July Income Report: My Second Month Blogging

WELCOME TO WELL AND WEALTHY’S SECOND MONTH’S INCOME REPORT FOR JULY.

Spoiler Alert: I’m incredibly excited to tell you that I made money again this month despite only being on my second month blogging!

This month has been hectic. I think realistically I’ve tried to do far to many things, which has meant I didn’t focus on one thing enough. Still lesson learned and onto the income report!

SO WHY AM I WRITING AN INCOME REPORT?

 

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This blog is all about education and my journey from quitting the 9 to 5 to reaching financial independence.  I want to help you guys and I figured the best way to do that is to be honest with you. Particularly about what I’m doing that works, and what I’m doing that clearly doesn’t.

 

The best way to detail all that out is an income report. I am planning on doing ‘Net Worth Updates’ as well so that way you will see (hopefully) exactly how I’m making money through blogging and then how I’m managing my money, including my budget and investments. But in fairness, that’s a few months off!

 

Now if you haven’t previously seen an income report before your probably a little confused as to why someone would basically reveal all their business’s finances to the world. But that’s what I love about blogging. It’s an entire industry obsessed with being transparent and helping one another succeed. The income reports are not released to brag, they are there to help everyone see exactly how you make money blogging.

 

HOW WILL THESE INCOME REPORTS BE STRUCTURED?

 

They will all loosely follow the plan below:

 

• Any major updates
• Number of posts completed this month
• Pageviews including most popular posts
• Social media stats
• Email Subscribers
• Income
• Expenses
• Profit/Loss
• What worked and what didn’t this month?
• Month Action Plan and Goals

 

I reserve the right to change this order at a later date if it would clearly make more sense written differently. Also if you think I am missing a vital stat that you would really love to see me track then please leave a comment on this post, below.

OTHER INCOME REPORTS:

 

Launch Day Income Report:Day 1 stats and figures

June Income Report: My First Month Blogging

August Income Report: My Third Month Blogging

September Income Report: My Fourth Month Blogging

October Income Report: My Fifth Month Blogging

November Income Report: My Sixth Month Blogging

First Six Months Blogging Income Report Roundup FREE Ebook 

 

 

MAJOR UPDATES:

 

I’m exhausted! Okay no that is not a major blog update.

 

Realistically there isn’t anything huge to report. August will be quite busy though because I am away on holiday for the first week and then I have an awful lot going on in the last week so my time has been seriously cut this month!

 

POSTS COMPLETED THIS MONTH:

 

• June Income Report: My First Month Blogging

 

• How to set up Google AdSense ads on your blog

 

• What is a Millionaire Mindset?

 

• Want to make money blogging? Then your blog posts need these 15 things!

 

 

PAGEVIEWS:

 

Pageviews over July 2017: 2,068

Sessions: 1,289

Bounce Rate: 73.00%

Average Session Duration: 01:57

 

 

Woohoo over 2,000 pageviews this month! I’m on the right track!

 

Bounce rate has increased but that’s because more of my traffic is coming from Pinterest so that’s to be expected.

 

 

If we look at the graph since Well and Wealthy launched on 1^st June we can see that pageviews are most definitely increasing over time. Slow and steady!

 

TOP POSTS:

 

TOP 5 POSTS THIS MONTH:

 

June 2017 Income Report: My First Month Blogging– 439 pageviews

The Ultimate List Of FREEBIES For Bloggers – 233 pageviews

The Basics of Blogging Ads: A guide to putting ads on your blog – 120 pageviews

Introducing Early Retirement and Financial Independence; plus the maths behind it – 77 pageviews

How to set up Google AdSense ads on your blog – 65 pageviews

TRAFFIC ACQUISITION:

 

 

Once again social media was main my traffic driver. I’ve also had quite a few referrals from emails, which I’m really pleased about as I have been working hard on sending out a weekly email. Plus a few through organic search which is awesome as the only SEO I’ve been doing is making sure I’ve got the green light on Yoast SEO.

