How I Earned Money Blogging From Home in April: My Exact Income Breakdown

Welcome to the April business report. Here I share how I earned money online while traveling full-time last month. Read on for an update on what happened, what I learned, and what’s coming next.

If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you might wonder why I publish a business report every month.

This began as an “extra income” report when I tracked side income in addition to my day job earnings. I left my financial analyst job in October 2013, and now these monthly reports cover the various ways I earn a living through my business.

People often ask why I publicly share my monthly activities and results. Some think it’s unusual, while others appreciate the transparency. I publish these reports for three main reasons:

Before I started blogging, I knew very little about side hustles or making money online. I assumed the only way to meaningfully increase income was through raises at a full-time job. If it weren’t for other bloggers publishing income reports, I might never have tried side hustling. I publish these reports to show how side income can change lives and to motivate readers who want to improve their financial situations.
Publishing monthly business reports helps me reflect, learn from mistakes, and identify areas that need improvement. They serve as accountability and a record of progress.
I want to show that earning money from home is possible and that many legitimate options exist for building income streams.

I say this every month because it’s true: life is better now that I’m my own boss and a full-time blogger. I genuinely look forward to each day and enjoy waking up to work that I love.

Those are some of the reasons I continue to share monthly updates. You don’t have to dread your job or life—changes are possible so you can spend time doing what you love outside of work.

Quick reminder on the recent announcement

I’ll repeat a recent announcement in case you missed it: you may have seen my post, “How I Made Over $1,500,000 In 2018 – Is This The End Of Income Reports?” After a lot of feedback, I decided to evolve these posts into “Business Reports.” They’ll focus more on the business, goals, and lessons learned, and include fewer exact figures. Instead of listing detailed income numbers, I’ll share an income breakdown chart so you can still see where revenue comes from.

If you want historical numbers, I’ve published income reports for several years and they’re all archived under my income category. My goal with this change is to make the reports more useful, not just a numbers snapshot. I’ll keep answering reader questions and explaining what I’m working on.

So far, traffic and subscriber growth haven’t changed after removing exact monthly figures, and most readers have understood the shift. If there’s anything new you’d like to see in these reports, let me know in the comments.

How was business income in April 2019?

My main revenue sources include:

Affiliate marketing — the largest portion of my income.
Sponsored partnerships.
Online courses — for example, my affiliate marketing and sponsored post courses.
Display advertising — I use AdThrive; Mediavine and Media.net are other options for bloggers.

I regularly earn well into six figures some months, and over the years my blogging business has generated millions in revenue. April 2019 was another strong month: the business performed well and I enjoyed the month while traveling and working.

For the rest of the year, I have several initiatives designed to grow the site and diversify income:

Focus on SEO: I plan to take a comprehensive SEO course and apply consistent tactics to grow organic search traffic.
Learn and test Pinterest and Facebook advertising to increase traffic and build my email list.
Add a shop selling digital products like printables to diversify revenue.
Create new opt-ins to grow and engage my email audience.

The business continues to do well, and I’m excited about the ideas I want to implement this year.

Below are select past income reports for reference; you can find more on my income page where all past monthly reports are archived.

$672 extra in May (2012)
$6,523 in January extra income (2013)
$11,927 in October income — I finally left my job (2013)
$12,640 in January income (2014)
$23,758 in February income (2015)
How I made $300,000 online in 2015
How I made $979,321 in 2016
How I made $1,536,732 in 2017
How I made over $1,500,000 in 2018

*Follow our travel adventures on Instagram.*

Blog and life news

April involved a lot of hands-on boat work: addressing warranty items, making modifications, and hauling the boat out of the water for repairs. In May and June we’ll sail from Fort Lauderdale through the Keys to St. Pete. We had considered cruising the east coast, but repairs took longer than expected and our schedule didn’t allow it.

We have an exciting summer planned and will return to tropical waters once hurricane season is over. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve likely seen updates. I’ll post a full blog update with details soon.

