Whew, month two is in the books!
I’m pretty pleased with my results overall, especially considering I spent the entire month away from home on our little workation in South Padre Island, Texas. (Have I told you how laid back, beautiful and relaxing this place is?)
Side note: I recently got asked if I was retired, LOL. Nope, I just work on the net! (Not that my fellow retirees really understand what that means...)
So what happened? Read on for the full lowdown.
A Little Freelance Income Report 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.
2015
2014
I started looking into freelancing in April, 2014. I launched this site in May and secured my first client in June, 2014.My total income was $16,512 – $3,782 expenses = $12,730 total profit for 2014. During this time, I also worked full-time at my day job.
Additional Deductions
Taxes: 25% of net income
I continue to transfer 25% of my net monthly profit intoa separate savings account for taxes. Fully Booked VA was established as an S-corp last May and we recently began payroll practices. (Guess we’re legit, huh?)
Tithing: 10% of net income
I split my tithe to our church andthis missionary family in Costa Rica, both of which are extremely important to me.The lattermakes a direct impact into the community – they recently established a daycare to take care of migrant farm worker’s children, so their parents don’t have to bring them with to pick coffee beans, which surprisingly can be very dangerous!
February’sResults
Gross Income: $18,654
Only a 1% increase month-over-month, but February will now go down as my best gross income month yet!
Business Expenses: $9,321
Yep, still continuing to make big reinvestments into my biz. (See the expense section for the full breakdown.)
Net Income: $9,333
(After expenses, but before tithe/tax.)This is an 5% decrease month-over-month.
Income Breakdown
Income BreakdownI haven’t broken through the $20,000 mark yet, but I’m more than happy with my gross income results from last month. And I’m hoping all of this reinvesting will start paying off in spades soon!
- Writing: 12%
- Virtual Assistance Work: 27%
- Course Sales: 38%
- Coaching: 10%
- Other: (Affiliate, MM Svc, etc.): 13%
Services (writing/VA work):
I picked up one new VA client in February, even though I wasn’t looking!
He was referred to me, is uber smart and type-A (which is the opposite of my other two clients). I’m excited to see how it goes and what I learn from the experience.
I also picked up a new writing project for March, which I collected a 50% down payment on. It’s going to be an epic length blog post (think 5,000+ words) and I’m really excited to dive in!
Lastly, I’ve been asked to rewrite all of the copy on one of my VA client’s websites, which will be a HUGE undertaking, great experience and hopefully really fun. Regardless, I’m really honored to be asked!
Now to just find enough time for these projects and my own… oy, vey!
Course Sales
Course sales remain strong and a large part of my income. I’m really glad that I decided to offer both my writing and VA courses as “evergreen” products, rather than doing a once or twice per year launch.
The Course Course will be launching in beta this month and then we plan on doing a full scale launch once or twice per year (planning for June for 2016’s main launch).The goal is that this course is my “premium” offering, whereas the other two will be more intermediate.
My free courses will act as the start of my sales funnel and I might try to add in some sort of lower priced offering into the mix. You know, when I have time…
Coaching
Coaching remains status quo. I’m not really taking on any new 1:1 clients, but am excited about what my current coaching clients are accomplishing. I’m also still acting as a mentor for Double Your Freelancing Clients.
Ariel and I are planning on opening up a short enrollment window for the Mamapreneur Mastermind, a paid mastermind group sometime this month. As a reminder, the group is especially for mama entrepreneurs (but any female can join)ready to do big things in 2016. (Interested in joining us? Hop on the waitlist here!)
Other
Yay, my own affiliate earnings are growing!
I received my new biggest affiliate paycheck last month for $1,000! It was from my hosting provider and a direct result of 7 Days or Less to Branded Website Success. Hurray, it worked!
My total affiliate earnings in February were $1,634. It’s nothing compared to some people, but it’s HUGE for me!!
Expense Breakdown
Whomp, whomp. I really know how to spend money when it comes to growing my business!
I stand behind all of my spending decisions though. A lot of my expenses are due to hiring help and investing in tools this past month. And all of these investments are being made in order to scale. Let’s just hope my gut continues to be right!
Note: I could keep my expenses fairly minimal (like less than $200 per month if I wanted). But if I did this, I would have to do almost EVERYTHING myself and likely wouldn’t be able to grow as quickly as I have been.
What’d I spend it all on?
- Tools (Subscriptions, Books, Training): 14%
- Advice (Coaching, Marketing): 23%
- Support (VA, Writing, Website): 31%
- Affiliate Payouts: 17%
- Fees (PayPal/Stripe): 4%
- Miscellaneous (Travel, etc.): 11%
2016 Goals Progress
My ‘A’ Goal: $250k+ gross income ($37,035 YTD)
My 3 ‘B’ Goals:
- Pay-off land loan (3/1/16 – $22,224)
- $20,000 in savings (3/1/16 – $5,000)
- 20,000+ newsletter subscribers (2/1/16 – 3,797)
Remember, We’re Totally in This Together
If you’re currently hustling to build a freelance 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, Pinterestor Google+ to stay in touch! We’ve got this!
How did February fare for your freelance business? Leave a comment and tell me what went well or what was most challenging about it.
