Food Blogging

Blog Income Report December 2019

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Blog Income Report December 2019 : Find out how I made $2583.00 through my blog with various strategies. 

Soooo . . . Remember that time last month when I said I was going to be a full-time blogger?  Well, I took it back, sort of. After I posted my last income report a wave of emotion and deep thought came over me in a really harsh way. 

It caused me to think a lot about what I really wanted out of this whole arena and how I was going to get it.  Turns out that going all the way is probably not the best for me, but I will explain below!

All that aside, I am happy with my December income even though it is half of what I made in November which was to be expected! 

Also, my grand total for blogging in 2019: $22,843.26 …. THIS IS AMAZING!!!

Blog Income Report December 2019

Here are some noteworthy things that happened in December:

  • I went back on my word: As I explained above, I decided NOT to be a full-time blogger.  After posting my income report I felt icky and gross for some reason. It wasn’t received well by my colleagues and it wasn’t received well by me.  I had to think long and hard about why I felt this way and what was going on. Truth is, a couple months before I announced it, I was already technically blogging full time except full-time for me is when my babysitter is here and when I have pockets of time when James is sleeping.  This adds up to maybe 15 hours a week. I had SO MUCH I wanted to get done in such a little amount of time and it just wasn’t happening.  While I know my to-do list is never done, the pressure of blogging was worse than any pressure I felt with it ever and there are a few reasons for this.
    • I knew I would be chasing my next dollar constantly. As you can see in the varying income amounts above, money making in blogging is fickle and cyclical.  There is no way I can count on a solid amount each month and even if I can, it’s not an amount that is high enough to pay for all of my expenses at home and with the business. Constantly worrying about how I was going to gain or even maintain that level of income was stressful and causing a lot of anxiety.
    • I’d have to do things I just don’t want to do. To get those extra dollars, a lot of people get sponsored work etc.  I know that some people love working with brands but honestly I hate it. I hate all the red tape and I hate that it’s a lot of work for a one time fee. Plus, I have seen some people I really respect take on partnerships with products and brands just for the money and it’s incredibly obvious. I just don’t want to go there.  If my work speaks for itself and it comes to ME then great!  I just don’t enjoy the idea of chasing down brands for work in that way.
    • I’d have to change things I don’t want to change: After publishing that post, my time on IG felt so weird.  For some reason I felt like I had applied for a job that I didn’t have the normal requisites for. I felt pressure to be on social all the time and with that comes the pressure to have a better life and better appliances, better food, more makeup etc.  It feels like that becomes the path to success in that world and to a big extent it does!  But for me, I just don’t want to feel like I need to match up to those lives and those friends that a full-time blogger in this space has. Truthfully, I kind of want to just be in my own space or my own lane and just go from there.

When it all comes down to it, I want to blog the way I want to blog and only blogging for a living takes me away from being myself in some aspects and I’m just not willing to do that.  This is not to say I will never get to that place, but right now it’s not the time.

So what’s the plan?

It’s pretty simple. Blogging as a side-hustle was fun and challenging in a lighter way, so I plan to keep it one except it does hold a bit more weight in my income. My plan right now is to basically do exactly what I did all last year during my pregnancy.  I’m going to take on a couple personal chef clients while keeping the blog active with 2-3 quality posts a week. I’ll have guaranteed income doing something I love and something I know will make me feel accomplished with my clients all while having this blog and community as a growing business while still being able to be me. It seems like a win win. 

