Welcome to the April business income report, where I share how much I earned online last month. Here’s the monthly update and a breakdown of how the month went.
If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you might wonder why I publish an income report each month. If you’re already familiar, feel free to skip ahead.
This began as an extra income report because, at the start, my focus was on income I earned from side hustles. In early reports I listed everything I earned outside of my day job.
I left my financial analyst position in October 2013, and since then my monthly income reports cover the various ways I earn a living through my business.
People often ask why I publish my monthly income publicly. Some think it’s unusual, while others appreciate the transparency. I continue to share these reports for three main reasons:
- Before I started blogging, I knew very little about side hustles and making money online. I believed raises at a full-time job were the primary way to grow income. If others hadn’t published income reports, I may never have tried side hustling. I publish my reports to highlight the positive potential of side income and to inspire others to improve their financial situation.
- I use these reports as a personal record to review progress, learn from mistakes, and identify areas for improvement. They act like a business journal that helps me track growth month to month.
- I want to show that earning money from home is possible and legitimate. There are many ways to earn online, and I point readers toward resources and examples that demonstrate real success.
I genuinely enjoy being my own boss and working as a full-time blogger. I look forward to each day and love the flexibility this career offers. Publishing income reports helps show others that you don’t have to dread your job—you can make changes to enjoy life more while still earning a living.
How was business income in April of 2017?
I earned $131,448.35 blogging and online in April of 2017, before expenses.
Lately I’ve been working to achieve a healthier work-life balance, and in April I made real progress. After writing articles for Making Sense of Cents, I typically worked just a few hours each day. It felt strange at first—like I might be forgetting something—but the difference is that I’ve become much more efficient with my time.
April marked my fourth consecutive month earning over $100,000. I never imagined reaching such figures through blogging, and it’s still surreal to look back at a month that brought in over $130,000.
Remember that I started from zero and built this business through consistent effort. If $100 or $1,000 feels out of reach to you, know that progress is possible—steady work can lead to unexpected results.
This strong month was driven by several strategic efforts I’ve made recently:
- Diversifying income: In 2016 I launched my first product, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, which expanded my revenue streams. Today my income mix includes affiliate marketing, my course, sponsorships, and advertising. I’m also working to diversify affiliate partnerships so my income isn’t tied to a handful of sources.
- Focusing on email: I started taking email seriously around April 2016 after switching to ConvertKit. That change made newsletters and email marketing far easier and more effective. I now have over 50,000 email subscribers and wish I had started building my list much earlier. If you don’t have an email list, start now.
- Growing Facebook presence: I invested in growing my Facebook following—moving from about 6,500 followers at the start of 2016 to 64,000 by April 2017. This growth has helped expand readership, boost income, and grow my email list.
April was great across the board—blogging, course sales, and life in general. I’m excited about the business and optimistic about the year ahead.
My Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course continued to do well, attracting many new students. I’ve received numerous testimonials from students who significantly increased their affiliate earnings after taking the course, with several sharing dramatic month-over-month improvements.
If you’re a blogger, consider exploring detailed training on affiliate marketing. For beginners, I also offer a tutorial on how to start a blog affordably and emphasize the importance of using a self-hosted platform to monetize effectively.
Breakout of April 2017 income – $131,448.35
In April 2017, total blog income was $131,448.35. Below is the breakdown by income category:
- Affiliate income – $62,492.35 total:
- Bluehost (via my how-to-start-a-blog tutorial) – $37,665.00
- Survey companies – $10,009.25
- Bookkeeper Business Academy – $1,604.00
- How To Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant – $1,086.70
- Ebates (estimated tiered program) – $1,000.00
- Student loan refinancing – $750.00
- Budgeting For Budget Haters – $663.00
- How To Work From Home Selling On Amazon FBA – $483.95
- Uber – $420.00
- Facebook strategies ebook – $412.00
- Personal Capital – $400.00
- Izea/SponsoredTweets – $399.00
- ConvertKit – $323.80
- PrettyLink – $304.88
- $5 Meal Plan – $232.50
- MOTIF Investing – $230.00
- Freelance proofreading resource – $208.80
- Haute Chocolate – $142.50
- Amazon – $102.97
- Blog traffic strategies ebook – $100.00
- Ibotta – $50.00
- Digit – $40.00
- Miscellaneous affiliates – $5,864.00 (includes earnings from a prior launch and other products)
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course – $54,273.00
- Sponsorships and advertising – $12,200.00
- Display advertising – $2,483.00
Total: $131,448.35
The totals above are for April before fees and expenses. Some fees and expenses (rounded up) totaled about $4,200, which included virtual assistants, course platform fees, technical help, newsletter expenses, PayPal and Stripe fees, among others. Affiliate payouts for promoting my course were $5,680.50. After those expenses, I made approximately $121,567 before taxes.
