Welcome to my 11th freelance income report – for the month of July, 2015.
I did it!
I grossed over $10,000 for the FIRST TIME since I launched my freelance business!
Honestly, I thought there was no way my revenue would beat June’s. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least!
A Little Backstory
I keep a profit-and-loss statement for each month, as well as a rolling total for the year. I enter in income as it is received (rather than as it is billed) and do the same for expenses.
Here’s what it’s looked like since I started:
- 2014: Income $16,512 income – $3,782 expenses = $12,730 total profit for 2014*
- January: Income $5,080 – $753 expenses = $4,327 profit ($4, 327 YTD profit)
- February: Income $5,272 – $978 expenses = $4,294 profit ($8,621 YTD rolling)
- March: Income $6,595 – $1,084 expenses = $5,511 profit ($14,132 YTD rolling)
- April: Income $7,503 – $2,471 expenses = $5,032 profit ($19,164 YTD rolling)
- May: Income $7,368 – $865 expenses = $6,503 profit ($25,667 YTD rolling)
- June: Income $9,431 – $3,248 expenses = $6,183 profit ($31,850 YTD rolling)
*I started looking into freelancing in April, 2014. I launched this site in May and secured my first client in June, 2014. So really the 2014 total is for June-December (or seven months). During this time, I also worked full-time at my day job. I’ve since quit my job and have been freelancing full-time since the first of the year.
Additional Deductions
After a meeting with my accountant (and an amended 2014 return in our favor), I now take 25% of my net monthly profit and transfer it into a savings account for taxes. I set up an LLC turned S-corp in May and will begin payroll practices later this year.
I also believe in tithing. Since I sold my business, I’ve decided to tithe to our church on that income and continue to support this missionary family in Costa Rica on my freelance income for 2015.
It makes a direct impact into an amazing mission (they’re setting up a daycare to take care of children, so their parents don’t have to bring them with to pick coffee beans, which surprisingly can be very dangerous!). It’s also a fun reason to try to make more money!
July’s Results
Income: $10,075, a 7% increase month-over-month.
Expenses: $1,380, much more inline with where I want them to be.
Net Income: $8,695 (after expenses, but before tithe/tax). This is a 41% increase month-over-month!
Income Breakdown
Writing: 15%
Virtual Assistance Work: 45%
Course Sales: 28%
Coaching: 11%
Other: (Affiliate, etc): 1%
Consulting (former office): 0% (This has officially ended)
Expenses
My base expenses are about $325 per month. Here’s what that includes:
- Job Board Membership $20
- FreshBooks $20
- Coaching $200
- Website Support $35
- Drip Subscription $49
You’ll notice that my expenses are much higher than $325. I relooked at everything this last month and have now budgeted $2,000 (total) per month for expenses. This is what else I have budgeted for going forward.
- Affiliate Payouts (varies, but budgeting ~$300/m)
- Marketing/Website Support (varies, but budgeting ~$650/m)
- Advertising through Facebook and Adwords (varies, but budgeting ~$400/m)
- Blog editing/writing (just started, budgeting ~$200/m)
- PayPal fees (varies, but budgeting ~$125/m)
All in all, these expenses should be worth it. They might not pay off until down the road, but I feel confident in investing in a business that I’m passionate about. I’m also using the funds from my business to reinvest in it.
Thoughts on the Month
July was obviously a pretty epic month. I honestly expected my revenue to be down, but it was actually higher than last month’s. That paired with my much lower expenses, made it my most profitable month ever!
I picked up a new writing project that I’ve really been enjoying and made some really great connections for future work. I also ran the most epic aspiring freelance writer giveaway ever and had a lot of fun with that. But man, promotion is a lot of work!
30 Day or Less to Freelance Writing Success course sales again put me over the edge (even with the slight price increase, yay!). I also took on a handful of new coaching clients, which also helped to boost my income.
My singular-focused goal for last month was building my newsletter list. The giveaway was a big part of accomplishing this. I started the month at 978 subscribers and ended it at 1,279 subs. That’s 301 total subscribers added and more than 50% towards my ultimate goal of growing my list to 1,500 total subs by the end of September.
Goal for August
I’m going to keep my goal the same for August as in July, in that I’m going to focus on finishing my list building course and increasing my email subs. To do this, I’m going to work on content upgrades next and then see what else is in store for me for the rest of the course.
Again, I don’t anticipate my income to keep rising, but I plan on keeping my head down, working my hardest and seeing what happens. I always try to take the position of setting low expectations. So if it doesn’t happen, I won’t be crushed. It’d be exciting to keep growing though, wouldn’t it?
Concerns
I think my biggest concerns are still around work/home balance and making sure that I give enough attention to both. I want my business to continue to grow, but not at the expense of my family.
I feel like I did better at this, this past month. We took a little vacation and I was able to limit the amount of time I was online. And we still have some fun trips planned this month, before winter sets in here in Minnesota, LOL!
So maximizing my time and efficiency is the goal. I’ve always been a fan of hiring out things I don’t know how to do (or don’t want to learn), like tech stuff, but I’ve also recently taken on an editor to format and edit posts for me. I’m really enjoying it so far and am able to get more done in less time. I hope this trend continues!
Keep Taking the Next Right Step
If you’re currently hustling to build a business, we’re in this together. I’d love to support you, if you’re willing to do the same.
Leave a comment letting me know we’re in the trenches together or a place that I can go to support you.
Fan my FB page, connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Google+ to stay in touch! We’ve got this!
How did July go for you? Share in the comments!
PS: Mike has a great post on Start Blogging Online that shares some additional insight on blog monetization. Check it out! (I’m even mentioned!)
Photo Credit: elizabeth lies via Unsplash
