Have you heard of Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)? It seems every time I read a how to make money article, FBA is listed somewhere near the top.

I had not heard about FBA until I began investigating other ways to make serious money online. Now, I hear of people just like you and me that make a killing with it. And it seems so simple!

So, I have decided to test it out and see exactly what the hype is all about. I also want to see if we can actually make some decent money with it and if it is worth the time and effort.

I really do not want to get into the details of FBA and how to make money with it until I actually see that you can. However if you are interested in learning more about it, check out this post from Side Hustle Nation and learn how Travis makes an extra $500 per month with the FBA Program. If you are really serious about it and want to dive in head first, The Selling Family has an Amazon Boot Camp that tells you exactly how they make a full-time living with Amazon FBA.

Now, let’s get to it. Up to this point I have:

• Created my Amazon Seller’s Account (I opted for the paid version so I can request for selling approval on restricted products)
• Sourced items through local retail stores and my home (I want to use all new items at this point)
• Added my products to my Amazon FBA account and labeled them as requested
• Packaged the items and created a shipment in my Amazon account
• Printed the extremely cheap shipping label and affixed it on my package
• Dropped the package off at the closest UPS store

So let’s go through these in detail so that you have an idea of what I did.

#1 Created my Amazon Seller’s Account

You have a free and a paid option when signing up to become an Amazon seller. I choose the paid option because I would like to sell more than 40 items my first month and I want to request approval to sell in restricted categories. $40 seemed a bit high to me but I wanted to give it a try to see how it turned out. You never know, I may make that back in one week J!

#2 Retail Arbitrage

I took two days (about an hour or two each) to look through the clearance sections at local retail stores but only had time to go to Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS. I found several items at Walmart and Walgreens, however I did not have any luck at CVS. I’m assuming this will change from week to week. My hope is once I learn this process and become better at sourcing, this part will not take as long.

Through sourcing, I found out (as long as Amazon keeps up its end of the deal with what it says the item will sell for) I can make a lot of money on toys, electronics, and beauty items. Unfortunately, at this time I am restricted from selling in these categories. This is the first thing I will work on. I have got to be able to sell in these categories, plus a few other really good ones (i.e. grocery).

I used the Amazon seller app (free app) because I do not want to add any other expense until I see if this is going to be a goldmine or not. The seller app is a really neat app that helps me figure out if I will make money. I had to do a little research before I truly understood how to use the app.

There are also other really awesome tools (i.e. Keepa and CamelCamelCamel) that will help you understand the popularity of the item and how quickly it will sell. My goal is to sell items quickly for a quick ROI so I can continue to purchase items. At this time I am not utilizing either of these tools. I will dive deeper and learn how to utilize them in the future.

While I am in the store I scan the product in the Amazon seller app. I look to see what it is selling for, the total cost to me (including estimated FBA fees and shipping), and the estimated profit I will make. I aim to make somewhere around $5 per item. If I can’t make at least that, I will put it back on the shelf. However, you will notice on some of the items below, I am estimating to make less than $5. This is because the FBA fees were different once I added them in my account. I hope understand this soon so I will know exact profit in the before purchasing the item.

I will go over exactly what I found, how much I paid, and what I hope to earn from them in just a bit!

#3 Added the Product to Amazon FBA and affixed appropriate labels

This part seemed fairly straight forward to me and Amazon guided me through how to add each product. However, if you rather someone tell you how to do it just to be on the safe side nChannel has a really awesome post that walks you through step by step.

You have another choice when it comes to labeling. Certain products require a label. Amazon will do this for you for $0.20 each I believe or you can print the label yourself and include it on the corresponding item. I chose to do this myself because there were only 3 items that required the label and it was pretty easy.

Also, I do not have a super expensive label machine as some suggest. I printed it on my regular home printer, cut them out, and affixed with clear tape. Although, I am sure that a label printer will be much more efficient and cost effective for larger volumes.

#4 Packaged the items and created shipment

You need to package your items and get them ready to ship before you can create your shipment since you will need the weight and measurements of your package.

Some people buy boxes (I do not recommend this when starting) and some people just find them lying around. I meant to ask the retail stores if they had any they were throwing away but completely forgot!

So I found a diaper box in my basement that was the perfect size and used it. It’s ugly, taped up, and YES! upside down, but it worked and UPS accepted it!

I created my shipment in my amazon account which basically means I just let Amazon know what to expect in my shipment (how many packages and what is in each package). Then I entered the weight and measurements so Amazon could calculate how much shipping the package would cost.

I had an option to choose UPS or FedEx (these are the two carriers Amazon is contracted with) or I could go with my own carrier (i.e. USPS, DHL, etc.). If I went with an Amazon carrier, they would create the label right then and just charge the cost to my Amazon account so I went with UPS…and I am glad I did!

My box weighed 14 pounds and was considered an oversized box because the length of the box was over 12”. It was 13.5 x 10 x 9 to be exact. Since Amazon is such a giant, the shipping only cost me $5.41!! Whoa! I about fell out of my seat!

#5 Printed Shipping Label

Once I approved my shipment, I printed the label Amazon created and included it on the outside of my package (with clear tape). 

#6 Shipped the Package

I then headed out the door to ship my package. I was so excited! This is the first FBA package I have shipped so fingers crossed it gets to Amazon in one piece and they accept all my items.

The closest UPS drop off is about 10 minutes from my house so in the future I would like to make this trip apart of another trip so I do not feel that I am spending too much time and money on this part.

Now, here comes the best part!

What did I find?

You can see below the items that I found. The Car seat Canopy, Home Remedies Book, and Alarm POD I sourced from my basement.

 How much did I pay? How much am I going to profit?

I am hoping to profit $62.93 from my first FBA experience. I have no idea if I will or not and how long it will actually take. But for now, I am waiting to see how it goes.

I am excited to see how this new experience will turn out! If you would like to follow along and see the results of my Amazon FBA case study series, subscribe below and I will make sure to email you any updates!

Are you currently selling on FBA? If so, tell us your experience.

The post Amazon FBA Case Study: Can You Really Make Money? | Part 1 appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

Have you ever seen the lady at the store who holds up the line because she has about a million coupons she is sifting through? Yep, I have too! Couponing can be time-consuming and eventful, to say the least.

But, it really does not have to be that hard. There are ways to organize and plan your shopping trips so that you do not get an attitude from your cashier or stares from customers behind you in line.

I have listed my favorite “go to” posts for couponing below. Each of these has awesome information about the different aspects of couponing and saving money.

How to Start Couponing for Beginners: 2017 Guide

Where to Find Free Printable Coupons 

How to Organize Your Coupons

These are a few of my favorite coupon organizers. They’re pretty cheap too!

The Ultimate Guide to Stacking Coupons

Mobile Couponing Apps to Save Even More!

17 Mistakes Couponers Make and How to Avoid Them 

Coupon Lingo: Learn What It All Means!

Coupon Cheat Sheet 

Whew! That’s a ton of information to take in. Make sure you save this post so you are able to come back and make the most of the information. You can also pin it to Pinterest so you will have it in the future.

If you are just now starting your couponing journey, I wish you the best of luck! It is so liberating when you finally get it and see the amount of money you save every month!

Other Money Saving Posts

10 Things to Do Every Day to Save $550+ Every Month

How We Paid Over $100K of Debt With This Simple System

What tips do you have for making couponing a success?

The post Coupon Tips From the Experts | Save Money Every Time You Shop appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

Let me tell you, that was probably the dumbest thing I have ever paid for.

Thankfully now (many, many years later), I know better than paying someone to teach me how to save money. It must not be a coincidence that I now teach people how to save money…except I give away my information for free . Everyone should know how to create their financial freedom. Saving money, even a little bit every time you shop, adds up to be a huge saving over time!

So with that said, if you would like to start couponing or at least want to learn more about it, check out these Coupon Tips from couponing experts (and two tips from me :-)). It is a great resource for those of you interested.

Is clipping coupons not your thing? That’s okay! I totally understand! Download these 8 Free Mobile Apps to help you save money every time you shop instead. They are free, easy to use, and I have earned a ton of money with them!

There are several resources below that will allow you to find, clip, and print coupons.  Just click on each coupon you want to print to add them to your counter. When you are finished clipping, click ‘Print Coupons’ or ‘Print Selected’ at the top right corner of each coupon system.

Do you struggle with clipping coupons? If so, what is your reason? If you are one of the great coupon clippers, what helps you stay on track?

The post FREE Printable Coupons to Save You Money appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

I love to save money, especially when it is easy money! If you have never heard of cash back or rebate apps, you have been missing out on saving money with your purchases. Every time I go shopping, I cannot wait to see how much money I can save by scanning my receipts into these 8 mobile apps.

Apps that help save money have become very popular. Brands and stores are jumping on board and connecting with companies to help their consumers get better deals. It is a win-win for both parties.

