If you have been scouring the Internet you may be aware that more and more bloggers are making money with their blogs. They are also generous enough to SHARE how much they are bringing in with the various opportunities available to bloggers to make money. If you are you a blogger and thinking about publishing an income report of your own then you want to continue reading because I share some of the common elements to keep in mind as well as what to present.
1. Share your revenue: This includes a breakdown of the revenue sources (affiliate programs, ads, sponsored posts, etc.). Learn more about creating a revenue from online investments, we recommend to visit Skrumble.
2. Share your expenses: To show a complete picture of actual income I recommend you show a breakdown of your expenses and where it was paid out
3. Google Analytics: You may want to consider sharing your Google Analytics stats to illustrate your blog’s traffic in comparison to how much you earned. It is also a good though to analyze the trends and what you consider the reason for those trends (traffic increasing, decreasing, stable, etc.)
4. General observations: I always find it interesting when bloggers share their perspective on why they made what they made and the general state of their blog. It is a learning process for all and I always take what they said about their blog and see what applies to what I am doing with my blog(s) and their performance
5. Determine frequency: How often will you be publishing these reports? Quarterly, monthly? Whatever schedule you follow make sure you announce it to your readers so they know when to check back for the next report
6. Calculate hourly rate: I always find this to be a fun exercise. It really gives you a sense for how much your time is valued that you dedicate to your blog. The calculation is fairly simple. Take total revenue minus total expenses and the difference is your TAKE HOME PAY. Then calculate the number of hours you worked on your blog for that month (I presume it would change month to month). Then divide your TAKE HOME Pay by total hours and that is your hourly rate. I’ve seen them range from $32/hour to $1.30/hour based on how much revenue their blog is bringing in.
There are some amazing bloggers around the Internet who have excellent income reports that one could learn from. And I would suggest, don’t go in looking at it simply to see how much they made. Honestly, while it may be fun to look at the numbers, several have a lot of knowledge to share on growing your audience, following, readership and ultimately your own blog’s revenue. Review the overall analysis and see what you can learn from that and apply to your blog to help you reach your blog’s goals especially if it is to make money.
Now check out these awesome bloggers and their income reports:
- Smart Passive Income (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com) – the king Pat Flynn: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/my-monthly-income-report-july-and-august-2014
- Pinch of Yum (http://pinchofyum.com/) – they have one of the most popular monthly income reports around and I believe it is because the numbers look so good!! They give you something to strive for: http://pinchofyum.com/category/making-money-from-a-food-blog
- Dumb Passive Income (http://dumbpassiveincome.com) – name of the blog says it all: http://dumbpassiveincome.com/dumb-passive-income-report-august-2014/
- Product Review Mom (http://www.earningfreemoney.com/) – she publishes her income report monthly and shares some good tips and lessons learned to boot: http://www.earningfreemoney.com/
- Blogging On The Side (http://bloggingontheside.com) – I just found this one and boy what a treat. She shares her income, expenses and how she balances it all: http://bloggingontheside.com/ymf-income-september/
- Eat Run Pray DC (http://eatprayrundc.com/) – new to the blog income reporting arena but she is making a splash – http://eatprayrundc.com/2014/10/02/september-blog-income-stats/
- Fitness Fashionista (http://fitnessfashionista.com) – also new to the blog income reporting arena, she published her first report last month where she shared about 6 month’s worth of earnings. She has since transitioned to sharing monthly income reports: http://fitnessfashionista.com/2014/09/18/august-traffic-and-income-report/
There’s no one way to provide an income report, but there are some basic elements it should have in order to share the right information, keeping it informative and hopefully growing your traffic of loyal readers who may be inclined to return to your blog to see your progress. Happy blogging!
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