This is the monthly blog income and expense report for July 2017, in which I’ll tell you how I earned $12,766.11 last month (working from home, running my online business). Because this year, I’m going to drop real numbers in your lap to show you exactly what can happen if you stick with it.
I’m committed to sharing these income reports to show you how important it is to barrel-roll through the uncertainty because hard work and persistence pays off.
Income report – July 2017
- Luminaries Club Membership Dues: $4,251
- Complete Copywriting: $2,686
- The Summer Shift: $3,285
- Amazon royalties (YBY2017 + MP): $340.34
- Your Best Year 2018 launch party: $1,750
- Direct sales Marketing Playbook: $261.97
- Direct sales Your Best Year 2017: $191.80
The Luminaries Club WAS closed to new members, but earned $4,251 in recurring fees and payment installments. It’s a thriving membership of inspired entrepreneurs. We’re celebrating it’s grand re-opening and enrolling members NOW! Click here to learn more.
Complete Copywriting is my signature course, and it re-opened for enrollment back in January. It continues to perform well and welcome new students. (For the grand re-opening, this course is included with the Luminaries Club membership!)
Every two years or so, I clear my schedule to take on private clients. The Summer Shift 2017 launched in May, and it is an aggressively dedicated service that offered very little availability. It sold out, earning $3,285 last month in installment plans. It will appear in income statements for one more month.
I’m hosting a Your Best Year launch party + workshop in my hometown of Ashburn, VA this October 5. Ticket sales opened at early bird pricing in July and earned $1,750.
My latest book, Marketing Playbook: Scale Your Online Business to Outrageous Success is now fully available on Amazon.
Your Best Year 2017 earned $191.80 at its end-of-season rate.
Total income for July 2017: $12,766.11
Y•T•D Total: $144,675.10
When the Slow Months Hit …
If you’ve been following along all year, you’ll notice that June and July’s income reports are noticeably lower than the others—I made less than half my normal earnings. That is the nature of my business model. My products and courses are sold as one-time fees or (typically) 10-month payment plans. I sell them for a short period (no more than two weeks), and then close sign-ups.
In marketing, there’s good reason for doing this: if you’re not launching a course and talking about it all of the time, it’s hard for potential clients/customers to even remember it exists. (This is true for products as well.) For example, when Complete Copywriting opened in January, it earned $15,852.96 in one week (a combination of 1-time fees and payment plans). As an experiment, I left it open to enrollment rather than close it post-launch. A handful of people have enrolled on their own accord, but nothing compared to the hundreds of sign-ups it gets during a sales push.
The downside to this business model is a month like this one (where income drops in half), but I knew it was coming. The inaugural launch of Complete Copywriting took place last May, which meant the highest percentage of my list enrolled back then and recurring income (payment plans) ended abruptly in February.
My next big launch isn’t until later this month (the Luminaries grand-reopening!), so my annual strategy was built to offset the lull. I released Marketing Playbook in April and launched my final coaching concentrate, The Summer Shift in May. Because of the enormous success of both projects, you may have never noticed that recurring payments dropped from almost $20K per month to an average $10K. Thankfully, I was prepared for this.
I love to take a casual pace in the summer, and I’m happy to have predicted this drought (and potential loss) so I can keep focus on my clients at work and my children at home. I’ve stored profits from previous months to cover this dry spell.
Business Expenses
- Staff, salary, and contractors: $9,412.75
- Payment, host, and shipping fees: $410
- Infusionsoft: $299
- Office Supplies: $346.03
- Education + Training: $127.70
- Web hosting + software: $1,591.01
- Meals, accommodations, travel: $417.92
- Advertising: $273.53
Total expenses this month: $12,877.94
(Monthly loss in the amount -$111.83)
Y•T•D Total: $103,616.51
As with most months, staff, salary (mine), and contractors were my biggest expense in June. I recently wrote an absolutely *epic* guide to hiring. Please be sure to check it out! My hires help with …
- shipping and handling (physical books)
- video editing and production
- webinar moderation
- accounting
- customer support
- text editing
- product creation
- photography
- transcription
- tax preparation
- branding, website design, and development (coming soon)
- office organization and cleaning
- business management
Etsy fees and shipping take up the bulk of the second line, but I’ve also included Paypal and credit card processing fees there.
Infusionsoft is my email and customer management software, as well as the host of my private membership and training programs.
Office supplies cover everything from pens and notebooks to office equipment (computers, tablets, etc.).
My web hosting is by Pagely, and my bill is only $24/month (sadly, that amazing price is no longer available to new customers; I love this service). This is an extremely expensive month thanks to an annual Crowdcast subscription and a Vimeo Pro renewal.
Meals, accommodations, and travel is a rare category for me, but it’s happening more and more this year. The above expense is for airfare for an upcoming conference.
The Luminaries Club is Open!
We all talk a big game when it comes to our goals. We dream of becoming recognized and respected, relying on our income, and hiring help someday. In order to achieve that, you must create a better system and employ better strategies! You need a trusted advisor, one who has the experience and skills that will take you to the next level.
I’m officially applying for the job!
Join The Luminaries Club now, and get yourself situated. Come meet the amazing group of like-minded creatives already gathered among us. Take a workshop, start a course, or download from the e-library of information.
I’ve taken countless businesses from a state of uncertainty to top-selling industry leaders. Through my club, you’ll learn how to thrive and endure in online business.
There’s an unlimited amount of commercial space available to you, I intend to help you conquer every square inch of it.
1 comment