It seems like only yesterday when this blog was nothing but a small college side hustle<\/a> and ramble of articles on phone farming<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year has definitely been insane, both for worldwide events but also for this blog and some personal changes.<\/p>\n In 2021, I took the complete plunge into freelance writing<\/a> and blogging after quitting a startup I was working at (no more paid advertising work, woohoo!)<\/p>\n I also lived abroad for about half the year, jumped out of an airplane, and met even more awesome bloggers and writers along the way.<\/p>\n 2021 also marks the first year in which WebMonkey has really <\/em>felt like a full online business and main income source, not just a little side hustle<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, to anyone who reads my content or checks in on what's happening at TOW, thank you<\/em>.<\/p>\n This past year has been absolutely incredible, and I have all of you to thank for that<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I never thought life would end up like this when I started blogging back in college, and I just hope that these income reports serve as a useful resource or source of inspiration for anyone else who's trying to make money online<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, without further ado, let's dive into my 2021 blogging income report!<\/p>\n Want to start from the very beginning? Checkout<\/strong>:<\/p>\n One quick note before getting on with my blog income report.<\/p>\n The reason I write one of these reports every year isn't to brag or to try and promote anything.<\/p>\n Rather, I think it's important to write these reports in the name of transparency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I remember reading about blogging and other side hustles when I was in college and really <\/em>wanted to make more money. It was nearly impossible to find accurate information, let alone blog income reports that even shared screenshots to prove the earning figures.<\/p>\n In my opinion, this lack of honesty and transparency is one of the main problems of the side hustle niche.<\/p>\n So, I hope that by providing my blogging income data and actual screenshots of everything important, you get an idea of what's realistic <\/em>and possible <\/em>after four years of consistent blogging and work.<\/p>\n With that out of the way, let's dive into the numbers!<\/p>\n I'm going to cut to the chase here and start with the total amount WebMonkey earned in 2021.<\/p>\n WebMonkey made $92,614.42 in 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I'm honestly still blown away by this figure since this is about a 400% increase from last year's $22,000 year.<\/p>\n There were quite a few factors at play that explain why revenue jumped so much, as well as some sheer dumb luck.<\/p>\n But before getting into all that, let's break down each income source for a bit more granularity!<\/p>\n I've been using Mediavine ads<\/a> to monetize my blog since 2020.<\/p>\n And, in 2021, Mediavine earned $61,807.94 <\/strong>for WebMonkey.<\/p>\n This income is a result of<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Mediavine is a premium ads network, and it's honestly an amazing company to work with.<\/p>\n It's a way higher-paying advertising network than something like AdSense<\/strong>, and it's also earning much more than when I was with Monumetric<\/a>, another ads company.<\/p>\n Mediavine is excellent to work with because it's always improving its ad tech, so bloggers can effectively monetize with display ads without ruining user experience.<\/p>\n It also offers amazing publisher support, and I don't think I know of many ad networks that could deliver such a high RPM!<\/p>\n I mean, earning $45 to $50 RPM during quarter four is just insane<\/em>, and I even had a five-figure month with Mediavine in December which was crazy to see.<\/p>\n The second source of blogging income for WebMonkey is affiliate marketing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Affiliate marketing has always been something I've struggled with because I don't want to sound too salesy in my content.<\/p>\n However, 2021 was a massive improvement from 2020's results, during which time I earned about $6,000 in affiliate income.<\/p>\n In 2021, WebMonkey Earned $30,806.48 from affiliate marketing income<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here are the main affiliate networks I use to find and promote offers, as well as how much each network or offer paid me:<\/p>\n Now that the income is broken out by affiliate network, here are some screenshots just to verify the earnings are legit!<\/p>\n Note: I'm including screenshots from the main earners just so there isn't a wall of images for ones that barely made $100 in income.<\/p>\n Here's a snapshot from Impact Radius, my main affiliate marketing network:<\/p>\n And here's the revenue from MaxBounty, which I joined halfway through the year (this network has lots of awesome offers!)<\/p>\n These are the affiliate payouts from Printify:<\/p>\n Here are some PayPal payments from Aragon Premium (I can't capture all of them in the screenshot since Aragon pays with PayPal cash<\/a>):<\/p>\n And finally, here's the Adbloom income:<\/p>\n As for what offers I'm promoting, some of my highest-paying affiliates for 2021 include:<\/p>\n I think the thing I'm most happy about with affiliate income in 2021 is that it's way more diversified than any previous year.<\/p>\n I've also written a lot <\/em>of listicles this year that are sort of cash-cow articles.<\/p>\n For example, posts like the best gpt sites<\/a> or the best beermoney apps and websites<\/a> are basically full of various affiliate links, so they're very valuable posts once they rank.<\/p>\n I've also spent more time working on content that meets user intent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For example, a post like DoorDash driver tips and tricks, while useful, is only catering to readers who have probably already signed up for DoorDash.<\/p>\n But, my content like how to DoorDash for the first time<\/a> or DoorDash vs Instacart<\/a> are probably capturing people who are still deciding if they should sign up to Dash, so there's more affiliate income potential.<\/p>\n So, if I can give one tip to other bloggers, it's to consider the user intent for articles when doing keyword research.<\/p>\n Reviews and listicles are great, but targeting specific question keywords is also a very lucrative strategy if you get people right before the buying stage.<\/p>\n![\"Tom-Blake-skydiving\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Dubai-Skydiving.jpg\")
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Why I Write Blogging Income Reports<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Blogging Income For 2021 – Making $92,614 From Blogging<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mediavine Income Report – Making $61,807.94<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Mediavine-income-report\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mediavine-Income-report.png\")
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Affiliate Marketing Income – Making $30,806.48<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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![\"Impact-Radius-Earnings\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Impact-Radius-Earnings.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"MaxBounty-2021-income\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/MaxBounty-2021-income.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Printify-affiliate-income\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Printify-affiliate-income.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Aragon-affiliate-income\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Aragon-affiliate-income.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Adbloom-income\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adbloom-income.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
YouTube 2021 Income – Making $7,158.67<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"YouTube-2021-earnings\"](\"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/YouTube-2021-earnings.png\")
<\/strong>This was honestly another great result in my opinion, and the channel is trending upwards so I'm very excited for what 2022 has to bring.<\/p>\n