Monthly Blogging Report - June 2019

Here is the monthly installment of my journey as a newbie blogger. Income, expenses, successes and failures are documented in case you were ever curious about what really goes on in the world of blogging.

I still can not believe that half of the year is gone. Summer is in full swing here in Florida so I guess I should realize what month it is.

As I enter my 9th month of blogging, I am pleasantly surprised at my progress with my blog. Every day and every recipe is a new challenge and whether they are huge successes or huge failures (Sorry Mr. Grumbles for making you eat everything!:-), I have no urge to give up!

What I learned about myself from blogging

At the end of last months' blogging report, I stated that my new goal was to try and enjoy the ride a little more when it comes to blogging.

I decided to try not to focus on Google analytics as much as I had the previous month.

However, when Google Analytics told me that during my first week of June I hit 6000 pageviews, once again, I became slightly obsessed! I mean think about it...If my first week hit 6000 pageviews than I should be at 24,000 pageviews by the end of the month, right?

WRONG!

The internet is a weird and crazy beast. As the first week of June hit record numbers, the page views came to a creeping halt and I was actually nervous that I would not PR this month.

But, with the help of all my supporters who opened my website throughout the month, once again, My Crash Test Life hit a personal best!

Monthly Stats for June:

Number of Posts: 17 (4 new posts a week)

Number of Pinterest Followers: 220 (up from 127 in May)

Number of Instagram Followers: 47 (up from 21 in May)

Top 5 Recipes:

Simple Pork Fried Rice (Whole30, Keto) - 413 Pins
Banana Chia Seed Muffins (Low Carb, Gluten Free, Dairy Free) - 203 Pins
Carrot Cake Protein Bars (Keto, Gluten-Free) - 199 Pins
Triple Chocolate Avocado Protein Bars (Keto, Gluten-Free) - 190 Pins
Garlic Mushroom Chicken (Whole30, Keto) - 165 Pins

In April, my 4 Ingredient Cannoli Dip (Low Carb, Keto) had gone viral getting over 3000 hits. This month, I did not have a single recipe that went viral. Instead, all recipes seemed to be somewhat equal in popularity. Since my Simple Pork Fried Rice(Whole30, Keto) was the most successful, I decided to come up with some other Chinese inspired recipes and see if they have the same excitement as the Simple Pork Fried Rice (Whole30, Keto).

Monthly Pinterest Viewers: 444 000 (up from 413 000 in May)

Monthly Pageviews from Google Analytics: 12,600 !!!!! (up from 10,000 in May) The reason this number is important for me is that the only way to make any money blogging is to have advertisement on your website. In order to get "classy" ads, I need to have over 100,000 page views a month!

Monthly New Users from Google Analytics: 8000 (up from 6400 in May)

SUCCESSES

I had a very good month and hit some record highs. I also got a little clearer with respect to Instagram and how to post and tag things accurately.

INCOME AND EXPENSES

Income – $0 (However, I am getting closer to getting ads on my website...Only 87,400 more monthly page views to go:-)
Expenses – Asides from my monthly recurring charge of $39 for the BlogPro company, I did spend an additional $39 on an upgrade with Tailwind. This upgrade allows me to schedule more of my recipes on Pinterest as well as join some additional "groups". By joining these "groups", your pins are being sent directly to people who have the greatest chance of re-pinning a recipe.

PROFIT/LOSS

Beginning Balance: -$907.78

Income in April: $0

Expenses in April: -$39 + $39 = $51

Total Profit/Loss: - $1075.78

FINAL THOUGHTS

I came up with a saying this month that has really helped me change my outlook on life. There is a lot of negativity in today's world but no one is forcing us to see or feel it.

Therefore, my new motto in life is: