This ” How I Made Over $4,010.00 On My 7th Month Of Blogging ” is my 5th income report. I have passed the 7th month-mark and my blog is growing faster in terms of traffic, email subscriptions, income, comments, and so many more. I truly cannot believe that I would earn money through blogging.

My intention in creating this blog was to simply chronicle and share my thoughts, experience, and a pinch of wisdom on personal finance. I didn't realize that my blog would grow fast in such a short time. As I said in my previous report, I am still testing things (i.e. write-up format, advertisers, and blog layout) to learn what really works best for my blog. Of course, in the process of doing this, I have made several blogging mistakes. This post contains affiliate links/ads. See disclosure policy.

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to my August 2016 income report. This is my monthly post where I show you how I made money, where the earnings came from, what I did and didn't do, what my triumphs and/or mistakes in blogging, and, of course, my monthly goals.

Starting now, I will include the top traffic sources and how many viewers who came from what source. You'll see that information in the infographic in this post. As you know, I like to be as transparent as possible. I believe it's necessary to show these traffic sources. Many thanks to those who suggested that I includem.

Previous Months' Blog Revenues

Before I go to the meat of my income report, I'd like to show you my income progression month after month. I compiled all my income reports for easy access and just to give an idea how I have been doing (money-wise) with my blog.

• July 2016 Income Report (6th month of blogging) – $3,430.89
• June 2016 Income Report (5th month of blogging) – $2,972.33
• May 2016 Income Report (4th month of blogging) – $1,441.87
• April 2016 Income Report (3rd month of blogging) – $657.17

I credited my traffic and income upward trends to just several posts I published these past couple of months. I did not know these posts would be seen by so many people. I honestly thought that not a lot of people would even read these posts. I was proven wrong because I not only gained a ton of viewers but I also gained a hundred or so email subscribers. Here are my most read/visited blog posts for the past month:

• Save More Money and Be Richer By $14,000 A Year – 29,545 visits
• 25+ Survey Sites That Will Add $600/Month or More – 28,221 visits
• 10+ Cash Back Sites To Earn You Money While You Shop – 23,985 visits
• How We Live Off Well On Under $31,000/Year – 15,124 visits
• What To Do When You Are Behind With Your Bills? – 12,936 visits

Why Blog My Income Report?

Before I show you my blog traffic and earnings for August 2016, let me tell you why I wanted to blog my income.

First, I always like to see my income progression from one month to another. When I say income, I mean to say income from anything related to blogging. I do not count my day job income, side hustles, and everything not related to blogging. This way, readers exactly know that this income report is just about blog income. You'll see survey money in this report. This survey money is affiliate money and not the money I earn from taking surveys.

Second, for many, I'm still pretty much a new blogger by many people’s standards. I’ve only been blogging for 7 months now and have had triumphs and failures (actually a lot) in those 7 months. Everything I did, do, and have done with my blog is all of my doing. If you see something off, then, that's my doing. If you see something nice, then, that's my doing. If you consistently visit my blog, you’ll see that it keeps on changing and it has a lot of flaws. I’m still figuring out what works best for me and my site.

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Third, I want to show people that they can earn money through blogging. Before I even started blogging, I had heard a ton of bad comments about blogging, the worst of which was that it was a scam. I tell you that it is not a scam. I have earned more than $12K in 7 months just by sharing my personal experiences and thoughts about personal finance. Don't get me wrong, blogging is not easy. Don't expect to earn right off the bat. You need to put in your time, patience, and dedication to make blogging work for you.

Let's put it this way, if blogging was easy, then, everybody would be doing it. Having said that, you could earn a lot from blogging. Just put your heart, soul, and mind into it and you will see the benefit of blogging monetarily or non-monetarily speaking. I took a risk, paid around $100 to get my blog up and running, and it paid off. Now, I am earning like a full-time employee on a part-time basis. That's the first time I said those words.

Fourth, I like to be an inspiration to those who just started or are just starting with their blogging life. I never thought that it's possible to earn (extra) money this early on in my blogging life but it has happened. I know that it will continue to be better from here (hopefully). I want to share to the world that earning this early is possible regardless of how long one has been blogging.

I have to say that willingness, commitment, perseverance, and a lot of luck are what helped me and continuously help me with my blogging success. As my mother always say, it’s not what you always do but what’s inside you that help you become better.

Fifth, I believe in complete transparency. While I blog just about everything under the realm of personal finance and its never ending relationship with family and life, my blog is also monetary vehicle for my family. When you see advertisements on my blog posts, those are income-generating ads.

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Tips for Bloggers

I have dealt and used ad networks to find the best of the best products to offer to my blog readers. I don't just apply and use the offers from these ad networks because I want to make sure I bring forth products that truly help my readers make money, save money, and manage their finances effectively.

It can be exhausting to find networks that will really help you and your blog propel to new heights especially when there are thousands of them over the internet and you can't figure out the right ones for you. If you are a publisher or a blogger and are looking for ad networks that work and pay out really well, I highly recommend the following ad networks.

I'm recommending them because I get positive reviews from my readers and my revenue from these ad networks are great (to say the least).

IGain

If you are in the personal finance niche and are looking for survey sites to add in your list of income-generating networks, then, IGain is for you. I have made over $2,000 over a few months with this ad network. The range of survey sites impeccable. The customer service it provides is beyond outstanding. I've worked with a lot of ad networks and IGain's customer service is, by far, the best.

If you are looking for exclusive offers, which can't be found anywhere else, then, IGain is for you.

In addition, one of the most exciting things about this ad network is that it offers games and promotions almost every month. Some of their past promotions included increased payouts, cash incentives, and Amazon gift cards.

Truly, there are so many great things about IGain.

Share-A-Sale and FlexOffers

I lumped these two together because they are almost the same in many respects. They have a ton of offers for just about any product out there in the marketplace.

Whether you are in the personal finance niche or fashion niche or food niche or something else, Share-A-Sale and FlexOffers. At one point, I made over $1,000 in one month from FlexOffers.

Panthera Network

I mainly used it for survey-related offers but it caters a wide range of niches. Some of niches include, but are not limited to, pets, family, books, health, beauty, entertainment, games, employment, education, and home.

I'll tell you that I'm not alone when I say I make a lot of money (i.e. commissions from Panthera). A friend blogger of mine who is in the fashion niche makes at least $600 a month through Panthera. Another friend of mine who is health and fitness makes around $900 a month.

August 2016 Income Report

August 2016 is the best month for me money and traffic wise. My blog income and traffic increased from July 2016 and it’s only my 7^th month of blogging.

For those who have not read my first income report, I stated there that technically, I have been blogging since December of 2015 but did not market or tell anybody about my blog until the 28^th of January. I kept it to myself (my very first mistake). So, I consider February as my official blogging start date. Again, it’s just FYI to avoid confusion.

I believe the reasons I earned this money are because of my determination and hard work to make blogging work and because of luck. I always put luck in the mix because I am still figuring out which strategy works.

Income by Network

Here are my income and expenses:

Income

Bluehost: $795.00

Flex Offers: $2,203.60

Google Adsense: $123.92

Media.net: $169.66

NewsMax: $65.81

Smart Asset: $80.00

Vindale Research: $415.00

IGain: $161.50

Income Total: $4,014.49

Expenses

Expenses: $0.00 (Yes. No expense for this month. Yehey!)

Expense Total: $0.00

Net Income: $4,014.49

Income by Affiliates

A couple of people asked me if I could detail the affiliates that helped me make these fantastic dollars. Of course, I said yes. Here is the breakdown:

American Consumer Opinion: $1,502.00

• My wife and I earn around $175.00 a month just by taking survey. For many, it’s not a lot of money but it does pay a few of our bills.

Bluehost: $795.00

• Bluehost is the reason that I have a blog. I didn’t know anything about coding, WordPress, and other things related to blogging. With Bluehost, I was able to create my blog in 10 minutes or less. I took a chance and it paid off. I earned at least $8,500 even though I've only been blogging for 6 months. For $2.95/month, you have little or nothing to lose but, potentially, a ton to gain.

IGain: $161.50

• IGain is one of my newest found treasures. I gain has exclusive survey companies that pay really well. If you are looking for other survey sites to try, you may want to stop by the following survey sites. These sites are handled by IGain.
  • EarningStation ($10 bonus after 5 site signups) – It is similar to Swagbucks in that you can earn by watching videos, taking surveys, using coupons, and shopping online.
  • VIP Voice Panel (Automatically enters you to $1,000 sweepstakes) – This survey is on a tiered reward system. What this means is that the more surveys you do, the more points you earn. You earn VIP points just by completing a survey. For your 1^st survey, you can earn 3X the points. Sign up for VIP Voice Panel for FREE.
  • Harris Poll Online (Earn while you surf online) – You don’t earn cash with Harris Poll but you can earn rewards. Unlike many surveys that don't give you anything when you don't qualify for surveys, you will earn 15 HIpoints as well as entry into the HIstakes draw with Harris Poll Online. Sign up for Harris Poll Online is FREE.

