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Home / Blog / Resources / Income Reports

How Does The Modest Man Make Money?

Published on April 2, 2015 by Brock McGoff · Income Reports May contain affiliate links (what's this?)

Have you ever wondered how a blog like The Modest Man makes money?

TMM Income
TMM Income and Expenses

I get lots of questions about this. People want to know if I make money from this blog (and how much).

These are good questions, and I love talking about the business of blogging. But this topic has nothing to do with style for short men, so I’ve been hesitant to talk about it here.

But… I recently created a survey to gauge your interest in learning about how I monetize this site and the business of blogging, in general.

Much to my surprise, over 60% of you said you were interested.

So, this is the first ever TMM income report. Since it’s already April, this report will cover the first quarter of 2015 (January, February and March).

Quick side note: This isn’t the new norm. If you guys like this income report and want to see more, I’ll publish one per month. The Modest Man will always focus primarily on style advice for short men.

How a Style Blog Makes Money

Like most blogs, The Modest Man has multiple sources of income. They can be grouped into three basic categories:

  1. Affiliate commissions
  2. Ad revenue
  3. Product sales

Let’s take a closer look at each of these categories.

Affiliate Commissions

You earn affiliate commissions by referring people to other company’s products. For example, if I publish an outfit post featuring a jacket from Banana Republic, I will link to that jacket using a special referral link.

RewardStyle Dashboard
My analytics dashboard in rStyle, a popular affiliate platform for style bloggers.

If someone clicks that link and ends up buying the jacket, I’ll get a small portion of the sale. It doesn’t cost you, the customer, anything extra. The seller just gives me, the affiliate, a little reward for telling you about their product.

These commission are typically very low (like 5%), so it takes a lot of traffic/links/sales to make serious revenue from affiliate marketing, at least in the apparel industry.

To get access to these special links, you have to join affiliate programs. I’m part of several big programs (like Amazon), as well as some smaller ones. Of course, I also write about and link to lots of products that aren’t part of any affiliate programs.

For me, affiliate earnings are a nice little bonus for sending potential customers to my favorite companies. So if you click on an affiliate link and end up buying something, you’re helping keep the lights on at The Modest Man headquarters.

Much appreciated!

Ad Revenue

Advertising on this site falls into three buckets:

  1. Direct Ads
  2. Google AdSense
  3. Sponsored Posts

Direct ads can be purchased by companies that I really believe in and support (i.e., not just anyone).

These are pretty straightforward – a company writes me a check, and I place their banner on the site for a specific period of time (usually 1-6 months).

Google Adsense ads are lower down on the page. Google controls these, and they have all sorts of complicated targeting going on. These ads change often, but they will likely be very relevant to you (sometimes a little too relevant… GET OUT OF MY HEAD GOOGLE).

I also count sponsored posts as ad revenue, although they’re really not ads in a traditional sense. You’ll always know when a post is sponsored because it will say something at the top of the article like:

“This post was made possible by…”

Some months have one or two sponsored posts, while others don’t have any. I turn down most sponsored post opportunities down because they’re not a good fit for TMM readers, literally.

Product Sales

Right now, my only product is the TMM Style Guide. I’m working on some other stuff (no spoilers), but the ebook is it for now. It’s not a huge source of revenue, but it is consistent.

Q1 2015 Income Summary

Ok, now that we’ve covered all of the different revenue streams, let’s look at the actual numbers:

Ad Revenue

  • Direct/Sponsored – $2,950.00
  • Google AdSense – $163.03 (just started in March)

Affiliate Commissions

  • RewardStyle – $818.07
  • Amazon – $542.67
  • Modern Tailor – $259.92

Product Sales

  • TMM Style Guide – $1,098

TOTAL = $5,831.69

Keep in mind, this is total for Q1 2015 (three months total). This comes out to $1,943.90 per month. Not exactly retirement money, but it’s a start.

UPDATE: Check out the Q2 2015 Income Report

TMM Expenses
Some recent expenses

I invest almost all of this money right back into The Modest Man. It costs money to try out new brands, go to conferences, buy photo and video equipment, host this site, etc.

I work as a freelance digital marketing consultant to pay the bills, at least until this blog gets big enough to support me full time.

To that end, I have some cool stuff planned. I’m working on an online course that will help short men step up their style. It’s kind of like the ebook, but higher quality and way more in depth.

Of course, anyone who bought the ebook will get a sweet discount when the course launches!

I’m also working on another product for you, but it’s top secret. Stay tuned…

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Income Reports blogging, business, income report

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About Brock McGoff

The Modest Man founder, Brock is an aspiring minimalist who enjoys working out, spending time with his family, discovering new brands and creating great content.