  • I’m hiring MORE help: Any money that doesn’t go towards my expenses will go towards investing in my corner of the internet. Last year, that money was used to save for maternity leave. And now, since I will spend less time on the blog because I have clients and mom life, it makes sense to make the money through chef work, and then use it to pay another person to do the things I don’t have time to do.  DUH! right?  I have a system and some great people that are going to help me with this and it makes things more exciting!
  • I’m getting a Pinterest Audit: Since I am a small blogger, any amount of traffic helps with income.  The biggest sources of traffic are google then Pinterest for me. While I want to keep my traffic google centered, I know I could be doing a much better job at Pinterest.  Truthfully, I’ve been winging it for this entire time and I KNOW a better strategy will help move things along there. I am spending a big chunk of money (to me) on an audit from a professional that will outline exactly what I need to change and do to have a smoother running account that will hopefully bring in more traffic for me. 
  • No sponsored work this month. Like I said before, I am kind of just letting the sponsored work come to me instead of chasing after it. That said, everything kind of slowed down in this department during the holidays. I think that November is actually the biggest month for these types of things and it was for me too. Now that the holidays are over, I am getting a few emails here and there, but nothing worth working with just yet!
  • I took ANOTHER Instagram break: when I was figuring out what I needed to do about my current blog/job situation, I really just couldn’t be on Instagram.  I really needed ANOTHER break from being on stories and consuming the content of others.  I periodically do this which may hurt me in the long run and put me down the algorithm further, but my mental health is very important.  EVERY TIME I take a break, I realize that being on it puts so much pressure on me that becomes normal after a while.  When I am off the air waves, EVERYTHING FEELS LIKE ENOUGH.  I have nothing to prove to anyone and life is amazing the way it is.  This alone makes it so much harder figure out how to show up in that space without getting sucked in.  I don’t really have the answer right now which is why I still haven’t been on, but I’m sure I will figure out what is best soon!
  • The unicorn season is over: in my last income report I talked about how I knew that my income and traffic wouldn’t be as high at all and that is true!  Even while I write this in January, my traffic is amazing but my RPM was slashed in half for Q1 as all bloggers fear and have to deal with.  This makes me think about my Q4 strategy for next year and how it’s a great idea to start working on it over the summer to maximize earning potential to fill in the gaps of the low months which start now. Again, it’s a fickle business!

Either way, I feel like I am in a much better head space going into 2020 with the blog.  In fact, I feel like it will be even MORE successful than it was in 2019 because I will have a better strategy with posting and SEO, I have help, less pressure and most important, I don’t have time to spend on the things that truly don’t matter! 

Blog Income Report December 2019 | Metrics

Food/Recipe posts that were created in December: 

Amazon Affiliate Income: $117.64

 Mediavine Income: $2165.36

Recipe Development Projects Paid Out: $250

Virtual Assistant Work: $50

Sponsored Work: $0

Hours spent working on the blog: 16

Blog Income Report December 2019 Total: $2583.00

 

Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.Charleston Personal Chef Thyme and JOY

Lets Connect!

Check out my Podcast: Food Conversations

Email me: thymeandjoy@gmail.com

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Blog Income Report November 2019

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Blog Income Report November 2019 : Find out how I made $5064.21 through my blog with various strategies. 

blog income report november 2019

All I can say is that I am BLOWN AWAY at my income this month.

SEE ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW!

Blog Income Report November 2019

Here are some noteworthy things that happened in November:

  • This month was a unicorn: November is the month with the highest earning potential for food bloggers give or take. With that said, I expected my income to be higher than usual, but not THIS high.  As grateful as I am for this, I must be honest and say that most of the reason this month was so good is because of ONE POST that went viral.  In fact, this one post probably was responsible for making $1500 in November, crazy right? Obviously there is a huge upside to this because I made a lot of money, boosted my confidence and proved that something I worked hard on LAST YEAR paid off. The downside is that as soon as Thanksgiving passed, my traffic dropped back down dramatically and so did my income. Like I said above, the confidence this gave me was truly needed because it proved to me that ANY post can become a unicorn but the chance of that happening is low if I don’t start cranking out more content. Clarity comes from ACTION. 
  • I hired help at home: In my last income report I talked about how I was looking for someone to come to the house for 10 hours a week so I could work. We are SO thankful to have found a wonderful girl that I completely trust with James.  Not only is she great with him, but in her downtime she helps with tasks around the house.  This is SO worth every penny and has allowed me to go to coffee shops to write posts (like I am right now) and also have time I can count on that is dedicated to growing this side hustle even though I am still finding my groove. 
  • I boosted a post on Pinterest: Last year I experimented with boosting one of my Christmas posts to see if it would help get traffic.  It definitely did help, but I really wasn’t ready to spend the money that would bring in a LOT of traffic.  This year I paid $5 a day for 2 weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I still have to dig into the analytics to see how much it helped, but I am certain it did play a part in this months success. 
  • What am I going to do with the extra money?  Well, because we have hired help at home, my business is technically in the red which means there actually isn’t any “extra” money.  However, I know how valuable it is to invest in other tools even when it’s risky.  For this reason I am investing in a better keyword research tool and will also have someone to help me write a couple optimized recipe posts per month so I can save time and crank out as much content as possible. 
  • Partnerships: I said yes to a few partnerships and sponsored posts this month.  I wasn’t expecting to, but I really wanted to flex this muscle to see if it drove people away and if it’s something I am comfortable with.  When it comes down to it, I really am not comfortable with sponsored work because of the stigma attached to it which I TOTALLY understand. With that said it has made the work I take on have even more strict standards going forward as to not lose trust or respect with my readers. 

