by Ana Hoffman 78 comments

Weekly Chop Shop: Make Money Blogging – Who, How, and How Much



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make money blogging income reportsLast week was the first time I published only one post since I started Traffic Generation Cafe.

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth.

I was just reminded of WHY I started this blog to begin with.

And it wasn’t because I wanted to become an “A-list” blogger (whatever that means) in my niche.

It wasn’t because I wanted to be known throughout the blogosphere as the traffic generation tzarina.

Don’t get me wrong, my egocentric “me” would LOVE all those things.

However, the reason I started blogging to begin with is simple: to have the freedom to enjoy life while still making some money to support my family.

Unfortunately, it took me a year and a half to actually do it, but last week I decided I didn’t want to work.

We spent a day in the city of San Francisco, wondering around, exploring, eating crepes off the street cart, getting wet in a fountain…

We went exploring the multiple hiking trails in the Oakland Hills.

We celebrated my birthday.

We celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in the beautiful Fort Mason chapel on Easter Sunday.

We took a dip in the Pacific ocean at the gorgeous Stinson Beach.

I had the best clam chowder of my life.

We bought a house! Well, we are under contract to be exact, but everything looks great.

I had a perfect week simply enjoying life with my family.

THAT’s what this life is all about.

And I am glad I was reminded of it.

make money blogging purpose

make money emma

Yes, it was a great week.

…And we are back to business.

Last week I published my March income report.

Many of you said “wow, it’s great to see that someone is actually posting REAL numbers and actually making money blogging.”

I also got a few emails saying that with all the traffic I get, I should do much better income-wise.

I agree.

So I decided to see how other bloggers are doing in terms of making money with their sites.

I did a little digging, looking for diverse income sources and how productive and passive those income sources were.

I hope you find my research as helpful as I did.

Make Money Blogging Chop Shop

AdSense

Personally, I am not a big fan of AdSense. I don’t believe it works well in my niche.

However, there are plenty of bloggers who made AdSense their primary income source.

Monthly Business Report – March 2012 | Niche Pursuits

www.nichepursuits.com4/2/12

How have my own niche sites been performing over the past month compared to previous months?  From all the talk, sounds like I should have seen a drastic drop in earnings or worse! So, did that happen?  Well, read on to see how my earnings fared and some of my thoughts on the future of SEO.

Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits focuses primarily on building niche sites and monetizing them via AdSense.

He’s also the creator of Long Tail Pro keyword research tool. Too bad he doesn’t publish his product earnings; I’d love to see how well he’s doing with it.

Haven’t personally used Long Tail Pro yet, but many of my readers use it and love it (take a look at the comment section of my Market Samurai review).

HOWEVER, AdSense publishers, beware:

Google Banning AdSense Publishers

www.johnchow.com3/19/12

My friend Zac Johnson, who has been an AdSense publisher since Google started it was banned from Google AdSense today. Here’s the email Zac got. … He’s never had any fraudulent activities on his account, Google had sent him yearly Christmas gifts for being a great AdSense partner, and now Google has disabled his account not because he’s done anything wrong, but because there is a risk that he might do something wrong! This isn’t even a case of guilty until …

Why Google Adsense Is A Bad Primary Source Of Revenue

www.gauherchaudhry.com3/17/12

Now, if you are using Google Adsense as your primary source of online revenue, then you better think twice about switching over to a better revenue model.

Paid Advertising

Great relatively passive way to earn online income – see my post on banner advertising to learn more about this monetization method, as well as hear opinions from Yaro Starak, Pat Flynn, Kristi Hines, and Lisa Irby on it.

So far, I’ve never met anyone who does it better than Kirsty from Nerdy Nomad – close to $8,000 in March… all while traveling the world.

March Earnings & Spending Report – Nerdy Nomad

www.nerdynomad.com4/1/12   @travoholic

March was another crazy month. Things just keep getting crazier and crazier around here! I earned $9118 which is my second best month so far. But the kicker is that…

Site Flipping

This is a more unusual way to make money online, but AdSense Flippers do a great job deriving most of their income from flipping sites.

