How I Started Making Nearly A Million Dollars My Third Year Blogging

I’m not your average girl.

Several years ago, I was homeless. My ex-husband of 14 years of marriage abandoned us (was having an affair) and went on to have many, many other affairs after that. At one point, he got violent, and the kids and I ended up living in a homeless shelter for physically abused women.

Got my own apartment and began creating a life. Making $700/month online at home, selling on ebay, barely enough to survive. A few years later, I was doing really well. Started making $18k/year as a full-time job on ebay and was able to stay home with my kids.

I was living my dream life at that point, but not feeling satisfied and fulfilled selling on ebay, God started convicting me to start a blog. I obeyed Him and started SarahTitus.com, what you see today, a week before January 2014.

My first year blogging (2014), I started making $10k/month. My second year blogging, I started making $23k/month. 2017 was my third year blogging and I made nearly a million dollars in revenue. In January 2018, I have now hit the 7-figure/year threshold!!!

How I Started Making Nearly A Million Dollars My Third Year Blogging

I look back on my life and I never would have, in my wildest dreams, thought I could make money from home, never mind so much.

I’m just me…a simple, single mom. And yet, all that I have accomplished over the years, from homeless to 7 figures is crazy to me. It’s a pure testament of God’s power in our lives when we OBEY HIM!

We cannot see the future. We cannot know what will happen, but He knows what’s best. He knows what WILL fulfil us and make our hearts truly happy and it’s not the make money online aspect that makes me happy, no…it’s serving all of YOU! Being able to live my dream life, staying home with my kids, serving others, being a part of a team, being a part of something bigger than just me. It’s all really fantastic. The money I make is just icing on the cake. It’s not why I do what I do.

Blogging fulfils a part of me that nothing else ever could.

I love blogging and I feel like you or anyone else have JUST AS MUCH opportunity as I did to make it. It doesn’t take years and years and years to make these numbers. It takes hard work, dedication, and a spirit that is unwilling to quit.

There’s no need to compare where you are right now to where I am. The only thing I want you to see in this income report is what following and obeying God can lead to.

That’s it.

It’s that simple.

Whatever He’s leading you to, don’t wait, don’t put it off, because in one year from now, you could be making $10k/month like I was, instead of not having even started this year!

Here’s what the income report looks like for someone who is (now) making 7 figures a year.

Income Report – $981,036.62 (January-December 2017)

Network marketing – $3,694.77

I am a part of a network marketing company in which I quite literally do absolutely NOTHING in it all year long. That’s right, no sales, nothing. But, because I’ve been a part of the company for about 7 years now, they pay me some good money for my doing nothing (I did originally work it for a couple years). This is completely passive income, my favorite kind of income!

Affiliates – $32,470.84

Love me some affiliate income! Yes, please!!!

My favorite affiliates at the moment that I go through are…

This year, I made the most affiliate income from: Bluehost, OfferJuice, Amazon, Ebates, and ShareASale.

If you want to up your game on your affiliates income, write down where you make the most money and then research that company’s information thoroughly. They will tell you either what item you’re selling the most of or what link you get the most sales from.

Having that information is crucial.

Last year, I did this and found out that through ShareASale, I THOUGHT I was making a lot of money from selling one thing and I was totally wrong. It was two other products that were selling far more (for me, WordPress themes do best). I started mentioning those two products MORE. Obviously my audience is interested in them. In mentioning them more, that income has gone up. I create more posts that can feature those products and it makes more overall.

With that said, if you see one product you’re selling as an affiliate that does super well for you, consider creating your own version of it. While, yes, affiliate programs CAN be generous, you don’t make 100%. Last year, I did this with one of my early products I launched. I have literally made tens of thousands of dollars on that product now and was only making less than a thousand (for the year) as an affiliate to someone else’s product.

My Store – $925,773

I opened my store (I go through Shopify) on June 1, 2017. My first month having the store, I made $52,060 and got 7,233 in traffics. I was completely shocked. I didn’t realize the power of what having a store could do for my income. I stopped promoting affiliates as much and immediately started promoting my own products. When I did that, it was like the money gates opened up like crazy.

