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Q1 2017 – Blog Traffic & Income Report

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Ever wondered how much money I’m making? This covers January, February, and March of 2017. 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

January: 2,364

February: 2,602

March: 2,193

Subscribers

[December 2016 vs March 2017]

Instagram [1454 /1630]

Facebook [ 1494 /1567]

Twitter [ 757/765]

Pinterest [6668 / 7595]

Newsletter (1796 /2247]

I am glad to see that my biggest jump is on the platform that I consider the most important, my newsletter! I’m a little frustrated that my Pinterest following hasn’t jumped up more since I started using Tailwind* but I have a few tweaks going forward so hopefully I’ll see a bigger increase for q2!

Money

Income

Woohoo! I am feeling really good about my income for the quarter. It reflects high traffic/revenue around Christmas (since I record income as it’s received as opposed to when it’s earned) in addition to a new affiliate program through Etsy. The highest performing Etsy affiliate posts were this moon embroidery, this list of nursing friendly PDF patterns, and this list of paper piecing patterns.

Last quarter, I sold over $650 of this product via an Amazon affiliate link*, earning me $46. Second highest earner? These*, as used in this craft tutorial. Only one person bought this fancy crafting tool* but it earned me over $20, thank you stranger!!

Expenses

Nothing noteworthy here, mostly supplies for specific projects and a few business expenses like my newsletter, Tailwind, and Picmonkey. I did pay to have my sewing machines serviced and cleaned, the first time in the… four years that I’ve used it heavily. I love Brother! It’s running like brand new, now.

Total in: $3189.83 Total out: = –$616 Quarter Overall: $2573.83

Year to date=$2573.83 Life to date= $13211.95 (note, none of this takes taxes into account)

 

Traffic In/ Out

Out

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

2. Etsy! This is new – lots of clicks through to paper piecing patterns. Top favorites are this butterfly pattern* and this cow pattern*.

3. Pinterest, my favorite. People have checked out this board of Swoodson Says patterns, this free hat, & my refashion board most often.

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

5. From my free baby pants post, this free baby pants sewing pattern.

 

In (Referrers)

1. Pinterest — most popular pins were tips for thrifting, the easiest way to transfer an embroidery pattern, this awful picture of the awesome giant number 1 I made a few years ago for my son’s first birthday, and then my log slice pouf pattern.

2. Search engines

3. Facebook

4. All Free Sewing – this quarter my little felt kitty blew up!

5. So Sew Easy, I used to write round-up posts for her site and this list of 20 Free Floor Pillows sends me a lot of traffic!

Top 5 most popular posts

1. Free Knit Beanie Sewing Patterns Tested

2. 4 Free Baby Pants Patterns Tested

3. Five Tips for Thrift Shopping to Upcycle & Refashion

4. Magnetic Pin Bowl Tutorial

5. The Easiest Way To Transfer An Embroidery Pattern

Those last 2 were new to the list, and #4 was from this year!

Reflection

I shared my 2017 goals in this post; I think I’m doing pretty well so far, hitting all my “keep it up” goals. I have two patterns done and submitted, hitting my big goal for that even though they won’t technically be on sale until May and June. I think for 2018 I’m going to try and set monthly growth goals so it is easier to track, but I’m feeling good about everything except Instagram. If you don’t know, IG used to show pictures in chronological fashion, so you saw whoever you followed, in time order. Now it is more like Facebook – the more people that like and comment on your photo, the more of your followers will see it. I’ve been trying to take prettier pictures and work towards a more cohesive feed, but I’ll be honest, I hate it. I miss the live-action, snap it while you work mode. You can follow me here, and I do have some smaller things to try out and see if I can find a balance, so we shall see.

This is the first time I’ve done an income report and not been mildly embarrassed by my income. I am feeling good about some of the changes I made from last year, in terms of things I stopped and started doing, and confident that I’ll be up to $1000 a month by the end of the year, no problem! It’s exciting to think that Swoodson Says could cover our mortgage and be a legitimate income stream for our family. I’ve always thought I’d go back to work full-time once my kids were school aged, but frankly it’s not hard to imagine that I’ll be able to make more with my blog than I did working in the nonprofit sector.


Did anything surprise you? Let me know if there is anything I’ve left out, you know I’m an open book.

 

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Sara

Thursday 6th of April 2017

Wow! Your ad and affiliate income has grown a lot. Are you still hoping to sell more patterns and products you've made or are you happy with the ad and affiliate income being the largest chunk?

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Friday 7th of April 2017

I am definitely not happy with the current balance. I know lots of things I should and need to do with my patterns, current and future, to make them a bigger piece of the pie.. but it is hard to make time for that when a blog post can generate so much more income for me right now, with much less time invested. With that being said, I'm making myself do it anyways! This first quarter, I was designing two brand new patterns, 1 for the bundle sale that I know you're aware of, and 1 for an upcoming issue of One Thimble. Now that they're both done, I have a clearer plan of what else I need to do in terms of revising older patterns (adding that Little Photographer's Camera placement chart is top of my list!) and then building new products that tie everything together. Obviously my ad and affiliate networks could all kick me out tomorrow and I'd be up a creek, and that's what I need to keep reminding myself in terms of where to focus my energy :)

Lisa // Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing and Crafting

Thursday 6th of April 2017

Wow, Stephanie, that is amazing! Great work! Yes, I am always interested in reading about other bloggers' incomes, so thank you for sharing! Are you a seller on Etsy? Because I wasn't ever able to open an affiliate account on Etsy because I have an Etsy shop. Have they changed this, or is there some way to get around that? Because I'd love to be able to refer people to the amazing things there! Have a great day! :) Lisa

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Friday 7th of April 2017

Lisa, I know I already emailed you back but responding here in case anyone is reading. You can be a seller and an affiliate, you just can't post affiliate links to your own shop :D Thanks for your kind words, too!

Becky Campbell

Wednesday 5th of April 2017

Thanks for sharing. My business is small and it is helpful to see how others work. You have interesting information in your newsletter. I don't blog but am working on sending newsletters that people will value for the information included. That is the part that stops me, valuable information. I read lots of newsletters and wonder where they get all that interesting information. Thanks again.

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Thursday 6th of April 2017

Hi Becky! It sounds like you have some neat products, you need more pictures up! I wanted to see more :D Thank you for the compliment about my newsletter... the answer to your question about where someone finds interesting information is, at least for me, to spend way too much time online. Some things I bump into organically and others I find from other makers' newsletters. If you have a very specific nice, you could set up a Google Alert for new news coverage or posts! Good luck to you as your business grows :)

Melissa Evans

Wednesday 5th of April 2017

Thanks for sharing and congrats on hitting your goals and bringing in a good income.

Lorrie Graham

Wednesday 5th of April 2017

Wow, you put a lot of work into this blog and I appreciate it. Glad to see you are actually making a profit after all this time. I am a newsletter subscriber and love to see what you're working on, even if it isn't something I'd make. Fondly, Lorrie

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Thursday 6th of April 2017

Lorrie, you are SO kind, truly! Thank you for subscribing and taking the time to click through and leave such a thoughtful comment, you made my night!

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