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If you’re new to Finsavvy Panda blog, you may be wondering what this blog income is about and why I publish these reports.
I started this blog income report series to keep track of my beginning journey and to show you that earning a full-time income online from home is possible.
It’s my way to have fun testing, experimenting, and sharing with you on what worked and what didn’t work.
My blog income reports are a true reflection of the journey and progress of a brand new blogger, me, who started with no experience – you’ll know that I’m not lying or exaggerating when you read through my blogging archive. I’m a very emotional and highly sensitive person so I wrote things that truly reflect how I felt and what I did as a beginner.
I started this blog because I wanted to share with my readers how I went from living paycheck to paycheck in a low-income family to growing my income and saving my first $100,000.
I know personal finance and money is a struggle for many people, so I share my struggles and stories here on this personal blog to show how I made extra money on the side of my 9-5 job. This extra income allowed me to save more for vacations, experiences, retirement, and the things I value in life.
I also won’t hide the fact that I started a blog because I thought it would be nice to earn extra money doing something that’s fun, new and exciting.
I told myself that it’s SO cheap to get started, and if it doesn’t work out, then so be it. At least I know I tried it without investing a lot of money.
You can learn more about how to start a money-making blog for beginners here in my easy step-by-step tutorial!
To be honest with you, I didn’t even know what “making money online” meant and the term “blogging” really caught me off guard because the last thing I thought I’d ever do was draft blog posts.
After I learned that you DON’T have to be a good writer and that you actually DON’T have to draft a blog post every day or week to earn a full-time living with a blog, I signed up on a whim!
I had absolutely NO experience in writing, marketing, tech (I’m still horrible at this stuff), and everything related to starting a blog. BUT I was willing to take initiative and invest my time in learning the strategies of what makes a blog profitable.
I really surprised myself and didn’t think I’d quit my job after making progress with the blog you’re reading now.
A quick update in 2020: As a brand new blogger, I started with $0 to earning my first $100 in a few months. After six months, I made my first $1,000; and within my first year of blogging, I exceeded my goal of earning $5,000 per month. Eventually, in a little over 2 years, I was able to earn over $100,000 a year with this small and personal blog, which surprises me!
I’m very happy with my blogging progress and I would love to help beginners like you!
How to start a profitable blog: Many readers e-mailed me and asked me what I did to get the results I get. To help you, I created this FREE 7-day e-mail course that teaches you how to start your blog without having to be an expert at what you blog about. There has been a lot of positive feedback from many readers so I highly encourage you to join my free course if you want to learn how to start a blog and make money.
February Blog Income Report
Hello and welcome to my February blog income report!
For those who are new, I started publishing these blog income reports here to show you it’s possible to make money online with a small blog like this one.
I also have to admit it’s nice being able to express myself and help readers while getting rewarded with a small commission at NO extra cost to you!
As some of you may know, I wrote my very first income report from last July ($703.57).
I thought $500 to $700 would be a nice number to start off for beginners who are looking to start a blog to earn some extra cash.
It took me many months of learning and implementing different strategies to get to where I am today, so please don’t think I did this overnight.
If anything, there’s still SO much for me to learn and a ton of other “blogging stuff” I haven’t been able to figure out yet.
Because I’m in my 16th month of blogging, I’ve been thinking of making some changes to my strategies. This will take time so…
I’ll be stopping my blog income reports
When I started publishing income reports, my goal was to help beginners who were not seeing results. In addition to that, I thought it was fun to track my own progress because it was my way to learn and improve.
Blog income reports can inspire us to keep going. It gives us hope that we can do it too! Without them, I don’t think I’d be here!
However, blog income reports can be dangerous. They can cloud our vision when we get too caught up with chasing numbers.
With that said, I won’t be publishing blog income reports anymore.
My earlier blog income reports below are more relevant and helpful for those who want to make their first $100 to $5,000 per month blogging.
Please read until the end of this post if you would like to know what I personally did to make this blog work over my 16-month period.
Blog income report archives:
- How To Become a Full Time Blogger (I Make $10,000 Per Month)
- How To Make Money Blogging for Beginners (No Experience Required)
- January 2019 blog income report: $6,790.93 (After I Quit My Job!)