Income Report – March 2012 | AdSense Flippers

adsenseflippers.com4/5/12   @adsenseflippers

March marks an interesting month in the world of search, internet marketing, and here at AdSense Flippers. Once again, we find ourselves faced with both some successes and some struggles this …

Amazon Associates

Here’s another example of something that I’d never bother to try because of low commission level, but hey, this wouldn’t be the first time I was proven wrong.

Income Report – March 2012

www.chasingpace.com4/6/12

I really wasn’t looking forward to making this post, especially after getting my AdSense account disabled last month. I still have no clarification on why the …

Services

Even though this is not my personal favorite (I actually stopped offering any kind of consulting services through my blog altogether), there’s plenty of money to be made offering your time and expertise.

My Monthly Income & Expenditure Report – March 2012

www.leavingworkbehind.com4/3/12   @tomewer

Another month has come and gone, and with it, the first quarter of the 2012. Can you believe that …

My Income and Traffic Report – March 2011 – YoungPrePro

www.youngprepro.com4/8/11

I made a lot of decisions when entering the new year, but the best so far is displaying my income report: not only because it helps inspire and motivate my readers but because it is what keeps me moving strongly. I also see these monthly income reports as a way to make myself accountable to my readers and in this case failure isn’t an option, I’d rather not stand my income and traffic report decreasing every month. You might have many reasons for reading …

Affiliate Marketing

Ahhh, now we are getting into what’s near and dear to me: affiliate marketing is where my heart is when it comes down to monetizing Traffic Generation Cafe and here are some blogs to look out for:

My Monthly Report – March 2012

www.smartpassiveincome.comApril 3, 2012

March was an event-filled month, to say the least.

I want to cover 3 things:

My Response to Timeline for Facebook Pages.

SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com losing it’s #1 spot in Google after 492 days at the top

The product I was supposed to launch here on SPI.

Pat Flynn doesn’t need an introduction for most of you.

Yes, he puts his blood, sweat, and tears into his business, but the results are always spectacular.

I, for one, am very jealous of his some $40,000 in affiliate earnings in March (might as well be honest about it, right? – most of us are), but it just goes to show what’s possible.

Making Money with Niche Blogs

Mind you we are not talking about niche sites here; rather, blogs that are not built around internet marketing niche.

I am asked on a daily basis about how to make money with a blog focused on music, or cooking, or short stories.

I found a couple of such blogs that might answer some of your questions.

Making Money from a Food Blog – March Income Report – $1024.53 …

pinchofyum.com4/6/12   @pinchofyum

Our hope with these monthly income reports is to provide some insight so you know what’s working and not working when it comes to monetizing a blog.

We both work full-time, so any income you see created from this blog is a result of time spent outside of the regular 9-5.

Here’s the breakdown of March’s income from Pinch of Yum:

My February 2012 Monthly Income Report | The Thrift Store Reseller …

www.thriftstorereseller.com3/31/12

Every month I write a report about the income I make from reselling thrift store items on Ebay. In each report, I’ll include the amount of money I’ve made on online and as …

Marketing Takeaway

Nope, it’s not easy.

No matter how you slice it.

But it IS possible.

And the best way to make money blogging is to figure out what others do well, what strategies fit your niche best, and then do them better than anyone else.

Who said running an online business is easy?

How I Put Together This Post

I was asked in the comments what I used to curate all these great sources.

I was recently introduced to CurationSoft and I love it.

They have a free version, but if it’s not enough, you can purchase the paid version at a whooping $59 per year.

Sometimes great tools don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

Enjoy!

traffic generation cafe

Image source: beautiful photo by Aleksey & Marina


traffic generation cafe comment below

{ 78 comments }

Caimin July 17, 2012 at 1:51 am

Ana,

Just to say thanks for the tip about CurationSoft, looks like an amazing time saver. Downloading it now…

Ana Hoffman July 17, 2012 at 7:32 am

Really does save a lot of time, Caimin; let me know what you think about it.

