Food Blog Traffic and Income Report May 2018

Hey! And Hello!!!

This is me checking in for the monthly traffic and income report May 2018! I'm very behind on these monthly reports. It's been a bit of a crazy summer with some pretty cool things happening over the months. I'll get into them all in each report as I get caught up over the next couple of weeks.

If you're wondering why the heck we're doing a traffic and income report on a food blog, it's to serve a couple of purposes really. I've set a goal this year to hit 5ook pageviews a month by December. You can read about why in January's report. These reports are a way for me to track my progress and to also share what I've been doing that is working and what's not working. So much of what I learned has been from other blogger's reports and I'm really just trying to pay it forward.

The Numbers

Income

• Mediavine $171.86
• Amazon Affiliates $4.20
• Sponsored posts (Instagram) $83*
• Recipe Into Reality $1.78

Total Income $260.84

Traffic

More than numbers

I know to anyone looking to gain traffic and make an income from blogging, these numbers may signal the sign of failure. The numbers seem low. They are low. It's very alluring to look at income reports where the numbers are impressive and think that they've got the "secret sauce".

Yep. They might do. But more than likely, the people with big numbers started out with little numbers. I've seen bloggers recently, start sharing reports only after they've gained traffic and income and feel that it's only then that they have enough to share.

But I think that's depriving your readers of coming with you on a journey. I don't think I've ever met a food blogger who hasn't read a Pinch of Yum income report. They started at the beginning and it's been beyond incredible to see their growth. I cheered for them (in my head!) when they had big wins and cried with them when they suffered loss.

I was at a career crossroads when I Googled "can you make an income from a food blog". Their blog and posts were the first to come up. It was incredible to see brick by brick, post by post how to they turned their blog into what it is today. It showed me that maybe I could do it too.

Magic Happens

So, although I've got a lofty goal of 500k a month by December, it does look as though I won't make it. And it's very possible that I won't. I have no reason to believe, looking at these numbers, that I will hit my goal. But, I'm still wildly optimistic because magic happens all the time.

All it takes is one share by the right person, one pin that goes viral, or one post that catches fire. That might sound a little bit "woo-woo" but I've seen the power of positive thinking my whole life. In January, it was 2 wild days of traffic that qualified me for MediaVine.

I had no reason to believe that I'd hit my goal of 25k sessions to join MediaVine. And up until January 23rd, the fact of the matter was that I wasn't. But magic happens. And I had a pin catch some steam on Pinterest and push me over the edge.

I call it magic, but you can call it luck or whatever word suits you best. But the more you post, the more you put your work out to the world and share it, the more luck you seem to encounter.

If you've read this far down, thank you. A million thank you's, for making these recipes, leaving comments with your love, support and feedback, sending emails, following on social media and sharing this food around the table with your families and friends. Grateful seems too small a word to describe how I feel. But that's all I got. So, thank you.