Welcome to March’s business income report where I show you how I made money online last month. It’s time to look at this month’s update and see how I did.
If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you may be wondering why I would want to publish my income report each month. You can simply skip to the next section if you’re not new here.
This all started out as my extra income report because in the beginning, it was all about the money I was earning from my side jobs. In my side income reports from the beginning, I included all of the income I made except for what I made at my day job.
However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in October of 2013 and now my monthly income reports consist of the many ways I earn a living.
Many have asked why I would ever want to publicly post my income each month. Some think I’m crazy, whereas some are glad I’m open about what I’m doing. Whatever you think, I enjoy publishing my monthly online income reports and I share them publicly for three main reasons:
Before I started blogging, I knew nothing about side hustling and making money online. I didn’t think side jobs were worth the effort and I thought the only way to significantly increase your income was through raises at your full-time job. If it weren’t for others publishing their monthly income reports, I don’t know if I would have ever tried side hustling. I want to help show others the positives in side hustling and how it can change a person’s life. There are many different ways to make money online, and I like to share my story each month to help motivate others to improve their financial situation by making more money.
Secondly, I like to publish my income reports because it’s a way for me to look back, learn from my mistakes and actually see what areas need improvement. I use my monthly income reports as a way to track how I’ve done and I treat it sort of like a journal.
Lastly, I like to show others that making side money is possible and that there are many legitimate ways to make money from your home. If you are looking for information on the many ways to make money online, I published the article Monthly Income Report Roundup that showcases many successful bloggers who are kind enough to share their income with the public each month.
I know I say this every month, but it’s the truth. Life is great now that I’m my own boss and a full-time blogger. I look forward to each and every day and it’s a wonderful feeling. I truly love waking up every single morning.
Above are just a few of the reasons for why I enjoy publishing my monthly income reports. I like to show others that you don’t have to hate your job and hate your life. You can make changes to your life and make money in a way that allows you to truly enjoy the life you are living. I’m not saying that you have to LOVE your job, I’m just saying that your job should, at least, allow you to do what you like to do outside of work (whether that be spending time with loved ones, painting, hiking, etc.).
How was business income in March of 2017?
I earned $130,856.35 blogging and online in March of 2017, before expenses.
This makes March my third consecutive month with income over $100,000. I never thought that I would ever earn over $100,000 a month, especially through a blog, and it’s crazy to think about how I earned over $130,000 last month alone.
While my income levels are high, I do want everyone to remember that I started at $0 a month and have grown my income to where it’s at now through a lot of hard work.
Before you think that $100 or even $1,000 is out of your league, you should remember that it is not!
I, myself, used to think that it would be great to one day earn $1,000 online and through my blog. I looked up to many bloggers who were earning over $10,000 a month, and I thought that was impossible.
Now, I’m here to show everyone that it is possible! Through hard work and dedication, you never know where life may lead you.
This great business income month was because of a few different things that happened and that I’ve been working on lately:
I helped promote a friend’s course launch on an affiliate income basis, and this helped me earn five figures just from the five days that the course was open for sale. I don’t usually promote products heavily through a launch because I favor a more passive income source of affiliate income, but this is a great course so I wanted to help promote it. You can sign up for the waitlist for the next time it goes on sale by clicking here.
I took part in a webinar where I was the guest money expert, and this helped me to grow my email list and following. Plus, it was a lot of fun and helped me get out of my box a little more.
I had a feature in Forbes in January, which still generated over 5,000 new visitors even in the month of March to Making Sense of Cents (so wonderful!). This feature has led to many new email subscribers, many great emails from new readers, and more.
I’m focusing on diversifying my income. In 2016, I finally created my first for-sale product, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. This helped me to diversify my business and try a new form of income. Now, my business income primarily consists of affiliate marketing, a product, sponsorships, and advertising, which is a mix that I’m very happy with. Also, I’m making a better effort at diversifying my affiliate income as well, so that I earn a larger share of income from different companies.
I’m focusing on my email list. I didn’t start taking my email list seriously until around April of 2016 when I switched to Convertkit. Convertkit makes sending an effective and efficient newsletter so much easier and better. I never really understood email marketing before, but ConvertKit makes it so easy and now I feel like I’m an expert! I now have over 45,000 email subscribers. One of my biggest blogging mistakes was waiting years to start my email list. If you don’t have one yet, you should start ASAP!