Every 7 days I sit down and go through all my receipts. If the receipt is eligible, I will scan it into each app. There are some apps that will have the same cash back offer and I stack the rebates to where I have paid pennies for the item (sometimes even $0)!

You can even go a step further and stack these cash back offers with in-store free printable coupons (link coupon page) and have them pay you for purchasing the item!

Have you thought of couponing before but just do not know where to start? Check out my post Coupon Tips to Save Money Every Time You Shop (link post) to learn more about how you can save a ton of money!

Without further ado, here are the 8 mobile apps I use every week!

1. Ibotta

Ibotta is one out of my top two favorite apps to earn cash back from purchases. It is easy to use and I have earned a lot of money with it.

The easiest way to save the most money with Ibotta is to know what products they are offering rebates on before you grocery shop. This way you will know if you should choose a different brand than your usual. Of course if there is another brand that is cheaper (including the Ibotta rebate), you should forgo the brand Ibotta recommends. 

Another awesome feature I love about Ibotta is the “Any Brand” or “Any Item” rebates. For Example, if you purchase milk (any brand) you will earn cash back for it. 

You can withdraw your cash via PayPal, Venmo, or with one of their featured gift cards.

Ibotta is offering a FREE 10 bonus when you sign up with my referral code awayvld.

2. Walmart Savings Catcher

This is my other favorite money saving app. Walmart came out with this a few years back to help stop price matching in stores. I would assume it became a bottleneck in line, especially during holiday seasons.

The reason I love this app so much is for the same reasons I love Ibotta. It is very user friendly and I have earned a ton of money with it. It actually is easier to use than Ibotta. Any time I shop at Walmart (no matter what I buy) I scan the receipt on the way out the door. I do this so I do not forget to scan it.

The Savings Catcher searches for the best deals around and if they find a better price for an item on your receipt, they will refund the difference between the price you paid at Walmart and the lower price they found. It takes a few days for your receipt to process, but you do not have to lift a finger. They find the lower prices for you and credit your account with the difference.

You can withdraw your cash with Walmart Pay, eGift Card, or Bluebird. Walmart Pay allows you to use the funds in store and online.

 

3. Saving Star

Saving Star is similar to Ibotta but I have found they do not have the amount of rebates as Ibotta does. However, the rebates are fairly hefty so it is definitely worth looking into.

You can cash out once you have earned $5. Cash out via bank or Paypal account, Starbucks, AMC Theatres, or iTunes gift cards.

4. Checkout51

Checkout 51 is another money back rebate app. I like this app because they have cash back offers on produce throughout the summer. They also offer rebates on some of the same items Ibotta does so you can stack the rebates and earn even more :-).

5. MobiSave

MobiSave is yet another cash back app. It is similar to Ibotta except it is product specific instead of product and store specific. They do not have a large number of cash back offers but they are continuously improving, which is why I continue to use them. Plus, stacking the rebates just means more money for you!

Use my referral code TVCTUOAH to sign up and you can get a $1 welcome bonus!

6. BerryCart

This app is a cash back app for gluten free, organic, and non-GMO foods. It works just like Ibotta as far as purchasing, activating, and submitting receipts. I like it because it gives me cash back for products I can’t find on other apps listed here.

Use my referral code 7YUIZ9qOv6qy to sign up and you can get a $2 bonus!

7. Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog works a little different from the above apps. It credits ‘coins’ for each eligible receipt you scan. It also gives away ‘free spins’ with Hog Slots where you can earn extra coins. Once you receive 1000 coins (equal to $5) you can withdraw money.

The #1 reason I recommend Receipt Hog is because it is a no brainer. You already have your receipts in front of you when scanning for the other apps. All you have to do is open the Receipt Hog app, scan the receipt, and earn money. It’s that simple and that awesome!

8. Receipt Pal

Receipt Pal works the same way Receipt Hog does. It will accept all receipts because it does not have category limitations (i.e. grocery store, drug store, etc.). Why not snap another picture of the receipt and upload it to Receipt Pal for even more cash back?!

If you are serious about saving money on your shopping trips, these 8 mobile apps is ideal for a quick return on effort. Make sure you organize your shopping trips and don’t forget to scan your receipts as soon as possible so you can maximize on your savings every week!

What mobile coupon app do you like best?

The post 8 Mobile Coupon Apps You Should Be Using to Save Money appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

When I first started blogging, I did a lot of research about other blogs. I wanted my blog to look professional so I turned to the experts on what it should look like and how it should function. I also found out there were a ton of bloggers making a good living doing what they love! Of course I fell head over heels in blog income reports (I think most of us do at some point) and seemed to spend my time there more than anything. Let’s get real here, most of us would love to make money from our blog, even if it is just a little. We may not have started our blogs for the sole purpose of money, but once you learn how much money other bloggers are making, it is just another goal you strive for. Why not set yourself up for passive income to make money with affiliate marketing?

Several blogs really caught my eye. Once of which was Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s blog Making Sense of Cents. Michelle’s blog helps people earn more, save more, and pay off debt.  She is an expert when it comes to making money through affiliate marketing and has made me set my sights high for my blog. When I say she is an expert in affiliate marketing, I mean she makes $50K+ every month just in affiliate sales. Could you imagine what $50K+ per MONTH (not year) would do for your family? And that’s not all, she also makes another $50K+ each month through other income avenues with her blog. Michelle is one of the most influential people for me when it comes to my blog. 

Since Michelle is the expert on affiliate marketing, I found it only fitting to interview her. I have seen many other blogger’s interview with her but I had my own questions. The awesome thing about Michelle is she is so nice and enjoys helping other bloggers through sharing her own experiences.

I have been very inspired by several bloggers throughout my short blogging journey. Michelle is one of the most inspirational bloggers I know and has had such great success with her blog. Since blogging has been such a joy and an outlet to me, my hope is you will become inspired to start your own blogging journey.

Check out our interview with six-figure (a month) blogger, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner:

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your blog?

Hello! My name is Michelle and I run the personal finance blog Making Sense of Cents. I have three finance-related college degrees and I used to be a financial analyst before I left that job to blog full-time.

In the summer of 2011, I started my blog with the aim of teaching people how to save money as well as journaling my personal finance journey after reading a magazine that featured a personal finance website in one of their articles. I became extremely interested in that website and my interest in blogging just grew from there. This is interesting and hilarious because before that same summer, I had no idea about what blogs were, that they could even make money, or anything along those lines.

I did not create my blog with the intention of making money blogging. It was all just a hobby and an outlet I then realized how much I loved blogging and realized that it was for me, so now I am a full-time blogger! I went full-time in October of 2013 and I haven’t looked back AT ALL. Blogging has definitely changed my life and it’s something that I recommend everyone try if they are interested.

On my blog Making Sense of Cents, I teach others how to make extra money, the best ways to save money, achieving their dream life, traveling (me and my husband travel full-time with our two dogs), and more. I love owning my website, Making Sense of Cents, and I am very happy that this is now my full-time career, my business, and pretty much my life.

How soon after starting your blog did you begin monetizing? How soon after you monetized did you bring in income?

I did not create Making Sense of Cents with the intention of earning an income, but after only six months, I began to make money from it. A friend I met through the blogging community connected me with an advertiser that they knew, and I earned $100 from that advertisement deal. It wasn’t a lot of money, especially considering the amount of time and work I put towards Making Sense of Cents, even in the early stages. However, it was very motivating to see that something I absolutely loved to do could actually make money. Remember, I had no idea that blogs could even make money when I started mine! After that first $100, the income I earned from blogging quickly grew from there. By the summer of 2012, just one year after I started my blog, I was earning around $1,000 a month, and I was making around $10,000 monthly by the following summer. My income only continued to grow from there. In 2015, I earned over $320,000 from Making Sense of Cents, and I earned $979,000 in 2016.

What do you feel was the turning point for your blog, traffic and monetarily speaking? What do you feel led to that turning  point?

Taking my blog seriously is what led to that turning point. Before, I used it more for the social and personal aspect – not to make money at all. In fact, in my early blog posts, I ask my audience what I should do to make money in my town, because I didn’t realize that blogs could!

How soon after you started Making Sense of Cents, did you quit your day job? Do you remember how much your blog income was at that point?

I started my blog in August of 2011 and my final day at my day job was in October of 2013. I was earning around $10,000 at that point, I believe.

I have a process I go through when writing and publishing a post (i.e. write post, create images to pin, pin to Pinterest groups, post on Facebook, etc.) Do you mind sharing a very detailed list of what processes you have with new posts?