Caimin August 8, 2012 at 5:51 am

Hey Ana, I finally got round to trying it out. And only three weeks later, that’s pretty good for me.

I like it, if nothing else it saves a lot copying and pasting. I’d say it shaves my writing time of linked filled posts in half.

Thanks again for the tip.

Ana Hoffman August 8, 2012 at 9:56 am

I agree, Caimin – anything that makes my job more efficient is huge in my book.

Ana Hoffman May 18, 2012 at 6:46 am

You are very welcome, Sian; thanks for coming by.

Sire April 24, 2012 at 2:56 am

Hey Ana, good to see that you took some time off to enjoy the important things in life. Sounds like you had a great time and it’s great to see you sharing the devotional aspect with the family during Easter.

During my blogging career I’ve discovered several ways of making money online, many of which you mentioned here. There are also a few you mentioned that I haven’t tried such as site flipping, although I have a few for sale on Sedo ;)

So far to date I have one site that I have high expectations for and that is my lottery site. The hardest thing is getting people to join those lottery affiliates that I am affiliated to. It did discover something the other week though and that is that sometimes people require an incentive to join. On that particular week it was the USA Mega Million jackpot which got me over $500 in sales in a matter of days.

The good thing about having someone join from my site is that once they join via one of my links they become a customer for life so every time they buy a ticket I earn a commission. So far this month my customers have bought over $300 in lottery tickets, from just one of my affiliates. Now all I need to do is build my customer base to generate a decent passive income.

Ana Hoffman April 24, 2012 at 10:28 pm

Sounds like a great way to make money, Sire – as you said, once you get the ball rolling, this kind of business can run itself.

Ricky April 19, 2012 at 3:55 pm

Those reports are definitely motivating. I have been working on mine for a total of about a year and I seem to be going up and then down. It is like a roller coaster that never stops going. I am so happy I found this site. I have already found my traffic increasing. I am not sure if that is a coincidence or says something, but you definitely pack your articles full of goodies. I love how you take the extra step and go just a little bit further than any-other site I can think of right now. In fact, I am pretty sure that this blog is the best I have came across on a wide variety of topics, which revolve around website traffic generation.

I do not know if my e-mail went through, but that you for such a quick response. I really appreciate it. At this rate I should have read almost all your article by tomorrow. Thanks again, I really appreciate all the effort you put into this blog. I just want to make sure you know that.

Ana Hoffman April 19, 2012 at 8:11 pm

You can butter me up all you want, Ricky, just don’t put me in the oven. lol (Dry Russian humor)

Thank YOU!

Lilibeth April 19, 2012 at 12:48 pm

One thing I really need to learn from you is actaully the way you edit your posts. They have a lot of texture and you use multiple colours of fonts.

I view it as ‘texture’ for your posts. I really do need to work on this.

Ana Hoffman April 23, 2012 at 7:10 am

Make your content “readable” makes all the difference in the world, Lilibeth.

Anne April 19, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Getting banned (as I was) from Google Adsense was probably a good thing for me. It made me feel freer to do more things with my site. I think it’s like a load lifted off my shoulders, but I haven’t yet figured out why.
I did nothing wrong either. They just banned me out of the blue. I was extremely upset, but am seeing it differently now.

As you said, there are so many other ways of making money online. We just have to find the right one for us. I’m still looking…

Ana Hoffman April 23, 2012 at 7:09 am

So sorry to hear that, Anne.

However, not being a big fan of AdSense to begin with, I agree with you: good riddance!

Andrea Hypno April 17, 2012 at 11:40 pm

I’ve always wondered if those earnings are real given that no one shows any tax form. This way it’s easy to boast tens of thosands of dollars as no one can really know if it’s true. I agree with you on Adsense but it’s more or less the only way to get some money without having readers to pay for something, and in these times that’s not bad.

