Greetings! Bjork here.
I’m the proud husband of Lindsay girl. Isn’t she great?
Every month Lindsay lets me have a cameo on her blog. I use this post to report back to you, the readers, on the income that Pinch of Yum created from the previous month.
Our hope with these income reports is to be totally transparent as to what’s working and what’s not working when it comes to making money from a food blog.
I’m really excited about the information I’ll be sharing in this post. More on that later, but for the now, the numbers:
The Breakdown:
Foodie Blogroll – $82.40
Amazon – $33.58
Bluehost – $65.00
The Thesis Theme– $28.71
VigLink – $67.50
Grand Total: $277.19
#1 Foodie Blogroll: $82.40
Foodie Blogroll fixed their site! The last few months we had to estimate the total income from Foodie Blogroll. Not so anymore! They do all of the estimate for us. Check it out:
The nice thing about Foodie Blogroll is that the income is fairly consistent. This is because Foodie Blogroll pays based on the total number of times that the ads are seen, not on the number of clicks or sales generated by the ads.
#2 Amazon: $33.58
This is the first time that we’ve had any income from Amazon Affiliate links. I assume that the holiday shopping season had a lot to do with that. We don’t have too many Amazon Affiliate links on the site – just a few at the bottom of the Resources for Food Bloggers page for products that Lindsay uses.
#3 Bluehost: $65
Bluehost is the company we use to host the Pinch of Yum website.
Hosting is kind of like renting office space for your website files. If you’re interested in learning more, you can find out more about hosting by reading the How to Start a Food Blog.
Almost all of the Bluehost affiliate clicks come from people that have visited the Resources for Food Bloggers page and the How to Start a Food Blog. You can also read more about how affiliate programs work in this post.
#4 The Thesis Theme: $28.71
As mentioned in November’s Income Report, The Thesis Theme is the WordPress theme we use for Pinch of Yum.
We like it because once it’s setup it’s easy to navigate and make changes to your site.
“If you’re just starting out with your blog you probably don’t need to drop $87 for your first WordPress theme. Find a free theme you like (or at least can tolerate) and use it for a few months to see if you actually like blogging. If you’re having a blast and are interested in upgrading your theme then check out the premium themes that are available. There are lots of options out there. The Thesis Theme is just the one that works best for us!”
#5 VigLink: $67.50
I’m really excited to talk about VigLink. We signed up for VigLink a few months ago.
I did a lot of research before signing up and found out that Google had invested $800,000 into VigLink, which helped convince me that it was worth looking into. 🙂
I also love their website. Super clean and simple to use. Always a plus in my book.
VigLink is great because they automatically create affiliate links for you.
The $67.50 we earned from VigLink was essentially from someone coming to Pinch of Yum, clicking on a link, and purchasing a Bluehost hosting plan. But they came from a link on our site that wasn’t an official affiliate link. VigLink automatically “caught” this and made sure that we got paid a percentage of the sale since we had directed the customer to Bluehost.
Apparently the affiliate cut from VigLink is actually better than the one from Bluehost’s own affiliate program ($67.50 vs $65). I recently contacted VigLink to find out why this is but haven’t heard back yet.
A Few Tips To Improve Your Food Blog
Create a resources page
If you’re looking to create more income from your blog, I’d highly recommend creating a resources page. It’s a great place to offer a service to people that want to learn from you while also create some extra income.
A strong suggestion on a resources page: never suggest a program or product that you do not believe in. It’s easy to throw a bunch of links up and hope that someone clicks. It might work in the short run, but a more effective approach is to only advertise products that you truly believe in and gain the trust of your readers by consistently recommending high-quality products.
It Is Possible!
Creating extra income and getting traffic to your blog is possible. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but it is. We want to encourage you to keep with it! For us, this formula has been super helpful in being able to create income:
Consistently Post + Enjoy the Process + Take Good Pictures
Good pictures can create tons of traffic by leveraging traffic from sites like FoodGawker, Tastespotting and Pinterest. This has been the number one traffic generation tool for Pinch of Yum.
Here’s a really cool comparison of two different time periods in Pinch of Yum’s history.
