The first day of the month is a time for me to reflect on how this blog performed over the previous month. This reflection is more commonly known as the “Income Report”.
My income reports detail how much I made the previous month through this blog and through freelance blogging. It does not include any income generated through other websites I own, such as Rise Forums.
All in all, I believe I made some good steps forward in September. I took on a couple of new freelance writing clients, such as MemberPress (my first blog post was a review of WordPress 4.0). I also had some great guest posts published from other authors. There were some low points too, which I will explain later in the report.
Let’s delve deeper into the highs and lows of the last month.
Traffic Statistics
The number of unique visitors who visited this blog increased by around 20% in September. Normally, this would be an event to rejoice; however I found myself in a bizarre position in which unique visitors have increased, but page views have decreased significantly.
I am puzzled by the fact that unique visitors could increase by 20%, but page views could drop by over 40%. Google Analytics shows that pages per session dropped from 2.79 in August to 1.37 in September. I have looked at a lot of different metrics in my statistics, however nothing seems to jump put as to why this would happen.
So while I am pleased that unique visitors did increase, I am very disappointed in the large drop in page views.
- Sessions (Visits) – 27,120 (+4,390)
- Users (Unique Visits) – 23,664 (+3,752)
- Pageviews – 37,127 (-26,347)
Readership & Social Media
My main interaction with people in the world of social media continues to be on Twitter. And my activity on Twitter is erratic. Some days I am very active. Other days I hardly tweet. Which is one reason why my social media following continues to grow slowly.
- Email Newsletter = 2,397 Subscribers (+82 subscribers)
- Facebook = 1,139 Followers (+16 Followers)
- Twitter = 2,131 Followers (+25 Followers)
- Google+ = 1,136 Followers (+33 Followers)
- YouTube = 39 Subscribers (No Change)
Income & Expenses Details
I am encouraged by the income I made in September 2014. Not because I made more money than last month from freelance writing, but because affiliate income generated through this blog increased. Over time, this will make this blog more profitable and allow me to reduce the hours I write for others.
I am going to continue to invest in this blog to ensure that affiliate commissions and advertising revenue continues to increase. As you can see from my expenditure information below, I invested over $175 more in guest authors in September. My plan is to invest even more in October so that more great articles are published. In time, this will help drive more traffic to this blog and increase income.
Unfortunately, Fiverr have yet to pay me the $252 in affiliate commissions they owe me from August 2014. They have not returned any emails about this issue; which suggests they are unlikely to pay me the $252 earned in August or the $70 earned in September.
It is unfortunate that many big companies continue to treat good affiliates in such a way. It is not worth my time going down a legal route to get my case, therefore my best port of action is to remove them from this blog until they pay up (and it is looking unlikely they ever will pay).
In total I earned $4,657.70 in September. I also paid out $464.90 for guest posts and $25 to Broaded for text link advertising.
Therefore my total profit was $4,167.80. This represents an increase of $1,087.68 from August 2014.
Income
- Freelance Blogging = $3,608.60 (+$793.6)
- My Books – $93.94 (-$24.32). This includes digital and printed book sales.
- Affiliate Income = $755.16 (+$320.86)
- Advertising Revenue = $200.00 (+$200)
Expenditure
- Guest Posts = $464.90 (+$177.46)
- Advertising = $25
* Difference in income and expenditure from previous month shown in brackets.
Overview
September was a month of highs and lows.
Visitors increased, but page views dropped. Affiliate income increased, yet one affiliate did not pay the money they owed me.
I will, however, certainly take positives from September and continue to invest in this blog to ensure it becomes bigger and better.
My main goal over the next few weeks is to bring in some quality writers who can help me take this blog forward. I am also going to be devoting more of my time to publishing great articles here.
If traffic and affiliate income increase in October, I will be very happy; regardless of how much I earn from freelancing.
I hope you have enjoyed this income report. If so, please take the time to share the report and leave a comment below :)
Thanks,
Kevin
