Hiya!
Bjork here checking in for our 58th (!) traffic and income report for Pinch of Yum.
We’ve been doing these reports each month as a way to help us stay accountable to improving and as a continual case study in building an online business. It’s been extremely beneficial for us to pause each month, add up the totals, and see specific details about where the business is spending (and earning) money. I’d encourage you to do something similar, even if you don’t publish anything publicly, as the process itself has been really helpful in getting a big picture overview of the business.
One of the most beneficial things that have come from these reports is connecting with and learning from others. And by others I mean you.
Everything we’ve learned and implemented here on Pinch of Yum has in some way, shape, or form been taught to us by someone else.
As Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Those giants are you.
Usually with these reports I share specific things that have been working for us.
But this month I’d love to hear what’s been working for you.
The process will be pretty simple. All you need to do is scroll down to the bottom of this page and leave a comment.
You could share anything. It could be a change you made to get more sleep, a positive mindset shift you’ve recently had, a specific social media tip or trick you’ve implement that has worked really well, a change you made in your business to make it run more efficiently, or a book you’ve read that has made an impact on you.
You don’t have to have a blog or a business in order to participate.
Oh, and all you silent ones should join in as well. You know who you are!
I’ll still share the numbers as usual, but after that, you’ll need to jump into the comments to see the good stuff.
Here are the numbers for May:
Income
Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links. All of the products listed below are products and services we’ve used before. If you have any questions about any of the income or expenses you can leave a comment and we’ll do our best to reply.
- AdThrive – $26,991.43
- Tasty Food Photography Workshops – $10,890
- Amazon Associates – $3,275.48
- Tasty Food Photography – $2,989.90
- Swoop – $2,932.54
- Bluehost – $2,875 –> this income comes from a page where we show people how to start a food blog in three easy steps.
- Gourmet Ads – $2,148.74
- Federated Media – $1,254.35
- sovrn – $835.54
- Yellow Hammer Media – $669.21
- How to Monetize Your Food Blog eBook – $465.00
- Genesis Theme – $370.23
- Elegant Themes – $278.00
- ActiveCampaign – $66.15
- AWeber – $20.40
Expenses
- Justworks – $14,329.60
- Studio Rent and Expenses – $3,729.71
- Media Temple (Hosting) – $1,400
- Travel – $1,225.71
- Food Expenses – $1,077.47
- Amazon S3 and Cloudfront – $1,155.05
- eBook Affiliates – $741.80
- PayPal Transaction Percentage – $465.31
- ActiveCampaign – $415.00
- Miscellaneous – $127.30
- Adobe Creative Cloud – $107.43
- LeadPages – $67.00
- Zapier – $50.00
- Insurance – $49.45
- PayPal Website Payments Pro – $30.00
- Shoeboxed – $29.95
- Hotjar – $29.00
- E-Junkie – $28.00
- QuickBooks – $26.95
- GitHub – $25.00
- CloudFlare – $20.00
- VaultPress – $20.00
- SumoMe – $20.00
- HelloBar – $15.00
- Pingdom – $14.95
- Backupify – $12.00
- Buffer – $10.00
- CrashPlan – $9.99
- Link In Profile – $9.99
- BoardBooster – $5.00 (Update: BoardBooster has shut down)
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the ways that you can monetize a food blog, we encourage you to download this free ebook, “16 Ways to Monetize Your Food Blog,” from our sister site, Food Blogger Pro!
Traffic Totals
Below are some Google Analytics screenshots from the month of May 2016.
Traffic Overview
Top Ten Traffic Sources
Mobile vs. Desktop vs. Tablet
That’s a wrap from me this week for me. Now we’d love to hear from you.
What are the things that have been working well for you lately?
Leave a comment below to share.