February is a dumb month. My income isn’t exactly routine to begin with, and the shortness of February messes it up even more. I expected that this month’s income report would look almost the same as January’s, until I realized I didn’t get some of my end-of-the-month payments until March 3.
As a result, February is distinctly less profitable than January, even though I worked the same amount. I received exactly $900 of my February freelance payments on March 3, and I’m still waiting for an additional $250 from Forbes. Generally, these are payments I expect to receive the final week of the month, but since that final week was so short, I’m just getting them now.
That means that writing income was a much smaller piece of the pie than usual. It also helps that I receive my Amazon payments on a delayed schedule. This month I got my December 2016 earnings—$1080.88! It took me a long time to start making this much with Amazon, and I am extremely proud of myself.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a risk-free business venture, especially when you base a big chunk of your business on top of another company’s platform. Starting March 1, Amazon has launched a different commission structure for affiliates like me. A lot of articles about it make it sound like we’re all “panicking” about the change, but it’s different for everybody. For me, a low-traffic seller, a flat rate over a high-commission structure might actually increase my earnings, but I’ll know for sure in a few months.
I also made less on web design in February than I did January, but because I charge my clients 100% up front, I’m still working on stuff I got paid for in January. Here are some sites I’ve managed to finish:
I’m finding the work to be variable. Sometimes the fee I charge covers the amount of work I do perfectly. Other times I spend hours and hours doing unpaid work because the project took way longer. Since it’s so uncertain, I’m devoting more of my time to pitching new writing gigs. I’m interviewing (yes, even freelancers have to!) with a new client this week.
I spent $168 on business expenditures this month, just the basics that I pay for every month (Bluehost hosting, time tracking software, Quickbooks Self Employed, theme licenses, etc). I’m not doing any interesting expansion right now and I don’t need any supplies. This month at Katsucon, for example, I still used the old flyers I designed to promote Gunpla 101 for Otakon 2016.
Speaking of stagnation, I didn’t meet a single one of my February goals! So I’m going to just roll them over to March and stop being lazy. What were they again?
- Create a new web design sales page (or site!) using recent finished client projects.
- Come up with ten keyword-heavy post ideas for my new affiliate blogging project.
- Write a new mailing-list incentive course (to replace The Niche Reviewer Crash Course).
How was your month? I’m always excited to talk with other geek careerists.
See also: