Blogging

Blogging 101: Revenue Patterns to Expect Each Year

posted on February 1, 2017 | by Amanda Holstein

When I first transitioned to becoming a full-time blogger, one of the biggest misconceptions I had was that as my blog grew, the opportunities would consistently increase with it. While in a larger sense, that can be true, it doesn’t mean that every month will be more successful than the last. Changing your expectations about how your business will grow is so important in order to stay realistic and positive throughout the year.

Understand where your revenue comes from.

While I’d like to think that the harder I work, the more I’ll make, that’s not entirely the case when it comes to blogging. Our revenue depends on the spending habits of the companies we work with (clothing companies, makeup brands, etc.). Because companies don’t typically increase their spending as the year goes on, our revenue growth isn’t exactly in the form of an upwards line. So the good and bad news is that the number of opportunities we get is not always a reflection of how well or how hard we’re working.

Quarterly patterns:

After working on the marketing side of the blogging world for years, I have insight into the spending habits of the companies who hire us. And now after two years of full-time blogging, I can verify that these patterns are true. Here’s what I’ve noticed:

Q1 (January – March): The beginning if the year is often a bit slow. Brands are planning their budgets for the whole year and aren’t necessarily acting on them just yet. If you’re not getting as many opportunities during in January and February, I wouldn’t worry. Just make sure you’re on their minds as they plan for the year ahead. How? Email your brand contacts, meet them for coffee, update them on your plans for the year, etc.

Q2 (April – June): Things tend to pick up a little bit in the spring. Brands are finally putting their plans into action and starting to spend a bit on influencer marketing. This isn’t the most active quarter, but it’s typically more active than Q1. As you enter summer, however, things tend to slow down again.

Q3 (July – September): The beginning of Q3 is iconically slow. People are vacationing during the summertime and since consumers are spending less, brands often spend less on marketing during this time as well. As September approaches (Back-to-School season), that’s when things really start to kick into gear. This is a high-spending time for both consumers and brands, so you should start seeing more opportunities come through.

Q4 (October – December): The most active quarter of the year is Q4. With back-t0-school and the holidays, companies want to take advantage of all of the consumer purchasing during this time. As the year comes to a close, brands also want to spend the rest of their yearly budgets. This means last-minute opportunities may pop up as well. So prepare for things to ramp up in Q4!

So if you feel like the opportunities aren’t coming in regularly throughout the year, you’re probably right. And that’s totally okay. Take note of these patterns so that you can plan for the year ahead and manage your expectations accordingly.

If you have any other questions on revenue patterns or anything else, let me know in your comments below!