Of course! This is a great idea. I think I’m going to answer this in one of my next income reports as well :

1. Come up with article topic ideas. I have a long list of over 100 possible blog post topics.
2. Create a schedule for one month full of topics and the dates they will be published on.
3. Write content. I like to write it from beginning to end (no breaks). I then hand it over to my editor and she fixes everything, makes it flow better, etc.
4. Once I get it back from my editor, I add images, format it the way I want, and add links to related articles on my website.
5. Once it is live, I share it to Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, StumbleUpon, Flipboard, and Twitter. I also schedule it to share on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for future dates as well.
6. Send an email to my subscribers about a new blog post being live.

What advice do you have for new bloggers to help them improve their traffic and monetization strategy?

I want everyone to know that YOU (yes, you!) can make money through affiliate income and through a blog, and you can do it in a non-salesy way. So many people are afraid of affiliate marketing because of two reasons: 1) They don’t think they have a large enough platform; 2) They are afraid of being too “salesy.” I have never had someone tell me that I’m salesy or pushy, and I’ve even had people ask me how I make money through affiliate marketing because they never see me try to sell things. So, yes, it is possible to provide high-quality content for your readers without being pushy!

When and why did you decide to create Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing?

I decided to launch my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing online course because I was always being asked about affiliate marketing. What seemed normal and easy to me, isn’t easy for others, so I knew I had to create this course so that I could get my knowledge out. Affiliate marketing is great, and I want others to benefit from it as well.

Who will benefit from Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course?

• You want to have a profitable blog.
• You want to improve your blogging income even further.
• You want to earn income while you sleep.
• You want to write a blog post and earn money from it for years down the line, with minimal work needed.
• You tried affiliate marketing but haven’t had any luck.
• You want to spend more time with your loved ones and have a better work-life balance.
• You love blogging and want to be able to grow your blog, build trust with your audience, and help more people!

What will students learn in the course?

• In Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, students will learn:
• The basics of affiliate marketing, what it is, etc.
• The positives of affiliate marketing and why all online influencers should be doing it
• The exact steps I’ve taken to earn over $500,000 from a SINGLE blog post
• How to pick the correct affiliate products to promote
• How to increase conversions
• How to build trust and not lose followers
• Required laws and disclosures that you need to know about
• The one major tool you need for affiliate marketing
• Different strategies to use to promote your affiliate products

I have heard a lot of success stories from bloggers that have taken your course. Do you have a few that stick out to you that you would not mind sharing with us?

Yes, I’ve had so many great success stories! My favorite recent one is this one:

“Since taking Michelle’s course 5 months ago, my page view average has been 36,715 but my affiliate marketing income has grown from an average of $272.94 per month to $4,400.19 per month. That’s more than 1,500% growth! Within just 5 quick months, I’ve made more than $21,000 directly from the affiliate marketing tips in this course…. I made more than $10,000 in just March 2017 alone! Low page views is not an excuse for low affiliate marketing income. You don’t have to struggle to earn a few dollars a month. Invest in yourself & get educated to start building your business right away. Let Michelle show you how an expert does it!” – Saira Perl, Blogger, MomResource

The post How to Earn $50K Every Month in Affiliate Marketing – Interview with Michelle Schroeder-Gardner appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

In my opinion (please remember this is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own), I feel a teenager should have responsibilities, other than school curriculum and activities, in order to learn “real world” values. If we are given the opportunity to raise a child, we should raise them to become responsible and contributing citizens of society. Responsible and Contributing are keywords when it comes to a person’s success when living alone, without the help of others. The last thing we should do is enable our kids to the point of crippling them in their adulthood. I believe there needs to be a good balance of love and discipline within the home. I have already learned that my child’s innate nature is to be selfish. It is my job as her mother to teach her how to be selfless yet still have confidence in herself to feel that she can handle the pressures of society.

So, it’s that time! Your child is about to turn 16 and will need something to drive. You need to make a decision! Are you going to purchase a car for your child, help them purchase a car, or let them purchase their own car (if possible)? Then comes the long term financial decisions. Who will be paying for gas, car insurance, taxes, and maintenance? Tell us why you feel this way.

I’ll go first:

“My husband and I believe when our children reach this milestone in their life, there needs to be responsibility. Now, that does not mean they have to go it alone. We do plan on helping them out depending on their maturity level at the time and our financial circumstances. Even if we could buy a brand new car and pay for everything, we would not do it. We may buy the car and let them take care of the insurance, taxes, gas, and maintenance. Or we might do half on everything but gas. I believe they should at least make enough money to pay for where they drive. It’s a good win-win. If they want to go somewhere, they will need gas to do it. If they have not worked enough to put gas in their car or have chosen to spend their money on something else, they’re out of luck. We do not want to teach our children it’s okay to spend their own money on the things they want in life but have someone else pay for the necessities. They need to learn to budget their income and expenses.”

Let’s hear it. Comment below or send us an email at info@breakingfinancialchains.com and let us know your thoughts on this subject. Once I have enough feedback, I will post the results back here on this post so make sure you subscribe to our newsletter below to be informed when it’s up!

The post Should You Buy Your Teenager a Car? appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

Starting a blog from scratch can be both exciting and intimidating at the same time.  I’ve learned so much since starting my blog. A lot of what I have learned has been trial and error. I have also learned through other’s mistakes (thank goodness we are all in this together and don’t mind sharing). I decided I would put together a list of blog resources that I use or highly recommend in hopes it will help you when building your blog. So without further delay, here is everything you need to build, grow, and profit from your blog!

Getting Started

Step by Step Guide: How to Start a Blog

315 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers

The Ultimate List of Must Have Plugins for Bloggers

Necessities

• Bluehost: You will need to purchase your domain name (website URL) first and then purchase a hosting package. All of this can be done through Bluehost. They have plans starting as low as $3.95 per month. Bluehost is my #1 recommendation when it comes to a hosting provider for your domain. Not only is it the #1 hosting service for bloggers but they also have great customer service and very little downtime. I have always found answers to my questions through their forums or just googling an issue. Since it is so widely used, you can usually find an answer to your question fairly quickly. The best part about Bluehost (especially for bloggers) is the WordPress installation feature. It is FREE and extremely simple. To learn more about signing up for Bluehost and installing WordPress, head over to Step by Step Guide: How to Start a Blog.
• Siteground: If you are completely against Bluehost, this would be my alternative suggestion. Although I do not have any experience with Siteground, I have heard raving reviews from a ton of people. They have gained traction over the last year and seem to be Bluehost’s biggest competition now. I cannot personally recommend them since I have not used their services but I trust the people that have told me it’s great. If I ever have any trouble with Bluehost, Siteground will be who I turn to. They have plans starting at $3.95 as well.
• Google Analytics: If your plan is to grow your blog traffic in order to satisfy your need (money, readership, etc.) you will want Google Analytics. This is a great resource to see where your blog traffic is coming from, who your audience is, what your audience likes, how long they are staying on your posts, etc. It is FREE and easy to link your blog.

Monetize Your Blog

You will hear different opinions on this, but I feel you should monetize your blog from day 1. Even if the purpose in you starting your blog has nothing to do with money, why not make a little money for your efforts! Affiliate marketing is the simplest way to earn money from your blog and is one of the fastest ways. It is also considered a passive income avenue because once you place your affiliate link, it can bring in continuous income for you even when your are not touching your blog. Here are a few affiliate programs I work with and highly recommend. The programs listed below are for any niche and I recommend every blogger being apart of each one:

• Awin – is one of my favorite networks because they work with so many great brands like Etsy, Fiverr and Swagbucks. You have to pay $5 when initially joining but receive the $5 back in full with your first payment.
• Share-a-Sale – is another top favorite of mine simply because of the brands offered – Tailwind, StudioPress, and PicMonkey.
• CJ – is one of your bigger affiliate networks and seems to brands from every niche possible!
• FlexOffers – is another big one. I use them for a ton of brands including Netflix and Hulu.
• MaxBounty – is not as large as the networks listed above but it has some really great brands and I love my account manager. She is so helpful and can answer any questions I have.
• Google AdSense: is a great way to include advertisements on your blog. There are several placements you can include advertisements on: sidebar, content, header, and footer. Some bloggers do not like the way ads look on their blog but the best part about AdSense is you can place the ads wherever you like. Be careful not to add too many or your site may look like spam to your readers.

I have also create a list of 315 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers in every niche if you would like to join more awesome affiliate programs. If you are serious about making money with your blog, I highly recommend you take Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. It is $197 and I want you to look at it as the biggest investment in your blog at this point. It can pay for itself within a few weeks if you let it! She currently makes $50,000+ per month just in affiliate marketing alone. This course covers everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. Here is a sneak peak of a few things she covers:

• What affiliate marketing is
• How to find affiliate programs and apply for them
• Amount of traffic needed
• Rules and guidelines to follow including disclosures
• No follow link (what they are and what you need to do)
• Nexus States
• How to get conversions
• Ways to Promote affiliate links (this is huge)
• Plus 4 Bonuses that are an absolute must!

