I’m not gonna lie, I was a bit worried about May.
There were times during the month when I wondered if I’d even break $15,000. The month started off with predictable expenses, but not so much on the income side…
April’s migration to Rainmaker took up a lot of time, energy and stress. And I just relaunched my VA course at a much higher price point.
What if it didn’t continue to sell? What if reducing my coaching client load was a mistake?
What if…
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 into a separate savings account for taxes. Horkey HandBook was established as an S-corp in May, 2015 and we began payroll practices later that year. (Guess we’re legit, huh?)
Tithing: 10% of net income
I split my tithe to our church and this missionary family in Costa Rica, both of which are extremely important to me. The latter makes a direct impact into the community – in 2015 they opened 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!
Side note: I 100% believe that my success is God’s doing and that He is blessing my obedience. I’m just listening and taking action.
May’s Results
Gross Income: $20,426
A 17% decrease month-over-month.
Business Expenses: $8,871
Whew, a bit more inline with where I expect them to be! (See the expense section for the full breakdown.)
Net Income: $11,555
(After expenses, but before tithe/tax.) This is a 12% decrease month-over-month.
Income Breakdown
I’m not gonna lie, I liked it better when it was all going up, up, up! 😉
But in all reality, I have NOTHING to complain about. I’m still grossing more than 3X my previous salary, Wade is comfortable with his role as a SAHD and we’re able to both pay the bills AND save for our retirement again.
God is good!
Here’s what the breakdown looked like for May:
- Writing: 14%
- Virtual Assistance Work: 32%
- Course Sales: 47%
- Coaching: 3%
- Other: (Affiliate, MM Svc, etc.): 4%
Services
Writing: My writing income came in just over $2,800, which is great – especially considering I only wrote eight pieces (so I averaged $350/piece).
Two of these articles were for my first Contently client. If you don’t have a Contently portfolio up and you’re serious about getting paid well to write, do it. NOW! They’re super easy to work with and seem to really care about both their clients and the freelancer writers they work with equally. I hope it’s the beginning of a long standing relationship!
VA: Last month was another five week month, so my income was slightly higher than “normal.” I have three VA clients, all of which are on a retainer – two pay me in advance on or around the first of the month and the other I have a recurring PayPal payment set up with.
Course Sales
This was the main area that I was worried about in May. Again, I raised the price pretty significantly on my VA course (because I more than doubled the content, added a ton of valuable enhanced resources, moved it to its own courseware, etc.)
I got creative towards the end of the month and decided to offer a 2-for-1 birthday bundle, packaging both of the Growth packages together for my writing and VA courses at a discount. I.e. instead of buying them both for $298, I offered them at $199 or the price of the VA course instead. I generated 16 sales from this method, which was a nice (and quick) boost to my course sale revenue. And it was a fun way to celebrate my 32nd birthday!
What’s next? The Course Course launches in just a couple of weeks – this will be my first non-evergreen launch and we’ve been hustling trying to build interest and anticipation. Two ways we’ve done that are:
Both turned out super cool and it’s been a lot of fun putting our own strategies to the test!
Coaching
I decreased my coaching load in May. I love helping others build their freelance businesses and gear up to quit their day jobs, but I’ve been pressed for time and this made the most sense to “cool off” for a bit. I’m still mentoring for DYFC, but didn’t get paid due to it being in “Spring Break.”
The Mamapreneur Mastermind is still going strong and Ariel and I are tossing around some ideas to help take it to the next level. If you’re interested in joining some like-minded lady bosses ready to kick butt and take names, hop on the waitlist and we’ll let you know when the doors open again.
Other
This category is mainly for affiliate income now. I’m excited to see it continue to evolve and hope to systematically grow this portion of my income over time.
Expense Breakdown
May’s expenses were more inline with “normal.” Isn’t that crazy when they were still almost $9,000?
I do reinvest a lot in my business, so I’m NOT trying to do everything myself. And who wants to when the business keeps growing and getting more complicated?
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): 3%
- Advice (Coaching, Marketing): 23%
- Support (VA, Writing, Website): 50%
- Affiliate Payouts: 15%
- Fees (PayPal/Stripe): 6%
- Miscellaneous (Travel, etc.): 3%
Nothing too crazy this month. Due to the uncertainty of income earlier in May, I was a bit more careful about my spending habits. Having “staff” is new territory for me. It’s not so hard creating/planning income for just my family, but running “payroll” of sorts is kinda strange. But so far, so good. Guess I’ll keep rolling with it!
2016 Goals Progress (as of 6/1/16)
My ‘A’ Goal: $250k+ gross income ($106,719 YTD) – ON TRACK!
My 3 ‘B’ Goals:
- Pay-off land loan – $20,692 to go!
- $20,000 in savings – $16,350 in savings (part of this is earmarked for clearing the above land).
- 20,000+ newsletter subscribers – 6,292, a bit behind!
I tend to set pretty audacious goals – it’s okay if I don’t hit them but come close, because I’m still WAY better off than not setting them in the first place!
Remember, We’re Totally in This Together
If you’re currently hustling to build a freelance or online 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 are you doing on your 2016 goals so far? It’s almost halfway over…
Hey, Gina, way to go! I love reading your monthly updates. They’re super inspirational for me and help me keep moving my new VA biz forward. Your hard work is very appreciated!
Appreciate that Jenny!
Know any good sites I can use as a resource to start blogging. Your article is very informative, I can only dream of breaking free from my current enslavement and joining the business elite, but you are very inspiring/informative…don’t know what your abbreviations all stand for, VA and what not… however I enjoy writing and would pursue in my very limited somewhat free time…
Do you need technical help like how to start a blog or what are you looking for Jonathan? And VA = virtual assistance. 🙂
Gina! Still killing it! I love reading these reports and so happy that everything is still going so well for you 🙂 Keep up the great work, you are a true motivation!