But even AdSense these days pays just pennies to publishers, unless I’m the only unlucky one; if only there was a similar alternative or a good cpm network.

Obviously I agree with your take on CrankyAds and affiliate products. :)

Ana Hoffman April 19, 2012 at 11:45 am

I think it comes down to trust between the blogger and the audience.

Take Pat Flynn, for instance: he makes very good income, publishes it, and shows no proof, yet there’s no doubt in our minds that he is not padding it.

I think AdSense works best in bulk; the more sites you have, the more likely you are to earn a decent living with it.

Then of course, you have to think about the upkeep of those sites and potential Google slaps… Not something I’d want to bank my future on.

Andrea Hypno April 19, 2012 at 11:50 pm

I think this is going to be a big boomerang for Google. The more they try to dictate the web how to live the more people looks for alternative ways to get traffic, and money. First you start to look for alternative ways to earn because they pay pennies and reserve the right to throw you out at their will and second you find a better search engine, which is not that hard. Next comes no need for Google anymore.

Oh well, they’ll reap what they’ve sown. Their fault.

Ana Hoffman April 24, 2012 at 7:21 pm

I haven’t been using Google much as a consumer, just for business, for a long time now, but now that we are buying a house and need a lot of stuuuufff, I’ve realized just how much Google sucks.

As I try to research different products, I see very few good results on the first couple of pages. Mostly affiliate “reviews” (not even real reviews, just something they read in an Ezine article most likely) and redirections to real websites.

What a shame.

So, yes, as a consumer, I’d rather use other alternatives.

Henry April 17, 2012 at 4:28 am

Anna,
Happy birthday. It was nice you take some time out and spend it around your loved ones.
I can’t remember how I stumble on your site but ever since then I have been glued. Reading this post has help me seen how many other blogs are making their money. it was really interesting and a great post you have here.
I have one question though which might be off-topic but hope you can give a word to it. If I have the same post I wrote on an article directory and on my website, will google consider it as a duplicate post?

All the best
Henry

Ana Hoffman April 19, 2012 at 8:30 am

Thank you for the wishes, Henry.

You can read more about duplicate content in this post: http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/duplicate-content/, but in short, no.

Nicole April 14, 2012 at 5:51 pm

You posted a link to a food blog talking about making money! That almost never happens, and I never would have known about it had I not read this post. Thank you!

Nicole

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 12:30 pm

You are very welcome, Nicole.

Most niche blogs don’t post their income reports; that’s why it was so difficult to dig this one up, but glad I found it.

Ileane April 14, 2012 at 4:11 pm

Happy belated birthday my dear!! So wonderful to see those pics of you and your loved ones. God bless you guys.

I had a look at my AdSense earnings the other day and to be honest, I make more off of my YouTube videos than I do my blog. So guess who plans to make more videos real soon!?!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and congrats on the new home.

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 7:55 am

I assume you are making money off YT Partner’s program, Ileane?

Glad to hear it’s actually paying off.

And thank you!

Philos April 14, 2012 at 3:03 am

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, especially on Adsense. Adsense is so inviting that sometimes one takes so much time before they find another revenue generator to lean on should Google decide to ban them from their program.

Have a great day Ana.

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 7:54 am

That’s why it’s so important not to put all out eggs in one basket, Philos.

Thomas April 14, 2012 at 1:31 am

Hi Ana
San Francisco really seems like a great place to live and it looks like you and your family had a great week. Also great to hear that you have found the house that you want. Oh yes not to forget, Happy Birthday Ana

PS. If I can keep up the pace in April I expect to get my first AdSense payment in May :-)

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 7:53 am

Thank you, Thomas!

