When I started this blog, I was excited about getting to write about whatever frugal ideas I happened to be having, and also about the possibility of making some extra money blogging. The writing part of it has been great from the start, but it seemed to take forever before the blog made any money at all. I think I was making $7/month until I had been blogging for well over a year. I’m making about $300/month now, which I must say is a big improvement from $7. And I still get excited whenever an advertiser wants to put a link on my blog. Especially since I’m thinking about leaving my library job after our baby is born, any extra money I can make will come in handy.
I know I could be much more proactive about getting traffic to my site. I currently have just under 300 subscribers. I’m always impressed when I see blogs with four digit subscriber numbers (Lynnae is just about to hit the 2000 mark – Congratulations!). I did write two guest posts for Small Cents in March, and I submit posts to carnivals and festivals about once a month. I know that I could focus my writing towards the carnivals and submit posts to several of them each week, but I tend to just write about whatever’s going on in my frugal world at the moment, and I only submit to a blog carnival when I think that I’ve written something really appropriate. And I’ve been so busy lately with remodeling the house, working two jobs, and getting ready for the baby that I often forget to submit posts even when I do write something that I could submit.
But enough with the excuses. If I do end up leaving my library job this summer, I need to put more effort into getting traffic to my blog. My readership and page views have been about the same for several months now, and I’ve gotten into a comfortable routine of just writing whatever I want and having fun with my blog. I very much want that aspect of it to remain the same – I don’t want my blog to turn into a chore, but I also recognize that with a little more effort I could have quite a bit more traffic. So I’m going to set a goal of 350 subscribers by the end of April. Feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed if you don’t already!
Mrs. Micah says
If you don’t need the income, then it makes sense to write when you feel like it, etc. But I think you can definitely amp this blog up a bit. :)
(one thought…if BlogHer’s ratio of PSAs to real ads hasn’t improved in a few months, you might look into another network. Even one that pays $1.50 per 1000 hits would do better than BlogHer. At least for me right now. But I’m giving them a while.)
Smart Girl says
Hi –
I am inheriting a small amount of $$ from my parents’ estate and am interested in starting a blog. Any ideas or suggestions?
Carla says
Any words of advice for someone just starting out? I had another blog (Mama Hearts Baby) that I had a hard time getting motivated to write. It was too broad. I discovered PF blogs and have been fired up ever since and just started a new blog. I’d love some insight from someone who is starting to see some real success.
Trixie says
Hi,
You’re my hero! $300 a month! That sounds wonderful:) Great Job
Call me slow, but it took awhile before I realized you could make money off a blog. I don’t see any other links other than the blog her side bar, do you have terrific traffic or what?
Please share any tips you can for us that would love to be in your range.
Take Care,
Trixie
Lynnae says
Thanks for the congrats! I’m pretty blown away.
You have a great blog here. Keep working at it. And if you ever want traffic, feel free to send a guest post my way, and I’ll be glad to put it up!
FrugalBabe says
Smart Girl, Carla, and Trixie – welcome to the pf blogosphere! I’m obviously not the best person to ask for advice, since I’m working on growing my own blog too. But I’d say writing about something that you enjoy is key, otherwise you probably won’t be motivated to stick with it. And linking out to other sites is always a good way to encourage people to link back to you, which helps with SEO and traffic in general. Submitting posts to carnivals and festivals helps with this too, as long as you make sure to link back to the host when the carnival is posted. Good luck!!
Lynnae – Thanks! I may take you up on the guest post offer :)
Yi Hui@The Simple Wealth says
It’s very nice to see your income. I feel that $300 is a more attainable goal for me for now. I have been only blogging for 3, 4 months and have not made any money yet. It’s nice to know other blogger’s income.
Frugal Dad says
You’re doing great here – I always read your articles, but don’t always take time to comment (FT job, PT job, blogging, two kids and a wife leave little time for surfing my favs). I did want to share with you a strategy that has been working well for me of late. I basically write what’s on mind 90% of the time, but take time out once or twice a week to write an SEO article – one that I know will do well in the search engines and has potential to drive some traffic, and hopefully some revenue. Keep up the great work!
Movingonup says
I just started by PF blog about a week ago. I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and I always like to see some personal information in them, not just #’s. Just a thought. Good Luck!