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Happy May 2021! Another month has gone by, and that means it’s time for another blogging income report!

I always love writing these. It’s a great way for me to look back on the month and see what worked and what didn’t.

And also to give you a look into what it’s like to be a blogger! This is my April 2021 blogging income report.

I know I don’t make much every month as a blogger, but I still want to write these income reports when I can!

It’s so draining when you’re first starting out blogging to only find income reports on Pinterest titled “How I made $10,000 blogging!” “How I made $500 my first-month blogging!”

How unrealistic is that?

I didn’t even know what WordPress.org or a self-hosted blog meant my first month, let alone know enough to make money!

In my first income report, I talked about how I made zero dollars that month. I think it’s important to share these “blogging fails” just as much as it is important to share the wins!

Now, that’s not me knocking those income reports or the people writing them.

I am super happy for bloggers that are able to start making an income right away!

And I love reading the bigger income reports because you get a look into just how many monetization strategies there are out there.

However, when that is all you see, it can be discouraging.

So I am super proud to share with you how I make money as a smaller blogger to hopefully encourage you to see that everyone starts out small.

So, without further ado let’s get into the income report!

April 2021 Blogging income report

Affiliate Marketing

My affiliate sales have really slowed down over the past few months, since my last income report in November of 2020.

I honestly couldn’t tell you why, but they have!

So I only made a small amount from one course sale and the funniest sale I’ve made to date.

I have an old crafting blog that is still up on a free blogging site. I actually made a sale on that blog for, get this, ONE DOLLAR. Yes, literally one dollar.

This is why it is so important to make sure the affiliate companies you apply to have good payout rates because after looking into it I actually sold $100 in products.

And I made a SINGLE DOLLAR of profit from that.

Sigh.

Here’s the screenshot to prove this ridiculousness.

Courses sold: 1

Money made: $20.50

Freelance work

Thankfully, my lack of affiliate sales was made up for by the fact that I started a Pinterest management freelance service!

So my income was pretty stable thanks to this! I signed on one client and for the moment I am looking to sign on one more.

I’m hoping to grow this income source in the future, but for now, I am looking to have a max of 2 clients so that I don’t overwhelm myself.

CLIENTS: 1

MONEY MADE: $114.42 (After PayPal fees)

2023 UPDATE: This has been my best income source almost every month since I launched it! I have since stopped Pinterest management as it didn’t really interest me, but I did add on Pinterest Account Audits and other blog coaching services, which have been doing super well for me!

Etsy sales

My Etsy did pretty well this month! I have been getting a pretty consistent income from Etsy each week, even though it is small.

For some reason, I only sold one product a bunch this month. I ended up adding two new products, so I’m in the process of getting the word out on social media for them.

But the only product I managed to sell this month was my social media content calendar!

Everyone seems to be really loving this product, and it has been my most popular product for a while now! I’m hoping to up my conversion rate and get some of my other products sold as well in the coming months!

SALES: 6

MONEY MADE: $24.37 (After Etsy fees)

2023 UPDATE: I’ve since closed my Etsy shop (I explained why in this video here) and have added WooCommerce to my site! So now my shop can be found here. I love the option to have my products right on my site. And, my most popular product still is the social media content calendar!

Total revenue

So, in total here is how much I made blogging in April 2021!

• Affiliate sales: $20.50
• Freelancing: $144.42
• Etsy: $24.37

TOTAL INCOME: $159.29

Compared to my previous income report for November 2020, that is a significant increase in money! I don’t plan on doing income reports every single month, at least not as of right now, because my income is very unstable right now.

Blogging income is known to fluctuate depending on the sales you make, of course. So if some months aren’t as good as others, I don’t see the value in sharing it!

But, if you’re still stuck on how to make money blogging, here are a few tips to help you out!

2023 UPDATE: I now make a lot more money from my blog than I did back then! So lets talk about some ways you can make more money with your blog!

How to make money blogging

1. Learn how to affiliate market

This is something that I struggled with for a long time. It took quite a while for me to get the hang of this income source.

Now, this is one of my favorite ways to make money blogging because it is pretty much passive! Once you write the blog post, as long as that post does well, you have a chance to make a sale!

Although, you have to be careful with this income source, which is something I recently learned the hard way.

I had two courses that were my top-earning affiliate marketing sales get taken offline by the creator. It was a Pinterest course and an affiliate marketing course.

Every month prior, I made at least a few sales of the courses each month. Then one month- nothing.

It was weird, but I know income can fluctuate so I didn’t think much of it.

Until someone who was trying to buy the course brought to my attention that they were closed for enrolment.

So, now I’ve had to go back and update all the links to new courses! Luckily I can recommend Pinteresting Strategies for my favorite Pinterest course and Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing as the money-making course.

It works out in the end though, because both of these courses are (in my opinion) better than the ones I was recommending before and both have given me an immense amount of value!