Because we weren’t sailing much in April, I had more time to work on the blog, though boat-related tasks still occupied a lot of time. I’m hoping to catch up on work in June.

Other blog and business highlights from April:

I’m about one month ahead on published posts; my goal is to be 2–3 months ahead.
Traffic for the month exceeded 400,000 page views.
I’m developing a series of practical finance tutorials—topics like opening a bank account, writing checks, choosing an online bank, and setting up investment accounts. What would you like to see covered?
Our Making Sense of Cents Facebook community group continues to grow and now includes over 14,000 members who share advice about finance, blogging, travel, and business.
I launched a free “How To Start A Blog” email course; over 50,000 people have signed up and the feedback has been wonderful.
I also run the free “Master Your Money” email course that includes budgeting templates and personal finance lessons; response has been positive.
Other free resources include guides on increasing affiliate income and making money with sponsored posts.

Popular new posts on Making Sense of Cents last month:

How To Earn Money Blogging: Your Top Questions Answered
How Amanda Paid Off $133,763 In Debt in 43 Months
Is Full-Time Traveling As Good As It Sounds?
The Most Important Money Lessons I Learned From My Dad
Is Paying Off Your Debt Worth It?
10 Easy Road Trip Snack Recipes
Save Your Money And Avoid A Storage Unit

Featured Question: What products can I promote on my blog?

I feature a reader question in each monthly report. This month’s question: what products can bloggers promote through affiliate marketing and sponsored partnerships?

Short answer: almost anything. Nearly every niche has affiliate programs and many everyday products offer affiliate opportunities. If you think your niche has no affiliate options, you may need to dig deeper or join affiliate networks.

Affiliate programs can be found directly on company sites, through networks like ShareASale or Awin, or by searching site footers for an “Affiliates” link. If you want help locating programs and getting approval, my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course walks through the process step by step and lists dozens of ideas.

Examples by niche:

Finance: cashback and bank referral programs, financial tools and services.
Parenting/family: home organization stores, meal plans, subscription services.
Travel: accommodation platforms, flight search tools, travel insurance, outdoor gear retailers.
Crafts/DIY: fabric suppliers, photo books and printing services, craft marketplaces.
Food/recipes: grocery subscription services, specialty cooking programs.
Beauty: makeup and skincare retailers.
Blogging/business tools: email services, course platforms, accounting tools.

Many affiliate programs cross niches, so don’t box yourself in. I promote products across finance, blogging, travel, food, and more. If you enjoy a product, there’s probably an affiliate program for it.

If you’re serious about affiliate marketing, my course outlines 80+ program ideas, teaches how to get approved, and explains conversion strategies and ethical promotion practices.

My plans and goals for the blog and business

May is busy: finishing boat work, traveling to see family, and sailing from Fort Lauderdale to the Keys and on to St. Pete. I also aim to make substantial progress on work.

Goals help maintain momentum and motivation. Current priorities include:

Complete a Facebook Ads course for bloggers to better use paid social for growth.
Finish an SEO course to implement consistent search strategies.
Reach Inbox Zero and consolidate multiple to-do lists that piled up during extended travel.
Create a free opt-in affiliates can use to promote my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course, helping affiliates capture leads and earn commissions.
Get at least three months ahead on published blog posts so I can focus on strategy and life while maintaining a publishing schedule.
Work fewer than 30 hours per week most weeks to improve work-life balance.
Be more present—enjoy travel and life outside of work in 2019 while maintaining the business.
Have fun and stay energized.

Affiliate marketing results

Affiliate income for April was in line with typical levels for this site, around the mid-five-figure range. Key actions I’m taking to grow affiliate revenue include:

Planning affiliate promotions across the year to stay organized and strategic.
Applying SEO learnings to boost organic traffic to affiliate posts.
Exploring Facebook ads to amplify high-converting content.
Building higher-quality funnels to nurture readers and improve conversions.
Analyzing top affiliate posts for optimization opportunities.
Testing new affiliate products based on audience interests.

Affiliate income remains a reliable and largely passive revenue stream that supports full-time travel and a flexible lifestyle.