November 2018 Income Report
Welcome to my first ever income report since joining WealthyAffiliate.
I decided to write a monthly income report for a few reasons:
- Publishing my results keeps me accountable to myself and the results I'm getting
- I believe in being transparent, so I wanted to share my journey with the community
- It forces me to tally up all my income and expenses and think analytically about the month that has just passed.
Income
I derive my main income from my offline businesses but I decided (for now) to keep the income reports dedicated to my online efforts. I earn money online through a few sources and I estimate that the income from each source will fluctuate each month so I'll just explain things as I go along.
So, let's dive in!
My total revenue generated through affiliate programs for the month of November was $167.95. The affiliate income was a mix between WA affiliate sales and affiliate sales on my website, which was only launched last month.
I also made $12.50 from the WA platform from SiteComments etc. This brought my total revenue for November to $180.45.
Definitely not life changing, but it's a step in the right direction.
Expenses
I'm a finance guy.... so the thing that annoys me most about online businesses is when someone reveals their income numbers, without discussing their expenses. At the end of the day, we should always be concerned with our profit and to calculate that we need both income and expenses.
The thing I love about online business is that it can be done incredibly lean. This month I paid $15 for my email autoresponder/marketing automation platform and the only other expense is my WA membership. I was on the $49/month plan, however, I elected to jump on the Black Friday special (read why I decided to do that here) so my membership expense for this month was higher than usual - $302 to be exact.
In subsequent months, I'm not going to have a membership expense to worry about so, with the saving achieved from the Black Friday special, I should be able to increase profit margins in the future.
My total expenses came to $314 for November 2018.
Profit
Profit is simply income minus expenses, so for November, my profit is $180.45 - $314... which gives me a -$133.55.
Great... my first income report is negative... well I guess it can only get better from here ;)
To be honest, I'm not fazed at all my the negative profit for November. The reality is I've made some money from a brand new site which is just a month old. Also, if it wasn't for the switch to annual membership, I would have been in the black.
My thoughts on November...
November definitely provided some lessons for me. First, I now realize the power of Black Friday and the fact that there are so many hungry consumers willing to part with their money for something of value. Next year, I'm going to be much more prepared for Black Friday.
My goal for December is to increase my revenue by 25% while keeping my expenses low. I'm aiming for one long-form post (10,000 word ultimate guide) and 3 or 4 or piece of content of the lower word-count variety.
Overall I'm happy with November and would definitely classify the month as a (small) success that has laid the foundations for more growth over the coming months.
Well, I think that's it for my first income report. I'm sure I'll think of stuff to add to future reports but for now I just want to get started and continue to improve.
I'd be keen to know - how was your November?
Recent Comments
26
Thanks for sharing Shane!
You’re doing great for less than 1 year in.
I’m here just 4 months and won’t post income stats until I actually have some!
Looking forward to 2019!
All the best,
KyleAnn
Shane, you are so much an accountant. I love the way accountants can keep account of every last cent. You are right on to it. My daughter studied accountancy and she would keep a record of everything she spent even down to an icecream she may have eaten that day..
You will do well in your online business because you will not allow yourself to be taken in by every shiny object . It will be carefully evaluated first.
Thank you for sharing. and I look forward to reading how it will develop and grow as the months go by.
Thanks Freisia!
I'm not actually an accountant but I do run financial services businesses... so a lot of numbers get thrown around!
One of my beliefs for anyone who wants to run their own business is that you must know your numbers.
I guess this post was me just documenting my approach to knowing my numbers for my online business.
Thanks again Freisia!
Cheers,
Shane
Your post is so inspiring Shane, I thank you. When you put numbers in front of me, I can see it all. Yes, this message is so logical and revealing. I one should follow your thinking. Every expense and profit should be added and subtracted for it reveals everything about you here.
When logic and science are in the mix, Lights go on!
Thank you Shane, quite a post, I must say!
frank
Thanks Frank!
I'm a big believer that all businesses should be driven by data... including financial data! This obviously includes online businesses so I figured that if I'm serious about building a profitable online business, then I need to be tracking the numbers and reporting on my progress.
I thought to myself... why not make it public to the WA community? Maybe it'll help someone...
Thanks again Frank and all the best on your journey!
Cheers,
Shane
Yeah, I rather see a profit for a profit is endless. A paycheck
you are owned. Sorry most people who work "out there" don't get this opportunity. When we talk of profit we are actually talking,
GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION/ QUANTUM THEORY and the likes.
REALLY THE SKIES THE LIMIT. tHAT'S WHY SHANE IS SO FREAKING EXCITED AND I DON'T BLAME HIM FOR THIS FEELING. WHEN WE PLAY WITH NUMBERS which is real
WE SEE NOT 1, 2, 3, 4 nope not even close. We see
1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128....you get it don'tchaa?
PURE EXCITEMENT!
Kinda like the old math gig. Would you take a penny a day to start a job if I double your pay every day for 30 days? 9 out of 10 people would not do it. Do the math and you would have a million bucks at the end of the month.
Are you an accountant? You sound like mine. lol Worse thing about a paycheck is it is signed by somebody else who tells you when and where you work, when you can have off, and most importantly they tell you how much you make. That is not for me.
Hey Shane,
Thank you for sharing your results.
There are so many members here
who are starting out, who haven't
got results like you yet.
So sharing your results is really
inspiring for beginner level members
here and proves that WA training works.
I am curious how you are promoting WA.
Is it through a boot camp site or through
social media?
Also the sale you have got from your
second site, is it an organic sale?
Thank you, Shane :)
Hi Midhun!
I haven't done a single module of boot camp yet, so my WA promotion has been by word of mouth. I have many clients in my offline businesses so I just spread the word about WA if it's relevant to them. I will definitely start a more scalable approach for promoting WA soon, but I'm focusing on my niche site for now.
The sale I got on my second site was organic... kind of. Someone in a group on Facebook asked a question that I had written an article about so I posted the link to help answer their question. Someone (not sure if it was them or not) followed the link then went on to click on an affiliate link and I made a sale ;)
Thanks again Midhun.
Cheers,
Shane
Hi Shane,
Thanks for sharing your Profit & Loss here. :)
For online business, I believe it's a norm to incur a loss at the beginning. With fixed expenses and increase in revenue, this will be changed to a positive figures in future when your site get matured and producing a better returns.
Keep it rocking.
:)JOe
See more comments
Thank you for sharing this information with us. I don't see to many report their expenses, only a few include it in their post.
Making money on a month old site was quite an accomplishment. Was it a SiteRubix website or a purchased?
Not that it matters. Either way that is great news and an inspiration to everyone especially the new members.
As for my November, I was negative $299 for the purchase of my yearly membership.
My goal for the rest of this year and 2019 is to make that back plus pay for the expenses that I may acquire along the way.
As you know I am now looking into an autoresponder. This will be an expense I will include before calling any income made, a profit..
Thank you for sharing and I look forward to keeping in contact with you and viewing your post.
Wishing you the best in all you do
Lee Ann