Happy February!
How are those New Year’s Resolutions holding up for you? Since I didn’t set many mine are going well. Let’s hope that momentum can keep up for the whole year!
Here’s a peek into how January went.
How This All Started
If you’re new here I’ve posted income reports ever since I started this blog, over three years ago. I initially had goals of making a few hundred dollars per month and slowly growing that amount over time. Luckily, that’s what I’ve been able to do.
I was working low paying jobs and since I live in a small town and don’t have a college degree I knew the only way that I was ever going to earn a decent income was if I took things in my own hands. I started experimenting, had several failures and eventually fell into freelance writing.
I built an emergency fund and grew my freelance writing income big enough to replace my day job at the time. (Which was only around $1,800/month.) After that I quit my job and started working from home.
Since then I’ve also been able to generate income from this very blog which you’ll see below.
January 2016 Income
In January I switched over to Outright Bookkeeping by GoDaddy and I am LOVING it.
I was a bookkeeper for seven years and have plenty of experience with bookkeeping software. QuickBooks just seemed far too advanced for what I needed. After seeing many people use GoDaddy bookkeeping and rave about its simplicity and ease of use I decided to try it out.
It’s pretty awesome. It’s simple and it calculates my taxes for me. What more could a girl want?
Here’s a screenshot of January income from the new bookkeeping software.
The income broke down like this:
- Freelancing (Writing & Virtual Assistant) – $1,700
- Blogging – $3,892.53
To break down blogging income even further it came from…..
- Advertising – $2,565.36
- Sponsorship – $350
- Affiliate Commissions – $932.17
- SEO Guide – $45
My expenses were also much higher in January than they normally are. I joined a new group that cost me $100, I purchased the GoDaddy bookkeeping at around $140, I bought a bunch of credits for stock photos that will last for a few months and I spent another $100 on an experiment I’m running.
All of my expenses for the month totaled $747.42. Quarterly taxes held back in January were $1,170.16. That makes actual spendable (or savable) money $3,674.95.
If you currently have a blog but are having trouble building traffic or making money you can get Ruth Soukup’s free e-book 7 Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight for free here.. Ruth is the creator of Elite Blog Academy which is the course that helped me 10x my traffic and income.
(Elite Blog Academy is not currently open but you can still download the free e-book and get on the waiting list for the next enrollment.)
Busting Through a Plateau
I’ve been stuck at the $5-$6k income for what feels like FOREVER. I’m happy to report that I think I’ve finally busted through. (Although you won’t see that reflected until March’s income report. Darn delayed payments.)
I’m doing some more experimenting so I guess I’ll be able to see in the coming months if this is a fluke or if I’ll continue seeing an upward rise.
Work From Home Resources
If you’re wanting to work from home and don’t know where to start here are my most popular posts in that area:
- How to Start a Blog + 5 Proven Monetization Tactics
- How to Start a Freelance Writing Business (For Complete Beginners)
- How to Find Virtual Assistant Jobs
- 50+ Legit Work From Home Jobs
Also, if you’ve thought of starting a blog or are already a blogger who wants to learn how to earn money Ruth Soukup, creator of my favorite course Elite Blog Academy, is offering a free workbook + a three part video course on blogging.
You’ll be able to instantly download the workbook and the first video will be sent to you on February 16th. You can sign up for the free course here.
How was your January? Any exciting news?
Hi Alexa,
First off, well done, I find income reports so inspiring. I’ve just started my blog in the last few months and decided to post my first “income report”, for January, this evening. I found yours on Twitter, just as I posted mine. I have yet to make income but I wanted to document my journey in a consistent theme of income and traffic reports so that others can see the climb from the outset. I’ll be favouriting your blog to keep track on how you are doing.
Many thanks again!
Thanks Llloyd. I started doing income reports from the beginning and they really motivated me to keep pushing on when things were really tough.
Love to see these posts Alexa! Keep up the good work.
Thanks 🙂
I love these posts, thanks for doing them. I’m always curious about how many hours you put in alongside each motnh’s income…
To be absolutely honest I’ve been kind of slacking for the past few months. I’ve lost a bit of steam and Id’ say that I spend no more than 20 hours per week. Sometimes even less. (Like this week we’ve had a lot of snow and the girls haven’t had school so I’ve worked very little.)
I plan to bring my hours up to AT LEAST thirty and really try to increase my income and pay off my mortgage super quick. But right now I’d say I average 20 per week.
Awesome job!!! And can’t wait to see March’s report! It’s always exciting when you have a breakthrough! I finally feel like my blog is just now starting to make money (though just a few hundred per month). I really believe that if you work hard and keep at it, blogging can be an incredible source of income. Thanks for sharing your report!!
Yeah I agree. Sticking with it for a long enough can really pay off!
Great job!
Congratulations! You’ve given me such incredible hope to make it as a recently divorced mommy who has dealt with MS for over 20 years.
Thank you. You can do it! It’s tough in the beginning but after you get in the rhythm and get something established it can really start to work for you rather you always working for it. Stick with it!
Congrats on o great month. I started using GoDaddy Bookkeeping a couple of months ago and it’s amazing. I’m also thinking it will save me a TON of time next year for taxes. Also congrats on how much your blog is earning compared to freelance writing. Most of my income has been from hustling, but the ads, spons. posts, and products are finally starting to gain momentum.
Great job!
That’s awesome. It seems like things are really taking off for you now! I am definitely enjoying the fact that more money comes from the blog now and less from freelancing. Although I do still like freelancing too 🙂
Hi Alexa!
Thanks for sharing your month with us and congratulations on breaking the plateau! I have included you in my monthly roundup!
I just wanted to say, that for a blog that generates so much income through advertising, the placements are still very subtle and don’t interfere or get in the way of your awesome blog! Sometimes it’s too much like a billboard on some blogs, but not here!!
Hope February is great for you!
Thank you! I did recently take down a few advertisements because things were getting a little too busy so I do try to stay aware of that. I’m glad you don’t find it to be too much 🙂
Perfect Report I’ve ever seen is made by you of USD income report of a month.
Thanks for posting these, Alexa. I knew I wanted to start an online business for a long time, but your honesty and transparency really helped me address how I value authenticity through the work. We just got started and are inspired by your progress.
Awesome job! I can’t wait to see March’s income report 🙂
That is a solid month Alexa. Super happy to hear you broke through that plateau. They suck… and they are easy to get comfortable with… but glad you broke past them.
Can’t wait for March’s report.