Back in the day, a lot of bloggers published blog income reports to show what kind of money their blog made. It doesn’t seem as popular now as it did a few years ago, but there are still plenty of income reports floating around that you can learn from as a budding or even experienced blogger.
In my experience, blog income reports are helpful for two main reasons: motivation and strategy. The first one is easy to understand: if you follow a mom blogger making $2,000 each month through her income report, that’s good motivation to keep goin’ at your own blog.
The second reason is based on reverse-engineering what you see in a blog income report. For example, if you follow 5 income reports in your niche, and each of them are using the same affiliate program or ad network to monetize their blogs, maybe that’s a program or network you should look into.
You can also see what kind of content drives revenue, if they link to their top pages from an income report. A lot of bloggers have “how to blog” type posts, in any niche, and those are often pages that make money from affiliate earnings. If you see an income report with content like that, learn from what they’re doing to see what’s working and what you could improve.
At the end of the day, blog income reports are limited in their usefulness, but it is interesting to get a behind-the-scene look at other bloggers’ operations. They can offer inspiration, uncover monetization ideas (are ebooks popular in your niche?) and help you figure out what kind of content actually produces traffic and revenue in your niche.
Here are some common questions about blog income reports that better explain how they work.
What is a blog income report?
A blog income report shows the revenue, expenses and profits brought in by a blog. Usually bloggers include a story about what they worked on that month, what’s been working overall and goals they have for the future.
Detailed blog income reports include where their revenue came from, broken down by source – ads, affiliate earnings, consulting, freelancing, courses, ebooks, etc. They also sometimes include their top-earning affiliate programs, which is really helpful if you’re looking for ideas on how to monetize your blog.
Why do bloggers post income reports?
Some bloggers like to show how much they make to motivate others and themselves: when you’re showing off how much you make, it’s good motivation to keep going if you know you have an audience. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter why bloggers post income reports.
If they’re doing it to show off, who cares? Take away the insight you can and don’t worry about their motivations.
How much does a beginning blogger make?
If you stumble across “early” blog income reports from bloggers, you’ll find a lot of months that result in little or no blogging income. A beginning blogger might only make $20 per month on ads and affiliate earnings, but with the right strategy and enough time and effort, a beginning blogger can also make a few hundred dollars or more. It all depends on your niche, content strategy and monetization methods.
Can you really make money from a blog?
Yep! Thousands of bloggers make money from their blog. The majority likely don’t make much, but there’s a percentage of bloggers making full-time incomes with their blogs. Over the years, my blogging revenue’s been in the six figures, and even more if you consider the blogs I’ve sold after building them over time. So yes, you can definitely make money from a blog.
Should I publish a blog income report on my site?
That’s up to you – if you find it to be a good external motivating factor in your blogging, go for it! It can also be helpful if you eventually find a supportive community who cheers you on each month as they follow your income reports.
That said, there are plenty of people who don’t love blog income reports, and don’t offer them. This camp includes Tracie Fobes, who believes there are more drawbacks than advantages to blog income reports.
“I also feel that all too often the reports are a way just to market other courses for readers to buy,” Tracie says. “It is a way to get more sales, which makes them more affiliate income, so next month’s report shows more money.”
Something else to consider: blog income reports take time to write, and if your blogging time is limited, it’s probably better spent creating evergreen content that’ll bring in quality, consistent traffic over time.
If you do make blog income reports, or just want to research income reports in your niche, here’s a list of 100 blog income reports organized by niche: personal finance, travel, food, blogging and lifestyle. Enjoy.
100 Blog Income Reports
Personal Finance
- The Savvy Couple, May 2019
- Club Thrifty, 2019
- Breaking the One Percent, January & February 2019
- The Money Ninja, December 2019
- Making Sense of Cents, March 2019
- Financial Flamingo, January 2020
- Finsavvy Panda, July 2018
- Money Dot Calm, 2018 to 2020
- Moneyhungry, October 2019
- Money Q&A, October 2019
- Smart Pennies, November 2019
- The Baller on a Budget, 2019
- Swift Salary, 2019
- Single Moms Income, March 2019
- This Mama Blogs, November 2018
- Earningsportal, June 2019
- Believe in a Budget, 2018
- My Work from Home Money, 2019
- Redefining Mom, August 2016
- Disease Called Debt, 2016
Travel
- Two Wandering Soles, March 2019
- Ashley Abroad, September 2019
- Travel with a Plan, 2019
- Practical Wanderlust, January 2018
- Local Adventurer, 2019
- It’s a Lovely Life, 2019
- Living the Dream, February 2020
- Indian Girling, 2018 to 2019
- Imperfect Idealist, 2019
- Expat Kings, June 2019
- Johnny Africa, 2019
- The Atlas Heart, December 2019
- Mike and Laura Travel, June 2019
- Travel by Maya, November 2019
- Gathering Dreams, 2019
- Trekkn, 2019
- Affordable by Amanda, July 2019
- Getaway Couple, March 2019
- Desk to Dirtbag, July 2019
- The Sunshine Suitcase, June 2019
Food
- 40 Aprons, August 2019
- Hangry Woman, January 2020
- Went Here 8 This, October 2019
- A Sassy Spoon, August 2019
- Thyme & Joy, April 2019
- Midwest Foodie, October 2019
- Butternut Bakery, May 2019
- Nikki’s Plate, October 2019
- Tried, Tested & True, June 2019
- Bon Aippetit, April 2019
- Fork in the Road, March 2019
- Elizabeth Chloe, January 2019
- The Fiery Vegetarian, 2019
- Salted Mint, April 2019
- Root + Revel, 2019
- The Clean Eating Couple, 2019
- The Fit Delish, October 2019
- Lucky Mojito, June 2019
- Pinch of Yum, 2011 to 2017
- A Merry Life, July 2019
Blogging, Entreprenuership & Tech
- Adam Enfroy, September 2019
- Kate Kordsmeier, October 2019
- Ryan Robinson, July 2019
- Matthew Woodward, December 2017
- This Online World, 2019
- Healthy, Savvy & Wise, May 2019
- Joanna Rahier, August 2019
- Blog Ambitious, July 2019
- 99signals, July 2019
- Like to Dabble, 2019
- A Self Guru, October 2019
- Let’s Reach Success, July 2019
- Anastasia Blogger, March 2019
- Cassie Scroggins, December 2019
- Boss Girl Bloggers, 2018
- Living the Blog, 2019
- Easy Blog Emily, September 2019
- BforBloggers, March 2019
- Perfection Hangover, March 2019
- Jasmine Alley, 2019
Lifestyle
- Lovely Refinement, December 2019
- Fit Mommy in Heels, September 2019
- Mom Beach, April 2019
- Mom Makes Joy, December 2019
- Lifestyle with Leah, December 2019
- Italian Polish Momma, March 2019
- Life Fully Caffeinated, June 2019
- Ordinary Parents, October 2019
- About Social Anxiety, November 2019
- Kelly on Point, December 2019
- Desert Blossom Crafts, April & May 2019
- Ironwild Fitness, April 2019
- KAinspired, 2019
- The Glam Mom Style, February 2019
- Crochet 365 Knit Too, April 2019
- Liana Desu, September 2019
- Blogging Babe, 2019
- The Fab 20s, February 2019
- Seaside Sundays, 2019
- Those Positive Thoughts, January 2020
Growing Your Blog Income
Seeing these income reports should be great motivation to start your own blog. If you need help getting started, here’s what to write about with your first blog post, here are some travel blog post ideas and here are some solid mom blog name ideas.