The first is from May 1st, 2010 – Feb. 28th, 2011. This is before Lindsay started consistently submitting and getting accepted to certain food sharing sites.
The second is from Mar 1st, 2011 – December 31st, 2011. This is after Lindsay started consistently submitting to food sharing sites.
Using this formula, we were able to increase Pinch of Yum traffic by almost 275,000 visitors in less than one year! That’s quite a testament to the power of pictures!
Speaking of photography, there’s something that we’re really excited to share with you in tomorrow’s post! Stay tuned.
Thanks So Much For Reading!
Let us know if you have any questions, thoughts, or tips as we continue on our journey!
And we’re thrilled to donate this month’s income from Pinch of Yum to an orphanage in the Philippines called Children’s Shelter of Cebu.
You should check it out.
P.S. 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!
This is a few years delayed, but I’ve been reading through some of your early Income Report posts like this one and I have to say they’ve been a huge help and inspiration!
I had been submitting my recipes to Food Gawker and Finding Vegan but after reading some of these posts I started submitting to quite a few others.
I couldn’t agree more with the Consistently Post + Enjoy the Process + Take Good Pictures formula. I’ve been trying to keep up with posting and but the good pictures part is coming along slowly, not a lot of my pictures get accepted. I’m saving up for a good camera, and your resources pages have been a HUGE help! Your site has been a huge inspiration in keeping me motivated, thank you!
Thank you Tori! That is so motivating to hear!
Okay, POY is officially going to be my blog bible from now on. I’m going to go through your old posts and learn along the way. My blog isn’t a recipe based blog. Would you have any other tips for me? I don’t submit my pics to food porn sites such as TS and FG. I am still not too happy with my pics yet. I’ve heard that you don’t necessarily need recipes for the submissions, but that most people have recipes since the posts come from recipe blogs. I consider my blog a “culinary blog”, a whole other niche. But most of the blogs that I follow are food (recipe based and restaurant review) blogs. So I learn from them, but not every concept applies with me that might apply with everyone else.
Also, I see that you used to use Foodieblogroll. I guess you don’t use that anymore. Can I ask when you dropped it and why? Thank you.
Along side financial consulting, BCG also undertakes management consulting.
Never keep the vast majority off your investments within your
employer’sstock. You can choose jv along with your friends and colleagues.
You have to direct more folks to join the club by paying the exact same membership fee.
They must be tested ahesad of the walls are sealed during and after deveelopment
is done.
The author is not an authorized instructional or financial professional or academic counselor.
Shee required $1000 for it and Randy informed her it was worth
$100. We walked into Levin’s Furniture store in Canton Ohio.
A mold elimination exper must bee hired at
the first signs of mold. Regrettably, there is no cure or known treatment for the disease.
Go ahead, give a shot to it.
This is a great post. I keep coming back to it and comparing my results with Pinch of Yum’s. 🙂 I noticed Lindsay started posting regularly in March 2011 and there were barely any comments. And then it picked up! Also search engines picked up the posts too. Takes time. I feel like talking to myself on my website right now.:)
This is such a helpful post! My sister and I blogged together for close to three years, but we have really been trying to ramp it up this past year. I got so many great ideas from your post….much appreciated! I’m off to add you to fb and twitter…
-Meaghan
hi…. My site have been banned by google adsense.can i use both links to ?my site
Hi, Not everybody do, what you are doing here. As a novice to food blogging world, I learnt a lot and am so glad to have found you. Will be visiting every day… Thank You.
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful.
Lindsey and Bjork, you guys helped me take the plunge into starting my own blog. I have been wanting to do it for a long time and when I found your guys website I knew I had to start. Just a quick question. Where do you find those tables that you have above? Mine only show the views. Is there a way to change it or is it in a totally different website that I don’t know about?
Sorry Lindsay*
I just started with foodie blogroll. I see a lot of food bloggers using food buzz. Have you used them and what are your thoughts of what they pay per 1,000?
I haven’t used Foodbuzz but I know a lot of food bloggers do. We’re actually talking about switching ad networks (check back for tomorrow’s post!) but we’re hesistant to join BlogHer/Foodbuzz because of the contract stipulations.
