Why do I do income reports?
I started doing income reports as a way to be more transparent about my business and hopefully shed some light on ways that you can grow your own online business, too. I want to show you both what worked for me and what didn’t so that you can apply those lessons to your own dreams. My overall hope is that my income reports inspire or inform you to create and grow your own online biz.
Let’s do this!
May Income
- E-Course Sales: $45,349
- Affiliate Commissions: $22,529
- Ad Revenue: $235
Total Income: $68,113
May Expenses
- Virtual Assistants: $1,444
- PayPal + Stripe Fees: $1,578
- Web + Graphic Design: $2,518
- Teachable*: $598
- Gusto Payroll: $28
- Deadline Funnel: $37
- Zapier: $20
- MotionMail: $10
- Infusionsoft*: $428
- Affiliates: $8,515
- Stocksy: $30
- Facebook Ads: $750
- Business Travel: $293
- GoDaddy: $98
- Office rent, utilities, + insurance: $1,107
- Charitable Donation: $105
- Bookkeeping: $529
- Miscellaneous Supplies: $89
- Google Apps*: $17
Total Expenses: $18,194
(Anything with an * next to it is an affiliate link)
Net Profit: $49,919
Payroll to Melyssa: $5,381
So what worked? And how was May? Let’s chat.
New team members
I started working with a bookkeeper a couple months ago, who doubles as a financial advisor of sorts. One of the things he seemed surprised by was how little I spent on team members and independent contractors. You mean you WANT me to spend more money? I can do that, yo!
So, per his advice that I have room to add more members to my team, combined with knowing that I could USE more help, I decided to bring on some new peeps. One is a graphic designer who is going to be taking over most of the design work for my site, courses, Facebook groups, etc. Even though I LOVE design (and used to be a web designer), I realize that I could be spending my design time on strategy and ways to grow my business, which is why I’m passing off the reigns to someone who rocks at design and totally gets my aesthetic. Huzzah!
I also added an almost-full-time virtual assistant, who doubles as one of my closest friends (he was my friend before…that wasn’t part of the job description!). 😉 You may have seen Kenny in my Facebook groups — he has a contagiously positive energy and handles a lot of the customer service and operations aspects of the business.
I added more peeps to the team in June — you’ll hear about them in next month’s income report, too. 🙂
Two Vacations
I’ve been trying to get OUT of my business more and find new forms of inspiration (and relaxation), so I actually took TWO vacations in May. Say whaaaat? The first was at the beginning of the month when Paul and I made our way to NYC. It was one of our best trips yet!
At the end of the month, we went to a music/art/nutrition/spirituality/how-do-I-even-describe-it festival called Lightning in a Bottle. We went with a group of at least 30 friends, and it reminded me how powerful and necessary that feeling of community is, and that I need to find more time to pull myself away from my house (#homebody) to connect with friends.
The festival itself was amazing. During the day, there were tons of workshops about nutrition, spirituality, yoga, etc. And at night there were a lot of musicians performing. Pure bliss.
Meeting Teachable + MG Followers
Speaking of vacation, we went to New York to meet the crew at Teachable. Teachable is the software company I use to host and sell my e-courses, and I’m lucky to have gotten close to their team over the past year. They’re an awesome group of people and I love how they promote community amongst their employees and are constantly thinking of ways to innovate their brand (they also have a super dope blog!).
We went to NYC because Teachable was turning 2 and having an anniversary party. They let me invite everyone on my email list (so cool!), and I spent the night meeting people who follow my brand, read my blog, or have taken my courses. It was honestly one of the highlights of running this business so far. It’s crazy to see people — in the flesh — that have benefitted from things I’ve created. Just a really neat moment.
Everyone was so, so kind, and it left me feeling rejuvenated and hyper-focused on why I do what I do. Paul also said he finally “gets it.” haha. I think I finally “get it,” too. It also got me thinking that I’d like to teach workshops around the country (and world?!). It’s something that’s been on my mind for awhile, and I think I’d love it (and would get to help people in a new way!). I crave that IRL interaction.
Also, side note, but I hate the idea of calling people my “followers,” as if I’m leading some sort of self-centered cult. ???? “Fans” sounds cheesy to me, and “readers” isn’t totally accurate since many people interact with my brand outside of my blog. So, anyways, if I ever use the word “followers” to quickly describe people who follow my brand, then please know that I think it sounds just as dumb as you do. 😉 And if anyone savvy writer wants to come up with a better word, I’m all ears. ‘Radtasticpeople,’ anyone?
