Hi and welcome to my August 2017 recap and extra income report while working full-time!
Every month I publish an in-depth report of my net-worth and extra income projects. I personally love reading income reports and I hope by doing this I inspire others to start side hustling too.
August is such a good month for my blog and freelance content writing services. I can’t even wait to share what happened! I am honestly feeling like it was a lucky month for me, a contrast to the usual ghost-month.
But first I want to give a few background on why I’m publishing my recap and extra income report monthly. Last April, I decided to tweak how I publish my recap and incorporate my overall net-worth, highlights of each extra income projects I have and my goals for the month.
I do this mainly because of two reasons:
- To help myself stay on track with my finances and stay accountable to my goals and actions.
- To encourage you and the others who are reading this post to pursue their passion and hustle their way to success.
Last month I did tweak once again on how I do this recap and extra income reports to make it simpler, easy-to-read and easy-to-understand. Thank you for the positive feedback and I hope you will continue to support the succeeding recaps.
Related Links:
July 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report
June 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report
May 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report
My Extra Income Projects
I started making extra income in 2013 as a professional wedding and event emcee for all occasion. From then on I searched for other ways I can earn on the side. Below are my side hustles:
Blogging – I manage two active blogs. SavingsPinay.ph, a personal finance blog and IzzaGlinoFull.com, a beauty and lifestyle blog.
YouTube – I do have a YouTube channel which I wish you can check out and subscribe. I do beauty, bullet journal, personal finance and life videos.
Freelance Content Writing Service – I offer my service as a part-time web content writer. My niche includes personal finance, personal development, blogging and web pages.
Weddings and Events – I recently launched Izza Glino Weddings and Events Business, a full weddings and events production based in Taguig, Philippines.
Also towards the end of this post I am sharing how these extra income projects affected my net-worth for August 2017. Lastly, I will share to you how I achieve my goals under personal development like reading, growing as a person and more.
Let’s begin with the breakdown.
BLOG
As mentioned before, my main goal for 2017 is to generate actual income on my blogs. Below are the highlights or progress I made on SavingsPinay and IzzaGlinoFull for this month.
I finally received my Google AdSense payout! Today I can say that I have succeeded in my blog goal for 2017 – to generate actual income on my blogs. I received an email from Google AdSense saying my payment is ready for pick up and it was like the most awaited email ever for me. I plan on creating separate blog post to fully discuss how I did it.
This month we went almost double on the SavingsPinay Community on Facebook. From 450 members last month to 800 for August.
I created the exclusive Facebook group to gather the readers of SavingsPinay blog and create a venue where all who would want to learn more about living with a budget, saving money, investing in the Philippines, retiring young and making extra income with a full-time job can interact with each other.
Glad how some members are able to share their money thoughts on the group now. If you are not yet part of the SavingsPinay Community of Facebook you can easily join here.
My email list also doubled for the month of August which still feel surreal. For the first three years of my blogging journey I didn’t take building a mailing list seriously. I thought no one will dare to sign up on my tribe. Thankfully I overcome this fear in June 2017.
What do you get as part of my email list?
- Access to the Resource Library where you can download freebies like workbooks, budget templates, money manifestos etc.
- An exclusive email every week containing info and updates I only share to my subscribers. My first newsletter includes how my first three months investing in direct stock market went and the response has been amazing.
With that here are my other regular posts on SavingsPinay:
Weekly Notes #11 | The Best of Personal Finance Tips and Must-Reads
Investing in Mutual Fund for Beginners – The Complete Guide
8 Smart Money Moves To Do In Your 20s
July 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report While Working Full-Time
For August, I consider my first ever AdSense payout as the major highlight. Hopefully I will be able to have a stable $100 a month for Google Adsense alone in the months to come. This would be an ambitious goal as the current monthly traffic I get is only close to 10,000 views. Anyway, I am still positive that through hard work this can be done.
How To Make Money with a Blog for Beginners
Now you may wonder how I make extra income blogging. In the beginning I didn’t really plan to make money out of my blog. It seem so impossible to me.