 

 

Yassssss Pinterest is now my highest traffic traffic referrer by a long way, just as I was aiming for. Pinterest is amazing as a traffic driver as it a very passive style of gaining pageviews, and I’m all about the passive!

 

SOCIAL MEDIA:

 

Whilst I plan to focus far less on all my social media accounts apart from Pinterest I still think it’s really important to track the numbers in case any patterns arise.

 

PINTEREST:

 

Pinterest is finally working out for me. I still have a long way to go on this platform but at last I’m starting to get it right!

 

Followers: 144

(Increase of 52)

 

Here is my Pinterest account overview. I now actually think this is only a weeks overview but I’m not sure, please if anyone knows please tell me!

 

 

I have quite a lot of decreases showing here which I can’t believe is right because my pageviews from Pinterest have increased so much!

 

 

Here is my reach, so the average number of people who see what I pin (47,051) and the average number of people engaged with my pins (1,593). A huge increase considering the average number of people engaged with my pins last month was 169…

 

 

And here are the views that pins from Well and Wealthy get. Compared to last month another massive increase.

 

 

This graph shows the number of repins (or saves) that pins from Well and Wealthy get on Pinterest. A very good increase from 5 average daily saves to 31!

 

 

While this graph shows how many times pins from Well and Wealthy are clicked taking people to the site. Average daily clicks have jumped up from 3 per day to 26, now to make that number increase even more!

FACEBOOK:

 

Facebook feels like it has been my least successful social media platform this month. My plan is to just let Facebook continue to tick over while I really get a handle on Pinterest, then I will focus a bit more on it. Saying that my reach has increased A LOT so I’m super happy about that.

 

Likes/Followers: 118

(Increase of 38)

Reach: 525

(Increase of 433)

 

INSTAGRAM:

 

As with Facebook I plan to just let Instagram continue to tick over while I master Pinterest. Then I will master Facebook, and finally I will give Instagram some love. However I do get a steady follow growth so its definitely worth keeping it going because in the many months it will be until I actually have time to focus I could have many hundreds of followers!

 

Followers: 146

(Increase of 31)

Total Posts Published: 69

Total Number of Likes: 985

Average Number of Likes per Post: 35.18

Total Number of Comments: 68

Average Number of Comments per Post: 2.43

 

EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:

 

I was meant to release some amazing freebies this month but just didn’t get round to it! Luckily my awesome freebie from last month, The Ultimate List of FREEBIES For Bloggers, is still bringing me a small but steady stream of subscribers. It’s a list of over 100 different free courses, eBooks, worksheet, cheatsheets, resource libraries and challenges from 50 plus TOP bloggers, so if you haven’t already, sign up now!

 

Subscribers: 150

(Increased by 88)

Campaign Opens: 32.64%

Campaign Clicks: 4.51%

Automation Opens: 36.30% (Just the Ultimate Freebies automation)

Automation Clicks: 10.50% (Just the Ultimate Freebies automation)

 

EMAILS I SENT:

 

I created a welcome series to be released when people sign up to the The Ultimate List of FREEBIES For Bloggers and I got a really good level of engagement from that (thank you to everyone who emailed me!)

 

I also sent out weekly ‘campaigns’ to my list as I wanted to make sure they are receiving awesome content for being on my list:

 

• One letting everyone know that my June 2017 income report was published
• One about the 5 biggest blogging mistakes I made in my first month
• One about how important it is to take a break
• One detailing an awesome traffic boosting tip

 

I was really pleased with my email marketing and hope you guys found loads of value in the emails!

 

 

LOOKING FOR MY MOST RECENT INCOME REPORT?

As of May 2018 all my latest income reports are shared exclusively with my subscribers! Sign up below if you want a behind-the-scenes look at how I make a full-time income from home, online!

INCOME:

 

More income to report! Oh yeahhhhh!!!!

 

I’ve also detailed the different affiliate programs I’m part of so you can see where I could be making money.