*hesitant
Lots of great insight here. Just started reading your site and I quite enjoy it. Also, must say that giving your profit away is a great thing to do and how exciting to track it – you got a new reader.
Cheers,
Ernie
Waiting on pins and needles for January’s income post 🙂 I am so glad I found your blog. I also love hearing other people’s experiences with making money from blogging. Very motivating and inspiring. Keep up the good work guys!!
It’s coming tomorrow! 🙂
Thanks, great tips! I’ve had my food blog for about 5 years, looking to put some renewed focus and ideas into it. This post is a helpful resource in that process! I appreciate the transparency. Adding you to my blogroll!
Hi Lindsay and Bjork, you guys are awesome. Love your team work. I started writing a food blog 2 years ago but never posted consistently. My photographs sucked. But now I’m taking my blog baby seriously and working on my photography and trying to post more consistently. I’ve also been looking to earn some money in the process and hence trying to get my pics published on the photo websites. I have had some success, but have lots to work on still. Loved your page, you are such an inspiration. My husband is also my best friend and he has designed my blog from scratch, takes care of all technical glitches and supports me so much! Happy blogging!!
It’s awesome when it’s something you can do together (as you know)! Thanks for the nice comment!
I love the transparency that you provide! It’s really awesome to see what works, what doesn’t, and your success
This is very interesting. Thanks.
Hi, this is so great that you’re sharing this info! I use foodieblogroll and get about the same monthly. I haven’t looked into these other avenues though! Thanks!
Thanks for doing this! I’m a teacher (2nd grade)/blogger myself and have just recently started a food blog. I’ve had running blogs start and end in the past, but keep up on my current running/fitness blog on wordpress. I’m hoping to do a little more with the new food blog, and you are an inspiration!
Rebekah
Yay for you being a teacher! :). Glad the information is helpful!
The two of you have been very inspiring. I never really tried to make money from my blog until now. I’ve decided that I’m going to post more often and start taking better pictures (I just ordered some photo lighting that should help out with that once it arrives). I just recently added AdSense to my blog and Foodie Blogroll Ads (still pending approval). My boyfriend is going to help me along the way and I would love it if he did some posts too! Your site has provided some much needed information for a food blogger that feels a bit overwhelmed at times trying to figure out the best approach for turning my blog into an extra revenue stream. My traffic numbers are a far cry from yours and I’m not quite sure how to change that outside of doing the things I’m doing now. I work full time, so I have a limited amount of time to devote to the blog. I am willing to devote several hours in the evenings and some time on weekends. Any additional information is greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year and thanks again for the support!
Terry @ Culinary Collage.
Thanks for your comment, Terry! Congratulations on the steps you’re taking to strengthen your blog – new photo lighting and getting set up with some ads are both good moves!
It can be really hard to manage a blog well AND also work full time (I know because I work full time, too!). I’d encourage you to keep it up and do just what you’re doing – just spend some time working on it at night or on the weekends. Remember that it’s about enjoying the process! It’s easy to get tied up in traffic numbers, comments, etc. but it’s more important that you enjoy what you’re doing. Also, I have a food photography related announcement (tied to increasing traffic numbers) coming tomorrow! Be sure to check back – I think you’d find it interesting. 🙂
Feel free to contact me if you have other questions in the coming year. Good luck!
I just started my own blog and I am super excited and loving the process but WOW it is stressful! I just joined adsense but I’m wondering what the heck foodie blogroll is?!
Old ad network. 🙂 I don’t think they’re around anymore.
I will pass your question along to Bjork and Lindsay!
You two are inspiring! Thanks for sharing such great information.
Thank you!
Hi! I LOVE your blog, and I especially like the pictures. Do you have any tips or tricks on how you take such beautiful pictures of your food? I might start my own food blog and would love to be able to take such attractive food pictures. Thanks!
You SHOULD start your own food blog! It’s lots of fun and a great learning process. 🙂 As for the photos, my number one suggestion is take pictures in natural light! Also – check back on tomorrow’s post – there’s going to be a food photography related announcement that you might be interested in. Good luck with getting started!
I think bluehost commission is $90 from CJ, so Viglink took their cut and gave you the $67.
That makes sense. We have a Commission Junction account so we’ll check it out.