Woohoo! I’m so excited to be back over $10K again for December.
November was the lowest income month I had in a long time because I left my biggest freelance client in October.
I knew that making that change would cause a temporary drop in my income, but I’m happy that it’s back up over $10K again for December!
Why Share My Income Details Online?
I love sharing my online income and expenses because it keeps me accountable.
It’s been so amazing to see how it’s grown and changed over time. Looking back on previous months is almost like a little diary of how things were going back when I started my business. It’s fun to look at! 🙂
I also do it to be open and honest about what it takes to run an online business. Running an online business isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, so I like to share the pros and cons.
BUT for 2018, I’m changing things up.
Going forward, I’ll only be sharing my online income with the VIPs on my email list.
Here’s a look at my income and expenses for December.
Income
VA/Blog Management Services – $4,649.85
Freelance and Ghost Writing – $4,252.50
Freelance Business Coaching – $0.00 🙁
$10K VA Course Sales – $0.00 – More on this below!
Bonuses and Commissions – $1,300.00
Advertising and Affiliate Income:
MyFinance – $15.21
Survey Junkie – $16.50
Offer Juice – $31.50
Flex Offers – $37.00
Chime Bank – $5.00
Direct Advertising – $430.00
Total– $10,737.56
Learn how to make more affiliate income on your blog with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I highly recommend it!
Expenses
Sharing my business expenses helps create a complete picture of what it really costs to operate my online business.
The expenses listed below are only what I paid out of my business account this month.
You won’t see a line for the internet because that is something I would pay for even if I didn’t have an online business. (But yes, I do get to deduct most of it now that I have an online business.) So, keep that in mind.
Contract Services – $2,732.15
PayPal and Other Fees – $60.80
Facebook Ads – $600.00
Gifts – $18.60
Email Marketing – $0.29
Board Booster – $20.00
Total Expenses: $3,431.84
Income less Expenses: $7,305.72
Reflections
Paying for help for my business to run day-to-day is still the largest expense I have and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
I pay a few contractors to help with various parts of my business and I try to continue keeping these members of my team happy because I enjoy working with them. This means giving them a bonus now and then (which I did in December!), as well as rate increases too.
I wouldn’t be able to run my business without their help!
My most hated expenses is still PayPal fees. Paying fees just so I can get paid for the work I do sucks. But, I know my fees would be way higher if I didn’t use FreshBooks for my client invoices.
FreshBooks has an agreement with PayPal to make the fees only $0.50 for transactions of any size, as long as the payment is from a US client. You can try FreshBooks for free for 30 days with my link.
Note: FreshBooks launched a new version that no longer has this $0.50 for the new version.
Business Changes
I did pick up a new client partway through November that I didn’t get paid for until December, so that helped a little bit with the income loss from leaving my big client. I also stepped up some work with existing clients, and I raised my rates for some of them too.
I also launched my new course, $10K VA in December. I did make some sales in December, but they won’t be paid out until the end of January due to the 30-day money-back guarantee.
I’m also still working on re-vamping my freelance coaching program for one-on-one coaching as well.
I’m happy to see my income streams continue to become a little bit more diverse. I earned more from affiliate marketing and direct advertisements in December, which was a nice bump to my income.
If income reports get you jazzed, you can see all of my online income reports on this page!
Just to see how far I’ve come, I averaged my monthly online income for the 42 months I’ve been freelancing. Even with the part-time months at the beginning, my average monthly online income (gross) is $6,241.88. My 12 month (gross) average is $11,232.69.
2017 Total Earnings and Expenses
I already shared my gross average from the last 12 months, but here’s the total amount I earned and spent on my business in 2017.
2017 Total Earnings: $134,792.26
2017 Total Expenses: $49,738.72
Income Less Expenses: $85,053.54
Compared to 2016, I earned $44,692.92 more, but I also spent $24,925.82 more in 2017 than in 2016 on business expenses. That might mean by gain had a bit of a diminishing return as I spent more to gain that additional $45K in revenue.
However, 2017 had some unique expenses that I don’t think will be repeated anytime soon. For example, I spent a few thousand dollars on my rebrand. Plus, I also bought a few new tools and courses in 2017 that were a one-time purchase.
To be honest, I haven’t really made any goals for 2018 when it comes to my business, my revenue, or even my personal finances. Instead, I’ve just set my “word of the year” as “simplify”.
We’ll see how that goes. 😉
Don’t forget, if you find these helpful, make sure you subscribe below to continue getting updates on my business income and expenses for 2018.
What are your business and financial goals for 2018?
12 Comments
Awesome job! I look forward to the next income post.
Thanks! This week has been a tough one for me-not income wise. I’ve just been extra busy and a bit stressed. But we all have those times.
I love the simplify theme. I think it’s great that you cut back/refreshed your client base, too. I was super bummed when they dumped the $0.50 PayPal fees, but that is crazy cool that they’re letting you refer out to the old one!!!
I do hate those PayPal fees, but the FreshBooks agreement does help!
Congrats on a great 2017. That’s a smart idea to only send your income reports to your e-mail subscribers. I don’t post my income reports that often, but I posted one yesterday and received a message from someone asking for a loan. Needless to say, that has me reconsidering the information that I share with people.
No way! Was it someone you knew, or a complete stranger? Either way, they’re trying it on. Ignore them, or be straight. “I don’t loan money, but I can share some resources that will teach you how to earn more and save more.”!
It was someone I went to high school with. I haven’t spoken to him in 16 years. I told him to sign up for my thrifting challenge and to check out eBay.
Yes, that’s a good way to help him without doing more than you feel comfortable doing.
That’s a great way to respond. It let’s them know you can help, but up to a point.
I don’t blame you. I can’t believe he had the nerve to ask that question! Just because you put your income out there doesn’t mean you are inviting people to take advantage of you. It’s supposed to be motivational, to say, “Look what I did and you can too!” Not everyone understands it that way, though.
What is the difference between freelance and va/blog management services?
Hey Kayla! As I said via email, the “freelance” line is my freelance writing. That’s why it says “Freelance and Ghost Writing” (Hence the word “writing”). 😉