I’m spending more time on Facebook. I started 2016 with just around 6,500 Facebook followers and ended the year with 38,000. At the end of March of 2017, I was already at 60,000. I owe a lot of that to the ebook Facebook Strategies Worth Sharing. Growing my Facebook page has allowed me to reach new readers, improve my blogging income, grow my email list, and more.
As you can see, March was another great month. It was great on all fronts – blogging, course-wise, life, and everything else.
I’m very excited for 2017. I know it will be another great year! The business is doing well and I’m very happy with it. I’ve been catching myself saying “Life is really good” a LOT. And, I truly mean it. Life is really good!
My business is growing, income is increasing, I have tons of amazing ideas for 2017, and I am very excited about everything. I really love my business and I don’t know where I would be without it.
My Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course is still doing very well and I had many new students join the course last month. I think a lot of this has to do with all of the amazing reviews that I’m hearing about my course such as:
One blogger went from $0 in Amazon affiliate income to over $1,500 after taking the course.
One blogger went from $87 a month in affiliate income before taking the course, to over $1,700 a month after!
One blogger received their first affiliate sale just two days after taking the course (and they were a brand new blogger too!).
Another blogger doubled their monthly affiliate income from $2,500 to $5,000.
Plus, I’ve heard and read many other great reviews about my course.
If you’re a blogger, I recommend checking out my blogging course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I share my exact strategy and tips in this very informative online course. If you’re a blogger, then you need to check out this course.
If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $2.75 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free website domain (a $15 value) through my Bluehost link if you purchase, at least, 12 months of blog hosting. FYI, if you are asking yourself “can you make money blogging?” – my top tip is to be self-hosted. This is essential if you want to monetize your blog as you will appear more professional and this will help you monetize your blog tremendously. My blogging income did not take off until after I switched to self-hosted WordPress.
This chart only goes back to August of 2015. You can find all of my income reports here.
Breakout of March 2017 income – $130,856.35:
In March of 2017, I earned $130,856.35 from my blog. Below is how my income breaks apart in the different blogging income categories:
Affiliate income – $86,255.36 total:
Bluehost (check out my tutorial on how to start a blog) – $45,630.00
Survey companies – $10,291.50
Bookkeeper Business Academy – $1,123.25
MOTIF Investing – $1,058.00
Ebates – $1,000.00 (estimated as this is a tiered affiliate program)
Building a Framework – $854.40
Izea/SponsoredTweets – $384.00
How I Grew My Facebook Page From 2,000 to 100,000 in Five Months – $374.00
How To Start An Online Store – $343.36
Uber – $315.00
Credible – $300.00
ConvertKit – $271.60
$5 Meal Plan – $246.00
Amazon – $121.60
17 Strategies Used to Go From 17K to 350K+ Page Views in 9 Months – $120.00
Make Money Proofreading By Becoming A Freelance Proofreader – $109.40
Personal Capital – $100.00
Digit – $90.00
Ibotta – $50.00
Miscellaneous affiliates – $22,490.60 (I had a big launch the last few days of February for an affiliate product and the first few days of March as well, but this income is only from the launch earnings in March, as well as a few other products that I sold as well in March. This product won’t be for sale again until next February but you can sign up for the waitlist here).
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course – $30,088.00
Sponsorships and advertising- $11,750.00
Display advertising – $2,763.00
Total: $130,856.35
The income amount above is for the month of March and before any fees or expenses (some fees and expenses that lower the amount above total around $4,000 (rounded up), which include virtual assistants, Teachable course platform fee, technical assistance, newsletter expenses, PayPal fees, Stripe fees, etc., however, this does not include taxes) being taken out. I also had expenses for the affiliates promoting my course, which totaled $7,976.40. After expenses and fees, I made approximately $118,879.
Please keep in mind that I work for myself when you read my monthly income report. This means I have to cover taxes (which are over 30%), health insurance, and all other benefits/expenses that an employer may provide.
Check out The Ultimate Guide To Making Money Blogging for all of the different ways you can make money through a blog.
Below are some of my other monthly online income reports. I publish an online income update every month but only included some of them below as it would be a very long list. If you head on over to my income page you can find all of my monthly income reports from the past few years.
Comparisons and 2017 online income total:
Total income in March of 2017: $130,856
Total income in February of 2017: $160,211
Difference from the previous month: -29,355
Total in 2017: $430,300
Blog news
Making Sense of Cents is doing very well and I’m happy with how everything is going.
