How Much Does Doctors of Running Make? - Midyear 2022 Report

How Much Does Doctors of Running Make? | Report #3
By Social Media Wizard Bach Pham

In 2021 we decided as we were growing that transparency would be important to the work we do. This is the third report in our series. You can find our last one here. In our third report, our Content Manager Bach Pham will be going to go through our monthly profits for January through the end of June 2022 and talk about our growth during this time period and where we plan to go next.

Doctors of Running Financial Summary - Quick Look
January Revenue: $1,745.35
February Revenue: $1,453.95
March Revenue: $1,287.61
April Revenue: $1,167.07
May Revenue: $1,658.83
June Revenue: $2,473.18
Affiliate: $2216.28
Sponsorships: $400
Total for January - June 2022: $12,402.27

WEBSITE AD REVENUE | ADTHRIVE

Last year we moved from Adsense to Adthrive, which was a massive change for the team as far as growth. Adsense is one of the most basic ad revenue systems on the internet and one that most new websites use to get started. Last year, we had our biggest year of growth which enabled us to qualify and switch to Adthrive's program. We'll be talking more about Adthrive this Fall when we do a full review of our first year experience with the ad publisher.

This midyear has been our first full six month period on Adthrive, which has been exciting to follow. Adthrive is a very seasonal ad publisher, meaning it starts slowly at the beginning of the year and slowly scales throughout the year.

Adthrive works on a 45 day payment schedule which can be a little complicated. Basically, our January revenue was paid out in March. So some of our first payouts of the year were from ads in 2021. Here is our past six months of revenue we received monthly from Adthrive:

January Adthrive: $1,612.55
February Adthrive: $1,292.45
March Adthrive: $1,004.44
April Adthrive: $889.39
May Adthrive: $1,326.38
June Adthrive: $2,059.46

While the year started with a bit of a downward trend, we personally started having some huge growth starting in March readership-wise and been growing extremely fast the past several months. All of the growth has really come from a combination of things coming together all at once. We got busy, for one, pushing out more content then ever before. At this point in August, we have already released nearly 100 features (not including podcasts) for 2022. In 2021, we had a total of 125 for the whole year. As the team's Content Manager, this is probably where I have put the most focus into during my time at Doctors of Running, both keeping our team on track and focusing on the kind of work that would best suit our team. We've never worked as hard as we have this year, and I'm really excited for the team to see all of it payoff. We also worked hard to develop a steady workflow which has helped allow us to be able to grow as much as we have this year.

AFFILIATE REPORT, SPONSORSHIPS | OUR SOURCES OF INCOME

We have four sources of income at Doctors of Running. Adthrive, mentioned above, is our biggest source of income. Our other three sources are affiliate links, sponsorships through the podcast, and our YouTube revenue. In 2021, we began working with Running Warehouse, who have been the best in a lot of ways. Embarrassingly, while we had some revenue here and there from them in the past, I realized I was making a mistake in how I linked Running Warehouse links from Doctors of Running. The second half of this midyear has been spent redoing links and helping fix that problem.

March (Q1) RW Affiliate Funds: $680.25
July (Q2) RW Affiliate Funds: $1,536.03

I want to be clear that it is not our mission to just go out and sell as many shoes as we can on a daily basis. Our mission has always been to give runners information to help make informed choices and hopefully learn a few lessons along the way that can help their running long term. That is why we ended up with developing a clear shopping section with a note if it is an affiliate link rather than jumping in and embedding links throughout the article. Getting the right shoe for you is 100% the goal of ours at Doctors of Running. We often say that using a link to purchase a product that you are interested in is the best way to support us, because both sides get something out of the process this way - a shoe or piece of gear for you that we may have inspired, and a little bit of funds back to us. As a bonus it also helps support Running Warehouse whom we are so appreciative of in our time with them.

Additionally, this year with the massive growth of our podcast we have been able to obtain some sponsorships with both Running Warehouse and Karhu. Those sponsorships have been $50 an episode to help support the ongoing work on the podcast. Additionally, through the use of Anchor which hosts our podcast, we get a small piece of earnings through their version of "sponsorship." Throughout the life of our use of Anchor since 2020, Anchor has provided us a total of $429.72 to date.

YouTube growth from January through June 2022.

YOUTUBE AD REVENUE

We started receiving our first YouTube ad revenue back in February of 2021 after we passed 1000 followers - the minimum to start earning on YouTube. After a year of steady growth, we had a big revelation during this six month period with the introduction of Sub 2. One of the biggest challenges our team has been time management. We're in a unique position where we have a website that we have and want to continue to pour a lot of energy towards, but also our YouTube which was started as a way to get our podcast out to the world and evolved into an extension of our work.

One of the things we've really struggled with is figuring out how to deliver more content there while balancing our website work and full-time work outside of Doctors of Running. Sub 2 was born out of a pure accident sometime in March. Matt had shared some thoughts with our team via video, and a light bulb went off for our team when we realized that this could be a unique direction for us to explore. It's been a great opportunity for us to provide some quick thoughts on both shoes and topics we have been chewing on for awhile while not putting too much stress on the rest of our work.

Our YouTube has grown a lot since we launched the series, starting with 3700 subscribers at the end of 2021 to 6,382 subs today.

Doctors of Running YouTube Revenue: January to End of June 2022
January YouTube Revenue: $132.80
February YouTube Revenue: $161.50
March YouTube Revenue: $283.17
April YouTube Revenue: $277.68
May YouTube Revenue: $332.45
June YouTube Revenue: $413.72

We don't know if Sub 2 is going to be a permanent part of Doctors of Running forever, but we have had a lot of great feedback from the community on the series and still have a lot of ideas in the pipeline to tackle through the format. The cool thing about Sub 2 has been the fun, quirky topics we have been able to touch on that otherwise doesn't quite fit in the podcast or a longer video. It's also been a really interesting exploration on what can/needs to be covered in two minutes time, which has influenced our thoughts on our writing.

