October Online Income Report – $33,482

Welcome to October’s online income report where I show you how I made money online last month. It’s time to look at this month’s update and track how I did.

If you’re new here, you may be wondering why I would want to publish my online income report each month. You can simply skip to the next section if you’re not new here.

This all started out as my extra income report because in the beginning it was all about the money I was earning from my side jobs. In my side income reports from the beginning, I included all of the income I made except for what I made at my day job.

However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in October of 2013 and now my monthly income reports consist of the many ways I make a living each month.

Many have asked why I would ever want to publicly post my income each month. Some think I’m crazy, whereas some are glad I’m open about what I’m doing. Whatever you think, I enjoy publishing my monthly online income reports and I share them publicly for three main reasons:

• Before I started blogging, I knew nothing about side hustling and making money online. I didn’t think side jobs were worth the effort and I thought the only way to significantly increase your income was through raises and promotions at your full-time job. If it weren’t for others publishing their monthly income reports each month, I don’t know if I would have ever tried side hustling. I want to help show others the positives in side hustling and how it can change a person’s life. There are many different ways to make money online, and I like to share my story each month to help motivate others to improve their financial situation by making more money.
• Secondly, I like to publish my income reports because it’s a way for me to look back, learn from my mistakes and actually see what areas need improvement. I use my monthly income reports as a way to track how I’ve done and I treat it sort of like a journal.
• Lastly, I like to show others that making side money is possible and that there are many legitimate ways to make money from your home. If you are looking for information on the many ways to make money online, I published the article Monthly Income Report Roundup – My Favorite Income Bloggers that showcases many successful bloggers who are kind enough to share their income with the public each month.

I know I say this every month, but it’s the truth. Life is great now that I’m my own boss. I look forward to each and every day and it’s a wonderful feeling. I truly love waking up each and every morning.

Above are just a few of the reasons for why I enjoy publishing my monthly income reports. I like to show others that you don’t have to hate your job and hate your life. You can make changes to your life and make money in a way that allows you to truly enjoy the life you are living. I’m not saying that you have to LOVE your job, I’m just saying that your job should at least allow you to do what you like to do outside of work (whether that be spending time with loved ones, painting, hiking, etc.).

 

How was my online income in October?

October was another great month for business income. I’m still making a great income and managing a great work-life balance.

In fact, we are currently going down Highway 101 on the west coast and Wes is cycling it while I drive. It’s been a ton of fun so far! I’ve been working from the RV every day on the beach or in a beautiful forest, which is pretty amazing.

Knowing that I can do this while still running my business successfully is something I never thought would be possible.

When I first switched to self-employment, everything was crazy and very unorganized. Lately, that has not been the case at all.

Even though my income has increased significantly over the past several months, I’ve noticed that I’ve actually been working less. I’ve been a master at work-life balancing lately and it’s really paying off.

The business is doing well and I am very happy with it. Things around here seem to be improving and I have no complaints whatsoever. I have been catching myself saying “Life is really good” a LOT lately. And, I mean it – life is actually really good. 

I’ve always been very excited about my business, but I am more excited than ever for the future. I have many plans and everything is going well.

Anyway, in October I earned $33,482 in business income, before expenses.

If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.49 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free website domain (a $15 value) through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting. FYI, if you are asking yourself “can you make money blogging?” – my top tip is to be self-hosted. This is essential if you want to monetize your blog as you will appear more professional and this will help you monetize your blog tremendously. My blogging income did not take off until after I switched to self-hosting.

Related articles:

• How To Make Money Blogging
• How I Make Working From Home Work For Me
• How To Become Financially Stable and Keep The Job You Love
• Becoming a Work-Life Balancing Master

 

The number above is for the month of October and before any fees and expenses (some fees and expenses that lower the amount above total around $1,700 (rounded up), which include virtual assistants/staff writers for my other websites, technical assistance on my websites, newsletter expenses, PayPal fees, etc., however, this does not include taxes) being taken out. After expenses and fees, I made approximately $31,782. 

Below are some of my other monthly side income reports. I publish an online income update every month but only included some of them below as it would be a very long list. If you head on over to my extra income page you can find all of my monthly income reports from the past few years.

• $672 extra in May (2012)
• $6,523 in January Extra Income (2013)
• $11,927 in October Income – I Finally Left My Job
• $12,640 in January Income (2014)
• $23,758 in February Income – My Monthly Online Income Report (2015)
• How I Made $25,138 Online In July Plus My 4 Year Blogiversary

 

Blog news.

