• June 2022 London On My Mind Income Report

    As I've now officially passed the 18-month mark since starting my London-focused travel site, London On My Mind (LOMM), I'm finally getting a sense that the site has moved out of the tumultuous early/newborn phase and into a bit more maturity. While 18 months is not long in the lifespan of websites, it does have enough tenure with Google that content tends to rank better and faster – and has a body of work that readers can use and trust...

  • June 2022 Recap Hero

    June 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report

    It's gone from zero to sixty around these parts – how about you? Just like in April, I spent most of June on the road, trying to fit in my (admittedly monstrous pile of) "desk" work around two major trips – which were also work! After starting the month in Alaska on a partnership trip with Windstar Cruises, I ended it on the other almost the literal other side of the world in the Maldives...

  • May 2022 London On My Mind Income Report

    It's hard to believe that, all in, I've been blogging for almost nine years – and as a full-time role for four years. When I left my last traditional job, it was a leap of faith, and the pandemic certainly made me question my plans (as it did for many). However, by starting new sites – including London on My Mind (LOMM) – I've been able to weather the storm and actually grow in the past few years...

  • May 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report

    After a travel-filled April, May was delightfully slow – a few days of travel at the beginning and end of the month bookended a month of home time, catching up on work and with friends. While I am rekindling my love of travel and of being a travel blogger after 2+ long years of slogging it out, it's nice to be home with J and the kitties, and have my routines to keep me sane...

  • April 2022 London On My Mind Income Report

    When I started receiving requests to do monthly recaps for Valerie & Valise, part of me wondered: would it not also be helpful to have a look 'under the hood' of a newer site? Would people want to see how you can start a site and how it will grow – not just what an almost decade-old site can do today?...

  • April 2022 Recap Hero

    April 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report

    Busy, busy, busy – that's how April sticks out in my memory. For the first time in two years, I feel like April began to give us a sense of returning to some normalcy. I spent a lot of time on planes, some of it not even wearing a mask; I went to conferences and events, many of which not even wearing a mask; I ate in restaurants and went to parties and traveled almost-normally...

  • March 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report

    After a six-month break, I'm back to publishing these income reports! I've had some requests for them, which I know is just y'all being nosy about my income – but it's cool. I understand that having benchmarks to compare your strategy and success is important, which is why I want to continue to share these reports. There aren't many bloggers doing that, and we all need it to help understand how our industry is growing and maturing...

  • October 2021 Valerie & Valise Income Report

    October is one of my favorite months of the year... which is a good thing, as this month was pretty tough for my business! While my site is still growing in the long term, October continued the trend in September (well, really, it was a trend that started in June) and continued to decrease in traffic and income. That's okay though: I was busy working to ensure that next year reaches both higher peak traffic and higher low traffic...