Blog Theme

You do not have to purchase a blog theme if you know how to customize your blog the way you want it. However, I highly recommend purchasing a theme if you are new to blogging or if you have an idea of what you want your blog to look like but have not been able to set it up in WordPress the way you want. I worked on my blog for two months before deciding to purchase a theme and it was the best decision! The amount of money I spent on my theme was well worth it. I felt as if I had wasted two months with nothing to show for it. When I finally purchased my theme, I had my blog up and running within a week! Check out my favorite WordPress Themes for Bloggers. 

When you purchase a theme and depending on who you choose to purchase your theme from, you will need to download all the theme documents and upload the necessary files to your WordPress site. If you purchase from a reputable company, you will receive the instructions to do all this. It was very easy for me and I am not tech savvy by any means. Below are my recommendations on reputable companies for your blog theme.

• Genesis Framework is required when you use any genesis child theme (it is not an actual theme). There are a lot of genesis child themes out there and I learned that most themes I liked were genesis child themes. However, I did not realize when you buy themes, some of them come with the Genesis Framework included. Be sure to do your homework first and be careful not to spend the $59.95 for the framework if it is included when you purchase your theme.
• Creative Market is a marketplace for designers to showcase all of their designs. They have anything from blog themes to fonts, to photos!
• Evangeline Theme: Of course I have to give a shout out to my theme.  I knew the exact layout I wanted my blog to be but could only find parts of what I wanted in themes, but other parts were missing. I was adamant about having a feature slider at the top and a section where I could welcome my guest. Also, I wanted to be able to upload my own header, customize my footer, and my blog to look good on any device (desktop, tablet, or mobile). When I found this theme, I knew the search was over, and I was so happy :-). It is $50 and does NOT include the Genesis Framework so make sure you grab that before downloading the theme. As far as installation goes, it was a no brainer. The tutorials and instructions walked me through  how to do everything in order for my site to look just like it displays. This theme is setup for Mailchimp, so if you are using ConvertKit or Drip, you will need to skip the step for the Genesis eNews Extended plugin.
• Etsy: There are so many talented designers on Etsy that offers themes for sale.
• Pretty Darn Cute Designs themes are feminine WordPress themes and most are eCommerce ready. They range from $50 – $75.  You can demo each theme and most have several different layout options to choose from. Pretty Darn Cute Designs themes are genesis child themes and will therefore require the Genesis Framework. The framework is NOT included with their themes and will need to be purchased separately. Click here to purchase, download, and install Genesis Framework.
• Restored 316 are also feminine WordPress themes that are great for any entrepreneur or blogger. They range from $50 – $75 and you can view a live demo for each theme. Restored 316’s themes require the Genesis Framework because they are all genesis child themes. The framework is NOT included with these themes and will need to be purchased separately. Click here to purchase, download, and install Genesis Framework.
• StudioPress is a great resource for themes. They have a variety of themes to browse through and range from very simple to very complex.  Depending on what look you are going for, you can filter the style of the blog  (business, eCommerce, magazine, etc.) and choose between one, two, and three columns. The price range is between $100 – $200 per theme and most includes the Genesis Framework (if you are going with a genesis child theme). The best part, you can demo each theme and gain an inside view of what your blog could look like.

Email Marketing Platform

• ConvertKit is the best! I absolutely love it!  I initially used MailChimp because it was free and highly recommended by a lot of people. However, once I really got into blogging and learning more about what I needed in order to actually make money blogging, ConvertKit won me over. Also, I realized that most professional bloggers use and recommend ConvertKit or Drip over any other email marketing platform. Again, I am not a tech savvy person and ConvertKit was much easier to me than Mailchimp. They have plans starting at $29 per month and the cost was totally worth it to me. My email opt-ins look so much more professional and takes me less time, with less headache. They also have this really cool plugin that allows you to put email opt-in forms anywhere on your site with just a few clicks. To top it off you can change the opt-in form for each post so it doesn’t look weird when you have a How to Price your Products Calculator opt-in on a How to Start a Blog and Quit Your 9 to 5 post. Seriously, take a look at the two different opt-ins on these pages to see what I’m talking about! I cannot say enough great things about ConvertKit…so if you are serious about blogging for a living, don’t’ waste time using a free email provider now and having to convert to ConvertKit later. Get it from the beginning so it will save you time, frustrations, and from losing your subscribers in a transfer.

Free Images that YOU CAN USE!

• Ahhhh! I remember being so scared to use any image that was not mine when first starting out! However, through tons and tons of research I learned there are images out there (that look way better than my own) that I can use, for FREE :-). There are some rules and guidelines, so make sure to read and follow those as closely as possible. The last thing you want is to use someone’s image and have to pay them at a later date for not having permission. I have listed the websites below that I like to use for images. You can search through the images on these sites and filter out what you are looking for. These images are free to use. Double check the license on each image to make sure you do not need permission to use them. Also, I take a screenshot of each image I download and save it so I can have proof of where and when I downloaded and the permissions at that time.

Pexels

Pixabay

Public Domain Pictures

Unsplash

Graphic Design and Customization

So what do you do after you find a picture that is perfect for your post? You add words to it so you can use the image for social media. How else are you going to get traffic to your site? You need to make sure you have shareable images on each post so others will share your hard work and drive traffic to your site. I’m not talking about images that can be shared, I’m talking about images that people will want to share because it resonates with them.

• PicMonkey is the main software I use when creating images. It is easy to use and the best part, it’s Free! They do have an option to upgrade to premium plans ranging from $4 – $10 per month. The premium plans include additional features and tools. For now, the free plan works well but I will be purchasing a premium plan soon so I can use the additional tools.
• Canva: It is a bit more robust but just as easy to use as PicMonkey. Canva is also free, but if you want to use a particular font, effect, or feature that is not included in the free package, you can purchase it for $1. 
• Fiverr: If you have never heard of Fiverr before, it is a remarkable tool to have under your belt as a blogger. Projects begin at $5 and you can have just about anything customized to your liking. Can’t figure out how to add widgets to your blog, need a logo designed, business cards designed, someone to post on your social media sites, proofread your content before going live…you can get it all and so much more with Fiverr. The best part, it will not break the bank!
• Etsy: Etsy is a great resource for logo design and business cards!

Automated Proofreader

• Grammarly is an automated proofreader that will scan your writing (or should I say typing) for any errors. It checks for more than 250 types of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and suggests citations. The lasts thing you want is to spend days on a post to have someone click off of it because there are too many errors. Some people find it hard to look past the errors to get the true purpose of what you are saying. Others find it hard to trust what you are saying if there are too many errors in the text. So make sure to not run people away from your post or blog because of this little mistake. They offer plans from $12 – $30 a month. However, they also have a free browser extension and this is what I use :-). 

Keyword Research Tool

• Long Tail Pro: If you know anything at all about SEO and blogging, you know long tail keywords are a necessity.  Long Tail Pro is a software where you can find the best ranking keywords with Google searches and the competitiveness for each of the keywords. For example: you want to find what keywords to use for your new post Make Extra Money with Paid Surveys. You plug this into Long Tail Pro and it will score the keyword searched from 0-100. The lower the number, the less competition you will have, therefore giving your post a higher ranking in Google. They have three different plans ranging from $25 – $100 per month. I do not recommend purchasing this if you are just getting started to help keep cost low. However, once you see an income, I suggest you invest in a keyword research tool. 
• Jaxxy: I have heard so many great things about Jaxxy, I decided to give them a try and really liked what they offer. They have plans ranging from $19 to $49 per month. They also have a free-trial where you can get your first 30 searches for FREE. This is what I tried. The best part, they have an affiliate program once you’ve signed up (even for the free trail) where you can receive 10 free searches for every person you refer.

