Adsense Pennies Adding Up

Continuing the behind the scenes look at what a small-timer makes from blogging, here are the numbers from April (along with the months prior):

January...........4,291 page impressions...........$1.97 earned
February..........4,242 page impressions...........$3.62 earned
March.............4,411 page impressions..........$11.15 earned
April.............4,418 page impressions...........$7.89 earned

Page impressions stayed pretty much the same, though I posted on two blogs instead of three. Interestingly enough, due to a couple random clicks, almost five dollars worth of April's total came from Systemically Important (the blog on stand-by).

Is this sobering data for anyone who is thinking about blogging their way to riches? In a way, it should be--and in a way, not.

Based on how much time I've put into writing, the amounts above are a miniscule paycheck. I of course could spend more time promoting the blogs--writing guest posts, for instance--but these too take time. And there's no guarantee that others will want to publish them.

If you're writing for money, then, take note: be prepared to like what you write and not earn much for a while--or be prepared to work like crazy and hopefully earn a bit more.

On the other hand, the data above may be encouraging for some of you. For the amount of traffic I have, the pennies actually add up quite well. So, if money is not your main motivation in writing, and you have rational expectations, you'll see the dollars earned like I do: similar to a bonus check.

Many of the true money-makers (whose "bonus checks" can buy a lot more than a used paperback) say not to expect much (if anything) for the first six months. Even then, they say, most of one's money will be made, or not made, depending on whether one is selling anything (e.g., an e-book). We'll see how that works out in my experience.

In any case, there is a lot of material out there on how much top bloggers make. And a whole lot more on people promising to show you how to make a ton of money blogging. But (for obvious reasons perhaps) there is very little showing how much money a regular, small-time, beginning blogger makes.

That's what this series has done, and will continue to do. Will report again, in another month.