Last month, I was debating keeping my income reports. However, after all of the comments and emails that I received, I will definitely be keeping them! I’m glad everyone still enjoys them because they are one of my favorite things I write each month. They are a great way to stay motivated with my business, to track how I’m doing, see what I need to work on, and, of course, help all of you.
My feature in Forbes from January is still bringing in some traffic and I’m still loving it. You can read my feature here – How This 27 Year Old Made Nearly $1,000,000 in 2016.
I’m starting to guest post on other websites in order to promote my blog better and reach new readers. I think I’ve only guest posted once or twice ever since I started blogging in 2011, so this is something that I’m looking to change. I am going to try to guest post on someone else’s website at least once a month for the next year and see how that works out. So far, guest posting has been going very well!
Overall, traffic for the month was around 500,000 page views.
Below are several blog-related updates:
I finally started a community group for Making Sense of Cents. This is a Facebook group in which you can seek advice from other readers on all sorts of topics such as finance, blogging, travel, running a business, and so on. It’s only been open for less than two weeks and there are already over 4,000 members!
I created a new series on my blog where I interview extraordinary people who are doing interesting things in life. First, I interviewed JP, who retired at the age of 28 with a net worth over $2,000,000. Other interviews I already have in the works include a landlord under the age of 30 with 8 rentals, a full-time sailor, a full-time RVer, a person who paid off over $200,000 in debt, and more. I’m extremely excited about this new interview series! If there’s anyone you would like me to interview, please leave a comment.
I released my How To Start A Blog FREE Course. If you’ve been wanting to start a blog, then check this out. I created this email course for those who are interested in starting a blog, but haven’t done so yet. The course is free, and over 15,000 people have already signed up just in the past few months. Thank you to everyone who has sent me kind emails about how great the course is. I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner!
Due to how well my first free course went, I also created the free Master Your Money email course. It’s full of great money management lessons and financial worksheets (such as a free budget template), and I’m loving the positive response from this email course as well.
I have plans for my third free email course and I will most likely put that together sometime this spring.
Popular new posts on Making Sense of Cents last month:
Featured Question: What blogging ebooks and courses do you recommend?
I feature one question from a reader in each monthly income report. Please leave a comment below if you have a question that you would like me to answer.
I receive this question nearly every single day.
Growing a blog and building a successful business requires work, and a lot of it!
If you want to be successful, then you may want to look into buying ebooks and/or courses that will teach you exactly what to do, so that you can minimize the amount of blogging mistakes you make and learn how to run a successful blogging business from the very beginning. Plus, there are many blogging secrets that you can’t just find anywhere. So, by taking a course or reading an ebook, you will learn exactly what you have to work on.
I’m almost always taking new blogging-related courses because I know that there is always something new to learn.
Here are the ebooks and courses that I recommend for bloggers:
Facebook Strategies Worth Sharing – I started 2016 with just around 6,500 Facebook followers and ended it with 38,000. I’m already at over 60,000 in April of 2017. I owe a lot of that to the ebook Facebook Strategies Worth Sharing. Growing my Facebook page has allowed me to reach new readers, improve my blogging income, grow my email list, and more.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – I earn over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing and I share my exact strategy and tips in this very informative online course. If you’re a blogger, then you NEED this course. I show you exactly how to make a more passive income from blogging, even while you’re sleeping.
7 Surefire Ways To Boost Your Blog Income Overnight – By signing up, you’ll receive a free copy of the informative ebook 7 Surefire Ways To Boost Your Blog Income Overnight. Plus, Ruth sends out many other great blogging tips all the time. Her course Elite Blog Academy launches one time each year (next time will most likely be February 2018) and it’s probably the most popular well-rounded blogging course.
17 Strategies I Used To Grow My Page Views eBook – Lena Gott’s ebook is full of great information on how to increase your blog’s page views. If you are feeling stuck or if you are a new blogger, check out this ebook! Lena went from 17,000 monthly page views to 350,000 and shares all of her best tips in this ebook.
DOMINATE The Search Engines! and SKYROCKET Your Pageviews – These are two SEO-related ebooks that I purchased (I ended up taking ALL of ebooks and courses that these authors sell on SEO too) that have helped me grow my traffic from search engines. I didn’t focus on SEO until just late last year, which is something that I still regret. If you want traffic from Google and other search engines, then you should check out these two products.
