Here it is, finally! My shockingly late income and expenditure report. Apologies all, but the cruise was totally worth it (more on that on Friday – I’ve got quite the treat for you ;)).
At the beginning of November I said that I would be setting my date for leaving work behind. Well, that has been done. It is now just a few short days until I officially quit my job and take the somewhat terrifying leap into self-employment. I also hoped that my role at WPMU would continue to grow, and I felt somewhat optimistic about the growth of my three niche/authority sites. So how did it all go?
Freelance Writing
It’s been another good month on this front. Without much effort, I managed to score myself another client – ManageWP. These guys are great to work with – not only because they are easy-going and friendly people, but because they have a product that is just so damned good. It’s no challenge to promote this product. Seriously – if you have more than one WordPress site, you owe it to yourself to check the tool out. And no, I have not been paid for saying that. 😉
My recent holiday has been somewhat disruptive to my article writing, but I am happy with how my role is developing at WPMU. The guys and girls over there are an awesome bunch, and we’re really heading in the right direction in terms of growth plans. Whilst it is all well and good writing for a client, it is made all the more fun if you are actually working towards going somewhere.
Niche/Authority Sites
Progress hasn’t been quite as positive as I was hoping for on this front, but as is always the case when it comes to climbing the ranks in Google, persistence is the name of the game.
My new child modeling site is up and running and I have started to build links to it. Nothing major at this point, as my link-building efforts on all fronts has been somewhat stunted (due to my holiday), and that is reflected by no exciting rank placements at the moment.
Deal With Anxiety is progressing quite nicely, with some rankings approaching the top 10. Again, link building has been a bit sporadic.
Finally, my JV with Joseph Archibald seems to have stalled a bit. I know I haven’t been putting as much work into it as I could be. To be entirely honest, I’m not sure where the project is going – that will be a matter for me and Joseph to decide upon in the near future.
As always, I will have more comprehensive updates on the above sites, as and when they are warranted.
Income & Expenditure – November 2011
As you can see, there is still nothing in terms of Google AdSense income from my niche sites. To be perfectly honest with you, I doubt that this will change in December, as we are already half way through the month, and I have another holiday coming up just before Christmas (lucky me – I know!).
The writing income has continued to grow as I have established myself into a regular routine at WPMU. Although I did work billable hours for ManageWP in November, the invoice wasn’t sent out until December, so the income won’t show up until next month.
Article Roundup
November was definitely a month of major decisions, and my posts reflected that. If you are stepping closer and closer to taking the leap and quitting your job, you should definitely read How To Quit Your Job and Why You Can Quit Your Job Today. They might give you a different perspective on your position.
If you’re interested in generating income in the short term, you could do an awful lot worse than freelancing. Check out my tips for getting started in freelance writing, and How To Make Money Online Now (legitimately, I may add).
Finally, if you want to know the true value of your blog’s visitors, check this article out.
What’s In Store For December?
This month is definitely a case of the calm before the storm. I only got back from holiday yesterday (the 12th) and I am off again on holiday on the 23rd. That leaves very little time for me to make my mark on this month! It is when I am back from holiday on January 11th and raring to go that things will really start to happen.
So December will be very low key. My freelancing income will tick over, and I hope that my niche site rankings will perhaps grow modestly. I will also be on the lookout for new writing clients, although finding people who want to take someone on from mid-January may be tough. I may have to wait until I am ready to work before I can source additional clients. We shall see!
Creative Commons image courtesy of JD Hancock