Then last year when I started to invest more time, money and effort on the blog, opportunities opened. I realized I can really make extra income with it.
And so here’s a quick breakdown on how I do it:
1. Adsense
If you look on the sidebar of this blog you’ll find some ad placements. I earn through impressions and clicks those ad placements generate.
2. Sponsored Post
Sometimes I get an opportunity to write for a company which is in line with what I blog and what you, my audience, likes to read. This holds a big chunk of my earnings in blogging for the past four years. On my 2015 Extra Income Report, I haven’t declared any earnings from sponsored posts because I only got a chance to work with brands/companies come 2016. If you want to learn more about sponsored post opportunity on this blog, shoot me a message on izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com
3. Affiliates
I make money by joining affiliate programs in the Philippines. Below are the companies and programs I am affiliated with:
Pangalan. You can buy domain or hosting plans through Pangalan with my link. I consider getting my own domain as the biggest turning point of my life as a blogger. With your own domain you will be easily remembered, get noticed and build authority.
TravelBook. I became an affiliate with TravelBook since August last year when they held a blogging contest which I fortunately won. If you want to book hotel or accommodation on your next trip then try to check TravelBook. They have tons of partnered hotels all over the Philippines and some even give huge discounts. Click here.
Lazada. I recommend makeup or skincare products I use and include an affiliate link on my other blog, IzzaGlinoFull. Here on SavingsPinay I share financial books I read and other resource materials with their unique affiliate link. Make sure to check out some items on sale on Lazada.
Related:
How to Earn as a TravelBook Affiliate
Blog Income and Traffic for August 2017
I run two active blogs at the moment.
IzzaGlinoFull, a beauty and lifestyle blog for frugal Pinays and
SavingsPinay, a financial journey of a common Pinay
I follow a different content and marketing strategy for each blog. IzzaGlinoFull is more of a personal space for me where I can share my obsession with makeup and skincare, bullet journal, reading books and more.
SavingsPinay, on the other hand, is more of a resource page or niche website. I try to create more valuable posts that is in line to what my audience wants to read. I focus mainly on budgeting, saving, investing, early retirement and making extra income.
For August 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report on the blog I earned the following:
- Adsense – $10.93 or Php560.09
- Sponsored Post – 0.00php
- Affiliates – 0.00php
My first payout from Google reached $ 108.56 which is equivalent to P 5500 has arrived. I used the P 500 to buy some supplies and deposited the 5k to my extra income fund. You will see this reflected on my net worth update for August on the later part of this post.
Affiliate earnings didn’t move from July which is a little sad. There is also no sponsored post for the month of August.
Traffic-wise it was a great month for both SavingsPinay and IzzaGlinoFull. Both blogs increased when it comes to pageviews compared to the previous month.
Traffic for SavingsPinay this August 2017. Pageviews increased from 4984 to 9949| Users increased from 2105 to 4333 | Sessions increased from 2774 to 5447
Traffic for IzzaGlinoFull this August. Pageviews went down from 10648 to 9497 to | Users also went down from 7018 to 6409 | Sessions increased from 8061 to 7363
YOUTUBE
I will be honest that I am currently in the middle of deep thoughts whether I will continue with YouTube or not. Although talking in front of a camera is one of my favorite passion project ever and I do feel accomplished every time I have the chance to upload a new content, I don’t think my YouTube channel resonates with my general vision.
The channel is like a stagnant river already.
I rethinking whether I should continue the channel or create a new YouTube channel instead, one that I will see and feel growth with.
For income update, I currently have $11.73 on my account which is below my $25 threshold. Hopefully I get my second YouTube payout before the year ends.
WEDDINGS AND EVENTS BUSINESS
Here’s another passion project where I am lacking focus and progress in the past two months. I have been delaying all the tasks I should complete regarding the admin side of the business. It sucks because I know exactly how profitable Izza Glino Weddings and Events can be if only I put my mind and heart into it.
The wedding host advertisement on Facebook, helpful posts about wedding planning in the Philippines on the blog and creation of OLX account are all put on hold for the nth time.
