March 2019 Income Report
Welcome to Month 3 of my 12 Months of Crochet Blog Income Reports.
For one year, I am sharing my monthly blogging income and expenses as well as insights to changes made on the blog in the past month.
Why I Publish Income Reports
It can be a little weird publishing income reports for all the world to see (including family, friends and loved ones). They are not intended to brag. Instead they are meant to be helpful and to show readers, followers and fellow bloggers that it truly IS possible to make a good income online with a small blog, hard work and persistence.
If I can do this.. YOU can do this!
Why JUST One Year of Income Reports?
I’ve noticed most bloggers eventually STOP sharing income reports. Why? Three main reasons:
- Privacy: Sharing income is really intrusive; think about it. Would you publicly post your salary from your day job? While sharing income statistics are useful on one hand, on the other hand, there are some definite ‘cons’ to being public with your income.
- Relate-ability: As success grows, income can grow to the point that the everyday person just can’t relate to it any more. When a reader sees a blogger making 100,000 in ONE month, for instance, it can feel completely out of reach. That defeats the entire point of publishing income reports–to inspire others to do the same!
- Finally it can take considerable time to honestly track and compile the information in a way that is meaningful.
For that reason, this is a one-year project. Enough to show you what is possible and to inspire you to achieve more with your online business–but not so much that it “overstays its welcome’ so to speak.
My hope is that the honesty and transparency that I provide through my successes and failures with my crochet blog over this year helps you on your blogging journey!
Start a Successful Blog Today
If you are interested in starting a successful blog for yourself, here is a great get-started guide starting at just $3.95 a month (this low price is only through my referral link).
Let’s dive into the March 2019 Income report
March 2019 Blogging Revenues
Total Revenues from Crochet 365 Knit Too: $4,512
The number above does not include blogging expenses. Some of the expenses that I incur on a monthly basis include the following:
- Convertkit: I use Convertkit for my mailing list and love it! Mailerlite is also a good option and you can read this post here to get my opinion on them both.
- Hosting: I currently use BigScoots and highly recommend them. My site speed is great, my site doesn’t go down and they are are amazingly responsive whenever I’ve needed them. I’ve been on the starter plan since I switched to them last summer. Before that I was with Bluehost. I actually recommend Bluehost for beginners because it’s so affordable when you are starting out and maybe you’re not sure if “this thing” is going to fly!
- Tailwind: I use Tailwind to schedule pins on Pinterest. My life is busy and schedulers are a lifesaver. Tailwind is the first thing I invested in after I started my blog and it helped propel my blog to where it is today.
- Smarterqueue: I use Smarterqueue to schedule posts to my Facebook business page. It’s amazing and you can get double the normal free trial with my special affiliate link here, if you want to check it out.
Here is the income breakdown:
- Adthrive: $2,415
- Kitted Patterns: $720
- Pattern Sales on Etsy & Ravelry: $1,244
- Affiliate Income: $133
Changes in March
Recently Published Blog Posts:
- Crochet Leprechaun
- Crochet Bead Stitch Tutorial
- Blueberry Bead Stitch Beanie
- Crochet Houndstooth Hat
- Crochet Chick
March was an interesting month. I know that this time of year is when we move into the “slow” season for crocheters. When it’s cold and the holidays are upon us is prime “crochet season”. But then as the days get longer, people tend to spend more of their free time outside and with warm weather hobbies, so things slow down in the crochet blogging world.
I felt like I spent much of March, waiting for the slow season to start and it never really did. Instead, March revenue and traffic to my site was actually up a bit from February (even accounting for the fewer number of days in February). There’s probably quite a few reasons for this; I published more patterns in March and my Easter Basket, Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny from last year were really popular. I love that older posts/patterns still bring in traffic.
Pattern sales are slightly up about 10% from February. I sell two types of patterns on Etsy and Ravelry: premium patterns that are not available on the blog and ad-free patterns which are blog patterns that are formatted for easy reading. I offer the ad-free patterns as a service to my readers at their request. However the free patterns are always available for free on the blog for those that prefer them that way.
I received a nice check this month from the Canadian branch of the company that kits some of my patterns. The revenue was actually earned in the fall. They pay quarterly and seems to arrive 1 month after funds from the US branch. I love this extra stream of income, but since they don’t provide me with up to the minute data, these checks always seem like a little surprise when they arrive!
I’ve said this before and I will say it again. Blogging income is very up and down. Affiliate income goes up and down depending on what things I’m able to participate in and promote. Ad income is dependent upon traffic to the site and on the rate advertisers are willing to pay which is based on the seasons.
Blogging really is a fun way to earn money. It feels good to try new things, push my boundaries and see what works and what does not. I love the projects I design and I never get tired of crocheting! And there are so many ideas in my head I don’t think I’ll ever run out of patterns for the blog!
I love that starting a blog is within the reach of most people. The cost per month is less than the cost of a fancy cup of coffee! I really do feel that blogging is like the Wild West — there is still room for people with an entrepreneur spirit to explore with a chance to ‘make it big’! If this sounds fun to you, here is a great get-started guide starting at just $3.95 a month (this low price is only through my referral link).
Expenses:
The big elephant in the room as far as expenses go is that Quarter 1 is my first month of having to pay Quarterly income taxes. Income is not free and just like a regular job, I have to pay taxes too. I’m pretty sure no one loves to do this. So let’s just leave it at that!
What Happened In Our Lives This Month:
We are recovering from our move. I think I get a good year to say this. I hope to one day have everything unpacked. Some days we feel a bit sad because we can’t find this or that thing we know we own but is buried in some box. Then other days we unexpectedly run across a box, labeled with promising words and there is much rejoicing as we find our lost things!
Here’s to spring days, rejoicing in found things and, of course, crocheting!
Thanks for reading to the end of Month 3 of my Year Long Income reports. Drop me a line in the comments and tell me what you think!
~ Cheryl
I love seeing your finished projects! If you enjoyed making one of my patterns I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @crochet365knittoo. If you are on Facebook, stop over to the Crochet 365 Knit Too Facebook page or pop over to the Crochet365KnitToo Club and share a photo! I’d love to see your work!