Prepping BBH Launch
May was a quieter month for me in terms of launches and actively promoting my brand, but I was fast at work behind the scenes prepping for the Blog to Biz Hive launch, which started on June 1st. I did a few things differently for that recent launch, like adding a 3-part video series, and it went swimmingly. In fact, it nearly tripled my second biggest launch in terms of revenue. More on that later.
But can we be real for a second?
I grew up with a single mom and not that much money (you don’t need to feel bad for me — it taught me a lot!). But I think I have this inherent mindset that if I’m not promoting my brand and trying to make money every month, then it will all disappear.
Since I spent much of May on the sidelines, getting ready for my BBH launch, I had to keep fighting the irrational thoughts that I wasn’t doing enough or that my revenue would tank. Obviously, neither of those was the case, and I don’t actually have a reason to be afraid, but those negative thought loops can be tough to work through, na mean?
Here’s how you can take action:
May was very much a “working ON my business” month, where I spent a lot of time refining my business itself. I encourage you to do this for your own business or blog, too. If you don’t already do this, try setting aside one ENTIRE day every couple weeks where you get to create better processes, brainstorm ways to improve your business, evaluate where you need help, and more.
Spending time working on your biz, rather than just IN it, can transform the way you grow in the future.
And hey, if you’re anything like me (scared that not trying to make money will leave you broke), then remember that creating a stronger business from the inside out will help you grow your revenue in future months. Don’t freak out, k? 🙂
Got any questions? Comments? Insights? I’m all ears! Let’s chat down below.
p.s. I also have a private Facebook group where I’d love to chat with you and answer your Qs! Click here to join.
Seeing your income reports and your products gives me so much inspiration. It truly gives me confirmation that if I work hard on my blog and continue to believe in myself, I will see success too. Thank you!
You’ve got this my friend! 🙂
Your income report is absolutely incredible and definitely makes me feel inspired that perhaps one day my blog could become a fraction of what yours has become. I would love to know more about how you first started and what encouraged you to follow the route you took to success.
Aw I am so glad to hear that, McKenzie! Thank you. 🙂 I started in February 2013 (so a little over three years ago) and was very dedicated to my blog from the start, even when I had a full-time job. But my blog has evolved a LOT since it began, and I’ve tried out almost every way to monetize my site (ads, sponsored posts, web design, etsy shop, etc). Now, I focus almost entirely on selling e-courses, which is my favorite method so far.
My best advice is to try out a lot of things and don’t be afraid to fail at most of them. You’ll learn a lot from those mistakes and if you follow your gut, it will eventually lead you to something meaningful and profitable. 🙂
I started my first blog in 2009 as a way to follow my pregnancy but I wasn’t serious about it, nor was I serious about my other blogs. I am finally buckling down with this one and crossing my fingers that my fourth time is a charm ha ha! It is so crazy how much blogging has evolved — it has been fun watching the trends grow and subside. Since my blog is in the beginning stages I am hoping to focus on good content, commenting on a lot of other blogs, participating in popular linkups, and slowly begin sponsoring other blogs.
Failing is so scary! However, I know it is bound to happen unfortunately ha ha. That is so awesome how far your blog has come! I remember when it was the Nectar Collective!
I noticed something new in this income report, “payroll to Melyssa”. Is this something new you’re sharing? I’m curious how you determined this amount, is it by a percentage?
Monica,
My guess would be that she set an annual salary for herself and that amount is after taxes. Back of the napkin math puts this at about $96,000 then after taxes you get close to the number she has in her report.
Of course this is all a complete guess on my part lol.
Good question! My accountant set up a payroll a few months ago, so I figured it would be helpful to start mentioning that in these reports. The reason he set up a payroll (instead of just paying myself whatever I want to) is because of the way I now file for taxes (as an S-Corp). It’s all kind of confusing to me, but with an S-Corp, you are no longer a sole proprietor and your business and personal taxes are filed separate. Because of this, I pay myself a payroll amount (which is tax deductible for my business).
The point is to help me save money in how much I’m paying for taxes, but doing payroll is something the IRS requires. My accountant chose the amount, which he says is roughly how much a CEO would make for a business that earns my business’ revenue. We do bump up the payroll amount though, if my business starts earning more than expected (to account for how much a CEO would make based on the current annual revenue)>
I hope that makes sense!
How soon would you recommend filing as an S-Corp? I find all of that stuff confusing personally but I’m curious if this is something that should be done immediately or after you meet a certain income level for your business?
Monica,
My simple suggestion is to do so when you can afford the cost of creating audited financial reports and when your expenses/ liabilities are high enough that you would be uncomfortable having creditors come after your personal assets to satisfy your debt.
