Medium: Making Money, Losing Money, and ChatGPT

So my Medium journey continues. 

This time I'm going to highlight a couple of pieces about money and one about the hot topic of the moment, artificial intelligence:

How I Lost $25,000 Through Two Bad Investments

Fancy Paying $3.2m For a Personalized License Plate?

ChatGPT, ChatGPT, ChatGPT...Boring, Boring, Boring

And a bonus feature from another writer - some really good insights in how to run a side hustle:

How I Made $3,063 on the Internet in 31 Days (Part-Time)

If you'd like to write on Medium, one of the best ways to build a following is to become a member. This gives you unlimited access to high-quality writers and tips on how to monetize. 

You can join through this membership link: 

• Medium Membership

The same link also lets you unlock thousands of excellent articles. Click here for more details.

Medium articles - Recession, Salvation and Gender Inequality

Here's another round of Medium articles to get your teeth into.

Firstly, I'll start with a Scott Galloway piece. If you don't know his stuff, I would heartily recommend digging into it. In this piece, he talks about recession talk and how it can become self-fulfilling:

Bottom's Up

Next, here's a piece on taking responsibility for what's in front of us. Not everyone does. A lot of us are in denial:

Nobody's Coming to Save You

Finally, here's an important piece on the gender imbalance in the workforce - but this time it relates to side hustles and freelancing:

How to Narrow the Gender Pay Gap in Side Hustles and Freelancing

Enjoy!

And if you're new to Medium, you can unlock thousands of excellent stories for only $5/month. 

Click here.

Income Report: April

It's been another crazy month with all things coronavirus. I've been thinking long and hard about what this will all mean in 6, 12, 24, etc months from now. Things will most certainly change. And I know that I still haven't stepped up to the plate to make sure I will adapt to it properly. This isn't just about me, it's about my family.

So I've taken a bit of time to rethink my goals and approach (again). The more I talk about this, the more I know how pressing it is.

I can look back on these income reports and see similar patterns. Similar excuses. By next month's report, I intend to have in place better systems, accountability, defined goals, energy and so on.

I just know that what's gone before won't work in the future. And I'm kind of scared that I'm sleepwalking right into it - only with my eyes open. And that includes stepping up more for my day job, not just my hustles.

I've run out of excuses. Things need to change.

Anyway, this has been my month.

Resume Writing: $0. I actually have a new client here but I'm not going to book it here until I get confirmation on it and get paid. That will come to about $192.

Additional Writing: $230.  I have my regular writing gig which is ticking over well right now.

Stock Dividends: $176. No passive income approach is foolproof. And thanks to the coronavirus and the fact that some companies have been forced to suspend dividend payments, I've taken a bit of a hit with some payments that would have been due to me in April. Still, I will continue to apply this approach for the long term.

Interest: $15. Lower interest rates have hurt anyone relying on leaving money in the bank. I've taken a bit of a hit here but it's not where my focus is going to be. Still, I can't ignore it as an income element.

Ebooks: $2. Quiet. Amazon isn't working much for me. But I know that going into more trying times these books will help people (Beginner's Guide to Online Side Hustles, Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile, and Craft a Winning Resume).

Coaching: $0. No sessions.

Other: $75. I redeemed points from a couple of credit cards this month in the form of cashback and a supermarket voucher. Cash is cash. It all counts.

Total: $498. Not bad. I can certainly push on from here. That's my focus going forward. 

Income Report: July

Ok, so it's been a month of reconfiguring things and pushing on. I've given myself a 60-day challenge to try to make $50 from scratch on my revised website. It doesn't sound a lot but it's a lot more than any site I've had.

The blog I had set up on Godaddy wasn't working for me so I've made the jump to WordPress. It's a bit of hassle restarting it but it's a far better platform for me. It's also far better for monetizing.

So now I'm going to build as much momentum as possible on the new blog: Finance Jobs Hunt. I ended up getting a new domain name and changed the hosting platform. We'll see whether this has an impact.

At the end of the day, I need to keep working on different passive income streams to drive my futureproofing strategy.

So, how was the month?

Resume Writing: $229. I did a little bit this month but the next few months will see this go to close to zero. Too many things going on to commit too much time to this. Too much "trading time for money" to commit to at the moment.  

