Can You Make MONEY Blogging?

One of the most asked question I get is, can you make money blogging?

Mind you, and it’s not just my readers but friends and family who believe blogging has made us rich.

Let me tell you the truth about blogging; it’s a business or a hobby.

If you believe you can earn money instantly blogging, you’re probably not ready to start a blog.

Perhaps a hobby blog is a better route, although things change when money is on the table.

Not everyone wants to make money blogging and just wants to share their passions.

Remember, a business needs to come with a plan, and without one, you’ll make mistakes as I did.

Today, I want to share how you can make money blogging and some income figures from Canadian Budget Binder.

Before we begin please subscribe to my blog and newsletter before I get started with a reader question about starting a blog to be a stay-at-home mom.

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Can You Make Money Blogging? – Reader Question

Names have been changed to protect the writer of this reader’s question.

Dear Mr. CBB,

Our family is struggling most months to make ends meet, and I thought maybe you could help us.

Aside from budgeting which I started with my husband over a year ago with your free resources, we’d like to start blogging.

We’ve read that blogging is not easy and are preparing for that journey, so there are no surprises.

My husband works full-time, earning $125,000 yearly, and I work part-time, earning $35,000.

Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, my company downsized and reduced my hours.

I guess the real question is, Can you make money blogging? How much money can we earn blogging?

The idea is to bring in extra income to pay down our debts after buying our first house last year.

We purchased our home battling other homeowners who were preparing to pay over the asking price.

Although our parents told us to hold off buying a house, we didn’t listen, and now we understand why.

The costs of owning a home are far more than renting, and so many things we never considered.

Related: Household Hacks To Reduce Your Expenses

Ideally, we want to have a baby without sitting in debt in the next few years.

I also thought being a stay-at-home mom might be an option if we could build a profitable blog when a baby comes along.

Our last question is, how long did it take you to make money blogging and can you give us any figures?

We appreciate your time and tips and hope you see our email.

Kristie and Mike

Ontario, Canada

How Do You Get Rich Blogging?

Hi, Kristie and Mike,

The first thing that popped into my head when I read your email was when someone told us that we must be rich.

This blog is not about watching us become wealthy; it’s about sharing ways our community can help and share experiences.

I earn money with Canadian Budget Binder; however, I don’t push this blog to its full potential.

With the blog income added to my income, it seemed like a big deal to someone close to us.

They didn’t see the hours of planning and writing, managing social media and fixing what’s broken.

Did you know it takes me, on average, 8 hours to write an effective blog post where I feel I’m talking to an audience and not above them?

Other bloggers might say I’m crazy and wasting time and money, but am I?

It’s more a case of what means more to you, the money or the vision?

You don’t become a rockstar overnight; even Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber had to break into the scene before the world knew his name.

Embrace Change And Bring Your Vision To Life

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there will always be times you need to revamp blog posts.

You don’t get rich; you become aware of what you can and cannot achieve in the virtual world.

From my experience it’s best to keep quiet about your blog income if and when you earn money.

Jealousy, whether it’s from family, friends or community members, is tiring when a blogger is successful.

That’s why it’s far more critical to share the journey so others can follow and branch off.

Bring good into the world with your education and experience, and treat your readers like family.

You’ll always have grumpy people cross your path, but I’ve learned you can’t make everyone happy.\

Besides, this is your journey, just as it would be your Facebook page or your Instagram page.

What you perceive might not be what others understand and why being transparent is often a good thing.

Consider what life would be like communicating solely on text messages alone. It’s a lonely place.

So, if you start your blog to make money blogging, remember it begins with the mindset of building a community.

The Canadian Budget Binder community is fantastic; even those reading this never say hi.

There may also be readers who can’t stand me, and I’m ok with that because you won’t see eye to eye with everyone.

If you’ve learned even one thing from me, I’m happy, and if not, I can’t make you stay.

This blog embodies our financial journey, ways to make money, and paying off debt, which encompasses life in a budget binder.

Now that Kristie and Mike know that to make money blogging is serious business, let’s dive into their questions.

Yes, You Can Make Money Blogging

The first time I found out that I was eligible to incorporate ads into my free WordPress blog, I was over the moon.

I honestly thought that I was on my way to making it big in the frugal-living, finance blogging world.

It’s worth the chuckle now, but I knew I was getting semi-serious about blogging when I bought the book, Blogging For Dummies.

If you haven’t read the book Blogging For Dummies, it will scare you or motivate you to blog.

