Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Blog Income Report, 2010 YTD

View Comments | Posted In Make Money, Personal by David

It has been awhile since I’ve done any kind of income report on this blog. That is by design. After all, it does seem a little bit vain to post things like that. :)

However, the truth is that people seem to find it super interesting. At the same time, I guess it serves as a little report card. So, I’ll do one. :)

Income Breakdown So Far

As we go into May, the business has grossed a bit over $124K. As always, I want to emphasize the word “gross” here. The business has expenses. For example, I’ve paid out almost $19,000 in commissions to affiliates, over $4,000 in web hosting and related services, plus I have payroll, contractor services – the list goes on. Things add up.

Here is the breakdown in terms of percentages:

  • Banner Advertising – 15%
  • Affiliate Marketing – 9%
  • My Own Products – 76%

As you can see, I have most heavily turned my online business in the direction of self-offered products and away from banner ads – something I routinely preach to all of my readers. Banner ads are a poor way to make money with a blog. Now you know why I say that.

Of the products I offer, Blog Masters Club represents the majority of the income. A full 72% of my gross sales for this year is from Blog Masters Club. In fact, surprisingly enough, this blog is now far outpacing PCMECH.com in terms of revenue, all without a single banner ad on the site.

Even when I look at the income from PCMech, though, I am making most of the revenue through self-offered products. All of the advertising income I make is coming from PCMech (because I don’t do ads on this blog), and even then, it is a minority of the income. I’m making about 25% more income from products on PCMech than I am with all of the ads.

Looking Ahead

I’ve been outside of my comfort zone and pushing ahead all this year. I’ve been taking action. I’ve been doing everything that I talk about all the time on this blog.

But, if you’re not growing, you’re getting smaller. And I’ve got plenty in store.

It is really a surprise to me that this blog is pretty much blowing PCMECH away in terms of revenue, all without any ads and with FAR less traffic. This blog is certainly going to keep growing. I just launched the Inner Circle program. Blog Masters Club will be relaunching within a couple of months. I’ve also got a physical version of that course in the making, and another web-based video course set up specifically for technically challenged newbie bloggers.

My goal was to do at least 4 product launches this year.

However, I must also turn my attention to PCMECH. It is my “first love”. The first site I ever set up and made a business out of. It is still running well, however it needs my attention. Sometimes I have a hard time concentrating on more than one thing at a time, and lately PCMech has been coasting (for the most part) while I spend more time working on this blog and it’s related products. Through some of my efforts to expand my team, I plan to change that.

The Motto Of This Story

I’m going to continue to be a champion of the idea of using a blog to market a product. That continues to be, in my eyes, the absolute BEST way to make money.

Sure, some blogs will perform better with ads. Some niches aren’t that well-suited to obvious product offerings. As I discuss in the Blueprint report, it comes down to picking a good market, one with goals. But, more often, it simply comes down to making the offer. The tech niche isn’t exactly the easiest market in the world, yet I managed to turn a tech blog into a six figure business. And ads aren’t the primary source of revenue.

And, do NOT make the mistake of thinking you need to be a money-blogger to make it work. Jumping to that conclusion is a COP OUT. Most “make money” bloggers worth a damn were successful in building up a blog in a completely different niche before they started blogging about blogging. You’d be surprised on some of the niches that work. I have a friend of mine making a great income in the “craft fairs” market. I’m not kidding. He’s not blogging, but he’s offering a service and he’s crushing it. He’s not particularly passionate about craft fairs, which is the reason he doesn’t blog about it. However, if he were to blog on it, I’m sure it’d help his business quite a bit.

If you want some help from me on finding your way, I encourage you to join my Inner Circle program. If you want an inside look at how I run things, if you want me to be available to answer questions and evaluate your blog, if you want live instruction webinars that go beyond the blog – then you should definitely check out the Inner Circle. The program is brand new, and we’re getting off to the races.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. Blogging Income Report: November 2008
  2. January 2009 Blogging Income Report
  3. Make Money Blogging: Income Breakdown for June 2010
  4. My Income Report – Just To Mess With John Chow
  5. Blogging Income Report: Last 3 Months
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  • What I like about this, David, compared to Darren Rouse who put his stats up, is how much of your income comes from your own products as opposed to affiliate crap.

    In other words - your products are a priority to you.
  • Revenue reports are so much fun and seem to be so popular. Your ytd gross income is pretty impressive. The breakdown of how it was generated and the cost of doing business is a good eye opener.
  • Thanks for your post.I hope this will help many more like me .It will encourage all bloggers to do good work.
  • It's definitely not easy to juggle more than one business and when you add multiple kids into the picture...
    You are definitely an inspiration to many bloggers David. Thanks for leading the way.
  • Interesting to see how your gross revenue is playing out as the year progresses. I like the fact that the majority of your income is from your own products which is encouraging since I'm close to launching my own membership site. It demonstrates what you, myself and others have been saying about the best methods to generating an income online and selling your own products is by far the best option if done correctly.

    I appreciate you sharing this information. It is always a pleasure to get an inside look at another bloggers business model and successes. The insight and lessons learned are valuable by far!
  • I'm surprised by your affiliate number. I would have thought it to be more regarding the make money online niche your in and all the professional launches that go on within this market.
  • I don't participate in most of those launches, though. I'm very selective about what I choose to promote for other people. Plus, many of those things aren't appropriate for bloggers, and I always make sure that what I promote is relevant to my audience and teaches stuff that I agree with.
  • David, thanks for sharing this info with us. I'm just getting started in this blogging world but posts like these are encouraging. I know it takes hard work and a lot of dedication, but I'm willing to put in the hours. I'm going to have to check out your inner circle. Is that different than the blog masters club?
  • Interesting - I've never divided my turnover up in that way, so when I read this I did. And as you know, I run a similar set up, with one blog in this sector and another (with advertising) in a different niche. And here's where I am year to date:

    Own Stuff: 63%
    Affiliate Stuff: 8%
    Advertising: 29%

    Just thought the comparison would be interesting.
  • Excellent Inner Circle webinar last night with tactics that can be put into action immediately. I especially appreciate how you share what works/doesn't work for you, your plans, and where you get some types of work done, costs, etc. This really is "insider" information.
  • Thanks so much. :-) Glad you enjoyed the webinar.
  • Did not have the opportunity to participate. Is the recording available? Have to check out inner circle. Out travel most of this and next week. Should be able to be on BMC Webinar.

    Cheers.. Are
  • Hmmm. I just had a post here ready to go, and when I submitted it, it said something about posting too fast and needing to slow down. I'm not sure why, but it slowly then loaded into my disqus box. odd.
    Anyway,
    David, I for one love to see stuff like the information you shared. It helps beginning bloggers like myself in the form of inspiration. It is also nice to see that you had a plan going into it all, and it seems to be falling into place. One action at a time.

    Great job!
    Brandon
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