Additional Writing: $0.  Later this year I'll look for a few more gigs here, but it's not something to focus on just now.

Dividends: $83. Still ticking away. As per normal, I've bought some more stocks during the month that should throw off more in the way of dividends over coming years. I recommend The Snowball Effect: Using Dividends; Interest Reinvestment To Help You Retire On Time. It's one of the lower risk ways in which to build passive income.

eBooks: $4.  A quiet month for my books. But it's passive income, so can't complain (Beginner's Guide to Online Side Hustles, Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume).

Interest: $17.  

Vouchers: $0.  Didn't go hunting for cash this month

Other: $4. It's hardly going to change the trajectory of my finances, but I've signed up for doing surveys on UserCrowd. The company occasionally sends invites to my email inbox while I'm watching a bit of mindless TV. They only take a minute and are about $0.20 a time (so far), so it's no big deal either way.

Total: $337. Pretty low by my standards. That's mainly because I'm investing in passive income streams at the expense of active income areas. This is going to be a long, drawn-out turnaround. But I must stay on this passive income, non-work path. Our lives depend on it!

Income Report: June

Well, the slow walk to freedom continues.

Because I'm less keen on trading my time for money I've turned down few writing gigs. I'm not sure whether this is the way to go (maybe I should be keeping my eye in) but it's allowed me to work on my blog.

The trouble with my blog is that it's currently on Godaddy and I've decided that I need to transition it to WordPress. Better SEO, themes, plugins and so on.

But at least I got Finance Job Hunter up and running. Even if I have to transfer the hosting, I still have the content and the ideas to work with. I also signed up to Infolinks as a monetizing tool.

All of these ideas are all part of my goal of futureproofing my world, or at the very least being more prepared for what the external world throws at me.

So, how was the month?

Resume Writing: $0. Completely side-stepped my most consistent earner. I'll do one or two this month, and I need to keep the skills fresh for my bigger consulting business goal. But the trading time for money situation isn't ideal at the moment.

Additional Writing: $0.  Nothing here for me.

Dividends: $203. Still a fave approach for me and I continue to buy dividend-yielding exchange-traded funds to grow this passive income stream. If you want to better understand the principles, I recommend The Snowball Effect: Using Dividend & Interest Reinvestment To Help You Retire On Time. It's one of the lower risk ways in which to build passive income.

eBooks: $8.  Things have ticked up slightly, though some marketing would clearly be good for my portfolio (Beginner's Guide to Online Side Hustles, Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume).

Interest: $17. This is consistent, though if I worked my funds a bit better I'm sure I could improve this figure.

Vouchers: $127. This isn't something I've thought about counting in the past. However, I realized that I've effectively been converting credit card points into cash. The points are turned into supermarket vouchers with a cash value. So every time I convert some, I'll record them in this monthly data. It's money after all.

Other: $2. It's hardly going to change the trajectory of my finances, but I've signed up for doing surveys on UserCrowd. The company occasionally sends invites to my email inbox while I'm watching a bit of mindless TV. They only take a minute and are about $0.20 a time (so far), so it's no big deal either way.

Total: $357. We're not talking big numbers here. It's lower than most of my months. But it does make me conscious about the importance of finding ways to generate income and how I can add a few dollars here and there when I try.

Income Report: May

The long walk to FIRE continues...

Actually, I was into the idea of multiple streams of income a long time before FIRE became a more mainstream concept.

And as my blog comments have indicated over the last few years, it's a slow and steady process. That's code for: "it's tough".

Tough to execute, tough to stay motivated when you're in a full-time job that easily pays the bill. But I'm convinced that I need to remain on this course. We have no control over the bigger picture world of trade wars, recessions, The Man and job cuts. That's why I need to keep pushing. Control the controllable.

But I won't deny it's tough. When you see these guys online sipping pina coladas and hanging out on private yachts, ignore them. There's so much nonsense online. Liars, jokers and scam artists. And the select few that are making it big but distorting it for the rest of us.

Still, it's worth the effort. We should all be working towards some version of the above. That's my view.

I'm encouraged by the fact my site Finance Job Hunter is getting traction. It needs a bit of a tweak on design. I also need to get into the rhythm of writing blog posts. But I see loads of potential out there.

I'm continuing to work on myself and I know I'm getting into a better place mentally.

So how was last month?