This also teaches a valuable lesson- diversify your income streams!

And, here are a few ways you can make money money affiliate marketing.

• Write blog posts about your affiliate products

You can’t make sales if no one knows about the products you’re selling!

So make sure you mention it in blog posts when it naturally fits the flow of the post. But, you don’t want to push your affiliate products too hard!

It can be tempting to try and push your affiliate products because the more links you have out there the more chance they have to get clicked on, right?

Well, yes, technically. But that’s not the best strategy.

You want to be strategic about your affiliate link placements.

If you write a post about the best shoes to wear for the Summer, but you’re promoting an unrelated cookware product… chances are no one is going to click on that link!

You also don’t need to spam the link a bunch of times. Make it flow naturally in your blog post.

People don’t like to be sold to, so don’t turn it into a full-on sales pitch!

• Talk about what the products can do for them

People want to know how the products you’re recommending can help them. If they are spending money on it, they need to know why!

So instead of talking about what’s in the product, talk about what people can get out of it.

And when you bought the product, what results did you get? They can learn all about what’s in the product from the sales page you’re likely sending them to.

If it worked for you, make sure to show them the results! This will make them more confident in buying the product themselves

• Show don’t just tell

Another good strategy I implemented is the “show, don’t just tell” method.

What results did you get from this product?

Show me how you lost weight because of this weight loss program. Show me before and after pictures of your skin getting clearer after you used this new acne-free skin product.

People want to see results.

When someone lands on your blog, they don’t know who you are. So you need to show people that they can trust your recommendation by showing them that the product works!

That doesn’t mean that you aren’t trustworthy as a blogger, but the newcomers onto your blog don’t know that you’re trustworthy, so make them see that you are!

2. Make money with freelancing

This was one way I didn’t think I’d make money blogging, but it is a good way to get started!

There are some downsides to this method because this income source is not passive. But if you can make it work, it can be a viable source of income!

I started out with Pinterest Management, and occasionally still do it if someone asks. But it’s not posted anywhere on my site.

Which is something that I find crazy! I will occasionally book for services that I am not promoting and not even offering on my site! Yet when people email me about them, they are ready to buy.

Now, I am doing other freelancing services like Pinterest Account Audits and Blog Coaching services! (All my links are right here)

So, how do you make money with frelancing?

• Gain trust first

I did not start freelancing right out of the gate. Although, you could if you wanted to!

You just may not get customers right away.

Becuase in order to get started freelancing, you need to show that you are a trustworthy figure online. You need to show that whatever service you’re offering you’re actually good at doing.

So, for me, I talk about Pinterest a lot on my YouTube channel and on my socials. And I have the Pinterest stats to back it up.

I’ve created myself to be an authority on Pinterest.

If you want to get started in freelancing, figure out something that you’re good at and start talking about it!

On your socials, on your blog, wherever you can so that you can show people you’re a trustworthy and knowledgeable person to hire!

Sometimes, you don’t even need to directly mention the services you offer. If you are posting content around that topic, people who resonate with you will want to learn more!

Like I said, I don’t talk about Pinterest management anymore, yet I still book clients for it!

• Find a task people don’t want to do

The key to getting freelancing work is finding something people either don’t want to do or don’t have the time or skills to do.

You can freelance just about anything, Pinterest, social media, editing YouTube videos, writing blog posts, email marketing, and of course coaching!

The possibilities are endless!

If you can find something that people don’t want to do and are will to pay money to have someone else do it, you’re in business!

This also goes for helping people get results in something they are struggling with!

3. Create digital products

Next to affiliate marketing, this is my favorite way to make money blogging!

I;ve sold digital products on Etsy, on Gumroad and now I sell them right here on my site.

It’s an amazing form of semi-passive income.

Meaning, once I create the product and set up the listing, that’s all I need to do! There is nothing to ship or package.

The customer buys the product, gets a download link, and I get the money! I frequently wake up to a notification that I’ve made an Etsy sale in my sleep.

It’s literally the best feeling in the world.

You still have a lot of work todo with digital products, like creating them and promoting them. But it is pretty passive once everything is in place!

Of course, you can have a more hands-on shop if you’d like.

You can sell anything on Etsy, if that’s where you choose to host your shop!

Both handmade products and physical items do really well.

For me, physical items don’t fit into my niche very well and I don’t like the hassle of dealing with the post office or shipping!

If you’re looking to get into Etsy selling, I have a few resources up on my YouTube channel such as how to set up your Etsy shop, how to make sales, and how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your listings! To check out all the videos I have about Etsy, check out my playlist!

Conclusion

I hope you’ve found this income report to be useful!

Not only because you get to see what it’s like for smaller bloggers to make an income, but also information on the way you can make an income yourself!

If you want to check out more information on how to make money blogging, you might enjoy this post here! How to Monetize your Blog in the Early Days!