Eric
I’m honestly not too sure, but my CPA says that if you’re earning at least $40k per year in net income, then you are losing money if you’re not filing as an S-Corp.
My CPA told me $40k per year also.
Hi Melyssa,
Love to get the behind the curtain look at your business. It’s very refreshing and informative.
It had to be hard to hand over the design reigns to someone else. I know one day I need to give up both my development and design duties to someone, but as a creator I’m scared I’ll totally freak out and miss it lol.
As for what to call your “followers” I’m always down for cheesy names for your tribe. Since the you used to be the Nectar Collective we can be Beekeepers (I’ll see my way out).
Nice to see you took some time for yourself. I think when you start to make nice income on your own it can almost be addictive. You start to see the little tweaks that you can do to increase revenue, but the tweaks never end and before you know it you are always in work mode.
Definitely need to pull yourself away from time to time to gain some perspective.
Which makes me want to ask is there a final goal for the amount of income you want to generate each month or is the sky the limit?
haha I love the beekeepers idea! 😉
And I toootally agree about those little revenue tweaks becoming addictive. It really can be difficult to “turn off” when you know there’s more you can be doing. I’m slowly learning that I *need* to force myself to relax sometimes because if I’m going to be able to grow my business, I need to be sane and relaxed. 😉
As for my monthly income goals, I’d say that for now my goal is to hit at least $50k per month, though I would like to hit an annual revenue of $1mil. I wouldn’t be opposed to making more though, haha, and I don’t think that once I hit my goal, I’ll just stop trying to grow. I’d also eventually like to give away a lot of money to charities, so the more I make, the more I’ll be able to donate, which is one of the things that drives me to earn more.
Hi Melyssa, I’m completely fresh to your website and totally new to the digital solopreneur gig, but I’m in the process of developing a business idea for myself and have just enrolled in a business course tailored to mamas as I’m 31 weeks pregnant (I’m also all the way in Australia!). I know zilch about numbers and money but eventually want to be able to get around it. My question is, once you’ve worked out the incoming, outgoing, net profit and paid yourself, where does the rest of that money go? Do you invest all of it back into your business?
Good question! The rest of the money actually belongs to the owner (me), so I can reinvest it in the business (which would actually be a business expense and would be listed here if that were the case) or I can just keep it in a savings account for myself or the business. I realize this might be confusing because there is also a “payroll” listed. The payroll is mainly for tax purposes because if I file my taxes as an S-Corp, I will save money on taxes. But filing as an S-Corp requires you to add yourself as an “employee” of your business and run a monthly payroll (which is tax deductible). It’s honestly pretty confusing to me, but this is how my accountant has explained it. So, the payroll money is mine, but whatever is leftover is also mine as well (because I am the sole owner of the company). I hope that makes sense!
Thanks Melyssa! I get queasy trying to sort out tax lingo in my head but I get the gist. Thanks for sharing this, it actually really helps (and incredibly inspiring!) to see how simple keeping on top of your business finances can be.
Actually, if you “reinvest”, it’s considered capital. If you spend the money on monthly bills – utilities, rent, professional services, etc. – those are expenses.
I totally get the “if I am not working 24/7 I will be broke” mentality. I grew up with a single mom in Central Appalachia. I managed to beat the cycle of government assistance and I am TERRIFIED of being poor again. I am not sure how to break that mentality but i just wanted you to know you are not alone.
Thank you, Hillary. That means a lot to me 🙂
Good luck and please let me know if you need help with anything at all!
thank you!!! I will 🙂
The things I like the most about these posts is how inspiring and motivating they are! I get a boost of confidence each time x
Jessica — WS Community
Aw, that is really wonderful to hear, Jessica. Thank you! 🙂
Congrats on your May earnings. Your transparency in blogging income is what motivates a lot of bloggers out there. Although making money shouldn’t be the reason you get into blogging, it’s nice to know that if you put in the work and build a brand as influential as Nectar Collective, you can turn it into your career. Keep up the great work Melyssa.
Jay from Eclectic Elite
Thanks so much for the lovely comment, Jay! You keep up the great work too 🙂
Thanks for sharing so much helpful info Melyssa! I just started on your Pinfinite Growth course and hope to get my business up and running. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how I would ever make the kind of money you generate as a Knitting pattern designer, but it’s awesome to know that kind of success is possible. I will be thrilled if I can simply get myself earning a full time income in the $60K per year range running my own creative business and blog. I appreciate what you’re doing here, and glad I found you!
