So in an effort to be totally transparent and accountable, I’ve decided to start publishing an income report. I wish I would have done it sooner, as my home based business made $123,000 last year and it would have been nice to see all the ways that I accomplished this feat. But I didn’t 🙁 Since, I am really passionate about the idea of helping others get their hustle on and really, truly walk in financial increase, I thought it would only be fitting to walk that journey authentically and take you along with me.
Due to life circumstances, I am actually starting over to focus my income generating efforts through blogging and online teaching. Though database consulting (I focused on salesforce.com deployment for nonprofits) is extremely lucrative, I find that I’ve maxed out my capacity in the services realm and am hoping to take in more passive income. Additionally, I am homeschooling my kids (we occasionally hire a tutor/nanny) and I simply need more free time. So…I am taking you on my journey to passive income pursuits and will be documenting what I make and how. My goal is to make at least $1,000/month by the summer. My strategy will be focused mainly on blogging, eBook sales, eCourse sales, coaching and a very small amount of services (writing, video editing, etc.)
So here are the numbers for March 2016:
Income
Accounts | |
---|---|
Udemy.com Course Sales | 179.18 |
Ad Network Income | 152.10 |
Affiliate Income (BlueHost) | 65.00 |
Total Revenue | 396.28 |
Related: Start a Blog Now FREE eCourse
Expenses
Automobile | 231.94 |
Computer – Internet | (18.41) |
Computer – Hosting | 23.87 |
Telephone – Wireless | 49.78 |
Bank Service Charges | 15.00 |
Software Subscription | 163.96 |
Office Supplies | 9.60 |
Meals and Entertainment | 5.73 |
Travel Expense | 5.00 |
Continuing Education | 35.50 |
Advertising & Promotion (FB Ads) | 15.00 |
Professional Fees | 624.00 |
Taxes & Licenses | 119.87 |
Vehicle – Fuel | 86.48 |
Total Operating Expenses | 1,367.32 |
Net income
-$971.04
So this looks pretty depressing. I am used to seeing more like $7,000-$10,000 a month. As you can see starting from scratch is hard (my blog is 2 years old but I just started giving it more attention in January of this year.) Additionally, March was one of the highest expense months ever for me. I had a city sticker for $231, incorporation renewal and taxes done by my CPA (I’m going to give TurboTax a try next year based on lots of recommendations.) I also renewed my subscription to CoSchedule (the tool I use to run my blog editorial calendar.) I expect my expenses to level out for April, however.
I want to note that I am recording expenses and income as they happen for the month. I have a few hundred dollars out there in affiliate income, but since I haven’t met the threshold for payout, it’s hung up in my pay queue. Also, there are some things I pay in chunks for the year. I’m not going to put that here. I am only reporting what is actually received as income or spent in the month I am reporting on.
Related: How I Make $7,000 a Month Blogging
How did I finance the negative? Well, we are savers and I like to keep cash around exactly for things like this. Even if your business is online, it’s still a business and requires money to start and run. I see this as an investment and expect a return based on that investment.
Hopefully, April turns out better. I am enrolled in Elite Blog Academy along with Efficient Blogging and expect my traffic and related income to increase based on what I am learning there. So far, I can say that taking classes has ben helpful. With Efficient Blogging , I’ve seen over 100% increase in my page views. I just started Elite Blog Academy , so I am hoping that will kick in soon as well. Udemy sales were down in March (the number you see above is from February’s sales.) But I have made a commitment to churn out more courses and work on my promotion strategies to help boost sales.
Thanks for reading and I hope to have better news for you in April!
Good stuff, brave, but good stuff. It’s great to be transparent and show the common ground we share in facing same economic struggles and decisions to keep on track and moving forward.