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I’m finally writing my very first blog income report!!
I am a full-time musician, and I work pretty much every day, so I try to spend the morning before work or any days I have off trying to blog and come up with content.
I recently started getting in to blogging to share about my travels and my hometown – Nashville, TN.
I travel a TON because of being a musician, traveling with my boyfriend (who is also a musician), or just for fun!
I’ve always loved reading other bloggers’ income reports.
I used to read them all the time (and still do!), debating on whether or not to get into the blogging world – and trying to learn how it all works.
It’s so interesting to see the different streams of revenue that come from a single blog.
They’re not just inspiring — they’re a real look behind the scenes at what it takes to grow a blog into something sustainable. So, I decided to start sharing my own journey!
This is my very first income report for The Golden Impression, and I’m so excited to be able to do that – hopefully, one day I can look back at this first report and be able to see how far I’ve come.
In this day in age, I know there are so many people trying to find another extra source of income.
My goal isn’t to brag or compare — it’s to be transparent, hopefully help others learn how money is made off of a blog, and track my own progress.
And trust me, I am NOWHERE near where I want to be, but I get excited about the little wins and it helps push me to continue working at it!
I started The Golden Impression because I love going on adventures, creating content, and helping people plan a trip they will remember forever — especially here in Tennessee. Now, I’m slowly learning how to turn that into income streams that can grow over time.
As I’m writing this, it’s November 6th. I got accepted to Journey by Mediavine on October 6th, so I’ll refer to it as my October blog report, but just know that’s the actual dates 🙂
I’ll also be including everything I’ve made previously!
October 2025 Blog Overview
I am a full-time musician, and I work pretty much every day, so I try to spend the morning before work or any days I have off trying to blog and come up with content.
So far, I’ve pretty much ONLY used Pinterest to promote my blog. I’ve “claimed” my Instagram and TikTok accounts but haven’t used them yet, so I’m leaving those stats out!
Month: October 2025 (October 6th – November 6th)
Pageviews: 28,000
Email Subscribers: 710
Pinterest Followers: 18 (I have no clue how to grow this or if it even matters lol)
Pintest Monthly Views: 45k
New Blog Posts Published: 5
Income Breakdown (From The Start of My Blog!)
Affiliate Income:
- Amazon Associates Affiliate Program: $1696.97
- Etsy Affiliate: $0
- LTK affiliate: $0
- TravelPayouts (combines multiple affiliate programs): $4.47
→ Total Affiliate Income: $1701.44
I made a couple of Amazon sales that helped me out, but the majority were from a program where I made short videos for my Amazon storefront. It was a special promotion they were running!
Also, I HIGHLY recommend travel payouts if you are trying to make affiliate income. It has been a GAME changer for me.
It can be INCREDIBLY difficult to keep up with all the different affiliate programs there are.
Travel Payouts puts it all in one place. I use it for Booking.com, Expedia, Trip.com, Tripadvisor, etc. It’s perfect for travel bloggers because there are options for hotels, rental cars, and even events.
AND they have so many amazing tools. They will find fitting links for any posts and automatically add them for you. It makes it SO easy.
If you wanna sign up for Travel Payouts, check them out CLICK HERE
I’ve got other affiliate programs I’m a part of, but as you can see, I didn’t use them. I’m hoping to start using them more! But lately I’ve focused mostly on Amazon and Travel Payouts.
Ad Revenue:
- Journey by Mediavine: $20.44
- Google Adsense: $22.73
If you don’t know, there are different ad agencies that will place ads from different brands on your website and then pay you for them. (I didn’t know how all that worked when I first started my blog!)
The first ad agency I had was Google AdSense. It’s by far the easiest to get into, since they have no minimum page views requirement. So if you’re just starting out but still want to go ahead and get ads going, this is the one for you.
When I first started my blog, I got excited about starting to earn money, so I got everything together to immediately start doing ads with Google AdSense.
The problem is the ads are kind of all over the place… and it takes a LONG time to really start earning money with them.
Journey is by a huge ad agency called Mediavine. But they have started a smaller one for smaller creators. In my opinion, it’s much better than Google AdSense.
The ads are placed in much better places, and you have the potential to earn way more.
I’m just getting started with them (this is my first month), but I think they are absolutely amazing so far!
Just a tip: Almost every single social media platform runs certain campaigns for creators. A lot of the time, they have to “choose” you for it. But even though it may look like the income isn’t much, you can always get selected for *Bonus* campaigns where you make a lot more than you normally would!
It seems to me they often do it when they are trying to promote new features. I’ve made the most from social media from platforms like Instagram or Amazon, or Facebook, from programs like this! So keep your eye out for them 🙂
Sponsored Work & Gifts:
- Haunted Ghost Tours
- Etsy Free Gifts
- TRAPPED Escape Game
I’m a musician and have done quite a few sponsored posts over the years on my personal/music page – but here are some that came straight from my blog!
I am very thankful that on my music page, I get paid to post, but since I’ve just been starting out, I’ve been so thankful for the brands that have reached out to gift me experiences!
