Online Income Report: How I Made $3,200 Online in One Month

I am so, so excited about this month’s online income report! This is my highest month ever, including the two years I freelanced and blogged only (I currently have a FT job in addition to freelancing and blogging).

And, the even more exciting news is I only spent about 10 hours this entire month freelancing and blogging! This is where my years of hard work on the blog are finally starting to pay off, and honestly I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this little blog of mine!

If you’ve been considering starting a blog, now is the time to start one! It’s by no means a “get rich quick” scheme, but it absolutely will give you an extra source of income in due time. You can read my post on How Long It Takes to Make Money with Your Blog to get a better idea here.

Ok, let’s get started with this month’s income report!

In July, I made $3,249.61 freelancing and blogging. Here is a breakdown of my income, and below I’ll dive into even more details:

• Freelancing: $1,914
• Blogging: $1,335.61

Freelancing

I am a personal finance freelance writer. I broke into this field 100% because of my blog on personal finance. If you want to write on parenting, start a parenting blog; if you want to write for small businesses, start a blog on that. Whatever your passion is, I highly recommend you having your own blog on that topic to showcase your work and develop a portfolio without having to get clients.

Once you have some posts under your belt, you can start applying for freelancing positions. Your writing samples are your blog entries 🙂

So, how did I make so much freelancing in so little time?

One word: Contently. If you are a freelancer, you need to have a profile on Contently. Contently is a platform that companies use to find freelancers. They reach out to you; so once your profile is done, you don’t need to do anything else to stay active.

I created my Contently profile almost one year ago and just last month got my first job with them! The pay is (obviously) very good, and they pay as soon as you submit your work. No waiting around for 60 days to get a payment with Contently!

Blogging

While I’m super stoked about making almost $2,000 freelancing, what I’m most excited about is breaking $1,000 this month from the blog! August will probably be back down to $500 or so, but I expect September to be back over $1,000.

Here is a breakdown of my blogging income:

• $121.91 Ads: My ad income has gone from $5/month when I first started blogging to now over $100/month and growing! Next month will be closer to $200 🙂 Long term, I don’t like the look of ads. But, my site doesn’t have a huge amount of traffic and it’s one of the ways I monetize my blog for the time being.
• $400 Sponsored posts: Companies often email me asking me to either insert a link into an existing post or write a new post surrounding their company. If it fits within my blog and the price is right, I do it!
• 813.70 Affiliate sales: This is the BEST way to make money blogging, in my opinion! This income comes from Bluehost, Make Over Your Mornings, Pinterest Presence and a few others. Basically, when someone purchases a product I recommend, I get a small kickback at no extra cost to the buyer. Amazon Affiliates is another fantastic affiliate program, but I usually recommend business-type products since that’s what my audience wants!

What We Do with Side Income

My husband and I both have FT jobs, so we really don’t “need” side money but I do think it’s something everyone should work at achieving. For starters, a side job can easily turn into a FT gig if you want it to. If my blog starts making $10K a month, I don’t see a reason to stay at my FT job. If it starts making $20K a month, well, my husband could very easily leave his job, too. This would provide so much freedom for our family. And can I just say that I truly do believe that one day my blog WILL make enough to allow us to quit our jobs?!

For now, though, having side income allows us to not be on a strict budget in day-to-day life. We save most of it, but we also take road trips and go out to eat and grab coffee/dessert in the evenings. I cannot remember the last time I was actually worried about money; and trust me, it’s a nice feeling.

You can also start a side hustle to eliminate some financial stress. While I’m all for blogging, there are dozens of ways to create an extra stream of income.

One up-and-coming way is with Uber. Since I have little kids, I’ve never done this. But if I were kid-free, you can bet I’d be Uber-ing it up on my commute to work and on the weekends. It sounds like a fun way to meet people, plus you easily can make a few extra hundred per week. You could babysit, pet sit, buy and sell antiques or furniture, do yard work or garden on the weekends, etc. I think the best part about having a side gig is the fact that you can do something you actually enjoy! I love blogging; and to be honest even if I didn’t make money, I’d still be doing it.

What’s your passion?! How was your July?!