April was the perfect storm of expenses and low income, making this month’s blogger income expense report anything but perfect. In fact, these numbers are so bad that it is tempting to close up everything and go work for someone else instead of striving to be a financially independent blog-preneur.
But is it possible to make money blogging? Yes. Through blogging, I have managed to more than double our family’s income. This year I committed to prove it by sharing my blog income reports each month.
Just ignore this month’s discrepancy.
The majority of bloggers will never incur these kinds of expenses.
Why is this month’s blog income report so terrible?
Travel expenses
My trip to speak at a blog conference in April was the most expensive I have attended. Not including airfare, my hotel, cab fare, and meal expenses were over $1,000.
What you might not realize is the majority of blog conference speakers are paid NOTHING in exchange for their service. In most situations, the speaker must also cover their own travel expenses and accommodations.
Specialty Equipment
When Katch announced they were closing shop, I had to move quickly to move my 100+ Periscope broadcasts or lose them forever. I purchased a huge external memory drive.
Specialty equipment can be a HUGE expense and is best purchased when you can budget and plan ahead, but sometimes the unexpected happens. Thankfully, most bloggers will not require a lot of high-price equipment.
This month, I had to invest in new equipment AND pay for annual updates on existing services like my subscription to WebinarJam. Ouch.
Sponsored Post Expenses
April also brought a surge in sponsored posts, requiring an investment into the ingredients, events, and other items necessary for creating the post. However, I will not receive the payment for those posts until May or June.
Blog Income Report – April 2016
INCOME
InspiredBU Affiliate Earnings $292.53
InspiredBU Product Sales $1,977.20
Meet Penny Affiliate Earnings $209.58
Meet Penny Advertising $774.99
Meet Penny Product Sales $80.38
Total Income = $3,334.68
March Goal = $7,000
Difference = -$3,665.32
EXPENSES
Advertising $23.94 (Facebook Ads)
Contractors $225
Paypal Fees $190.84
Email Service $149.00 (ConvertKit)
Travel $1,124.90
Internet Service $194.13
Cell Phone Service $183.08
WebinarJam $297
Office $2,044.30 (Images, Photography, Ingredients for Sponsored Posts)
Total Expenses = $4,431.29
Net Profit = -$1,096.61
My business mistakes
- I built too much of my business on a 3rd party (Katch). Never, ever rely on a 3rd party to support your business because when it fails or changes, you will suffer the expense.
- While the travel was a huge expense, I cannot consider it a mistakes as I had the opportunity to pour myself into dozens of bloggers to help them be more successful.
My business successes
- Without a surplus of income from previous months, I would not have survived the financial expenses this month. Always plan ahead for the unexpected and leave a cushion in your bank account.
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Wow, tough month! As you say, great thta you had a buffer built up, and there was an element of unexpected cost in there along with some deferred earnings. Hopefully you’ll bounce back (and more) in May and June!
What a month, Tabitha! THANK YOU so much for your transparency with things. I connected with you last year in the weeks leading up to the Focused Blogging Conference and got your book on Pinterest. Just tonight while I cooked, I was listening to one of your classes from FocusedBC, and I came over to your site and ran across this article. My heart went out to you- and I felt comforted, too. I’ve been in business 7 years, and the first two, I was working other jobs while building this one. The whole time, I’ve had a vision for my blog to be a major income component, and just something so people would run across my website and come to my brick and mortar office. I’ve been so busy and drained, that I’ve been wondering if my blogging idea was worthwhile, and even though April wasn’t your favorite month, you gave me the courage I needed to continue with my dream.
Thank you again for sharing- and I hope that May has been a FABULOUS month!
Thank you, Tammy! I appreciate your encouragement so much and pray that you see your blog grow to provide significant income.
Some months are definitely better than others. It’s hard when I fall short of goals, but I have never been very goal-driven. I’ve always been the type to just sit back and let stuff happen. At least with goals, I push harder.
Its really helpfull and informative , Amazing work