Tiffany Washko

Towards the beginning of the year I remember a conversation at Mom Masterminds about how much money could be made with a blog. Now of course we know some people are making a fortune with blogging…like Darren Rowse or John Chow…but those are the big dogs. So I think the question was more about whether or not a mom marketer with a comparatively small sphere of influence could make any money blogging.

Several moms shared their experiences and most felt that the profits from blogging were pretty dismal….myself included. At that point…let’s say January 2007, I was making about $50.00 a month from my green living blog. I was making about $10.00 a month from Google Adsense ads and the rest from affiliate sales. Despite the lack of money it was drawing I decided to really bust my behind blogging on that particular domain. I concentrated on adding 4-5 pieces of new content every week, monetized with affiliate links. For the most part I did green product reviews and book reviews mixed in with personal stories and newsworthy items. In addition, many of the products I reviewed were sent to me gratis by the companies who sell them. I got yoga mats, organic teas, board games, sippy cups, books, jewelry, DVDs, lotions, soaps, clothing, bedding, towels…you name it! My nearly two year old’s bedroom is decked out with organic everything.

But back to blogging….halfway through the year I added Text Link Ads and sponsored posts from ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews.  Toward the last part of the year I added more Adsense ads, and I started displaying BlogHer ads. I got smarter about ad placement too. Simply displaying an affiliate banner in my RSS feed brought an immediate profit. I  was having a lot of fun writing for the blog but I was starting to make money too. 

I am being conservative when I say that I made $500.00 for last month (Dec. 07) and that is just the cash part. The holidays brought many free products too, as businesses were hoping for a review or a mention before Christmas. That portion could easily be another couple hundred dollars. So all in all…not bad. From $50 to more than $500 per month in a year from one blog on a sub-domain of one of my larger sites. I no longer think blog profits are dismal. On a related side note my RSS feed subscribers jumped from 46 to 365 during that same time.

I also look forward to seeing how things look next year as my readership and my profits increase. I don’t think I will ever be making the kind of money John Chow’s blog is (think $180,000 annually) but hey I am not complaining.

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, john chow, darren rowse, money, income, Adsense

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I think just about everyone is making goals and resolutions during this time of year. I know I did. I even made a couple vision boards to direct my success.

I just closed out my books for 2007 and I was dancing on clouds as I did. December 2007 was my best month ever…6 times what I made in December 2006. I was excited to get new affiliate commissions checks in the mail (GreenFeet & BlogHer) and one I don’t get very often (Clickbank). I like getting actual checks in the mail since most of my money comes to me via direct deposit or PayPal….there is just something exciting about it.

2008 looks like it will be an awesome year for business. I don’t really have a whole lot of resolutions for my business other than to keep doing what I am doing! I hope to increase profits from my own products this year, work on my Squidoo lenses a little more, do more article marketing, and get a few new blog channels going on my NatureMoms site. Oh and stop negelecting some of my other blogs…including this one.

Here is an overview of where my earnings came from last month:

Amazon: 25.5% - Woot! Amazon unseated Google!

Google: 24.2%

Advertisements purchased directly on my sites: 18.5%

Misc Affiliate Commissions: 12.5% (lumped into this category are monthly earners like Text Link Ads, AuctionAds, Mom Masterminds, Aweber, the Natural Moms Business Guide, Moms Talk Network, etc. 

My own products: 11.7%

Shareasale - 7.6% (I earn commissions primarily from about 4 different companies that use Sharesale to manage their affiliate program).

Here is to an awesome NEW YEAR!!!!

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I love to read about different affiliate marketers, an especially women and wahms, and how they make money online. I find it particularly helpful when they link to to some of their unknown affiliate sites or they tell you directly where they are seeing profits. Lynn Terry does this quite a bit and to me it presents her as a far more reputable AND successful affiliate marketer.

I was looking at my own records this morning and saw with jubilation that last month I made nearly 5 times what I did in January of this year! I was happy to see that my income streams are coming from varied places too…diversity is always good.

Here is an overview of where MY money came from last month:

Google: 28.5%

Amazon: 18.4%

Advertisements purchased directly on my sites: 16.5%

Misc Affiliate Commissions: 14.9% (lumped into this category are monthly earners like Text Link Ads, AuctionAds, Mom Masterminds, Aweber, the Natural Moms Business Guide, Moms Talk Network, etc.

Shareasale - 10.5% (I earn commissions primarily from about 4 different companies that use Sharesale to manage their affiliate program).

My own products: 11.2% - I would love for this number to go up obviously.

This month will be interesting for me to track too as it looks like Clickbank will be another monthly check for me as well.

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, lynn terry, income, wahm, info products

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