- December 2018 blog income report: $6,840.01
- November 2018 blog income report: $5,532.13 (Happy 1 Year Blogiversary!)
- October 2018 blog income report: $4,798.01
- September 2018 blog income report: $4,509.50
- August 2018 blog income report: $2,797.64
- July 2018 blog income report $703.57 (I Struggled For Many Months Before This)
If you like the idea of making an extra $1,000+ per month or even turning it into a full-time income, you can start your blog for cheap with my easy step-by-step tutorial. There’s also a low-pricing offer exclusive to through my tutorial when you sign up. On top of getting the low price deal, you’ll receive a free website domain name for the first year (a $15 value) when you purchase, at least, 12 months of blog hosting.
So many people asked me if you can making money blogging without going self-hosted. In other words, can you make money by signing up for a free blogging platform.
I NEVER recommend you going towards the “free blogging” route. Instead, I always highly recommend investing in the basic hosting plan with Bluehost, which is exactly what I did as a brand new blogger, because 1) it’s very affordable to get started and 2) your blog will look more professional, welcoming and polished. These factors will definitely help your blog make money!
What I did this month to improve my blog income:
I didn’t do anything differently this month other than removing some affiliate links from some of my blog posts.
I think this caused some of my blog income to fall slightly in some areas, but that’s okay because I’m trying to optimize my earnings for the long-term.
I was hoping to push out at least 3-4 articles for the month, but I ended up publishing only two posts, which was my last blog income report and a guide on how beginning bloggers like you can expect to make $1,000+ per month.
Hopefully, I can do better for this month!
Overall, I’m very happy that my blog income increased despite traffic falling slightly from last month at 111,054 (84,873) to 109,107 (83,605 sessions) page views this month. Yes, the fact is we are short 2-3 days in February, so I guess it’s something to keep in mind.
What I’m also happy about is my display advertising earnings are recovering!
As mentioned in my December blog income report, display advertising earnings generally don’t do well post-holiday seasons but I see it has been picking up after January, so that’s a good sign!
At the same time, I’m not trying to chase page views solely for advertising income.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ad income, but I really want to challenge myself to convert better with affiliate marketing (and eventually my future products) in the long run. This is an area I find extremely hard but I am trying my best to learn!
I think having over 100,000 page views is enough for me to do testing, and of course, it would be nice to have more. But to be honest, I’ll be more than happy if I can maintain this! I think a better term to use is “ecstatic”. Yes, I’ll be ecstatic with 100,000 monthly page views!
I’m not complaining at all because I know there are many bloggers who would die just to have 50% of this traffic. On top of that, I have to keep in mind that all of this can just vanish overnight so I do feel very grateful to be here.
How I got over 100,000 page views:
I know I keep saying this over and over again, but I only do because it’s true!
My traffic exploded after implementing all of Pinterest strategies I learned from these blogging resources.
On top of that, using the Tailwind app to schedule my pins helped my blog traffic take off. I highly recommend trying Tailwind because you’ll see a difference in your traffic, plus you’ll also get a FREE 30-day trial plus $15 credit when you sign up through my link.
I went from 15,000 page views back in May 2018 to over 40,000 page views in July 2018 (within 3 months).
Then, it increased to over 70,000 page views in August and September 2018 (1 month later).
Shortly after, my page views increased to over 100,000 page views in December 2018 (3 months later).
My traffic results…
Blogging Goals for March:
I feel there’s still lots to do with my blog and it’s FAR from being perfect!
In fact, it will NEVER be perfect, but it could use some improvements.
Blog Goal #1: Theme change?
After 16 months of blogging, I feel a little embarrassed because even after making this amount of money, I’m still using a free blog theme.
It goes to show that you don’t necessarily need to spend money on a premium theme when you’re a beginning blogger who’s tight on cash. 😖
After all, I was still able to make some money with a no-frills solution, right?
If you want to start your blog and learn how I kept my expenses low as a beginner, you can read near the end of this blog post (the section is called “I kept expenses low as a beginner blogger”).
Anyway, I’ve been wanting to change my theme for a long time and I actually attempted the change when I was making about $500 a month blogging when I was still a brand new blogger.
