Did you know that there are bloggers who make 5-6 figures per month blogging?
That’s right – EVERY month!
Sometimes when I tell people I make money blogging, they seem a bit baffled. Blogging isn’t exactly a traditional way of earning income, so it’s not surprising that some people (especially older folks ;) ) don’t even know that it’s possible to make good money blogging.
There are many bloggers out there making respectable side income or even a full-time living from their websites. And then there are the crazyyy successful bloggers who make six figures – anywhere from $100,000 to over a million each year!
Here are 15 bloggers who make 5-6 figures per month and their secrets for success!
Note: Many of these bloggers have stopped sharing their income reports, so some of the reports I’ve linked to in this post aren’t super recent. These bloggers are likely earning even more money now!
Ready to start your own money making blog? Check out my step-by-step guide to setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost. If you sign up with my link, you’ll receive the lowest website hosting price possible at just $3.95 per month. Get started on your dreams today!
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Michelle, Making Sense of Cents
Michelle began her personal finance blog as a hobby and she now makes over a million dollars per year with her website. She is a master at affiliate marketing and about 50% of her income comes from affiliates.
About 40% of her income comes from her online course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, which is awesome by the way! Prior to taking her class, I had only earned a few dollars in affiliate income.
Now, I’ve earned money through multiple different affiliates and I’m confident that I can continue to grow my affiliate income. Want to grow yours? Sign up for Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing!
The remainder of Michelle’s income comes from sponsored work and display advertising. Thanks to her blog, she and her husband are able to travel full-time with their two dogs. They used to live in an RV but now reside on a sailboat. How amazing is that?!
The Secret Sauce: Michelle is a master at affiliate marketing.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $126,260.51
Bobby, Millennial Money Man
I love Bobby’s story! He and his wife lived with her parents while they paid off his $40,000 in student loan debt in a year and a half.
Reading his blog is actually a big part of what motivated me to live with my parents so my hubby and I could pay off our $117,000 of student loans in four years.
Bobby writes a lot about living below your means instead of acting like your typical millennial. Since paying off their debt, Millennial Money Man has grown into a six figure business. Bobby earns money through his Facebook Ad course, digital marketing, affiliate income, staff writing, and ads.
The Secret Sauce: Bobby credits much of his success to Facebook Ads.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $55,412.68
Natalie, nataliebacon.com (formerly Financegirl)
Natalie’s story is awesome too! She turned six figure student loan debt from law school into a six figure business. How inspiring is that?!
Natalie’s blog used to focus on money and budgeting but has evolved into a “create your dream life” theme. The majority of her blogging income comes from digital courses and affiliate marketing. She also earns money through display advertising.
The Secret Sauce: Natalie drives traffic to her website primarily via Pinterest, Google, and YouTube. She has also focused on growing her email list. As many bloggers say, the money is in the list!
Latest Monthly Income Report: $20,000
Alex & Lauren, Avocadu and Create & Go
Alex and Lauren combined her love of yoga and his experience as a personal trainer to create the hugely popular health site Avocadu, Since then, they also launched Create and Go, a website about making money blogging.
The Secret Sauce: They credit their massive success primarily to Pinterest and teach a popular online course called Pinterest Traffic Avalanche. I took the class and it’s amazing!
Prior to taking this class, I had no idea what I was doing with Pinterest and I was so frustrated with it. Since taking the class, my Pinterest strategy has improved significantly and my blog traffic has skyrocketed. Want to send massive traffic your blog? Sign up for Pinterest Traffic Avalanche!
Latest Monthly Income Report: $127,050.98
Allan, The Practical Saver
Allan and his family paid off $40,000 in debt in 2.5 years on an income of less than $31,000/year. His personal finance blog has since grown into a six figure business!
The Secret Sauce: Allan is a whiz at Pinterest. Seriously, his pins are crazy impressive and he has nearly 30,000 followers on Pinterest!
Latest Monthly Income Report: $33,000 (approximate)
Kristen, Believe in a Budget
Kristen’s blog began as a way to share her journey on saving money, getting out of debt, and side hustling. Less than a year after starting her blog, she was able to quit her day job to focus solely on blogging.
Kristne earns about 50% of her income from e-courses and products. A little less than 50% comes from affiliate marketing and the remainder comes from ads.
The Secret Sauce: Kristen states that experimenting with Pinterest is what caused her blog traffic to skyrocket. She now teaches Pinterest courses such as Pinterest Presence and Become a Pinterest VA Today.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $18,128.60
Rosemarie, The Busy Budgeter
Rosemarie blogs about saving money, budgeting, and living simply. The majority of her blogging income comes from affiliates and digital product sales.