Social Media Growth

• Pinteresting Strategies eBook: Pinterest can become overwhelming when you begin to learn what it takes to drive traffic to your site. I really did not use Pinterest much before I started blogging but I understood the concept. However, utilizing Pinterest when blogging or trying to make money, is a completely different world. Thankfully, I found a great eBook called Pinteresting Strategies that really helped me understand what I needed to do to get the kind of traffic I wanted. It does take time and is not for everybody because it is manual pinning. Yes, that’s right, you do it yourself. Don’t worry, I listed another option below if you are not up for it or do not have the time. But if you are anything like me, you want to try and save as much money as you can. This eBook is different than most everything you hear so it is definitely a curve ball in the Pinterest strategy world. I devoured this eBook and continue to re-read it as I implement my Pinterest program. I highly recommend it if you are trying to save money AND have the time to devote to manual pinning. It is a one-time fee of $32 but in my opinion, totally worth it!
• Tailwind is the #1 recommended Pinterest and Instagram scheduling app out there. If you are new to blogging, you will hear this word thrown around A LOT! It is a great tool to have and will make life a little less stressful when trying to figure out marketing strategies. I highly recommend Tailwind if you either do not have the time or do not want to take the time to devote to manual pinning and posting. It is fairly inexpensive. If you sign up for the monthly plan it is $15 per month. If you sign up for the yearly plan (I recommend monthly until you decide you are sticking with it) it is $9.99 per month. Tailwind offers a free trial that you can do in the beginning to give you a better idea if it is something you want to continue.
• Facebook Groups are very important if you want to grow your reach. These groups are such a huge benefit because not only can you post your blog posts to their daily threads (make sure you follow each threads rules) but they answer so many questions. To find Facebook groups to join you can search Facebook or purchase McKinzie Bean’s Traffic Trajectory as she has put together a massive list for you!
• Pinterest Group Boards: These are just as important as Facebook groups. You can really grow your reach with this and get your pins in front of thousands. Make sure you follow each boards rules on how many pins you can pin each day and how many of other’s pins you should re-pin. For example: 1:1 means to re-pin 1 other’s pin to every 1 pin you put on the board as your own. I suggest trying to get approved to join at least 50 group boards that are relative to your niche. You can do more but 50 is a really good start. Make sure you watch each board to see if it is benefitting you. If you are pinning other’s pins but they are not reciprocating and you really are not gaining anything from that particular board, then you should not waste your time. You can spend more time on another board and will be better off. There are several ways to find Pinterest group boards. You can search for anything in your niche and choose the boards option (make sure it is a group board before asking to join). You can request to join Facebook groups that list group boards like: Pinterest Group Boards. There are also others who have put together lists of group boards like the Traffic Trajectory. McKinzie has put together a list of 150+ Pinterest group boards, Facebook groups (with their daily promo days), 200+ sites accepting guest posts and 150+ high-quality blogs to comment on to help grow your brand! You can also join my Pinterest group boards if you would like:
  • If your niche is relative to  finances, saving money, making money, living frugal, investing, etc.: Pursuit of Financial Freedom
  • This is a group board for all niches: Pro Bloggers Group Board

I personally use both  Pinteresting Strategies manual pinning and Tailwind so that I have a larger reach. I usually schedule about 30 pins a day through Tailwind and manually pin 20 pins everyday. Also, Tailwind has this neat thing called Tailwind Tribes. This is a great way to share your pins for others to re-pin. Even if you sign up for the free Tailwind trial, you can continue to use the Tribes for free, so there is no reason to not at least sign up for the trial! To find Tailwind Tribes visit: The Pinterest Tailwind Tribes Group and Tailwind Tribes for Pinterest.

Recommended Courses and Resources

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

Pinteresting Strategies eBook

Blog Traffic eBook – Traffic Transformation

Traffic Trajectory

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2017 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy.

Psst!!….Was this post helpful? If so, please share it with others on your favorite social media sites. Also, we would love to hear your thoughts so be sure to drop us a comment below. Oh and one last thing…join our mailing list to receive other great information in your inbox!

The post Blogging Resource Library appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

There are so many things I find myself doing that I know I could do less of or change up a little and save some money. We go through our day and not even think of the little things that can add up and cause us to spend more money than we really need to. Below is a list of 10 genius ways to save money everyday! It saved us over $500 a month! I guarantee after reading this, the next time you are doing what’s in the list, you will remind yourself, “Oh wait! I can save money here!”

#1: Turn Off Lights

Do you sometimes leave a light on when you leave a room? I sure do! There are times I may be working in a room and need to leave to do something else in another room. My intentions are to come back to the first room to finish but it may be a half hour or longer before I return. That’s 30+ minutes of electricity I just paid for that I really did not need. This happens all the time! Put yourself in a habit of turning off lights when you leave a room. Or better yet, don’t turn on lights unless you really need them.

#2: Turn Off Electronics

This is the same concept as #1. If you are not using the device, why pay for the electricity to run it? I once had a radio that I turned on for my infant to listen to while she napped. When she woke up and we left the room, I turned the volume down instead of turning the power to off. This was a big mistake. Over several months, I noticed my power bill was higher than usual so I decided to take the radio away to see if that was the hike in the bill. Sure enough, it cost me $25 a month in electricity. Lesson learned. Now I am conscientious of everything that takes power and work hard to turn them off or unplug them if they are not being used.

#3: Thermostat

My husband and I are completely opposites when it comes to temperatures in our home. We have learned to compromise and adjust the thermostat according to the seasons. When it is cold outside, we set the thermostat on 68 (that’s as low as I can take it). When it is in the warmer months we move it to 73 (he get’s ill when he is hot). Another trick we use in the hotter months is turn it up 3 degrees during the day. This way you are not cooling your house during the day when you’re not home (although I’m home most of the day, I do not mind 76 degrees). When my husband comes home, we turn it back down. This has helped keep our power bill down $25-$50 a month.

#4: Use Less When It Comes to Household Items

Have you ever almost ran out of soap or shampoo and you are trying to use as little as possible until you can get to the store to get more? Well, this is when I found out I used entirely to much soap and shampoo when I bathed. Even though I liked to use a quarter size or larger of soap, you really only need a dime size or smaller. Soap lathers very nicely and will go a long way. I broke the habit of using a lot of soap and shampoo and now it lasts me two to three times as long. Don’t stop there. Look at how much you use with any household item. Dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates/bowls, cleaning supplies, etc. I am sure you can save with these as well. If you do this, you can cut your expense in half when it comes to your household items.

#5: Wash Hair Every Other Day

You may be one that washes your hair once a week. If so, that’s awesome and I envy you! However, if you are like me, your hair’s a mess when you get up and is a grease ball! Since I can remember, I have washed and dried my hair everyday up until about 3 months ago. I decided there had to be another way and decided to wash my hair every other day. It took several weeks, but suddenly on the day I didn’t wash my hair it was not as greasy as it had been before. Now, I can go 2 or 3 days without washing my hair. Yes, I still have to work on it each morning but it does not take near as long. Also, it cut out the need for shampoo, conditioner, electricity for drying, and products I normally use when my hair is wet on the days I do not wash my hair. Not to mention the time it saves when not drying my hair :-).

#6: Take Advantage of Leftovers

Do you make enough food to have leftovers? If so, do you make sure to eat all of it instead of letting the last few meals go to waste? I really do not like leftovers much, especially leftover meat. My husband does not mind it that much but he does not like to eat the same meal 3 or 4 times in a row. We found ourselves wasting a lot of food because of these reasons. Several months ago we decided to start the envelope system again and we allowed ourselves only $400 a month for groceries. This includes all household items such as toiletries, laundry detergent, wipes, diapers, etc. as well.

I had to find a way to make $400 last us the whole month other than just using coupons, eBates, or the Ibotta App. Now that I have tested this method out for several months, I can say it definitely works, but you have to be willing to sacrifice and compromise. We decided we needed to quit wasting food and eat what we have on hand. Now, I only cook three nights a week and we eat what we have. Instead of cooking a meal every single night, we eat leftovers for lunch and supper until they are gone. This cuts down on how much food I buy at the grocery store because I am not cooking as much and my family is not wasting as much. Yes, it may not be what we want or what we are craving but we have all learned to just deal with it. In the long run it saves us anywhere from $100-$300 a month now. That’s a huge savings!

#7: Take Your Lunch to Work

Now that you have all these left overs, you can take your lunch to work. My husband and I found it easier to make our meals when putting away supper. This way you have your lunch ready to take with you in the morning instead of forgetting to make it or not having enough time to make it. It sets you up for success. If you eat out most of the work week for lunch, you can save a ton of money with this one. Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you spend $8 on lunch when you eat out and you eat out 4 times a week. Over a month’s time, you have saved $128 if you take your lunch to work. That still allows for you to eat out 4 times a month. I would say that’s a pretty fair compromise.

#8 Say Bye-Bye to Cable

If you still have cable, you need to tell it bye-bye! If you did a survey on how many people were satisfied with the amount they are paying for cable compared to the satisfaction they get from it, I would say about 0% of people would say they were happy with it.  I am sure you have heard at least 1 person, if not 100, complain about how much they pay for cable. In my opinion, there are so many other options, there really is no need for cable! My husband and I decided to cut our cable when our daughter was born. We felt the money we paid wasn’t worth the time we were able to watch it. Instead we signed up for CBS All Access because most of the shows we watch are on CBS. The cost is only $5.99 per month and we have limited commercials. Sign up for your plan today and get your first month free with my exclusive link. This was a total of $74 a month!

I have several friends who have dropped cable as well. They have went with other alternatives like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu. I also know several people who have opted for an antenna. This may sound old school but it definitely worked for them. They paid the upfront cost of the Antenna and have not paid for TV since. You can buy an Antenna from Amazon ranging from $20 to $100+. This Antenna is on sale today for $24.95.