With all of that said, this was the push I needed to . . . 

EDIT: IM NOT SURE IF I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION AND MAY STILL KEEP THE CHEF BIZ BUT I AM KEEPING THIS CONTENT UP HERE UNTIL I FIGURE IT OUT

Make the leap into Full Time Blogging

But wait, there is a lot I need you to know.  The main thing is that I am in no way, shape or form financially ready to do this. I struggled A LOT with this decision for a few reasons:

  • Obviously I made a lot of money this month but it’s already returning to pre-unicorn month levels with absolutely no guarantee that it’ll ever be like that again.
  • I spent so much time and energy building my personal chef business in a brand new city from the ground up. I am so damn proud of myself and it has become a part of my identity.  Leaving this behind was a TOUGH decision to make but ultimately taking this risk is the better option at this time. 
  • I have a LOT less time to work on the blog. Just like every other mom, I am wondering why the hell I wasted SO much time before baby.  I could have done so much more to get more content up and create resources.  At this point I have 10-15 hours a week to work on the blog and it’s definitely not enough.  However, I do know that as time goes on naps will get longer and sleeping will be extended with my little guy which means I will eventually be able to gradually work on things more.
  • I felt guilty. I have a KNOWN income source as a chef that has done pretty well for me. And now I am winging it each month. It’s not usually how I operate, but I think it’s time. 

Ultimately, it is the best decision when all things are considered because:

  • I get to be home as much as possible and not miss a moment watching James grow.
  • There is unlimited earning potential.
  • Success begets success.  Having this be my full-ish time gig is important because for once in my work life it will be the ONLY thing I focus on.  I’ve spent so much time over the last couple years being ok at 4-5 things and not really good at 1-2 things.  Even though being a jack of all trades can be a good thing, I found that it was actually hindering my success.
  • I was burnt out on personal chef-ing. I absolutely LOVE my clients and I owe them so much.  However, I feel more like myself when I can be creative making many different kinds of recipes while also continuing to learn things I am obsessed with like keyword research, better photography and becoming a PROFESSIONAL at this.
  • Mike is separating from the military in September which means that if he gets a great job offer that isn’t in Charleston, we will be moving! We don’t know exactly if this will happen but it is more likely than not. For this reason, it seems like the best idea for me to spend that time investing in a business that will travel along with me rather than one I may have to leave behind anyway only to start all over again. 

I just want to thank everyone who has been along for the ride thus far. I pride myself on being 100% transparent about this journey and will continue to be.  Like I said, I have no idea what is going to happen but it’s been a while before I felt that feeling where anything was possible and I am HERE for it!

The only thing that will change is that I will be cranking out even more content. I’ll make some great stuff, I’ll make some things that will flop.  I will make things that some of you will love and some of you will hate.  I’ll have a great string of photos and some shitty ones while I am learning and trying. 

All of this is part of growth. 

Old ways won’t open new doors

A note on the metrics below: All of this is income that was MADE in November.  I don’t actually see all payment for this money for about 2-3 months depending on the company paying me. 

