May 2016 Income and Traffic Report + Goals for June
Okay, so while I’ve been sporadic with posting my monthly goals (May Goals & February Goals), I also haven’t posted an income report since February… which was really the income report for January. I would love to tell you that this is more of a priority for me, but it isn’t. Yes, I do enjoy sharing and I enjoy answering any questions… so maybe that will give me the motivation I need.
Anyway.
From here one out, when I remember to do them, these reports will be broken down as such:
- Previous month’s income received and expenses out
- Previous month’s traffic
- Goals for next month
So let’s get started!
Income Earned and Expenses for May
I’d love to tell you that May was an average month for me but it’s hard for me to determine what’s average… some months are good for sponsored posts and some not so much. I want to start earning more affiliate income and hope to eventually add products for sale. Aside from my Kindle book, I have no products. And that book is about Google Analytics and custom dashboards, so it’s not really fitting for my overall blog.
But I’ll get into that more when I jump into the goals for June.
Income Earned
Influence Central (PayPal) | $325 |
Influence Central (Gift Card) | $250 |
EBA Affiliate | $58.80 |
Clever Girls | $740 |
TapInfluence | $45 |
Total Income Earned | $1418.80 |
Not too shabby and one of my better months this year… though roughly half of that went back into the blog and the other half went into my bank account to help pay bills and other such adult things.
Blog Expenses
Social Media Manager School (last payment) | $200 |
ConvertKit (monthly) | $29 |
Contextly (monthly) | $9 |
Female Entrepreneur Association (monthly) | $30 |
Microsoft Office (monthly) | $7.99 |
Adobe Creative Cloud (monthly) | $49.99 |
Lynda (monthly) | $34.99 |
Buffer (monthly) | $10 |
Blooming Elegant Font (one time) | $16 |
Fontbox (one time) | $29 |
SEO Summer School (one time) | $49 |
Pinterest Masterclass (one time) | $47 |
Blog Dirty 30 (one time) | $74 |
Total Blog Expenses | $614.97 ($161.97 recurring) |
When I think about it and break it down like this, my monthly expenses for my blog aren’t that bad. It means that I can start budgeting towards additional things like hiring a VA to do chore threads and budgeting for the occasional blog course. I will be the first to admit that I have shiny object syndrome when it comes to courses so my awesome blogging buddy, Kaylene of This Outnumbered Mama, is holding me accountable.
After expenses, I earned $803.83 in the month of May. And, as I said, most of that went back into the bank account to pay for bills and purchase a few things on eBay, Etsy, and Christian Book.
By breaking down everything like this, I can easily track where the money is going in terms of blog expenses. I want to start budgeting for a VA and also for courses.
Monthly Traffic Report for May
May was one of the best months that I’ve had for my traffic. I saw a huge increase in the number of overall pageviews and unique visitors. And for someone like me who tends to get obsessed with numbers? This is a beautiful thing.
April Pageviews | 26,297 |
April Unique Visitors | 20,092 |
May Pageviews | 46,026 |
May Unique Visitors | 35,073 |
Pageview Difference | 75% growth |
Unique Visitors Difference | 75% growth |
One of my end of the year goals is to reach 100k monthly pageviews. There was a time, earlier this year, that I felt like it would be damn near impossible to get to that goal. I was struggling and instead of rising, my pageviews were on the decline. During that time, I was still able to land a few sponsored posts so that kept me from getting too discouraged.
So what did I do differently in May?
I used chore threads more strategically and consistently. I started updating older posts on a regular basis. I set a goal for four new posts per week (time permitting) on the core topics for my blog. I also had a few posts take off on Pinterest and boosted a few posts on Facebook. I don’t put my FB ad budget into my expenses because I never know how much I’m going to spend. Sometimes it’s $3 a month and sometimes it’s $15.
I do know that it took me about a month of experimenting with chore threads before I finally found a system that worked for me. And because Pinterest is my biggest source of traffic, I continue to put time back into Pinterest. Either with chore threads or Tailwind tribes.
I worry that my pageviews will start to decline again, but in that case, I’ll change up my strategy and go from there.
Monthly Goals for June
My goals for June are similar to my goals for May. The biggest difference for June, however, is that I want to start creating more products so I can have a steady, passive income stream coming in. I will start getting paid for my ads this month so that’s at least one thing to look forward to. But, I also know that I can greatly help myself (and my family) by getting more passive income streams in place.
Through things like: products (eBooks, courses, printables, logos) I can get a (hopefully) steady income source in place. That will help me get my sign language certification (to set up another passive income stream by offering online classes and in-person classes) and pay for my Shaklee kit (or other Direct Sales) so I can get my network marketing business off the ground.
I also want to diversify my income streams a bit (sign language courses, Shaklee, the blog) so I’m not relying on just one source when it comes to building my work at home empire. For the sign language and Shaklee, I have plans in place and it’s pretty straight forward. I just need the money to get it going. In the future, I may also look into getting my bachelor’s degree in communications, just to have something else to fall back on.
For my blog, I have vague ideas of how to proceed but it also boils down to a few things.
I want to: have products, increase my affiliate marketing revenue, continue to do sponsored posts, increase pageviews for more ad revenue.
As I continue to grow my blog, I’ll start posting less (I think) and concentrate on setting up products.
Another goal that I have for this month is to (hopefully) finish my rebrand. I spent a few days towards the end of May nailing down a color scheme and logo design. Now I just need to implement the changes and get the structural tweaks done.
So, that’s what I’m working on for June.
Kori
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I have the shiny object syndrome to when it comes to blogging or freelancing courses. I try to not overwhelm myself with them, but they all look so intriguing.
It’s terrible, lol. I have several that I need to finish and that I’m determined to finish before I drop anymore money.
Now you have me thinking about blog goals for June. How did you like the Pinterest Masterclass?
It was good! I actually tend to avoid Pinterest related courses unless I hear a lot of good things about them and/or know the presenter.
It is always so important to stay focused on your goals. Thanks so much for sharing.
Your stats are pretty incredible, I wish they had Clever Girls in the UK because our companies that offer sponsored posts never give us enough income.
Congratulations. Looks like you have had a lot of success lately. Keep up the good work!
Congratulations on your May! I think a 75% growth is phenomenal. Here’s to June!
For someone who is relatively new to the blogging world, this was so interesting! Thanks for sharing! I have not even heard about half of this stuff, and now I have lots to think about!
Not to bad at all. i need to find a class or a group to help teach me how to increase UV. I gained 1000 this month but would like to do better.
This is such great information. It is wonderful that you are willing to share. I believe it helps others. It seems like you are doing a great job!
Good for you with your growth! Keep it up.
This is so inspiring! Thanks for breaking it down like this. I’m interested in a Pinterest Masterclass and would love to know what you thought of yours!
I love seeing the income reports of other bloggers! It’s so interesting to see how different bloggers are earning and growing!
You are doing a great job of growing your blog!
sounds like you have a plan in place which is really half the battle. I am trying to get pld posts cleaned up and re-introduced and it takes forever but it IS helping. good luck
Oh wow..you had a very increase in page views…it’s so motivating to see how others do it. I might have to check out some of the blog expenses you mentioned – maybe I can benefit from a few.
I would love to take more blogging and SEO courses, I’m glad you are making time for them. What was your favorite takeaway from the SEO Summer School?
It’s only one week in so far 🙂
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