Written on June 26th, 2010 at 01:06 am by Darren Rowse
How I Make Money Blogging: Income Split for May 2010
Last month I produced a video in which I walked readers through the split of my income over the month of April to show what different income streams brought in different percentages of my income.
In the video I shared how the split between income streams can vary a lot from month to month.
The feedback from the video was so positive that I’ve decided to keep producing monthly breakdowns. I’m not interested in getting into totals of income for the different areas but want to share the breakdown as a way of showing the variety of ways that a blogger can make money.
Here’s the breakdown for May 2010:
In comparing the previous month (April) with May you’ll notice that there were not that many differences. The two months were remarkably similar in the order of the top 4 earners and then a bit different in the lower ones.
Next month you’ll notice a big difference in the eBook sales. I’m yet to do the calculations but I expect it to hit #1 as a result of the release of the Travel Photography eBook that we launched.
The only other main difference in May was the decrease in Direct Ad Sales as I had a couple of campaigns end and I’m transitioning my sales approach. It’s not a major area of income but I’ll be working to see that segment increase in the month or two ahead.
60 Responses to “How I Make Money Blogging: Income Split for May 2010” - Add Yours
Kiesha @ We Blog Better
June 26th, 2010 1:30 am
Hi Darren,
Thanks again for sharing your progress with us – what this does for me – it really teaches me to have realistic goals for income and that I shouldn’t rely on one source to bring in income. It also points out some areas that I’ve been neglecting that I might be able to squeeze something out of. Hmmm… thanks for stretching my thoughts.
Have an awesome day!
David: The Wonder Technique
June 26th, 2010 1:34 am
Hi Darren,
Like Kiesha said in her comment I appreciate you sharing and remind me and all your readers diversity of income is important.
All the best,
David
Josh Garcia
June 26th, 2010 1:48 am
Hey Darren,
Thanks for putting this together. It shows that you can have a multiple stream of income with a blog. There are some areas that I was not even paying attention too. Thanks a lot!
Have a great weekend…
Josh
Sheila Atwood
June 26th, 2010 1:53 am
I appreciate being able to see your different streams of income.
It is what I am teaching on my blog. And putting into action for myself.
Congrats on the new book. It looks fabulous.
The Georgia Yankee
June 26th, 2010 1:55 am
Agreed – multiple streams of income are important, and having some passive streams doesn’t hurt.
But all the charts and graphs don’t help if we haven’t got at least a rough idea of what sort of money you’re talking about – is it around $100 per month? $500? $1000? More? Less?
My point is that anyone can spend ten minutes a day on each of these different income streams and come up with a nice pie chart, but if what it’s analyzing is $25 per month in total, what’s the point?
Dustin | Engaged Marriage
June 26th, 2010 2:14 am
These reports are always really insightful, and I appreciate the opportunity to see the breakdown. It’s encouraging to see the variety of income streams that can grow from a blogging base over time. Nice work!
Jean Sarauer
June 26th, 2010 2:17 am
Thanks, Darren. I find this information helpful because it’s ‘real world’ and keeps my eyes open to possibilities I might otherwise miss.
I’m a big believer in multiple streams of income, online or offline, so I especially enjoy seeing how you structure your business in that regard.
Nabeel | Create Your First Website
June 26th, 2010 2:25 am
Hi Darren,
Thanks for sharing. It shows that there can be good multiple sources of income for blogs. It is remarkable how multiple sources bring in these incomes.
As they say, ‘not to put all eggs in one basket’.
Nabeel
James
June 26th, 2010 3:28 am
What is a continuity program?
Jesse Ciccone
June 26th, 2010 3:29 am
Yes, thanks very much for sharing.
Interesting to see AdSense as such a large chunk. As I prepare myself to launch my own blog (and hopefully make money off it some day!), it seems I’m reading a lot of “AdSense sucks, you need better ways to make money blogging” articles and posts.
I’m curious about your take on those objections.
