You can make a decent income with blogging, and you don’t just have to blog about blogging. I’m going to share all about how I turned a measly little lifestyle blog into a profitable business that generated over $14,000 in one month! And it wasn’t THIS blog.
My blogging story
Where it all began
Back in 2018, I decided to start my lifestyle blog, Word From The Bird, after having a lengthy conversation with a friend who had just started one herself.
At that point, I realized it was a good career fit for the lifestyle I aspired to live as a SAHM and avid lover of travel.
So I gave it a go with high hopes of turning my simple life into monetary value by writing about family life — parenting, marriage, personal growth. I had previously dabbled in a personal blog about my experiences living with my family abroad, so I already had a little experience in the writing realm.
But after hours and hours of research — reading stories and journeys of other successful bloggers — I realized my blog about myself (which was more like a virtual diary) wouldn’t translate to a money-making business.
The thought I had initially had about making money with a blog VASTLY changed.
The secret sauce to a successful blogger
Suppose you know anything about the blogging business world. In that case, you know that the most successful blogs come with a plethora of education and information that helps people live their best life.
If you’re a travel blogger, you can’t only write about how much fun you had in the Caribbean, with included pictures of yourself and your dog Malibu.
I mean, you could, but that would make you more of an influencer (and probably a great mini-post for your Instagram).
But a good blogger takes personal experience and turns it into helpful and educational advice.
For example.
Along with pictures of yourself with your dog Malibu on the beaches of Aruba, you would write a post called “The 7 Best Non-touristy Restaurants on the Island of Aruba that are Dog Friendly.”
Great bloggers do their best to steer clear of their ego and give you helpful information about whatever it is you’re there for. They back it up with personal experience, and the passion for their niche speaks through their words.
They know they need to capture their audience’s attention within the first few sentences; otherwise, they’ll bounce.
It’s not easy. And the longer your in the blogging world, the more you’ll learn and grow, recognizing that true value is knowing your audience and answering their questions in a relatable yet non-aggressive way.
Fast forward a few years
Fast forward three years later, and here I am, making a six-figure income with my initial inky dinky lifestyle blog that now gets anywhere from 400K to 1 million monthly readers. Check out my Pinterest Traffic Masterclass and learn how to do this yourself.
When I started, it was merely a dream to make a decent income with my passion, but there were times I doubted I had it in me to get to a place where it was sustainable.
I struggled to spend countless hours of work that DIDN’T bring forth any fruition. Even though I loved it, at some point, the time I put in needed to be rewarded.
But I kept going. My husband would often encourage me, reminding me of the endless articles I had read that described blogging as a LONG waiting game.
That one day, it will just start working. And it did.
I went all in
After my second baby was born, I decided to give it all I had, since a few months after the newborn phase of motherhood had me wonderfully distracted. At that point, I was one year in and still only seeing $100- $300 per month with Google Adsense.
But once I got a good traffic generator system working through Pinterest, things began to shift. I signed up with a boutique ad publisher called Mediavine, and month after month, my income kept growing. Then it would simmer a little. Then it would grow a little more.
It was an up and down system, with SO many unknowns. To this day, I still don’t have three months in a row that generates the same amount of income. One month I’ll make $7K, and the next $14K, the next $5K, so on and so forth. It makes life a little challenging to navigate long term, but I’m not complaining!
The most rewarding moment is when you realize that you’re doing something right in all of it.
That you turned nothing into something.
That all the research you did and the tactics you’ve applied are finally bringing value.
What kept me going
Other than recognizing my words were providing value for people’s lives, it was reading posts like the one I’m writing that kept me motivated. I often thought to myself, “If they can do it, I can.”
So let me tell you this. If I can do it, so can you.
I mean, if you’re a shotty writer, I would suggest you rethink things.
But anyone with common sense has knowledge about whatever they want to write about, a good story, decent writing skills, and a love for working from home can do it.
You can do it. But don’t take it from me. Do your research first. Recognize that you’ll need to put a lot of time in on the front-end, but eventually, it can become more passive.
It’s also important to have a somewhat selfless drive of truly wanting to help others. If your first motivation is money, you’ll find no satisfaction in your work within the first year.
So here comes the fun part.
I’m going to give you a little glimpse into my best month so far.
Why? Because it’s helpful to those of you, who are trying something similar. And what I’ve learned from my first blog, Word From the Bird, is that giving your audience what they want is where it’s at.
How I made over $14,000 in One Month of Blogging with My Lifestyle Blog in the Month of August
The breakdown:
Income:
Ad income – $12,830 (Over 700K Pageviews through Pinterest and an average $17 RPM)
Product sales – $567 (printables)
Affiliate Income – $1,044.02 (Amazon, other affiliates)
Sponsored Posts – $1200
Expenses:
VA Payout – $720
Website expenses: – (Tailwind, Canva, Email Service, WordPress, etc.) – $330
As you can see, a large part of my income comes from Adthrive, my ad publisher. Once you hit 100,000 pageviews/month, you can apply. Until then, Mediavine is a great publisher that basically does the same thing, but they only require 30,000 pageviews.
My blog isn’t ancient. A few years. So as it ages, the RPM, which is the $ per 1000 pageviews, will increase. I can also expect to make more during the holiday season than throughout the year. But what’s crazy is, August is NOT a holiday month, so who knows what October through December brings this year.
My next plan is to write a parenting course for my lifestyle blog, delegate more work out to hired employees, and spend more time on the beach.
After succeeding in my lifestyle blog, I decided to go against my initial “I’m never becoming a blogger about blogging” and become a blogger about blogging, hence the evolution of this blog you’re reading now, Blogging Bird. My plan with this blog is to provide valuable, honest, and proven advice on starting and monetizing a blog and using Pinterest as a traffic generator.
There’s just something so exhilarating about helping people achieve their goals through a proven, working system.
But, my system does hinge mostly on Pinterest. So if you’re a tech blogger, your plan might not jive with mine.
But if you’re a lifestyle, travel, decor, mommy, mental health, food, or Pinterest friendly blogger interested in learning more about how I did what I did — and most often, not adhering to popular advice about blogging — then check out my course.
I promise it will be worth it.
I hope someday you’ll remember me as you write your first blog income post, inspiring others like yourself to achieve their dreams. It truly is a dream job.
