If you come here for the recipes, this post might not be interesting to you. It’s chock-full of nerdy blog things that only other bloggers care about. I promise, it’s a once a month thing! This post also contains a number of affiliate links.
This is the second month I will be publicizing my blogging income and traffic report. You might be wondering why I am doing this. I was inspired by the awesome folks over at Pinch of Yum. Lindsay and Bjork have done an amazing job of growing their blog over the years. Instead of hoarding their secrets, they have generously shared their experiences. They are so dedicated to helping food bloggers that they created Food Blogger Pro. Food Blogger Pro saved me a lot of time when I was first setting up my blog. I learned how to make my blog SEO friendly and how to drive traffic to my blog. I even learned how to take better food pictures. If you are just starting out as a blogger, I highly recommend you join the community over there. It’s a very valuable resource. If you are looking for information on how to make money from a food blog, I also recommend the book “How to Monetize your Food Blog” .
In my last report, I covered my first 6 months of blogging. During that time period, I earned about $85 from blogging. I also spent $397 in start-up costs. You’ve got to spend money to make money.
Going forward, I’m not going to include those start-up expense report. I’ll break down my monthly expenses for you, but consider that $397 I spent absorbed. On to the report!
Let’s take a look at my blog traffic from September 1st to 31st…
This is how my growth breaks down on a monthly basis (rounded to nearest 100)…
- March – 2,700 pageviews
- April – 10,200 pageviews
- May – 8,100 pageviews
- June – 7,200 pageviews
- July – 7,400 pageviews
- August – 16,200 pageviews
- September- 12,321 pageviews
My traffic dropped a bit from August. I’m not surprised. In August, I had a recipe posted by Mashable that gave me a big boost. This month, I didn’t have any major press hits. The good news is that I’m way up from the previous months! I know things are on the right track.
Now, let’s look at the income I made from blogging in September…
Income:
| Google Adsense | $2.04 |
| Sovrn | $3.06 |
| Gourmet Ads | $22.54 |
| Swoop | $2.31 |
| BlogHer | $4.06 |
Total Income: $34
You can see that I was accepted to the BlogHer advertising network. The income I made from BlogHer during this period does not represent an entire month, only about 2.5 weeks.
Expenses:
| Media Temple Hosting | $9.00 |
| CoSchedule | $10.00 |
Total Expenses: $19
I’m not including food costs at this time because I am currently making recipes with food from my personal groceries. I will eventually start including food and tableware in the expenses. Also, I share my hosting so cost I pay for hosting is currently low. It will increase, eventually.
I started subscribing to CoSchedule to help me manage my editorial calendar and my social media. I’m really happy with the service! It’s worth checking out if you like to stay organized.
Balance: $15!
Hooray, I made a (small) profit!
Now, let’s take a look at where my blog traffic is coming from…
My organic traffic is still high, and my Pinterest traffic is increasing. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but you will see a big jump in my Pinterest traffic on my October report. I’ve been working hard on my pinning strategy. I will explain that all in detail, next month after the numbers are in.
What I learned in September…
– Don’t be discouraged by a drop in traffic following a media or press related spike. Look for the longer trend.
– If you keep working hard, the ad networks will come. I was originally rejected by BlogHer 3 months ago. They told me to reapply after 6 months had passed. Well, I didn’t have to wait; they actually emailed me inviting me to join.
– Don’t be afraid to experiment with your blog. It’s an evolving medium. I am currently working on updating my blog from the Foodie Theme to Foodie Pro. I’ll be debuting a refined look in the next few weeks.
– Don’t be afraid to go away. I was out of town for a week in September, but I used CoSchedule to keep my blog and social media accounts active. It was nice to “set it and forget it”.
– Share with others. I learn so much from taking part in the Food Blogger Pro forums. It’s a valuable source of tips, feedback and resources.
That sums it up for this month. I hope I covered everything you want to know. Next month, I’ll be sharing those Pinterest strategies!
If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them below!
