Welcome to my April online income report. Each month I publish a breakdown of how I earned money online the previous month. This report reviews April’s results and tracks progress over time.
If you’re new here, you might wonder why I publish monthly income reports. If you already know the background, feel free to skip ahead.
This began as an extra income report because, at first, I focused on side income from part-time hustles. Those early reports listed every source of extra income I earned, excluding income from my day job.
I left my full-time role as a financial analyst in October 2013, and since then my monthly reports have tracked all the ways I support myself through my online business.
Many people ask why I publicly share my monthly earnings. Some think it’s bold; others appreciate the transparency. I publish these reports publicly for three main reasons:
- Before I discovered blogging and side hustles, I didn’t believe they were worth the effort. If others hadn’t shared monthly income reports, I might never have tried. I want to show the positive impact side hustling can have and inspire others to improve their financial situation by exploring online income opportunities.
- Publishing monthly reports gives me a record to review. It helps me learn from mistakes, identify areas for improvement, and treat the reports like a business journal.
- I want to demonstrate that earning side income from home is possible and legitimate. To help readers explore options, I’ve compiled a Monthly Income Report Roundup that highlights many bloggers who also share their earnings publicly.
Life is much better now that I’m my own boss and a full-time blogger. I genuinely look forward to each day and enjoy the flexibility of running my own business.
These reports are part of why I encourage others to seek work that allows them to enjoy life outside the office—whether that means spending time with family, traveling, or pursuing hobbies.
How was my blog income in April?
I earned $71,761.30 online in April, before expenses.
April was another strong month for income and work-life balance. Page views dipped slightly compared to other months, but income increased, reinforcing that revenue is not solely driven by traffic volume.
I expect income to soften a bit over the coming months since summer typically slows affiliate and advertising revenue as readers spend more time outdoors and kids are out of school.
Overall, the business is growing, income is rising, and I have many exciting ideas for the year. I’m very happy with how things are progressing.
I often catch myself saying, “Life is really good,” and I mean it.
If you’re considering starting a blog, I created a step-by-step tutorial to help you launch a WordPress blog affordably. It explains how to set up hosting, secure a domain, and get started monetizing—self-hosted WordPress is essential if you want to appear professional and monetize effectively.
Breakdown of April 2016 income – $71,761.30:
- Affiliate income – $54,972.10 total:
- Bluehost (blogging hosting referrals) – $43,250
- Survey companies – $6,805
- MOTIF Investing – $736
- Ebates (estimate; tiered program) – $1,000
- Digit – $190
- Izea/SponsoredTweets – $406.61
- 30 Days Or Less To Freelance Writing Success – $167.76
- How To Work From Home Selling On Amazon FBA – $734.13
- Make Money Proofreading (freelance proofreading) – $733.60
- Transcribe Anywhere – $19.40
- $5 Meal Plan – $189.60
- Mystery shopping – $20
- Miscellaneous affiliate earnings – $720
- Sponsorships – $14,500
- Staff writing and client work – $500
- Display advertising – $1,789.20
The total above is before fees and expenses. Estimated monthly costs that reduce this amount by roughly $1,200 include virtual assistants, technical help, newsletter service fees, PayPal fees, and other business expenses (taxes are not included in that estimate). After expenses, I earned approximately $70,561.30.
Please note I cover all self-employment costs such as taxes (often over 30%), health insurance, and benefits that an employer would typically provide.
For readers wanting to monetize a blog, I published The Ultimate Guide To Making Money Blogging, which covers many revenue strategies.
Below are selected past monthly income reports. I publish monthly updates and keep a full archive on my income page for those who want to explore earlier reports.
- $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 (annual recap)
Comparisons and 2016 online income total:
- Total income in April 2016: $71,761
- Total income in March 2016: $72,196
- Difference: -$434.70
- Total in 2016: $238,346
Blog news.
The blog is doing well. Traffic was steady in April, with roughly 500,000 page views for the month.
Blog updates from April:
- I’m now more than a month ahead on published posts, which is a great feeling while I work on a digital product about affiliate marketing strategies and travel frequently in the RV.
- I switched my email platform to ConvertKit in April because many bloggers praised its functionality; so far it looks promising for growing and managing my list.
- I’m taking an online course about creating and launching an ebook to improve my digital product strategy.
- I replaced Tailwind with BoardBooster for Pinterest scheduling to save time. BoardBooster requires initial setup but runs smoothly afterward and has reduced the hours I spend on Pinterest management.
Many readers ask how I stay connected while working from the road in my RV. I use a Verizon MiFi device, which provides reliable mobile internet access far more consistently than many public Wi-Fi networks.
Top new posts on the blog last month:
- Are You Afraid To Negotiate?
- How To Become An Au Pair And Travel The World
- Great Financial Lessons My Dad Taught Me – Money Doesn’t Have To Make Your Life Miserable
- Make Money At Home By Becoming A Bookkeeper
- Is Your Job Worth It? How Much Is It Costing You?
- 11 Ways You’re Wasting Time And How To Change
- How Blogging Paid Off My Student Loans
- Learn How To Create A Profitable Ebook With Abby Lawson
Featured Question: What blogging tools or resources do you recommend?
I feature one reader question each month. Many readers ask which tools and resources helped me grow my blog. Investing in learning—through courses, ebooks, and tutorials—made a big difference for me.
Some of my favorite blogging resources include:
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – an in-depth course where I share my affiliate strategies.
- How To Start A WordPress Blog Tutorial – a free, step-by-step guide to launching a self-hosted WordPress blog.
- 17 Strategies I Used To Grow My Page Views eBook – practical tactics for increasing traffic, written by a blogger who scaled from 17,000 to 350,000 monthly page views.
- Facebook Strategies Worth Sharing – an ebook focused on Facebook growth tactics that I found very useful.
Each resource covers different aspects of running and growing a blog. If you can, take your time with each one and apply the methods consistently.
Past featured questions covered topics such as increasing affiliate income, whether huge pageviews are needed to earn money, how to build and sell websites, and whether new bloggers can still succeed.
My plans for the website and making money online.
Clear plans and goals help keep a business on track. Current priorities include:
- Promote more. I’m improving promotion, especially on Pinterest, which drove about 220,000 clicks in April. My goal is 500,000 or more by year-end.
- Continue learning. I’m enrolled in courses like BookBoss and studying strategies to improve traffic and conversions.
- Accept more interviews. I participated in interviews in April and was featured in an article for Forbes.
- Double my income. I plan to aim for double 2015’s income by maintaining focus and scaling the business. That requires averaging roughly $53,000 per month.
- Diversify affiliate income streams. I’m working to add more affiliate partners and revenue sources.
- Create a digital product. I’m developing an affiliate marketing digital product and have an email waitlist for interested readers.
- Increase page views to 1,000,000 per month. This is a measurable target I’d like to reach before the year ends.
Staff writing.
I wrote only one paid article for a client in April and currently have none planned for May. I’m focusing less on freelance writing in order to dedicate time to the digital product and to grow the blog. Narrowing my focus has improved both income and work-life balance.
Related articles include guides on becoming a freelance writer, staff writing as a side hustle, and how to become a virtual assistant.
Affiliate income.
Affiliate income totaled $54,972.10 in April. It remains a major portion of overall revenue and is appealing because it can be relatively passive, making it easier to travel while earning.
If you’re a blogger interested in affiliate marketing, consider studying proven strategies and courses that teach how to drive conversions and generate consistent affiliate revenue.
How was April for you? Are you interested in earning income online?