Mommy Money

My 12 Month Blogging Journey to $9,355.46 | 2016 Game Plan


Blogging Income Report for A Cotton Kandi Life. Blogging Incomes. How to make Money Online. Mom Blogger Incomes WAHM Income Report. How to make money Blogging. Blogging Money Reports.Let’s be honest…Life is pretty sticky and sweet over here at Camp Kelso. I must admit my lifestyle change into full-time Mom has really brought some unexpected joys and made me feel beyond grateful. I am beyond fortunate to call myself Boss and have a husband who works so hard on his own to provide for us so that I can be with the boys too. My profession is also conveniently functional from a home office. I now conduct business as usual from home, and not my spacious office building. However, to continue this posh, booger-crusted, Heaven lifestyle I’m in, I have to bring in some Mommy Money too…enter Blogging.

I do in fact have a real, tangible job that I still maintain which takes me out into the world where people see my face. I plan events and weddings for my own company, Green-Eyed Girl Productions. However, after babies, I sent myself into a 5-year business hibernation plan, where I’ve closed up my stores and offices, reduced my wedding workload to 10 {maybe 12} and conduct most of my coordinating with clients from.

Why I started this Journey

However, after babies, I sent myself into a 5-year business hibernation plan, where I’ve closed up my stores and offices, reduced my wedding workload to 10 {maybe 12} and conduct most of my coordinating with clients from my other blog. I hardly have to leave the house {the boys} except for the fewer, restructured, in-person meetings with my couples over their 12-15 month contract. Maybe 9 meetings in person… WAY different than before.

With this massive restructuring and downsizing of my “tangible career” I’ve had to adjust and take on new heights of professionalism… by diving into social media. The only adult conversations I have all day are through my keyboard {desktop or phone}. Nobody actually ever sees my real face all day, which is a huge adjustment for me professionally. Talk about identity crisis. When you go from being in charge of 100’s of people, who jump at every word you say on a daily basis, to arguing with a toddler about poop, and losing, you crave adult interaction. So I talk as much as I can online, about mature things…Now, I am an avid Work At Home Mom who now makes a portion of her financial contribution online. I am home ALL DAY unless I have a glorious meeting with a beautiful client, or I’m out on site on the wedding day in the summer. {break out the blouses & make up!}

Let’s not get confused…I have a VERY tangible job, which I promoted myself to, which is raising my two darlings, Cash & Wyatt while at home. Look at these little guys! It is my job, I take it extremely seriously {I bet you noticed if you read the blog} and it is a full-time commitment. But that doesn’t pay any bills…. unless… you can take what you do every day, and if you do it well, and different than others, you can make a few pennies by sharing it with the world. Enter the “Mommy Money Making Blog” side hustle.

My blog, A Cotton Kandi Life {you’re already here!} is where I talk about my parenting adventures. I also get to use my Master’s Degree in Education to help other parents in their daily lives. I blog about lesson plans, Toddler School and the other daily pieces of my JOB at home, which other parents reference for help and inspiration. There are ads in my right side bar which, if clicked while on my blog, earn me money. I put all this money into the boys’ College 529 Plans. I am also working on gaining more affiliates for 2016 which should be super exciting and lucrative.

My goal for 2016 is to expand this blog, as I am more and more realizing that this is actually the job I’m best at. I’m not sure if I will even do as much Wedding Coordinating in 2017 as I am in 2016 as it has already taken me away from the boys a lot {all three of them} So, if I can compensate for a few less weddings with a bit more blogging income and Mommy Money, I will! Anyway, that’s my goal for 2016.

Build the Internet into a bigger financial contributor

Goal: $4,750

{2015 = $1,923.80}

So there are a lot of contributors to the overall Mommy Money online scheme. All of them stem back to one blog or the other. I make money through my Etsy Stores too, and I use the blogs to promote them. I also now sell a lot of wedding stuff {since I closed the stores} online, which brings in a lot of money, but now online. I sell through what I call The Reusable Wedding Program on Tradesy. We’ll start with my goals there….

After closing up the Rental Company I began selling my linens in 2013. I use the online platform Tradesy and also sell reusable wedding items. In 2014 I made $6,748.69 on Tradesy selling wedding items and personal clothing. In 2015 I made less than $700 because I put the store on vacation mode to have a baby in January and move to Stayton throughout the summer. I am just barely getting everything back up and running! Right now I do have an active booth space rented inside The Shabby Chic Bride Consignment shop in Salem where I sell linens by color and have to haul the boys in with me to swap out the colors by month. I then post all my items by color for sale on the wedding blog with a combined picture of all the items. You can shop by color HERE.

I then have TWO shops now on Etsy. The Vintage Event has been open since 2010 and I sell my handmade wedding crafty, awesomeness here as well as vintage party supplies. I then just recently in October of 2015 opened up Cotton N Kandi which is the crochet hat brand I’m hoping to develop more in 2016 for the boys’ college accounts. Every hat sold goes straight to them!

