Online Income Report for January – £3,136.65

This is the second in a series of posts where I will show you what I earn from Skint Dad on a month-to-month basis. The aim is not to brag but instead show you what income has been generated so that you can see the potential in starting a blog yourself.

Having started blogging just a few years ago, I’m now making thousands every month. If you’re interested in making money online then I show you how I made over £3,000 last month and how you can too.

As well as sharing my income I’m also going to use these series of posts to talk about what’s working on the blog, what’s not working, how much traffic the blog is getting and what my plans for the blog are going forward.

I believe anyone can start a blog like I have and earn money from it. I’m not overly educated, I didn’t go to university, and before September 2013 I had never written for anyone or on any platform.

What I did have though was the determination to keep working at the blog and learning not only from others but also learning from the mistakes I made along the way.

Traffic report

Below are screenshots from Google Analytics which show my blog traffic for the month of January, my top ten traffic sources and the top ten most read posts.

Traffic overview 

Compared to December the traffic in January was LARGE! With a couple of spikes which I will go into more detail below, this was our biggest month since starting the blog.

Top ten traffic sources

Google searches, Pinterest and people coming directly to the site were the main drivers of traffic this month. Facebook also had greatly improved from December but this was down to me being more active on the platform.

Top ten most viewed pages 

The Skint Dad 52 week saving challenge/1p saving challenge was published early in January and it was a massive hit with over 50,000 page views!

Similar to last month both selling used toilet rolls and unconventional ways to save money were popular, as well as finding out how to get bargains with outlet stores on eBay.

Thoughts on traffic

January was a bit of a whirlwind!

Early in the month, I was asked to appear live on ITV’s This Morning to discuss debt with Eamonn and Ruth (having met them on the sofa a year or so previously discussing housing with Shelter). At one point there were 500 people coming onto the site at one time!

Although I do make the odd appearance on TV and radio, I was then asked to appear on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and was also ask to talk on BBC Radio about food waste. It really was quite a month.

These appearances caused a lot of people to search for me and the blog which was nice :)

As it’s the first month of the year, January usually sees people start resolutions and I had adapted the usual 52 week saving challenge (where you save £1 and accumulate it each week) to saving just 1p a day and increasing. This was very popular and it seems we are turning into a nation of savers with search terms for this post soaring!

It would be nice to keep the same traffic through into the following month but I’m doubtful this will happen.

Subscribers

Although organic traffic is of course very much welcome, having someone subscribe to your newsletter, RSS or social media channels is to me much more valuable as you can connect to them directly.

This month has seen a good increase in followers across all of my different channels.

Here are my current subscriber numbers as at the end of January:

• Email – 3,888
• BlogLovin – 376
• Instagram – 7,381
• Facebook – 6,851
• Pinterest – 6,702
• Twitter – 7,862
• Google+ – 296
• YouTube – 13

So there are a total of 33,369 subscribers signed up over the different channels. This is an increase of 3,638 from the month before so welcome to everyone new.

Monthly income for January – £3,136.65

For the month of January I earned £3,136.65. This is the money that I was physically paid, not invoiced. This amount is also before any tax or expenses are accounted for.

Income breakdown

• Freelance Writing: £1,150.00
• Sponsored content: £1,250.00
• Affiliate Window: £264.92
• eBay Associates: £37.29
• Google AdSense: £91.90
• Media.Net: £92.54
• TV & Radio: £250.00

Total income: £3,136.65

Expenses

• MailChimp: £34.30
• MAXCDN: £28.14
• Upwork: £24.22
• SumoMe (List Builder): £14.06
• Facebook Advertising: £11.00
• Clear Books: £10.80
• PicMonkey: £3.36

Total expenses: £125.88

Total income minus expenses: £3,010.77 

Starting a blog of your own

If reading my income report has inspired you to start a blog of your own, head over and check out my step-by-step guide of starting a WordPress blog on Bluehost. Starting at just $3.99* per month for blog hosting you can set up and start creating your own income from blogging in minutes. Additionally, if you go through my Bluehost link and sign up to a minimum of 12 months hosting, you’ll also receive a free blog domain worth $13.

Click here to take you to the step by step tutorial to set up your own blog.

Starting your own self-hosted blog can seem complicated but if you follow my tutorial you shouldn’t have a problem. That said, if you do need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll by more than willing to help.

*If you’re in the UK you are able to take advantage of the stronger pound and pay even less!

Thoughts on January’s income

As with December’s income report this was another fantastic month. I’ve been working closing with a large brand creating a series of sponsored content and this is reflected in the amount earned. I also was commissioned to write six article for various websites/publications which again is reflected within my income.

Although my expenses aren’t massive I can definitely see an increase to what it was six months ago. This is something I will be keeping a close eye on throughout 2016.

I have also noticed a slight increase in expenses versus what was paid out last month which is really down to the exchange rate. Most of the services we’re charged are in dollars and it’s obviously a bit stronger in January, meaning we had to pay more (I’m only really talking about a few quid but it soon adds up!)

Affiliate Marketing

One of the best ways a blogger can earn a consistent income from their site is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you promote a product or service on your blog and get paid a commission when someone clicks through and makes a purchase.

