June 2019 Valerie & Valise Income Report

Goodbye, June! 👋🏻 With the end of last month, half of 2019 has come and gone. How do you feel about the year so far?

To be honest, I’m feeling pretty good! It’s been a crazy busy month with travel, blogging, writing, and getting ready for the announcement of Dark Skies. But, having had many different careers and jobs in the last decade, I can say it’s still my favorite ride. Let’s recap, shall we?

TL;DR:

• Travel: ✈️😓
• Blogging: 🏆
• Income: 💵👍

Travel in June

Like I said last month, I knew that June was going to be a big travel month, and it was. I was on the road 60% of the month! I didn’t do any big international trips; it was all domestic.

• Destinations Visited: 3 states
  • Minnesota – My Parents House in Northern Minnesota
  • Arizona – Scottsdale
  • California – Santa Rosa, Carmel & Tahoe
• Flights Taken: 4
• Days on the Road: 18 out of 30

June Travel Highlights & Lowlights

The best travel experience I had in June was… an amazing tequila body scrub at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale. I have had massages before, but never a body scrub. This one had salt and agave in it, and I felt like a happy little margarita afterward. 🍹

The worst travel experience I had in June was… altitude sickness in Tahoe. I have never experienced altitude sickness before, but I’m 99% sure that’s what gave me insomnia and made me very woozy during my trip. It was just such a bummer because I was staying at the amazing Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe and I felt so sick and sleepy at times!

Blogging in June

June was an all-time high traffic month! I’ve got a crazy goal to break 100k unique visitors by the end of the year, so I’m excited to continue moving in that direction.

• Pageviews: 83,873 (↑5% from May 2019, ↑228% from June 2018 🙌🏻)
• Unique Visitors: 71,822
• Traffic Breakdown by Sessions*:
  • Organic: 49,134 (73%)
  • Direct: 10,209 (15%)
  • Social: 7,196 (11%)
  • Referral: 467 (<1%)
  • Email: 13 (<0.1%)

*These numbers will not add up to pageviews, but is a more accurate representation of how I acquired traffic.

Posts I Published in June

It was a busy blogging month! Here’s what I published, in case you missed it:

• Hawaii: 3 Days on Hawaii’s Big Island: Volcanoes, Lava & Stars, Oh My! and 10 Essentials You Need to Pack for Hawaii
• Alabama: 3 Days in Huntsville: A Weekend Itinerary in Rocket City, USA 🚀
• Maine: How to Make the Most of 1 Day in Acadia National Park and 3 Days in Bar Harbor: Gateway to Acadia National Park

Freelance Writing in June

It was a quiet month for freelancing, but I did discover that one story I wrote ages ago was published (in May). Read How to Master Your Motion Sickness While Traveling in Fodors.

June Blogging Highlights & Lowlights

The highlight of blogging in June was… all time traffic high! I’ve reached over 70,000 readers in the last month, and I’m thankful for every one of you!

The lowlight of blogging in June was… motivation struggles. I’ve been struggling to find the motivation to write lately. That’s a big difficulty when you’re a blogger/writer, eh? Even with two accountability groups to help me get motivated, I’m still struggling. Hopefully my motivation will wander back soon!

Business in June

As you look at this month’s income report, you’ll notice it’s noticeably down compared to May. However, that’s because one of my main affiliate partnerships cut their commission in half. Despite that, my conversion rate was among the highest I’ve ever had for them… so it’s a win in the end, because readers are trusting my suggestions and (hopefully) satisfied. Okay, here’s the money stuff…

June Income Report

• Advertising income: $1,998 (↑2% from May)
• Affiliate income: $2,098 (↓24% from May)
• Product income: $249 (↓24% from May)
• Other income: $0

Total income for June 2019: $4,346 (↓14% from May)
Months I’ve been blogging: 69*

*I’m adding this number going forward so you can see how long it has taken to earn this much. ‘Overnight success’ usually requires years of hard work – this blog is no exception.

Business Highlights & Lowlights

The business highlight for June was… keeping my total RPM (rate per thousand readers) above $50.00. It’s hard to tell from these numbers, but I’ve started tracking that metric – and I’m happy that despite having a down month, I was able to keep that metric up!

The business lowlight for June was… that commission cut. Ouch: losing half your income from a single source hurts!

Upcoming in July

July is delightfully not busy, relative to the past few months! In addition to writing a ton, I’ve got two trips coming up:

• Houston for the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary
• Nebraska for a trip that includes the Nebraska Star Party

This is only about half as much travel as the past few months have been, so I’m feeling quite lucky to have so much time at home. (Travel blogger/writer secret: home is my favorite destination!)

How was the first half of 2019 for you? Do you have any big trips coming up?

Until next month! ✌️❤️✈️