Resume Writing: $145. I did a bit of work there. I don't want to be trading too much time for money here but it's good to have the cash.

Additional Writing: $0.  Nah, I haven't looked into anything here. If I do end up writing, it's got to be financially worth it.

Stock Dividends: $1,000.  This is a strategy that continues to work. With the cash from work and from my side hustles, I've continued to buy dividend stocks. There's never a consistent monthly figure. And I'm probably not doing it as effectively as possible. But this is a long-term approach that I like. This is a time-honored investment strategy that works.

Interest: $17. It ticks along but is never going to move the dial.

Ebooks: $2. Quite quiet at the moment, though I did make a sale on Kobo. Amazon isn't working right now so time to try some other platforms for my portfolio (Beginner's Guide to Online Side Hustles, Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume).

Coaching: $0. No sessions over the month. However, two people reached out to me on the coaching platform Noomii to find out about my services. I have a profile there but in order for me to connect with potential clients, it'll cost me $397. I'm not sure whether I can justify it just yet, given that I'm not in a position to work on too many clients. I'll have to have a think about how I want to take this forward.

Other: $0. Nothing doing here.

Total: $1164. It was all about the dividends really. It won't be like that every month but it's great to know that passive income is the main driver. Now time to take everything to the next level... 

Income Report: February

I just received a bonus. The first from a full-time role in many years.

It was far more than I made in an average month or two or three when I was working for myself. Great, right?

And yet it still left me with some weird mixed feelings.

I am grateful, truly grateful. But it's thrown me a little. I've been dabbling with the world of side hustles and working for myself for while, with the ultimate goal of not wanting to rely on a day job for my freedom.

But having been back in the world of the cubicle for about nine months, I've lost a bit of focus. There's less hunger. Less intensity. I've lost a bit of mojo.

My fundamental philosophy relates to not relying on "the Man", the government, anyone else. That requires being in a position to dictate personal and financial freedom. Working for myself kind of gave me that, limited as the income was.

Getting a regular income is great. I just have to make sure I don't get complacent and forget that I can't rely on a job. Things always change. The world of work will move on with or without me. That's why I know that I need to get back to building my side hustles, particularly as income generation has been pretty average in recent months.

One advance I did have this month was the building of my website (finally). Now I need to build up the blog and monetization strategy. Fundamentally, it's geared around what I've learned through my career coaching / resume writing side hustle, and focused on the finance industry (which is my background). So we'll see how my site Finance Job Hunter gets on. Slowly but surely.

And so to this last month:

Resume Writing: $71. I really didn't make much time for resume writing this month. I couldn't motivate myself, to be honest. The background work, the after-work calls, the re-writes. When I'm ready, I know the work is there. I just need to get psyched up and throw myself back into this.

Additional Writing: $0. I've had a few writing offers in recent months but none of them appealed. Too much time required for the money they were willing to pay. But I still want to have this as an income generator in the future. This isn't going to be about selling my soul to Freelancer or Upwork for less than I'm worth. No, I'm keeping in mind specialist content providers like Copylab that would pay pretty well.

Stock Dividends: $0. Ok, this approach does work. It's just that dividends don't get paid every month. I've bought some more stocks this month and plan to buy more with my bonus. As a result, I'll expect this figure to pick up a fair bit later this year.

Interest: $17. It doesn't look like interest rates will be rising fast anytime soon so I can't expect this to kick on. But it's there.

Ebooks: $0. Not a good month. The first month in a while I haven't sold any. I blame those damn Amazon algorithms. They keep changing.  Anyway, my books have been ticking over for a while now, making me a few dollars in the process, so I can have months like this once in a while. I am looking to add more ebooks to my existing collection (Beginner's Guide to Online Side Hustles, Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume).

Coaching: $0. No sessions over the month again.

Other: $0. Familiar pattern.

Total: $88. Well, that wasn't a great month was it? My lowest month on memory.

But that's fine. I'm all about the "slow and steady" approach. I'm convinced that once I get all my ducks in a row there will be a meaningful shift.

So, hopefully, I can build a bit of momentum with  Finance Job Hunter. I'll keep working on it and keep experimenting with my other income streams.

Income Report: November

I think a lot of people think that the push for financial freedom, "FIRE", or any version of the story, is something that can be achieved overnight. Clearly, that's not the case. It's a tough old grind, where you start in one direction before being shoved in another.