It’s just that I’m tech-illiterate and it turned out to be a disaster! I was so frustrated with the whole process that I ended up asking for a refund! I probably should’ve gotten someone to do it for me but I like to learn certain things on my own before asking for help.
Hopefully, I can make it work this time!
Blog Goal #2: Spring cleaning
In addition to changing my theme, I’m looking forward to some spring cleaning…
That includes a lot of admin stuff like updating some posts, adding and removing links, and a whole lot of other organizational stuff. I feel that my blog has been really messy and all over the place since launching it!
I was too focused on learning how to increase traffic and monetize the blog that I lost sight of the important administrative stuff.
Blog Goal #3: Create better content
Trust me, I feel your pain.
It’s easy to just say you need to create “epic” and valuable content, but it is hard to actually do it.
I can admit my content isn’t the best and I need to improve on this.
It will take time to become better at writing “epic” and valuable content that actually gets ranked and clicked on. And I think it’s okay to make many mistakes throughout your blogging journey.
Since I started this blog, I had no idea what to write or how to write. If you’re new to blogging, you need to trust me when I say I was totally lost!
And believe me when I say this…
Writing blog posts was the last thing I thought I’d ever do!
I am actually very conscious and embarrassed when I know people are reading my stuff. Eek 😬 🙈!
I made LOTS of mistakes with my writing but I also improved a lot over the year. And what I learned is that you don’t have to be a good writer to make money with your blog!
You either have to be relatable and offer a solution or be amazing at marketing and offer a solution. If you have both, then that’s even better! In either cases, you still need to earn your readers’ trust!
Now that I have an idea of what my audience wants, I’ll be tweaking my older posts and creating better content.
Anyway, you’re probably curious about my blog income for February. Here are my numbers…
February Blog Income
As mentioned earlier, I earned $7,498.94 in February. Please note that this is in Canadian dollars before any expenses or fees. Some payments get sent to me via PayPal in USD, which get converted into CAD and others are sent directly in CAD. Payouts are before any expenses and occur 30-60 days.
Total display advertising – $1,824.47
Mediavine – $1,403.44 USD (~$1,824.47 CAD)
Affiliate income – $5,674.47
NOTE: There are OVER thousands of affiliate programs to partner up when you sign up for those networks. You just need to find the ones that fit your niche and audience.
I learned A TON about these affiliate networks and how to effectively increase my conversions via Michelle’s Affiliate Marketing e-course. Her course is all about applying the right affiliate marketing strategies whether your blog is about DIY, home decor, travel, fashion, beauty, parenting, mommy blogs, money/finance, investing, technology, homemaking, productivity, etc.
- Money-saving resources (Checkout 51, Drop, Ebates, survey companies, etc.) – $3,825.30
- $5 Meal Plan – $69.60 USD ($90.48 CAD)
- Amazon – $22.44 USD ($29.17 CAD) – I noticed this dropped after removing some affiliate links.
- Blue Host – $1,105 USD ($1,436.50 CAD)
- Tailwind – $15 USD ($19.50 CAD)
- Making Pinterest Possible – $195.60 USD ($254.28 CAD)
- Work from home job affiliates – $19.24
Affiliate marketing strategies:
Overall, my affiliate earnings increased again for this month thanks to Michelle’s e-course and it’s one of the BEST investments I made on my blog in 2018!
Initially, I wasn’t sure about purchasing Michelle’s course, but I’m really glad that I did!
This is my monthly blog income results (all from affiliate marketing and advertising display) after implementing affiliate marketing strategies on my blog.
FREE Bonuses!
When you purchase her course, you also get FREE access to these 9 helpful bonuses. Here are a few of my personal favorites!
1. Access to the private Facebook Mastermind group ($250+ value).
The value of this private Facebook group exceeds the cost of the course itself! You can read my review on this bonus in this income report. I give you my true opinion of why I love it!
2. Free Group Coaching Sessions ($100+ value).
Ask Michelle your questions in the Facebook Master group and she will respond. This is opened two Saturdays a month.
3. How to Always Get Approved To An Affiliate Program
This is a great bonus that teaches you how to always get approved to an affiliate program!
