California Archives - The Atlas Heart

Disneyland Magic Key Pass: The Ultimate Guide From an Avid Park Goer and Pass Holder

May 31, 2023March 2, 2023 by Mimi McFadden

A colorfully-dressed barbershop quartet standing outside on Disneyland's Main Street.

A colorfully-dressed barbershop quartet standing outside on Disneyland's Main Street.

Find out everything you need to know about the Disneyland Magic Key Pass from someone who uses it all the time.

21 Best Restaurants in Oceanside, California [Must-Try Places]

April 5, 2023February 10, 2023 by Mimi McFadden

Best Restaurants in Oceanside

Best Restaurants in Oceanside

Find the best restaurants in Oceanside for fine dining, beachside breakfasts, chic cocktails, and all the fish tacos you can eat.

15 Best Gold Rush Towns in California to Visit This Year

January 27, 2023January 27, 2023 by Mimi McFadden

Best Gold Rush Towns in California

Best Gold Rush Towns in California

Find out where the best gold rush towns in California are, plus the best things to do in each one.

Best Ziplining in California: 13 Places for Aerial Adventures & Canopy Tours

March 27, 2023December 21, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

Best Ziplining in California

Best Ziplining in California

Soar through forests, over vineyards, and into canyons on the best ziplining spots in California.

Best Lake Camping in California: 25 Scenic Spots Near the Water

December 26, 2022December 8, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

A beautiful view of Whiskeytown Lake in Northern California, best lake camping in california

A beautiful view of Whiskeytown Lake in Northern California, best lake camping in california

The best lake camping in California to enjoy being near the water, no matter where you are in the Golden State.

LA to San Francisco Road Trip: Recommended Stops, Planning Tips, and Sample Itineraries

March 30, 2023November 22, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

An empty highway in the Big Sur area, LA to San Francisco Road Trip featured image.

An empty highway in the Big Sur area, LA to San Francisco Road Trip featured image.

Pack up the car and hit the highway with this ultimate LA to San Francisco road trip guide.

Where to See Fall Colors in California: 21 Spots for Fall Foliage & Leaf Peeping

December 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

fall colors in california

fall colors in california

We’ve found the very best places to see fall colors in California to embrace autumn to the fullest.

45 California Redwood Parks: Ultimate Guide to the Best Redwoods in California

January 17, 2023October 4, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

california redwood parks

california redwood parks

This article is your complete guide to the forty-five California redwood parks.

17 Best Ghost Towns in California, from Spooky Old Gold Rush Towns to Abandoned Cities

January 16, 2023September 1, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

ghost towns in california

ghost towns in california

We’ve compiled the best ghost towns in California for those who love eerie old gold rush history.

13 Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit this Summer

March 15, 2022February 23, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit

Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit

The best lavender farms in California to visit, including when to catch them in full bloom.

What a beautiful day for a banna 💛 Day 2 of the

What a beautiful day for a banna 💛 Day 2 of the wedding festivities and my now most favorite photos of Suneel [3,4, and 5].

Mehndi part II ❤️The best way to start off the

Mehndi part II ❤️The best way to start off the wedding weekend = delicious Indian food, music, henna, and hanging out with some of my favorite women. 🥰

Mehndi vibes, part I ❤️

Mehndi vibes, part I ❤️

4.29.23 ❤️

Since it’s that time of year for reflection and

Since it’s that time of year for reflection and goals, I just finished tallying up my budgeting spreadsheets. Here’s a look at The Atlas Heart’s growth in the past four years, and our projected growth for 2023. Letzzzz go!

✨2019✨
Annual revenue = $4,787
Total pageviews = 256,245

✨2020✨
Annual revenue = $12,600
Total pageviews = 349,658

✨2021✨*started working on TAH full-time
Annual revenue = $66,797
Pageviews = 872,919

✨2022✨
Annual revenue = $194,974
Pageviews = 2,386,618

✨2023 (Projected)✨
Annual revenue = $470,000
Pageviews = 3,600,000

✨Milestone Goal (projected to reach by 2025)✨
Become a million dollar business

💰Breakdown of income💰
Ad revenue = 56.5%
Affiliate revenue = 43.3%
Products = 0.2%
.
.
Happy New Year!! ✨🍾

Even though I’ve been running my website since 2

Even though I’ve been running my website since 2012, it always used to be my passion not my main source of income.   It was a way of sharing my experiences and perspective about the places I traveled. I never had a business plan or looked all that much into how to make money from it.

Over the next six years, I went from bartending to running a somewhat successful consulting business as a freelance marketer that still allowed me to travel and work remotely.

Although I always imagined being able to make a living from my website, it honestly seemed unlikely that I’d be able to make money from something that I enjoyed so much.

It wasn’t until 2018 that I started teaching myself SEO and invested in numerous courses.   It took another year after that to start looking into how to monetize my website, and that was only after I lost one of my biggest clients and my monthly income was cut by 80%.

I thought it was as good a time as any to finally give it my best shot to create a successful blog that supported me.

I started building up a monetization strategy, intertwining my SEO skills to start making a little more money, one month at a time.

And then seven months later, March 2020 happened. And we all know how that went for the travel industry.

l was very close to walking away at that point, but I had seen how much growth there was in just seven months before everything came tumbling down. I couldn’t unsee that potential. So, after three months of a lot of languishing, I kept working on my site, more determined than ever.

It took another year and two months after that to finally be making just enough to end all my client work and start focusing on my website full time. I wrote an income report a month after that in June of 2021.

It was called “How I made $6,598 from my blog in June 2021.” When I wrote that article, I had big goals to hit 100,000 page views in a month before the end of the year (which I did!) and to make over $6,000 in a month again.

Secretly, I was hoping to double that amount by the following year, but looking back, I probably should’ve dreamed bigger.

Continued in the comments below👇

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