The blogging ebooks and courses above will help you to create a successful blog. They will show you how to master Facebook, get crazy traffic from Pinterest, grow your blogging income, and more.
Share in the comments below: What is your favorite blogging ebook or course?
Past featured questions:
My plans for my blog and my business.
Plans and goals can help you run a successful business. I believe that working towards a goal can help keep a person motivated too.
Below are some of the areas I am currently working on:
Earn $1,000,000 from my business in 2017. This is a new goal for 2017. Many of you have asked why I didn’t increase my goal to $2,000,000 for 2017 since I was so close to $1,000,000 in 2016 already. Well, the main reason for that is because my overall goal for the year is to have a better work-life balance, and, instead, earn more passive income from my blogging business.
Have a better work-life balance. This is my main goal for 2017 as quickly mentioned above. While I have an okay work-life balance, I would like to be able to take a break from my blog without constantly checking my phone or laptop. Even just a day would be nice! I love my business, so that makes it hard for me to step away from it, even for just a few hours.
Get at least three months ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. I am currently 2 months ahead in content. Before the end of the month (April of 2017), I would like to be at least 3 months ahead in content. Being ahead in content makes life much more enjoyable because I can focus on other things knowing that the majority of my writing work is already done. We plan on visiting many new places this spring and summer, and we recently booked a 2-week sailing trip, so I am trying to get as far ahead as I can in preparation for no internet (or really bad internet service).
Grow Making Sense of Cents to 1,000,000 monthly page views. I would love to help more readers, see even more engagement, have higher traffic, and so on. I love my blog and I would love to see it grow! I’m hoping to see at least 1,000,000 monthly page views by the end of 2017.
Start doing more live interviews, such as podcasts and webinars. I’m not as shy as I used to be, but living in an RV and not always having internet or a reliable schedule makes podcasts and webinars are a little more difficult. I hope to find a way around that (perhaps planning out a better schedule?) and dedicate more time to this area.
Create one more product to sell. In 2016, I created Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, and that has completely changed my life and my business. I want to think about and create another product to sell in 2017 so that I can continue to diversify my income.
Promote the blog and business better. I am doing much better at promoting my blog and content, and I’m noticing an improvement. I started focusing more on improving my traffic from Facebook, and I’ve been very pleased with the results. I used to only see around 100 visits a day from Facebook, but for the past few months, I have been seeing around 2,000+ visits a day from Facebook.
Continue learning and improving. I am not currently working on any ebooks or courses. What are some good ones right now that you’re taking?
Affiliate income results.
In March of 2017, I earned $86,255.36 in affiliate income, as outlined earlier in this blog income report. This was another great month for affiliate income.
I do expect April to be lower, though, as I don’t have any plans to promote any affiliate product launches. Instead, it’ll be nearly 100% passive affiliate income (which is my favorite form of affiliate income).
I’m a very big fan of affiliate income, of course. It’s something that I enjoy due to how passive it can be. It makes full-time traveling much more enjoyable when I know I can bring in an income while having fun seeing new areas.
As I always say, blogging income is not dependent on page views. Even brand new bloggers can make money through affiliate marketing. If you know the correct way to promote a product, you can succeed at affiliate marketing. This is one of the main things I teach in my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course.
My affiliate marketing course went live in July of 2016. I’ve already had over 1,900 people purchase the course, and I’d love to have you as a student too!
In Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, there are 6 modules, over 30 lessons, several worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful and exclusive Facebook group, and more. I go through everything that you need to know about affiliate marketing, such as:
A quick introduction to affiliate marketing and how it works
The benefits of affiliate marketing
The exact steps I’ve taken to earn over $500,000 from a single blog post
How to correctly pick affiliate products to promote
The steps to increase your conversion rate
80+ Affiliate program ideas for different niches
How to build trust with your readers (this is a MUST!)
The required disclosures you need to know about
The major tool you need for affiliate marketing
The many different strategies to promote your affiliate links
My course is anything and everything about affiliate marketing. This course is perfect for you whether you are a new blogger or if you’ve been blogging for years, no matter what topic your blog is about, what country you live in, and so on.
I wrote this course so that it would benefit everyone, and there is so much to learn from it.
How was March for you? Are you interested in earning blogging income?
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