How To Make Money With Blogging: My Social Experiment Update

It has been 1 year since I officially launched this blog. I first posed this question—how to make money with blogging, can it still be done—last year. Like all first year anniversaries, it is a good time to reflect and see what has been learned and the growth gained. I can only describe this past year as a year of growing pains. This has been an exciting and sometimes painful process.

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In this first year, I’ve written over 102 posts and over 102,000 words. Recorded, edited and published (or at least scheduled) 90 YouTube shows and 60 podcasts with over a 1000 minutes of content. Pinned more than 3,500 pins to my Pinterest boards. Created 190 images for Instagram posts. And posted more than 200 times to Facebook. I’ve created 6 low content books and published them on Amazon. Designed and created some awesome mom boss swag. Published my first workbook freebie. All while still homeschooling my kids and juggling clients. Needless to say, it has been a very busy year.

How to Make Money with Blogging—The Streams of Income

I started this blogging journey taking all the classes and reading all the books, like Blogging for Profit without Selling Your Soul and Problogger. It was like digging for gold trying to find out how all the big bloggers reached the point of making thousands of dollars from their blogs (I am nowhere near this).

I signed up for affiliates, created merchandise, added advertising to the blog, created a freebie to build my list, added support buttons…and it has trickled in…very…very…slowly. It is amazing how exciting you get over a penny. Yes, I did get excited over the first penny I made on Rumble, it was more than I had made from my YouTube channel.

When I started a year ago, I decided to try 3 specific income streams: Google Ads, affiliate marketing, and creating products. I did all 3 of these plus added sponsored posts and creating low content books.

Is it Possible to Make Money with Blogging?

The answer is yes. I did make money blogging this year, but it was more pocket change than income changing. So I had a little extra to put back into the business of blogging. I made income from all of the streams mentioned above, despite the Amazon affiliate program. And I did get payment from most them, except Google Ads, I haven’t met the payout threshold yet.

My Pinterest feed is full of pins on how to make money with blogging. With headlines like Make $10,000 in 3 Months, or Replace Your Full-Time Income in Just 6 Months. Now, I don’t know if these bloggers actually did this because I never clicked through. The one main reason, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that it is possible to start without an audience and make thousands of dollars within months.

All the books and classes will tell you that it takes 3 years for a blog to gain traction. I recently heard this. It takes 2-3 years to start gaining traction with your business, and five years to make a significant income. Yes, this makes me want to cry every time I remind myself of this. It actually inspired my post on the emotional stages of starting a business. This was a very “in the moment” written post.

How to Make Money with Blogging—Income Report

Yes, I know, I’ve kept you waiting long enough. So here is my income report. I am only reporting what has actually been paid. So I may have made money, but with the payout thresholds I haven’t reached that point to get paid yet.

Merchandise (shop and royalties): $86.21

Affiliates: $91

Advertising: 0

Sponsored posts: $50

More than How to Make Money with Blogging

I did start this blog from almost zero. Here’s what I reported in last year’s post on my social experiment: 13 followers on Facebook, 8 followers on Instagram, 6 followers on Pinterest, 4 subscribes on YouTube, 0 email subscribers, 1 subscriber to my RSS feed, and 0 downloads on my podcast.

I would describe this past year as the drip…drip…drip stage of the emotional stages. But I did see growth this year. I was able to speak on being a momtrepreneur and homeschooling mom at a conference. Where I was able to meet other momtrepreneurs. Which was awesome. We all have our own unique path to follow, but it is always nice to meet a fellow traveler.

Here’s where I am at today: 162 followers on Facebook, 125 followers on Instagram, 67 followers on Pinterest, 69 subscribers on YouTube, 33 email subscribers, still 1 subscriber to my RSS feed, and over 600 podcast downloads for the year.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to see if there is still room in the internet world for another blog. My goal was to increase page views (accomplished) and monetize it (accomplished, even if it is pocket change). Any increase of these two markers, I consider a success.

I also wanted to provide a lot of resources for moms who want the freedom of working from home. And I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between buying a resource to support your family or buying homeschool curriculum. My goal is to give as much away for free. Yes, I will be creating a course to sell and book. At the same time still giving a lot of information, so you can get started on your own virtual assistant business.

What’s been Gained Other than Money

Personal growth can be more valuable than financial gain (don’t get me wrong financial gain is always helpful), but when you are measuring success it has to go beyond just money, to how you’ve grown as an individual and mom boss.

I feel like I’ve found my voice. As cliché as that sounds, it’s true. When I write I want to be honest and authentic (I know another cliché, but still true), and I want to offer substance. When you move from this blog to another internet page, I want you to feel like you’ve been helped. You can take the next steps in whatever you are doing. That you are not alone on this journey. Even if it is contrary to what all the gurus say. We can zig while everyone else zags. We’re moms we just need to say because I said so.

This is the voice that I’ve found. To really help moms beyond the clichés, beyond the fuzzy feels of a motivational talk, and really help you to move forward to chase your dreams, accomplish your goals, and create the life you love whatever that looks like. And maybe a little contrary to what everyone says we are supposed to do (I guess my kids get their contrariness honestly).

Success if defined on your terms. You can stop trying to fit into someone else’s idea of how you are “supposed” to work and school. My fellow momtrepreneur, we get to break all the rules and that gets me very excited.

Another gain is I can write a lot faster. I’ve thought about writing a book for years now. There are ideas the tumble around in my head, but the thought of writing 80,000+ words is daunting. After writing for a year, and having written more than 100,000 words. I know that I can write a book. So you may see more than just journals and notebooks coming from Jodie the Mom!

There were also opportunities to speak on being a momtrepreneur and homeschooling mom. I realize I have a lot to say on this topic.

Conclusion

This past year has definitely been a journey. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes amazing, but always moving. I wasn’t sure if I could answer the question how to make money with blogging. But I have. After a year, I can say there is still room for what you have to say.

This blogging thing is not an easy thing to do (no matter how many pins make it sound that way), but it still can be done.

What’s Next with How to Make Money with Blogging

I am going to keep doing what I’m doing. There are plans to start creating courses to add to the income streams. So let me know your thoughts. What course would you take? And what topics would you find helpful?