PS Hope you can keep your AdSense account out of trouble. lol

Astro Gremlin April 13, 2012 at 5:27 pm

Ana, pleased to hear you have returned rested and ready to serve our needs for quality information. :) Let’s see CurationSoft is about $1 a week. Not bad! This curation of articles took me some time to read but well worth it. Gee whiz, how imperious and arbitrary our corporate ruler has become. Just read on Reuters that Google revenues are down. I just turned off WhyDoWork for Adsense in the interiors of my posts and pages. Wasn’t making any money anyway, so not much of a sacrifice. Still have one Adsense ad in the sidebar in case readers change their behavior.

Ana Hoffman April 15, 2012 at 9:02 am

I hate the feeling that we have no choice but to use Google because that’s what our customers are using, Astro.

Thanks for coming by!

Kharim Tomlinson April 13, 2012 at 8:28 am

I got banned from Google Adsense and that really hurt my income a bit. :(

Allie April 12, 2012 at 6:54 pm

Ana,

Like you, I came on the scene to create an online income with freedom to be home with the kids and just plain freedom to be my own boss.

I haven’t been successful because I know I have stretched myself too thin between too many things. This has created that “half ass” effect of doing things and I have lost valuable time because of it. I plan on changing that. My focus is changing and I am seeing what works for others (and me on a small scale).

I hope we both rise and become successful moms at this online game. :-)

Thanks for the resources here, I will surely be reading many of them.

BTW, welcome to the Bay Area! I love it here!

Ana Hoffman April 13, 2012 at 7:38 am

Allie – the fact that I (and probably you) feel like we don’t have a choice but to succeed even though the odds are seemingly stacked against us could be the best motivator.

Have you read the post Daniel Roach published yesterday at TGC? Come back and take a look.

I think that’s the key.

Ana Hoffman April 13, 2012 at 7:40 am

PS Yes, I absolutely LOVE the area so far! Some storm last night, huh?

Mark April 11, 2012 at 10:31 pm

This is a very useful warning about Adsense, especially IM newbies get fascinated about getting clicks that cost $5 or $10 and think they can be smarter than Google creating MFA sites with low quality content. I think it is not so much Googles fault, some people are simply too lazy or greedy and want to bump out easy cash from Google but forget that Google´s main goal is to provide advertisers the best and relevant service..

Still I as a business person want my business to be as independent as possible and this is why I think building a list and affiliate marketing is #1 way tom monetize blog traffic.

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 4:58 pm

In the end, we can complain about Google all we want, Mark, but it’s truly rare that they do something, like disable someone’s AdSense account, without a cause.

Diversification is the key!

Daniel April 11, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Another no BS post, Ana….

This is what people need to get their head around, rather than not having any “real” data(examples) depicting levels of success attained through Blogging, as reference points…..

Yeah, I have seen some sites out there pulling in some serious Mullah(money).
One in particular(a few sites combined) was getting some amazing results, through a combination of methods….

I have seen sites with an average amount of traffic(at best) who say they are pulling in some quite large earnings(they elaborate to a point, though, leave question marks—-which makes me have some doubts)

I have also seen sites with a huge amount of traffic, yet, they are not doing well at all. Fiscally speaking. And this does not seem to bother them…

So, monetization wise, it seems like it comes down to a “Targeted traffic” approach….

Sorting out the “Wheat from the chaff ” {REAL site earnings, as apposed to “Mock up” site earnings} once achieved, provides great insight into actual site potential(earning$) and what will be required to attain this.

Oh, and a late Happy Birthday, Ana.

Ana Hoffman April 13, 2012 at 7:27 am

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Daniel.

Most of us are online to make money, and there’s no right or wrong way of doing it.

We just need to figure out what works for us and our blogs and focus on that.

Doing research for this post definitely helped me understand how money can be made; now’s my turn to figure out how I can apply to TGC and your turn to apply it on your blog.

Joe April 11, 2012 at 2:27 pm

Nice read. I know blogs are a great way to bring in traffic, but it has been hard for us to keep up with ours.