 

INCOME EARNED IN JULY:

 

SiteGround (Hosting): £60.00

Elegant Themes (Divi Theme): £0.00

Haute Chocolate (Stunning Stock Photos): £0.00

Tailwind (Pinterest Scheduler): £0.50

BoardBooster (Pinterest Scheduler) (This is actually a referral program): £0.00

How To Make Your First Affiliate Sale In 24 Hours Using Pinterest from House of Brazen: £7.34

The Core Affiliate Strategy from The Busy Budgeter: £0.00

Income Journey eBook from Start a Mom Blog: £0.00

 

Google AdSense: £1.04

 

Total Income Earned in July: £68.88

 

Total Income Earned Since Launch: £128.88

 

***Want to start making money from you very own blog? Then you need my tutorial on How To Set Up A Professional Blog for Profit!***

 

SO HOW DID I MAKE THIS AWESOME INCOME?

 

Well one way was through reading How To Make Your First Affiliate Sale In 24 Hours Using Pinterest . Because it’s a paid eBook it wouldn’t be fair for me to tell you the exact technique only that it works, although it took around a week for me but I can live with that!

 

While the SiteGround sales, one came from my How To Set Up A Professional Blog for Profit tutorial and the other was from my email welcome series!

 

INCOME ACTUALLY RECEIVED:

 

I want to talk a little about this actually because if you just focus on the numbers above everything looks rosy.

 

I should have received £60.00 of actual money to my bank this month from SiteGround but I didn’t. Basically hosting companies, and many other companies have a review period to check that someone isn’t going to immediately refund their payment. This makes sense when you consider that SiteGround pay me as an affiliate a flat rate of £30.00 per sign up, regardless of whether the sign up is paying monthly or annually. Now if they are paying monthly they could cancel their hosting after a month and, seeing as hosting is so cheap, SiteGround would end up losing money.

 

On two of my affiliate sign-ups the review period has been extended basically because SiteGround are worried the person isn’t going to stick to blogging with them. This is perfectly normal just a bit sucky for me as I was so excited to receive this income.

 

Still that’s how selling anything works, refunds happen, people don’t always pay and technical hitches happen. It’s all part of being an entrepreneur and running your own business!

 

So the money that actually hit my bank account this month is: £7.34

 

But still my first ever blogging income is in my bank account!!!! Celebration time people!!!!

 

EXPENSES:

 

JULY EXPENSES:

 

BoardBooster: £8.01 ($10.00)

The Core Affiliate Strategy: £36.72 ($46.00)

How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul: £14.74

Income Journey eBook and Email Bundle: £63.73 ($80.00)

 

July Expenses Total = £123.20

 

PREVIOUS EXPENSES:

 

Hosting with SiteGround 24 months: £101.94

Divi Theme from Elegant Themes 12 months: £90.15 ($106.80)

Haute Chocolate Stock Photo Membership 6 months: £105.26 ($125.00)

Scan my Post PO Box 12 months: £15.00

Tailwind Pinterest Scheduler 12 months: £73.80 ($89.00)

Traffic Transformation eBook: £42.04 ($50.00)

How To Make Your First Affiliate Sale In 24 Hours Using Pinterest: £19.92 ($25.00)

 

Total Expenses Since Launching = £571.31

 

PROFIT/LOSS:

 

Currently at an overall loss of: £563.97

 

 

 

SO WHAT WORKED AND WHAT DIDN’T THIS MONTH?

 

Creating a month’s blogging to-do list went really well as it kept me focused on completing actions necessary to the blog.

 

Pinterest was killer this month and I’m looking forward to further improving on that!

 

Plus actually emailing my wonderful list of subscribers was a treat. I got to chat to quite a few of you one on one as well which was awesome. Please don’t be scared to hit reply to my emails honestly I love talking to you guys.

 

What didn’t work this month was my complete lack of creating some more freebies.

 

I also gave myself wayyyy too much to do on my months to-do list and burnt myself out a touch so lesson learnt for this month.