#9 Have Weekly Challenges

This is a really neat one and does not last very long. The idea is to determine a challenge once a week and set your mind to accomplishing the challenge. The challenge can be anything you can think of that will help save money. You can also set challenges that will help you bring in extra money. A few ideas for a weekly challenge are:

• No eating out
• Lights off other than 1 hour a day
• Free entertainment only
• Make an extra $50 – check out how to Make Extra Money with Paid Surveys

This can be a fun way to save money or make extra money. It seems to be much more fun and easier if you have another person taking the challenge with you. That way you will have someone to compete with and try to stick with your weekly challenge. If you do not have someone in your home, try asking a relative or friend if they would like to do it with you. You can also join our private Facebook Group and start a challenge with us. We would love to participate with you! Actually, I just motivated myself to start one next week, so come on over and join us :-)!

#10 Be Prepared by Planning Ahead

I don’t know how many times I have spent more on items than if I had been better prepared. For example, several weeks ago my husband and I had a baby shower to attend for one of our friends. We had known about the shower for at least 2 weeks but neither of us took the time to go shopping for the shower. Here it was the morning of the shower and we find ourselves at babies-r-us looking through their registry. We decided we wanted to buy them the baby monitor they had listed. We bought it and spent around $200 (this included the monitor, tissue paper, bag, and card). Had we been better prepared, we could have bought the same exact monitor from Amazon for $167.09 a few weeks before. Or I could have brought the 15% off coupon I had laying at the house and saved $30. I also could have brought the bag, tissue paper, and card with us since I save these from my showers and parties and reuse them.

I find this happening more times than I like to admit. Sometimes I run to the grocery store without clipping coupons or browsing through the stores weekly deals. The only way to save money here is to be ahead of the game. You can save yourself so much money simply by planning ahead and being prepared.

What do you do to save money every month?

The post 10 Genius Things To Do Every Day to Save $550+ Every Month appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

How many bloggers or online business’ do you know that make all or at least a portion of their income from affiliate links?  Affiliate programs are all the hype it seems these days. Although I am a strong believer in diversifying your site income, you have to start somewhere. Unless you are one of the really cool people that is a genius when it comes to popping off product ideas (yes, these people are real), joining affiliate programs is the best way to start earning an income from your efforts with your site.

Some people will tell you to start out small and increase the affiliate programs you participate with as you go. Call me lazy, I like adding links to every relevant post I can so I do not have to come back later to do it. I do go back and edit my post and add more affiliate links if need be. I’ve monetized my blog and posts from the beginning and that is why I have been able to make money, albeit a small amount, it’s money! Learn How I Made Money My First Month Blogging.

When it comes to monetizing my blog, one of the main questions I hear is “What are the best affiliate programs to participate with”? The truth to this question is not a very direct answer. It all depends on your niche, what products/services you like or would recommend, and the affiliate’s programs terms and condition.

When you are telling your readers about a product or service that contains an affiliate link, you want to be truthful with them and not place your name or brand on something you have no experience with. There are ways to work around this (i.e. a review from someone else on the product/service, giving facts instead of opinions and stating you have not used the product/service, etc.) but you should be careful when it comes to this. You want to uphold the quality of your content instead of slapping links everywhere just to earn a little money. This will end up hurting you in the long run.

For bloggers, I recommend sidebar and post advertisements along with affiliate links in post and email campaigns.

For online business’, I recommend on-page advertisements depending on how your site is setup. I also recommend you start a blog. More and more e-commerce brands are going toward having a blog section on their site because of the potential traffic draw and income it could bring. When starting a blog, there is an entire different audience you open yourself up to.

Most affiliate programs are free and if you are starting out, I suggest only signing up for those that are free, unless you can get your money back within the first month.

Monetizing is a win-win for you, your audience, and the companies you recommend.

There are so many different ways to monetize your blog, e-commerce site, and social media accounts with affiliate links. Whether you are an established blogger/business owner or are just now getting started, this list of 315 Affiliate Programs is sure to help you boost your monthly income! Enter your name and email below to download the list. Hope you enjoy!

If you haven’t already taken the leap and are interested in starting a blog I highly suggest using Bluehost as your hosting provider. I have created a step by step guide that will walk you through signing up and setting up your blog. It is very simple and you can get started for as low as $3.95 per month.

Once you setup your blog, you will need to choose a theme. I have written a post on my 5 favorite WordPress themes and also give other resources to find great themes. I have also written a post about everything you need to build your blog and also all the plugins I use for my blog.

Which affiliate programs do you recommend?

FlexOffers

The post 315 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers and Online Business Owners appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

I wanted to post blog reports starting my first month because I thought it would help me stay accountable to my goals and also give others a little insight into the first months of blogging. I love reading other’s income reports but most of the time I find myself asking the same question: “How long did it take before they grew a following and made money”? So, hopefully my journey will be helpful to those with the same question in the future.

You may be asking yourself why in the world would someone want to share their income report. There are two main reasons I want to share this report with all of you:

• First and foremost, I want you to know it is possible to make money blogging! One of the biggest benefits to me this past month was other’s income reports. I would devour them and learn how other bloggers are making their money, gaining traction, and what did or did not work for them. There is so much to gain from these income reports. My income may be small in the beginning but I encourage you to look at other bloggers income reports to learn from them as well.
• Second, I want to have accountability and this is the best way I know of to feel the pressure. If I put it out here for the world to see, I can’t really take it back. I am the type of person that if I set a goal, I try my hardest to accomplish it. I may not even get close to accomplishing my monthly goals, but as long they are set and written down, I do my best to reach them. It is just a little way of giving myself a push to JUST DO IT!

Did I Accomplish My Goals and Make Money in May 2017?

I made $28.98 in May 2017 from my blog (first month blogging). I know, I know…this amount is very small. However, if you know anything about blogging, you know it is a slow go. Most people do not even make money their first month blogging, so I was thrilled with this and hope it continues to grow! I will go into detail of where this money was from below. But first, I want to go through the goals I set for my first month and see how they turned out!

Goals for May 2017:

• 4 New Blog Posts
• 1000 Pageviews for the month
• 100 Pinterest followers
• 50 Facebook followers
• 25 Twitter followers
• 25 Instagram followers
• 10 Email Subscribers
• $0 in affiliate sales

Although my goals were not set very high, I really had nothing to go off of so I tried to set them at what I thought was reasonable for my first month. So, how did I do?

Actual Numbers for May 2017:

• 7 New Blog Posts
• 1489 Pageviews
• 177 Pinterest followers
• 147 Facebook followers
• 68 Twitter followers
• 62 Instagram followers
• 52 Email Subscribers
• $28.98 in affiliate sales

I feel like I crushed this month’s goals, however I realized my goals were not set high enough and I focused on too many things. Next month, I want to narrow my focus and hope to increase traffic to my blog.

May Blog Posts

My goal for May was to write one blog post per week so I could spend the rest of my week on driving traffic to those post and learning more about blogging in general. I did not want to overwhelm myself with an unrealistic goal since I am only able to work two hours a day on blogging. To my surprise, I was able to publish three extra posts for May. I plan to continue with this schedule until I see I will be able to spend more than two hours a day on my blog :-).

If you missed any post from May, check them out here:

How to Start a Blog and Quit Your 9 to 5

Make Extra Money with Paid Surveys

Everything You Need to Build and Grow Your Blog

How We Paid Over $100K of Debt With This Simple System

5 WordPress Themes for Female Bloggers

Earn FREE Money With the Ibotta App: Plus Earn $10 Just For Signing Up

The Ultimate List of Must Have Plugins for Bloggers

Acquisition Overview

Where did traffic come from?

1. As you can tell, social networks are bringing in 60% of my traffic (we will go into detail on this in just a bit). I would like to increase this number simply because I want to increase my traffic, however I would like to keep the percent at or below this in the future.
2. Direct traffic is nearly 30% but has a higher bounce rate and much lower duration average per session. I am not sure why this is but I would like to see both the number of session and the duration increase in the future.
3. Organic Search is a whopping 7.88%. I am especially glad that I do have organic search listed here and it is not 0. I am very pleased with the bounce rate and the duration per session. This month I would like to work on SEO to hopefully optimize my sight and gain more traffic organically.
4. Referral is the lowest, however bounce rate and duration per session is great!

Which Social Network drove the most traffic?

I was pretty disappointed when looking at this because I expected Pinterest to be my number one source of traffic. Having worked very hard with Pinterest, I feel I spend much more time working with it than I do Facebook. I will continue to work with it because I know for most bloggers it is what drives their traffic.