Chris Guthrie
June 26th, 2010 3:44 am
@James – it’s a recurring membership type program
i.e. in Darren’s case:
Third Tribe or Problogger.com
Phyllis
June 26th, 2010 4:14 am
Hi Darren – I’m curious why you don’t have Facebook on the options for your Share plugin? I wanted to share this with my friends – who are mostly bloggers – but I can’t do it. Seems odd. Can’t share this with LinkedIn either. I belong to several blogger groups there. This post is really good – and I want to share it.
Chris Pontine
June 26th, 2010 4:17 am
Really glad to see your going to be publishing an article dedicated to the break down of your earnings on a monthly basis.
Regardless, we should all test our own routes, but this will help in general for anyone looking for ideas, and as well, the motivation and knowledge alone.
Ireti @ Centre for Personal Development
June 26th, 2010 4:21 am
Darren,
I can’t thank you enough for exposing us to different methods a blogger can use to earn money online. Very insightful. You opened my eyes to area i never thought of. Multiple streams of internet income is something have dreamt about all my life. Now, with the information above, i think i know how to spread my tentacles and go about it.
How come you’re able to share your time within those eight area? What’s the strategy you use for getting so much done? How do you rate your achievement per day?
Thanks
Cheia Succesului
June 26th, 2010 4:44 am
Hi Darren,
it looks like adsense, affiliate programs and ebooks remain the major income streams for you. I like your article about making money blogging. i’ll start a new blog and i hope all those income streams will work for me also :)
HowToPlaza
June 26th, 2010 5:18 am
I’d agree with Georgia Yankee especially from the perspective of a new blogger. On my part I know Darren makes a six figure income because he wrote a book about it :-)
~~ Sarah ~~
Ryan Hanzel
June 26th, 2010 5:28 am
My blog is still in it’s infancy but I hope to make money with it one day and it is great to see this breakdown of income so I know how to focus my efforts when the time comes to do so.
Joshua Noerr
June 26th, 2010 6:45 am
I always enjoy when you do this Darren. I know it can be a struggle, as it is a personal thing, but it really helps me and all of the other readers of your blog. Cheers
Natalie
June 26th, 2010 7:06 am
Thanks for sharing :-)
I am surprised to see that Google AdSense is still your #1 income source as I would have expected someone in your position to get more income from direct ad sales. In a way, it reassures me because while this teaches me not to solely rely on AdSense (in your case, you would only get a quarter of your income if you did), it also confirms that after all is said and done, AdSense does remain a major player for pro bloggers.
I’m curious regarding the #2 category – “Affiliate Programs” – how many different affiliate programs are we talking about? A handful? A dozen? 20+?
Jens P. Berget
June 26th, 2010 8:28 am
I didn’t think that the biggest source of your income was from AdSense. It’s great that you have such a variety of income sources, this makes it a lot safer if something should happen to one or a few of the income streams.
Thanks for sharing.
Jamie Barclay
June 26th, 2010 8:43 am
Thanks for sharing your progress with us. I will try my best to track my progress using charts just like yours. It is a lot easier to comprehend than having it just in plane numbers.
George Lowery
June 26th, 2010 8:57 am
I have checked out so many, many different ways that were supposed to be proven ways of making money through the interenet, but NOTHING has turned out to be “Real” yet. Can you please tell me if you know of something that really works. I will jump on it, like a duck on a June bug.
Thanks.
George
Andika Kusuma
June 26th, 2010 12:32 pm
It’s good idea to track which your income, what software do you use to generate that chart?
vashistha
June 26th, 2010 12:58 pm
Well… I am blogging from past year… what I have concluded now it’s all depend upon
1. Amount Traffic in your Blog
2. They are coming form ….. (US,UK… or ASIAN countries)
I think if traffic is coming from US or UK then you can expect income from affiliate programs…
Ted
June 26th, 2010 1:12 pm
My estimation is that Darren made around $60,000 for the month of May. Multiple that by 12 months of the year and it’s unlikely he’s going to run out of beer and pretzels anytime soon.
Basant
June 26th, 2010 1:29 pm
Love it or hate it…AdSense is the top earner even for well established bloggers :) it’s same for me. But this is the only stream working fine for me. I tried Amazon, infolinks but they are not working well for my blog.
