Hi there! My name is Bjork.
I’m Lindsay’s husband. I play the role of the YLILAPPWY Officer here at Pinch of Yum (YLILAPPWY = Yes, Lindsay, I’ll look at Pug Pictures with You).
You think I’m joking…
Every month I put together a post outlining the income we earned from Pinch of Yum and the things we learned along the way.
Lindsay and I work full-time, so any income you see created from this blog is a result of time spent outside of the regular 9-5.
Here’s the breakdown of April’s income from Pinch of Yum:
The Breakdown:
Bluehost Affiliate Program – $195
The Thesis Theme Affiliate Program– $57.42
VigLink – $68
Google AdSense – $680.24
Amazon Affiliate Program – $1.14
Tasty Food Photography eBook – $1320.50
Grand Total: $2,322.30
NOTE: On March 28th, Lindsay released her Food Photography eBook (Tasty Food Photography). The above number includes sales of the eBook from March 28th-31st as well as eBook income from April.
Things We Learned In March
It’s okay to take a break.
Blogging is hard work. Posting two to three times a week (or more!), maintaining a job, taking care of energetic kids, staying involved in church, getting ready to move abroad, doing the 1,000 other things you have to do… it’s crazy sometimes to imagine all that you have on your plate. The hard thing with a blog is that it oftentimes seems like if you miss a few posts then everything will fall apart.
It’s true that you want to do your best to maintain a good stream of quality posts, but it doesn’t hurt to take a break. Especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Lindsay decided to take last week off to take some time to breathe and prepare for our year long trip to the Philippines. Here’s the thing: On Monday, when she didn’t post anything, Pinch of Yum saw it’s #2 highest traffic day in April (24,404 pageviews) and #1 most profitable income day in April ($229.22).
Imagine your blog is a coal powered train. Every post you do is putting coal into the fire that powers the train. The higher the quality the coal is, and the more often you put the coal in, the faster the train goes. If you stop putting coal in for a little bit, will the train suddenly stop? Not at all. It will keep chugging along at a pretty good pace. If you stop putting coal in all together, will the train stop? Yes. But it’s okay to take a break for a little bit and then start back with your regular routine. The train can keep going forward from the coal you’ve put into it in the past.
The best product is your own product.
Pinch of Yum officially has its own product! As you can tell from the numbers, we’ve learned that one of the best products is your own product.
It was a ton of work to create the eBook and video tutorials that make up Tasty Food Photography, but it’s been such a rewarding experience to finally put it into the world. The highlight of this whole process has been getting emails or messages from people who have gotten their first food photo accepted to Tastespotting or Foodgawker using the tips the learned in Tasty Food Photography. You can click here to see some of the comments that people have left about the book. Thanks for all the kind words for those of you that have dropped us an email. We really appreciate it.
We’ve also had our first handful of affiliate sales. We’re so excited that Tasty Food Photography has become a money maker for other people as well! Congrats to those of you that have sold some of the books. I’ve explained the affiliate sign up process here if you’re interested in checking it out. If you have questions about what all this affiliate mumbo jumbo means you can check out the Affiliate FAQ page.
Tips and Takeaways
Super Sidebar
We’ve been experimenting with the sidebar on Pinch of Yum.
I’m excited about the current setup that we have, and I think it will the most lucrative setup that we’ve ever had for the sidebar. Here’s the setup:
- A 600 x 300 BlogHer ad at the very top of the sidebar (we just added this May 1st).
- A 600 x 300 AdBrite ad that shows up with BlogHer doesn’t have any ads to show.
- 3 200 x 250 Google Adsense ads spaced throughout the sidebar.
One of advantages of this setup is that BlogHer pays based on total page views (CPM), while Google AdSense pays based on the number of clicks (CPC). There are times when Google AdSense will run a campaign that has a really high CPC, like last month when we earned over $100 dollars in a day with just AdSense. However, with a food blog, it’s more likely to get people that are just visiting to see a recipe and then leave. Food blogs aren’t going to get a lot of people clicking on ads. That’s why the BlogHer setup (that pays based on page views) is important to have.
The AdBrite ad is just a backup in case BlogHer doesn’t have any ad to show. The reason we are using an AdBrite ad for backup instead of another Google AdSense ad is because Google AdSense only allows you to use three image/media ads per page.
Analytics
This is a new section in the Blog Income Reports.
We’ve had lots of people ask about the type of traffic that Pinch of Yum gets. I’m going to start posting our Google Analytics information so you can browse through it if you’re interested. Click on the image to view the larger photo.
Data nerds rejoice! 🙂
Search Terms
In closing, I will leave you with my three favorite search phrases that led people to Pinch of Yum.
I sure hope we could help these people. 🙂
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!