Some quick affiliate screenshots for proof…
Blog Expenses:
As I always say, I think it’s important to invest money back into your blog if you’re serious about making money from it.
Near the end of the month, I purchased an SEO e-book that was on sale for $27 USD (~$36 CAD). It was a spontaneous purchase and I felt it was a good deal, so I decided to buy it. I’m really hoping I can spare some time in March to go through the resource!
Also, I mentioned this last month…
I was done with my free trial with ConvertKit so I already paid for the annual plan last month. But I recently migrated all my Mailchimp subscribers (for my saving money and budgeting niche) over to ConvertKit and that caused me to go over the 1,000 subscriber limit. So, I had to pay an additional $168 USD (~$220 CAD) for the yearly plan.
I already paid for the Tailwind Unlimited Scheduler plus the additional Tailwind Tribes package sometime back in the summer, which I mentioned in one of the previous income reports. I like to do one-time charge expenses instead of breaking them into monthly payments.
Also, some readers will probably think I forgot to mention the Bluehost hosting plan, but I also charge that only once with a one-time payment.
I’m still with the most basic Bluehost plan, but I’m looking to upgrade this very soon (due to my page views) once I have things figured out!
Blog income after expenses = $7,242.94
A quick summary of blogging tips that helped me as a beginner:
Many of my readers have asked me what are my top tips for beginners who really want to make this whole blogging thing work. They also asked me whether or not I think they’ll be able to do it.
I always start off by telling people there are no guarantees to anything you do in life.
Starting a blog is cheap (it’s almost risk-free), but more often than not, bloggers who don’t see results within their first 3-6 months will give up. Some will eventually give up within a year of not seeing results.
I personally gave myself a 2-year mark to see what would happen.
I was struggling for 6-7 months but I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet.
You’ll hear a lot of bloggers who actually made it tell you that they were THIS close to throwing in the towel…
But that wasn’t me because I knew deep down inside I didn’t want to throw in the towel despite how sad and hopeless I felt. I just kept going and going with nothing to show for.
These are the EXACT things I did to finally see some results and I am extremely confident that anyone can do this if they:
– Stay positive and have a “I can do it” mindset. ✅
– Have an open mind (e.g. be flexible and willing to see things from a different perspective. Don’t be stubborn and too fixed on your own view.)
– Stop forming negative statements like “I can’t get traffic” or “I can’t make any money”, and re-frame them into positive open-ended questions like “How can I get more traffic?” or “How can I make my first $1,000?” Instead of thinking “I can’t”, motivate yourself to think of your obstacles as open-ended questions. 🤔 By avoiding negative talk and re-framing them into questions, your mind will naturally start looking for answers and opportunities on how to solve your problems.
– Learn from successful bloggers by observing what they’re doing and stop giving yourself excuses to why someone else is doing better. Be open to hear things from other people’s perspective. This ties in with having an open mind. 🌟
– Ramble less about themselves and actually offer a solution to a reader’s problem (I admit I have the tendency to ramble on too much and I’m trying to improve in this area as well.)
– Apply the proper affiliate marketing strategies onto their blogs. These strategies make up more than 60% of my blog income!👩💻💸
– Have enough traffic and/or use Pinterest the right way (investing my time in learning Pinterest was a game changer for me). 📈
– Invest in a blogging education. Most people are afraid (and it’s okay to feel that way), but it goes back to having an open mind. Feel free to check out these resources I personally use and love. ❤️
– Ignoring criticism, negative comments and haters. If you’re sensitive, this can be emotionally stressful and may discourage you from blogging but you need to find ways to cope with it (I cope with it by putting my blinders on). Just know you’re not alone. 😉
Over to you — I hope you find my series of blog income reports helpful. If you’re interested in starting a blog, feel free to sign up for my FREE 7-day e-mail course below! 🙂
Enjoyed this post? Don’t forget to share it and follow me on Pinterest! 🙂
Jim Baker
Hi Ling,
I’m so happy that I found your blog through your Pinterest account.
It brought back some great memories when I first started out in the internet marketing space. It was so exciting to promote a top luxury resort membership and I got a taste of success right away, which was good and not so good at the same time.