Wilson | Fun LIfestyle
June 26th, 2010 1:38 pm
One of the things I really like about this is that – new bloggers can get an idea of how you make money online with a blog I think people get really confused when they are just getting started blogging.
I know I was at first.
Thanks Darren!
Linda
June 26th, 2010 7:53 pm
thanks, this has given me a few ideas how I need to expand my thinking in the way you can make money online. No point in relying on just a couple of sources these days.
Glyn Lafferty
June 26th, 2010 9:58 pm
Hey Darren,
It’s great to see the breakdown of income from a high end blog. The amount income streams coming together is massive and a great help to us who are starting out in the blogging industry.
Glyn
rick
June 26th, 2010 10:01 pm
Always interesting to see income data from other sites. Not quite sure what the ‘Continuity Programs’ are…subscription sites?
This post clearly demonstrates the importance of diversifying your income stream. Thanks Darren.
Nasrul Hanis
June 26th, 2010 11:35 pm
Thanks for sharing your income split with us Darren. It gives me the sense of logic of getting income – what to find and how.
Thanks again and keep up!
marc
June 27th, 2010 12:16 am
thank you for the information, it was very useful to see how i could finance my server :)
Rakesh Narang
June 27th, 2010 12:30 am
Hey Darren, could you tell me what was you income figure in number, was it is a 6-figure income or a 5-figure?
Herk
June 27th, 2010 6:14 am
Wow. I thought adsense has lost it money generating ability. I decided not to put Adsense code on my blog thinking it will not bring in much cash since alot of people are on the program. I will quickly get it on my site very fast. And to be frank with you, I am going to implement the other money generating sources you have listed down here. Thanks for this great tips in a very short post.
Mark Sherris
June 27th, 2010 9:06 am
It’s impressive how many sources of income you have and that you don’t juse rely on say adsense only, or just ad sales etc.
Cheers for the post.
KS Chen @ Blogging Guide
June 27th, 2010 11:06 am
Wow! Adsense is your main source of income! Unfortunately, my Adsense account has been disabled since 2 months ago. Maybe i need to use other types of make money online methods to monetize my blog.
frenchy
June 27th, 2010 8:47 pm
Thanks for sharing this income breakdown of yours. I have been reading this blog for quite sometime now but until now I can’t see any Adsense ad unit here. Or I am just too st*pid not to see it. :)
Kris Beus
June 27th, 2010 9:07 pm
Quite interesting I thought you made much more from your direct ad earnings. I notice 25% is adsense which blogs do you use adsense on?
robyn
June 28th, 2010 12:15 am
darren
i am having a big problem finding out where i can use adsense. i have it on the blog but when i look through google, the information seems mixed, out of date. can you tell me where it can be used in other social medias – twitter, fb, youtube, myspace, linkedin.
robyn
Lara Kulpa
June 28th, 2010 2:53 am
For those who asked about the AdSense, it’s NOT here on ProBlogger.net, but he does have it on some of his other web properties like Digital Photography School (http://digital-photography-school.com)
That’s the way to spread your income out, gang… don’t EVER put all your eggs in one basket! ;)
Sean Supplee
June 28th, 2010 9:34 am
I was curious as to how you are making most of your money with adsense when I do not see any adsense running on pro blogger at all. What other sites have you built that are producing this adsense income for you and are there any tips you would recommend to someone who is looking to do the same?
Marcie Hill
June 28th, 2010 9:43 am
This is encouraging as I continue to work my blog to ensure generate consistent revenue from multiple streams.
Warren
June 28th, 2010 10:15 am
These are always my favorites posts.
I like watching the progress, and breakdown.
One question though, when you say continuity programs, would that be would that be the equivalent of a sites “product” or “training program” or something recurring monthly?
I think your mentoring program falls under that…
Tiptopcat @ Make Money Experiment
June 28th, 2010 10:53 am
I was surprised to see that adsense earnings made up quite a substantial chunk of your earnings – in particular – making more than the ebooks and your affiliate programmes.
Dave Higgs
June 28th, 2010 8:06 pm
Hi Darren,
Once again insightful and helpful.
What would be interesting to me is the source of traffic. Would you post a piechart showing how much of your traffic is US,AUZ,Europe etc. I know for example that Chikita is only US traffic.