Like many business service providers, we have the opposite problem that you have. Our main business is offering services and we have little time to manage the blog. We am trying to make more time though since it can be very beneficial.

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 9:21 pm

I know everyone says a business needs a blog, but I think it’s nonsense, Joe.

Your priority is to bring in visitors and convert them into customers. If a blog does more harm than good to help that goal, then who cares.

Ali April 11, 2012 at 11:09 am

And why does my comments have to go through moderation ALL the time, Ana? :(

Ana Hoffman April 12, 2012 at 8:39 am

That I don’t know, Ali.

My settings are the first comment goes through moderation; once approved, the following comments should be approved automatically.

I suppose Wordpress doesn’t always work the way we’d like it to.

Ali April 11, 2012 at 11:08 am

I also believe AdSense is not great for bloggers… Amazon Affiliates and Paid advertising are well worth it.
BTW your little angel is so cute :)

Ana Hoffman April 12, 2012 at 9:30 am

She is indeed; thanks, Ali!

Fabrizio April 11, 2012 at 9:54 am

Hi Anna great to hear that you had a great Easter break to celebrate, life is for just that. Being thankful for every day that you have  Hope you’re feeling much refreshed and ready to get back into the ring doing what you do best.

My partner Samantha and I are looking forward to a well earned break away from the desk in 5 weeks time travelling to the Canary Islands on a surf trip, so I can’t wait. I plan not to have anything to do with my businesses or the blog whilst I’m away, at least I’ll try…

Anyhow I was glad to read your income report not so long ago; it’s great to share the results of your hard work. I love doing the same. I read many of the posts you shared in your research, the Google AdSense ban for many publishers was a real eye opener. I don’t make a great deal on AdSense but it’s a decent enough chunk each month, which is why now I really think that bloggers should diversify their online income streams.

All the best for now – Fabrizio

Ana Hoffman April 12, 2012 at 8:37 am

Canary Islands trip sounds marvelous, Fabrizio; it’d be a shame to bring your computer to that. lol

I suppose diversification is always the key to protecting our income streams.

I, for one, realized that I was too dependent on SEO traffic income, and of course, with all the recent changes from Google, I’ll have to work to change that.

Mary April 11, 2012 at 7:55 am

I gave myself a break last week as well. That was enough to catch up with my family and provide me with inspiration to begin working again. I think you are close to your dream of becoming an A-list blogger. Your family is beautiful especially your daughter. I am glad to have you back.

Ana Hoffman April 11, 2012 at 9:32 am

Thank you, Mary.

I don’t think it’s a matter of becoming an A-list blogger; more like know that what I do matters and be able to support my family financially to make weeks like these possible.

Alan April 10, 2012 at 6:21 am

Hey Ana,

first of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (OK, so that must be a little late now, but you only just told me).

I am guilty too of exactly the same thing – I have a few different interests and was only supposed to be looking at websites one (short) day per week. then I ended up becoming kind of obsessed with it. Who am I kidding, I’m still obsessed with it.

At least setting yourself some boundaries, so that you remember to enjoy life, time off, and most importantly time with your family is why we’re all (we = location independent/online business) doing this in the first place.

Sowieso, I’m glad to hear you’re keeping your priorities right,

take care & best wishes,
Alan

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 7:14 am

Obsessed – that’s exactly me.

I never realized I’d love blogging as much as I do until I started TGC, Alan, and now have a hard time pulling myself away from it.

Thanks for the wishes!

Alan | Life's Too Good April 10, 2012 at 8:24 am

You’re most welcome ;-)

take care,
Alan

Adam April 10, 2012 at 6:03 am

Hey Ana,

If you’re into income reports, I post a monthly wrap-up of the top online earners. You might find it interesting (and inspirational).

Cheers,
Adam

Cristina Ansbjerg April 10, 2012 at 4:12 am

The time off you took was deserved, Ana.
We all need to stop and smell the roses from time to time.

This post is full of great resources. Ana, may I ask you what tool did you use to curate all these articles?

