A relatively uneventful week was made much better by an unexpected bonus! A nice little deposit was made to my account on Wednesday–courtesy of the CEO–and will be going directly into savings.

• $157 State Farm – car insurance
• $9 USPS
• $38 Walmart
• $75 groceries

How was your week? Did you stay thrifty?!

Daily Dollars – August 21 thru 27

Where’s the confetti? The party hats? Streamers? CHAMPAGNE! My July paid blogging goal was $250 and I blew it out of the water…by $10.30.

Hey. I’ll take what I can get.

• PayPerPost = $29.50
• SocialSpark = $42.00
• Sponsored Tweets = $18.80
• Fiverr = $20.00
• Freelance = $150.00

Total = $260.30

In my quest to secure more passive forms of income, I’ve signed on with several affiliate networks that were recommended by fellow blogger. If you’re interested, my affiliate links to the affiliate networks (don’t you love how that works?) are below.

• Escalate Media
• Logical Media
• MySavings Media

I’m going to be at BlogHer next week, but I’m still keeping my goal at $250 for August.

Did you make any blogging last month?

July Paid Blogging

I did not hit June’s paid blogging goal (not by a long shot), but the extra money was none-the-less appreciated.

Here’s the scoop…

• PayPerPost = $8.00
• SocialSpark = $26.00
• Sponsored Tweets = $15.81
• Freelance = $180.00

Total = $229.81

We Reward is now available for Android (look for it in the Android marketplace), which synchs with FourSquare and allows users to earn a few cents every time they check-in at stores, restaurants, and more.

So far, I’m not a fan (though I did say the same thing about Sponsored Tweets when I first started). The payout is low and the photo required to “prove” that you’re actually where you say you are is tedious. There are other higher paying “tasks” that can be completed, separate from location-based check-ins, but the highest payout I’ve seen is $1.

July’s goal is $250. I’m still offering $150 Blogher sponsorship packages if you or your company is interested! Contact me for all the details!

Did you make any money blogging last month?

June Paid Blogging

May was a fantastic month and I hope June holds the same potential (especially since I find myself unemployed…again). I came so close to reaching my $600 blogging goal.

Here’s the numbers:

• PayPerPost = $15.00
• SocialSpark = $112.50
• Sponsored Tweets = $8.18
• Sidebar Ads = $420.00

Total = $555.68

I’m setting June’s goal at $500. I’d also love to secure a BlogHer sponsor, so if you’re interested in representation at one of the largest blogging conferences of the year, please contact me – I offer lots of great perks to make sponsorship a wise investment!

Did you make money blogging last month?

May Paid Blogging

There was good news and bad news in April.

The good news is that I started a new full-time job.

The bad news is that I’ve been so focused on my job that my blogging has slowed down. Way down.

I didn’t hit my April paid blogging goal of $300, but I did make a little pocket money. Here’s how it all breaks down:

• PayPerPost = $14.00
• inPostLinks = $6.50
• Sponsored Tweets = $33.50
• SocialSpark = $37.50

Total = $91.50

May is shaping up to be a great month with several new freelance advertisers, so I should be able to make $600.

Did you make any money blogging this month?

April Paid Blogging

I met my paid blogging goal for the month, but Demand Studios and I have parted ways, so I only made about half of what I had hoped from their service.

• PayPerPost = $95.00
• inPostLinks = $2.62
• SocialSpark = $71.50
• Sponsored Tweets = $27.15
• Demand Studios = $106.50
• JuiceBox Jungle Ad Network = $55.52
• Freelance = $20.00

Total = $378.29

If you’re interested in advertising on any of my sites, please contact me! I can have most ads live within 24 hours.

I’m going to be trying out some new ad networks and affiliate programs this month, including an opportunity to Genereate revenue for your blog with ads by AffinityClick, so I’m hoping to report back next month with blogging earnings of $300!

Did you make any money blogging this month?

March Paid Blogging

Are you a blogger? Does your blog make money? Have you been given products of value in exchange for blog posts? If you answered YES to any of those questions, The Tax Institute at H&R Block has some great tax tips to share with you!

(I’ve summarized some the key points below, so make sure to download the complete Business of Blogging for all the juicy details.)

Is your blog a business?

The determination of whether your blogging activity is a business or a hobby is an important one. Whether your blog is a business or hobby directly affects how you report income and expenses from the activity.

Your blog may be directly related to a business activity, in that case, the decision is easy. All blog-related income and expenses should be reported along with the other business income and expenses.