The Secret Sauce: Rosemarie credits Pinterest for much of her success and she sells a popular Pinterest Strategy Guide PDF.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $86,438.83
Lindsay, Pinch of Yum
Lindsay is a former elementary school teacher turned full-time food blogger. Lindsay and her team share delicious recipes of beautifully photographed food. Just looking at her blog makes me hungry!
The Secret Sauce: While there are many factors that go into their success,Pinch of Yum has nearly 270,000 followers on Pinterest! It’s no surprise with their delicious recipes and incredible photography.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $90,000 (approximate)
Holly and Greg, Club Thrifty
Holly and Greg paid off a bunch of debt and are now successful travel bloggers. They’ve traveled to dozens of countries and they write about money, credit card rewards, and budget travel.
They earn money through freelance writing, affiliates, sponsored work, consulting, and digital courses.
The Secret Sauce: Holly is an expert freelance writer and now teaches a class about making money writing.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $25,934.44
Abby, Just a Girl and Her Blog
Just a Girl and Her blog began as a hobby and became a full-time business. Abby blogs about organizing, decorating, and blogging. Most of her blogging income comes from affiliates and digital product sales.
The Secret Sauce: Abby emphasizes the importance of building an email list and learning as much as you can about blogging and online business.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $41,700
Melyssa, Melyssa Griffin.com
Melyssa Griffin began her blog as a creative outlet and didn’t even know it could become a full-time job. She now teaches entrepreneurs how to start and grow their own businesses.
Of the more than $280,000 she brings in each month, about $260,000 comes from digital courses and the other $20,000 from affiliate marketing.
The Secret Sauce: Melyssa highlights the importance of Pinterest and growing your email list.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $283,680
Pat, Smart Passive Income
Pat started a small blog in 2008. After he was laid off from his day job, his blog became his business and he learned how to grow his passive income.
Secret Sauce: Pat clearly learns everything he can about entrepreneurship and growing a successful business.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $167,553.31
John, Entrepreneur on Fire
John is the host of award-winning podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire. He blogs about entrepreneurship and has been able to travel the world thanks to his location independence.
His blogging income is made up of digital product sales and affiliate income.
Secret Sauce: John clearly learns everything he can about entrepreneurship and growing a successful business.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $176,264
Jennifer and Trevor, Show Me the Yummy
Jennifer and Trevor started Show Me the Yummy in 2014 and are now full-time food bloggers. Their income comes from digital product sales, affiliates, sponsored work, freelancing, and ads.
Secret Sauce: Show Me the Yummy has impressive social reach across a variety of channels (Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook).
Latest Monthly Income Report: $46,367.19
Millennial Money
Grant achieved financial independence at 30 and he blogs about saving money, earning more, side hustling, and early retirement.
Grant went from being unemployed and living with his parents to a net worth of over $1 million in just five years. How inspiring is that?! His blogging income comes from consulting, coaching, and affiliates.
Secret Sauce: Grants emphasizes the importance of SEO and Google organic traffic.
Latest Monthly Income Report: $18,450
The Importance of Pinterest
You have probably noticed some common themes here. Most of these insanely successful bloggers have done what exactly? They’ve mastered Pinterest! Pinterest is hands-down the most effective way to drive massive traffic to your blog.
When I first started blogging, I got hardly any traffic. Thanks to Pinterest Traffic Avalanche (the best blogging class I’ve taken!), I was able to skyrocket my traffic to 20,000 page views per month and I’m confident that my traffic will continue to grow.
Pinterest Traffic Avalanche teaches you everything you need to know about Pinterest…from mastering Pinterest SEO to designing a stunning pin with Canva to creating content that goes viral on Pinterest…and so much more! Sign up for Pinterest Traffic Avalanche today to take your blog to the next level.
A Note to Bloggers
I hope that reading this blog post with the huge income numbers didn’t leave you feeling discouraged about your own blog. That definitely isn’t my intention! The purpose of sharing these numbers is to inspire you and show you that it truly is possible to make good money blogging.
If you read these numbers and feel a little discouraged, I TOTALLY get it. These people are making six figures, but maybe you’ve been blogging for a while and you can’t figure out how to break $1,000/month or even $100/month.
Maybe your blog only gets 3,000 page views per month…meanwhile, six figure bloggers are bringing in 100,000+ page views per month. You might feel like you’ll never be able to succeed with blogging.
Keep in mind that there are TONS of bloggers making anywhere from $500-$5,000/month. You don’t need a bazillion page views each month to bring in that kind of income. You can do this!
For more help, read:
Ready to make money blogging? Check out my guide to setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost. If you sign up with my Bluehost link, you’ll receive the lowest website hosting price possible at just $3.95 per month. Stop putting off your dreams!
This is definitely inspiration for my blog. I love hearing about others making a life out of blogging because people who aren’t in this field believe that you can’t
Thanks for this post. It is really helpful and encouraging. I have not made a penny from my blog yet but hopeful and determined to succeed.