Thanks,

Cristina

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 7:10 am

And they smelled great, Cristina!

I used CurationSoft for this post; should’ve mentioned it in the post, but here’s the link: http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/loves/curationsoft/

Thanks for coming by.

Emily Williams April 10, 2012 at 1:03 am

Ann, thanks for the revalation! I’ve bookmarked your article and will look through it again when start promoting my coming soon page :)
Wish you millions of weeks like you’ve already had :)

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 3:41 pm

Thanks so much, Emily, and glad I could be of help.

Mccoy April 9, 2012 at 11:58 pm

Ana,

Think you have a great blog and many useful and well written articles. Was shocked when saw your income. I think you provide so much value to your readers and fans. Check out Pat Flynns smart passive income, his style is similar to yours but he is doing very well finance wise (see his income reports).

I know you said you don’t want to create a product, but i think many would be interested if you created a course on how to create a blog with over 25k views, dozens of comments per post, tweets, +1 and FB likes.

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 7:08 am

The biggest difference between me and Pat is the fact that he’s been in business for a LOT longer than I have – I’ve been in it for less than 2 years.

When I’ve run TGC for 5-6 years, then we can compare Pat’s income reports with mine.

Mccoy April 10, 2012 at 7:42 am

I meant no offense. I think you and Pat are excellent bloggers, you both give so much value, interact with your readers and don’t bombard offers at your list everyday. I have massive respect for you.

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Not at all. At this point, I can only wish I did as well as Pat.

Mccoy April 11, 2012 at 3:27 am

You will :)

Ahmad Wali April 9, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Hey Ana that Google Adsense horror story! You know I also got my adsense account got disabled. I was earning reasonable $500 to $700 from my niche blog. And it is like you are playing fair and suddenly Google thinks it is a big risk! After that I am still struggling to find an alternative source to keep my blogging passion running.

I’ve shifted my focus towards SEO company and it is now growing. I don’t have to worry about adsense or any other program to disable my account. Good insights that keeps you motivated that we can earn good income finding more oppurtunities..

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 7:07 am

I wonder if it’s a part of Google Panda clearance?…

For instance, they find niche blogs and know that the purpose of those blogs is basically to rank and monetize via Google AdSense.

So instead of trying to come up with content filters, etc. instead they simply disable ad accounts, which makes those blogs virtually useless to their owners?

Anyway, glad to hear you took your business in a different direction; sounds like a good move.

Harleena Singh April 9, 2012 at 8:04 pm

Loved the snaps Ana!

I was just about thinking how you manage to balance things out with your daughter Emma and family life – without really taking a breather :) And I am so glad and happy for all of you that you went ahead and spent some time together- something that is so-so essential. After all that is why we earn – for our family and to be with them – isn’t it?

Belated birthday & congratulations on your new house too, which would soon be yours. Great going, and thanks to your and your husbands hard work :)

Enjoyed the links and other information shared, though I have yet to start thinking about the monetary aspects of things yet. :)

Thanks for sharing a part of yourself with us. :)

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Harleena, I know you appreciate my content, but you also know how to get to the heart of it all. Yes, who cares about my blog and great content other than the fact it allows me to spend a great week with my family; THAT’S what’s important in life.

By the way, what happened to your freelancing blog/business; have you phased it out?

Harleena Singh April 11, 2012 at 1:40 am

I sure do appreciate you as well as your blog that’s full of wonderful content Ana :)

And yes, these small things is what makes our lives more beautiful and worth living – isn’t it?

Thanks so much for asking about my freelance writing business, which is on as usual except that I’m not able to maintain the blog for writers presently along with the family blog. I had switched both onto WordPress together, then started working on just one of them, now its the others turn :)

I actually wanted the family blog to rank well first, and it just crossed the Alexea milestone yesterday and made my day. Now I plan to pick up on the freelancing blog. I hardly get time to maintain one blog, and commercial work takes most of my time- so I need to gear up well for things now :)

Ana Hoffman April 16, 2012 at 8:30 pm

I can definitely relate to running more than one blog, Harleena.

