How I Earned $121,861 Sailing Through Tropical Islands in June

Welcome to the June business income report, where I share how I earned money online last month. This update reviews performance, progress, and lessons learned.

If you’re new here, you might wonder why I publish these monthly income reports. In short, they began as reports of extra income from side jobs. When I left my day job as a financial analyst in October 2013, these reports evolved to reflect all the ways I earn a living through my blog and online work.

There are three main reasons I share my income publicly:

1. To inspire others. Before I discovered blogging income reports, I didn’t believe side hustles were worth the effort. Seeing others publish their results encouraged me to try. My goal is to show how side income and online work can positively change someone’s financial life.
2. To track progress and learn. Publishing an income report gives me a consistent record to review, learn from mistakes, and identify areas that need improvement.
3. To demonstrate what’s possible. Making side money from home is legitimate and achievable. I use these reports to showcase different online income methods and to point readers to examples of other bloggers who share their results.

I genuinely enjoy being my own boss. Running this business allows me to wake up looking forward to each day, and publishing monthly reports is part of that journey. They show that you can change your life, find work that supports what you enjoy outside of work, and build income streams that allow flexibility.

How was business income in June?

I earned $121,861.28 blogging and online in June, before expenses.

June was an excellent month, especially since I spent about half the month on vacation. I was on a 10-day sailing trip and spent several days before and after the trip in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands—around 16 days away in total. I only checked in lightly by monitoring email, and nothing urgent needed my attention.

This trip reaffirmed the importance of outsourcing. The blog continued functioning without my daily involvement, and many tasks I handled while away could have been delegated to a virtual assistant. Having the right support would let me take longer breaks and reduce the need to check in.

Lately the business has been running smoothly with less active input from me. In June I worked only a few hours most days and probably logged about five hours total during the vacation. Achieving a better work-life balance has been a major focus, and it’s already paying off in productivity and satisfaction.

June marked my sixth consecutive month with earnings above $100,000. I began at zero and built this income through consistent effort over time—so don’t be discouraged if smaller goals seem far away. Even earning $100 or $1,000 is attainable with persistence.

This strong month was driven by a few strategic focuses:

• Diversified income streams. In 2016 I launched my first paid product, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. Today my revenue mix includes affiliate marketing, a digital course, sponsorships, and advertising. I’ve also worked to diversify the affiliate partnerships that drive income.
• Growing the email list. I started taking email seriously around April 2016 after switching to ConvertKit. That tool made managing and sending newsletters much easier. Today the list is over 55,000 subscribers—building an email list early is one of the most impactful decisions a blogger can make.
• Increased Facebook focus. I invested time in growing my Facebook audience. From around 6,500 followers at the start of 2016, I reached 72,000 by June 2017. A strong social presence expanded readership, boosted income, and supported list growth.

Overall, the business is healthy and I’m enjoying this phase. I’m excited about future opportunities and grateful for the momentum.

My course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, continued to perform well in June, welcoming many new students and accumulating positive reviews. Students report significant growth in affiliate revenue, with several testimonials describing dramatic improvements in monthly earnings and results achieved soon after taking the course.

Breakout of June income – $121,861.28

Below is the breakdown of June income by category:

• Affiliate income – $68,174.28 total:
  • Bluehost – $45,220.00
  • Survey companies – $10,193.50
  • Amazon FBA-related content – $1,447.05
  • Ebates (tiered program estimate) – $1,000.00
  • Student loan refinancing – $600.00
  • ConvertKit – $536.19
  • Bookkeeper Business Academy – $370.00
  • Facebook strategies ebook – $306.00
  • Freelance writing course – $232.00
  • $5 Meal Plan – $217.20
  • Uber – $190.00
  • Izea/SponsoredTweets – $184.20
  • Media.net – $176.14
  • Ibotta – $100.00
  • Miscellaneous affiliates – $7,402.00
• Sponsorships and advertising – $26,500.00
• Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course – $24,552.00
• Display advertising – $2,635.00

Total: $121,861.28

The figure above is pre-expense for June. Estimated fees and business expenses (virtual assistants, course platform fees, technical assistance, email service, payment processing fees, etc.) total around $4,000, and affiliate payouts for course promotion were $9,004.40. After these expenses, the net approximates $108,856.88. Taxes are not included in these estimates; as a self-employed business owner I cover taxes, health insurance, and other benefits and expenses that an employer might otherwise provide.