You’ve got this Patty! Best of luck and please keep me posted on your progress 🙂
I love that you included “Paul finally got it” lol. I’m working hard on my new blog/venture and hoping that my Paul will finally believe (or see) that this is something that works! To the future!
To the future! Best of luck to you and your Paul, Angela 🙂
I find it interesting that you’ve given yourself a modest salary at $5K. Especially because as people so openly share the tens of thousands that they make each month it’s easy for others to think that they’re just balling out all day, lol.
Do you just reinvest the rest into your business or are you saving for something in particular?
The salary is more so for tax purposes — it’s basically my personal taxable income that my accountant decided on. I do get to keep the rest of the money and can transfer it to my personal accounts without it counting toward my personal taxable income (just business taxable income). I mostly just save the rest of it.
So the payroll is a little misleading in that I can also keep whatever else is leftover in the business, but doing it this way will save money on taxes. 🙂
When your business starts generating a lot of income, you have to pay self employment taxes (social security + medicare taxes) on all of the income, which can be quite high. When you are taxed as an S Corp you pay yourself a small salary and you only have to pay the self employment tax on the amount of your paycheck instead of on the entire income. You still have to pay income taxes on the entire income, but you will save thousands of dollars of self employment tax. There is more paperwork involved doing it this way, but it you can easily do it yourself if someone shows you how.
I love reading your income reports Melyssa – they’re so inspiring!
I was just wondering what the $8,515 affiliate expense is for? Pardon my ignorance, but do you have to pay the affiliate in order to add their link to your site?
Hey Jodi! My affiliate expense is the amount I pay out to my affiliates who promote my courses 🙂
Aha! Thanks 🙂
I always find reading income reports interesting and eye opening! I hope one day I’ll be showing or telling people mine 🙂 Your vacations sound awesome, I absolutely love NYC and hope to go back someday. People always get scared sharing this part of the business but I think it’s great and helps motivate others and see how other people work.
Thanks for your comment, Lauren! Yes, I was absolutely terrified to share my income reports at first but I saw how much value people got out of them so I’ve since gotten over that fear. I hope that you and everyone else who reads my income reports learns something new that they can apply to their own businesses. Good luck my friend 🙂
Loving the adjustments you made to this income report, def helps me get an inside look at how you run your biz..killin’ it!
Thanks Kerissa! I’m glad you like the little tweaks I made for this report. Best of luck to you and your biz 🙂
Loving the transparency Melyssa!
I’m so glad you like the income report, Sam! Good luck and please keep me posted on your progress 🙂
Echoing another comment, I’m still working on my Paul to get it. It’s hard. He’s not into online business AT. ALL so he does not get it. And it’s hard to explain what I do.
Anywho, instead of followers, how about tribe? Clan? Badass horde of people?
And suuuuper random but I always wanted to ask you this, the tattoo, nectar, hive, is it cause your name means honey bee? (My sis is a Melissa) 🙂
That is so tough, I know! Paul has been supportive, but I’ve certainly had other people in my life say things that left me feeling unsupported or criticized. My theory is that if you just keep working hard and eventually have positive results and income to show for it, those people will come around and you’ll have the opportunity to completely change their mindset.
I like the idea of “tribe.” That sounds a lot more community-oriented than talking about people as “followers” haha.
And your question is so cool to me because no one has ever made that correlation! Ever since finding out Melyssa meant honey bee, I’ve grown really fond of them and it did help to spark a lot of those things you mentioned. I have a little honey bee in my tattoo, too. 🙂 There are additional meanings behind the Nectar and Hive themes (and my tattoo), but my name definitely played a part as well. 🙂
That is so tough, I know! Paul has been supportive, but I’ve certainly had other people in my life say things that left me feeling unsupported or criticized. My theory is that if you just keep working hard and eventually have positive results and income to show for it, those people will come around and you’ll have the opportunity to completely change their mindset.
I like the idea of “tribe.” That sounds a lot more community-oriented than talking about people as “followers” haha.
And your question is so cool to me because no one has ever made that correlation! Ever since finding out Melyssa meant honey bee, I’ve grown really fond of them and it did help to spark a lot of those things you mentioned. I have a little honey bee in my tattoo, too. 🙂 There are additional meanings behind the Nectar and Hive themes (and my tattoo), but my name definitely played a part as well. 🙂
Hi Melyssa,
I love your blog and all the social media channels I stalk you on ;). Just one question, the google affiliate income you have, is it from google itself? I’m asking because I have been searching for days and all I seem to find is a website where google states they have closed their affiliate network.
