January 2022 income report and behind the scenes
What I got up to in January
Launched 2 new templates
I ran a launch sale because I love rewarding early adopters and those that put their trust in me early. I also just… love these templates. I will literally open them up for inspiration when I’m writing for sales page clients. Same for my email templates, I use them a lot for inspo.
Copywriting service price increase
I should really update my testimonials and case studies but if you’ve followed me for a while, you probably knew this was coming. My written for you sales copy is just really good. And most copywriters charge more for the same (or less…). I booked a lot of really fun, inspiring clients - both at the old and new rate - and am actually now booking for MAY. I’ve got about 10 - 25 writing projects booked in at any given time and I LOVE IT.
Closed my other business
It was coming. It was time. I need to go all in on Damn Copy. I was sad anyway.
I had to say goodbye to a lot of things in January and it was both completely right and really hard. I let go from a lot of things.
From my other business, and several clients, to my fear, shame, and worry. From my need to do it alone. From my need to be liked (I'm sure someone won't like me sharing audacious goals or real income reports including the costs). From the idea that I'm "too intimidating" - yes I've been told that on multiple occasions. It all needs to go to make space for growth.
Thought a lot about hiring help, having a team, and feeling supported
There are a lot of things happening in my business at any given time: I’ve got around 2 dozen client projects coming up, new template plans, customer service for existing clients, and a brand new group program in the works.
I need help. And that requires getting really honest about what I’m great at and what I’m not so great at. As well as what I want to do. Turns out there are only a few things I want to do in my business: create, write, speak, sell, teach, and be interviewed. (Psssst, can I be on your podcast? Hit me up!)
There are others things I want to get done. But I don't want to do them. And I don't want to set up the systems and SOPs for them either (I don't care how it gets done really, as long as it gets done efficiently and well 😝). I'm getting clearer and clearer on how I want to work with other people and what I need to work best. What do I need to show up and do my best creative work? How can I facilitate that? Who and what can I hire out to help facilitate that? Where am I denying myself tools, tech, and automation to make my work easier?
I used Dani's brilliant course Organise + Grow Your Business With a Team (proud affiliate link!) to figure a lot of this out, including my dream team and what kind of help I'd like to have on my team long term.
Grabbed these fantastic ThriveCart Templates (+ Bonus from me)
If you use ThriveCart, go check these out! I got both the longform sales page templates and the check-out page templates (*both affiliate links, these are AH-MA-ZING!). You actually see my FB message to Dama RAVING about the tripwire sales page template on the sales page. I’ll keep building my main sales pages on Squarespace but it’s just so easy for flash sales or limited time offers or just quickly testing something new.
And they look GOOD, I adore these.
And since it’s a match made in heaven, if you grab the longform sales page templates through my affiliate link, you will also receive my tripwire sales page copy template (normally $75) for FREE. You can totally use this combo to just straight upsell a digital product, too, not just for tripwires!
January revenue, costs, and profit
Income
January revenue (bookkeeping): €8.580
Income breakdown:
Services: €5.865
Digital products: €2.644
Affiliate income: €71
Cash received: €16.274
There’s a massive difference between these amounts and I can get used to getting so much cash flow into my business - it makes decision-making much easier! The difference is mainly because I got paid for work from last year that I billed afterwards and because I received deposits for future work, the revenue is booked in the month I create + deliver the copy but the money comes into my business now - this is how bookkeeping rules work here so that’s how I break down these reports. VAT isn’t included in any of these numbers.
I started January slowly on purpose, I wanted time and space to start easy and work on some back-end things (spoiler alert: I didn’t). My revenue goal for January was €8000 so I’m very happy I hit that :)
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Costs
Total costs: €5.480
Software, banking, currency exchange loss, and admin things: €329
Team (VA, content creation retainer, and instructional designer): €3.183
Courses, mastermind, memberships: €1.967
Costs were substantial this month, several of last years expenses are booked in January and February because they are live teaching programs, so although I paid for them in the past they’re on the books now. I’ve also been experimenting with hiring help for certain things which comes at a cost that isn’t necessarily visible in the revenue yet but frees me up to create more. See above.
Profit (before taxes)
€3.100
This is lower than I’d hoped and expected given my cash flow, sales numbers and overall feeling of massive momentum. That said a chunk of the costs are courses I already paid for and have reaped benefits from. The instructional designer is worth every dollar and then some, seriously go hire Laura Willson if you create courses of any kind. Overall I feel really good about January and what I accomplished!
Goals for February:
How I want to feel: Truly supported by the people I hire and my family and friends, at home in Mexico, feeling like everything is adding up and working out and just getting better and better and better.
Business goals:
Launch my new group program, Booked Out.
Add new templates to the copy template shop for pre-orders.
Revenue goal: €10.000
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