For an overview of ways to monetize a blog, see The Ultimate Guide To Making Money Blogging on the site.

Comparisons and 2017 business income total:

• Total income in June 2017: $121,861
• Total income in May 2017: $120,104
• Difference from previous month: +$1,757
• Total for 2017 so far: $803,713

Blog news

Making Sense of Cents continues to perform well. Summer can be a slower period for traffic and income, so it’s normal to see fluctuations. In June I prepared content ahead of my trip and the site saw roughly 400,000 pageviews for the month.

Recent and upcoming initiatives include:

• Starting Facebook advertising coaching to improve ad performance and lower acquisition costs.
• Hiring a virtual assistant (my sister) to handle tasks like adding Pinterest images to older posts, managing Facebook groups, and scheduling social posts. This will free my time for higher-impact work and improve work-life balance.
• Exploring group coaching as a way to help more bloggers while scaling my time.
• Launching a community Facebook group for readers—already more than 6,000 members—where people can ask questions about finance, blogging, travel, and entrepreneurship.
• Publishing a new interview series highlighting people who have achieved notable financial or lifestyle results, including early retirees and entrepreneurs. Planned interviews include people who paid off large amounts of debt and full-time travelers.
• Releasing free email courses: the How To Start A Blog free course has over 25,000 signups, and the Master Your Money course provides money-management lessons and free worksheets. A third free course is in development.

Popular new posts last month:

• Why Is Talking About Money More Taboo Than Sex?
• Frugal, Cheap, or Thief? Are You Smart With Money Or Actually A Thief?
• 5 Great Benefits Of Being An Early Bird And How You Can Change
• The Important Reasons You Need Multiple Streams of Income
• The Best Debt Payoff Stories – These Six People Paid Off Over $400,000 in Debt!
• How This 29 Year Old Is Building A Real Estate Empire
• Financing Furniture – A Disaster Waiting to Happen
• You Don’t Need Everything – Do You Know The Difference Between Wants And Needs?
• 15 Habits That Are Hurting Your Happiness

Featured Question: Did you start your blog to make money?

This is a common question. I didn’t launch the blog to make money—it began on a whim as a hobby to track my personal finance progress and create a small community. I didn’t even realize blogs could generate income when I started in 2011.

About six months in, a connection led to a $100 advertisement. That small payment changed my perspective and motivated me to learn how blogging could become an income source. By summer 2012 I was earning roughly $1,000 per month, and a year later I reached about $10,000 per month. Income continued growing: over $320,000 in 2015 and nearly $979,000 in 2016.

That early validation inspired me to take blogging seriously and build the systems and products that now support my business. Blogging allowed me to control my schedule, travel, and income—so passion for your topic and consistent effort make a big difference.

My plans for the blog and business

Goals and plans help maintain focus and momentum. Current priorities include:

• Hit $1,750,000 in business revenue for 2017. I recently raised this target and will focus on maintaining strong monthly revenue while preserving a better work-life balance.
• Maintain and improve work-life balance. This remains a top priority.
• Get at least three months ahead with blog content. I’m currently two months ahead and want to reach three to reduce stress and free up time for other projects.
• Grow the blog to 1,000,000 monthly pageviews. Increased traffic will expand reach and engagement.
• Do more live interviews and podcasts. I plan to integrate more live content when scheduling and internet access allow.
• Create another paid product in 2017. Diversifying product offerings will strengthen long-term revenue.
• Promote content more effectively. Continued focus on Facebook and other channels is increasing referral traffic and audience growth.
• Keep learning and improving. I’m always exploring new tools, courses, and strategies that can help the business grow.

Affiliate income results

In June 2017 I earned $68,174.28 in affiliate income. Much of this came from older content and passive sources—June required less than an hour of active affiliate strategy work. I didn’t publish new affiliate-focused posts in June, yet affiliate revenue remained strong, showing the power of evergreen content and passive promotion.

I plan to publish roughly one affiliate-specific article per month to review products readers ask about and continue building sustainable affiliate revenue. Affiliate marketing suits my lifestyle well because it can generate income while I travel or focus on other projects.

My affiliate marketing course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, launched in July 2016 and has had thousands of students. The course covers fundamentals, strategy, tools, and detailed steps to build affiliate income—making it applicable to bloggers at any stage and in any niche.