The start of a new month (and in this case, a new year) means it’s time once again for the blog income report. These income reports came about because of a case study I started way back in September 2006. I wanted to see if money can be made by blogging and used this blog as the test case. Before September, John Chow dot Com was simply a personal blog for me to ramble and didn’t make any money.

The blog started 2007 with $3,440.66 in monthly income. Eleven months later, the figure had mushroomed to $27,240.83. December is traditionally a lower traffic and income month for web publishers. This is because nothing much happens during the last week of the year because everyone is out shopping and partying. How did this effect the December blog income? Not as bad as I thought it would.

Total Blog Income for December 2007: $25,040.36

Despite lower traffic due to the holidays, the blog still managed to post its second highest income figure to date. Here’s the breakdown.

• Private Ad Sales: $10,480.00
• Affiliate Commissions: $5,701.48
• ReviewMe: $5,400.00
• Text Link Ads: $2,097.74
• Kontera: $1,000.00
• TTZ Media: $321.14
• Subscription: $40.00
• Grand Total: $25,040.36

Blog traffic for December was 244,164 page views from 130,587 unique visitors, according to Google Analytics. While traffic is off from last month, eCPM has set a new record. If you take the blog page views and divide it by the blog income, you get a site wide eCPM of $102.56. This represents the first time the blog has broken the $100 eCPM mark. What this means is for every 1000 page views, John Chow dot Com made over $100. How much would your blog be making if you made $100 for every 1000 page views?

Blog expenses for the month were $329.81 for contextual advertising and $25 for a private ad. Hosting for John Chow dot Com is sponsored by BlueFur Web Hosting. Use coupon code JohnChowRocks to get 15% off any BlueFur hosting packages.

Total 2007 Blog Income: $180,305.94

For those who are wondering, this blog made a grand total of $180,305.94 in 2007. When I started this case study, the goal was to make full time income with part time blogging. There are very few full time jobs that will pay $180K a year. And those that do generally require you to work more than full time hours. I expect the blog to make a minimum of $300,000 in 2008.

Want To Be a Six Figure Blogger?

The key to making money online is to drive a lot of traffic and then maximize the income from that traffic. Most blogs don’t do this. I’ve come across countless blogs where the only ads running are Google AdSense. If you’ve been reading John Chow dot Com for even a short time, then you know that Google is not the only game in town. Check out my recommended money makers to see what ad networks I used to produce my blog income.

I also recommend you download my free eBook, Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com. the book explains the methods I used to create content, drive traffic and make money. You can get it by signing up for my free newsletter at the top center of the page.

Now that 2007 is behind us, I’m really looking forward to see what this blog can do in 2008. Better put on your seatbelt. It’s going to be a wild ride!