September Earnings

I’ve been inspired by Lori Widmer (whom I just adore by the way) to share my business; something I hardly ever do. And by business I mean My September earnings.

I’m not sure why I’ve never done it before, but her post today made me want to. Part of the reason is that I’m trying to organize my business better and I am attempting to market my services on a much more regular basis. This is a great way of tracking my results.

Print Publications

Although I had a couple of great ideas and planned to query a trade magazine, I didn’t. I did, however, finally get paid for four magazine articles I wrote back in May of this year. Turns out the publication is really struggling. I really do want to start writing for magazines again, but I can’t afford to rely on them as regular income since checks can come anytime.

Job Boards

In the past I’ve gotten some pretty good gigs from job boards, but damn, the pickings are getting kind of slim. Still, from time to time you can find a gem or two so I try to drop in to search through a few on a semi-regular basis.

I've actually found a couple of good opportunities and got three really interested reponses until I sent them my rates. Hmmm, must have been something I said…

Existing clients

Most of my existing clients have reduced the amount of work they send my way. Only one client is still using my services as before. I have been following up with clients I haven’t worked with in the last six months or so via email and mailed post cards.

Earnings

Let’s just say it’s a lot less than I expected. I started out with quite a few projects this month. Then three of my children came down with the flu, and then we had some unexpected flooding to take care of. I allowed those things to cut into my work time which meant less time for marketing and developing content for my own business.

Bottom Line

I need to get back to planning my work days and stick to the schedule. I must set aside time each day for marketing and reconnecting with previous clients. I need to establish some new systems to help me manage my time better.

I plan to attend a couple of conferences this month for more face-to-face networking. Like Lori, I will continue to fine tune my marketing efforts.