It was such a great feeling when the FedX truck would come by every week to deliver a check for thousands of dollars! 🙂
I can really relate to what you mentioned about how things can change “In a New York Minute” and you have to just stay as positive as you can and keep plugging away. The point being is to always have a “never give up” attitude and things will work out just fine.
I look forward to reading your articles in the future as they are so relatable. You have inspired me and others to never give up on our dreams!
Best,
Jim
Ling
Hi Jim
It’s nice to hear from you and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed my blog posts!
I always encourage my readers to form a positive mindset and to chase their dreams. I really do believe anything is possible when you put your mind to it and overcome any negative objects or roadblocks!
Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment! 🙂
Sheenarose Escober
Great content :). I love the way I find myself relating more and more while I read your blog. Lately, I’ve struggled on finding easy money online, but I’ve come to the bittersweet conclusion that nothing worthwhile really comes easy.
Anyways, you’ve earned yourself a life-long reader and supporter, keep up the good work and keep inspiring others.
Ling
Hi Sheenarose,
I’m glad you enjoy the content and that you’re able to relate!
It’s true that nothing comes easy in life. The problem is that many people try to look for instant results without doing anything (and I understand that’s just natural in human nature, as I tend to be like that too without realizing) but the truth is there’s no such thing. However, I believe hard work at the beginning pays great dividends later on. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Dr. Nabankita
Hi Ling!
I just loved the way you have summarized the tips for bloggers in the beginner stage.
Thanks for sharing the same dear.
I must say whenever I visit your blog, I find it magnetic! 😊👍 Great work! Happy Blogging!
Ling
Hi Dr Nabankita
I am so thrilled to hear that you enjoy my make money blogging posts!
Happy blogging and may 2020 bring you great results! 😊
Stacy
This is exactly the information I needed! Especially glad to see that you still use a free theme! I paid $$$ for a theme and for someone to set it up. A year later the theme was “retired” or discontinued and I had to go back to a free theme after it stopped working correctly. It was all weird but mostly frustrating. I’ve been Hobby blogging since 2012 but would love to get serious and make some money. I’m a 53 and have a lifestyle blog. Not sure if I can make money but your posts have inspired me to try!
panda
Hi Stacy!
I’m glad to hear my blogging income reports inspire you with your lifestyle blog.
Earning money with a blog is definitely not something that’s easy but I believe you can as long as you learn how it makes money depending on your niche. There are so many ways to monetize your blog and so many things to learn when it comes to blogging! It all can become overwhelming but I always recommend all my readers to take blogging one step at a time and just focus on one thing.
I wish you the best with your blog! Feel free let me know if you have questions about blogging.
Ingrid
Your income reports motivate me so much. Love to see that when a person sets their mind to do something and works hard at it, it comes to reality. When will you be posting more income reports? It’s been a while
Lee
Hi ling. Another great read. Its great to see how people who are making good money from their blogs were struggling in the beginning like i am a little. My motto has always been “never fear wait a year” in regards to blogging and seeing good results. I havent purchased any courses yet and have done some free pinterest ones. As well as signing up to your free email course;) i think the pinterest strategies course from ana may be my first purchase. Great article
panda
Hey Lee!
Oh yeah, definitely the beginning journey of blogging is very hard to get through. I think it took me 7 months or so before I shared my first blog income report lol. Looking back from a year ago, I can’t believe I’m here now.
Nothing is ever an overnight success. I really believe in focusing on one thing at a time if you want to see progress and results.
Pinterest has definitely helped me as a new blogger. I focused a lot of my efforts learning how to use it when I started my blog.
I wish you luck and success, Lee! Definitely don’t give up even if it takes a year or two! 🙂
Jared dela Cruz
Hi Panda! Thank you for this super wonderful post! Articles like this never fail to inspire me, and yours is the most inspirational by far.
I’m a newbie blogger. I’ve only been blogging since April this year, although I had my domain and website since May 2018 – I just wasn’t posting any article or doing anything! My blog is phmillennia.com and I write about personal finance, travel, and lifestyle.