When I started at the beginning of May, I had no idea what I was doing with Pinterest. I ran across an eBook called Pinteresting Strategies several times and read multiple reviews on it that highly suggested it. I decided to take the plunge and invested in it ($32) and I am so happy I did. It help me understand what I was doing wrong and what I needed to change regarding my Pinterest Strategy. Take a look at the below graph:

I bought the eBook on May 5th and starting implementing a few of the strategies on May 8th. Needless to say it helped drive more traffic. Each spike is a new blog post that I pinned on Pinterest with my new Pinterest Strategy. Obviously I don’t have it down pat quite yet, but it will come.

I’ve been hearing about Tailwind Tribes in most of my Facebook groups but had no idea what they were or how to go about participating in them. Plus, I did not want to pay for Tailwind. However, through a lot of research I figured out in order to participate in Tailwind Tribes, you do not have to pay for the monthly subscription of Tailwind. You can sign up for their free trial and gain access to the tribes. If you decide not to opt for paying the monthly subscription once the trial is over, you can continue to participate in the tribes since they’re in the beta testing phase at this point. I signed up at the end of May and started participating with tribes. I am also taking advantage of the free trial and letting Tailwind pin 100 pins for me for free. I’m excited to see how this turns out and if it will be better, worse, or the same as my manual pinning strategy. We will find out in June :-)!

If you have not already signed up for the free trial in Tailwind, I highly suggest you do. Mainly for the Tailwind Tribes that you will have access to. Sign up for Tailwind here!

Income by Affiliate Network:

BookScouter: $1.65

Coupons.com: $2.26

Google AdSense: $5.47

SendOwl: $12.80

*Pinteresting Strategies eBook

Grammarly: $0.20

Awin.com: $5.00

MaxBounty: $1.60

Income Total: $28.98

These are not all of the affiliate networks I participate with. They are only the networks I have earned money from in May. Since most bloggers earn a portion of their income through affiliate links, I developed a list of 315 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers and Online Business Owners to help you boost your monthly income. This list is for bloggers of all niches, not just the financial niche. If you do not see your niche listed, you can still utilize a good portion of the affiliate links, so make sure to look at all of them! Enter your name and email below to download the FREE list of affiliate programs!

Goals for June 2017:

• 4 New Blog Posts – Continue with the current schedule of 1 post per week.
• 2500 monthly Pageviews – I would love more but at this time I think it will be pushing it to get 2500 page views in the month of June.
• 300 Pinterest followers – I want to devote more time and effort on Pinterest and grow my following. This is something I have not completely figured out, but I will!
• 200 Facebook followers – Since I am focusing more on Pinterest, I am not going to drive this one as much.
• 80 Twitter followers – Again, Since I am focusing more on Pinterest, I will not have the time to put much effort in Twitter this month.
• 75 Instagram followers – Same as Twitter.
• 150 Email Subscribers – I have several post and a challenge I am working on that will hopefully boost my subscribers.
• $50 in affiliate sales – I would love this, we will see!

Blog News

At the first of June I made the decision to change the blog name from The Work From Home Evolution to Breaking Financial Chains. I decided to rebrand since the blog is not solely about working from home. I wanted a name that would better encompass what the blog is about. Since it is about making more, saving more, spending less, and living financially free, I feel that Breaking Financial Chains helps to describe that.

I am working on a free email challenge and hope to finish it up in the next week or two. It is a Money Challenge to make and save $100 in 30 days. This email challenge will give subscribers the exact steps they should take in order have an extra $100 at the end of the 30 days. If you would like to participate in the Money Challenge when it begins, please complete the form below and I will send it to you!

I also created a new Facebook Group: Breaking Financial Chains Community. I hope this can be a close community  so my readers and followers can get to know one another and support each other in their endeavors to become financially free. The purpose of this new group is for members to post questions, struggles, and wins! Members can also get advice and support from other members as well as give support and encouragement through their own experiences. If you would like to join our new Facebook Community, please ask to join here. We would love to have you!

Wrap Up

Whew! I am so happy with how May turned out overall with the blog. I am super excited to see what June has in store! Thank you for all your support and encouragement and also reading this report. I feel so much more accountable for what I am doing and I hope to have answered at least one question you had when deciding to read this report.

If you haven’t already taken the leap and are interested in starting a blog I highly suggest using Bluehost as your hosting provider. I have created a step by step guide that will walk you through signing up and setting up your blog. It is very simple and you can get started for as low as $3.95 per month.

Once you setup your blog, you will need to choose a theme. I have written a post on my 5 favorite WordPress themes and also give other resources to find great themes. I have also written a post about everything you need to build your blog and also all the plugins I use for my blog.

What are your goals for your blog and how are you crushing them?

The post How I Made Money My First Month Blogging appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

The biggest mistake I made when I setup my blog was installing too many plugins. Since I obviously had no idea what I was doing, I did not realize how important plugins were for my blog but also how using the wrong ones or using a slew of them would slow my load time down. If someone said I needed 5 specific plugins, I would install them. Suddenly, I ended up with 60 plugins and didn’t even know how to utilize them effectively. I have had many questions about what plugins to use or how I have certain features on my website. I have developed this list of plugins that will ultimately set you on a path to success.  My goal is to give you a complete list so you can quickly install them and be on your way of designing your site. The best part, they’re all FREE!

The plugins I list on this page are all plugins I am currently using. I have installed these plugins on my WordPress blog. I’m sure most of them will work on other platforms as well. Of course, there are many more plugins you can use depending on what features or functionality you want on your blog. Hopefully this will give you a great big head start!

Must Have Plugins

Must have plugins are those that either keep your site secure or are needed for your theme. The plugins that are needed for your theme will change depending on which theme you are using. I use the Evangeline Theme by Lovely Confetti which is a Genesis child theme and requires certain plugins to work properly. If you have not decided on a theme yet, make sure to check out 5 WordPress Themes for Bloggers. This is a list of my most favorite themes and it also give you a list of other reputable resources to find quality themes.

Akismet Anti-Spam

This plugin checks your comments and contact form submissions to make sure they are coming from reliable sources and there is no malicious content. Askimet has blocked so many spammer comments from my site and I would be in deep water if I did not have this plugin. I am able to block or approve each individual comment (this can be changed in settings) to make sure malicious content does not end up on my site.

Wordfence Security 

This is basically a firewall to keep hackers from gaining access to your site. I read about a lady being hacked and she worked all day trying to stop the hackers. She had a hard time logging into her site and the hackers were changing her entire site. Thankfully, I have not had to deal with this and hopefully with Wordfence Security, I will not have to.

I did find a little quirk to this plugin. It sometimes conflicts with other plugins. For example, it will conflict with the insert headers and footers plugin (we will talk about this plugin in just a bit). If you are trying to place code in your header or footer you will get an “Error: Whitelist” screen. I have found a work around though and it works just fine. When you find there are conflicts, just deactivate the Wordfence plugin while you are changing the other plugin. So when I want to place code in my header or footer plugin, I simply deactivate Wordfence, place my code in the header and footer plugin, save my code, and go back to activate the Wordfence plugin. If you do this, ALWAYS make sure to go back and activate the Wordfence plugin. You do not want to forget this step!

iThemes Security

Another security software that protects against hacks. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

BackWPup 

A program that will backup your entire site, including your content! This is an absolute must have because once you have lost it, it will be gone forever. So make sure you backup your site!

The plugins listed below are plugins that my theme requires in order to work properly. You may or may not need these plugins depending on which theme you go with. Most of the time, you get a list of necessary plugins when you purchase a theme so it takes the guess work out of it!

Genesis eNews Extended

My theme is designed for Mailchimp and Aweber email platforms. If you use either of these for you email lists, you will need this plugin in order to collect subscribers. Since I switched to ConvertKit, I no longer need this plugin.

Genesis Responsive Slider

If you are wanting a featured slider on your page you will need this plugin. You can choose how many slides you want featured and choose which posts and post images you want featured. I wanted a responsive slider on my website because I think it helps bring attention to my most important posts. The responsive slider is placed on my home page and is the first thing you see.

Simple Social Icons

If you need to always give your readers another way to connect with you. This plugin does just that! It allows for you to place icons that link to your social media sites so your audience can follow you and stay up to date with the blog. In my opinion, this plugin is a must have and is super simple to setup. I utilize this in my sidebar and also my footer area.

 

Recommended Plugins

I have to be careful and selective in which plugins I choose to list in this section and which I choose to list as optional. Of course I recommend them all since each one is necessary for my blog. However, I have carefully selected the below plugins as recommended for your blog simply because I feel that they can fit most any theme and is very beneficial to you and your blog.

Pretty Link

Oh how I adore this plugin. I ran across this plugin multiple times when I was designing my blog and even installed and activated it. But again, since I did not know what I was doing, I had know idea what this awesome little plugin was capable of so I never used it. Eventually I deleted it. Boy was that a mistake! I recently completed Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course and she explained it so well! I immediately installed, activated, and started using it.

