This Month’s Top Post: Home Made Decorative Wreaths – 260 Views – 9 Comments
Runner Up: How I Use SmartThings for Home Automation – 144 Views – 7 Comments
This month went quite differently than planned. I stated in my last monthly update that I was looking forward to slowly growing my blog over 2016 and working my way into becoming self-hosted by in 2017. Well, as I was working my month, I realized that little by little, every new thing I would try required me to become self-hosted.
So, I took to the internet to learn about self-hosting and research Blue-host which seems to be pretty popular. I quickly realized this would be a pain since my domain was at 1&1 and I didn’t want to deal with transferring. I then realized that I should check with 1&1 because that would be the only way I would be able to keep my domain where it was.
Luckily, 1&1 was extremely cheap compared to Blue-host and I was able to become self-hosted for $1 per month! (all of which I’ve made back already).
January 2016 Income Statement:
Revenue
Google Adsense – $44.89
Total: $44.89
Expenses
1&1 hosting – $11.88
Etsy Posts – $1.20
Total: $13.08
NET INCOME: $31.81
*View past blog income reports here.
I’ve been slowly but surely cooking away at my 2016 Blogging Goals. I am currently on track to reach my goal of 60 posts for the year and I received at least 3 comments on every post. I’ve begun working on a followers strategy and have added my book for free download for all subscribers.
Outstandingly, I surpassed all of my social following goals for the year within the first two weeks of the year! This month, I increased my social following by 56%! I’ve learned that if I have a goal I will keep pushing until I reach it. I should have known this, I’m always this way. I do everything as soon as I possibly can.
Focus For Next Month – Branding and Images
This month, I realized that it’s best to pick a topic to focus on to grow. I focused on my followers and had amazing growth! Next month, I plan to focus on Pinterest and making each new post have Pinterest worthy art. Hopefully I’ll have time to update some pages and old art while I’m at it and clean up my blog categories.
In the spirit of images, I’m hoping to create a logo and banner that I can use across all of my social platforms.
Sounds like you’re well on your way to reaching your goals! So cool to see income coming in.
Hi Kari
Cool income report! I am dedicating this year to explode my social media as well and so far i am seeing results. Congrats.
As requested, i have added you to The Ultimate List of Blogger Incomes. Yay!
Thanks! I appreciate it!
I have growing blog income is a lot about figuring out what affiliate opportunities work for you. I am sure your income will keep growing!
Your numbers are very similar to mine. I love seeing your progress. Never heard of I & I before though and looks like I might need to check them out. $1 a month is absurd! Thanks for sharing this.
Yes! It’s fantastic. I used 1 and 1 on my website years ago and am glad I remembered it. Here’s the link to the web hosting page with the awesome deal. https://www.1and1.com/web-hosting
Congrats on your success! Becoming self-hosted is scary but totally worth it!
that is encouraging that you were able to make some money through adsense. it has yet to be a money maker for me
Well done on your efforts and it is very nice seeing everything posted so neatly. You have a great grasp on what you are doing and where you are going. 😉
Good job! I wish Google Adsense worked that well for me, mine takes like a year and a half to make it to threshold and i’m considering getting rid of it altogether.
I’m not sure why it’s working so well for me. I wasn’t expecting it to. Although I do know others have great luck with ShareASale and I have had none.
Looks like you’re successfully achieving your goals!
I hope you continue to achieve them.
xoxo, Jenny
Very interesting- I have to work on adsense as I haven’t been accepted yet! So annoying! I make most of my money through sponsors atm
Perfect! I haven’t started using sponsors yet but one step at a time.
This is really great info! I’m glad you are reaching your goals it seems as if you have it all mapped out pretty well. I wish you all ththe best on you ur increase journey.
Looks like your efforts are paying off, well done! Your post has given me added motivation to jump online and check out some of my own stats, then make a proper plan for the way forward. Thanks!
Awesome job! I too am slowly trying to grow my blog. I barely decided to monetize it this year after writing for fun for 4 years! I guess I was just too scared to take the plunge.
Oh wow! You can do it!
I love seeing how other bloggers are doing things. Thank you for sharing.