Welcome to the August online income report, where I share how I earned money online last month. This update reviews my results for August and helps track progress month to month.
If you’re new here, you might wonder why I publish these monthly income reports. If you already know, feel free to skip ahead.
This series began as an “extra income” report, focused on side-job earnings in addition to my day job. In the early monthly reports I included all income except what I earned at my full-time job.
In October 2013 I left my role as a financial analyst, and since then my monthly income reports have covered the various ways I support myself financially.
People often ask why I share these numbers publicly. Some think it’s unusual, while others appreciate the transparency. I continue to publish monthly income reports for three main reasons:
- Before I started blogging, I knew very little about side hustles and making money online. I assumed salary raises and promotions were the only real path to significantly increase income. If it weren’t for other bloggers who published their monthly income, I may never have explored side hustling. By publishing my reports, I hope to highlight the positive impact side hustles can have and inspire others to improve their financial lives.
- Monthly income reports act as a personal accountability tool and journal. They let me look back, learn from mistakes, and identify areas that need improvement.
- I want to show that earning legitimate side income from home is possible. For readers seeking ideas, I’ve rounded up other bloggers who share monthly income reports so you can learn from a range of examples.
I still love being my own boss. Waking up excited for the day and enjoying more flexibility has been a major benefit. I don’t expect everyone to adore their job, but I believe your work should allow you to enjoy life outside of it—spending time with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, traveling, and more.
How was my online income in August?
August was another strong month for business. We’re adjusting to life on the road in an RV while I work, which has presented occasional challenges with finding stable Wi-Fi even though I’ve invested in mobile connectivity.
Limited Wi-Fi can be a blessing because it reduces distractions and allows me to focus on writing and being present where we are. Overall, I’m pleased with how things are progressing.
Interestingly, while income has increased over recent months, I’ve found myself working less. I’ve improved my work-life balance and it’s paying off.
I remain optimistic about the business and the future. I have several plans in motion and momentum is building.
In August I earned $23,992 in business income before expenses.
The figure above is for August and is before fees and expenses. Estimated expenses and fees for the month totaled about $1,900 (rounded), covering virtual assistants and staff writers for my other sites, technical support, newsletter costs, PayPal fees and similar items. Taxes are not included. After expenses and fees, I made approximately $22,092.
Below are links to some of my other monthly income reports—there are many more on my extra income archive page if you want to explore past months in detail.
- $672 extra in May (2012)
- $6,523 in January extra income (2013)
- $11,927 in October income – I finally left my job
- $12,640 in January income (2014)
- $23,758 in February income – monthly online income report (2015)
- How I made $25,138 online in July plus my blogiversary
Blog news
This month I focused on scheduling Pinterest activity using Tailwind. Automating pin scheduling has saved a tremendous amount of time. I still pin manually occasionally, but scheduling takes care of most of my needs in advance.
Page views are trending up — I received around 300,000 page views in August.
I still need to update many older posts for better formatting and Pinterest-friendly images. So far I’ve updated only about 15% of posts and intend to continue making improvements.
Top new posts last month:
- Make Money While Traveling – Yes, It’s Possible!
- Why Would A Person Choose To Live A Frugal Life?
- Frugal Things I’ve Done Recently
- 10 Daily Challenges To Improve Your Life
- The 6 Steps To Take To Invest Your First Dollar – Yes, It’s Really This Easy!
- You May Be Wasting Thousands Of Dollars On These 7 Things
- Are You Interested In Traveling The World And Working At The Same Time?
- Selling Your Home – Step By Step Process
Featured Question: How do I increase my affiliate income?
Each month I answer a reader question. This time the topic is boosting affiliate income. I could write an entire post on this, but here are key strategies that have worked for me:
- Use a link manager plugin to clean and brand affiliate links so they look professional and are easy to remember.
- Provide honest, thorough product reviews. If something has downsides, mention them—authenticity builds trust.
- If you perform well with an affiliate program, ask your affiliate manager for a higher commission.
- Build a strong relationship with your affiliate manager. They can offer coupons, insights, and potential commission increases.
- Publish tutorials and how-to content that demonstrate real uses and benefits for your audience.
- Create a recommendations or resources page listing tools and services you genuinely use and endorse.
- Don’t overuse affiliate links. Place them thoughtfully—beginning, middle, and end of posts is often enough.
I offer a detailed affiliate marketing course that outlines my exact approach and strategies. For many bloggers, learning how to structure affiliate content and where to place promotions can dramatically increase earnings.
Plans for the website and future income goals
Clear goals help keep the business focused and motivated. Current priorities include:
- Promote more: I’ve improved promotion efforts and see results. Pinterest drove roughly 95,000 clicks to the blog in August. I’m still working to grow Facebook traffic as it remains challenging.
- Accept more interviews: I plan to respond to more HARO requests and take on additional interviews to build exposure.
- Be less shy: A personal goal for growth this year is to become more assertive and visible in the industry to expand opportunities.
Staff writing
I enjoy staff writing and started a new gig in August writing for a client about affording the RV lifestyle. I’m excited about this opportunity.
I did encounter one non-paying client last month, which is an uncommon and frustrating situation I’m still resolving.
Website management
I continue to offer blog and social media management as a service, but I am not taking on new clients to preserve time and maintain a healthy work-life balance. I’m focused on growing and improving the sites I manage, expanding my coaching offerings, and prioritizing the business areas that align with long-term goals.
Affiliate income
I’m increasingly excited about affiliate revenue. Passive affiliate income has made it feasible to travel and work, which is a major benefit. August was my best affiliate month to date, with about $22,000 in affiliate earnings. Many affiliate payments arrive 60–90 days after the activity, so those amounts will show in future reports as payments are received.
Bluehost has been a major affiliate source through my tutorial about starting a WordPress blog, but I’ve been diversifying. In August, around $7,000 came from affiliate programs other than Bluehost.
Breakout of payments received in August ($23,992 before expenses)
- Staff writing – $1,050
- Website and social media management for clients – $1,764
- Blog coaching and consulting – $790
- Website-related income (advertising and partnerships across sites I own) – $8,486
- Affiliate income (Bluehost and other programs) – $11,902
- Selling items from our home – $0
- Miscellaneous (non-blogging) – $0
As a self-employed person, I cover my own taxes (often over 30%), health insurance, and other benefits that an employer might typically provide.
Comparisons and 2015 year-to-date total (before taxes)
- Total business income for August: $23,992
- Income in July: $25,138
- Difference: -$1,146
- Total in 2015: $186,515
How was August for you? Are you interested in earning income online?
This post contains affiliate links. All opinions and statements are my own, and links are provided to help you on your blogging journey.