How I Earned Money Online in October: My Exact Methods

Welcome to my October business report. Each month I share how I earned money online and how I balanced running my business while traveling full-time. Here’s the update for October and what I accomplished.

If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you might wonder why I publish a monthly business report.

This began as my extra income report, focused on the side income I earned outside of a day job. In the early reports I listed all income except what I made at my full-time job.

In October 2013 I left my position as a financial analyst, and since then my monthly business reports have shown the many ways my business generates revenue. I publish these reports for three main reasons:

1. When I started, I knew almost nothing about side hustles and making money online. If others hadn’t shared their monthly income reports, I might never have tried side hustling. I publish mine to inspire others and highlight how side income can change a person’s financial life. There are many legitimate ways to earn from home, and I share my journey to motivate readers to improve their finances.
2. I use these reports to reflect, learn from mistakes, and identify areas for improvement. Monthly updates keep me accountable and help me track progress.
3. I want to show that making extra money is possible and to highlight real, practical ways to earn from home.

As I say often, life is great now that I’m my own boss and a full-time blogger. I genuinely enjoy waking up each morning and appreciate the freedom and flexibility this work provides.

A quick reminder about the recent announcement

I’ll recap a recent announcement since some readers have asked: see my post “How I Made Over $1,500,000 in 2018 – Is This The End Of Income Reports?” for details. I expect a few readers may have missed that update, so I’m reiterating it here.

How was business income in October 2019?

In case you’re new, the main income streams for my business are:

• Affiliate marketing — the largest share of my income.
• Sponsored partnerships.
• Courses — including Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts.
• Display advertising — I use AdThrive; other options include Mediavine and Media.net for newer bloggers.

I regularly earn over $100,000 per month from blogging and have earned more than $5,000,000 from my blogging business over the years. October 2019 was another strong month: the business performed well financially and I also enjoyed a productive and fun month.

I’m planning to grow Making Sense of Cents in several ways over the coming months and into 2020, focusing on income, audience growth, and more helpful content.

Key initiatives I plan to pursue include:

• Getting more media coverage — I’ll be taking a course to improve media features and will share insights as I progress.
• Doubling down on SEO — I’m enrolling in a comprehensive SEO course to better harness organic search traffic.
• Learning paid social advertising — I plan to experiment with Pinterest and Facebook ads to drive traffic and grow my email list.
• Adding an online shop — I want to offer worksheets, printables, and other downloadable products.
• Creating new opt-ins — I don’t have many lead magnets and will develop more to capture new readers and subscribers.

The business is doing well and I’m excited about the road ahead. Below I list some past monthly income reports and resources for readers interested in blogging and online income. You can find a complete archive of income reports on the site’s income page.

• $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 — monthly online income report (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 created a tutorial showing how to start a WordPress blog with low-cost hosting. Being self-hosted is important for monetization and professional presentation, and my income grew after switching to self-hosted WordPress.

Blog and life news

Can you believe 2019 is almost over? October felt like a whirlwind. We left the Utah and Colorado area and headed east, visiting family and friends in Colorado, Missouri, and Arkansas before stopping at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. While in Annapolis I took a marine diesel engines class and several other sessions, and attended the show.

We began to miss SV Paradise, so we wrapped up our van summer a few weeks early and drove back to Florida to prepare the boat. We’ll be departing the USA soon to continue our travels.

Because travel plans require preparation, I’ve been trying to get ahead on content and tasks. My goal is to stay organized and complete key items before we set off.

Other blog and business updates:

• I’m currently about one month ahead on blog posts; my goal is 2–3 months ahead so I can focus on other projects with peace of mind.
• Traffic in October exceeded 400,000 page views.
• I’m developing a series of practical finance tutorials covering topics like building credit, opening bank accounts, writing checks, finding online banks, and creating investment accounts. I welcome suggestions for other topics you’d like covered.
• The Making Sense of Cents Facebook community group continues to grow and now has over 15,000 members where readers share advice on finance, blogging, travel, and business.
• I launched a free “How to Start a Blog” email course, which has attracted over 60,000 sign-ups and received excellent feedback.
• Following that success, I launched a free “Master Your Money” email course with money management lessons and worksheets, including a budget template.
• Other free resources include “10 Easy Tips to Increase Your Affiliate Income” and “8 Easy Tips to Make Money From Sponsored Posts On Your Blog.”