My affiliate income went down, considerably. I do want to be transparent in that. From one affiliate company alone, I made $40,000 less this year, however, I more than made up for it with my store. My store produces six-figures a month, all on it’s own.

My 5 biggest selling products are:

Honest Bloggers Bundle (now Honest Bloggers Academy)
Household Binder
Blogging Binder
Financial Freedom Bundle
Hope Binder {Christian Devotional}

Right now, I’m currently working on a store course teaching how to create a six-figure store. It’s a lot of fun creating the information of what all I do to make these kind of crazy figures and I hope to release it in the next few months, so stay tuned for that! 🙂

Ads – $3,496.62

I just started ads up again on my blog. I had them down for quite a long time. So, this figure is very low, but keep in mind, it’s only for a few months out of the year, and when you just start up with ads, they pay pretty bad. I’m working on getting on with MediaVine at the moment, so that will increase that income, I’m sure.

Sponsors – $0

I also don’t do sponsored posts and haven’t for years. I feel they don’t line up with my brand and I have little control over what goes into those kinds of posts. Nothing wrong with them for others; they just go against what I want my blog to be.

Misc. income – $14,974.21

Miscellaneous income came in at over $14,000 this year, proof that little income amounts here and there, can add up to a lot of “cha-ching, cha-ching!”

Amazon book sales – $627.18

This is the amount I made on book sales on Amazon for the year. I began taking my books OFF Amazon around June, when I opened my store. I wanted everything in ONE place to make it easier on my audience and for me to link to things. I’ve found that I make more having a product in my store, than I did for that same product on Amazon.

I was also viciously attacked on Amazon by a known hater and her friends, purposely trying to destroy me. When I spoke to another well-known blogger about it, she said that she has been attacked too. There’s nothing you can do. On Amazon, you can’t fight the reviews, you can’t delete them even when they are not real, and they do affect sales, even when the reviews are not legit.

Having your own store, certain apps give you the power to delete a review. This protects you against those haters and takes away their power over you and your sales. My only regret is that I should have started my own store SOONER!

I would also want to mention here, as sort of a disclaimer, that while you can delete reviews, bloggers with integrity will not delete very many. I’ve personally only deleted a few. One of which, the lady was lying about everything (store analytics give us tons of real proof) and to try to get even with me, she left a nasty review. Of course, it was deleted, and never seen by anyone but me.

There’s also an app in Shopify that lets you block people from buying in your store again, to minimize future drama. I used that app to block her, and I also blocked her on my blog and deleted her from my newsletter. Ain’t no one got time for drama. My life is all about encouraging and being positive, even when things are not going so well. Spread cheer, not hate.

Because of those and a MYRIAD of other reasons, I love having my own store over selling on Amazon. I have more control over my store. On Amazon, you can’t block people. So, if someone is a hater and wants to destroy you, they can go on your products and get everything and leave a ton of nasty reviews and there’s not anything you can do about it.

Total income – $981,036.62

The one thing that you’ll notice, is that much of my income is PASSIVE! This frees up my time drastically and allows me to be able to work on projects that are more in-depth and helpful to my audience, the things that I sell in the store.

My top 10 posts this year:

Expenses:

While I won’t go into detail of all my expenses, I did want to show you a few main ones so you can kinda get a more clearer idea of the whole picture.

First, the one that takes the most money and I personally hate the most is taxes. Taxes are a good 30%. I’m an S-Corp, so this does relieve a little bit of taxes, but it’s still no fun! I have to pay quarterlies and it’s a nightmare, believe me. Ahhh, the simple days of paying once a year…or even getting a refund!

There’s also hired help costs. I now have three assistants. They work a combined total of 35 hours a week, but after this income report, I have now moved them up to a combined total of 80 hours a week. Now that I am making so much, I want to not only give back and help provide for other moms so they can stay home with their kids, but also invest back into the company and grow faster.

Hosting costs. I pay over $100/month for hosting costs. I still go through Bluehost on my niche sites, however, for this main blog, I go through Agathon because it is so large.

