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Maybe you’ve seen amazing income reports showing the amounts earned by some people who do blogging for a living and thought “I could do that”. But then doubt starts to creep in – I mean, how much money can YOU make blogging when these people are already earning five or six figures per month?!
The thing to keep in mind though is that they all started somewhere.
And many of them have been working on their blogs for years to get where they are today.
It can be completely overwhelming to see people earning $10,000 or even $100,000+ per month just from blogging.
Trust me, I’ve been there. Before I started this blog a year ago, I spent literally hours trawling Pinterestfor income reports.
And while seeing other people make massive amounts of money from blogging can be super inspiring for imagining how much money can you make blogging, it’s also pretty daunting.
I remember thinking how much I’d love to start blogging for a living too – but these numbers were just way out of my league, right?
Well, it turns out that that’s not the case at all!
How much money can you make blogging in only one year?
You’ll see these bloggers making anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousands dollars after only one year of blogging.
Some of them are new bloggers, so only just got to the 12-month mark fairly recently.
But you’ll also see some much older income reports that will show you just how far you can come in a few years.
And all of these income reports are great for showing you what you can achieve in your first year of blogging.
In particular, you may find that it’s much more realistic seeing these figures than seeing the five- and six-figure amounts many of the major bloggers are earning now.
Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely aim to do the same!
But let’s also be clear: blogging isn’t a side hustle where success comes overnight.
It takes some time before you can start blogging for a living and, as most bloggers will tell you, some work at educating yourself on just how to make it work.
But once you find your groove like these beginner bloggers did, you too will be able to see just how much money can you make blogging.
Even after only 12 months!
How you can start blogging from home as a side hustle
One thing that stopped me from starting a blog earlier than I did was thinking that it would be way too complicated.
I mean, I have zero tech skills so how on earth could I be expected to build an entire website?
Fortunately, it was so easy to do that the only hard part was realising how much earlier I should have started.
After far too much worrying about how complicated it was going to be, I simply signed up with Bluehostfor less than $4.00 per month and I was on my way!
Want to see the exact step-by-step instructions I followed to start my blog?
Check outHOW TO START A BLOG IN LESS THAN 15 MINUTES
Income reports to show how much money can you make blogging after only 12 months
Making Sense of Cents: $350
If you haven’t heard of Michelle from Making Sense of Cents, she’s renowned in the blogging community for making well over one million dollars per year just from her blog.
I mean, if that’s not an impressive answer to the question of “How much money can you make blogging?”, then I don’t know what is.
But like all of us, she had to start somewhere.
And in June 2012, which she says in a comment in that post is about one year after she started blogging, she made $350 from her blog.
She says this was earned from ad links and sponsored posts.
Now, $350 is nothing to sniff at, especially when she was also studying an MBA on the side!
But take a look at her most recent income report at the time of writing, where she saysshe made $145,319 last month.
That’s a crazy increase in blog income!
And more than $72,000 of that is from affiliate income alone.
You’ll see below that most of the other bloggers on this list make the majority of their money from affiliate income – but Michelle is definitely renowned as the expert in this.
Luckily for all of us, she has a super well known course that shows all of us how to do exactly the same thing calledMaking Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
I’ve taken this course and EASILY earned the cost of it back within a few days of putting in place what I learned from it.
So I really recommend it as a great way to see just how much money can you make blogging.
And better yet, it’s passive income, meaning that you literally earn money while you sleep!
Find out more or sign-up for the course here.
Just a Girl and Her Blog: $2,446
Just a Girl and Her Blog is all about organisation and productivity.
So seeing her income report from after 12 months of blogging may certainly make you more productive in starting your blog!
After all,in her 12 month blogging inFebruary 2014, she made $2,446.
Which is a great achievement in such a short period of time!
Unfortunately for us, she chose to stop publishing income reports in December 2016.
But in her last income report, she says she made $41,700.
This consisted of $14,193 product income (i.e. products that she made herself then sells) and $27,507 in affiliate income.
In just. One. Month.
Mommy On Purpose: $3,894.76
Carly from Mommy On Purpose reports her income in Canadian dollars, so I’ve converted this one into US dollars to make it easier to compare it against the others on this list.
And her income report fromDecember 2016shows that she earned $3,894.76 in her 12th month of blogging.
For me, the best part of this income report is that she breaks down her earnings into income from blog posts unrelated to blogging and income from posts that are related to blogging.
One of the most common criticisms of bloggers who make a lot of money is that they can only make money from talking about blogging – but that’s absolutely not true.
