My Second Month of Earnings on Mediavine Journey [October 2024]
I’ll aim to keep this one brief. My second month of earnings on Mediavine Journey just came in and increased by 40%…but still leaves quite a bit to be desired.
You can find my first (and previous) month’s write-up about getting started on Mediavine Journey and its earnings in this past article: ‘How Much My Travel Blog Made Its First Month on Mediavine Journey’. In that article, I explain some common terms that are important for understanding earnings and a little bit about the Mediavine Journey analytics dashboard.
In the interest of not repeating myself, I recommend checking that post out if anything below doesn’t make sense and/or you’re unsure what they mean.
Without further ado, here’s exactly how much my travel blog made my second month on Mediavine Journey.
October 2024 Mediavine Journey Earnings
Since I didn’t technically earn a dollar until September 3rd/4th, I’ve just taken a screenshot that shows my earnings from October 3rd to November 1st.
For the month of October 2024, my second month on Mediavine Journey, I earned a total of…drum roll please…$40.98.
Now, as someone who was making close to zero just two months prior, I can’t complain. However, I am hoping to see a somewhat more sizable increase in November. Until then…
So, how much traffic did I receive to my site (the one you’re reading right now) to earn 2.5 Chipotle burritos (with guac, obviously)? In October, Pale Ale Travel had over 8100 sessions and just under 9500 pageviews. Once again, if you’re unsure about the difference between the two, please see my previous month’s article!
This means that my session RPM for the month – the primary metric used to price/quantify in the ad network game – was $5.04.
If you’re curious about my entire earnings over my first two months on Mediavine Journey, here they are:
$72.16.
Note that I am still under a $5 RPM over the first two months.
Let’s dig into a few key takeaways and reflections – and maybe a question or two that I have about the first two months with Mediavine.
Pale Ale Travel Tip: I’ve been publishing easily digestible articles on my newsletter subdomain breaking down how to set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console for your blog, which you can find over here.
Thoughts & Takeaways on Mediavine Journey Earnings: Month 2
First, I’m still positive about everything and enjoying the process. I think, at a very minimum, every blogger who strives to get monetized should consider it a win if they can cover their hosting and website costs for the year. If we even sustain at $40 per month going forward, we have accomplished that.
When I first started the site back in 2019, never in my wildest dreams, did I think that I’d earn a single dollar from it. It was a passion project. It still is.
Second, I’m finding my current RPM of $5.04 quite interesting. I’m seeing considerably higher numbers just when I do a quick Twitter search and come across fellow travel bloggers posting their RPMs.
So, I was curious. Is it that the bulk of my traffic is classified as coming from a second or third-tier country? Meaning, is it coming from countries that aren’t the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and even Japan?
Note: Simply put, the tiered country system refers to the amount of skrilla ($$$) that an advertiser is willing to spend per 1,000 impressions to get their ad in front of people. Generally, Tier 1 countries are English-speaking, boast higher conversion rates, and users (on average) are spending more when they convert (ex. Due to higher income and spending habits).
Keep in mind that these are the top 7 sources of geographical traffic, so if it doesn’t add up to the number sessions above, that’s because not every single country is shown.
I had a quick look at Google Analytics to see where the bulk of my traffic over the last 30 days has come from and it’s primarily Tier 1. I have a large content cluster tackling activities and restaurants in Japan, which is considered a Tier 2 country (borderline Tier 1, I think), but other than that the top traffic sources by country come from:
- Hong Kong (Tier 1),
- Singapore (Tier 1),
- United States (Tier 1).
There are two takeaways for me: (1) There must be more of a discrepancy in earnings per Tier 1 traffic source than I first anticipated, and (2) I’m not receiving as much Tier 1 traffic as I initially thought.
Third, from June 2024 onwards, I took a breather from regular publishing on my primary site (the one you’re reading right now) and only just got back into it.
As I mentioned in my post breaking down my first month’s earnings on Mediavine Journey, it took roughly 4-5 months for me to hear back for approval, so I focused my efforts elsewhere – primarily launching my newsletter and building out the blog of the subdomain it’s on.
As I continue to publish more on my main site again (I had a stretch last year of nearly 100 articles), I’m optimistic that earnings, RPM, and everything in between will continue to increase.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes, it would be nice to sprint marathons. But I have to say, the journey has been an extremely enjoyable one and I’m hungrier than ever to keep publishing quality content that (hopefully) allows you to have a better, more fulfilling trip and/or move abroad.
Fourth and final, I know that RPMs from specific traffic sources like Pinterest can be pretty darn high, so that is something to keep in the back pocket as I continue to grow and explore ways to reach readers. I will need to actually dive into Google Analytics to see the other sources of traffic are coming from that aren’t organic (my primary driver).
Not Living the Life of Riley Just Yet
The goal of these earnings transparency articles is to (hopefully) provide you with a realistic insight into what earnings might look like with your blog – should you join Mediavine Journey (or even another ad network).
No site is the same when it comes to monetization but I do find it helpful to gather and jot down comparable points of reference (ex. Other travel blogs’ earnings).
Finally, two misconceptions I’d like to emphasize and clear up is:
- Blogging is not passive income by any means as it’s a never-ending grind of publishing, analyzing, tweaking, refreshing, and publishing some more, all in hopes of being viewed favorably and prioritized in SERPs by ‘Big G’.
- Getting accepted into a ‘premium’ ad network doesn’t mean that you’re out of the weeds and going to be making the big bucks right away (or ever).
If you have any questions about creating or scaling a travel blog or have any further questions about Mediavine Journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at info@palealetravel.com.
Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, which sends unique destination spotlights, eating guides, and travel itineraries straight to your inbox.
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Blog well everyone,
Big Body
Big Body is a voracious lov…eater, a cowardly fighter, and a self-proclaimed curry goat BBQ-eating champion (don’t forget the donkey milk) who likes Stoicism, baseball, and writing in the third person. Having worked for himself for the last 7 years, he isn’t particularly successful but he does still drink ice-cold Sapporo draft beers with the best of them and knows his way around a Dai Pai Dong or two. He is based in Hong Kong but you can still find him in Saigon, Osaka, and Vienna for extended periods.