Love from Holland!
Hey Aranka! The Google affiliate income I make comes from recommending Google Apps to my readers. I wrote up a quick post about how to use Gmail for your custom domain email, which you can find here if you’re interested in seeing the post:
https://melyssagriffin.com/use-gmail-custom-domain/
Omg I think I spend to much time “working on my business”. I am constantly analyzing everything and looking for ways to streamline my process. Glad to hear that it is important and necessary. Congrats, you are truly inspiring!
Thank you Chell! Best of luck with your business and please keep me posted on your progress 🙂
Thank you! Def will do!
您的博客拥有旺盛的生命力！！
Hi Melyssa! Can I ask what you use GoDaddy for? Just curious because I currently have my domain with them, but I hear from many people that it’s not the best website. 🙂
Hey Thea! The GoDaddy expense is for when I renew my domain names and sometimes when I think I have a good idea and buy a new domain name 🙂
I love your transparency and heart for helping others. Thanks for doing what you do! I’m looking to spend some time working ON my business in the coming month too!
Thank you so much for the kind words! Best of luck with your business and please keep me posted on your progress my friend 🙂
Hi, I am a new fan here! Love how you brand your website and business and your courage to be so transparent
Thank you so much for the kind words, Lynn! 🙂
Hey
Hey great stuff here Melyssa. Curious as to how you use MotionMail vs. Deadline?
Hey Buckley! I use both tools to create scarcity within my campaigns. MotionMail allows me to easily pop a timer into any email while Deadline Funnel is a way for me to automate and personalize my evergreen sales funnels and send my visitors to different pages depending on what actions they take.
Thanks for sharing all your behind the scenes with us, it’s refreshing, realistic, and authentic! You’re totally rocking it babe and so right about shifting that perspective from not enough to more than enough. Keep inspiring us, it’s working 🙂
Thanks so much for the kind and encouraging words, Allie! YOU rock and I wish you the best of luck with everything 🙂
Hey Melyssa!
Love your content. Just a quick question, how do you find affiliates for your courses?
Thanks 🙂
Hey Rohan! Sometimes people simply ask me if I have an affiliate program. Additionally, a few times throughout the year I’ll send out an email to my students to see if anyone is interested in becoming an affiliate for my courses 🙂
I just found your website and I’m so happy I did! I am just starting out as a blogger to try and get a “portfolio”of sorts into the website realm so that I can hopefully do some free lance writing. It’s really inspiring to see what you have done for yourself and for so many people! Thanks and I’ll be around 😉
Thanks so much for your comment, Marina! Best of luck with your journey and please keep me posted on your progress 🙂
Hey, Melyssa 🙂 So just a little confused: You said your net profit for this month was $49k+, but your payroll is only about 6k. So are you saying that you only “take home” $6k? Can you please explain the discrepancy between these two figures?
– AB
Good question! The payroll is mainly for tax purposes because if I file my taxes as an S-Corp, I will save money on taxes. But filing as an S-Corp requires you to add yourself as an “employee” of your business and run a monthly payroll (which is tax deductible). It’s honestly pretty confusing to me, but this is how my accountant has explained it. So, the payroll money is mine, but whatever is leftover is also mine as well (because I am the sole owner of the company). I hope that makes sense!
Ah, got it! That makes so much sense. I’m just starting my business and I’m dreading all this accounting stuff 🙂 But thanks for this. I love seeing everything broken down, the transparency is super educational + appreciated.
– AB
Hi Melyssa, I was one of the people in NYC! How about “students” (as opposed to fans, readers, etc.)? Even if they’re not taking a course, they are still learning from you. Hope that helps!
That’s a great suggestion Thanks so much for sharing it with me my friend 🙂
Absolutely LOVE your site Melyssa!! I want to acknowledge your authenticity and willingness to share so many resources to empower people like me to thrive as a creative business owner. After reviewing much of your material…I definitely see you as a MENTOR. And with that said…I consider myself one of your MENTEES :)) Perhaps that could be the term you could use? Love and light!
Wow, thank you SO much for those kind words, Danni! I really appreciate it. Best of luck to you and please keep me posted on all of your progress 🙂
You are congratulation here . I’m very surprise to see this income report on may 2016 . It’s remarkable .
Thanks Rosa! 🙂
Hey Melyssa! I know this is a bit of an old post, but I was wondering if you use something like Quickbooks or have a separate person do that kind of stuff for you? Thanks! Keep up the amazing work!
I have my own bookkeeping team who takes care of that for me. But if you’re just starting out, Quickbooks is a great tool. 🙂