Making Sense of Cents is still my pride and joy and I love blogging here. I took part in many interviews in October and I am extremely excited about all of those.

October was a great month for work. I was able to work ahead a decent amount and I actually have all of my blog posts for November already done and scheduled. What a great feeling!

I also have a book in the works that I am about to sign a contract for. Look out world! 🙂

Pinterest is still one of the main ways I receive referral traffic each month. I’m still using Tailwind and I highly recommend anyone who is interested in Pinterest to try out Tailwind. Tailwind has saved me a ton of time and the analytics the site provides are great. Plus, even though I am automating a lot of my Pinterest work, I am actually seeing an INCREASE in traffic which is great.

Overall, traffic increased in October and I received around 350,000 page views.

Top new posts on Making Sense of Cents last month:

• Being Your Own Boss – 2 Years Since Becoming Self-Employed
• Why Everyone Should Be Aware Of Their Financial Situation
• The Steps To Take Before You Make The Leap For Self-Employment
• Read This Before You Think About Becoming a Cosigner
• Why Saving Money In Your 20s Is A Good Idea
• Learning How To Survive On A College Budget
• Cut Cable, Use A Digital Antenna, and Save Thousands
• How To Balance Working And Going To College
• Make Money Selling Books – An Easy Side Hustle For Anyone
• The Power Of A No Spend Challenge

 

Featured Question: Where does blog income come from?

I feature one question from a reader in each monthly income report. Please leave a comment below if you have a question you would like me to include.

This is a question I have been receiving a LOT lately. Many of you are interested in blogging but you are not sure where the income actually comes from.

I understand your question and why some of you may be confused. Online income is new to many people so this can be a tough thing to understand.

I highly recommend you check out my article How To Make Money Blogging. That should clear up a lot of the questions you may have.

In short, you receive blogging income from whoever is paying you to do the work.

If it is affiliate marketing you are providing, then you get paid through the company whenever someone buys or signs up for something through your link. If someone is paying you to place an advertisement on your website, then you get paid through them. If you have display ads on your website such as with Google Adsense, then you get paid from Google or one of the many other thousands of companies. There are many companies and blogging networks out there who are looking to pay for things on blogs!

You usually get paid either through PayPal or by receiving a check in the mail.

Past questions:

• How do I increase my affiliate income?
• Do I need millions of page views a month in order to make money blogging?
• How do you build websites up to sell them?
• Do only celebrities make money through owning websites?
• How much money can a person make blogging?

 

My plans for my website and making money online.

Without any plans and goals, I think it would be very hard to run a business. Constantly working towards something can help keep a person motivated.

Below are some of the areas I am currently working on:

• Promote more – I am doing much better at promoting my articles and I’m noticing a huge improvement. One area is still Pinterest – Pinterest brought around 135,000 clicks to my blog just in the month of October. I’m aiming to see 150,000 clicks from Pinterest in November.
• Create a book – I am in the very beginning stages of writing a book. If you know of any great articles that I should know of that include helpful tips about writing a book, let me know! I’ll take all the tips I can get.
• Accept more interviews. – I took part in several interviews in October and I am happy with that. I am trying to respond to each and every one I receive.
• Stop being shy – This is one of my goals for 2015. I am such a shy person and it’s something I need to work on if I want to grow my business.

 

Staff writing.

Staff writing is a service I enjoy providing. It’s not something I am working on growing as I am trying to focus on my business, but it is something that I am still doing on a case-by-case basis.

I only wrote three articles for others in October, but I have been charging more for staff writing which has helped improve my work-life balance.

Related articles:

• So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?
• Staff Writing is the Perfect Side Hustle
• How To Become a Virtual Assistant
• What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?

 

Affiliate income.

I earned around $30,000 in affiliate income in October. This was the biggest month yet for me in terms of affiliate income.

The somewhat passive income I’ve been making this year has been great. Knowing that I can travel in my RV and still earn a living is a great feeling.

I won’t see the payments I earned in October until 60-90 days later for most of the affiliate programs I am in, so you won’t see those amounts reflected in my monthly income reports until then.

My main form of affiliate income is through Bluehost with my How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost tutorial. However, I am looking to diversify my affiliate income and I have been researching other affiliate programs so that everything isn’t so reliant on Bluehost. I have been doing somewhat well with diversifying my affiliate income so far, though, with around $8,000 last month coming from other affiliate programs.