Welcome to the latest blog income and traffic report for Smart Money, Simple Life; where you’ll learn about my efforts making extra money via a self hosted blog.
Unfortunately, this blog as been in a bit of a holding pattern for the last few months. I’m hoping that’ll change soon but, like everything else in life, there are no guarantees. Especially given the issue taking my focus and energy is outside my control. You can get the details here.
So, let me just get this out there now. If you:
- Don’t have a last will and testament, get one now.
- Have children from a previous marriage, seek independent professional advice before writing your will.
Not taking care of these things can mean you leave behind an awful legal mess. Please, don’t do it to the people who matter in your life.
OK, now I’ve got that off my chest, here’s what’s been happening on the blog lately.
Table of Contents
Blog Income Report – May and June 2016
Traffic (May) 72,435 Page Views (-16,291)
Traffic in May took a bit of a nose dive.
Having said that, I am still amazed that my traffic is as good as it is. Even though I hoped this blog would appeal to more than just my friends and family, I never expected it to do so well.
Maybe it’s time to start thinking bigger…
Most popular posts for May:
- 10 Wardrobe Items You Should Immediately Get Rid Of
- When Money Is Tight – Tips for Living on Next to Nothing
- The Benefits of the 10 Item Wardrobe
- How to Change Your Life by Changing 6 Simple Habits
- The Secret to Paying Off Debt
Traffic (June) 96,942 Page Views (+ 24, 507)
And, after the dip in May, a jump in page views in June.
I’d like to say this is because I implemented a strategic plan in June, but I’d be lying. The most strategic thing I did was pay more attention to Pinterest than I did in May. Perhaps that underlines just how important Pinterest is to a strong blog traffic strategy?
Most popular posts for June:
- 10 Wardrobe Items You Should Immediately Get Rid Of
- When Money Is Tight – Tips for Living on Next to Nothing
- 21 Painless Ways to Make Extra Money
- The Benefits of the 10 Item Wardrobe
- How to Change Your Life by Changing 6 Simple Habits
Income
Google Adsense is still my primary source of revenue and is a great way to create a passive income stream. There’s only so much you can earn though which is why I’ve been looking at making extra money via affiliate programs.
Due to a serious lack of time and focus, I haven’t been able to really explore the possibilities of making semi-passive income via affiliates but it’s definitely on my list.
As always, I only recommend companies and products I’ve used myself. And, remember, when you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link, I’ll get a small commission but you don’t pay any extra.
The affiliate links I promote are Bluehost and Book Depository.
Bluehost hosts my own blog and I’ve always been very happy with their service. (You can find out how to get a special deal on hosting your blog and your free domain name here).
BookDepository is my absolute favorite place to buy books. Great prices plus free shipping to just about anywhere in the world. I’ve been a dedicated fan for many years and have made many (probably TOO many) purchases through them. Their service is always five star.
You’ll notice I don’t include any freelance or business income in my Blog Income Report. I prefer to focus on revenue generated by the blog itself, because my ultimate goal is to build a platform that enables me to earn semi-passive (and some passive if I can manage it) income.
May Income
- Google Adsense – $447.45
- Affiliate Income (Bluehost) – US$75
- Affiliate Income (BookDepository) – £9.79
June Income
- Google Adsense – $605.59
- Affiliate Income (Bluehost) – US$75
- Affiliate Income (BookDepository) – £1.08
Plans for once life gets back to (kind of) normal
I’m not sure when time and energy will return to some vague semblance of normal but when it does, I intend to take Smart Money, Simple Life to the next level. It’ll still be a part-time venture but I aim to hit six figure revenue by the end of 2016 by:
- Automating Pinterest via Board Booster
- Increasing (and diversifying) affiliate revenue
- Increasing page views
- Publishing my first eBook
- Expanding Smart Money, Simple Life‘s social media presence:
- Launching my next blogging project.
The Importance of Making Extra Money
Whether you’ve just got your first job or you’re staring your retirement in the face, you need more than one income stream. If you’re reliant on a job for your livelihood, you’re putting all your income eggs in one basket, and that’s risky.
If you haven’t already, start looking for ways of making extra money, not just to help with paying down debt and ramping up your savings but also to ensure you always have money finding its way into your bank account each month.
For the last 1o years or so, I’ve been making extra money by running an online business. It’s great but it requires a considerable input of time and energy. The income I make isn’t anywhere near passive. And, passive income is where it’s at!
Smart Money, Simple Life has been live for about 18 months now and even though I’m not making six figures a month (yet) like some blogs, I make a nice amount of semi-passive income each month.
I hope sharing my income and traffic reports provides some inspiration for those of you aspiring to make extra money via a blog you write now, or one you plan to publish in the future.
You can find my previous income and traffic reports here:
If you have any questions you’d like to ask me, leave them in the comments. I will do my best to answer them all.
Related Posts:
- How to Start a Wordpress Blog on BlueHost
- My First Year of Blogging
- Emergency Planning for Solopreneurs – What You Need To Know
- The Power of the Side Hustle
- 21 Painless Ways to Make Extra Money
- Side Hustle Income: How to stay sweet with the tax man
- 21 Awesome Articles To Learn How To Make Money From Home
- What Matters Most? Figure that out and everything else falls into place
Note: This post contains affiliate links.