As we stride forward in March, it is time for me to take a step back and see how this blog has performed in the previous month. Those of you who have read my income reports in the past will be accustomed to what I cover.
For the benefit of new readers, here is a quick explanation: These reports detail income from my books and freelance blogging. They also include any affiliate revenue generated through this blog, however the reports do not include revenue generated through the content websites and discussion forums I own such as Rise Forums. In more simpler terms, the report only covers income and traffic for this blog.
Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road.
Traffic Statistics
A post at the end of January 2014 went viral. Due to this, traffic was significantly higher for five days. The post that went viral was not we development related, so it is doubtful that the traffic was targeted.
- Visits – 18,008 (+4,394)
- Unique Visits – 15,723 (+3,613)
- Pageviews – 46,523 (+8,284)
* Difference in traffic from previous month shown in brackets.
Last month my global Alexa rank was 69,680. It currently stands at 73,085. This is a drop of around three and a half thousand.
Readership & Social Media
My readership continues to grow at a snail’s pace. At this rate, I will have a solid readership by around 2023 ;)
My slow growth is down to me not publishing enough articles. In March, I need to hire another blogger and attempt to find the perfect blogging solution.
- Email Newsletter = 1,948 Subscribers (+21 subscribers)
- Facebook = 1,034 Followers (+17 Followers)
- Twitter = 1,936 Followers (-1 Follower)
- Google+ = 855 Followers (+46 Followers)
- YouTube = 33 Subscribers (+3 Subscriber)
Income Details
Income in February was higher than in January. After seeing book income increase for a few months, it dropped considerably last month; however this drop in book earnings was offset by the increase in affiliate income. Therefore, the main difference between February and January was me taking on a few more writing jobs.
In total I earned $2,916.08 in February. This is a rise of $742.21 from the previous month.
- Freelance Blogging = $2,478.48 (+$651.53)
- Consultation = None (No Change)
- My Books – $130.95 (-$103.07). This includes digital and printed book sales.
- Affiliate Income = $306.65 (+$193.75)
- Advertising Revenue = $0 (No Change)
* Difference in income from previous month show in brackets.
Overview
There are positives and negatives to be taken from February. On a positive note, I increased my income from freelancing and saw an increase in affiliate income. On a negative note, more time spent freelancing meant that I spent less time writing articles for this blog. I need to be smarter about this and use the additional income to hire other bloggers.
In my other projects, we welcomed new members to Rise Forums and I launched a new entertainment type website that I will be heavily promoting via Facebook.
I hope you enjoyed this income report. If so, I encourage you to subscribe via RSS, Facebook, Google+ or Twitter for future updates.
As always, I encourage you to leave a comment below :)
Kevin
Thanks Alicia. Glad you enjoyed the post.
If you look at the cost of other membership clubs, I think the pricing is fair. I believe their pricing was too low for a long time. The average WordPress theme costs $55 on ThemeForest. That puts their $69 membership fee into perspective.
Ultimately, people will vote with their wallets. If it was too expensive, competitors would get an edge. Though I suspect they could increase it to $99 before people start leaving as it still offers great value.
Hi Kevin,
Loving the site, very clean look with some great content.
The Divi comments caught my eye because I’ve just signed up as an affiliate to help market – my first post here – http://wpthemefind.com/divi-wordpress-theme-10-things-love/ (not sure whether a link is okay?).
The only concern I have is that whilst I think the Divi theme is great, Elegant Themes have now rocked the price up from $39 when your post was made to $69 and that might make a difference to some people.
As I said in my article, if you take a comparable theme over at one of the other marketplaces like Themeforest, you can pick one up for around $50, so you’re paying an extra $20 give or take.
I know you’re getting a bundle of themes for the money and not just the Divi theme but I guess that package may only really appeal to web designers and not the individual who only wants a single theme.
Decisions decisions …
Anyway, great website, I’ve just bookmarked you!
Thanks,
Alicia.
Thanks Keith. Yeah feel free to add the link.
Thanks for suggesting subscribe to comments. At the weekend I disabled the commenting features of Jetpack as I am finding alternatives for the modules I was using as I want to uninstall the plugin. The main reason I used the Jetpack comments module was for subscribing to comments. I was searching for a plugin that migrated comment subscriptions from Jetpack (WordPress.com) to Subscribe to Comments, but none seem to exist. I am not sure if it is something that can exist since comments are stored behind the wall of WordPress.com.
So for not, I have disabled the comments module of Jetpack and enabled the subscribe to comments plugin. The problem is that I still use the publicise sharing option of Jetpack and I check WordPress.com stats periodically too. So I’m kind of torn between uninstalling it as it would mean installing a social media sharing plugin instead. I’ll need to make a decision :)
Divi does actually look like a good option for a blog. I checked out http://divitheme.co.uk/divi-theme-overview-awesome-divi-builder/ as an example. It looks fantastic. It has the same clean design that I love about StudioPress designs. Plus the option to make the top navigation menu fixed is a nice touch.
Kevin
Hi Kevin
“I actually suggested that I do a tutorial about it and Nick referred me to the existing documentation and asked if I could add anything…and I didn’t think I could as the documentation is already extensive.”
Yes I was impressed with the documentation – those videos are fabulous.
Dedicated Divi site is http://divitheme.co.uk/
Post on Metro theme (old Metro not Metro Pro) is http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/metro-magazine-theme-responsive-genesis-child-theme-for-wordpress/
If you want me to add this site to the Metro users list please let me know and it will be my pleasure.
One plugin I would add to your site here Kevin is the Subscribe to comments plugin – keeps the conversation going.
Hi Keith,
I’ve been using Genesis on this blog for a year or so. I’m looking to change it. Ideally, I would switch to a different StudioPress design for a smooth transition, plus I like the clean look of themes that use the Genesis framework, however there is nothing that looks significant enough to change.
Don’t be silly Keith – Feel free to share your link to readers here (don’t worry – it’s easy to spot the spammers as they post their link and never return!).
Divi looks fantastic. This may surprise you, but I don’t have an active membership for Elegant Themes. I have no doubt that the owner Nick would give me one if I asked as we have been working together, but it has never came up in conversation and I don’t want to be rude. Plus, at only $39 a year, it would be quite cheap of me to even ask in the first place haha.
I actually suggested that I do a tutorial about it and Nick referred me to the existing documentation and asked if I could add anything…and I didn’t think I could as the documentation is already extensive.
What’s the url to your dedicated div site. I’d like to check that out :)
Kevin
The default blog layout for Divi that is displayed on the theme demo is not the type of thing I am looking for, however the theme is very flexible. Therefore, I imagine I could create custom layouts easily using it.
Hi Kevin
Just came over from Elegant Themes – surprised to find you running on Genesis Metro theme but it is a great theme.
Thanks for sharing your income stats.
I do better on the affiliate marketing, I’m an affiliate for WordPress themes (Genesis and Elegant Themes) and a few Genesis related plugins.
One affiliate theme that has done very well recently is the Elegant Themes Divi theme. I’ve even opened a dedicated Divi site built using Divi.
I did a post on the Metro theme some time ago and added links to Metro users, if you want to be added please let me know.
I won’t post a link to the article without your permission.