When someone asks me how many sites I have, my first reaction is always “Are you kidding me? Have you tried to run a blog like mine?” lol

All the best with both blogs.

sreekumar April 9, 2012 at 5:03 pm

Let us not forget to live our life. I think you have realized it and earmarking it properly from the way you celebrated your birthday. Devote much time to the little one as well. I think she too is getting her due share just like your blog. Any way best wishes and good luck to you and your family.

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 7:00 am

Problem is I tasted the “free” life, Sreekumar; now I want it all the time! lol

Thanks for coming by.

Lanre April 9, 2012 at 12:31 pm

Hi Ana,
Hope it’s not too late to say Happy Birthday. I can also see it was splendid. Income reports are just not my thing yet. Why? Because my blog is not monetized. It used to be but I pulled down all ads (blogging-related reasons).

I think Adsense can be a really good income earner but it takes more work than affiliate marketing or banner advertising. I think the type of ad differs with the type of blog. In my opinion, a self help blog might work best with affiliate marketing or banner ads and probably not with Adsense. Anyway, it still boils down to what the blogger wants.

Thanks for this insight. And Happy Easter.

Ana Hoffman April 10, 2012 at 6:59 am

Thank you for the wishes, Lanre!

Blogging for fun sounds like a great way to go. I don’t think I personally have enough passion for writing to do that.

And yes, what works for one niche/blog might not work for another.

Happy Easter!

Leo Dimilo April 9, 2012 at 11:34 am

Hey Ana,

Good collection of links. And good for you to take a bit of time off. Sometimes you need to step away to get a better perspective. And if it was truly as easy as some people believe, then everyone would be doing it and doing it well.

Ana Hoffman April 9, 2012 at 12:20 pm

You are so right, Leo.

I’ve looked through many, many reports to compile this post and most bloggers are not making much at all.

It’s much easier to say that I should be doing much better than I am with the kind of traffic I get. lol

I absolutely loved the time off. The challenge is to keep working so that I am able to take mini-vacations on a regular basis.

Asif Khan April 9, 2012 at 11:29 am

First, i should confess that i admire your writing. Second, i eagerly wait for your blog updates in my feed reader, even though i don’t relate to your niche at all. But it was a bit strange to see only one article last week, now i know the reason. Congrats for your home, Mam.

And for this post. Affiliate Marketing is the biggest source of income for majority of bloggers in your niche. Adsense is only good for blogs with a broad niche like Technology and Internet where it is difficult to recommend a single product. But for affiliate marketing, just create a blog on a small topic and start recommending products.

Ana Hoffman April 9, 2012 at 12:23 pm

I appreciate you reading my updates, Asif!

Yes, affiliate marketing is one of the better methods of generating income in my niche; marketing your own products would be a step above that.

Justin April 9, 2012 at 11:23 am

Thanks for the mention, Ana!

I love the fact that you’re reporting on all of these great bloggers and IMers. I already read more than 75% of them regularly…will have to check out the rest! You have an interesting hub of content here that I’m just getting into…and liking it!

BTW, awesome you were at Stinson beach. I grew up in Vallejo, CA (and then Dixon, CA!) and am familiar with it from my childhood…awesome!

Ana Hoffman April 9, 2012 at 12:25 pm

It’s my pleasure, Justin – I’ve been watching your blog for a while and love the fact that you always thins outside the box.

Just moved to the Bay area; love it!

Ryan Hanley April 9, 2012 at 10:38 am

Ana,

Glad to see you’re back to business… My Google Reader felt a little dry last week with only one Traffic Generation Cafe post.

I’ll have a new Guest Post to run past you soon.

All the best!

Ryan H.

Ana Hoffman April 9, 2012 at 12:30 pm

lol, Ryan – thanks for coming by.

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