Design elements/graphics/fonts. I spend a BOATLOAD of money on these things in order to provide you printables, etc. It is not uncommon to spend at least $250/month in this area. In fact, there’s a current fonts deal going on right now on Creative Market. 63 Handwritten fonts for only $15. It’s an insane amount of savings for a really cool fonts package! Definitely be sure to check it out if you like fonts!!!

Office supplies. Because I create printables and run an office from home, this can get spendy as well. The Tombow pens alone that I use are $150 each set for 96 pens and I have two sets. They are seriously worth EVERY PENNY, but, they are a nice-sized investment. Not to mention card stock for the printables (here’s what I use), other pens, printer ink (here’s the printer that I use and LOVE), and so on.

Stock photos. In December of this year, I spent over $350 on stock photos. I use a combination of my own photography and stock photos.

My ecommerce Shopify store. Again, I absolutely ADORE Shopify. This year, I upgraded to the more expensive plan because of the more in-depth analytics reports and I’m very, very pleased with them. I pay $79 for my store and $79 in apps each month currently.

Education. I pay for education. Things like courses or materials to learn. This year, I purchased a $2,000 course and absolutely love it (it’s not currently open, but when it is, I’ll share the link). I also just purchased an Instagram course in December that I want to go through, to up my game on Instagram.

Misc. expenses. There are a lot of other, smaller expenses, that add up very quickly as well.

What I’ve been up to this year:

I redesigned my blog (myself), which I am forever doing. I’m really huge on branding and know exactly what I’m doing. I love redesigning and it’s something I do quite often. 🙂
Systematizing EVERYTHING. At the beginning of this year, I started systematizing absolutely everything. I started batching work. Doing certain similar tasks with other similar tasks and staying on track. I started closing out a lot of loose ends that were good, but not great, and sucked up my time FROM those great things. As I started closing out loose ends, I was further able to work on more important things, like creating products you guys will love.
Upped my email list game. I started with ConvertKit and LeadPages this year and got those things connected and started really focusing more on my email list. Currently I get about 8,000-10,000 new subscribers every month, but I also delete cold contacts regularly too. I just deleted 17,000 subscribers off my list in December. I really love my email list. I try really hard to give something free in it every single week, whether that be a binder or something else really cool.
Adding new systems. I’ve found what works and now it’s just about adding more of what works. If I see one newsletter subscribe sequence works, I add more just like it and do that same system with as many of my newsletter subscribes as I possibly can.
Working on printables, new binders, courses, and bundles. I’m working on releasing a course about how to make six-figures in your store at the moment. I’m also currently working on an essential oil binder. I just finished changing the Hope Binder into a coloring binder (per reader request- which will release soon), and my Essential Oil DIY Binder into a coloring binder, a Fitness Planner, and a Valentine Binder. I just LOVE making printables! Most all of the products you see in the store were created this year. I take one project at a time and just bust it out, launch it, then work on the next. One after the other.
Praying. I want to make sure that everything I’m doing is exactly according to God’s path for me. I don’t want to veer from it. I want to stay smack dab in the middle of His will for this blog and my life and this month, I’ve been praying extra hard for Him to lead and guide me toward that endeavor. In my blog, I have SO many opportunities and I want to make sure that the ones I take, are the ones He would have for me to take, opportunities that best serve you and my overall goal for this blog, to help moms stay home with their kids, regardless of their income level.
Hired two assistants. I hired my most recent assistant in December. Now I have three assistants on the team total helping out and doing this has really allowed me to be more focused and work on what I enjoy doing.