Right now I’m getting only about five visitors a day, two of them from me, which is funny and frustrating at the same time. I discovered your blog only a while ago on Pinterest while looking for ways to boost traffic. About two hours into your blog and I’ve read a lot of your articles, which are all helpful and really, really inspiring.
I’ve bookmarked your website because I know I will keep coming back to this for information, insight, and inspiration. I’ve read your journey from way back when you started with $1.45 earnings. Now you’re making $7K +++!!!! Congrats!
I also want to earn full-time income from blogging and I am prepared to put in the effort and to keep grinding for a really long time.
I’m sorry for this long comment, but I just want to say how happy I am that I discovered your blog. I’m looking for guidance on blogging, and that’s what I found on your blog. Thank you for inspiring me to keep going. I wish you even more success than you have now.
panda
Hi Jared!
I’m so happy to hear that you are inspired to work towards earning a full time income with your blog!
Your topic niche is very popular so I really believe that you’ll do well within time and your effort!
Yes, I still remember seeing my first $1.45 in my Google Adsense lol!
I have to say Pinterest really helped me since the beginning and that’s why I always recommend beginners to learn how to use it!
I’m cheering for you and your blog! 🌟
If you want more info, you can also feel free to see how my blog progressed since the beginning here. I included a timeline at the end of that blog post and you’ll see that my beginning was one of the hardest to get through but I just kept going and going! 🙂
I hope you find it helpful!
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/full-time-blogger/
Bang asman
Good 😚😚
panda
😊
aziz haida
great tips and inspiration here, will try to try Pinterest as a source of traffic, thanks for sharing.
panda
Hi Aziz,
I’m happy to hear you find the tips helpful and inspiring. If you haven’t tried Pinterest yet, I would recommend taking a look into it. It’s a great traffic source to have on top of your other sources!
Husain Ali Arif
Thank you for sharing this wonderful article which is full of information. This is some quality designs that need to be share with others. My personal fav is the gold one. Cheers! 😎
panda
Thank you! 🙂
Sam Narzary
Got it 😉
Sam Narzary
🙂
I will keep in touch.
It’s high time I make this Pinterest thing work.
This is my Pinterest url –
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/OutsideThatCubicle/
Please don’t block me if I dm you there sometimes 😉
Keep up the good work Ling.
You are amazing.
panda
I respond quicker by e-mail: [email protected]. I wish you the best! You got this! 🙂
Sam Narzary
Hey I found the bonuses, sorry to bother you with it.
panda
Aw, thanks for your support!
Glad you found the bonuses!
Haha, no worries — feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions. I still consider myself new to blogging (and I’m learning tons) but I’ll try my best to help 🙂
I really really hope Ana’s e-book helps! Just keep persisting despite any challenges. It took me many months to see results!
Sam Narzary
Thank you replying to me Ling. I do appreciate it very much.
I purchased the e-book! I used your link of course.
I hope to stay in touch with you (I am not a creepy person trust me, just introvert).
The $50 bonus, is it included in the pdf itself or do I download it separately. I am a little confused.
Thank you again Ling. 🙂
Sam Narzary
Hi Ling, this is an amazing post and it is really inspiring how much you have come thus far.
I am going to purchase that e-book via your link and implement the strategies. My only concern being, who do I ask questions to, if I am stuck somewhere with some Pinterest doubts. There seems to be no Facebook group ( correct me if I am wrong).
I also noticed that you are a member of dozens of Pinterest group boards. Do you still find them worth your while, you yourself alluded somewhere that Pinterest groups aren’t what they used to be before. What is your say on that?
I only have like 500 followers in Pinterest and I get 30,000 viewers but my site PV has been over 500+ in the last 3 days thanks to one single pin!
I want to ramp up my Pinterest game with this e-book. I hope it works for males as well 🙂 I mean the HE APPROACH 😀
Your reply would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading.
panda
Hi Sam!
I’m so glad to hear that you find these blog income reports inspiring and helpful!
I would definitely recommend a Pinterest education if you’re new to it or not seeing any results. Ana’s ebook is a great start for new or newish bloggers. 😊
Btw… though nice to have, I would NOT suggest paying too much attention to the “monthly viewers” number because that doesn’t translate to actual clicks into your page. I’ve seen people with Pinterest monthly viewers with over 1m or even 5m but their actual monthly page views (clicks into page) is less than 15,000 page views.
