My Freelance Famine Income Report: April 2016

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When I wrote my post on surviving freelance famine, I was talking to myself as much as to my audience. It was a terrible month for me income wise. In fact, I wasn’t even going to write this post because my April was so dismal, but then I started thinking.

The reason I even started posting income reports was to be transparent. To show that you can earn money from home freelancing, even when homeschooling seven kids and homesteading.

I may not be earning thousands of dollars a month consistently from my efforts, but I am helping our family’s financial situation. I’m helping us get out of debt and pay cash for things we need. With that vision, every little bit helps!

If I only share my good months, it’s not an honest look at how I’m doing. People interested in freelancing need to know that it’s not always going to come up daisies. Things will go wrong. Life happens.

We need to learn from each month, and use it to springboard forward. I was able to work on my business in April, because I wasn’t working for clients as much. I’m hoping those investments of time pay off in the future.

So how much did I earn in April?

My Freelance Famine Income Report

I earned $420.

It was all from writing.

I kept my expenses minimal–$82.85. My expenses included a ConvertKit membership (I switched from MailChimp), PayPal fees, and some random shipping expenses.

What Happened?

A lot of little things added up to a ton of lost income.

One of my regular clients was moving to a different country in April, and didn’t need content.

I stopped writing for another client because they upped the work expectations (requiring several pictures to be sourced and uploaded to their system instead of a simple emailed post) and lowered the pay. It no longer made sense to write for them.

Then, the client I provide VA work for didn’t need my services in April.

So I had three different income sources that didn’t pan out last month. I definitely felt each one!

It definitely taught me the importance of having multiple income streams. I’m so thankful for the writing I was able to complete last month. I appreciated each payment more than ever.

What’s My Game Plan Going Forward?

My freelance famine income opened my eyes to the importance of pitching. I’ve upped my pitching game, and have really focused on finding new clients.

I’m also learning the importance of growing my own base. I learned more about utilizing Pinterest to grow a blog, and have started implementing what I know. I’m continuing to post weekly to all three of my blogs to keep them current.

Freelance writing isn’t always a huge win. There are months that stink. That make you embarrassed to even bother posting an income report.

But, I think it’s important to share openly. Otherwise if all people read about is income reports of those consistently making thousands and thousands of dollars, they may expect that they will too.

And you can earn money online! You just have to be prepared in case some of your workload suddenly bottoms out.

Because that’s the nature of online businesses, unfortunately. It’s definitely an ebb and flow environment.

Having a bad month doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. It doesn’t mean you suck. It just means you need to keep working.

Who’s going to be pitching extra hard with me in May? Was April a feast or a famine month for you? I’d love for you to share in the comments.