What my goals are for next year:

Stick to the plan. I have my goals sheet all filled out, all the things I want to provide for free each month and what I’ll be launching during the year. My goal is to simply stick to the goals sheet. Right now, I have extra time on my hands, so I’m working ahead. I have Jan, Feb, March, and April’s free stuff all done. I have Jan and Feb launch stuff done and now I’m working on the launch product for March. My priorities for projects are always get the free stuff done first, THEN the launch/paid-for products done.
Work up my Instagram account. I just started on Instagram and dang, I am LOVING that platform. It’s really, REALLY cool. There’s a lot to learn, but I’m having fun learning it.
Continue dedicating time for fun projects like coloring sheets and handlettering, two things you guys really love and I’m passionate about. I try to personally color every day! That means creating coloring sheets TO color. 🙂
Continue improving on my photography. I know it seems a little far-fetched and far away, but one day I dream of having a membership site where I can provide something for my audience. I’m not sure what to make it about. There are literally so many options. But I have considered strongly one day having a stock photo site available to other bloggers. Right now, there’s not many options out there for that sort of thing and the GOOD stock photos, they are REALLY, REALLY expensive. The ones that aren’t expensive, everyone goes through and so, everyone’s blog all looks the same with the same photos and that’s NO GOOD at ALL for branding! Even if my photography is just for personal use as a hobby, I want to continue improving it.
Hire more out to my team, so I can be free to do more of the stuff I personally love to do: printables, photography, handlettering, coloring, organizing, and so on.

My failures:

I think that it’s not only important to show you my successes, my goals and plans, but also where I’ve failed. There’s a huge misconception out there that I never fail and that’s simply not true. I do fail. I succeed more than I fail, yes, but I do fail.

Every 60 days, like clockwork, I go through and look back and see what’s succeeded and what’s failed. This has really helped improve my business over time. If you don’t currently do that, I’d highly suggest it.

WithCoach (now called Podia). Early on, when I started testing my Shopify store and WithCoach, my own store just sold more. The exact same items, the exact same prices, etc. and my audience just liked my store better for some reason. I tested that thoroughly and finally pulled the plug on WithCoach. While they are an amazing site and I believe in them wholeheartedly and promote them (because they are seriously awesome!!!), for my particular audience, they preferred my store by a landslide. This just goes to show that every blog is different, and what works for one, may not work for another.
LeadDyno App. I go through LeadDyno for my affiliate store program and while at first, the platform was clunky and it wasn’t giving me the options to really do what I wanted to do, over time, as I started working with customer service more, I learned there are a LOT of cool tricks that it can do. So, for the first many months, it was totally failing, but, I chose not to give up on it and to really try working it and now it’s doing fantastic! This proves that something can start out as a failure, but grow into something truly successful!
A couple of products. For me personally, my social media quotes didn’t sell that well. Many people loved them for free, but when I am charging for them, they don’t sell. This could be because my particular audience doesn’t seem to need them and I know that is very true. 3/4 of my audience are stay-at-home-moms. Only about 1/4 of my audience are bloggers. Social media quotes are more geared for bloggers, so that could explain why they don’t do very well, but if you have any other ideas, I’m all ears. 🙂
Zendesk. I was really excited to try this company, but when I joined, found it completely too technical and too much work to keep going. I ended up closing the account and having one of my assistants help with all emails. She is a Pastor’s wife and knows all about taking care of comments and concerns. It’s been fantastic having her on board, as is the whole team!
Twitter. I started trying to play the Twitter game this year, but so far, only around 1,900 followers. I’m not seeing growth in that area, so I stepped back and stopped posting as much. I started moving my social media efforts to Instagram. I like it better because it doesn’t limit my characters as much as Twitter does and it’s a lot more magazine-like with pictures. My Instagram is slow-growing as well (around 700 followers right now), but it still is gaining more traction than Twitter was.

Have you ever considered how much blogging income you can bring in? Has this post helped show you what’s possible? How does it inspire you in your make money blogging journey?

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How I Started Making Nearly A Million Dollars My Third Year Blogging

How I Started Making Nearly A Million Dollars My Third Year Blogging

Income Report – $981,036.62 (January-December 2017)

My top 10 posts this year:

Expenses:

What I’ve been up to this year:

What my goals are for next year:

My failures:

Are you ready to start your blog?

Categories

Shop

Links

Legal

How I Started Making Nearly A Million Dollars My Third Year Blogging

Income Report – $981,036.62 (January-December 2017)

My top 10 posts this year:

Expenses:

What I’ve been up to this year:

What my goals are for next year:

My failures:

Are you ready to start your blog?

Related

Categories

Shop

Links

Legal