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2016 Q3 Income Report

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This income report is seriously belated; I had finished everything but the finances and just kept letting it slip down my to-do list! The good news is, I finally wised up and realized that Google docs will create the charts for me in two clicks instead of inputting a bunch of separate information on a different site.

This covers July, August, & September of 2016. As I’ve said previously, I really enjoy reading similar reports and figured sharing my own would entertain someone and also keep me accountable to keep track of these things. You can read my previous income reports all here. I am looking at average daily visits, income/expenses, subscriber & follower counts, traffic in/out, & goals. If you’re a creative blogger yourself, be sure to check out my list of links for affiliate programs, networking opportunities, and places to submit your work!

{This post contains affiliate links, indicated by an asterisk*. Please refer to ‘legal stuff’ in the top menu for more info.}

Average Daily Visit Count

July: 1506
August: 1334
September:1575

Subscribers

[ June 2016 vs October 2016]

Instagram [1232 / 1362]

Facebook [1293 / 1378]

Twitter [734 /741]

G+ [412/423]

Pinterest [5248/6123]

Newsletter [1785/1465]

I am still LOVING my Tailwind subscription for Pinterest. You can try a free month through my referral link* – it allows you to repin something to several different board spread out, with one click. This has saved me a bunch of time but also really diversified who is sharing my pins, because of their ‘tribes’ feature. You can have a bunch of high quality posts all in one spot and ready to pin, I can’t say enough good things.

Money

Incomeq3-income

Notable changes from q2 were that pattern sales were down about $400, due mostly to not having any patterns included in One Thimble. Ad income was up almost $500, and will continue to be higher now that I’ve been with Mediavine for longer, which I couldn’t be happier about. My freelance portion of the pie continues to shrink as I scale back all of my freelance work in order to focus on my own site. I signed up as an Etsy affiliate recently and have seen exciting income from that, but it won’t be reported until q4 – if you want to sign up as an affiliate with them, I’d love for you to use my link!*

Want to see what my top item sold through Amazon affiliate links was? Take a peek here*, it’s one of my favorites!

Expenses

q3-expense

Woof, big expenses this quarter! I bought an inkjet printer – I LOVE my laser printer for patterns and 99% of what I print but there are some transfer papers and other projects that require an inkjet. I also bought a new computer! 2 years seems to be their lifespan for me, until they get unbearably slow. Just like changing my rotary cutter, by the time I finally make the switch I wish I’d done it way sooner.

Total in: $2400 Total out: = $963.42 Quarter Overall: $1436.58

Year to date=$3271.59 Life to date= $6376.26 (note, none of this takes taxes into account)

 

Traffic In/ Out

This section seems silly to keep writing, because for the third report in a row it is all pretty much the same!

Out

1. imaginegnats. People love my beanie hat post; lots of clicks over to her free pattern!

2. Delia Creates, with links from my free beanie hat post and free headband post.

3. Shareasale, the service I use to link to Craftsy things. Most popular is this beautiful butterfly paper piecing pattern*, from my free foundation paper piecing pattern post.

4. Pinterest, my favorite. People have checked out this free hat & my refashion board most often.

5. Another headband hit, the twisted headband from this post.

 

In (Referrers)

1. Pinterest —  most popular pins were a free pattern tested post, tips for thrifting, & my first birthday prop

2. Facebook

3. Search engines

4. All Free Sewing – this quarter my simple fabric bookmark brought over lots of eyes

5. So Sew Easy – readers loved my gift ideas using fabric scraps post

Top 5 posts

1. Free Knit Beanie Sewing Patterns Tested

2. 4 Free Baby Pants Patterns Tested

3. 4 Free Headband Sewing Patterns Tested

4. Felt 3-D Puzzle Animals

5. First Birthday Party Prep – Giant Photo Display

 

Reflection

I can’t believe it is the end of the year! I am feeling really good about where the site is at. I think q4 is going to be a great one- and I’m really excited about 2017. I’m in a much more enthusiastic place than I was at this time last year, and while I haven’t hammered out any specific 2017 goals I feel like it’s going to be easy.

sharing-old-content

One thing I’m happy about changing recently was promoting old content more effectively. I had a ‘master’ list that I pulled posts from to re-share in my weekly newsletters, and am now working on creating quarterly breakdowns – so holiday posts are reshared at the right times, etc. I’m copy/pasting the little blurbs so I can put them back on Facebook or in future newsletters and not have to reinvent the wheel.

Something that is hanging me up a bit is deciding where to go in terms of pattern sales. I feel like I have so many ideas, it’s hard to know where to narrow things down or what makes the most sense to pursue. My kids are getting a little older, so I’ll probably be moving away from as many “baby” things but we shall see!


Did anything surprise you? I changed the format up of this report a little bit – let me know if there is anything I’ve left out, you know I’m an open book.

 

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Shelly

Wednesday 14th of December 2016

Q3 looks good! Your sponsored posts look like they are adding up as well. I haven't done as many of those of late. Actually I haven't posted much at all lately! It seems like to the trend is slower but better content. As my kids have gotten older I have done less baby content, but it still seems to be my most popular stuff. Maybe because people learn to sew when they have a baby? But it's good to have a mix. But then again does it go against what your known for? I'm still trying to figure that out...well actually I'm still trying to figure it all out. Like how to have both a blog and kids 😂

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Tuesday 27th of December 2016

I totally understand what you mean. I think baby stuff will always be popular because they're so fun to sew for - I learned how to sew while I was pregnant and still love making baby gifts! It is hard to balance, for me, what I want to make vs. what I know will be popular.

Alicia

Wednesday 7th of December 2016

Yay for the puzzle animals!!

I love the idea of creating a spreadsheet for old content. I had been filling in gaps in my newsletter wth stuff that was relevant but no real plan. I tried setting up a spreadsheet but got a little overwhelmed. Would love to see how you set it up if you are interested in emailing it :)

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Sunday 11th of December 2016

sent you the link so you can see it!

Sara

Wednesday 7th of December 2016

I feel like 2016 was rough for a lot of creative bloggers. I think a lot of people slowed down and put out less content. I didn't do as much as I did the year before, but I'm feeling refreshed and more focused for 2017 too. Looking forward to seeing what you do!

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Sunday 11th of December 2016

Glad you're refreshed for 2017 along with me!

Daniela

Wednesday 7th of December 2016

Hi,

Congrats on your Q3 report. I am glad to read that Mediavine is working so great for you (I just signed up with it too!)

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Sunday 11th of December 2016

You are going to love it!! They are fantastic.

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Sunday 11th of December 2016

You are going to love it!! They are fantastic.

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