November 2015 Freelance Income Report

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Did you ever have one of those blogs posts you just didn’t want to write?

This is one of them.

After my amazing October, my November income was pitiful. But, I learned some important things about owning my own business, and am determined to move on instead of give up.

Let’s jump right into what I learned:

Freelancing is hard when you’re sick. 

We struggled with sickness for the first two weeks of the month. When you have a large family, sickness lasts so much longer. I was up so much with sick little ones at nigh that I felt like a zombie long before we were healthy.

When illness drags on that long, it’s hard to be motivated to do much of anything besides lounge on the couch and veg on some TV.

Combine that with a son recovering from VNS surgery, who didn’t sleep for almost two weeks straight, and I was just not motivated to do anything extra.

Because of my lack of motivation I didn’t pitch much.

No pitching=no work

I was trying to make sure I didn’t end up with too much work that I wouldn’t be able to do when sick and managing sick kids. Instead, I ended up with very little work because I didn’t pitch enough.

Memo to me: Pitch at least 1/day even when sick! Pitch more than that when healthy!

Investing in Yourself is Crucial to Success!
My expenses for October were so low. I was focused on making as much as possible, and not spending.

That decision came with a cost.

When you don’t invest in your business, and in your growth, you don’t grow.

It really does take spending a bit of money to make money.  My November expenses were more substantial, but I’m already seeing results. December is on track to be my highest grossing month yet, and I’m so excited!

You Have to Take Time For Your Business

I’m working on creating a couple of projects for my own business. The first is a freebie 5 day email course.

I should have been done by now. But, I kept putting my own work off to work for other people. My goal for December is to spend 30 minutes each day working on my own writing.

My business won’t grow without investing in it–with both time and money.

Money Doesn’t Always Come in When Expected

I have $190 outstanding from one client, and $60 from another. Both were expected by the end of November, but because both clients were experiencing PayPal problems, I won’t get that money until this first week in December.

That $250 would have been a huge help in November. But, it didn’t come in. I’ve learned that pay problems do arise.

That’s why I only count as income money that I actually receive in each month.

Onto My November 2015 Freelance Income Report

Income:$489.99

Expenses:$293.85

Net Profit: A measly $196.14.

Ouch!

Let’s look at those expenses:

-PayPal Fees

-Renewal of my MaggiesMilk.Com domain and hosting for a year (The blog where most of my writing samples are housed.)

–A PO Box (annual fee)

-Upgrading to the Rockstar Level of Gina’s VA Class (Affiliate Link)

-Joining my local Chamber of Commerce (annual dues)–an investment I’m hoping pays off with local networking opportunities.

My expenses were geared at increasing my income streams, and investing in myself.

After all, if I don’t believe in myself, who will?

Outlook for December

I’m super excited about writing my December income report, and it’s only the first day of the month.

In addition to the $250 outstanding that I was expecting in November, I also have $500 outstanding for some blog posts I did for an agency. Work is continuing on that, so more income will come in.

I will also be on a team writing a first grade reading textbook. They need 15 hours a week from now until June, and it’ll be a wonderful income source addition that I’ll be able to count on.

I’ve started working as a Virtual Assistant for a client, and will have some data entry type tasks and ghostwriting to do.

I will also receive my first affiliate payment.

December is here, and I’m ready to rock it! I’m closing the books on November, and choosing to move on instead of giving up after such a low month.

How was your November?