As I wait impatiently for winter to turn to Spring I have a lot of time on my hands for my business. And although I may not always apply myself as well as I should (more on that later) my focused efforts seemed to nudge me in the right direction towards a record month of earnings in January.
Although destroying your previous record earnings is a wonderful thing to do, you always run the risk of a “sophomore slump” in the following month. So the question is, was January a one-off or did I sustain (or even build upon) my big income leap?
That was the question in my mind at the start of February and I sought to provide myself with a positive answer.
What Happened in February?
At the end of my last income report I said that I had a lot in store for February, but at the same time I wanted it to be a month of consolidation. Doing too much is the curse of many business owners and I didn’t want to fall into the trap of spreading myself too thinly.
Well, consolidation was certainly the name of the game. Although I didn’t start up any new projects I certainly had plenty to keep me busy: my freelancing, this blog, my authority site and my series of Kindle eBooks; not to mention all the various other miscellaneous tasks that I have to carry out in any given month.
I wouldn’t be comfortable in taking on any more work at this stage so my progress must come by making the most of existing projects and/or utilizing my time more effectively (either by becoming more efficient or switching to projects with a higher anticipated return). As I often say, we all have the same amount of time available to us — it is what we do with those hours that make all the difference.
In terms of earnings, I was doubtful of beating January’s record this month — it was after all a great month for me and a huge step forward. But how did I get on?
Monthly Income Report — February 2013
- Freelance writing:
- Income: $4,722.21
- Expenditure: $29.38
- Profit: $4,692.83 ($94 per hour equivalent)
- Websites:
- Income: $11.21
- Expenditure: $0
- Profit: $11.21
- Affiliate Marketing (Leaving Work Behind):
- Income: $963.03
- Expenditure: $19.83
- Profit: $943.20
- Information Products:
- Income: $1,058.57
- Expenditure: $85.01
- Profit: $973.56
- eBooks:
- Income: $128.23
- Expenditure: $20
- Profit: $108.23
Total profit for February 2013: $6,729.02
Although I didn’t break January’s record there’s a lot to like about my progress in February. First of all I kept up the pace with a decrease in earnings of just 2%. But that doesn’t tell the whole story — a careful analysis of the numbers and the stories surrounding them leads to an even rosier picture.
Freelance Writing
Let’s first consider my freelance writing — I didn’t quite beat my January record in terms of total earnings but I did establish a new record in terms of my equivalent hourly rate. I doubt I will top the $100 mark in the near future but I am really happy with my earnings hovering around the $90 mark.
Affiliate Marketing
Then there was the real win of the month — my affiliate marketing earnings. I absolutely smashed my previous record of $447 and nearly broke five figures in February. To me this represents the momentum gained by a year-long perseverance in my efforts to generate a decent affiliate marketing income.
There were three products that made up the bulk of my affiliate earnings in February:
- WestHost ($400)
- Start a Blog that Matters ($265)
- TweetAdder ($220)
It’s interesting to note although I generated by far the largest volume of sales with TweetAdder (largely due to my post on how I attracted 10,000 Twitter followers in 12 months), WestHost was my most lucrative affiliate partner with $100 commission per sale. That doesn’t affect the motivation I have to promote any particular product but it is noteworthy to see how your efforts can be rewarded depending upon the product and commission.
For me the key to honest affiliate marketing is promoting only the products that you use and love. That is exactly the case with the above products: my site is hosted with WestHost, I used the Start a Blog that Matters course to re-launch this blog last May, and I have been using TweetAdder for more than a year to help build my Twitter followers. I’m never going to wander away from this method of affiliate marketing — I will only ever promote products I really care about.
I believe that the dramatic increase in sales this month is down to three things:
- I simply had a good month — the cards fell in my favor.
- My Twitter post helped generate most of the TweetAdder sales.
- I had a record month in terms of visitors.
My affiliate marketing earnings are notoriously unpredictable so I have no idea how I will fare next month. However, I will be surprised if I surpass my success in February (although it would be nice to get close again).
eBooks
This is a speculative project for me and I will not begin to adjudge its success until I have released all nine books I have planned and optimized them in terms of cross-promotion. However, it is nice to see that I’m making a bit of money already and I hope that these earnings will increase month-by-month.
If you’d like to get free copies of my eBooks as they are released then sign up to my list here!
My Information Product
This month’s information product earnings hides a two-part story — thankfully one that ultimately has a happy ending. On the one hand it was not good to see my earnings dip by around 33% but there is more to this than meets the eye.
Generally speaking I have enjoyed an average of one or two sales of my freelance writing guide per day, but that all changed on 13th February. On that day I generated no sales. Or the next. Or the next. In fact, I went seven days with no sales at all, which was more than a little disconcerting.
