Food Blog Income Report – 4th Quarter 2023

I share my income reports to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run Midwest Foodie as a full-time job that brings in a multi-six-figure income and supports my family of three! It also allows me to share with you what I’m working on and the new things I’m trying.

2023 was an amazing year for Midwest Foodie and I’m so proud that all the hard work I’ve put in over the years is paying off to create a lifestyle for my family that we used to only dream of!

Midwest Foodie made over $366,000 in 2023!! I remember when I first started blogging 6 years ago, my dream beyond all dreams was to make $100k in a year. I still have to pinch myself sometimes that this is real life and I get to wake up and do something I love every day while providing for my family.

Thank you all for following along on this journey and making my dream a reality! Midwest Foodie is what it is because of readers and supporters like YOU!

Also, I have to give a huge gushy THANK YOU to my partner Luke who is the glue that holds our family together. Not only does he do tons of behind-the-scenes stuff for Midwest Foodie but he is also the best partner, father, and friend I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I have no idea where I would be without his love and support. And I’m honored that we get to share this lovely life we’ve created.

If you’re new here, be sure to check out my previous income reports to see how I’ve built this site from the ground up!

Let’s take a look at the stats for October, November, and December of 2023!

Traffic

October 2023

Pageviews	926,559
Sessions	772,281
Users	560,090

November 2023

Pageviews	870,061
Sessions	727,755
Users	525,541

December 2023

Pageviews	912,494
Sessions	757,069
Users	550,714

Traffic Sources

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

4th Quarter Income Total: $142,308

October 2023

Mediavine	$45,994
Amazon Associates	$340
Pinterest E-Book	$582
Affiliate Income	$235
Total Income	$47,151

November 2023

Mediavine	$48,868
Recipe Usage	$300
Amazon Associates	$370
Pinterest E-Book	$1,193
Affiliate Income	$129
Total Income	$50,860

December 2023

Mediavine	$43,395
Amazon Associates	$451
Pinterest E-Book	$97
Affiliate Income	$354
Total Income	$44,297

Monthly RPM/RPS

	Oct	Nov	Dec
RPM	$58.69	$67.34	$56.38
Page RPM	$49.63	$56.16	$47.54

Total Expenses $7,288

Monthly Recurring Expenses $2,539

Microsoft One Drive: $6
Akismet: $30
Nerdpress: $368
Peach Perfect Financials: $717
Lightroom: $32
SendOwl: $27
ConvertKit: $241
Gsuite: $36
Agathon: $240
Canva: $30
Tailwind: $35
KeySearch: $42
Gusto: $135
Groceries: $600

Other Expenses $4,749

VAs for SEO Updates: $987
Food Photography: $1,661
Content Writer: $70
The Blog Fixer: $100
Nutrifox: $89
Ahrefs: $199
WP Tasty Links: $49
Emily Perron: $797
Painless Blog Analytics: $297
Matt Molen: $500

Profit $135,020

Taxes

Please note that this “profit” does not take into account the taxes I will have to pay on it. It’s easy to look at these numbers and think the profits from blogging are great (which they are!) but it’s also important to remember that taxes come along and take about 20-30% as well.

Expenses Breakdown

• Matt Molen: I signed up for Matt’s “Done for You” program and am on the wait list – hoping to start in the next month or so, but in the meantime, Matt added a “save this recipe” feature to my blog posts. And it has been such a game-changer! I went from 5600+ email subscribers in the first week of October to 12,850+ in the first week of January. My open rate has dipped slightly during this time and unsubscribes have increased a bit as well which is to be expected. But I’ve also stopped culling my email list. With the inevitable death of third-party cookies, I am hanging on to every single email address I can get! If I end up with a HUGE number of cold subscribers I might consider culling them at some point but for now I’m considering doing a re-engagement campaign or just keeping them. It feels more important now than ever to have a direct line to your readers and email is such a simple way to connect!
• Painless Blog Analytics: I purchased the Done-For-You GA4 Dashboard and I love it! It’s made looking at my analytics so much more digestible and gives me information that I didn’t even realize I could access before. I haven’t had a chance to dive into it much at this point, but it was worth the investment so far.

What I’ve Been Up To

• Finding a good rhythm. I’ve been having lots of fun creating new content these last few months and have gotten into a nice cadence while finding a balance between work and my personal life. It’s been really fun and I feel like my break over the summer really allowed me to find joy in the tasks that seemed a little grinding before.
• Taking some much-needed time off and going on vacation. Our family got to travel to visit family over Thanksgiving and the Christmas/New Year holiday. I’m so thankful for a career that allows us to travel and spend time with loved ones. And catch a couple weeks of sunshine in between the cold, rainy, days of the Oregon winter!

My Pinterest E-Book

If you’re looking for the tried and true strategy that has gotten me where I am today, be sure to check out my Pinterest e-book!

• This e-book will help you develop a quick, easy, and simple Pinterest strategy to drive consistent traffic to your site in JUST 20 MINUTES A WEEK!
• This e-book is ideal for those who prefer to work at their own pace. This is not a Pinterest course. It’s not going to take you days or weeks to work through.
• It’s loaded with screenshots and images to help clarify the concepts that you’re learning and is geared toward those who already have a basic understanding of Pinterest, Tailwind, and Canva.

As always, thank you for reading! None of this would be possible without you 🙂 And don’t forget to check out my previous income reports for more behind-the-scenes info!