Mine has dropped a few times but my actual page views increased. So, a better number to look at is your actual clicks in your Pinterest Analytics — Ana talks about this in detail in her ebook.
To keep your single pin alive, I recommend making different variations with different images and titles.
I’d definitely focus more on creating pins, beefing up board and pin descriptions with keywords. So important!
And yes, I would recommend to still get into group boards especially when you’re new. However, I’ve personally noticed that personal boards are more helpful at reaching users than group boards. There are still great group boards that help get my pins out there — just rare and a select few.
In terms of asking questions, I was able to ask Ana a couple of quick questions when I was new to her resource. She responded many times, so you can definitely give that a try!
I’m not on many Facebook groups other than a couple of e-courses I’ve paid for such as Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing where a lot of people drop questions and interact with each other about anything related to blogging.
I’m also part of Mediavine’s FB group and I’ve seen many people drop questions and comments about blogging in general. But for this one, you’ll need to hit over 30,000 monthly page views before you can apply and display ads on your blog via them. This definitely helped increase my ad earnings! I really hope Ana’s resource can help you get there!
Btw, many men are starting to use Pinterest now to get their blogs in front of users! 😉
I hope this helps! 😊
Azar
Sis… Please upload your next income report series… I loved a lot to read income report series…plz restart these series sister… It’s huge motivation to most of the blogger… Plz finsavvy restart the income report series
panda
Hi Azar,
I’m glad to hear that you find these blog income reports useful. It’s something I’ll have to think about since readers have been asking me this. It’s a tough decision… I may bring them back but in a different way if I do.
Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
Brandon Baker
It’s crazy to see how quickly you managed to grow your Pinterest traffic and reached 100k pageviews. I’m definitely going to invest in that course and see if I can crack the code.
Thanks.
panda
Hi Brandon,
Thanks you for your words!
I hope the ebook helps you with your blog! 🌟
Ann
Thank you for your income reports and showing that a new blogger can still make it. I felt like all the income reports I saw were from 2015/2016 and was finding sources that suggested that a person couldn’t “make it” like the earlier bloggers did a few years ago.
Then I found your income reports and I was really inspired by what you are doing and the success you had in 2018/2019. I understand the desire to stop publishing the income reports. Thanks for showing that it is still viable to make money blogging with an awesome blog in 2019!
I hope you continue to write posts about the networks that you like working with and the blogging tips that you were including in your income report, without the income side attached! It would be great to see like strategies that worked for you each month or quarterly, because your income reports were about more than the money, they were great because of the insight you gave into what was and wasn’t working!
panda
Hi Ann,
I’m really happy to hear that you find my blog income reports useful!
I think every blogger will go through many struggles, and not everyone will have the same experience. There are no guarantees in life, however, I really do believe having patience, persistence, and a strong willingness to learn will get you WAY further than the person who gives up early in their blogging stages.
And my quick comment about your statement: “sources that suggested that a person couldn’t “make it” like the earlier bloggers did a few years ago”…
It’s always common to hear that things get harder and harder (which is somewhat true to a degree), BUT that doesn’t mean it’s not profitable or that it’s too late! I think there will ALWAYS be opportunities for newcomers. It all depends on whether the person is willing to LEARN AND ADAPT to any changes in the situation. That’s why it’s so important to keep up to date with the changes and new challenges in whatever business you’re in.
With that said, I think there’s still a lot of potential; and YOU CAN make it! Remember, there will always be new opportunities!
I have to admit that the hardest part is staying motivated! I find that you really have to persist and move forward regardless of the obstacles that come in your way. If you can look and work past those obstacles, your chances of succeeding will be much higher! Again, that goes with anything you do in life!
And thank you for your suggestions, Ann! I’ll definitely keep your ideas in mind for my future blog posts! 🙂
Tara P
Way to go, Ling! Love seeing how well things are working out for you 🙂 I’ll definitely miss your income reports – but I’m so excited to see what comes next for you in this space!
panda
Thank you, Tara! <3
Gina
Hi Ling – totally inspiring! I have been following your blog for about 8 months and have really enjoyed your posts and witnessing this journey. Kudos to you! I’m working full-time and in the beginning stages of blog set up and have always found your progress and words very encouraging. And, I love seeing a fellow Canuck rock it. Go Raps!
panda
Hi Gina!
