August Blogging Income Report and My Biggest Blogging Mistakes

Welcome to the August business report. Each month I share how I earned income online and what life looked like while traveling full-time. Below is an overview of August’s results, goals, and lessons from running my blog and business.

If you’re new here, you might wonder why I publish a monthly business report. This began as an “extra income report” documenting side income while I still had a day job. I left my role as a financial analyst in October 2013, and since then these monthly reports cover the multiple ways my business earns revenue.

I publish these reports for three main reasons:

To inspire others. Before I discovered blogging and side hustles, I didn’t realize the potential of making money outside a traditional job. Seeing other people publish income reports encouraged me to try. I share my progress so readers can see real examples of what’s possible and be motivated to improve their finances.
To stay accountable and learn. Publishing monthly forces me to review results, identify mistakes, and track areas that need improvement. It’s a useful tool for reflection and planning.
To show that legitimate ways to earn money from home exist. Side income can be real and meaningful—many legitimate methods can supplement or replace traditional income.

Being my own boss and working as a full-time blogger has been life-changing. I genuinely enjoy waking up every morning and pursuing this career. The goal isn’t to love every part of work but to have a life that supports the things you love outside work—family, hobbies, and travel.

A quick reminder on the recent announcement

I want to repeat a recent announcement for readers who missed it: I published a post about 2018 results and what that means for future income reports. If you missed that update, you may want to check the announcement to avoid confusion.

Surprisingly, the percentage breakdowns matched the previous month even though the total income was different.

How was business income in August 2019?

My business revenue comes from several consistent sources:

Affiliate marketing – the largest portion of income.
Sponsored partnerships and brand deals.
Online courses, including Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts.
Display advertising (I work with AdThrive; other popular options include Mediavine and Media.net).

Over the years I’ve regularly earned six-figure months from blogging and have generated millions in total revenue. August 2019 was another strong month: the business performed well, and I had an enjoyable month traveling and working.

Goals for the remainder of the year include growing revenue streams, expanding readership, publishing more helpful posts, and exploring new channels to reach readers.

Specific plans to grow the site include:

Getting more media exposure by taking a course on earning press mentions.
Doubling down on SEO with a dedicated course to improve search traffic and content discoverability.
Learning Pinterest and Facebook advertising to drive traffic and grow the email list.
Adding an online shop with digital products like printables.
Creating new opt-ins to grow the email list and better serve readers.

The business is doing well and I’m excited about future growth and the opportunities ahead.

Below is a selection of past income reports and milestones I’ve published over the years, which show the business’s progression and lessons learned along the way.

$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

If you’re interested in starting a blog, I’ve written step-by-step tutorials and resources to help you launch affordably and professionally. One key tip: self-hosted WordPress is crucial if you want to take blogging seriously and monetize effectively.

*Follow our travel adventures on Instagram.*

Blog and life updates

August was busy and fun: we spent the month traveling in our van through Colorado, northwest Arkansas, Missouri, Utah, and back. The van lifestyle has allowed us to spend more time outdoors, climb high peaks, mountain bike, and visit family. One major reason we chose this lifestyle was to create more opportunities to connect with loved ones and enjoy experiences together.

Business highlights for August:

I’m currently roughly one month ahead on blog posts and aim to be 2–3 months ahead to ease pressure.
Site traffic was over 400,000 page views for the month.
I’m developing a new series of practical finance tutorials: opening bank accounts, writing checks, choosing online banks, building investment accounts, and more.
The Making Sense of Cents community Facebook group continues to grow and now has over 15,000 members.
I launched a free “How to Start a Blog” email course that has helped more than 60,000 people so far.
Following that success, I released the free “Master Your Money” email course with worksheets and budgeting templates.
Other free guides include tips for increasing affiliate income and earning from sponsored posts.

Popular new posts last month included articles on passive income ideas, personal challenges to improve life, easy one-pot meals, work lunch ideas, saving money in college, keeping separate finances as a couple, and earning money tutoring online.

Featured question: What do you wish you would have done differently with your blogging business?

This question comes up often. Many readers want to avoid the early mistakes I made. Here are the main things I wish I had done differently from the start:

Use self-hosted WordPress instead of Blogger. Blogger caused problems early on and switching to WordPress dramatically improved flexibility and reliability.
Focus on a single blog. I created multiple sites early on and spread myself too thin. Focusing on one blog yields better results for most people.
Hire help sooner. Outsourcing tasks like editing, virtual assistance, and technical work allows you to scale and focus on high-impact activities.
Start an email list immediately. Email is a core asset for any online business; I wish I’d invested in it earlier.
Stop forcing daily publishing. I burned out publishing every day. Today I publish less frequently at a sustainable pace and produce higher-quality content.

Learning from mistakes is part of growing. What do you wish you had done differently with your site?

Plans and goals

I have many goals for the blog and business and prioritize projects that will move the needle while supporting a better work-life balance. Current focus areas include:

Finish the Facebook Ads for Bloggers course to build ad-driven traffic strategies.
Complete the Stupid Simple SEO course and implement SEO improvements across the site.
Create a free opt-in resource affiliates can promote for the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course to support affiliate partners and improve conversions.
Get at least three months ahead on published posts to reduce pressure and create flexibility.
Work less than 30 hours per week on average to be present for travel and life experiences.
Be more present and enjoy life beyond business obligations.
Have fun—enjoy the journey.

Affiliate marketing results

Affiliate income in August was in line with typical levels for the site, coming in above $50,000. I expect this channel to grow as I schedule affiliate promotions through the rest of 2019 and into 2020, and as I invest in SEO and paid advertising.

Key actions to improve affiliate performance include planning promotions in advance, learning and applying SEO, testing paid traffic (Facebook and Pinterest ads), building better funnels, analyzing top-performing posts for optimization, and finding new affiliate products that align with reader needs.