In 2012 when I began blogging, I never thought about making any money from my website(s). It was, and continues to be, a way that I’m able to share and connect with other people who are trying to improve their financial lives. At the end of 2014 after working at my old job for 10 years I decided to take “the leap” and work for myself. It has been an interesting experience. The first few years I was self-employed. Basically, I worked on projects that entrepreneurs needed help with and it went relatively well. Then, I decided to become an entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur made me reevaluate everything. And, I decided that it was ridiculous of me to block abundance in my life and I made the decision to focus on growing blog income. That’s why I’m sharing my blog income report each month so that you (and I) can see the ups and downs of growing digital income.
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March 2018 Blog Income: $11.14
Ironically, April’s Blog Income just exceeded March by quite a bit because I received payouts this morning. And, it’s just April 2nd.
Let’s be clear about my blog income reports. Here is what I actually report.
- Income Reported-Only includes actual money that is in my bank account. Even though it’s great to celebrate incremental earnings, I just don’t see the point of it in an income report. It can take months to hit the actual payout amount. And, it’s just…confusing.
- About Freelance Writing-I don’t include freelance writing income in my reports. My overall focus is to build passive income with my blog via: affiliate payouts, ad income, sponsorships, products, etc. Yes, I did make freelance writing money in March and even picked up a cool new gig with Vice. But, my ultimate goal is to wake up to payment notifications because I LOVE passive income. Seriously, I love it.
- Side-Hustles-I earned some money via side-hustles this month.
- Income Earned $11.14-Was actually a payout from Amazon Affiliates. I’m not exactly clear on how they figure out the amounts, but, I am excited to see that I’m beginning to get consistent payouts from Amazon.
- In-Kind Earnings $1660-I don’t include this in my income reports because cash in kind is not cash.
- $40-ThredUp-I ordered two cute shirts and a pair of jeans! Love ThredUp and it’s one of the reasons why I never spend cash on clothing anymore. Check it out! Get $10 towards your first order with my affiliate link.
- $20 Google Fi-Credit towards my phone bill in April. I use Google Fi and love it! If you’re looking to switch your cell phone service check it out (and, if you sign up with Google Fi via my affiliate link you’ll earn $20 after 30 days of service).
- $1600-That amount probably surprised you. I’m throwing in person events in Denver and I was able to get a well known space for free. Once a month until December I get to use the space for 4 hours. This is so awesome and something that I’ve focused on for awhile. Wish me luck!
Revenue Streams are Changing
Last month I shared that I planned to kick side-hustles to the curb and change my revenue streams.It’s a very scary and exciting time and thank goodness it’s Spring because it’s a great time to do this.
- Side-Hustles-I’m phasing these out and won’t be doing them after the end of April. I believe that they’ve become a bit of a crutch and they are also a time suck.
- Freelance Writing-There is nothing better than spending an hour or two working on a writing assignment and earning a couple of hundred bucks. Things are changing in my world and it will surprise some of my friends. I’ve decided to grow my freelance writing income. But, there are things about freelance writing that make me crazy and have made me hesitant to embrace this income stream more:
- Communication-this is the part that drives me crazy. It’s nice to know what’s going on and editors typically will be really persistent when they need work done and then when you reach out oftentimes…crickets. Editors-please set aside a day each week that you’re available to your writers. Let them know what that day is and then eliminate the guessing game of trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
- Payments-My current clients are fabulous but I’ve had clients that I had to chase to get paid. If we’re in the personal finance space obviously I care about when I get paid. Don’t make me chase you for my money. You’ve heard of Rihanna’s B$tch Do You Have My Money? If I did my work, on time, and did what I said what I would do-pay me on time.
- Client Number-You need to have enough clients that the first two issues don’t drive you batsh$t crazy. This is the part that I’ve hedged on. Basically, I’ve worked out that I need to have 3 times the number of writing clients that I currently have. Given that I used to deal with 600+ people at my old job, I’m sure I can handle a handful of freelance clients. But, I would be lying if I said that I’m excited about adding to the number LOL!
My reluctance to grow my freelance writing income is basically a 1st World Problem. For the next year I plan on increasing it and then as my passive income grows decrease it (enthusiastically LOL). It’s just a much more efficient way to make money than the current mix that I’m doing.
- Sponsorships-For those of you who are new to this blog, you may not know that I actually run two websites. The second one is about Colorado and I’m currently in the process of pitching for sponsors for events that I”m producing in Denver. The first event is May 4th so wish me luck!
- Podcast Sponsorships-I’m also in the process of pitching these as well for my two podcasts.
- Michelle is Money Hungry (subscribe!)
- Square State (subscribe!)
March and 1st Quarter Goals
- March $2500 in Blog Earnings-Uh…not even close. I was hoping that sponsorships and other income would begin hitting my accounts. Didn’t happen. And, I was a little confusing in my February post where I set this goal. I wrote$2500 in affiliate income earnings vs. $2500 in blog income earnings (a big difference) I was focused on blog earnings as whole.
- First Quarter Goals
- Daily Livestreaming Challenge-For 3 months I did a daily livestream challenge. The original plan was to do it for a year, but, I didn’t like how forced it felt. Livestreaming is great and I plan to get back into it-but, not daily LOL!
- Weightloss-Ahem, I didn’t lose any weight. And, I didn’t try. But, the weather is so nice and I’m looking forward to hiking, biking, etc.
- Start a Group/Hold Events-Am so HAPPY!! I have a free awesome space and am kicking off this group. One of the projects that I’ve been working on is creating local events addressing personal finance and networking issues. Finding a space was a HUGE issue and now that I’ve done that, it’s game on!
- Grow Subscriber List-My Colorado subscriber list grows nicely. My Michelle is Money Hungry…not so much LOL! It’s so annoying and I’m working on figuring this out this month.
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Quarter Two Goals
Holy Moly! It’s Quarter Two! Whenever I look at business transformations, Quarter two seems to be the quarter that changes things for a lot of people. There are no holidays, the kids are in school, the days are longer, and it’s just easier to focus. In fact, I’m finding that to be the case for me. Here are the goals that I’m working towards for the next 90 days.
- Bye-Bye Side-Hustles-Complete the side-hustle phaseout by the end of April. My original plan was March, but, it’s going to be April.
- Grow my freelance income-I have a certain amount in mind and don’t think it will be too difficult to achieve as long as I pitch often.
- Pinterest-Continue to focus on my Pinterest strategy. Interestingly Pinterest, Organic Searches, and social media referrals continue to be “tied” as traffic sources. My goal is to really get Pinterest to take off as it is a search engine.
- Health and Wellness-The weather is great so this will be easy and fun to do. Time to get this weight gone!
- Produce 2 Events-From June-December I have events scheduled one each month. Some events are just mixers, others are have panelists. Am so excited.
- Serve Others-This is at the heart of what I’m focusing on from now on.
- Have Fun! For some reason I’m finding my current projects so fun and intellectually stimulating. I’m really enjoying working through the challenges that I’ve set for myself.
- Miracle Morning Reboot-Spring Forward killed me this year! I’m starting my Miracle Mornings again today so wish me luck.
Michelle is Money Hungry Podcast
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast! Episodes are shared late Monday afternoons. Topics covered:
- Making more money
- Saving money
- Blogging and Online Business
I’m loving this process because it’s like working on a puzzle. I can’t wait to crack the blog income code and share that code with my readers and listeners!
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I think spring forwards gets harder and harder each year! I don’t think I’m still used to it. Congrats on finding the cool free space!
Spring forward kicked my butt this year! And, I’m really excited about the space.