Can I be honest? September pushed my beliefs on what it means to be a successful entrepreneur. Even though I have created a flexible work schedule for myself and only work 4 days a week, this past month was a stretch. I only worked 10 days the entire month. And, I’m breaking this month’s income report down for you today.
I worried that it would be my worst month, I thought about how I would feel embarrassed or ashamed to have to admit that—one weird part about sharing your income report online is that you feel like you should be growing every month. But, what I’ve realized is upward growth every single month isn’t normal! Businesses fluctuate and I want to be transparent about that because it’s 100% normal.
What it brought up for me again, is this false belief that you have to work all the time to make good money. This is a false belief I continue to run up against and while I make new breakthroughs each time, it’s been one of the hardest things for me to push past.
Part of that is growing up with this belief, and having a husband who does work really hard. I found myself feeling guilty that I was able to make more money than some of my friends while working a whole lot less and actually liking what I was doing. Have you ever felt that way?
But that being said, I’m grateful for the new limit and new challenges put in front of me, because they allow me to work through yet another block and increase my ability for abundance in ways I never thought imaginable.
For someone who thrives off routine and structure, this isn’t always easy. But, it’s made me realize which areas of my business I want to focus on more in the coming months and even next year, and I’m excited to see what unfolds.
September 2022: Business Income Report
Despite working only 10 days this month, this month ended up being my 3rd highest in take home this entire year. I was literally shocked. Funny how that happens, huh?
Tallying these numbers at the end of the month, really helped me continue to break down this belief that you have to work hard to make good money. I worked the least I have all year, and made more than many other months when I had a full-time schedule. That’s amazing!
And, a false belief I know I have more work to do on. Maybe the reason it’s coming up more for me lately is because I’ve been thinking a lot about how Owen will go to kindergarten next year and how my current schedule will get rocked. Jack is in school 4 days a week, and Owen will soon be in 5 times a week, but with a shorter day.
The goal is to be able to continue to grow my income without any additional hours, and while I know it’s possible, the thought often makes me a little uncomfortable. But, growth happens when we’re outside our comfort zone—right!
Now let’s break down this month’s income report. As always, if you want to see the real numbers, click here and I’ll send them straight to your inbox!
Let’s Break it Down
Freelance Design Work: 18% (retainer client)
The Collective: 6%
SEO Course: 21% (made sales, but haven’t been paid out yet!)
Art: 33%
Ads: 3%
Affiliates: 14%
- Amazon
- Beautycounter
- Branch Basics
- RewardStyle
Website Traffic
My traffic dipped a bit this month and it’s mostly attributed to one post that was getting a lot of traffic, but fell in rankings. This is totally normal and to be expected! I updated the post a bit, and re-published it, so I’ll check back to see if it’s rankings start creeping back up.
If you want to learn more about SEO and how to optimize your site to see more traffic, make sure you’re registered for my *live* SEO training that’s happening TOMORROW—you can register for free here!
Email List
At the beginning of September, I had 3,283 email subscribers, and as of October 11 (a few days late—I never remember to look on the actual date!), I have 3,318. Slow growth, but growth nonetheless.
One thing that’s been really encouraging is that my open rate is high—usually around 42-49%. According to this article, a good open rate for email is anywhere from 17-28%, so seeing these high numbers let’s me know that my email subscribers are engaged with what I’m sending—wahoo!
I do have some plans to try something new this month, and I’ll share the details and if it was worth it once it’s done!
October & Winter Goals
Before I dive into these, I always like to look back at my goals from the previous month. I’m someone who easily can fall into the trap of completing one thing and moving onto the next without fully embracing and celebrating the milestone that I just hit. This is such a simple way for me to do that.
I am laughing a bit because many of the things on that list got touched on, but not fully committed to. Life, man! I’m grateful for the time I had with family and friends, the much-needed break, and for being able to come back recharged and excited.
Now, onto October’s goals:
Finish 2 Commissions & 2 Other Paintings
I’m so so so close to finish a bunch of paintings right now! I have 2 commissions that are nearly done, and I have 2 other pieces to finish as they’ll be shown in a local coffee shop in November!
Launch My First Live SEO Training
This has been on my list for a long time and I kept putting it off because it felt so huge, and honestly, kind of scary. But, I’ve been working on it for the past few weeks and I’m ready! I’m excited, but also nervous to do a live training, but I know how much this can impact small businesses and can’t wait to share what I know. It’s TOMORROW, so if you want to get in on the action, sign up here and I’ll be sharing more info super soon!
Finish 2 New Web Design Templates
I’ve been slowly chipping away at these and made some big decisions on how to change up my templates and pricing structure moving forward. Stay tuned, these are going to be really great!
BTW, why you need to finally raise your prices, and how to make money as a blogger.
