I made negligible money during the first year, and practically nothing the first 6 months.
The first 6 months I had no info resource like CAP is, and I also operated on a different concept from most people back then.
Don’t worry if you move along slowly – if you are in it for the long run it can be a lot better for you to move step by step. The search engines are getting smart and like to see “natural development”. It may take longer but the reward is relative permanence of positioning.
SEO experts tend to think they are always one step on front of the engines – from where I am sitting, they are always one step behind.