Sage One: $200.00

• I’ve been looking for a very user-friendly, cheap, and effective accounting software especially for my growing blogging business. You can sign up for Sage One for a 30-Day FREE TRIAL with NO CREDIT CARD required. I tell that Sage One is easier than using a spreadsheet (and I am an advanced-to-expert MS Excel user).Get started with Sage One. It won't cost you a penny!

Swagbucks: $207.20

• Swagbucks is one my new affiliates though I’ve been using it as one of my search engines for some time now. Every month, my wife and I make $70, which is good for gas and some groceries. When you sign up via my link, you will receive $5 bonus right away.

TopCashback: $266.40

• TopCashback is a portal that helps you earn money through purchases you make via the web. Like EBates, you have to go to TopCashback first and search for the store you like to go to. Once found, click the site and you’ll be directed to that store.

Google Adsense: $538.92

Media.net: $169.66

NewsMax: $65.81

Smart Asset: $80.00

Total: $4,014.49

What I Did and Didn’t Do

I decided to permanently include this section because I know a lot of my fellow bloggers and those who want to begin blogging would love to see what I did to earn money and increase my traffic as well as the things I didn’t do or failed to succeed on.

Did do

• AOL. I was fortunate in that a representative from AOL emailed me a couple of weeks ago. She wanted me to be part of the personal finance community or section that AOL is in the process of establishing. What this means is that I may or will have the opportunity to write for AOL, advertise its products in my blog, get featured on AOL, among others. I'm still in the process of getting all the paperwork and back-end work done. But, I am so excited as I see this one as a big opportunity to reach a bigger platform for me and my family.
• Pinterest Boards. My Pinterest collaborative boards has been gaining a lot of contributors. In the past week, at least 20 people became contributors. I consider it as an accomplishment because two months ago I started with only 10 or so contributors with 50 something pins for both of my collaborative boards . As of this writing, the statistics for these boards are:
  • Bloggers' Portal – 12,764 pins and 263 contributors (accepting new contributors)
  • Money Tips – 4,704 pins and 84 contributors (accepting new contributors)

• Follow-up. The same thing I have done in the past months, that is, I followed up with people who needed help. When people asked me questions, I not only answered their questions but also offered help. I built relationship as a result. Better yet, this assistance converted into sign-ups for products that are promoted throughout my blog.
• Website re-design. If you look at my blog, you’ll see changes on layout, placement of ads, among others from time to time. Since my blog is new and I’m new at blogging, I like to try what works best and doesn’t work for me. I know there are risks associated with this but I’m willing to try.

Did not do but should have done

• Last month’s casualty, again, was my Twitter account. I've been busy with a lot of things about blogging, Pinterest, new affiliates, and others that I didn't get to pay attention to my Twitter. I know how critical to a blog Twitter is. However, this is where I failed this past month because I didn't pay a single attention to it. It's totally my fault.

Traffic

For the month of JAugst, I had 175,189 views, which is a 70.95% increase from last month’s 102,482 views.

I am so thrilled to see my traffic grow month by month. Much of the increase in traffic is due to my Pinterest traffic. I cannot stress enough how Tailwind has helped me achieve this growth is such as short time.

September 2016 Goals

I always believe in setting goals. Going through life, in general, without a goal is like walking on unending road without a foreseeable end in sight. The blogging goals I set for this July are both easy and challenging to achieve. So many reds here but overall, I like what I am seeing.

• Page views. I want to see 7,000 views a day, at least. Maybe it’s impossible to achieve it but I will try my best to make it possible. (Aug Goal: 5,000/day ; Result: 5,651/day) – Succeed.
• Income. I want to double my income for September. Yes, double the amount it is. (Aug Goal: Double my May’s income of over $3,430.00 ; Result: $4.,014.49) Didn't reach it. But, of course, I am more than happy to earn additional money.
• Email subscribers. I like to have 600 subscribers by the end of September. (Aug Goal: 500 ; Result: 453) – Failed but close to the target.