It makes me so happy to hear that I’m able to encourage a fellow blogger! 🙂
Also, congratulations on starting your blog! I hope you enjoy every step and milestone! 😀
And NICE to know you’re from Canada too! hehe…
Cassie
SO AMAZING!!! I’ve been following your guys from the beginning and have loved watching your progress. It’s so awesome to see how far you guys have come. Hoping to get on your level some day.
Keep up the awesome work =)
panda
Hi Cassie!
I remember reading your DIY round dining table many months ago when I saw your pin pop up. It’s absolutely stunning and I wanted to work on a few projects like that but I didn’t have as much time as I thought I would. 🙁
I also love your DIY farmhouse bench! That project also turned looking beautiful!!! I’m a huge fan of farmhouse look!
Your blog is honestly amazing and you’re already doing such a great job with your content! Just keep going!
Kelly
Hi Ling!!
I randomly came across this post and I feel so inspired to keep working on mine. I started my blog a little bit before you but I gave up – I was all over the place. The blog name was so bad. I even misspelled it a few times typing it myself lol and I felt embarrassed whenever I sent an email with the blog name.
I started a brand new one back in August but just really started working on it in January. Work has been too crazy busy. After 12 hours a day – no energy left to blog.
I wish I kept going and didn’t stop but it’s better late than never. Sorry I’m rambling too haha
Btw, I love your bitmoji usage hahah. I’m an excessive bitmoji user myself lol
panda
Hi Kelly!
I know it can get really tiring after work. I used to get home by 8pm/9pm, have dinner, shower and then work on the blog for a bit. Seriously, a bit here and a bit there for 1-2 hours adds up to a lot!
What helped was I did relatively lower-energy tasks like changing some posts, a bit of admin work, reviewing some courses, or make pins. I could NOT learn anything new or write — those require too much brain power especially after a long day from work… haha
I would leave most other things that require focus on the weekend or early mornings when my brain is functioning better.
Overall, I think consistency helped a lot! When I was working a full time, I made it become a habit to work on it whenever I could. Those small slots of time add up but we just don’t notice how much we can achieve over the months.
I’m cheering for you so don’t give up! And no, it’s never too late. There are always plenty of opportunities ahead of you! 😊
Amanda
Hey Ling!
I’m so excited for you! I will definitely miss your income reports. I loved seeing your blog grow month by month!
As for the theme, I purchased one and changed it myself (without breaking anything) a few months ago. It came with step by step instructions and they were easy to follow!
panda
Hey Amanda!
It makes me really happy knowing there’s a loyal reader like you who enjoys my income reports!
I’m gonna have to try the theme change again. I know exactly which theme I want to switch to but I’m still nervous about it! Haha I am keeping my fingers crossed 🤞
Again, congrats on your latest achievement! I can’t wait to hear great things about your blog growth! 🎉
Ashley
Ling! I’m so happy for you! Your blog keeps growing and growing and it’s so motivating. Thank you for being so open about all of your strategies and honest about how hard and time-consuming blogging can be. 🙂
panda
Hi Ashely!
Thank you so much!
I know you mentioned that blogging can be so frustrating (it’s never ending) but keep going and enjoy each moment! Based on what you said to me last time, you’re making really good progress with the traffic!!
Your blog posts are great and very helpful! They really do deserve to be noticed by TONS of people. It WILL come eventually and I can see your blog continue to grow. ❤️
Jane
Hey Ling! This is AMAZING!!!!! And so inspiring! I hope one day I’ll get to where you are right now but the struggle is real. LOL I will surely miss your income reports but I can understand why you no longer want to publish them. I would also feel weird publishing big numbers!
panda
Thanks Jane!
You’re making amazing progress and I really believe you’re going to kill it even more very soon! It’s just a matter of time.
I will never forget the earlier days when I read your very first income reports. It inspired me and made me feel hopeful!
Thank you so much! 🌟