So I started investigating and could only think of one thing — that my sales page was a little out of date. It quoted earnings from November 2012. I updated it to reflect more recent earnings and it was as if a switch was flicked. I made a sale within 30 minutes and enjoyed my best ever week of sales last week (not including launch).
I took two things away from this:
- When things are going well it is time to take action, not get complacent.
- Viewing the sales process from a prospect’s shoes is a useful exercise to carry out regularly.
Motivation and Application
Any business owner (and perhaps especially those that work from home) can you tell that motivating yourself can be really tough. This is something that I struggle with and seek to improve upon constantly.
Take the last three working days as an example. On Thursday I only got half of my work done. On Friday I ended up doing nothing, and this morning I didn’t get up until 10am. I have a pretty sizeable backlog of work and a whole load of guilt for not having done it.
You would be entirely forgiven for not empathising with my position one bit. The fact that I am able to do this would be seen as a huge freedom by many people in employment and I totally get that. However, self-motivation and applying yourself properly are huge issues for most business owners and I am no exception.
I am slowly coming around to the realisation that my motivation seems to ebb and flow. On some days I will work extremely hard and find it very easy to do so and on other days I will not want to work at all. The decision for me therefore is should I account for that and allow myself the time off when I simply don’t feel like working? I could do that and it would have no adverse effect — I would simply earn less and grow more slowly. But would doing so lead to a slippery slope in which I do less and less work?
On the other hand, I could try to force myself to work harder despite my lack of motivation. This would lead to me getting more done but I would also feel like I was driving myself harder than I perhaps wanted to. This conundrum has been at the front of my mind for quite a while and I don’t have a conclusive answer yet.
What’s in Store for March?
At this point I have no plans to start any new projects this month — I’ve got enough on my plate as it is! There’s a lot for me to be getting on with and no new projects certainly doesn’t mean that I plan for my progress to stagnate.
There are some interesting things to look forward to this month, such as the results of my authority site’s content marketing strategy and the progress of my eBook sales. It could also be a great month for information product sales — possibly even a record.
In fact, if everything falls into place then March could be a new record month of earnings. It’ll require a lot of hard work and no small amount of luck but I am happy that I can even consider it. After all, I was earning a basic salary of $3,750 in my last job and I have nearly doubled that the last two months running. Most interestingly, my “pipe dream goal” for the year of making $100,000 gross is still within reach.
All of the hard work, the months where I lost money and felt like I was going nowhere, the times where I wondered if I could ever succeed in establishing a viable business, the dreaming and the doubting, my friends and family considering me a little mad for what I was doing, and the risks I took in quitting a great job, are all part of the price I paid to get here. If you’re not where you want to be yet then never forget that success is more a matter of persistence than anything else. I would like to think that I am a good example of that.
Photo Credit: Kalexanderson
daniel says
Wow! You’re doing good bro!
You know, anytime I see your income report, i’m like, ”One day, I’ll get there”.
Thanks bro
Daniel
http://www.infowland.com
Kris @ Detailed Success says
Awesome job Tom!
You only added two extra months to the sales pages (newer ones) and sales went up again? Pretty crazy to think about it.
Definitely have to remember this nugget – keep the sales page up to date.
Thanks!
Tom Ewer says
Thanks Kris!
I don’t think that my sales page update was the sole reason for the uptick in sales but I do think it made a big difference. It being “out of date” must have been a bit of a turn off.
Cheers,
Tom
Louie @ Make money online Philippines says
Another great month Tom!
I just saw your Jan 2013 income report and here it is, your Feb 2013 is another bang!
Good job. I am new to your site, no doubt, I’ll definitely enjoy here.
I noticed most of your income comes form freelance writting. I wish to know more that…
Regards!
Louie Sison
Tom Ewer says
There’s loads on the blog for you to check out Louie — just click on Freelancing in the sidebar!
daniel says
Wow! Amazing income bro!
I’m highly impressed
Dan
Tom Ewer says
Thanks Dan 🙂
Rob says
Congrats. I am chained to a desk for 40 hours a week and I ended February having earned less than one-third what you earned.
Here’s a post I’d be interested in seeing from a freelance guru: One of the perks of my desk job is provisions like insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits. Working for yourself has many benefits, but not these. What do you do to help provide yourself with things like insurance that you’d normally get from a company?
Tom Ewer says
Hi Rob,
This is a really common request but unfortunately I’m not really in a position to offer advice as I live in the UK where we get free healthcare. Regarding retirement plans, you should read this: http://mywifequitherjob.com/should-you-save-for-retirement-or-invest-in-your-business/.
Cheers,
Tom
Kent Faver says
Very inspiring Tom – huge congrats! You will eventually have to join Pat soon and have a disclaimer of “this is not as easy as it looks!” Very happy for you.
