Back in April, I started writing these monthly income summaries to help hold myself accountable for growing this side business seriously and continuing to push myself to improve. I’ve already made significant progress since then – in August I made approximately 8 times as much profit as I did back in April. I don’t think the gains will continue to be so exponential. But things are certainly going well ever since I renewed my dedication to making this corner of the web the best that it can be.
If I had to identify one big thing that I’ve learned as part of this process, it’s that quality content is more important than anything else. Quality content is what makes people like your blog, come back to your blog, actually make your recipes, trust you as a source of food knowledge, and share your posts with others. You can do all of the income optimization that you want, but if you don’t have a strong readership yet, drop whatever you’re playing around with with ads and affiliate programs, and spend that time working on increasing the quality (as distinct from quantity) of your content instead. And even more importantly, if you’re not continuing to create new content, then you don’t have any content that can suddenly go viral.
A look back at August
I published 3 new recipes in August. I want to push myself back up to 4+ per month; so far, I’m on track to meet that goal in September. I was on vacation for half of August (it was much needed!) and people don’t seem interested in many recipes other than ice cream. Equipped with only a dented secondhand ice cream maker, and facing severe difficulties with photographing ice cream, I haven’t put my hat in the ring for that particular niche yet. But I did share a few healthy, seasonal recipes that I’m proud of.
This sweet corn curry was a recipe that had been waiting in the wings for a whole YEAR before I was able to re-photograph and share it. I absolutely love this recipe. I’m very confident in it because I tested it a good half dozen times.
This summer-in-a-bowl wild rice salad was amazingly, mind-blowingly delicious.
Finally, my fresh tomato marinara is a classic staple recipe that I can stand behind. In addition to standing on its own as an interesting and tasty recipe, I can start referencing it in other recipes of mine that call for tomato sauce, to create good quality backlinking throughout my website.
Income
AdThrive – $1,256.00
Amazon Affiliates – $77.61
Total Income: $1,333.61
Expenses
Market research expenses – $46.00
Total expenses: $46.00
What the heck is ‘market research expenses’? I occasionally buy eBooks, memberships and other deliverables from both competitors, and successful web entrepreneurs in other niches. I wouldn’t otherwise have any benefit from these resources, so I consider them a business expense. I buy them for the purpose of understanding what sort of value is being offered in the market and researching what content webmasters choose to give away for free versus put behind a pay wall of some kind.
Observations
August was my best month yet! But because of my computer going kaput, I haven’t really completed any of the action items I had planned. You’ll see that theme continue in my September income report ;).
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