I might not have been focused all the time but I have tried to move in a positive direction. And I'm still a long way from where I want to be. Now that I have a full-time job, I don't have to chase short-term income to help pay the bills. I can build stuff. And that's really my focus now. This includes a new website and a new ebook. It's about playing the long game.

So while it wasn't a great month income-wise, I'm moving in a direction.

So how was November?

Resume Writing: $60. This is the lowest month I've had in a long time. Essentially, I wasn't able to make time for more work, even though there was plenty there. I did one LinkedIn gig and that was about it. I don't

Additional Writing: $116. I did a few of my consistent gig and that's great. I've also woken up to the fact that there's a hell of a lot of work out there that pays pretty well if I go out and look for it. It's not something I'm planning to do now but it's good to know.

Stock Dividends: $1297. This was my biggest earner this month. The long-term strategy remains in place - keep buying dividend yielding stocks and reinvest the dividends when I can. The payouts aren't going to be like this every month but it's nice when it does happen.

Interest: $20. I hadn't thought about adding this into the mix in a low-interest rate world. But now that rates are rising I'm making a few dollars on my cash holdings.

Ebooks: $2. I'm not sure what's happening with the algorithms on Amazon but my books haven't been seeing the traffic this month at all. In fact, had I not sold a book on the last day of the month it would have been my first month without a sale in over a year. My three books (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) are there and I'll be spending a bit of money in marketing them in the new year. In the meantime, I aim to finish writing another ebook before the end of year.

Coaching: $128. I did one session this week and so it's good to have that ticking over.

Other: $0. Nothing on the Amazon Merch and Amazon Affiliate Income front.

Total: $1623. A very good month, ultimately because of the dividend income. Without it, I would have made $326, which is a lot less than my normal underlying income. But money is money and it all counts.

December's going to be a low month and I'll be prepping for 2019. I need to think and act bigger.

Income Report: October

It wasn't a great month for me in terms of side income. I was out of town for a whole week for business (i.e. the day job) and wasn't able to push on with all my grand plans.

There is a bit of groundhog day with a lot of this and I know that if I don't get things sorted sooner rather than later the world of business interests might pass me by.

I want it to be a strong end to the year, but I vaguely remember saying that last year. I've reviewed what I do already but I'm really keen to push my passive income world to kick on.

Anyway, how was October?

Resume Writing: $637. I did a bit of work here for my consistent freelance work provider. But I also had a bite from a local customer wanting to know more about my service. If I don't win this job I really need to review my approach and pricing because I'm yet to get any work independently. Maybe it's my pricing, maybe it's fact that I'm looking to provide a streamed down version of my services.

Additional Writing: $0. I've been too distracted to do my usual career writing side gig. I've got a couple of commissions that I intend to do over the coming week, which should give me a bit of money for November.

Stock Dividends: $0. I continue to buy stocks that give me a bit of a dividend payout but I didn't receive any dividend payments over the month

Ebooks: $6. I've had my books listed on Amazon for some time now. My three books (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) are all ticking along. I saw a sale on Kobo and have added Barnes and Noble to the mix. It ticks over. That's all I have to say.

Coaching: $0. No coaching this month. I've got a session next week so that will reinvigorate this space.

Other: $0. Nothing on the Amazon Merch and Amazon Affiliate Income front.  Yes, dull, dull, dull

Total: $643. Better than last month but hardly pulling up trees, as I'd like to say. But as long as I start developing some of my long-term aspirations, I'll be happy.

Income Report: September

Not much to report this month, so I will keep it brief.

It was a period of trying hard to balance out my new job with my attempts to build my side hustle. Not easy at the moment.

I had a few disappointments on my business front. I didn't win the resume writing project with the local university that I mentioned before. Once again, I think I priced myself out of a deal. I was also approached for my pricing on resume writing and coaching but didn't hear back. I know I could / should chase but in reality I don't want to be building too much in the lower end "trading time for money" space.

So I really need to build out my online income. This will take time. In the meantime, I've got to stay focused and work towards the bigger picture.

So, how was September?

Resume Writing: $297. I did a few resumes this month. Cool. I've got some more work lined up next week. Slow and steady.

Additional Writing: $150. A bit more of my regular work here. Sweet.

Stock Dividends: $0. I continue to buy stocks that give me a bit of a dividend payout but I didn't receive any dividend payments over the month

Ebooks: $15. I've had my books listed on Amazon for some time now. My three books (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) are all ticking along. But what I'd forgotten about was that I also had a couple of these ebooks listed on Kobo as well. This also saw a few sales. Going forward, I think I need to get them onto more platforms.

Coaching: $0. No coaching this month. I haven't been marketing myself so it'll be easy come and go.

Other: $2. Nothing on the Amazon Merch and Amazon Affiliate Income front.  I made a couple of dollars on the UserCrowd testing site. I'll look into building on that in coming months.

Total: $464. Not a great month but that's that. For the next month, I'm going to be investing time in building longer-term income streams. Slowly but surely.

Income Report: August

The search for financial freedom continues...

I've been thinking long and hard about streamlining. Life. Income streams. Focus. I'm very good at getting scattered and distracted. That's why I've started to think about finding myself an operating system for existence - kind of like a template.

Some time ago I read about Brian Tracy's Grand SLAM formula, with 'SLAM' standing for Simplify, Leverage, Accelerate, Multiply. I'm trying to apply this across all areas of my life. I'll report back on what I've learned over coming months.

This was the first month I've been able to start to start back properly with my business interests since I started my new job. So far, so good.

The important thing is that I don't get complacent. Things change very fast in the world of finance, as a friend found out last week. He was called into his boss's office on the Friday and was let go on the Monday. That's what this is all about. Protecting myself as well as growing new opportunities.

I'm a big fan of the Get Rich Slowly website and there was a great article on what the writer calls the "forever fallacy" - the idea that whatever good (or bad) is going on in our lives will last forever. In other words, we should always be prepared for what may or may not be around the corner. That's what I have to keep in mind when I feel too lazy to work on my side business. Work towards "freedom" - monetary and freedom to make mistakes.

I've kept up with my reading (I mentioned Buy Buttons, the FIRE movement and Rich Dad, Poor Dad last time around), but it's really about giving this side hustle approach a go rather than just thinking about it.

So, I've continued to look for new opportunities. For example, I had the opportunity to pitch for another resume writing project with a local university, worth about $5,000. We'll see whether it comes off - I pitched for a similar gig a few months ago but didn't get it (I think I priced myself out). I've worked with them in the past so if it does come through I'm going to be very busy in my spare time during September / October.

So, how was August?

Resume Writing: $245. I'm now back to my consulting work with a resume writing company. I'm not able to do a lot just yet. But the goal is to do a few jobs a month and I'll take it from there.

Additional Writing: $180. My regular blog writing about careers continues. I've done an additional three articles that I haven't yet invoiced and this has been a pretty consistent one for me.

Stock Dividends: $182. I continue to buy stocks that give me a bit of a dividend payout. My strategy isn't the most refined (not very sophisticated screening approach) but I'm all about cash flow opportunities that I can reinvest. I'm a massive fan of dividends - it's about as passive a strategy as I have. If you're not familiar with it, Amazon is stocked up on decent books that can explain it, such as Dividends Still Don't Lie.

Ebooks: $9. I finally got around to getting someone (my sister) to write a review on an ebook. I've always known that social proof is a big reason why people buy goods and services. And it seems to have worked a bit. My three books (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) are all ticking along. It's something to build on.

Coaching: $127. I managed to do a coaching session this month with an old client of mine. I reckon I probably won't do more than one each month, if that. But it's an income stream that is aligned with the suite of products/services I want to offer.

Other: $0. I've decided to group Amazon Merch, Amazon Affiliate Income and all other bits and bobs under "Other". It's not as if I have a lot going on in this space at the moment.

Total: $743. That's reasonable. I know that I've already got a writing invoice to put in and I could also win the resume writing gig as well. Not bad at the moment. I just need to keep on top of my work now...

Onwards and upwards!

Income Report: July

July didn't happen. At least not from my business building / financial freedom perspective. Starting a new job has certainly drained a bit of the time / money / energy that I always thought I had in spades. But that's not to say I can't get back on track.

It's all about discipline. It's the kind of thing I've talked about in the past but now it's more important than ever. Focus, application, discipline. 

To be fair, I did take a one week break. Returning to my home city to catch up with friends, family and old work colleagues meant that the push for financial freedom was the last thing on my mind.

Well, that's actually not true. A few short chats with my disgruntled, frustrated and tired crowd simply reinforced the need to take control. To create a life that works for me and my family.

I've thought a lot about "purpose". It's that fuzzy, catchall term that gurus tell us that everyone is meant to have to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life. I thought mine was going to be based purely on financial freedom. That's what this is all about, after all. Isn't it?

As it turns out, I'm finding that for me it's about a broader sense of freedom. Free to make mistakes, free to be happy, free to be sad, free to live a life that works for me at any one time. It's about being comfortable with whatever life throws at me. I've been reading up on spirituality as much as I have on business and finance. So for me, it's about getting more connected with myself. Anyway, I digress.

This financial freedom game is not going to be easy. Hell, I've been playing at this for a few years and am only now finding a bit of direction. But if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

So what did I learn this month? One thing is that we can't do it all by ourselves. I've been a long-term follower of the Side Hustle Nation podcast hosted by Nick Loper and have got plenty of value in his recent book Buy Buttons. Definitely, worth checking out if you're new to this game.

I've also recently discovered the FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early) movement. Ironically, I was already in that space I guess, ever since buying into the Robert Kiyosaki world of Rich Dad, Poor Dad many years ago. Anyway, having joined the "Choose FI" Facebook group I realise there are thousands of like-minded people out there. Joining the group has definitely given me a new spring in my step. I wish I'd been engaged with them earlier.

Not that I actually achieved much financially this month but I still have to note down the situation for consistency:

Resume Writing: $0. I've taken a bit of a break from this but will be kick-starting this later in August. I've already got three jobs lined up. I did pitch for a one-off contract with a university that would have been worth a few thousand dollars but I think I priced myself out - I worked for them last year and they clearly found a cheaper alternative.

Additional Writing: $287. My regular blog writing about careers continues. I've also got three articles lined up for this month.

Stock Dividends: $260. My dividend yield strategy is still working out well. I just need to keep on reinvesting my earnings into investments, preferably high dividend yield stocks to benefit from the cash flow. Because of my background in finance I was always going to play this as a key approach, using scrip dividends and compounding to build income slowly but surely. If you're not familiar with the approach, Amazon is stocked up on decent books that can explain the approach, such as Dividends Still Don't Lie.

Ebooks: $2. So my three books (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies, The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) aren't jumping off the shelves. But I was reminded of the power of social media by a 16-year old on the plane last week. Let's see where I can go with this.

Coaching: $0. No coaching during the month. However, an old client wants to do a session soon so that should make me a few dollars in August.

Amazon Merch: $0. No, this is a slow one...

Amazon Affiliate Income: $0. No, this is a slow one as well...

Total: $547. I'm happy enough with that. I now have a full-time job to navigate so I was never going to get the big numbers.

I have a bit of a pipeline and things are looking ok. August's numbers will be better. My near-term goal is to cover my basic living expenses excluding my rent. I think I should be on course for that.

Income Report: May

This is the last month for this income report in its current format. The reason? I've got myself a job. Back to the grindstone and all that.

But it's not the end of my money making ideals. Now my goal is to work towards replacing my full-time income. Or at least create income streams that allow me to have a sustainable portfolio career that gives me choices. Because that's what my version of financial freedom is about. Choices.

So there will be some changes to how my income streams look. Some elements may fall by the wayside to some extent, including my resume writing. Others, such as my coaching work, will from next month get added. I had originally framed this income report exercise as being about online income, which is why the coaching wasn't really mentioned. But now it's really about me growing my portfolio of hustles in general.

I still see plenty of value in this exercise - possibly even more than before. It's all about being able to make money without having to rely on a boss, company, government, etc. So if I ever get the "Thank you for all your efforts, but..." conversation, I'll be suitably in control of my future.

And that's the irony of getting back onto the hamster wheel of work. I'm more focused on using my free time wisely and know it's time to revisit the ton of income-generating resources I have collected.

As I've mentioned before I'm a massive fan of the Side Hustle Nation podcast hosted by Nick Loper and found great value in his recent book Buy Buttons. Definitely, worth checking out if you're new to this game - or even if you're not new but have got a little stale (like me). Going forward, I'm certainly going to be anchoring some of my approach to ideas from here.

Anyway, how have things stacked up?

Resume Writing: $2,346. This has been my best month income-wise for resume writing, which is ironic given that I'm going to have to drop a lot of it. This has been a major income provider for me in recent years, both in terms of directly consulting for one specific firm but also the spin-off work that I've benefited from (see below). It has served me well and I'm keen to keep this as part of my income arsenal.

Conference Project: $3,500. I mentioned before that one-off projects count if they are related to my online businesses. Well, this one related to my resume writing again. It involved working for three-and-a-half days at a finance industry conference and paid pretty well. Actually, very well as far as I'm concerned. Unless it takes place on a weekend, this type of gig will disappear now that I'm going full time. But at least I know my capabilities and can use it in the future.

Additional Writing: $130. My regular blog writing about careers continues. It doesn't especially pay that well ($0.07/word - and I miscalculated on my invoice so undercharged) but it's great branding for me and my career-related services.

Stock Dividends: $108. One strategy I will continue to build upon is my dividend yield strategy. This is about buying high dividend yield stocks to benefit from the cash flow. I'm not being as diligent as I should be. That is, I could be screening the stocks far better than I am. But so far it's worked out fine and I keep reinvesting the cash so as to buy more stocks.

Ebooks: $6. I started the month pretty strongly in that I sold three books in the first week ("pretty strongly" in my world anyway...). It was only the first proper month of my third book (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies) to add to (The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume). I know that I need to market them but I simply haven't made the time. My hope is that seasonally the summer months are a good time for job hunting books, with all those graduates looking for roles all at the same time.

Amazon Merch: $0. It's not really happening at the moment. I'll still keep plugging away.

Amazon Affiliate Income: $0.04. I've finally made some affiliate income! I know this is an area I must build upon. This is the classic passive income stream. It's not really anything to write home about but I've brought some pennies in. If I can do that then I'm pretty sure I can do a lot more.

Total: $6,090. (my best month and well ahead of my $2,000 monthly target. Even if I stripped out my one-off gig, it still came to $2,590 so I'm happy).

Looking ahead

Before I look ahead, I think I should at least celebrate how far I've come to achieve my best income month. A lot of my efforts came out of necessity as I tried to find my footing "between jobs". But I've always put it in the bigger picture context of financial freedom.

My very first income report was for May 2016. So I've had two years to look at my progress.

I achieved the princely sum of $974.50 that month, of which $800 was resume-related. In May 2017, I made $1,489, with $1,353 from resumes. Yet my resume income alone for May 2018 almost matched my entire income for May 2016 and May 2017 combined.

The bottom line is, I've tried to consistently work towards building income streams. It hasn't been easy or straightforward. But I've seen some progress. And if I can do it, anyway can do it.

And so to now. It may take a week a two to sort out the new rhythm of work, but I'm going to push ahead with my portfolio career efforts.

One of my first tasks is to do a proper inventory of all my hustle interests to see whether they are worth the effort. I need to look at my ROE (return on energy, in this case) and make some hard choices. It also means putting in more efficient processes.

The goal is to still build passive income streams. They tend to require more effort and/or money upfront than the traditional "selling your time for money" approach, with the expectation that they'll pay in the long run and you'll be sipping pina coladas on a beach before you know it...The good thing about having the job in the background is that it gives me the money buffer to help with this, even if it takes away the time.

So I think I'll take a piecemeal approach this month and target a couple of websites I own to see whether I can properly monetize through Google Adsense.  That will probably require some blogging and such. I may also market the ebooks - but I've got to work out whether the effort is worth the return.

Regardless, I'm certainly going to see what I can get out of Buy Buttons - so much to learn from this book.

It's all change but fundamentally it will all stay the same...a portfolio career.

Income Report: April

I was hoping to report that I had got myself a new job. Well, not quite. Yet. I have loosely been offered in verbal form but I'm not going to get too excited until I've signed something on the dotted line.

The problem has been that I've been holding back on marketing certain coaching and consulting services locally to make sure I don't disappoint clients somewhere along the line. I've also not pushed on with creating products as well.

In reality, I should be focusing more on the products side, as the goal would be to sell my expertise online while doing my day job. Time to act more strategically.

I'm pretty sure I'll hear something this month on the job front, but until then I'm going to keep playing with my ventures.