Blog Income Report November 2019 | Metrics

Food/Recipe posts that were created in November: 

Amazon Affiliate Income: $182.73

 Mediavine Income: $4028.48

Recipe Development Projects Paid Out: $250

Virtual Assistant Work: $50

Sponsored Work: $553

Hours spent working on the blog: 15

Blog Income Report November 2019 Total: $5064.21

 

Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.Charleston Personal Chef Thyme and JOY

Lets Connect!

Check out my Podcast: Food Conversations

Email me: thymeandjoy@gmail.com

Follow me on Instagram

Join my community on Facebook

See what I’m pinning on Pinterest

 

Blog Income Report October 2019

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Blog Income Report October 2019 : Find out how I made $1880.46 through my blog with various strategies. 

blog income report october 2019

At the time of writing this report I am exactly 7 weeks postpartum. I’m happy that things are a little less manic around here as we are a bit more adjusted into newborn life, but it’s still a bit crazy.  Working on this blog while caring for a baby is HARD. Find out why below . . .

Blog Income Report October 2019

Here are some noteworthy things that happened in October:

  • Fitting in Work: It’s absolutely true that motherhood drains you in every way.  However, it doesn’t drain my brain like creative work does.  This month I was bursting at the seams with recipe ideas and ways to improve things around here. Not having the time to carry out things the way I used to has been really tough for me. Sometimes I will get a good chunk of time where I get most of a post done and feel accomplished.  Then sometimes I ask Mike to watch James for a couple hours so I can photograph something and then I feel guilty that we aren’t together.  Sometimes I’ll get on the laptop and the James will wake up 10 minutes later. And sometimes I plan to do SO MUCH and get exactly zero things done. In order to make this work, I need some structure.
  • I am hiring some help: Even though we would save a good chunk of money if I stayed home full-time and just fit work in during nap times, Mike and I agreed that it’s just not going to work for us and we need to invest in some help. I can see the potential this blog has and half-assed working will get me half-assed results. Instead of hiring a VA we are going to hire someone to come into our house and watch James 2x a week in 5 hour shifts. This will allow me to have one recipe testing and photographing day as well as one day to knock out all the laptop work that builds up. It will also give me guaranteed time where I can make appointments for myself or meet up with friends etc. I think this will be worth the money and then some. 
  • In the meantime, I’m STILL comparing: At first when James was born, I found myself being addicted to social media because I was still in shock at how different my life has become.  Now that I am settling in, I feel less of a need to be on it which means less stories and less growth etc. I think right now that is a good thing because it really hurts to see people grow in their lives and careers right now. I know I have plenty of time to get back to it, but I want to be happy for everyone doing well and it’s hard for me right now.  Because of this, I’m thinking about where to draw the line about what I want to share and how often to share and be “on” social media. 
  • Things bloggers do that piss you off:  This month on IG stories I asked everyone what annoyed you about bloggers and influencers who get free stuff and have a lot of sponsored content.  It was pretty eye opening and made me think about how I want to proceed with certain content. Check out everything I learned in my IG story highlights. 
  • Partnerships: With the above said, I am welcoming more partnerships and sponsored content for extra income but also to get out of my comfort zone.  I do my best work with pressure, deadlines and I really want to start working on my photog

A note on the metrics below: All of this is income that was MADE in October.  I don’t actually see all payment for this money for about 2-3 months depending on the company paying me. 

Blog Income Report October 2019 | Metrics

Food/Recipe posts that were created in September: 3ish?

Amazon Affiliate Income: $91.53

 Mediavine Income: $1388.93

Recipe Development Projects Paid Out: $250

Virtual Assistant Work: $50

Sponsored Work: $100

Hours spent working on the blog: 2-5 but barely

Blog Income Report October 2019 Total: $1888.93

 

Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.Charleston Personal Chef Thyme and JOY

Lets Connect!

Check out my Podcast: Food Conversations

Email me: thymeandjoy@gmail.com

Follow me on Instagram

Join my community on Facebook

See what I’m pinning on Pinterest