income Report August 2015 Blog Income & Traffic Report How I Make Money Blogging: September 2015 Blog Income Report Traffic & Blog Income Report – February 2015 Traffic & Blog Income Report – November 2014 Traffic & Blog Income Report – January 2015 Traffic & Income Report – September 2014 – My Actual Blogging Income