Operating like a business

• Network with other successful bloggers
• Set up a separate business account and credit card
• Keep records
• Store your records in a safe place in the order that the transactions occur
• Back up your computer files

What is income?

• Fees paid to you
• Advertising revenue
• Product trials and endorsements
• There are such things as “gifts” -a box of chocolates, a cute calendar, products sent to you as “warm fuzzies”

Expenses

• Hosting fees
• Computer equipment
• Marketing and advertising
• Books and magazines
• Bank fees
• Legal fees
• Accounting fees
• Tax preparation
• Home office

Your tax return

Assuming your blog is a one person venture and you didn’t incorporate or form an S corporation, you report your income and expenses on Schedule C. Good news is that your expenses directly offset your income and you can show a loss. Bad news is that if you make more than $400 net profit, you’ll be paying self-employment SE tax.

I received access to H&R Block The Best of Both software free of charge. I was not asked for anything in exchange but chose to share the tax tips I was given with my readers. Please read my site policy if you have any questions.

Tax Tips for Bloggers

My February blogging goal was $250. Thanks to two new advertisers and my very first Amazon Affiliates payment, I squeaked in!

• PayPerPost = $29
• SocialSpark = $82.50
• Sponsored Tweets = $44.31
• Juicebox Jungle = $10
• Amazon Affiliates = $34.98
• Freelance = $98

Total = $298.79

I also made $97.50 through freelance writing for Demand Studios. I’m not including this in the above totals because it’s not directly related to my blogs, but it is money I made online, so I think it’s worth a mention.

My goal for March is again $250, with an additional $250 from Demand Studios.

February Paid Blogging

In the past week, I’ve been approached by a large supermarket chain (one that is based on my own community) and national magazine publication to blog about their newest marketing initiatives.

Neither offered any form of compensation.

I struggle with working for companies without compensation. What do you have to do to prove that you’re worthy of compensation? How much should you do just because you’re a brand enthusiast? Are you blacklisting yourself when you say ‘no thank you’ to these ‘opportunities?’

In the end, I think it comes down to companies valuing me as much as I value them.

And a surprising number of them don’t even come close.

They want our readers. Our platform. Our social media presence. But they don’t value us enough to offer compensation for any of it.

And lets be clear – I’m not asking for unjustified compensation. I’m asking for the fair market value of my work from companies that approach me asking for my time and resources. In some cases, I’m even willing to forgo monetary compensation for other intrinsic benefits.

If you’re a nonprofit, I’m more than happy to offer a blog post to help your cause. If you’re a small business, I’m more than willing to offer reduce rates.

If you’re a large conglomerate, please know that you’re undervaluing and underestimating our work when you send us an ‘opportunity’ that only benefits your company. It’s insulting and it’s frustrating.

I’m not threatening to ‘out’ any of these companies. I’m not boycotting their stores or products. But I will decline to work with them when asked and tell them exactly why.

Companies pay for television and newspaper ads. They pay to send junk mail and fliers. Why is it acceptable to pay for those forms of advertising, but not to pay someone in their own community for quality work?

A payment that may very well be used to make a purchase at their store or to buy their magazine.

Bloggers – Undervalued and Underestimated

I had a great interview this morning with a company called Liaison that provides insourcing – onsite marketing and creative services for large clients. It’s a fantastic concept that can supply a company with a few creative team members or an entire marketing department and serves to keep overhead low and keep more people employed.

I think it’s the perfect solution for marketers during this tough economy and a nice alternative to hiring a hoity toity MARCOM agency – but that’s a post for another time.

During the course of the interview, the guy I was interviewing with asked me how my job search was going. He didn’t want specifics, he just wanted to know if I had any other opportunities and a general overview of the job market.

I told him that interviews are hard to come by, but that’s partly my own doing, because I don’t apply for jobs that I’m not genuinely interested in. It’s a waste of my time and the recruiter’s time if I arbitrarily apply for every job with “marketing” in the title.

In the long run, you only serve to disappoint yourself when you think of how many applications you’ve submitted with NO response and your resume just ends up getting in the pile with every other applicant that’s doing the same thing!

I had mentioned that I was a blogger, and he said that I had to blog that. As a recruiter, he wanted more job applicants to know that the job search is about quality, not quantity.

Take the time to submit quality applications to jobs that you’re genuinely interested in and qualified to perform and you’ll increase your chances of finding that perfect job fit.

That’s this job-seeker’s tip for the day, straight from a recruiter!

Quality not Quantity – Applying for Jobs