Case in point: Carly earned $3,006.63 from blog posts unrelated to blogging – or almost 80% of her blog income.
And how about now?
Carly sends her income reports by email now, which I love to get every month.
So last month, she reported her monthly income from her blog as being $6,477.78.
And that’s with a newborn and a toddler!
To do this, Carly gets 250,000+ page views per month just from Pinterest alone.
If you’re a new blogger, trust me when I say that Pinterest is a gold mine for getting traffic. In fact, many of you reading this probably found this article from Pinterest!
(By the way, my Pinterest page is here if you feel like following!)
So I took one of Carly’s courses due to her expertise in Pinterest and literally within days of putting in place what she teaches, I saw my traffic from Pinterest sky rocket.
She absolutely knows her stuff and the course is REALLY well priced, especially considering the massive pay off.
If you’re interested in learning from one of the best on how to use Pinterest to make the traffic to your blog explode, check out her course, Pinteresting Strategies, here.
Happy Nifty Life: $1,040.85
Happy Nifty Life is one of the newer bloggers on the list – which means she’s a great example of what you can do even if you “only” start blogging now (and not 5+ years ago).
InJuly 2018 after (almost!) one year of blogging, she made $1,040.85.
This included $744.35 from advertisem*nts and $296.50 from affiliate income.
For me, the best part of this income report was when she said:
“I’ll admit, I don’t work more than five hours a week. Between feeding the baby, diffusing toddler tantrums, housekeeping and trying to stay healthy and fit, running a blog is challenging to say the least.”
I think I can safely say:we’ve all been there.
And it shows that sometimes the answer to “how much money can you make blogging” can still be impressive even if you’re tight on time.
Whether you’re busy with kids or work or life (or all of the above!), it can be a struggle sometimes to find time for any side hustle, whether it’s blogging or something else.
But this income report shows that even if you only have a few hours to devote to your blog, there’s definitely room for you to make money.
From Pennies to Pounds: $1,122.85
Perhaps not surprisingly from the name, From Pennies to Pounds reports her income in, you guessed it, pounds.
So I’ve also converted her income report from April 2017 into US dollars, with the result that, after 12 months of blogging,she earned $1,122.85.
Interestingly, $1,025.76 of this was from sponsored posts, which is way more than anyone else on this list reported after their first year.
This shows that there are a TON of ways for you to make money blogging – you just have to find one that works for you!
Believe in a Budget: $653.99
Reading income reports from Kirsten at Believe in a Budget was one of my biggest motivators for finally biting the bullet and starting this blog.
This is because her very first income report was for $61.83.
While that’s nothing when you hear what she’s earning now, it seemed so much more feasible for me to get to that point than to $10,000+.
After all, if she could go from that to what she’s earning now, then why couldn’t I – and why can’t you?
So inDecember 2015,she earned $653.99 from her blog.
I will note that that’s a bit different from the amount in the income report, which included an additional $3,585 from freelancing.
But as we’re trying to strictly focus on blog income here, let’s look only at her ad income and affiliate income.
Things have changed since then though!
Specifically, in hermost recent income report, her monthly blog income was $18,128.60.
This includes $8,132.50 from affiliate income and $9,266.50 from her courses – which is seriously amazing.
Speaking of her courses, these include one that I thoroughly recommend on how to become a Pinterest virtual assistant.
It’s a great side hustle if you’re looking for a way to make extra money from home and Kirsten is a pro at showing you just how to get started, including what you do as a virtual assistant and how to get clients.
Find out more information on the coursehere.
RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO BECOME A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (AND MAKE $50,000+ WORKING FROM HOME WITH NO EXPERIENCE)
Finsavvy Panda: $3,626.78
As another Canadian on the list, these figures have also been converted into US dollars just to make it easier.
I’ve been fortunate enough to connect and chat with Finsavvy Panda, who’s been such an inspiration based on what she’s achieved with her blog in such a short period of time.
After all, after almost 12 months of blogging, she made $3,626.78 just in October 2018.
And almost $2,000 of that was from affiliate income!
Seeing these kinds of numbers from bloggers who are just getting started on their blogging journeys (while holding a fulltime job!) is pretty amazing.
Hairs Out Of Place: $2,553
This is another fantastic example of both how you can make great money as a new blogger AND how it doesn’t have to be from blogging about blogging!
Hairs Out Of Place is a lifestyle blogger who posted her 12-month income report inSeptember 2018, in which she earned $2,553.
And she specifically notes that only $34.40 of that was made by blogging about blogging. The rest is pure-lifestyle-related earnings!