I’m so glad to see who will the ebook has done – you guys put so much work into it and I absolutely love my copy and find it invaluable. I also love having a sneak peek at your google analytics (it’s the accountant in me). Thanks, as ever, for sharing and congratulations on an awesome April! Even more awesome, you’re going to get to see the benefits of the money you raise with this site in person soon!
Thanks Kathryn! Glad to hear that the book as been helpful. We’re excited to make the transition to CSC. Like you said, it’ll be amazing to see the kids and the shelter in person.
I loved the last part. When I look at my stats, it’s the first part I look at because it’s always good for a laugh. 🙂 And both my husband and I were really interested in the Google Analytics parts. It’s fun to compare! Oh and I hope the book continues to be a big source of revenue. It’s the best! So much better than those overly long and technical books that just confuse me and put me to sleep.
Thanks Erin. I need to limit the time I spend on Google Analytics. I could look at those stats forever. 🙂 Another fun analytics service is called ClickTale. We don’t have it installed on Pinch of Yum, but I’ve used it with other sites before. It records user interactions. Kind of like a Big Brother of the web.
Congratulations!!!
I currently have FoodBuzz and they have a no ad rule, so I can’t have any other advertising. I’m assuming BlogHer doesn’t have this rule, so you can run google adsense and BlogHer? That’s awesome! I may have to look into that…
Hey Aimee. BlogHer requires their ads to be above the fold, so they have to be the first ad to appear. Not exclusive though.
I love your monthly reports! Didn’t know you guys moved to BlogHer. I thought you were “independent” last time I checked. I would love to hear your experiences and overall how you like them. They work with a variable rate & I’ve always been with FoodBuzz which is a fixed rate. I’m always curious how people feel they do with the variable rather than locked-in CPM rate. Obviously you can backfill with other ad networks and with FB, you can’t. More to think about, but possibly more upside potential $$.
Great recap and great month$$ for you guys! Blog traffic is sometimes such an unpredictable thing, too. How and when and why it does what it does!
Hey Averie. Thanks for the kind words! We have gone back and forth with FoodBuzz. We’d love to give it a shot, as I think it’s an awesome rate compared to the average CPMs that you’ll get with other networks. The only thing holding us back is the contract. Something to consider for the future for sure!
Wow, you’ve got me thinking now…I’ve been tinkering around with monetizing my site but really have not gotten passed the “thinking about it” process…this inspires me to be more proactive about sticking some adds up. Your search phrases crack me up…I’ve seen a few strange ones on my site, too…for instance “how to wash bell peppers” led someone to my site once…hmm…. Anyway, nice job and keep up the good work!!
Let us know if you have any questions if you decide to go for it.
It’s crazy the things that some people Google! 🙂
I love the photography book and it has done wonders for my pictures. Since I have read your book, I have gotten all my submissions accepted on both foodgwaker and tastespotting. Thank you!
I also love my new camera lens and it has made a world of difference in my shots. It’s so nice not to have to run outside for all my shots because it works amazingly well in low light situations.
I am finally thinking of getting some advertising on my blog. I was accepted by foodbuzzz a while back but have not pulled the trigger because I wasn’t sure it was the best move for me. I am thinking of going with AdSense but I don’t want random ads on my blog that don’t correlate with my blogs theme. I plan on taking a closer look at the info you provided above and figure it all out!
Cheers!
Jackie
Awesome! That makes my day to hear that the book has helped you get some photos accepted to some food sharing sites. Congrats!
I’d encourage you to go for it with the advertising. For us it was realizing that it’s possible. Even if it’s just one dollar a month. If you can make one, you can make two, if you can make two you can make three! 🙂
It’s nice to start with Adsense if you’re a little hesitant to sign a contract. Adsense is pretty good about matching the ads with the content. Not perfect, but the food specific advertisers aren’t perfect either.
Thanks for getting back to me Bjork! I will look into both again and see what is best. Your AdSense revenues were pretty good for the month and I would definitely be happy with those numbers alone.
I love posts like this as they are so informative and fun to read. I am trying to incorporate some new ideas into my blog instead of a recipe twice a week to give a little more variety to the blog. Keep posts like this coming!
Congratulations on your assignment. I see you both coming home with a new addition to your family. We adopted my son from Guatemala and he is the best! There are so many kids out there who just need a mom and dad and someone to love them.
Cheers for now!
WOW I love the new side bar – I recently switched mine up and I think it really does make a difference.
Thanks Kat!
Install food? What does that even mean? hahaha
Not sure. You should Google it. Wait… apparently that will just bring you here.
This is seriously very impressive. You two have a lot to be proud of for the work you’ve put into this site- it shows!
Thanks Megan!
Wow guys, congrats on a great month! I think your new setup has some serious earning potential like you said 🙂 As always, thanks for your honesty. I love reading these and following along in your successes, hearing what works best and what doesn’t.
