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
Thanks Akhil. Glad you enjoy the reports.
Hello Kevin.
You rockz. I think, most of the bloggers are not willing to disclose their income reports. But, your blog is very unique are you are inspiring many bloggers like.
Subscribed to your updates.
From today, I will be your frequent visitor and commentator. I need to learn so many useful tips from you.
Thanks.
Yeah it’s disappointing. Hope they resolve the issue.
Glad you enjoy the reports :)
Kevin
Hi Kevin
I’ve been following your blog, and the income reports – and things definitely look on the up! I would agree that long term it’s best to focus on your blog and create passive income. I’m shocked to hear that Fiverr is not paying its affiliates! And when they’re making a killing for them not to pay their affiliates is absolute disgrace.
Very nice sir….Inspirational…
Some traffic might be slightly un-targeted for the blog, but not for the article. For example, I have written some posts about movies I have seen. So the traffic going through to a movie related article I have written probably wanted to read about what I said about that particular movie.
However, this isn’t a movie blog. So they would be unlikely to subscribe or read any other articles. In that respect, the traffic is un-targeted.
Thanks Warren. Appreciate it. Fingers crossed they will do the right thing (but I’m not holding out too much hope at this time).
Hi Kevin,
I like how you broke down everything and explained it all. I stumbled upon your blog and look forward to going through older posts and reading your findings on monetizing, word press (if I were to switch) and other advertising options you utilize. Thanks again
Chelsea
This just baffles me man. It’ s like not getting paid at a 9-5 job. My friend told me once that she had to wait another month before she got her check and it’s not even the full amount. What!? Well I hope they do pay you because you deserve it. Good luck!
I guess what I meant by untargeted visitors are those who are there to check things out regardless of their interests and leave after they realize it’s not what they expected. I’ ve visited a fishing site ( I dislike fishing) to see if it would get me interested — but I was wrong. I still think your traffic numbers are impressive though. But what I should’ve done was check your duration average also ( which is high); so I do agree with your points as well.
I get a lot of traffic to older posts and tutorials. I do believe that traffic is targeted, but there is a large percentage of people that simply click the back button or close the browser tab once they have found an article. Either because it was what they were looking for or because it wasn’t.
Would you consider someone who finds a tutorial a targeted visitor if they click the back button and look for another solution? I’d argue that the traffic would still be targeted. It’s not like someone visiting my website is expecting an online store and instead seeing an internet marketing blog.
With regards to bounce rate, if you look at my other income reports, you can see from my Google Analytics screenshots that my bounce rate has been at the same level for some time. Therefore, I don\t think that is the cause for the drop in impressions.
Yeah it’s disappointing. When they approached me, they promised me that I would be paid by the 1st or 2nd of every month. Then it slipped to the second or third week and I always have to email them and remind them that I need paid. I have asked many times why it isn’t just automated.
I haven’t had any reply to any email in over a month. Very frustrating. As you point out, if they took care of affiliates like me, I would go out of my way to promote them.
Kevin
No nothing was changed.
I am planning on changing the design of the blog over the next week or so. If it is a design issue, it should hopefully be addressed by me changing design.
His bounce rate was pretty high. I don’t think a lot of his audience is targeted. That’s my guess at least…
Keep inspiring,
Warren
Great stuff as always Kevin,
I see what you’re saying about Fiverr not paying you; but I would keep on bugging them until they do pay. Of course, you shouldn’t have to do this in the first place, but that’s still a lot of money you’re losing.
It does baffle me that companies like these won’t go out of their way to take care of their affiliates — who’s helped them make sales — and reward them with commissions for their hard work promoting their service. Very shady!
Keep inspiring,
Warren
That’s a nice rise in affiliate income.
Strange about he page views. Did you change the layout of the side at all? Side bar links etc?
Joe