By the time I moved my free WordPress blog to self-hosted with Blue Host, I earned a whopping $98.00.

That took me about a year to make as I was oblivious to what was around the corner as a self-hosted blogger.

I’m telling you now, it was a fantastic feeling to know that I was getting paid to write.

As CBB became more prominent over the years, I moved to Blue Host as my hosting provider.

I suggest BigScoots because they have surpassed all expectations of a hosting company for me.

Becoming self-hosted was scary for me because I didn’t have the help I did with WordPress.

Now I have Sara, from Moonsteam Design who is so busy some days it’s hard to find her. Yes, she’s that good.

Importance Of Blogging Connections And Family

Blogging is a lonely place for a while until people find you, and often, that means you need to connect with them first.

I had a fun time reading blogs and chatting, but it became overwhelming and liked it was a task over time.

Also, there weren’t many Canadian Finance bloggers I had connected with within my first year.

Many of my blogging friends who are still around today are American, as I could sense they didn’t have that same competitive mindset.

I don’t know; maybe it was just me.

Over the past year, I’ve decided to scale down and focus on posting longer, informative blog posts.

Most bloggers don’t last, and the ones that do stick around for a reason, passion, income and friends.

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to bond with bloggers competing with you, at least in my experience.

I wish they only knew how much I appreciate their work and how honoured I am just to be acknowledged.

Media Mentions Are A Big Deal For Bloggers

Something I must confess is that I freaked out the first time Rob Carrick mentioned CBB on Carrick on Money in 2014. I’d been reading Rob’s newsletters, and to see my blog name was an incredible feeling.

Ex-writer for CBB’s Katrina was interviewed by The Toronto Star about Groceries, Holiday planning and the budget. 

It was the first interview for CBB, and I asked Katrina to lead the way on October 11, 2013.

She did a fantastic job and her time spent with CBB was full of experience in travel and gardening.

I shared my garage sale tips with the Winnipeg Free Press on May 31, 2014.

Then one of my most popular blog posts, Avoid Being House Poor, was featured on Life Hacker in July 2014

It wasn’t until Yahoo reached out and wanted a story from Canadian Budget Binder that I was in awe.

Again, Katrina was interviewed by Yahoo Canada Finance for How to throw a baby shower on a budget in August 2014.

Then came Rob Carrick, who blew up my blog for two days by featuring the post, How going vegan affected our budget in The Globe and Mail online on October 3, 2014

It has been quite the journey for Canadian Budget Binder, and it’s still going strong.

Music Collaboration Sensations

Actually, it reminds me of how Shania Twain said to Harry Styles at Coachella 2022 how honoured it was to be singing on stage with him.

Shania wanted to collaborate with Harry early in the year since he was singing her songs on stage.

We have a top Canadian music sensation stating she’s starstruck over Harry, who said Twain gave him memories with his mum.

Here’s the twist, Shania was his vision and meeting and collaborating with her was a dream come true.

My point here is that if you wait around for someone to email you or say hello, you’ll be waiting forever.

Harry went from UK bakery clerk to X-Factor, to One Direction and now the best solo artist in the world.

You’ll be amazed how many bloggers in your niche might adore you as much as you adore them.

No pun intended.

Reach out to bloggers, introduce yourself, and see if they are interested in collaborating with them.

How Much Money Can You Make Blogging?

If you want to make money blogging don’t feel you must do what everyone else is doing or you will fail.

That’s not the case at all, in fact, I’ve done the opposite as many bloggers sell a product where I do not.

Making money blogging has no limits as long as you’re prepared to put in the time.

You don’t need to comment on specific blogs every day just to be noticed as I orignally believed.

Focus on blogs that fit your niche so you can leave quality comments that resonate with the blog’s readers.

By doing so, your comment may generate traffic back to your blog, which may net you a new subscriber.

Building An Email List Is Critical To Make Money Blogging

Subscribers, newsletters and blog content are three essential parts of building your blogging community.

It wasn’t until I went self-hosted and added a visual sign-up form that I began building an email list.

I was late to the race with that and wish I had started it sooner but it was a mistake I learned from.

Keeping readers engaged in topics that you write about is a great way to build relationships.

It also motivates readers to ask me questions about personal finance where they feel safe.

Evaluating Your Blog Business

I’ve been taking time in 2022 to evaluate how my newsletter in 2021 was or was not effective.

I enjoy feedback and want to present what the readers of my community want to learn about.

Over the years I’ve found experts to answer reader questions that I cannot.

