Some time when I was 22 or 23 I told myself that I wanted to earn six figures by the time I was 25. At the time I didn’t know how I would do it. I hadn’t learned nearly half the things I know now, but I knew that was my random goal that I wanted to reach. I tweeted it, I made it real, and I asked people to hold me accountable. One day I was listening to a podcast on setting financial goals and how you have to be specific. I break that down a little bit here. Basically if I wanted to make six figures, I would have to earn at least $273 a day. Back then I was working on smaller projects so in my mind I’m like “I just have to make 6 flyers a day.” It sounded nice in theory but making 42 flyers a week to get my six figures would’ve required a lot of hard work (rather than smart work).
Fast forward a year or so when I finally decide to drop out of college and spend hours learning how to make my business more profitable. I began blogging full time, and a friend told me about Dale Partridge and how he did income reports. You can view them here. He started because his friend Pat Flynn, who does income reports here, encouraged him to do the same. These guys are making $30k-75K+ a month and the transparency is so refreshing. They break down how much money they spent on the resources they purchased to bring in that type of income.
So here we are in 2015. I turn 25 in June and I need to be bringing in at least $8,333.33/month to reach my goal. My first quarter goal is to hit $25,000.
Here’s Month 1.
January 2015:$6,913.50
Year-to-date (YTD): $7,213.50
Last Year (2014): $38,245.85
Last Month: $4,766
Each month I would like to share:
- How much I earned
- How many payments I received (Ex: 10 payments for 5 projects instead of 47 flyer design payments, lol.)
- How much I spent/invested
- What I spent it on (resources)
- What I learned
- How many hours I worked
- YTD Earnings.
Please let me know if there’s anything you want me to include in the income reports. If it’s a general question about my finances, I’ll be happy to write a blog post on it.
January 2015 Earnings (22 Payments Received):
Consulting: $275.00
Blogademics: $455.00
Design/Branding Projects: $6,183.50
Total Gross Revenue: $6,913.50
January 2015 Expenses:
Design Intern: $390.00
DropBox: $9.99
CoSchedule (Social media automation): $10.00
Domain/Hosting: $60.49
Domain/Hosting transfer to BlueHost: $127.39
Office Depot Printing: $66.60
SD Card for Camera: $64.34
MailChimp: $15.00
MacBook (down payment): $436.68
Twitter (Advertising): $2.70
Microsoft Office: $10.71
Envato (premium themes & plugins): $123
JotForm: $45
Adobe Systems: $32.16
Wistia: $25
LeadPages: $297
Total Expenses: $1,716.06
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Total Net Profit: $5,197.44
What I learned:
This month seriously kicked my butt, and I’m looking forward to the payoff for that in February. I launched my first online course, Blogademics. I didn’t really know what to expect with that, but I’m pleased with the results. Creating an eCourse is scary and exciting at the same time. I wish I could tell you guys how many hours I worked, but I can’t. All I know is that it was A LOT. I think I’m in the phase of my business where I’m busting my tail so I can begin to work less hours but bring in more money. Next month I’m going to TRY to track how many hours I work so I can actually see how much I’m making per hour. I don’t think making $100,000 is worth the money if I spend all of my time at my computer. I want to be able to enjoy life. I expect my clients to be respectful of my time so it’s only fair that I do the same for myself.
I think I need to give myself a budget for how much expenses I will have for my business. Some purchases were one-time expenses. I got rid of GoDaddy and signed up with BlueHost, and now my website runs way faster. Having a website that runs faster saves me more time which means more money (and more hair because I’m no longer pulling it out).
I’m not sure if/when I’ll ever get comfortable with the idea of adding advertisements to my site. I would prefer to generate income through products/services I provide and affiliate links of companies I trust and use.
Experts that I follow who have helped me changed my mindset on how I do business and make money:
- Derek Halpern of Social Triggers
- Melanie Duncan
- Brennan Dunn of Double Your Freelancing Rate
- Ruben from Bidsketch.com
Thank you so much for sharing this! This motivates me so much – especially on a day like today when my 9-5 is driving me so crazy. My biggest issue is that I am scared to do what needs to be done in order to really work for myself. BUT you’re post today just hit a sweet spot that encouraged me. Thank you. xo
Thanks so much for your comment, Kimberly! Don’t be scared to create the life you want! You deserve it. XOXO
Thanks for posting, this is super inspirational– especially because you’re under 25! I’m 28 and just getting started with web stuff, but it’s really a goal of mine to get on this level! I’m taking Treehouse courses in web design now and learning more everyday. I also listen to Pat Flynn’s podcast, and it is so motivational. Best of luck on your 6-figure goal… you can do it!
Thanks for the encouragement, Anjelica! It means a lot! Your work is absolutely beautiful, and Treehouse is amazing from what I see. Excited to see how far you’ll take your success this year! XOXO
I love this!!!! I love Pat Flynn!!! And I’ll do income reports one day soon. This is a great great post!!!!
Thanks so much, Stacey! It’ll be great to see you do an income report this year!
Great Job Maya! Very Impressing to say the least. You gave me some insight on things and of course inspiration. Thank you 🙂
Thank you very much! I appreciate your comment!
Awesome job this month! Glad to see you are working smart and dedicated to fully reaching your goals. This is really inspiring to young freelancers who are just getting started like myself 🙂 If you could do a ‘day in the life’ post some time in the future to show us how your typical work day is organized that would be super interesting. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Chonce! I will definitely consider the ‘day in the life’ post!
Very comprehensive breakdown of how you made money this month. Congrats on stepping out of your comfort zone by adding new streams of income. In addition, to testing what works and doesn’t work.
Most people really don’t understand how freelance service based companies bring in income and this is very great in detail. Look forward to reading more of these.
Thanks, Tasha! I appreciate your comment. 🙂
This is so motivating. I am going to read all your blog posts and see what I need to do to do this for myself. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Karen! I hope the other blog posts are just as helpful.
I am new to your blog by the way of your Periscope with your sister. I lovvvve this blog post. Thank you for being transparent this helps and inspires me a ton! I’m a new fan.