February 2016
Page Views: 30,796 (down by half)
Unique Visitors: 20,653 (8000 fewer than last month)
February was an average month all round for the blog, nothing too exciting happened, but as usual, I had fun! I had less traffic than January, but, interestingly enough, earned more money. When I break down my numbers, it doesn’t seem like much revenue. However, I supplement my blog earnings with the work I do as a social media manager for other companies.
At the end of the month, a bunch of giveaways kicked off, so we shall see how that influenced my traffic for March. I finally got organized and signed up for some giveaway hops, which brought many new eyes to my site. If you’re looking for a great way to increase traffic, giveaway hops are the way to go!
Income:
Affiliate Sales:
I am an affiliate for two Canadian cloth diaper shops and also for Well.ca. This income comes from people clicking through my on-site links (or social media posts) and making a purchase.
Bumbini: $0
Lagoon Baby: $5.81
Well.ca: $13.93
Total: $19.74
On-site Advertising:
My ads are supplied by SheBlogs Canada and by Media.net. I earn this income based on a fraction of a penny per page view. I also sell advertising at a monthly rate, and currently have two businesses that advertise monthly.
SheBlogs: $58.41 (Same as January)
Media.net: $33.05 USD/ $44 CAD (Slightly lower)
Monthly ads: $80
Total: $182.41
Sponsored Posts:
This month I did two sponsored posts. I have begun pitching companies that interest me rather than waiting for them to find me. Writing these kinds of posts is the most lucrative aspect of my blog, and I think my sense of humour makes even “advertorial” content fun for my readers!
Total: $250 ($225 in February)
Giveaways:
I charge a fee for running most giveaways. I ran three such Facebook giveaways this month.
Facebook giveaways: $150
Grand Total: $602.15
Note that I do at times accept product in exchange for a review. I do not count this in my income report because I cannot pay bills or buy household goods with a product. This month, I reviewed Garden by the Sea beauty products, North Faun, Snuggy Baby, the Onya Baby Outback, Funky Fluff Lux AWJ, Guzzie + Guss Perch, Inventa Sleeping Bag and JuJuBe BFF for a total retail value of about $600.
Blog expenses:
It takes money (and time) to make money. These are my monthly blog expenses. For many services, you save when paying for a year or more in advance, so I’ve calculated a monthly rate when applicable. I’ve used an affiliate link for any services that offer this perk!
McAfee Anti-Virus software: $2.91
Vault Press Website Back Up Plug in: $6.23
Web hosting by Green Geeks (3 year subscription): $8.33
PicMonkey Royal Image Editing: $3.91
Freshbooks accounting software: $22 (FreshBooks Cloud Accounting – Free Trial)
InLinkz Linky service: $1.67
This month I participated in a Tula giveaway in which each blogger chips in to cover the cost of the carrier: $14
Mad Mimi Newsletter Service: $38.69
Drop Box subscription: $9.08
Co-Schedule social media scheduler: $3.34*
**Thanks to many successful referrals, I saved a great deal on my annual Co-Schedule subscription last year. (In case that amount seems really low.) I am on the “Legacy Plan,” meaning that I have not upgraded my Co-Schedule to the significantly more expensive version now available.
Total Expenses: $110
February 2016 Gross Income (minus expenses) $492
Final thoughts:
Not a particularly lucrative month for the blog, but working for my social media clients continues to keep butter on my bread! Blogging is a labour of love… and it often seems like feast or famine. I worked really hard in March, so stay tuned to see if that paid off!
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