Quick question – in your recent Kindle book about Freelance Writing (highly recommended btw) you mention making your blog a marketing piece for your freelance writing. What would your advice be for someone who has several niche blogs and is concerned the niches are either a) not large enough; or b) not profitable enough (spirituality as an example) to make a living freelancing from them? Set up another blog or forge ahead with an existing one, or something else? Thanks Tom!
Tom Ewer says
Hey Kent,
It certainly aint easy! One of things I’m really happy about is that this blog shows you how I did it from literally the first step. Pat’s first income report was $7,000 or so from memory — mine was in the red!
RE your question, check your emails 🙂
Cheers,
Tom
Kali Kirkendall says
Congratulations Tom! Another great month. I really appreciate the openness of your posts and all the great advice.
Tom Ewer says
It’s my pleasure Kali 🙂
my honest answer says
I know exactly what you mean about motivation ebbing and flowing. I’ve found that when I’m really not in the mood, I don’t produce very good work anyway, so pushing it is counter-productive. I also reason that on days when I am working like a maniac I don’t force myself to slow down, so why should I do the opposite?
However, I do need some discipline, as I worry about falling into the decline you mention. So my compromise is this: when I’m not feeling it, I allow myself to work slower, and I pick only easy things to do. Sometimes it’s as simple as reading around a subject, ‘researching’ if you will. I’m always surprised that, when I allow myself the freedom to do this, I come away feeling as though I’ve actually achieved something. I guess sometimes your brain just needs time to mull things over.
Another great month for you, good luck with March!
Tom Ewer says
That’s a great suggestion actually and one that I would recommend. It’s precisely what I did on Friday — I did none of my planned tasks but did respond to emails and so some reading etc. Making the best of a bad situation!
Miki Vicioso @ My Learning Process says
Congrats tom! I love the way you format your blog posts and how clean everything looks. Also you go straight to the point.
Tom Ewer says
Glad to read it Miki — thank you!
Joan Harrison says
You are so modest Tom. I have followed you for the past couple of months and it is so obvious you work very hard! You really are an inspiration, constantly trying new ideas, thinking new thoughts and finding ways to put the ideas into action.
Well done on great results, you deserve them.
Tom Ewer says
Thank you Joan, you’re too kind 🙂
Victoria Rickert says
Exactly! I do the same, sometimes I work like a fiend and other days I find other distractions (or, they find me), depending on my energy level and mood, oh so fickle. I leave the guilt behind because I am doing what I enjoy, and guilt doesn’t change anything, it is only causes stress. Your blog post is on my list to read shortly, thank you!
Great suggestion from ‘My Honest Answer’ And, as a friend once told be, who built three homes on his property…”when I don’t feel like working I’ll go pound a few nails then take the rest of the day off, at least I am making progress”
Tom Ewer says
Glad I’m not the only one 🙂
Jamie Alexander says
Nice job,
You can definitely see your passive income is starting to take shape now.
Do you think you will continue freelancing once it reaches a certain point?
It’s a question I’ve been thinking about for when the times comes and I keep thinking it would be nice to hold onto a little as reassurance.
Tom Ewer says
That’s a good question. The short answer is I don’t know — who knows where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing in a year, three years or five years time? One thing’s for sure — for the time being I’m really enjoying every aspect of what I do and I’m in no rush to change anything 🙂
IMHypeless says
That’s the right mindset. People talk too much about numbers, but doing what makes you happy (while making a decent to good living out of it) is what really matters.
And people really shouldn’t be concerned with making passive income that much. IMHO, it’s very hard to accomplish this unless you reach a very high level where you have a team of well trained, reliable workers and a manager that runs a business for you.
Many people mention niche websites in context of passive income, but as a niche marketer, I can tell you it’s very far from truth. You still have to work hard, every day on fresh content, linkbuilding, social media promotion and whatnot just to keep up with the competition.
Anyway, great report Tom, I’m really happy to see your online business grow with each passing month 🙂
Tom Ewer says
You’re right — the goal of true passive income is one not easily attained. Niche sites are all well and good but like you say, they’re not passive in the true sense of the word.
Brett says
Congrats Tom. Looks like you’re work is just beginning to snow ball, especially on the affiliate marketing / product side. Keep up the great work.
Tom Ewer says
Thanks Brett!
Joe says
Great numbers again Tom!
I’d love to be making £60 per hour from my writing and be able to do 2-3 hours a day, every weekday at that rate.
I’ve just got my first paying freelance blogging job for a WordPress site so might be following in your steps sooner rather than later, perhaps, maybe. Plus I’ve got another couple of freelance blogging jobs on the go too, so its starting to come together.
Your info book really helped give me a kick up the arris so thanks for that!
Just need to do my new portfolio type site now…
Sorry if I posted twice, not sure if the comments are getting through.
