My First Blog Income Report - September 2019 ($3,811)

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Note – This blog post may contain links to affiliates. I earn a small commission if you choose to sign up for some of the services described below.

I’ve been blogging for over 12 years now. I often joke that I’ve lived the blogger’s dream. I have had other blogs before Money Q&A, and I sold them.

In all honesty, I love writing. I love writing about personal finance, retirement planning, and investing. I don’t always love behind-the-scenes aspects of blogging like search engine optimization (SEO), managing affiliates, and the plethora of other tasks associated with running the business of blogging.

So, for a year or so, I spent my time as a freelance writer. I wrote for some of the biggest names in the personal finance space online like The Motley Fool, AOL, Seeking Alpha, and many others.

But I missed having my own little corner of the blogosphere.

So, that’s why I started Money Q&A in September 2010.

Unlike many of my blogging peers, I still have a day job. I am still blogging on Money Q&A part-time.

But every year, the blog is growing in readership, revenue, and profits.

I’ve shied away from sharing details about Money Q&A’s revenue, costs, and profits with readers for years and years. I wasn’t a fan of bloggers sharing their income reports.

But recently, my friend Blake from The Dividend Pig challenged me to break out of my comfort zone to help others who want to take their blogging to the next level.

Many friends who know that I blog and see my success have asked me for advice on starting their own blogs over the years. I’m more than happy to help share what I’ve learned over the past 12 years.

So, that’s why I’ve finally bitten the bullet and decided to share my blog income reports with you, the reader. At the end of the day, I wanted to share these monthly blogging income reports to show you what’s possible as a blogger.

It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time. And, a lot of people don’t want to hear that in the beginning.

I’ve been blogging for over 12 years now. These numbers won’t happen for many people in the first few years. But I also don’t blog full-time.

I don’t promote the Money Q&A Newsletter. I don’t sell products that I have created. Maybe that’s something that I look to in the future.

But I share these failures as well as the successes because maybe you can do things better. Perhaps you can learn from my mistakes through these blogging income reports.

There’s money that’s left on the table. Others have done better in less time. But, many others have given up after toiling at it for a few years because they haven’t seen the quick results.

Results aren’t quick. They take time. But, they are possible. That’s my home for sharing these numbers with you. It can be done if you just stick with it.

Types of Revenue

While there are many different ways bloggers can earn income from their blogs, in September, I’ve only earned income from three sources.

Native Ad Campaigns
Affiliates
CPM Ad Networks

Here is a list of my top-performing affiliates:

If you’re looking to start earning money promoting companies you love with affiliates, you should check out the large affiliate networks. I love using the Impact and CJ affiliate networks and highly recommend them.

There are other affiliate platforms, of course. And other companies also run their affiliate programs in-house through their own proprietary backend platforms.

Working directly with a company isn’t a bad idea. It just makes it a little harder to keep everything straight since you have to check links and reports from multiple websites. That’s why I love using a platform like Impact or Commission Junction, where you can find all of your data, links, banners, and reports in one place.

Revenue – September 2019

Here is the list of revenue that Money Q&A earned in September 2019.

$3,425 = Native Ad Campaigns
$470.87 = Affiliates
$402.79 = CPM Ad Networks

September 2019 Revenue Total = $4,298.66

Keep in mind – the affiliate and CPM ad network income are typically paid Net 30. These numbers are for transactions in July and August. Money Q&A uses the cash accounting method and books the revenue in the month it is received. The native ad campaigns are typically paid a little quicker from companies and often represent work completed the same month – hence they usually reflect actual September income.

While some of this income is carried over from previous months, it is the same every month. And it gives you and me monthly income figures on income actually received. As long as you’re accounting for the income the same way every month, you get an accurate revenue assessment. And, ultimately, that’s what we’re looking for – a monthly accounting the same way each month.

Costs – September 2019

Like all businesses, it takes a certain amount of money to actually earn money each month. I’ve spent the past few months pairing down the costs. I was spending on several freelancers that I’ve cut back on to keep costs down.

While these are the costs that I spend money on, they may not be suitable for every blogger. You will want to carefully pick and choose what you spend money on if you’re just starting.

There are a few costs that you simply can’t avoid as a blogger though. You will need a domain name. You’ll need web hosting. Sooner rather than later, you’ll most likely want a premium WordPress theme. Money Q&A uses the Genesis theme from StudioPress.

Below is a list of my monthly blogging costs for September 2019.

$88 = Web Hosting
$50 = Writing and Editing Services
$94 = Social Media Scheduling Tools
$99 = SEO Research Tools
$13 = Graphics Software
$10 = Domain Name Registration Costs
$90 = Graphic Artist Services
$16 = Email Newsletter Service
$12 = Grammar Software
$10 = Accounting Software
$5 = VPN

September 2019 Costs Total = $487

The blogging services that I use every month.

Web Hosting = Liquid Web
Social Media = MeetEdgar
Social Media = Tailwind
Instagram Scheduling = Later
Domain Registration = Go Daddy, Domain.com, & HostGator
Email Newsletter = Aweber
SEO Research Tools = Ahrefs
Graphics Software = Canva
Grammar Software = Grammarly
Accounting Software = QuickBooks Self Employed
Graphic Artists = Fiverr
Free Logo Services
VPN = NordVPN

I pay for many of these blogging tools and services on an annual basis. To stay consistent, I’ve divided those costs by 12 to get a monthly cost to show in this blogging income report.

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September 2019 Net Income

Like your net worth calculation where you subtract all of your debts from your assets to arrive at your net worth, blogging income is very similar. Of course, you subtract the monthly costs from gross income to arrive at the monthly net income for the blog.

For Money Q&A during September 2019, the total costs were $375. The gross income was $4,298.66. So, $4,298.66 – $487 = 3,811.66.

September 2019 Net Blogging Income = $3,811.66