Please remember that as a self-employed person I cover taxes (over 30%), health insurance, and benefits that an employer would usually provide.
Below are links to other monthly income reports and highlights from past years. I publish income updates monthly and keep an archive for reference.
- $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
Comparisons and 2017 business income total:
- Total income in April 2017: $131,448
- Total income in March 2017: $130,856
- Difference from the previous month: +592
- Total in 2017: $561,748
Blog news
Making Sense of Cents is performing well. Overall pageviews for the month were around 415,000.
Recent blog updates include:
- I launched a community Facebook group where readers can get advice on finance, blogging, travel, and business. The group has more than 5,000 members.
- I started a new interview series featuring people with unique financial or lifestyle stories: early retirees, couples who paid off large debts, investors, travelers, and more. Several interviews have already been published and others are in progress.
- I released a free “How To Start A Blog” email course, which has attracted over 20,000 signups in a few months.
- I also launched a free “Master Your Money” email course focused on money management and budgeting tools, which has received positive feedback.
- I plan to develop a third free email course later this spring.
Popular new posts last month:
- How I Successfully Built A $1,000,000+ Blog
- How To Spot Work From Home Job Scams And Avoid Them At All Costs
- How This Couple Paid off $204,971.31 in Debt
- 9 Lessons I Learned From Traveling Around the World
- Great Financial Lessons My Dad Taught Me – Money Doesn’t Have To Make Your Life Miserable
- How To Camp For Free, Even In Beautiful and Desirable Places
- 56% Of Americans Have Less Than $10,000 Saved For Retirement
Featured Question: How can I build a successful blog?
I answer one reader question in each monthly report. If you have a question you’d like me to address, leave a comment.
A frequent question is: “How can someone build a successful blog?” I covered this topic in detail in my article about building a seven-figure blog, and here is a concise summary of the key steps:
- Be passionate. Running a high-quality blog requires time and persistence. Passion helps you stay motivated through the many tasks involved.
- Have a plan. Define your blog’s focus, revenue strategy, growth tactics, and goals so you know what to work toward.
- Publish high-quality content. You don’t need to be an expert, but be knowledgeable, helpful, and consistent—quality builds trust and attracts readers.
- Network. Collaborating with other bloggers opens doors, accelerates learning, and creates opportunities you might otherwise miss.
- Keep learning. Blogging evolves constantly—stay up to date with new strategies, tools, and best practices.
- Create an email list from day one. An email list is an owned audience that’s far more reliable than social platforms for promoting products and driving conversions.
Past featured questions have covered topics like increasing affiliate income, building traffic, monetizing a blog, and choosing blogging niches.
My plans for the blog and business
Goals help maintain focus and motivation. Current priorities include:
- Earn $1,000,000 from the business in 2017. The emphasis this year is on generating more passive income while maintaining balance.
- Improve work-life balance. I want to be able to step away from the blog occasionally without constantly checking devices.
- Get at least three months ahead on content. I’m currently two months ahead and aim to reach three months to allow for travel with limited internet access.
- Grow monthly pageviews to 1,000,000. I’d like to reach more readers and increase engagement.
- Do more live interviews (podcasts/webinars). I plan to schedule more live appearances despite the challenges of traveling and variable internet.
- Create another product. After launching my affiliate marketing course in 2016, I plan to develop at least one more product to diversify income.
- Promote the blog more effectively. I’ve seen strong results growing Facebook traffic and will continue improving promotional efforts.
- Keep learning and improving. I welcome suggestions for worthwhile courses and resources others are taking.
Affiliate income results
In April 2017, affiliate income totaled $62,492.35. April was quieter on affiliate promotions, so most affiliate earnings were passive and driven by existing content.
I didn’t publish any new affiliate-focused posts that month, which highlights how passive affiliate income can support a flexible lifestyle like full-time travel.
Affiliate marketing is a core focus for my business because of its potential for passive revenue. It’s something I teach in detail in my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course, which covers product selection, conversion strategies, tools, and promotional tactics.
Since launching the affiliate course in July 2016, more than 2,200 people have purchased it. The course includes multiple modules, lessons, worksheets, bonuses, and a dedicated Facebook group to support students at any stage.
How was your April? Are you interested in earning income through blogging?