Thanks Kate – really appreciate you taking the time to read them!
Congrats on the increase! It looks like the classes are really adding to your residual income capacity. Thanks for this inspiration every month 🙂
Thanks Aja – yes, course sales have remained strong, but I get most excited about the success stories that students email me and post in the FB groups. 🙂
Hey, Gina! First time commenter, fellow trencher. I started my blog in January, with a goal of being mortgage free and retiring my husband in 5 years (I like to set audacious goals, too!). I haven’t made any money yet, and I’m exploring becoming a VA but falling short in my pitching process. It’s a learning curve!
Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for all you do here. You are truly an inspiration to me, and I’m so glad to hear of God’s blessings in your life. I am trying to listen and obey in my own life and I’m excited to see His plans for us!
Whoop for audacious goals! He has wonderful plans for you Hannah – what an exciting next chapter for you!
Hi Gina,
This is very helpful and inspiring!
Are you still working 5-6 hours a day, 5 days a week, or more/less at this point? I’d be really interested in a post showing how many hours you put into each of your work categories in a given month (e.g. 10 hours a month in writing, 40 a month in VA work, etc.).
That would mean I’d have to keep track. 😉 Currently I’m working ~40 hours a week, give or take. 8-4 M-F with an hour for lunch, but I usually pick back up for an hour or so in the evening and work some naptimes on the weekends.
Cool, thanks for the quick reply!
Wow you are doing great! I liked your idea to bundle your products so that you could get a few extra sales 🙂
Thanks Miranda – worked like a charm and as I said, it was a fun way to celebrate. 🙂
Gina you continue to inspire me (and make me insanely jealous at the same time, LOL!). Thanks for sharing your journey. Looks like your courses are doing really well, any plans to teach others the ins and outs of course development?
Hey Kimi! Thanks – although it’s not my goal to make you jealous. 🙂 Totally – this month, The Course Course rolls out, which is exactly that – hop on the waitlist here: http://thecoursecourse.co/sales/.
Ha! I just read about it in the latest Careful Cents email, and I’ve already snagged your free ebook. Ask and you shall receive, right? 🙂
Nice! Love it!
Hey Gina! I just started your course about a week ago and wanted to thank you for your transparency! Since all this is still a little over my head, it’s encouraging to see your successes. Thank you for all the great resources 🙂
Hey Alexis – thanks for reading and enrolling in the course. Whenever you get overwhelmed, take a step back, breathe and focus on the very next thing you can do! You got this!!
Hi there! I just discovered your blog via Ruth Soukup’s email featuring you, in regard to her EBA course. I’m a SAHM to 5 kids, 9 yo down to 9 mo’s, and I’ve been wanting to get my feet wet earning extra income for my family online. I’m really glad I decided to click through to your site! I’d love to eventually have a successful blog or a profitable online store, but so far I have little online writing experience and I think your Freelance and VA startup guides might be just the place for me to begin. It seems intimidating to jump right into the blogging game, but if I can get some feedback on my writing through some small freelance and VA jobs, I think it would help me gain some momentum, not to mention bring in some extra cash that I could reinvest. Anyway, I just wanted to say that your blog appears to be just what I’ve been looking for–transparent writing about earning money online from a mom’s perspective. I can’t wait to read more! Have a blessed day! 🙂
Hey Sarah! So glad you clicked through too! It’s easy to get overwhelmed – start small and focus on progress, not perfection. Happy to have you here and thanks for introducing yourself!
This was really encouraging to me, Gina. It is helpful to see what your business looks like and how you divvy everything up. It gave me hope because even though you don’t always hit everything perfectly, you keep on at it, and we all can together.
Hope you have a fabulous June!
Thanks Grace – I hope you kill it this month too! I don’t always hit my goals, but I do always try!
“I 100% believe that my success is God’s doing and that He is blessing my obedience. I’m just listening and taking action.”
I love your income reports and your attitude and outlook. God is good! 🙂
Aww, thanks Jennifer – God IS good!
Well done on another great month Gina!
Thanks Kasia!!
Nice job! I’m still scaling back and figuring out exactly what I want to do with my writing. I have some ideas in the wings and I’m excited to start working on them again. Thanks for sharing your goals and progress! Truly motivational!
Awesome Amanda – would love to hear more about them.
Thanks for the report Gina. Huge goals indeed, which makes them easier to see over the daily grind. Smaller goals get lost in the chaos of work and everyday life.
Read that recently….wish I could take credit for the thought 🙂
I like that Shane – thanks for offering it up!
Still a healthy month of profit, Gina!
I think the ups and downs are pretty typical in any business — the important thing is to treat those downs as one step back to take two steps forward.
But I’m sure you’re already thinking that way! 🙂
Thanks for consistently sharing your income reports with us. Great stuff.
Best,
Brent
Appreciate your insight Brent! Yes, they are a healthy part of business. 🙂
I love the fact that your DH is a SAHD. That’s our goal too! Right now, he makes more than I do and we don’t feel my income is stable enough to risk him leaving his day job. I make about $4500 a month but that’s off from a single website. That’s why I’m now adding more baskets where I can place more eggs and hopefully return to having a diverse source of income and a much higher one.
Just starting out with the new project though (in fact, yesterday I published my first revenue report!)I need to make it to a constant and diverse $10K+ a month for him to become a full time SAHD. Keep your fingers crossed for me, and thank you for your very inspirational and encouraging tone! I also followed you on Twitter I’m @blogginganne.
Awesome goal Anne – thanks for taking the time to share and comment. Look forward to watching you make it happen and getting to know you better!