Blog Income Report – October 2019 (Net Income = $3,923.66)

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.

This is my second blog income report. If you want to check out the first one, be sure to read My First Blog Income Report – September 2019.

After more than 10 years of blogging, I was hesitant to show the income that Money Q&A produces. Part of me didn’t think that you’d care. The other part of me wanted to keep it private.

October 2019 is a prime example of why I didn’t want to initially share my blog income with readers. October’s net income was over $600 less than September 2019’s profit. And, there are a few reasons for that.

October 2019 Blog Income Report

I hate to say it but I’m a lazy blogger. I’ve got a day job. Unlike a lot of my peers whom I started blogging with around the same time back in 2007 and 2008 are professional bloggers. They’ve left the corporate life and blog full-time.

I still have a day job. And, my day job often gets in the way of blogging. I travel a lot for work, and I don’t always give Money Q&A the attention that it deserves. So, if I owe you a reply over email, you’re not alone. I’m sorry.

I’m trying to get better though. I have a few systems in place to keep the content fresh and continually publish on Money Q&A. That’s something I’ve actually worked on a lot this year. I’m ahead and have blog posts scheduled out for months in advance.

But, the vast majority of my income is generated and negotiated during the same month. So, if I’m a slacker and don’t respond to emails fast enough, I often have a slower month than others like this one. That’s the only reason for the dip in income this month.

I openly say this to provide context and also to say that you’re not alone. I’m sure that I’m not the only one with a day job and a blog as a side hustle. I’m not alone in the fact that if you slow down blogging and working on your pet project, you will see a decrease in income.

So, with that said, let’s get to this month’s blogging income report.

Types of Revenue

While there are a lot of different ways bloggers can earn income from their blogs, in October, I’ve only earned income from three sources.

• Sponsored Campaigns
• Affiliates
• CPM Ad Networks

Here is a list of my top performing affiliates:

• Roofstock
• Fundrise
• Masterworks
• Pets Best Pet Insurance
• M1 Finance
• Streitwise

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

There are other affiliate platforms of course. And there are other companies that 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 CJ where you can find all of your data, links, banners, and reports all in one place.

Revenue – October 2019

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

• $2,701.00 = Sponsored Campaigns
• $574.76 = Affiliates
• $416.86 = CPM Ad Networks

October 2019 Revenue Total = $3,692.62

Keep in mind that the affiliate and CPM ad network income are typically paid Net 30. These numbers are for transactions in September and October in many cases. Money Q&A uses the cash accounting method and books the revenue in the month it is received. The sponsored campaigns are typically paid a little quicker from companies and often represent work completed in the same month – hence they usually reflect actual October income. But, sometimes, they can be for work completed in September but paid in October.

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 account for the income the same way every month, you get an accurate assessment of the revenue. And, ultimately, that’s what we’re looking for – a monthly accounting the same way each month.

Costs – October 2019

Like all businesses, it takes a certain amount of money to actually earn money each month. I’ve spent the past few months actually 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 right for every blogger. You will want to carefully pick and choose what you spend money on if you’re just starting out.

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 October 2019.

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

October 2019 Costs Total = $375

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
• 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.

$4.99* .COM Domains! Get going with GoDaddy!

October 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 October 2019, the total costs were $375. The gross income was $3,692.62. So, $3,692.62 – $375 = $3,317.62

October 2019 Net Blogging Income = $3,923.66

Previous Blog Income Reports

• September 2019 – $3,923.66
• October 2019 – $3,317.62.  (15% decrease Month over Month)

Top Five Blog Posts on Money Q&A

• Ultimate Guide to Earning a 10% Rate of Return on Your Investments
• How to Turn Down Family Members Who Keep Asking for Money
• My Next Home Is Going to Be a Hotel and Save $925 per Month
• The Negative Effects of Raising Minimum Wage in America
• Mistakes to Avoid When You Move Out of Your Parent’s Home

I hope that you’ve enjoyed a little peek behind the scenes here at Money Q&A. I’ve held back for years doing this because I wasn’t quite sure if you’d actually care. And, I definitely didn’t want anyone to think that I was bragging about the website and how much it earns each month.

But I do want you to see what’s possible. So many people have asked me how to start blogging. Be sure to check back here over the next few weeks. I’m planning a new blog post series deep-diving into each of the individual topics that you need to tackle to start your own blog like choosing a domain name and web hosting service, picking a WordPress theme and plugins, branding across social media, and much more. So, stay tuned!

If this helped you or if you found this blog income report interesting, leave a comment below or shoot me an email any time – Hank at MoneyQandA.com. I’d love to hear from you.