The two biggest reasons I love this plugin is because it creates “no follow” links for you automatically and you can create links that are easy to remember. If you have not heard, adding “no follow” to your links is extremely important. There is a way you can do it manually and I am sure if you google it you will have a ton of instructions at your fingertips. However, I was never really comfortable doing that so that’s why I love, love this plugin. Also, if you are on Facebook and want to post your affiliate link, you do not have to login to your affiliate program to get some long, random link. You can just add your Pretty Link. I actually created one for the affiliate program I just told you about. See below how easy it is to create the link!

jQuery Pin It Button for Images

There are a ton of plugins that will allow you to place a Pin It button on your images in order to pin theme to Pinterest. However, everybody I talked with recommended this one. Since I have been using it for a while now, I recommend it as well.  I have not had any problems with it at all!

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Widget Area Manager

Notice on my home screen my sidebar has a welcome, follow us, newsletter subscription, Pinterest pinning, Instagram sharing, and advertisement widgets. However, the sidebar on every other page has a follow us, most popular post, advertisement, newsletter subscription, and advertisement widgets. I did not want the same sidebar that was on my homepage on every other page or post of my site. This is where Custom Sidebars plugin comes in. You can create a separate sidebar for every post or page. The sky’s the limit with this one!

Yoast SEO

I really wanted to list this plugin as an absolute must have because if it were not for this plugin my SEO would be atrocious! The only reason I included it in recommended is because your site does not need it in order to function properly and your site is not in any danger without it. Your traffic very well may be though! This plugin makes it super easy and quick to make sure your posts are doing well with SEO. It even highlights parts that you need to change and gives you a red, yellow, and green light to let you know how well you are doing. Another really cool feature about this plugin is that it allows for you to upload a different image for Facebook and Twitter than the one you have on the post. I post images that are vertical and long so that they can easily be pinned to Pinterest, however it would not look good on my other social media sites. This plugin takes care of that for me :-).

 

Optional Plugins

Optional plugins are just that. Depending on what features you want on your blog you can opt to use them or not. These are listed in alphabetical order, simply because one is not any better or more important than the other.

Ad Inserter

This is a neat little plugin I use with Google AdSense. Instead of having to include html codes in each and every post to have ads in my post, I use this to insert ads at the top and bottom of every post I write. I set it one time and never have to touch it again.

Comment Luv

If you want to allow comments on your blog I suggest using Comment Luv because it allows for other bloggers to leave a link back to their blog or post. This helps you and helps them. If you were leaving a comment on another blog, would you not wish they were using Comment Luv :-)?

Contact Form 7

You can really use any contact form plugin if you want to have a contact form on your site for your readers to get in touch with you. I just went with this one because it had good reviews. I have not had any trouble with it at this point.

Forget About Shortcode Buttons

I love this plugin! This will allow you to insert buttons within your post for people to click on. You can link it to any other post or another website. I use it to link a lot of my affiliate links. The reason I highly recommend buttons is because it helps you get more clicks. Some people may not know to click something you’ve linked in just a text format. Buttons really help make it stand out.

Insert Headers and Footers

This is a great plugin to have if you need to add html code to your website and are not really familiar with coding. I am an affiliate with the VigLink Network (sign up to earn money, it’s free). In order for it to work on my site, I could either install the VigLink plugin (this would be great if it worked) or I could add the html code above the </body> tag. For some reason the VigLink plugin would not work (still have not figured that one out) and I have no idea how to add code at all. This plugin was helpful to place the html code right where it needed to go! You could also use this plugin to place ads at the top of your blog.

Instagram Slider Widget

It places my latest Instagram post in a widget in case my readers want to view them. I only allow two images, but you can have up to twelve. This is on my sidebar on my home screen.

Pinterest RSS Widget

This is the same thing as the Instagram Slider except it is for your latest pins on Pinterest. I only allow two images, but I believe it will let you add up to four. This is also on my sidebar on my home screen.

Jetpack by WordPress.com

This plugin has so many useful tools that is included with it, however I utilize most of what it offers with other plugins. However, I love to be able to quickly view my page views and clicks within WordPress with this Plugin. I highly recommend Google Analytics for more accurate and detailed stats.

MailChimp for WordPress

If you use MailChimp for your email subscribers, I highly recommend this plugin. When I used MailChimp I loved this plugin.

Maintenance Mode Page

I accidently published my blog before it was ready and I needed something quick to hide it from the world. This plugin was a neat plugin I used to let visitors know that we would be launching soon. You can even collect subscribers that want to know when you launch. I kept this plugin because it can be customized to any reason you want to place you blog on hold. So if I ever need a few weeks downtime to revamp the design, I can do so.

SumoMe

There is a free version of SumoMe and a paid version. I only use the free version and it is such a great asset to the blog. The hello bar you see at the top when you first come to the website, no matter which page you land on is through this plugin. The share buttons (left hand side if on desktop, bottom if on smart phone) are also through SumoMe. I used several other plugins for share buttons and like this one the most. You can also connect your Google Analytics account and see your stats within WordPress. The only thing I do not like about this plugin is if you are not using a paid version, it does not integrate with your email marketing platform and you have to manually transfer subscribers. This is not hard with ConvertKit, however. It is a simple export, import through CSV file and you’re done!

WP ConvertKit

If you are using ConverKit, see why I highly recommend ConvertKit here, you will WANT this plugin. It will let you place any of your subscriber forms on any page or in any post with a simple click of a button. Instead of having a generic sign up form for subscribers you can make it work for each post and simply place it where you want it with this plugin.

Psst!!….Have you made mistakes with plugins or have some great advice we could all use? If so, we would love to hear from you! Just send us an email or comment below. If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others on your favorite social media channels. Oh and one last thing…join our mailing list to receive other great information in your inbox!

The post The Ultimate List of Must Have Plugins for Bloggers appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.

I have been earning FREE money with the Ibotta App for years now! Or if you like to save money, then you can look at it as I have been saving money with the Ibotta app for years! Ibotta is an app you download on your smartphone and earn money just by scanning the products you buy along with their corresponding receipt. It’s simple, easy, and the best part FREE! I personally love saving money on my groceries and well, anything I buy so I look for great bargains, use coupons (clip your coupons here and save on your next shopping trip), and download the best apps to earn back some of the money I have spent. Ibotta is my #1 recommended app to do this!

If you are not using the Ibotta app, then you should sign up today! It really is the best way to earn easy money and it is extremely simple. I have even included screenshots with step by step instructions below so there is NO EXCUSE! Oh and I forgot to mention. Ibotta is so awesome, they are even giving you $10 just for signing up and redeeming your first rebate within 30 days! That is too cool – so make sure to sign up and download the Ibotta app today!

Sign Up and Download the Ibotta App

Step 1:  Sign Up for Ibotta

You can either choose to sign up via Facebook or email. If you choose to sign up via Facebook, click the Join with Facebook. If you choose to sign up with your email, enter your information in the requested sections and click Join with Email.

Step 2: Download the Ibotta App on Your SmartPhone

Once you sign up, you will be taken to a screen that will let you download the app. Since I already have the Ibotta app on my phone, the screen shot below says Use the App. Instead, yours will say something like Download the App or Take Me To the App. You will need to click on this button.

You will then be directed to your app store. Tap on the cloud download circled in red below to begin the download.

Step 3: Open the Ibotta App on Your Phone

You can either tap on the Open button or tap the Ibotta icon to open the app.

Step 4: Login and Setup the Ibotta App

When you have opened the Ibotta app, you will see a screen like this. Click Log In at the bottom.

You will only need to enter your login credentials once. After you’ve logged in this time, the Ibotta app will keep you logged in.

Ibotta will ask to access your location. You will need to allow this so you will receive the most accurate rebates for the stores closest to you.

Would you like Ibotta to automatically notify you of rebates and savings? This is up to you. I do not allow it because I do not want to be bothered with extra notifications on my phone. However, if you do not mind, then you may save more money with notifications.

Welcome to Ibotta! To take a tutorial on how the app works, click Let’s get started at the bottom of the screen. If you want to skip this step, click Skip in the top right corner.

Congratulations!

You have successfully downloaded and setup the Ibotta app. Now you need to start earning money back from your purchases! Remember, in order to receive your $10 sign up bonus, you will need to redeem your first rebate within 30 days of signing up. Don’t let this go to waste, it is FREE money!

Sign Up and Download the Ibotta App

Psst!!….Was this post helpful? If so, please share it with others on your favorite social media sites. Also, we would love to hear your thoughts so be sure to drop us a comment below. Oh and one last thing…join our mailing list to receive other great information in your inbox!

The post Earn FREE Money With the Ibotta App: Plus Earn $10 Just For Signing Up appeared first on Breaking Financial Chains.