August 2016 Freelance Income Report

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Another month of freelancing over. It’s time to crunch some numbers and see how August turned out for me.

Remember that I count my income as it comes in rather than when it’s billed. I do the same with my expenses.

August 2016 Income

I earned $1445 in August. It wasn’t as much as I hoped, since some of the income I was counting on didn’t reach my account until September. When I closed the books, I had another $700 outstanding.

So my numbers next month will be higher.

But still, I earned $1445 freelancing, working on an extremely part-time basis. Now that I have some recurring gigs, I actually am starting to get into a better groove with my business. I don’t feel like I’m spending all of my time pitching.

Recurring gigs are your friend freelancers!

Where Did the Money Come From?

67% of my income in August came from freelance writing. This was all with recurring clients, meaning I didn’t take on any new writing clients in August.

The rest of my income was from VA work. I’ve enjoyed working with both of my VA clients.

August 2016 Expenses

August was a fairly light month expense wise. I have my domain renewal coming up for two of my three domains, and have been saving a little extra to anticipate those coming expenses.

But all I actually spent in August was just over $141.

Where Did My Money Go?

You have to invest in your business to keep it growing. While I’ve scaled back my expenses for the summer, I still had some money leave the account.

My expenses were:

• PayPal Fees
• Payment for my Google business email address (a new recurring expense)
• Mastermind Fee
• Payment for a new logo and images for my blog (Loving the new logo, what do you think?)

How September Is Shaping Up

Before September started, I had $1000 worth of new assignments lined up. I’ve never had that happen before, and I was thrilled when I crunched those numbers! I’m hoping to continue growing my freelance writing business, and pitch more magazines going forward.

I will be losing one of my VA clients–her business isn’t growing as fast as she hoped and can no longer justify the expense. It’s a sad turn of events, but thankfully I have other sources of income. That’s why it’s so important to have multiple income streams in your business. If I only had that one client and lost her, I’d be devastated!

I’ll also be doing a trial project for a potential new client this month, and I’m super excited to learn more about her business and how I can help her.

Adding 15 College Credits to the Mix

Since I’m pregnant, I knew the next quarter would not be a time to work as actively growing my business. I have room for a new client or two, but you’ll probably be noticing a similar theme in my income reports through the end of the year.

I’m thankful I made that decision, because there’s something important I forgot about. My teaching certificate is set to expire in June of 2017. In order to keep it current, I need 15 quarter credits.

Why do I want to keep my certificate active if I’m no longer in the classroom?

For several reasons:

• It’s a great selling point in my pitches, especially for parenting and educational posts
• Going back to the classroom is sort of our family’s emergency financial plan, so it makes sense to ensure I can
• I’m homeschooling my kids and want them to see the value of continuing to learn
• And…I love taking classes! I’m one of those weirdos who could have been a lifetime student if I could have made it pay well.

So I’m heading back to school this quarter. I’ll be taking three online courses from one of the local community colleges. One of them is a social media marketing course that I’m really looking forward to.

My other two courses are Intro to Early Childhood Education and Intro to American Sign Language. Since I already have background knowledge in both of those subjects, I’m hoping for an easy quarter. That way I can continue with everything else on my to-do list.

Wrapping Up This Income Report

Once classes start on the 19th, life is going to be a bit crazy as I get adjusted. The good news is I have solid income lined up and potential opportunities in the mix.

I’ll be back next month with another income report, and I’ll give you a quick update on how I’m surviving classes.

How did August shape up for you? Do you have any big plans for your business this fall?

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Lisa Tanner

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Lisa Tanner is a former teacher turned homeschooling mom with 11 kids. She's also a successful freelance writer. Lisa enjoys helping other busy moms find time to start and grow a side hustle of their own.