Popular new posts last month:

• How To Reduce, Reuse, And Save More Cash
• How To Get Rid Of A Timeshare – Stop Wasting Your Money!
• How Sarah Earns $5,000,000 A Year With Shopify
• Do You Need To Have “The Talk?” – 4 Powerful Reasons To Talk About Money
• The Airbnb For Cars: Your Guide To Making Money On Turo
• How I Paid Off $30,000 of Student Loans in 2 Years by Paying the Minimum Balance
• 18 Of The Best Ways To Make Extra Money For The Holidays

Featured question: Where do you go to learn about blogging?

I feature one reader question each month. A common question is: “I want to blog but don’t have a lot of money to spend. Where can I learn for free?”

You don’t need a big budget to learn blogging. While courses help, many valuable resources are free. I spent almost nothing on my blog for the first 1–2 years and still learned a lot.

Free resources and starting points:

1. If you don’t have a blog yet, start with the free “How to Start a Blog” email course.
2. Grab the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet to learn strategies for generating affiliate income from a blog.
3. For Pinterest advice, Simple Pin Media publishes high-quality articles and podcast episodes about Pinterest strategy.
4. For business and marketing podcasts, Amy Porterfield’s episodes are excellent for social media, listing growth, and course strategy.
5. To learn SEO, read guides and templates that explain the techniques I used to grow affiliate income.
6. Social Media Examiner is a great free resource for updates and guidance across platforms.
7. Attend free webinars offered by experienced bloggers — even when webinars promote products, the free content often provides practical, actionable tips.

My business plans and goals

I have many initiatives underway. Setting goals helps maintain momentum and focus. Current priorities include:

• Finish the Facebook Ads for Bloggers course to improve paid promotion skills.
• Complete the Stupid Simple SEO course to better optimize the site for search traffic.
• Create a free opt-in for affiliates to share for the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course, which will help affiliates promote the course effectively.
• Get at least three months ahead on blog posts so I can focus on higher-level projects and travel without falling behind.
• Work less than 30 hours per week more consistently to achieve a healthier work-life balance.
• Be more present — my 2019 goal is to enjoy life more and focus on experiences outside of work while still running a successful business.
• Have fun and savor the year’s travel and new opportunities.

Affiliate marketing results

Affiliate income in October was in line with expectations at over $50,000. I expect affiliate revenue to grow in coming months as I promote planned offers and test new traffic strategies.

Efforts to increase affiliate income include:

• Planning affiliate promotions for late 2019 and most of 2020 to stay organized and prepared.
• Applying SEO techniques to drive more organic traffic.
• Leveraging Facebook and Pinterest ads to boost key affiliate campaigns.
• Building high-quality funnels to nurture readers and maximize conversions.
• Growing site reach to attract new readers and test new affiliate products.
• Analyzing top-performing affiliate posts to improve and replicate success.
• Exploring new affiliate programs that match audience interests.

I value affiliate income for its relatively passive nature, which makes full-time travel more enjoyable while still earning consistently.

For beginners, the free guide “10 Easy Tips To Increase Your Affiliate Income” provides practical, time-saving strategies. I also offer a comprehensive course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, which includes modules on choosing products, boosting conversions, building trust with readers, and many promotional strategies.

Sponsored partnership results

October was busy for sponsored partnerships. I began new contracts that will roll out over the coming months, and interest from advertisers has been strong.

Sponsored partnerships typically perform well early in the year when companies allocate new ad budgets and readers pursue new goals. Many bloggers worry about pricing, rules, and outreach for sponsored posts, but these opportunities have been a consistent revenue source for my site.

I began blogging in August 2011 as a personal journal and didn’t expect to earn income. Within six months I connected with an advertiser and earned my first $100. That early success was motivating and helped me grow to where sponsored content and affiliate income are major parts of the business. Today, my average sponsored post rate is around $5,000.

If you want to learn more about sponsored posts, my free guide “8 Easy Tips To Make Money From Sponsored Posts On Your Blog” covers basics, pricing, and how to find brand partners.