The Ways To Wealth: $2,700.95
The Ways To Wealth reached the 12-month mark inAugust 2017, when they posted an income report showing that they earned$2,700.95.
Around $1,800 of that was from affiliate income while the remaining $900 was from advertising.
And just one year later?
In theAugust 2018 income report, they reported a crazy month of$18,863.
I don’t know about you, but I can safely say that my salary has never gone up by 1000% in one year!
Pinch Of Yum: $4,102.16
This is another great example of how blogs in all sorts of niches can make money.
For example, Pinch Of Yum is a food blog that’s had amazing success.
After making around $21 their first month, inAugust 2012, whichwas one year after they started monetising their blog,they earned $4,102.16.
That’s a great income just on its own – until you hear how much they increased that by…
Because while Pinch Of Yum no longer publishes income reports, their last one in November 2016saw them earning $72,819.74 in just one month.
So if you’re thinking of starting a food blog, there’s definitely money to be made!
Finance Superhero: $1,070.04
After 12 months of blogging, Finance Superhero made $1,070.04 inApril 2017.
But what’s even more incredible is that he was able to triple this in less than one year!
Just check out his most recently available income report: in February 2018, he earned $3,026.19.
Busy Budgeter: $6,469
Busy Budgeter is another blogger in the blogosphere who’s renowned for her crazy levels of success.
Just check out her income reports as proof!
After just over 12 months of blogging, inDecember 2015 she earned $6,469.
And while she’s stopped publishing income reports, her last one in January 2017 had a reported income of$86,438.83.
Most of that was from her own products that she sells, but almost $20,000 was from affiliate marketing alone – making this an amazing way to earn passive income!
Especially when the answer to “how much money can you make blogging” is more than an annual full time salary per month!
Lessons learned on how to make money blogging for beginners (and start blogging for a living)
These beginner bloggers have had amazing success after just 12 months doing what was, for most of them, a side hustle.
And for those bloggers that have been around for some time, they’ve gone on to earn incredible amounts of money from their blogs.
But when looking at these figures in a list like this, there are some clear lessons that the rest of us can take from this.
1. The best time to start your blog is today
If you’re thinking of starting a blog to make more money, then there’s no reason to wait to get started. Especially when you see the kind of success you can have after only one year!
After all, whenit costs less than $4 per month by signing up hereto earn $1,000 or more in that same month alone, the return on investment is pretty incredible.
Remember, even for tech challenged people like me,it only takes 15 minutes to start your blog. If I could do it, so can you!
2. You can start blogging for a living about a range of subjects
This list should show you that you can absolutely start blogging for a living even if you don’t blog about blogging.
These bloggers cover niches like personal finance (as seen with bloggers like ProFinance Blog), mom tips, food, lifestyle and more. And all of them are making great money.
And what’s clear from looking at these income reports is that no matter your subject choice, the main areas where you can earn money are through displaying ads on your blog and from affiliate income.
So if you’re interested in finding out just how to do that, don’t forget to take a look at herMaking Sense of Affiliate Marketing course.
As you saw from the first entry on this list, Michelle earns six-figures from her blog every month, so she’s definitely an expert in this area.
3. Everyone has to start somewhere
I mentioned this at the start but it’s worth repeating:
Even huge bloggers earning massive amounts of money had to start somewhere.
It can be so tempting to look at income reports, where people are earning five- or six-figures per month and think that there’s no way you can do the same.
But this list should show that you absolutely can.
All these bloggers went from earning $0 to earning hundreds or even thousands of dollars only 12 months later.
That is, they all started at $0 even if they’re making great money now. So there’s no reason why you can’t do the same.
4. It’s not too late to start your blog
One final point I wanted to make is to clarify something that I was worried about before I started this blog.
As I said before, I loved looking at other people’s income reports. And I knew that I wanted to write about personal finance, so I was particularly interested in income reports in that niche.
But when there are so many bloggers in your area of interest, it’s very easy to think that there’s no room for you to start blogging for a living.
However, take a look at this list again.
For example, Finsavvy Panda made $3,626.78 after starting her blog in late 2017 – when Making Sense of Cents and Busy Budgeter had already been around for years making huge incomes from their blogs.
And other personal finance bloggers on this list entered the game at various other times and that didn’t stop them from also launching highly successful blogs.
So don’t think that just because you didn’t start your blog a few years ago, it’s too late to start now.
After all, there are billions of people using the internet. Meaning that there’s plenty of room for you tostart your new blog!