Background: Brock McGoff has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a professional background in digital marketing. He believes that men's fashion is just one facet of self-improvement, and he started The Modest Man to help regular guys feel more confident by improving their appearance.

An east coast native, Brock currently lives in Arizona with his wife and daughter. When he's not working, he spends time with family, training BJJ, reading/listening to books and podcasts, and unsuccessfully trying to decide which movie to stream.

Expertise: Brock has built a men's lifestyle YouTube channel with over 400k subscribers. He's also worked as the creative marketing manager in a men's apparel startup. Brock has been quoted in, mentioned by or featured in publications like Esquire, Huff Post, Men's Health, WWD and Forbes.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Got questions? Want to share your opinion? Comment below!

  1. Larry Richards says

    December 9, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    Hi Brock, I’m a 72 year old short guy, 5’4″ 149 lbs. I really enjoy reading you blog and watching your videos on how to look your best. To me, your recommendations fit men of all ages and backgrounds. Wishing you continued success.

    Reply
  2. Ken Lee says

    August 19, 2019 at 11:10 am

    Hi Brock,
    I would like to ask what website hosting you use for the modest man? WordPress? Squarespace? or Wix? Can you make a review about this also? Thanks a lot

    Reply
    • Brock says

      August 19, 2019 at 11:29 am

      I’ve used a few different ones. Most recently (and currently) I use WPX. Super affordable and insanely fast for the price, plus the customer service is awesome. Here’s my affiliate link if you’d like to use it (doesn’t cost anything extra for you) – https://wpxhosting.com/?affid=2585

      Trust me, it’s way better than Bluehost, etc.

      A cheaper but still great option is Siteground. If you’re just starting out, I’d go with them. Again, I have an affiliate link if you’d like (no pressure though) – https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=196da46c773b6f4ea7c8cadfc7561195

      Reply
  3. rahyeroyce says

    January 28, 2019 at 7:27 am

    Sure a wonderful read, thanks for sharing. Hope i get to work with someone as you as i have a huge passion for fashion and style for males

    Reply
  4. Gregg in Hong Kong says

    April 8, 2018 at 10:46 am

    Thanks for the behind-the-scenes glimpse. It’s interesting – and you do a good job. Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Ngan says

    February 25, 2017 at 11:17 am

    Thanks for sharing. You are very detailed and helpful with what you share.

    Reply
  6. Big Game James says

    February 24, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    Love your style, Brock! I’m of average height but found your site through a mention by Peter Nguyen on his site. Anyway, like the way you break things down in easy to read fashion. And thanks for including marketing how-to info in your Resource Page. Well done!

    Reply
  7. Michael Shemer says

    December 2, 2016 at 10:48 am

    Do you use a service such as blogspot or wordpress for your blog? Or did you have the website created by a programmer?

    Reply
    • Brock says

      December 2, 2016 at 11:58 am

      I built it with WordPress. See the whole process here – https://www.themodestman.com/how-to-start-a-style-blog/

      Reply
  8. Style Bakery says

    November 23, 2016 at 9:06 am

    Thanks for sharing this as I’m also running my own men’s style blog and have no idea how to monetize it. I may just consider keeping it ad-free and figure monetization out later on once I can build a bigger audience/following.

    Reply
  9. Making A PUA says

    October 25, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    This info is amazing. Thanks for sharing. Great motivation for my own sites.

    Reply
  10. Adina says

    September 10, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    Brock, Thanks for referring me to TMM. You’ve now got me interested in blogging! So cool of you to share tips on style and success! That’s what most people are after.

    Adina

    Reply
  11. groomingmail says

    June 26, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    Hey, what a great read – love the insights.

    Can i ask how long you’ve been blogging and how long it took for you to start earning a modest amount?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Brock says

      June 26, 2015 at 4:04 pm

      Thanks! I dive a little deeper into that stuff over here –

      http://www.sidehustlenation.com/part-time-blogger-4k-month/

      Took a couple of years to get to this point, but I learned so much…could do it much faster if I started over right now.

      Reply
  12. andhika says

    May 25, 2015 at 11:24 am

    I wish my blog can as big as yours brock

    Reply
  13. Hamed says

    May 10, 2015 at 2:13 am

    I appreciate the transparency, Brock! I saw how sincere and authentic you were at StyleCon and through your YouTube videos, and I now see those same qualities in your writing! It’s very clear that you are really committed to serving your audience.

    Reply
  14. Michael says

    April 23, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    I would love for you to keep doing this segment! It’s really interesting and I love that you’re transparent about all this!