 

LASTS MONTH’S TO-DO LIST:

 

• Sort out my social sharing and social follow buttons to different plugin DONE

 

• Redo my earlier Pinterest images for all posts DONE

 

• Create Facebook specific images for each post DONE

 

• Work through Lena’s ‘Traffic Transformation’ and actually implement everything applicable DONE

 

• Work through ‘How to make your first Affiliate Sale in 24 hours using Pinterest’ and actually implement the suggestions DONE

 

• Create a good email sign up automation DONE

 

• Email my list once per week in July DONE

 

• Create my own Pinterest group boards MOVED TO AUGUST

 

• Complete the suggestions from Google Analytics DONE

 

• Place ads on my site to start monetising that way DONE

 

• Create content upgrades for my top ten posts, if not all of them

 

• Keep an eye on my Pinterest traffic and consider investing in Pinteresting Strategies if it doesn’t pick up MOVED TO AUGUST

 

AUGUSTS BLOGGING TO-DO LIST:

 

I want to spend a lot of time on Pinterest this month and see if I can really grown my traffic. However there is no point in growing my traffic if I don’t convert the readers into subscribers so I also need to work on my email opt-in freebies as well.

 

• Go through all previous blog posts and re-proof read (it’s been pointed out that I have a problem with your and you’re… sorry!!!)

 

• Complete the free Google Analytics training

 

• Makeover my homepage

 

• Create my main blogging freebie and email welcome series

 

• Implement some quizzes for email sign ups (a post on this will be coming in August)

 

• Join more group boards

 

• Check my pins have the correct URL

 

• Work on my Pinterest theory

 

• Consider creating my own Pinterest group boards

 

• Keep an eye on my Pinterest traffic and consider investing in Pinteresting Strategies if it doesn’t pick up

 

GOALS:

 

So did I reach my goals set from last month?

 

Pageviews:

Level 1 Goal – 1,000

Level 2 Goal – 4,000

Actual – 2,068

 

Email Subscribers:

Level 1 Goal – 100

Level 2 Goal – 150

Actual – 150

 

Pinterest Followers:

Level 1 Goal – 120

Level 2 Goal – 200

Actual – 144

 

Facebook Likes/Followers:

Level 1 Goal – 110

Level 2 Goal – 160

Actual – 118

 

Instagram Followers:

Level 1 Goal – 130

Level 2 Goal – 180

Actual – 146

 

Income:

Level 1 Goal – As I haven’t actually created a monetization strategy for the blog yet I won’t be setting a Level 1 attainable goal.

Level 2 Goal – £150.00

Actual – £68.88

 

I reached my level 1 goals on each one and my level 2 goal for my email subscribers! Sure I would have liked to have hit my level 2 goals on all of them but that’s how it goes!

 

AUGUST GOALS:

 

I am continuing with my two goal levels. Level 1 Goals will be realistic and attainable while Level 2 Goals will be what I really want it to be but much more difficult to attain!

 

Pageviews:

Level 1 Goal – 3,000

Level 2 Goal – 5,000

 

Email Subscribers:

Level 1 Goal – 300

Level 2 Goal – 500

 

Pinterest Followers:

Level 1 Goal – 220

Level 2 Goal – 400

 

You will notice I have only included goals for pageviews, email subscribers and Pinterest followers. That’s because I don’t want to get distracted by other things I could be doing on the blog. Especially now that my social media accounts all have over 100 followers I feel that I can leave Facebook and Instagram to tick over. I have also created some quite tough goals to really motivate me. Fingers crossed I hit them!

 

 

As always comment below or email me at sammy@wellandwealthy.org with any thoughts, questions and especially if you can think of anything that would improve the site for you or that you want me to write about!

 

 

 

LOOKING FOR MY MOST RECENT INCOME REPORT?

As of now, all my latest income reports are shared exclusively with my subscribers! Sign up in the form in the sidebar/below if you want a behind-the-scenes look at how I make a full-time income from home, online!