Sales Goals

Tradesy: $1,500 or more in Sales for 2016 {Already at $167 on Jan, 5, 2016}
                Goal: Rebuild and update inventories on GEG Reusable Wedding Store Blog
Etsy: The Vintage Event– $200 in sales per month or $2,400 for the year- Last Year $1,068 {lowest in 3 years, it was on Maternity leave vacation mode from Jan-May though}
                Goal: Take Styled Pictures for themed listings, promote on Blog Page
Etsy: Cotton N Kandi– $50 in sales per month or $600 for the year {My brand new hat
shop needs followers!}
                Goal: Promote more listings on the blogs! Traffic sources should increase from blog urls
Total Online Sales for 2015 = $1,799.96
{which are pretty devastatingly low}
= $662.48 {Tradesy} + $1,062.48 {The Vintage Event} + $75 {Cotton N Kandi}

Online Sales Earnings 2016 Goal: $4,500

 

Blogging Goals

The Mom blog is actually doing very well all things considered. I have one viral post I’m riding high on still that brings in about 800 views PER DAY!

A Cotton Kandi Life: Traffic Goals

Page Views per Month: 24,000 {2015 = 23,000 average}
Adsense Per Day Earnings: $1 {2015 = $0.08 average}
Adsense Per 28 Day Earnings: $10 {2015 = $7.07 average}
 

Green-Eyed Girl Productions: Traffic Goals

Page Views per Month: 2,000 {2015 = 1,825 average}
Adsense Per Day Earnings: $0.15 {2015 = $0.04 average}
Adsense Per 28 Day Earnings: $2 {2015 = $0.85 average}


Total Blog Earnings for 2015
= $84.85 Adsense + $23 Sponsored Post + Free Toppy Toddler Bib Pack {$15.99} = $123.84
Blog Earnings 2016 Goal: $200 – $250
Now in order to accomplish BOTH my online sales and blog income goals I have to increase my Internet presence and “impact” which is calculated by the Klout App. Klout measures your internet REACH and how many people you’re influencing. Follow the link below for my current Klout Stats:
Klout Score 77 or higher- Currently at 54
                Goal: Become an EXPERT in something else… apparently, according to the internet I am and Expert at Public Speaking… Who knew?
To increase my internet ‘clout’ I must improve and increase these following internet platforms. I’ve outlined my goals for the year below…
Instagram
Following: 500 or more- Currently at 351
                Goal: Host a Giveaway {#Mommymade2016}, do a flash sale and build hashtag #TheMessMat
Facebook {Green-Eyed Girl}: Increase following to 600- Currently at 485. I’m still in maternity hibernation for the next 3-4 years on this front so I don’t plan to advertise still… or increase business. I’m just hopeful I can continue to coast along progressively without much effort. I should probably do some maintenance on the FB Page Profile info and the main website though…
                Goals: Edit FB page & Main Website Info
Facebook {A Cotton Kandi Life}: Increase following to 600- currently at 287. An aggressive goal, but this is my life right now and it contributes to the boys’ future.
                Goal: Share more videos! Those rake in the views!
Google+ {Blog Community}: Increase following to 100- Currently at 80
Goal: Be more active this year. I just discovered that you can share a blog post in a “community” and bloggers read it! Fancy that! Great for traffic!
Twitter: Man I suck at Twitter…. Get better at this, for one and share more than just automatically from Pinterest and Etsy…. I bet that REALLY annoys my followers! All 182 of them… Increase to 200… maybe
 
Linked InI suck worse at this than even Twitter…
Goal: Learn how and the heck to use this effectively. What is it even for anyway?
Pinterest: Oh how wayward you have gone… I need to go back through and pin {I think ALL of 2015} blog
posts… Rebuild branding and boards, increase followers to 700 from 685 and participate in more group boards.

In Closing

These are my Internet Income “Mommy Money” goals for 2016. As you can see, I’m primarily online to make money… so if you’re a Facebook friend, sorry, I’ll like your stuff, but I’m probably only there to share my own money grubbing posts in the groups… Got to get the boys into college! You understand?

If you’re reading this, you’re likely a blog follower, in which case you’re my FAVORITE people of 2016! {Aside from my boys of course.} I plan to shower you with discounts, incentives, and giveaways this year to boost all my
numbers above! Tell your friends! Sign up!…. LIKE ME! PLEASE! 😉 Wanna get my emails and help the goals? Subscribe HERE! {*wink, *wink}

Now remember I do have that other, tangible Coordinating job too, so this isn’t my entire income, just online. 🙂 I’ll be posting monthly progress reports this year too so you can follow along! And if you’re bored… which you must be… click on an ad over there to the right!


Follow Up…

Here is how my first year went:

January Report $354.00- I Have No Idea What I’m Doing

February Report $324.17- The Funnel and Affiliates

March Report $716.48- Monetizing Myself

April Report $830.68- Narrowing my Niche

May Report $714.12- Under Construction

June Report $862.46- SEO Remix

July Report $795.38- The Great Migration

August Report $752.34- On Cruise Control

September Report $860.35- The ECourses

October Report $932.17- The Launch Party

November Report $1,197.92- Automated Income


4 thoughts on “My 12 Month Blogging Journey to $9,355.46 | 2016 Game Plan

  1. […] Happy February! That means one month of 2016 down and it’s time to report and reflect on my goals. My first month went well… Turns out I still have no idea what I’m doing… But Thank You for checking in on me and my Blogging goals for 2016. My goal for 2016 is to expand this blog, as I am more and more realizing that this is actually the job I’m best at. To get the full rundown on my 2016 Game Plan, visit my original Mommy Money on the Internet Post HERE. […]

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