The majority of companies that have an online presence have an affiliate program you can join, but instead of running it themselves they employ the services of an affiliate network such as Affiliate Window and Tradedoubler.

My affiliate income was a lot lower this month compared to December (£350 difference). The problem with affiliate income is that what you earn is not normally paid until 12 or so weeks later. In some cases I’ve waited five months for the commissions to be verified and released.

Even so, I still wholehearted believe that affiliate income is the best way for a blogger to build a consistent income and with the whole world as a customer, there is no limit in the potential earnings.

Freelance Writing

Although not directly earned from my blog, freelance writing makes up a large part of my income most months, but without creating a blog initially, I wouldn’t have been approached to undertake the writing in the first place.

In January I carried on my work with Homeserve and also wrote for Sainsbury’s and a brand new freebie website which is launching in a couple of months.

Check out my freelance writing page which showcases some of my previous work.

Related article:

• Becoming a Freelance Writer: 4 Top Tips

Sponsored content (working with brands)

Once your blog becomes popular and starts attracting a decent following, it will open up the opportunity to work with brands who want their products or services in front of your readers.

I work with brands in a number of ways from promoting them on my social media networks, publishing sponsored content on Skint Dad, attending events and consulting.

Advertising

I currently have Google AdSense and Media.Net adverts running on my site. Having adverts such as these on your blog means you can start earning straight away without too much effort.

You can also sell space on your site for direct banner placements and this is something I hope to do in the coming months.

My traffic has steadily been increasing over the last six months and it’s now got to a stage where I am attracting more premium advertisers. Because of this I have started to look at different ad networks who will manage the ad space on my site and (hopefully) help my revenue increase.

What’s been happening?

After a good rest in December, January was always going to be a busy one for Skint Dad. It was in this month that I really started to hone in what I want to achieve with the site and the direction I want it to go in.

I have a tendency to want to do everything myself (or ask Skint Mum (Naomi) to help…) which isn’t always possible. I also know that there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise out there that has a voice and needs to be heard. With this in mind, we made the decision to start taking on paid contributors.

At first, I was slightly dubious about how it would work but am delighted with the response from so many people and the ideas and creativity that so many of you have.

For the last few years, I have been working on Skint Dad from the comfort of my sofa or from the kitchen table. This month things took a change. I had made an arrangement to hire an office two days each week (on a very cheap rate) while Chloe was in pre-school.

I decided to take this step because my goal is to grow Skint Dad into a fully fledged business with a team of writers on board. And I believe that by moving into a more professional environment it will allow me to reach those goals quicker.

Current goals 

Last month, I wanted to set myself some more public goals so I could be held accountable for what I’m doing and I could track how I’ve been spending my time.

I think this was a really positive idea as, although I have been looking at other things, this list of goals have given me something to check back to and keep me focussed.

I wasn’t expecting to necessarily finish the goals in the month but I wanted to at least get my teeth into them.

This is what I set myself:

1. Change newsletter and be consistent –my target was to be consistent and to look for a redesign. – Partially achieved.
   The Skint List newsletter was sent out every week in January so I met this half of the goal. I have also been looking at the design with my current provider and have been looking at costing and playing around with other providers. I don’t want to make a snap decision on this so am going to keep testing what’s other there before I make a final decision.
2. Business plan – my target was to get a plan written up – Achieved.
   Writing a more formalised plan was something that Naomi and I have tried to do loads of times but we end of going around in circles. This time we refused to stop until we got it right. The persistence paid off and we not only have plans in place for short term goals but also have agreed on a Big Hairy Audacious Goal!
3. Reader survey – my plan was to send out a survey asking what you wanted to see – Completely failed.
   I did not send out a survey in January. This did slightly fall off my radar due to me making public appearances. For the time being this is being put to one side.

This income report is being published quite late into the month so to write the goals down now seems a little backwards. There are things that Naomi and I discussed doing in February and I will share the successes in the next report. Stating from March, I will be more proactive about publishing these reports earlier in the month.

Final thoughts

I am still amazed at the success we are currently having with Skint Dad. For years Naomi and I dreamed of having our own business and creating something that we could grow that would allow us to have the life we want.

Although I am still a little apprehensive in saying it, I can almost now see our dreams become a reality and I’ve made a promise to myself that I’m going to hustle every day to carry on this success.

Finally, I want to ask you for some advice. I don’t confess to knowing everything about running a successful blog so if you think there is a way I can improve this site that I’m not already doing then please let me know.

If reading my income report has inspired you to start a blog of your own, head over and check out my step-by-step guide of starting a WordPress blog on Bluehost. Starting at just $3.49* per month for blog hosting you can set up and start creating your own income from blogging in minutes.

Additionally, if you go through my Bluehost link and sign up to a minimum of 12 months hosting, you’ll also receive a free blog domain worth $13.

Starting your own self-hosted blog can seem complicated but if you follow my tutorial you shouldn’t have a problem. That said, if you do need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll by more than willing to help.

*If you’re in the UK you are able to take advantage of the stronger pound and pay even less!

This post contains some affiliate links but they don’t affect my opinion on this or any topic within the site.

• About
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Ricky Willis

A little bit of everything at Skint Dad

Ricky Willis is the original Skint Dad. A money-making enthusiast, father, and husband to Naomi. He is always looking for unique ways to earn a little extra.

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