Unfortunately our "interns" are unpaid despite their important contributions

HOW WE DIVIDE EARNINGS | GIVING

Our earnings have evolved as the team has grown and responsibilities changed.

Doctors of Running Budget Breakdown
DOR Giving: 10%
Savings: 5%
Core Team (4): 16% per person
Senior Contributing Team: 8.5% per person
Associate Team: 2% per person

Our budget is divided into three main areas. The first area is Savings. This is to help cover expenses and the occasional seeding or technology item. The second, and largest portion, is divided among the team based on time investment. The core team runs the day-to-day activities of the site and have weekly contributions. There is usually a 10-15 hour weekly commitment from the core team, made up of Chief Editor Matt Klein, Senior Contributors David Salas and Nathan Brown, and myself - Bach Pham, social media manager. The next tier is our senior contributing team who has weekly work and contributions to the site monthly. The final tier is our associate team helps support the team as needed.

Our final area of the budget is our DOR Giving. Each month, one of our contributors selects a charity of their choice to donate 10% of our earnings. It's been a great way to not only give back, but use whatever platform we have to bring some awareness to unique organizations that perhaps some may have never heard of. Note, our Giving program is a month delayed due to unique timing, so our amounts are a bit varying. Here is the list of charities we have shared in the first half of 2022:

DOR Giving in 2022
City on a Hill, $202.86
Alzheimer's Association, $140.02
East Coast Greenway, $124.40
Rainy Day Fund, $119.00
Girls on the Run, $159.90
ALS Association, $241.57

REFLECTING ON DOR'S 2022 MID YEAR GROWTH

We knew we had finished last year strong, but this year has been absolutely phenomenal as things have come together. With our full team, we've been able to write features and reviews at a pace faster than ever before. We've also been able to tackle new territory with our Sub 2s and grow our YouTube.

Some of the biggest growth has been our podcast. This past January, we brought on BJ McGeever as our Audio Engineer who's not only been able to take our podcast to the next level, but provide a huge amount of support in helping us grow there behind-the-scenes. We've had a lot of great guests, great discussions, and also brought on our Senior Contributor Andrea Myers as a fantastic new voice to the podcast.

Overall, our six months was the fastest amount of growth for us in the history of Doctors of Running and far and away the busiest. We added a lot of new features to the table including a new Beginner's Guide to Running, a Walking Guide, and a Beginner's Guide to Nutrition/Hydration thanks to a partnership with Jennifer Giles. We updated some of our longtime guides including our Carbon Plated Super Shoe Resource and introduced a Running Research Archive. We also kicked off our Sustainability Series looking into the future, and our monthly Q&A.

This also was a special six months for opportunities, the biggest being our trip* to Boston to visit Saucony's Headquarters and discuss the Tempus. It was a really great high for the team to be able to do something really special together.

We're looking forward to working towards ending the year strong with more great projects and some exciting ideas as we continue to work on evolving what we do at DOR! Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, reach us at doctorsofrunning@gmail.com

*Note: Saucony paid for the team's travel and hotel arrangements for the project. There was not compensation for our participation in their Tempus launch, except the sweet Saucony jackets we took home. It was a great time and we thank Saucony for bringing us to Boston for the opportunity.

SUPPORT DOR

Interested in helping Doctors of Running directly? We have a new option through our Ko-Fi. You can also check out the following recommendations from the team for Running Warehouse.

Check out Gear We Love! (As noted, the following links are affiliate links that help support Doctors of Running. Thanks so much!)

Ultraspire Fitted Race Belt: The best way to carry your phone and goods on the run. No bounce and various sizes for waist. (Also recommend the Naked belt)
Skratch Recovery, Coffee Flavor: Mental and physical boost post run. Coffee flavor is excellent and goes great straight into a fresh brewed cup
goodr Sunglases: Run in style with goodr's super fun sunglasses.
Feetures Socks: Massively grippy socks that will make you feel more one with the shoe
Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Water Bottle: Perfect for long runs when you need hydration in the summer
Trigger Point Foam Roller: Help get those knots out post-run and feel better for tomorrow
Theragun Massager: This small version is great on the go for working tired legs
Ciele Hat: Our team's favorite running hat of choice!

GUIDES AT DOCTORS OF RUNNING

Beginner's Guide to Running Shoes: Are you a brand new runner and unsure where to start? Visit this guide first to get started.
Stability Shoe Resource Page: Our comprehensive guide to stability shoes and alternatives for neutral runners as well
Carbon Fiber Plated Shoes Resource Page: Want to go as fast as possible for race day? Visit this page for all of our super shoe reviews
Guide to Walking Shoes: Featuring some science behind walking and the best running shoes for walking based on our everyday testing and clinical experience working with patients.
Getting the Right Fit: Unsure if your shoe fits? Visit this page to help you determine how to find the right shoe for your feet. Comfort is one of the most important things we emphasize at Doctors of Running before you get out the door and on the road. Sometimes the right shoe for you is not what works for many others. That is why it is important to try different shoes when you can to get a better understanding of works best for your needs.
Beginner's Guide to Nutrition/Hydration: Guest writer Jennifer Giles (Registered Dietitan/Nutritionist) helps bring a new guide for fueling to Doctors of Running as part of our summer hydration series.

Find all Shoe Reviews at Doctors of Running here.

Thanks for reading!

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