My blog is (perhaps silly) targeted at my (South African) market and I have discontinued Chikita for that very reason.
Thanks in advance,
D
Viral Submitter Pro
June 28th, 2010 8:52 pm
Remarkable article which has got me considering about the potential of this concept. Truly truly remarkable.
WebpageLottery
June 28th, 2010 10:49 pm
I am surprised to see only 25% from Adsense. And I only have Adsense on my site. May be I should find more other source of income.
robyn
June 29th, 2010 12:18 am
lara
i want to know where you can add adsense. i know it isn’t on problogger – you can see that when you read the posts. i am trying to find what social medias it is allowed on and google information is out of date about this.
Ezra Salken
June 29th, 2010 1:56 am
I wish i could just make anything. I bought this blog recently ijstyles.com I have also been working on it for years. But, I havnt given up yet. Its just that if I actually saw any of my hard work pay off, It would give me such motivation.
ph1l1p
June 29th, 2010 3:09 am
i’m curious on how many sites those earnings came from? thanks
Marilyn
June 29th, 2010 4:52 am
I never really thought of blogging as a money maker, but I guess I need to rethink it. Thanks for sharing.
Guitar Chords
June 29th, 2010 6:09 am
Congrats! I just made my first 100 on Adsense a few weeks back myself. Thanks for sharing. Don’t do affiliates yet. guess its a long way to go for me… ;)
Sherron Wienandt
July 1st, 2010 8:12 pm
I am a freelance information broker. Its my job to find a portfolio of information meeting the expectations of my contract. Usually this involves reviewing countless websites to locate specific subject matter and packaging this for the customer. I cant begin to tell you how much I appreciate the quality and usefulnes of your site. I have been through many hundreds in the last five years and there are fewer like yours than otherwise. Thank you for providing not only useful information but a well ordered and presented web presence!
Tommy
July 1st, 2010 8:42 pm
Wow that’s truly amazing, the ebooks are doing very well
Emm Jay
July 2nd, 2010 6:50 am
Funny how I said my mom last week that I’m envisioning online blogging as an equivalent to blue collar jobs in the future.
At least, I’m not wrong in thinking that there’s really profit from blogging… Thanks!
Ivan Harris Sr
July 2nd, 2010 5:35 pm
Darren,
Thanks for the Great Info!! You are definitely correct that diversity is the key to staying afloat financially especially in these tough financial times. And I believe that whatever content we create video, blogs . . . etc It must create Value for those who see our info. And by doing so, people will want to stay connected with you to receive whatever you’re offering because they benefit from it. Thanks again!!
Excited About Changing Lives,
Ivan Harris, Sr. “The Value Creator”
Remba Dreadscythe
July 3rd, 2010 3:37 pm
Really glad to see your going to be publishing an article dedicated to the break down of your earnings on a monthly basis.
Regardless, we should all test our own routes, but this will help in general for anyone looking for ideas, and as well, the motivation and knowledge alone.
Tyrone Quesinberry
July 10th, 2010 6:42 am
Very Recently, I’m always finding threads here about people wanting to create 100’s micro niche sites that make a couple bucks a day and therefore 100’s of $$ a day. Then I find posts that say micro niche websites are useless right now and are on the downfall. Can anyone clear this up for me?
Alice Tyling
July 20th, 2010 3:00 am
Yeah, I think Adsense and Affiliate Programs are the way forward. If you’re not getting much traffic then focus on promoting Affiliate Programs and eBooks. Once Traffic picks up, try to focus on ad placement.
There’s a really good newbie course called ‘Dude I Hate My Job’. It’s what I used when I very first started. There’s like 25 step videos on how to create and make money off your blog, would defo recommend if your struggling. Here’s a pretty good review: http://hubpages.com/hub/Dude-I-Hate-My-Job-Scam
I really need to start promoting Amazon products on my blog, I still haven’t got around to that. Might only be 8% according to your chart but it all helps!
Alice.
Felix Daray
July 26th, 2010 4:10 pm
Good that most of you are earning through blogging. I have been blogging since 2006 , until now, but I have not received any amount.
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