Jillian uses affiliate links in this post, meaning she may get a commission for any purchases made using these links. Commissions go towards keeping this site active. For more information, please see her Privacy and Disclosure Policies page. You can also read more about affiliates in her first annual blogging report below!

My First Blog Anniversary & Annual Blogging Report

I am so happy to say that I have completed my first full year of blogging! It was way more to learn and to keep up with than I thought it would be, but worth it! You can read about why I decided to start blogging in my about me section. For those who have not been following my blog, I will briefly explain here that this is a lifestyle blog. This means I blog about anything, but I try to keep my topics organized by writing about a different one each month. For this month, in celebration of my blog’s first year I am going to post about how I blog. I want to preface this by saying that everyone blogs differently, and there is no one true correct set of tools to use or niche to go for.

Annual Blogging Report – Year 1!

I want to begin my very first annual blogging report by sharing some numbers from my social media profiles for Balance & Blessings. The links to my social media profiles are included so you can follow me on them if you would like. I am excited to post these numbers whether big or small, because I know it will be fun to look back a year from now and see how much more I have grown!

Followers

Let’s start with just the blog itself:

By end of June I had over 10,000 total page views on my blog! Every day varies as far as views, so I have seen anywhere from 30-over 300 in a single day.

I am currently just under 80 email subscribers. I have not put together an official email newsletter like so many bloggers suggest, but might eventually try that too.

Social Media Channels:

Pinterest: 65-75k monthly viewers/almost 500 followers

Twitter: over 250 followers

Instagram: over 600 followers

Mix: 8 followers

Facebook group: 14 members

Income

$300 – Google Adsense Ads

In the past year I have received two payments from Google by using their Adsense Ads on my site. I am very close to my third! You only get a payment paid out when the amount they owe you for clicks on their ads you host on your web page reaches $100. So in other words, I am just about in $300 from Google Adsense in total in one year!

$1000+ – Affiliate links

I had my very first (but only so far) $1000 month this past February, only 7 months after opening my blog! I did this through using affiliate links on my site. For those who are unaware of how this works: I partner with brands or stores, people click my links to shop, and when they place an order I receive a small commission. Those “small commissions” though can really add up fast! I think part a big reason I had this sudden boost in affiliate sales in February was that this post basically went viral. *I will talk more about affiliates and how to use them in another post coming up for this month!

My Advice to New Bloggers

Make the Time – I technically have two other part-time jobs that are mostly outside my home. They have semi-flexible schedules so making time is not hard for me at the moment. However, I found it best to figure out a schedule just to keep myself on track. I usually set aside about two hours each morning, Monday through Friday, and sometimes Saturday. During this time I either write posts, take/edit photos and graphics, and promote my blog on social media. If I need a week “off” I take it. I rather do that then get burned out.

Put in the Effort – For anyone considering starting a blog of their own, I will say it is true you do have to become part photographer, writer, editor, influencer, social media specialist, and more all at once! The payoff though can be great, whether by actual income or the mental satisfaction and encouragement you receive from other bloggers and your readers.

Reach out – I try my best to keep up with threads in different Facebook groups to help promote my blog, and find advice I need in how to run it. It really has helped with my numbers, and getting my social media profiles noticed. It has also lead to good networking relationships with both new bloggers like myself, and more experienced bloggers. You will have to get a little bold if you want to work with brands and feature guest writers!

Thank You!

I wanted to conclude my first annual blogging report by saying THANK YOU to anyone and everyone who has read a post on this blog, given advice or compliments, guest-posted, subscribed, or shared! Whether friends, family, new blogging friends, or someone I never ran into before, a big thank you goes out to all of you! Your support means so much to me, and keeps encouraging me to put out better and better content.

And as always, Thank you for reading!

– Jillian

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