Tom Ewer says
Hi Joe,
Great to read that things are starting to come together. Just keep plugging away — persistence is the key!
Cheers,
Tom
Anneke says
Hi Tom
I can really relate to the Motivation and Application you discussed. I have the exact some problem. Last week I was working so hard and felt extremely proud of myself. This week things are going at a snail’s pace and I feel like I’m not getting anywhere.
Why is it so hard to establish a constant relationship towards my writing? Maybe that is part of the writer’s curse – sometimes we have to stand back and allow ourselves to regenerate in order to create more quality content.
Anyway, congrats on your achievements. I hope that things will start looking up for me as well. 😉
Tom Ewer says
I think that’s it Anneke — we’re doing creative things, so motivation and application is never going to be consistent. Cheers!
Tung Tran says
Great income report Tom! I’ve been following your blog for a year and honestly I always learned something new in every new update.
I launched my blog last 2 weeks and luckily made my first sale… so happy 😀
Tom Ewer says
Congratulations Tung! The first sale is always the hardest, as the saying goes…
Yannick Van Broeck says
Those numbers are mindblowing to me. I want to reach that point some day as well. I’ll keep following you! Great stuff here 🙂
Tom Ewer says
Thanks Yannick. Few things can stop you if you’re dedicated enough 🙂
Jeffrey Trull says
Impressive numbers again, Tom! I continue to be most amazed by your hourly rate for freelance writing. The vast majority of my freelance blog writing is paid per post, but I do focus on hourly equivalent.
My question is: How do you raise hourly equivalent rate in your case? Higher rates? Faster writing? I imagine it’s a combination, but I’d love to hear more ideas for how we can raise our hourly rates to such a level.
Cheers!
Tom Ewer says
Hey Jeff,
It is a combination as you already know. Speed is so important though — it’s the easiest way to make more money (easier than trying to squeeze more out of clients!). In a nutshell these are the factors for improving your speed (from an article I wrote for my freelance writing guide):
1. Batch your topic creation process
2. Plan your posts (or don’t if you can just fire them out easily)
3. Write the headline last (write a draft then let the article serve as inspiration)
4. Learn to type fast
5. Minimize time sucks (in-depth research and planning, media, references)
6. Don’t fact check mid-flow
7. Write drunk, edit sober
8. Leave formatting until the end
9. Time yourself
I might make this available via the blog actually, it’s such a valuable topic.
Cheers,
Tom
Jeffrey Trull says
Thanks, Tom! I hadn’t thought of a few of those (I’m bad about fact-checking mid-post), and I’ll definitely work on implementing them! And yes, I was hoping you might want to turn it into a blog post 🙂
Tom Ewer says
Stay tuned!
Mike says
If the majority of your income is coming from freelance writing whats that any different from a job? I would think that your websites would be making you more money. You could probably earn far more with a job.
Joe says
You could earn more from a job, but working as a freelancer has many benefits as opposed to working a regular 9-5.
As a freelancer you can work from anywhere, not just your place of work. This means travelling, taking holidays, or just working at the local coffee shop.
You can work in your pants or just go full-nude. No one will mind (provided you are working from home, not at a coffee shop).
I imagine Tom could, if he was so inclined, do a couple of 12 hour days a week and then take a few more days off than he currently does.
You don’t have to waste time commuting either.
There are loads of benefits to working for a boss and going into to work at an office but there are also many advantages to working from home as a freelancer. Its up to you to decide which has the most pros or cons, and weigh them up according to your needs.
I want to go freelance as I live overseas and can’t really work where I live, plus I’ve had enough of the 9-5 grind. Being able to spend most of the day at home with my sprog is the main benefit though, and you can’t put a price on being at home with your little ones before they head off to school IMO.
While most people reading this probably aren’t sprogged-up yet, there are still loads of great reasons to get paid for your time but not have a regular 9-5 job.
That’s what I think anyway.
Tom Ewer says
Pretty much what Joe said Mike.
Plus I’m extremely confident that I couldn’t earn more than (or even close to) $100 per hour in a job. As for the websites, I’m delighted that I earned $2,000 in “passive” income this month — if you think that’s not a lot then it’s a good thing I don’t rely on other people for validation!
Cheers,
Tom
Raphael says
Congratulations! That’s a lot of money.. you already know the game pretty well, My goal is to reach 300$ a month..
Tom Ewer says
There’s nothing wrong with that goal Raphael — it wasn’t too long ago that I would have been delighted with $300 per month! You’ve got to start somewhere…
Jennifer says
it is great to read about your success because it provides motivation for me. My goal for 2013 was to earn $100/day for 3 consecutive months online. I accomplished that in January and February. I just posted my March 2013 Online Income Statement on website. You can read it to find out if I was able to make it 3 consecutive months or not!
Tom Ewer says
Congrats Jennifer!