Tallies from 2012: How Much Money Did My Blog Earn?

Every year I intend to tally up the amount of money I earn from online endeavors including, but not limited to, blogging. Usually I lose track of just how much I earned and lost and this year is no exception. I’m sure I’m missing a few figures here and there but overall I think it’s within a few hundred dollars of the actual number.

As you can see I made the most money through advertising. This included tweets, links on Facebook, sponsored posts and simple sidebar advertisements. Averaged out over a twelve month period I earned roughly $160 each month, though in reality most of my advertising revenue was generated in a three month period. $160 is a pretty pitiful amount of money, (certainly not enough to quit one’s day job), but I should note that I do not write this blog as a means to make money. In fact, I turn down quite a few requests for sponsored posts each month, because I don’t like the advertisement or I’m unwilling to clutter my blog for the small amount of money advertisers are willing to pay me.

In looking over the numbers I was most surprised by the amount of money I earned from completing online surveys. I typically fill these out early in the morning or late at night after my son’s in bed. They only take a few minutes and typically pay just a few dollars each. I’m also a member of a couple of online communities whose pay rates vary based on level of participation.

Amazon sales is also an interesting category. This money was earned in the last two weeks of December off of links included in one particular post. I ended up adding links on a whim. I wrote the post years ago, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to cash in on it’s popularity.

I’m most proud of the $750 worth of cash and prizes I won through two online writing contests. Neither contest included a huge number of entries, but it still feels good to win a prize based on skill and ability. Of course, I don’t mind the $150 worth of prizes I won by entering simple online contests either. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a little easy money.