Blog Income Report October 2018

Blog Income Report October 2018: Find out how I made $563.78 through my blog with various strategies.

Welcome to my 8th blog income report! October 2018 has been the month with the most income and the most traffic. I owe pretty much all of that to my time on the Whole30 recipes feed where I was able to share my life and 21 recipes for an entire week.

Past Blog Income Reports

Check out: Blog Income Report | February & March 2018 | $18.34
Check out: Blog Income Report | April 2018 | $203.17
Check out: Blog Income Report | May 2018 | $50.93
Check out: Blog Income Report | June 2018 | $213.50
Check out: Blog Income Report | July 2018 | $213.50
Check out: Blog Income Report | August 2018 | $174.52
Check out: Blog Income Report | September 2018 | $177.52

Here are some noteworthy things that happened in October:

Tis the Season… even more: Holiday recipes are HUGE for food bloggers which makes a lot of sense. I focused my research a lot on what kinds of things people search for around this time. And although a lot of things for October were Halloween driven, it was helpful to know that people are already looking for Thanksgiving recipes at the end of September. I started creating and sharing them on Pinterest as soon as September and October hit so that they had time to create some SEO juice by the time the holidays hit.
Keyword Tool: I started using the Google Keyword tool to really help me figure out not only what people were searching for but EXACTLY what the search terms were so I can appropriately name everything to show up in search engines and Pinterest better. I’m not sure if my strategy is working yet since it does take time to gain traction but either way I will never write a recipe post again without checking this info!
I started using my DSLR: I avoided this for SO SO long. Using a DSLR was one of the things I did NOT want to learn because it took much more time to learn than I was willing to give it. It also didn’t help that my DSLR belonged to my Dad who had passed away a few years ago. Firing it up to see the last pictures he took felt like an emotional weight was finally lifted off of my shoulders. I now really want to learn this skill not only for myself but to carry on a hobby that he was so passionate about. Also, using it makes an INCREDIBLE difference not only with the quality of the photos but also how clickable they are. I’ve seen much more traffic on my posts in all areas when I nail down a great photo. I don’t think you NEED a DSLR to start a food blog or even to have a successful one but I do wish I’d been using it sooner even though I have SO much to learn.
I want this blog to pay my mortgage: I don’t think it’s selfish of me to say that I would really like this blog to pay my mortgage by the end of next year. I really want to diversify my income, especially in the face of many life changes including my husband’s eventual end of his military career. Even though it is a LOT of work, I still find the challenge fun and believe I can make my goals. I know I can look into bridging loans, as they have been mentioned to me a few times, so that is something I can check out.
To be honest, however, I don’t want to get under the burden of another loan just to pay up for one loan. I know it is a convenient option and many people opt for it when their property suffers foreclosure, but am not ready yet for that option. God forbid, but in case my house suffers such a fate, then I might not think twice to apply for one such loan or even consider listing my property for quick home sales in Florida (or elsewhere). However, I choose to look at the positive side and I am hoping that I would be able to clear my mortgage with the passive income I am generating.
I did the Whole30 Recipes Takeover: I first want to start out by saying how grateful I was to have the opportunity to host an Instagram and FB account that has so many eyes on it. I tried something different by being myself and it paid off with growth in all areas but I do want to say this…. This opportunity and really any opportunity is NOT a magic bullet. I talked to few other of my bigger blogger friends that did this and their traffic numbers for that week were MUCH higher than mine. For a little while I let that get to me thinking that I did something wrong and thinking that people just didn’t like me that much. The truth is, it takes TIME and PATIENCE to grow a following and traffic numbers. There are no shortcuts to not only doing the hard work, but CONTINUING to do it consistently even when it feels like nobody is watching and when there is little to no monetary reward. This is where a lot of bloggers give up. I won’t be one of them!
New Ad Networks: I am currently in the process of being accepted to a new ad network that will hopefully increase my revenue each month but I need to work on a few things I didn’t realize I was doing wrong to proceed. I will have more details on this next month!

Blog Income Report October 2018 | Metrics

Blog posts that were created in October: 39 (HOLY SHIT!)

October Adsense Income: $184.64

October Amazon Affiliate Income: $85.08

Gourmet Ads: $123.77

Chicory Ads: $40.29

Recipe Development Projects Paid Out: $130

Hours spent working on the blog: 20 Hours Each Week

Blog Income Report October 2018 Total: $563.78

I would LOVE to create a blogging resource for you all even though I am still a baby blogger. Comment, DM or message me to let me know what questions you have so I can put this together!