I won’t fake knowing what I don’t know just to make a reader happy. It won’t happen.

The CBB bi-monthly newsletter will be back this summer now that there will be more to talk about.

I find as gardening season begins it allows me more to share about our family and things that we do to become a self-sufficient family.

With the price of food increasing is even more important for us to grow our food and preserve it.

Last year I made so many jars of pickled beets that I lost count, and they turned out delicious.

My beet recipe was one of the more popular food posts on Canadian Budget Binder last year.

This season I’m doubling the amount if I can grow enough beets successfully.

For example, we purchase a large plot of community garden to plant vegetables and fruits for $35.

I’ve found by diversifying my budget binder to include everything that encompasses our household.

Anything from recipes to gardening, DIY, debt, relationships, budgeting, extra cash and blogging is so much fun writing about.

Back to the original question, as I have a crazy way of explaining what I’m thinking.

How Much Money Have I Made Blogging?

I went from earning $100 in my first year to earning over $35,000 gross a year blogging part-time.

Although I was hesitant to share my blogging income I think it’s important for those of you who want to earn money blogging.

Being realistic is understanding that not all bloggers will make millions of dollars and fast.

Each year will be different based on the economy, happy customers, word of mouth, and keeping your content relevant.

I’ve scaled back blogging as I wanted to spend more time with my family and work with our son, who is autistic.

You’ll never guess what subject he loves the most? It’s math followed by science and geography.

These days you’ll find me on Facebook almost daily, chatting away and on other popular social media.

Pinterest is my search engine go-to hub and earns me about 30% of my blog income, whereas Google brings in 40% along with Mediavine ads, affiliate income and sponsored posts.

Can You Make A Career Out Of Blogging?

Yes you can, but would you want to?

This is something you’d have to ask yourself.

I know bloggers who have gone full-time and earn hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars each year.

In my eyes I never put all my income earning potential in one basket, as it could go wrong.

Blogging is what I like to call a financial portfolio because there’s low-risk to high-risk earning potential.

Although lucrative blogging income likely will never be my only source of income because I love my career.

There are so many things I’m still learning about blogging and collaborations I’d love to do that CBB will be around for a long time.

Related: How many sources of income should I have?

I won’t give up what I’m trained to do hoping that my blog will earn millions of dollars.

Although that would be nice, I enjoy change and doing what I do.

Blogging started as a hobby and is now earning an income for my family.

I’m proud of my blogging success, just as I am my Univeristy degree which allows me the success I’ve achieved in Canada.

If anything I hope Canadian Budget Binder’s legacy will continue by our son once we are gone.

Earning Money Blogging With Ads

For those of you who dislike the ads, I want you to know that paying for help and buying courses to educate yourself as a blogger costs lots of money.

This is what is called investing in your business and I’ve learned you have to which is what I’ve done.

I’m hoping in 2023 to hire another employee to work with me with social media and blog post revamping.

Also, ask yourself if you’d work for free?

Probably if it’s volunteering, but when it’s a business venture, you likely will work for nothing at the start, but in time, there is money to be made.

Some bloggers earn income in as little as a few months, which I can’t comment on as that didn’t happen on my journey.

It could have, but that was an opportunity I missed out on, and hopefully, you won’t.

How Much I Charge For Sponsored Posts

These days a sponsored post is which is about a product I’ve used or asked to test and do a review runs from $550 to $1500.

Yes, you can make money blogging, but it takes time, education and pouring your heart into the process.

Now that I’m happy with where the blog is going, I’m working on ways to improve it from all angles.

It’s taken me 10 years of blogging to find my way and I hope I can continue to offer my community what they desire.

I want to thank the CBB community for believing in CBB and spreading the word with their friends and family.

This blog is a frugal living family blog, and meant to stay that way.

I hope that has answered a couple of your questions, Mike and Kristie, but please read the other blogging resource posts I’ve written.

See the blog post links below about how to blog.

Stay tuned for a list of what Canadian bloggers can claim on their income tax returns and whether you need to buy a business licence.

Mr. CBB

Other Resources To Read Next

• Things I did to earn my first $100 on Canadian Budget Binder.
• How I made my first $1000 on Canadian Budget Binder
• Six lucrative ways that bloggers make money
• Eight blogging mistakes I made that cost me money

Oh, and before you go if you made it this far and aren’t subscribed to the CBB community I’d be honoured to have you join us.

Subscribe To the Canadian Budget Binder And Get My Exclusive CBB Emergency Binder FREE!

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