My eldest sister Ellie is helping me manage Izza Glino Weddings and Events as Co-Owner and Head of Creatives. As you may know she did all the marketing materials for IzzaGevents like calling card (concept and design), letterhead for future business letters and contracts as well as social media icons. I believe her inclusion will make the business run better. You can visit her website at www.allthingsellizoid.com
FREELANCE CONTENT WRITING
Another way I make extra income while working full-time is offering my service as a freelance content writing.
I work as a freelance content writer and blogger for hire since 2014. I specialize in the following topics:
- Beauty and Lifestyle
- Personal Finance and Business
- Freelancing and Startup Life
- E-commerce
- Blogging
- Domain and Web Hosting
- Investing in Stocks
- Weddings and Events
- Travel
I have a degree in Journalism and have been working in the corporate world as a documentation specialist – first in an IT firm and currently in an asset management company.
I genuinely enjoy writing for the web. I love helping businesses promote their services through quality content material. I enjoy meeting my clients’ needs on schedule and getting their message across all mediums.
For the first part of 2017 I slowed down on this area because I had a tough month last February and March. Fortunately, I am recovering well and is back in doing freelance content writing services.
It has been another month writing for Z.com, a web publishing platform and part of Japan’s number one internet group GMO. You can read one of my published article here: The Complete Guide to Growing Your Blog and Building an Audience
This month I also received a new writing gig!!! It was A-MAZ-ING how I received an email one night asking if I would be interested to work as a ghost writer. This means clients already know how beneficial content can be in promoting their brand or business. I am happy to have worked with a new client which will definitely help increase next month’s extra income.
With this I might not continue my plan on creating a new Upwork account as well as updated my 199jobs account. I think it is best for me to focus on client as they come and make sure I submit articles on time. Gusto ko alagaan yung mga client na nagta-trust sa mga work ko.
Although this DOES NOT MEAN I am not closing myself to any future clients. I am happy to help businesses and other bloggers grow through content marketing so if you need my services don’t hesitate to email me at izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com or my personal email izzaglinofull@gmail.com
FINANCES
Now to end this post I will be sharing my net-worth for August 2017. Just like my last recap and extra income report I am including actual figures already. But, I am making a simple spreadsheet this time to easily track down my progress.
Here are the details:
- I didn’t include cash on hand since most of them are my budget for the coming work week.
- Although I didn’t do any hosting for August, I still earned generous extra income by reaching my Google Adsense threshold and doing some freelance writing gig on the side. I earned around 5,000 extra income this month thanks to my side hustles.
- Both Receivable #1 and #2 are money owed to me.
- Other Assets are combined value of items I own that has market value like aircon (I won on a raffle), LCD projector and gadgets like Ipad Mini and previous HP laptop.
- Both my direct stock investment and mutual fund investment are still intact. I also added new stock on my portfolio which will be revealed on an exclusive email to my mailing list on the Sunday newsletter!
- I’m done paying my credit for the shopping I did last time on work outfits. I plan not to have any debt anymore for the rest of the year.
- For the Canon EOS M3, I still owe Php 6458. I am paying Php 2200 every month until November this year.
Overall, I am happy with how my net worth grew for August 2017.
Final Notes from SavingsPinay
I hope you enjoyed my August 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report. By the way, I am still working full-time. I have no plans of quitting unless I feel confident enough that my extra income can support me towards financial freedom.
Please go over Goodbye August, Hello September 2017 on my other blog to read all about the events and happenings that took place in my personal life.
Thank you for reading my post. See you on the next recap and extra income report.
How was August for you? Are you interested to make extra income while working full-time too?
Follow the SavingsPinay FB Group and join the conversation at : SavingsPinay
Follow my official Facebook page at : IzzaGlinoFull
Stalk some behind the scenes in my Instragram: @izzaglino
Follow me too in my Twitter account: Izza Glino
Subscribe to my Youtube channel: IzzaGlinoFull
Email me any question or topic suggestion at izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com
Or leave a comment below!!!