Good day yesterday. I finished the second article and sidebar and was able to invoice something. Finally! I have to get in touch with the other clients today to see where we stand on revisions and invoicing. Time Lori gets paid, I think.
I heard you yesterday – you were saying “I have to get the plan together.” It’s a start to acknowledge it, but it’s not the same as doing it. So let’s make it our exercise for the next few days. Right here, we’re going to put our business plan together.
Let’s start with this:
Income Goals
It’s first on the list because it should be. You can’t form anything around an unknown number. So let’s decide what you’re going to make this coming year.
Pick a number – any number. Right now, think of a number that in your head represents a successful freelance career. Is it $50,000 annually? $100,000? Write it down.
Break it down. How much does that figure into per month? Let’s go with a hypothetical number – $50,000. That equals $4,166 and change each month that you need to make. How many hours do you want to work in order to reach that goal? If you work 40 hours a week, how many of those are you actually billing? Be conservative here. Assume in one month, you’ll be billing about 40 hours of work. That will get you to your goal. Considering that’s one-fourth of a typical month of 9-to-5, it’s a good number to start with.
Introduce reality. While $50,000 isn’t a bad number, that’s not what you’ll end up with. You have to pay taxes, bills, retirement, savings, and office supplies, among a slew of things. Even if you worked in an office for someone else, you wouldn’t be handed that $50K without something being deducted. Just know that your amount earned still has to head toward the essentials.
Modify as needed. If $50K isn’t going to cut it, modify. Shoot for $60K or even $75K. Just know that the amount you set is going to increase either your fee, your hours needed to earn that, or both.
Set monthly goals. It works for me to look at my earnings each month. I do it right here on this blog. It’s my way of checking my progress against my plan. So if you want to earn $50K, set a monthly goal of $4,166 and make sure to check at the end of each month to see if you’ve reached it. If not, you’ll be working harder the next month.
Be accountable. My earnings benefited greatly from my decision to share my earnings and actions here on this blog. Being accountable to someone else is a powerful motivator. Find an accountability partner – a friend, another writer, a partner, or post your results here each month on the Monthly Assessment post. Just answer to others and, more importantly, to yourself for your actions.
Now let’s apply what you’ve learned. What is your earnings target for next year? You can give me numbers, percentages over what you earn now, whatever you’re comfortable sharing.
Tomorrow: Expenses
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