Apologies that this post is late in the month....I always feel a bit nervous doing these sorts of posts as I hate to think that they might come across as braggy and I'm aware that some people consider it vulgar to discuss money in such a way, so I almost didn't publish it!
But the success of my previous posts on this subject make me think that people are interested in this kind of post and I know it's something I've been interested in on other blogs myself (I always read Leanne's monthly income reports at A Slice Of My Wales with real interest - definitely one to read if you enjoy this sort of thing!)
However I don't really feel comfortable sharing my earnings without giving some tips on ways I've found helpful in increasing it, so this is something I'm going to start doing on a monthly basis - I have personally found that advice and help from other kind bloggers has helped me to massively increase my earnings, and so I want to be able to help up and coming bloggers to recognize their potential and reach it.
So without further ado, on with the report!
Follower numbers
I keep a record of these in a notebook for my own personal use, but I think it's helpful to include them in an income report too.
Twitter - 11,600
Instagram - 15,300
Facebook - 4,082 (This is the one I struggle with most!)
YouTube - 1,765
I don't currently use Pinterest or Snapchat properly, something I really do need to find time to work on - Pinterest in particular!
Most Popular Posts This Month
1) An Open Letter To My High School Bully
2) Anxiety & Me: How I Got My Life Back
3) Surprise Your Dad This Father's Day With Tesco Tannoy Takeovers
4) 5 Reasons Facebook Makes Me Twitch
5) Ways To Kill Yourself
I think it's important to look at which posts have done well each month as the amount of traffic you get can be helpful when it comes to increasing your earnings as brands will always want a good amount of bang for their buck - I personally feel that it's important to keep track of the kind of content that your readers enjoy seeing from you so that you can provide more along those lines in the future to keep them entertained and keep them subscribed.
It's very rare that one of my brand collaborations will be among my most viewed posts for the month but this campaign for Tesco was a very personal one that people seemed to really relate to and enjoy, Tesco also promoted this post a lot on their own social media sites which gave it a real boost in traffic.
3 of my 5 most popular posts last month were related to mental health, which reinforces my knowledge that my audience relate to this sort of content and want to see more of it - I also had an increase in traffic as a result of various charities promoting these posts as part of Mental Health Awareness Week too.
And my other most popular post was one that I wrote in about half an hour one evening and almost didn't publish as I thought it wasn't funny and nobody would "get it" - in actual fact it's received a lot of tweets and people seem to really enjoy it, which has taught me not to be so self critical and self censoring in blog posts in the future!
My Earnings For June 2017 Were:
Blog Campaigns - £1,250
Instagram Collaborations -£720
YouTube Campaigns - £0
Other Social Media Campaigns/Ambassadorships/Other Work - £2550
Total for the month: £4520.00
My highest payment was: £2000 for an ambassadorship (this is lower than I would usually accept for a long and exclusive contract, but the value of products included made it worthwhile)
My lowest payment was: £100 for a repeat client (I will not usually go below £200, but I do get a lot of work from this client)
Total number of jobs this month: 12
Last month I pretty much doubled my fees and I was very nervous about doing this, however feedback on my rates from other bloggers spurred me on and I have been really pleased with how this has worked out.
In January this year I earned £1300 for 18 jobs, so the fact that I have now more than tripled this figure for far fewer jobs means that I am far less stressed with less work to do but am earning more money than ever - why did I not do this sooner?!
My Top Tips For June
1) Reply To ALL Emails - One of my collaborations this month was with a brand who sent me a standard press release for a low value product with no personalised introduction at all. I was tempted to delete it as I was sure they wouldn't have any budget for collaborations, but when I responded with my rate card they took me up on the offer of a paid post right away without trying to barter AND offered me a second post later in the month too.
2) Don't Be Afraid To Discuss Fees With Fellow Bloggers - Before agreeing to a large contract check with your blogger friends if any of them are doing the same job, as having an idea of the brands budget can be a big help when it comes to negotiating fees. This month I almost agreed to a much lower fee for a project until I discussed the collaboration with a friend who was also working with the brand, and she informed me of her higher rate - knowing that the brand had more budget available I was then able to secure the same higher rate too.
3) Value Your Time - One of my highest payments this month was for a job that I didn't actually do! I was asked by a company to be available for potential radio interviews for a full day, and I agreed a fee with them for this activity. However on the day, it turned out that no radio interviews had been arranged. But because I had already made myself available for the day and arranged childcare I invoiced for the full amount agreed and this was paid without question. Always remember that your time is precious and valuable, and you deserve to be paid fairly for it...this applies to taking on low paid work too! Don't undersell yourself.
I hope that you've found this post interesting or helpful, please do let me know if its something you'd like to see again next month in the comments below...And if you're interested in more blogging tips or brand work posts or tips from me then don't be afraid to let me know what you'd like to see in the comments below.
And just incase you'd find it interesting, you may want to check out my recent video offering my Top 5 Tips For Being Organised As A Blogger (including my top tip for increasing your blog traffic!)
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