Money Manifesto Blogging Income Report – October 2016

Welcome to the October 2016 blogging income report.

Before we get too far into this month's report, I want to remind everyone I write these reports for two main reasons.

The first reason is to keep myself accountable.

If I have a bad month and have to share it with the world, I'm more likely to try to avoid having awful months income wise unless they are planned.

The second reason is to inspire others.

When I started this blog over four years ago, I never thought I'd be able to blog and write online for my full time income.

However, that is exactly what happened just about a year ago when I left my job to become self employed.

Reflecting On A Year Of Self-Employment

Facebook reminded me that I left my day job just over a year ago to take the plunge into self-employment. It has been a whirlwind of a year. I never expected things to go as they did.

I left my job last November and we quickly had major life changes happening left and right.

We did major home improvements on our old home that disrupted my work environment. My wife got pregnant. We decided to sell our home and build a brand new home. We even decided to sell our rental property.

If I had still been working at my day job, I never would have been able to juggle everything necessary to make all of the above happen.

Thankfully, now that I'm self-employed, I have a flexible schedule that allows me to take care of what I need to when I need to as far as my personal life goes.

Of course, that flexibility also comes with a down side. This year I haven't been very disciplined at growing my business. I've been making plenty of money for what my family needs, but I'm definitely not getting rich as a self-employed person.

Next year many of the big life changes and personal distractions will have passed. I plan on buckling down and making a plan to grow my business in 2017.

However, until January, we're still going to have a lot going on in our personal lives so I plan to continue maintaining my business until I can hit that growth spurt I'm hoping for next year.

Let's get on to the fun part, my October income!

October Blogging and Self-Employment Income – $4,300.76

October was a decent self-employment income month as we earned much more than the base income I needed. Of course, I'd always like to see this number increasing.

In October, I continued to make income from a variety of sources which I'll detail below.

Traditional Advertisement

I've continued using traditional advertisement as a way to supplement my income. I usually make a small amount each month, but this should grow as I grow my website next year.

I am currently using a mix of Media.net ads (you can apply to use them for your website here) and MyFinance advertisements.

Sponsored Content

Sponsored content continued to do well for me in October. I work with advertising partners to create content that helps both my reader and the advertiser for a fee. I always disclose this content when I post it so my readers are aware.

I also only share my 100% honest opinion when it comes to sponsored content. If a sponsored content offer asks for me to only say positive things about a product or service, I'll turn it down in a heartbeat.

Affiliate Income

Affiliate income seems to be considered the holy grail of blogging income. Bloggers insert links in their blog posts for products and services they write about and if a reader signs up for that service, the blogger gets paid a small commission.

Affiliate marketing only works well when I promote products I personally believe will help my readers and that's exactly what I do.

For instance, I strongly believe Republic Wireless is a great cell phone provider that can help save you money on your cell phone bill.

Part of my 2017 plan is to take Michelle's affiliate income course and I'll report back when I've completed it.

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing has continued to be an amazing and reliable income source for me. I've started taking Holly Johnson's Earn More Writing course and am about halfway finished.

So far, I've learned a few tricks that could easily earn me more than the cost of the course.

It's perfect for both people looking to get into freelance writing as well as people who have been freelance writing for a few years. If you're interested in freelance writing, you can purchase her course here.

I need to decide if I want to continue to grow my freelance writing business or focus on other areas in 2017. However, for now, I plan on keeping my freelance writing right where it is through the holidays.

Starting Your Own Blog Can Launch Your Online Income Career

I never would have earned a penny online if I hadn't started my blog. Within a few months, I had earned hundreds of dollars. Today, I make enough money to make blogging my full time income.

It all started by getting a self-hosted WordPress blog. I had tried blogging before on one of those free blogging sites, but I never stuck to it. Paying a small amount of money made me invested enough to keep going until it worked.

Personally, I recommend getting your own self-hosted WordPress blog on Bluehost for a couple reasons. They're one of the cheaper hosting providers out there and they're easy to get started on.

You may have to switch to a more expensive host later on, but the process is relatively easy and right now just getting started in your blogging adventure is key.

If you want to get started, you can sign up for your own self-hosted WordPress blog on Bluehost using this link.

Do you have any questions about blogging or my income reports? I'd love to hear them.

Source: Money Manifesto Blogging Income Report – October 2016