March 2016 Blog Income and Traffic Report
Welcome to March’s blog income report. In just under three months I’ll be leaving my corporate job to be self-employed full time. My work and personal life are super busy this time of year, but whenever I pause for a moment to consider the life-changing step I’m taking toward freedom in just a few months, I get butterflies in my stomach.
It’s both exhilarating and scary to pursue online entrepreneurship. When you take away the safety net of a job where you show up, do work and get paid and step onto the net-free tightrope of being your own boss there is a lot at stake. But, the pay off is amazing. Having the freedom to structure my day as I need to, spend more time with my family, and pursue my creative interests while helping others is such a gift. I promise to never take it for granted.
Of course, one of the scary things about leaving my job is that I will no longer have a guaranteed, consistent income. The 1st quarter of this year has not been stellar for me. Of course, as I’ve said in both my January and February income reports, the 1st quarter tends to be bring lower income, but it can still be disheartening to see my traffic and income at such a low. I know it will rebound and I’m looking forward to 1st quarter next year when I’ll be job-free and can put more time and effort into my online work.
The Purpose of Sharing Blog Income and Traffic Reports
I talk about why I’m sharing my blog income and traffic reports in my first income report. You can read it here.
Now, on to what you came here for!
Our Small Hours March 2016 Blog Income and Traffic Report
First you need to know:
As always, the income reported is the income that was actually paid to me in the month of March. It does not include income I made this month, but have not yet received. Most companies pay on a net 30, 60 or 90 basis.
Blogging is like any other business in that some quarters are better than others. Typically the 2nd and 4th quarters have brought me the most revenue. It’s important not to get down about the lack of income or traffic during these months. The boom will come around again. It always does.
That’s why I didn’t start doing income reports in the 3rd quarter. I felt it would give newer bloggers a false sense of how much I really made. Starting these reports in January will allow you see the ebb and flow over the course of a year.
Ok, so now on to what you came here for! For real this time.
March 2016 Blog Traffic
Most advertisers and sponsors want to know what your Unique Monthly Visitors (UMV) are and they usually want it for a 30-, 60- or 90-day period. This is the number reflected under “Users”. This is the number I pay the most attention to.
It’s also important to note my traffic breakdown between mobile, tablet and desktop. As you’ll see in the income report, I have ads that are served exclusively to mobile users and ads that are served exclusively to desktop users. Ads for tablet users can go either way depending on the tablet. This explains why certain ad revenue is low for the number of pageviews.
Here is my traffic breakdown for March 2016:
Mobile traffic: 69%
Desktop traffic: 15%
Tablet traffic: 15%
Here are my Google Analytics for March. Pinterest continued to change its algorithm in March and it definitely affected my traffic. I was down another 10,000 or so unique visitors. However, my Pinterest traffic was down by over 45% and my Direct traffic was up by almost 17%. Other bloggers also reported that some of their missing Pinterest traffic had ended up as Direct traffic. In total my traffic was down over 21%.
I haven’t had time to work on my Pinterest or traffic strategy as March and April are two incredibly busy months for me. I barely have time right now to post three times per week (even with the help of my contributors) and keep my social media rolling at a bare minimum. (Thanks to ViralTag, I can keep up with social media consistently now.)
I finished reading How I Went From 17K to 350K+ Monthly Page Views in 9 Months and I still highly recommend it!
March 2016 Blog Income
Advertising Revenue
Sovrn (desktop ads only) – $127.66
PadSquad (mobile ads only) – $420.46
The Blogger Network (desktop ads only) – $181.47
Google Adsense (desktop ads only) – $150.20 – (You have to earn $100 to get a payout from Adsense. I usually hit this every other month.)
Amazon Ads (desktop ads only) – $12.59 – (I have removed Amazon Ads from my website for low performance.)
Affiliate Revenue
Real Plans – $37.50
Oh Lardy – $0
Amazon – $115.19
Potty Train Your Child in a Weekend – $10.00
Ditch The Wheat – $0
Money Saving Mom – $59.50
Motivated Moms – $2.00
Sponsored Posts
Clever Girls Collective – $0
IZEA – $324.00
Tomoson – $0
Sverve/Activate – $0
Networking Marketing
Young Living – $521.67
Other Online Revenue
Consulting and/or VA work – $0 (I’m not currently taking any consulting or VA work, but may start back again later this year.)
Total Blog Income – $1962.24
March 2016 Blog Expenses
Bluehost – $74.99
Rafflecopter – $13.00
iTOVi – $39.99
IZEA – $5.00
123RF.com – $39.00
Archie.co – $29.00
Autopin – $19.99
Crowdfire – $9.99
Facebook Ads – $5.00
PostMyParty.com – $9.99
ViralTag – $29.00
BoardBooster – $30.02
MailChimp – $20.00
SumoMe – $20.00
Total Blog Expenses – $344.97
March Overview and Goals for February
So, I didn’t met my goals in March. It’s just tough this time of year between work and soccer to spend any concentrated time on my business goals. I didn’t get my media kit finished. It’s not likely I’ll get it done in April, either, as April is going to be busier than March was.
My goals for April are small and practical. I’ll keep posting at least three times per week, I’ll keep sending my regular Sunday newsletter and I’ll keep my social media consistent. I don’t expect a large amount of traffic growth in April, but I’ll happy to keep things rolling at a manageable rate until things calm down in my work life and personal life.
Blogging Tools and Tips
I’m still loving Archie.co and CoPromote. See January’s tips and tools for more info about how to grow your Instagram and Twitter with them.
Autopin is still working well for me. My Pinterest is growing like crazy.
Board Booster and Viral Tag are must-haves, as well.
For Traffic Growth:
Recently, I stumbled onto How I Went from 17K Pageviews to 350k+ in 9 Months from What Mommy Does. If you feel stuck and need ideas to increase your traffic, you need this book. I’m reading it now and Lena’s insights are incredible. She knows what’s she doing and it shows on her blog and in this book. Check it out.
Don’t have a blog but want to step into the world of blogging? Find out how to start a blog!