For the purpose of this post, I left out anything music-related and am just letting you know things that came directly from the blog!
The first brand to reach out was the Haunted Ghost Tour. I wrote about them in my blog post: Spooky Things To do In Nashville (All Year Long!) and The Best Things to Do in Nashville for Halloween (Spooky Fun!)
The people from the ghost tours had originally seen my content on the 11 of the Best Things to Do in Chicago! and sent me a message about visiting. Since they also have a location in Nashville (where I live), it worked out perfectly to take a night with my boyfriend and check it out.
And it was AMAZING. Seriously, I highly recommend. They did such an amazing job.
Then the next company to offer me an experience was the Trapped Escaped Game in Nashville. They took care of not only me and my boyfriend but also 4 of our other friends.
They went above and beyond for us! And it was an incredible experience! It was so much fun to experience and be able to treat my friends to. I wrote about the whole experience here Spooky Things To do In Nashville (All Year Long!).
Etsy also ran a program where they gave us $50 gift cards to buy whatever we wanted from their site, as long as we promoted them. I chose to get a passport holder to include as a travel essential!
💰 Total Income: $1,744.61 + free gifts ($50 value) + 2 free experiences (1 = approx $50 for both my boyfriend and I, the other = $221.94 for myself and friends that they included)
Blog Expenses (Per Month)
- Bluehost Hosting: $2.73
- Canva Pro: $10
- Domain: $13 (billed yearly, but this is what it works out to a month)
- Keyword Everywhere: $2.46 ($29.63 for the year)
💸 Total Expenses Monthly: $25.73
I spent a lot more money when I was first starting out.
I paid for a Deposit Photos subscription for photos, but now I just use my own or use Canva stock photos.
I also paid for a theme when I first started, so I didn’t have to build my site from scratch.
I took a couple of different courses and tried out some various programs that I ended up deciding weren’t helpful enough to keep the subscription.
Traffic Overview
I have been ALL over the place with blogging. I’m really trying to focus on consistently blogging.
I always use Pinterest, but I’m really hoping to expand to using Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok over the next couple of months!
I’ve noticed that what has helped the most with my traffic is focusing on Nashville or places within driving distance to Nashville.
For some reason, these always get the most views, and luckily for me, since I live here, it’s very easy to create content around this area!
I still love blogging about all the places I visit, but I’m definitely trying to focus more on the areas surrounding me.
My top three performing posts this month were:
- Hidden Gems in Nashville: Places I Take My Friends When They Visit Nashville
- Ultimate Nashville Packing List & What to Wear in Nashville
- 9 of all the Best Things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge!
Overall, the majority of my traffic definitely came from Pinterest – and a little bit from Google search. I’m really hoping to focus on social media more next!
Wins & Highlights This Month
✨ Got accepted into Journey by Mediavine for ad management!
✨ Stayed consistent on posting blogs! (Still want to be posting even more!)
✨ Created my TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, although I haven’t really used them!
✨ Finally started tracking affiliate sales across all platforms
✨ Starting a content calendar so I will hopefully stay more consistent not only with blogs, but also with promoting on other socials.
Even though these might seem like small wins, they’re huge steps for me! It’s exciting for me to even see a sale I made that made me $4 in commission, or hearing from a brand that wants me to come to their business.
What I Learned
This month taught me how important consistency and patience are in blogging. It takes time to see results, but when you stick to a posting routine and keep creating content that’s helpful, people really do find you.
I also learned the power of Pinterest. Some of my older pins started bringing in traffic out of nowhere, which reminded me that even one well-designed graphic can work for you long after you post it.
Goals for November 2025
✅ Write at least two holiday-themed travel posts (Christmas events & winter getaways) along with my other posts
✅ Grow Pinterest impressions to 65k
✅ Hit 3,000 monthly pageviews (This may be a long shot, but I’m gonna try!)
✅ Focus on email list growth – I got most of my email list now from a giveaway and want to find more engaged people!
✅ REALLY focus on TikTok and Facebook, and Instagram (may choose one to start with so I don’t get overwhelmed!)
Final Thoughts
I’m proud of this first step — not because of the exact dollar amount, but because it represents growth and possibility, and I see that there are a couple thousand unique people coming to my blog every month.
Everyone starts small, and if you’re reading this dreaming about making money with your own blog, you absolutely can. It just may take some time and dedication.
I’ve got a LONG way to go, but progress is progress, so I’m trying to be proud of the little I’ve done. Hopefully it leads to more!
Thank you for following along and supporting The Golden Impression. Every click, share, and kind message means the world to me! Here’s to more growth, more learning, and more adventures ahead. 💛
And if you have a blog or create content of any kind, please send it to me in a DM. I would LOVE to do my best to support you like you’ve supported me just by reading this 🙂
Affiliate Disclosure:
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through them. I only recommend products and services I use and love!
This blog post was my first-ever Blog Income Report!
Other posts you might like:
Hidden Gems in Nashville: Places I Take My Friends When They Visit Nashville
Best Day Trips from Nashville: Getaways Within a Few Hours
Sushi by Bou Nashville: Inside The Exclusive Sushi Experience