Thanks Gina! 🙂
That last search phrase was me, but it has a pretty major typo. I meant to write “who” not “how”.
Upon further examination it appears as if all three of the search phrases mentioned above originated from Indianapolis.
You guys will love Cebu. I’m from the Philippines and moved to Boston eight years ago, but I still go back home at least once a year. I’m from Manila and have only been to Cebu once – it is beautiful. If you guys have any questions, let me know and I might be able to give some advice – as a fellow food blogger, as a Filipino, or as someone who understands the experience of moving to an entirely new country 🙂 Good luck, can’t wait to read more about your journey!
Hey Bianca. We’re really excited about it! A little nervous, but mostly excited. 🙂 We’ll be sure to let you know if we have any questions.
I remember when you guys were making just $20 not too long ago. Way to go guys!
Thanks Chung-Ah! 🙂
“How cream cheese look like?” – I totally lolled, thank you!
Just one word for you two – WOW! 🙂
That is AMAZING, you guys! Good work!
I’d love to hear how the heck you’re getting such good results with AdSense. I run them as well and make about $50 a month. :/ That being said, I think you’ll love BlogHer. April was a really slow month with them, but May has already picked up and the further into the year you get, the more ads/money you see. December is always a HUGE month with them. 🙂
Hey Karly – I wish I could give you more tips or tricks with AdSense… All we’re doing right now is using three 250×300 ads on the sidebar to the right.
Do you have any advice for us with BlogHer? What have you found to be the most profitable setup in regards to the ad sizes?
Thank you! I’ve been using a 160×600 with Google and it’s pretty far down the page, so maybe that’s my problem.
As for BlogHer, I used the 160×600 for a few years and just switched over to a 300×250 in November. I really haven’t noticed a difference in revenue. I would recommend running a supplemental ad at the end of each single post (between the post and the comments), too.
I also do the BlogHer reviews when they’re available and they tend to pay pretty well!
But really-HOW cream cheese look like?
Thank you for providing this very, very clear breakdown of your earnings. It’s really helpful. I’m glad to hear that Lindsay was able to take a break, and that you’ve earned a nice tidy chunk from a book you put lots of effort into–and hopefully will keep a steady earning stream from that.
I don’t remember how I was introduced to your blog. I am so glad I was. Since that time I have forwarded your site to the Southern Food Bloggers FB page advertising your e-book. The subject was posted regarding photographing food and the challenges getting accepted to Foodgawker. Hope you made some money from that group. I bought your book.
In addition, I forwarded this article on monetizing to the Word Press Meetup leader here in Atlanta. They schedule monthly meetings and share newsletters. Although, I may be the only foodie there. I’m a nerd but not a geek but it is fun to sit with geeks and listen to the jargon. Each meeting I gain valuable information. Mostly on CSS (see…I too, speak geek)
I work the SEO bit pretty well. In fact my son e-mailed me that my blog popped up on the first page, eight down, when he googled ‘smoke cookies georgia’. From him, I learned another way people google so that helps me to think SEO when I publish each post.
This is all still new to me and eventually I will change themes but I’m enjoying the 21 subscribers and don’t want to lose them as I did previously when I upgraded from free blog to paid blog.
In any event, you two have really done well in blogging, photography and especially sharing. I’ll be interested in your monthly analytic’s.
Looking forward to reading your stories from Indonesia. BTW, they don’t always have to be just about food. It will be interesting to read how you adjust to this new culturally rewarding experience.
This is seriously awesome, you guys!!! What a huge amount of growth in such a short time. I’m excited
Oops! Pressed send too soon 🙂 I’m excited to know about all the beautiful things this money is doing across the world!
Thanks Sonja. 🙂
Impressive numbers. As someone who is looking to begin monetizing my food blog, this post is really encouraging.
Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks for posting these monthly income reports. It’s really helpful to me to see what’s working for another food blogger!
Sort of unrelated, but I noticed your popular posts section in your sidebar, and I was wondering if you used a plugin or some sort of code to make that. I want to have a way to showcase popular posts on my own sidebar but can’t seem to figure it out after doing some research. Help! Thanks 🙂
This is great information! I’ve been working on figuring out how to make the most out of my food blog. It seems to be a tricky business, but I will give some of these tips a try. Thanks so much!
Thanks for another fabulous post! Your book sales are amazing! I’ve implemented many things that you’ve taught me on my blog and I’ve had great success. Thank you so much!!!
Hey thanks for sharing your incomereport. That motivates me to do more for my site.
I just want to say thank you for this post. I am new to this world and have nooo idea about a whole lot of things about blogging. Been hearing things about how to make money from it and decided to check it out and i’m glad i found you guys. Perhaps somewhere down the line, I too will learn how to do this. Thank you encore.
Thank you Aijay! We love knowing that these resource pages are helping people on their own journey. 🙂