    Reply
  15. Alam says

    April 11, 2015 at 12:23 am

    Wishing you all the best, Brock.

    Reply
  16. Ape is Dapper (@ApeIsDapper) says

    April 7, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Whoa. Very cool of you to do this, Brock. Respect!

    Reply
  17. wanderoke says

    April 5, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    Thank you for the openness of your financials

    Reply
  18. Joshua says

    April 4, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    Super cool! Thanks for sharing. Love when blogs are open and honest about what they are about and how they make money.

    Reply
  19. David Rachford says

    April 4, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    via Reddit/r/entrepreneur – Great job, nice write up. I would love to to know more about how long you’d been working on the blog, content, and building the audience before September… I mean, it’s possible, but unlikely that you just built a blog and started to monetize right away, right?

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 4, 2015 at 4:32 pm

      Thanks! Replied on Reddit.

      Reply
  20. Malaquias says

    April 4, 2015 at 3:52 am

    I appreciate this

    Reply
  21. Anthony Tat says

    April 3, 2015 at 5:18 pm

    unrelated to the article, but did you ever do a Modern Tailor review? one of your older articles said “review coming soon” but I can’t find it

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 4, 2015 at 12:51 pm

      Hey Anthony,

      I haven’t done a full review on them, although I’ve worn their shirts in some outfit posts. In my opinion, they’re the best budget MTM brand.

      Will try and get a detailed review out soon.

      -Brock

      Reply
  22. [email protected] says

    April 2, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    Good read. Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

    Reply
  23. Gene Yee says

    April 2, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    This business model reminds me of Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Work Week. Revenue is one thing, but what interests me is your freedom to be anywhere your want and work at much or little to maintain your success as you desire. Much better than being tied to a desk. Wish you continued success and stay creative in finding that niche market.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 9:33 pm

      4HWW is probably the one book that I can say actually changed my life. I read it a couple of years before starting this blog, but I can say with confidence that The Modest Man exists because of that book.

      And you’re right, it’s about freedom, not money. Everyone has the ability to make money, but no one (even the richest person) can make more time.

      Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  24. Chad Nichols says

    April 2, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    Thank you for this! I’ve always wondered if and how much awesome sites like this can make. Hope you can be fully supported from this blog and do more!

    Reply
  25. Annie Kip says

    April 2, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    So glad to see that you are having success and being rewarded for your good work, Brock! It is really interesting to hear the details, so thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work!!!

    Reply
  26. John says

    April 2, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Thanks for your inside post. I always wondered how a blogger can make money with a site.
    Greeting from the flower fields in the netherlands.

    Reply
  27. BR says

    April 2, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    I have often wondered how bloggers make money. Fascinating to see the breakdown of your revenue streams. I assume most of your costs are fixed so your sites profitability can scale nicely with increased readership (assuming readership increases revenue.)

    Reply
  28. Lee says

    April 2, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    You demonstrate the essential inspiration that is disappointingly generally missing all around. Keep up the good work mate!

    Lee (Grantham, England)

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 9:30 pm

      Thank you, sir!

      Reply
  29. Seth says

    April 2, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    I love the look inside Brock. It’s fascinating to see how things work for others. I spend all my time thinking about product and how to reach our customers and serve them Understanding how life works for the bloggers that those of us on the product side depend on to get the word out brings some new perspective to the process. I’m happy to be factored into that accounting list. Keep up the great work and you’ve got my vote to keep up this segment. I want to see how the site grows and what works/doesn’t work for you.

    Seth

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 4:26 pm

      Seth,

      Thanks man…means a lot coming from a fellow small business hustler. Here’s to big things in 2015!

      -B

      Reply
  30. Alexander Cruz says

    April 2, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    I’m not so much interested in this specific type of post from TMM (as I suppose you aren’t either). However, I did find this post to be among the most interesting pieces of blogging I’ve read this year. I thank you for sharing this info with us, I believe it gives us (the followers) a greater sense of respect towards your work and a bit more sense of “responsibility” towards the site, at least in my case. Thank you again for this exclusive view into your business.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 1:50 pm

      Thanks brother! Appreciate the honesty and kind words.

      Reply
  31. The Kentucky Gent says

    April 2, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    From the looks of it your UMVs are pretty high up there, congrats buddy 😉

    Josh – The Kentucky Gent
    http://thekentuckygent.com

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 1:51 pm

      Yup, definitely growing. That’s the great thing about blogging, though. There is no “end” or ceiling, as you know!

      Reply
  32. adolfo says

    April 2, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Cool. Very interesting.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      April 2, 2015 at 1:51 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply

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