Hey and welcome to this past month’s income report. I can’t stop cheesin’! April was a great month for the blog and I can only hope to keep the momentum going. If you’re new here, this is my second income report for the blog. I published my first report last month and plan on creating these reports for as long as I continue to pull in income.
If you’re new here, I decided to start publishing these reports for a few reasons:
- To be as transparent as possible with my blog’s growth and my sources of income;
- To allow me to track my blog’s progress; and
- To show ya’ll that it’s possible to make money blogging.
Although I started my blog in August 2016, I didn’t actually begin trying to generate income from it until December 2017 for a few reasons:
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I wasn’t confident enough in my writing!
I’m not a great writer and have always dreaded writing anything other than my name; hence why I studied finance and not English! I never thought I’d even get one reader to the sight let alone thousands.
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I didn’t know it was possible to generate income from blogging
I initially began blogging as a way to document my journey and teach others what I was learning along the way. I had no clue people actually made money blogging! Come to find out, there are plenty of awesome full-time personal finance bloggers out there sharing their stories as well. But in the beginning, I wasn’t aware of all the opportunities (monetary and nonmonetary) that came along with running a blog, so the possibility of making a little extra money didn’t cross my mind.
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I wasn’t consistent with my content
Prior to December 2017, I didn’t take posting content or developing my blog seriously. I didn’t look at it as a viable business opportunity even though I was spending money to run it (hosting services, email accounts, etc.). I took notice of a few personal finance bloggers that were making thousands of dollars while helping a ton of people in the process, and it started to motivate me the more I read their stories. So, I created a plan to create consistency with posting content, and not only for the purpose of generating income, but more so to stick with something I created and see it through to success.
How much have I made so far?
Last month was the first time I actually published a report. When I first decided to monetize and eventually publish a report, I told my twitter followers that I would create one once I hit my first $100. Well, I hit $100 mark and then some over the course of four months, so I went ahead and combined all my earnings from Dec to March to produce my first report. I’m happy to announce that I have now suppressed the $1,000 mark (insert a freaking out from so much happiness face here), keep reading for all the details.
A few things have happened since I started trying to monetize:
- I had my first paid public speaking engagement this past month and my blog is the main reason why I was asked to speak. I gave a presentation on preventative financial care and how to manage stress while balancing your finances. It was such an awesome experience that I can’t wait to do it again. I also meet and got to connect with some pretty awesome women in the commercial real estate space.
- I attended a pre-networking happy hour event for Lola Retreat -a personal finance retreat for women that took place this past weekend in NYC. I got chance to meet and chat with Mabel, the creator of @GirlsOnTheMoney so that was pretty dope. And even though I feel like I’m awful at networking, I was super inspired by the women at the happy hour event and I’m looking forward to actually attending the retreat next year.
- I created my first digital product, which serves as a tool to not only help people get out of debt, but to also save more money, and stick with a budget (DEBT ATTACK PACK). It’s the same tool I used to pay off $38,000 of debt and is still the same tool I use to budget and save money.
- I created a user guide on how to start a blog using BlueHost, the same hosting provider I use to run Make Real Cents.
- I had my first ever debt free journey interview for the blog. People loved it so much that I would like to plan to feature at least one journey a month going forward. If you’ve recently become debt free and would like to be featured on the blog, let’s chat! Send me an email at contact@makerealcents.com.
- I announced that I will be offering coaching sessions starting this summer, I am supppper excited about this. If you’re struggling to get started or need the motivation to keep after it, coaching may be for you.
I’m super excited for what this year has to bring for my blog, and I’m looking forward to sharing my story along the way. So, without further ado here’s April 2018 income report!Thanks for reading!
April 2018 Income Report
Affiliate Income
- Amazon Affiliate – $1.26
- BlueHost- $0.00
- Google AdSense – $4.59
- Haven Life Insurance – $0.00
Digital Products
- Debt Attack Pack -$301.00
Sponsorships – $0.00
Miscellaneous – $300.00
TOTAL: $606.85
Some of the affiliate programs require that you reach a certain amount before the funds are released so not all the income listed above has been paid out yet.
Social Media Stats
End of March 2018
- Twitter Followers: 420
- YouTube: 5
- Instagram followers: 3,200
- Facebook Likes: 416
End of April
- Twitter Followers: 566 (+145)
- Youtube: 29 (+24)
- Instagram: 4,714 (+ 1,514)
- Facebook Likes: 433 (+ 17)
- Pinterest: 62 (+35)
Debt Payoff
When I started this journey in 2016, I had approximately $57,000 of debt. I don’t know an exact number because I wasn’t tracking as good as I am now. I didn’t keep it all in one place until I developed a method that worked for me (The Debt Attack Pack).
My debt consisted of:
- Student Loans
- Medical Bills
- Car
- Credit Cards
Money paid to debt in April: – $ 832.00
Debt Remaining: $10,123.00
I’m super excited and proud of the progress I’ve been able to make so far. I didn’t think I’d even have one reader and now thousands of people visit this site each month to read the content I’m creating. It’s a pretty cool concept if you step back and think about it. I’ve been able to create something out of nothing, connect with hundreds of people, and help change lives in the process. I say that’s pretty dope.
Cheers to progress!
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