So let's look at the income front:

Resume writing: $1,837. This will be the first victim of a new job. I won't give it up entirely, as I still believe that we all have to have multiple streams of income in this new world. But I won't have the time to invest in writing on a regular basis.

Writing: $130. I've got a regular writing gig related to career guidance. I haven't yet billed for the work, as I haven't actually written the two pieces yet. But my estimate should be about right.

Dividends: $760. This is something I'm increasingly keen to build out, as it's a passive income stream that I like. It's not without risk as I need to develop a screening process to select the right stocks. But it's part of my long-term focus. I managed to buy a few more stocks with a good dividend during the month and I was very happy to benefit from a few dividends and special dividend payments.

eBooks: $2. I managed to launch my third book (Cryptocurrency Job Hunting for Non-Techies) to add to (The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume). I always sell at least one or two a month. It's not a lot but it is passive. I know that I haven't marketed them at all so it's no surprise that I haven't been pulling in big numbers. Going into the summer months I'll certainly be pushing the books to a graduate audience. Last summer was certainly me most profitable period for my books so will hope to build on that.

Amazon Merch: $0.09. Well, it is passive income...But it's not one that is kicking into high gear just yet. That's partly down to me. I've been focusing my energies on what I see as areas that will give me a better return on my time and money. I'll try to put a few hours aside to develop some new designs and see where this thing takes me. Importantly, it fits into my passive income mindset.

Total: $2,729 (better than my $1,800-$2,000 minimum target)

Looking ahead
It's really dependent on my work situation essentially. I need to keep working on the online course I've started on. Hopefully, I can get that out before the end of the summer.

I also have to see what I can get out of Buy Buttons. So much potential there.

Income Report: March

One of the positives of working for yourself is that you don't have someone standing over you hurrying you along.

But one of the negatives of working for yourself is that you don't have someone standing over you hurrying you along...

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. I realized he didn't actually appreciate the ins and outs of my portfolio career approach to life, aside from the observation, "you must have a lot of time on your hands". The fact that I work every day in one shape or form is almost irrelevant. My world isn't as easily translatable to his corporate world.

That said, he did say something that really struck me. "If you had done ABC (fill in with whatever action) during all that time you've been away from your corporate role, you could have been XYZ (fill in with whatever blue sky result)."

Obviously, the world doesn't operate in such linear terms and 20/20 hindsight is beautiful. But I must admit he did have a point. Because I was operating in my easy-going, "let's see what happens world", I haven't actually pushed on where obstacles and pain were there in front of me. It's very easy to hide when you're working for yourself. In other words, the lack of accountability has hurt.

My goal for this next quarter is to really smack a few things into place. I'm a massive fan of the Side Hustle Nation podcast hosted by Nick Loper and I bought his recent book Buy Buttons. It was a revelation! I've been dipping my toe into side hustles and the gig economy for some time but I honestly had no clue about how many ways you could make money. It's inspired me to have a look at what else I can build. I'd recommend having a read of his book if you're looking at developing side income streams.

One thing that most definitely will define my world in the near term is the possibility of a corporate role. Just because I have this portfolio career approach, it doesn't mean I won't dip in and out of the corporate world. If I get the role, things will have to change. If I don't get the role, I'll push on with several initiatives I've been holding back on and things will have to change...

Resume Writing: $1,318. Steady as she goes. But my goal is to become far less reliant on contracting via one firm so I'm not too disappointed as this figure starts to dip.

Additional Writing: $468: Not bad. I managed to do follow-up work for two recent gigs, plus I've also done some resume work separate to the contracted work I do. The reason I group it here is because it's from a separate source and the overall goal is to diversify my sources of income.

Amazon Merch: $0.09. Yes, I'm off the mark! Ok, I only sold one but it's a start. I've got some pretty cool, professionally designed T-shirts ready for purchase (Dog T-Shirt; Cool Dog; Pitbull). Time to push on more.

eBook: $6.50. This is still ticking over and I made a similar amount to last month, split between a sale on Kobo and the rest on Amazon. I don't really do any marketing but it's good that it's still working (The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume). I've also now signed up to E-Junkie as well. My next book will launch in April (I had hoped for March but life happened and that has changed) and I have high hopes that it is a topical angle on the job-hunting space.

Total: $1,792.59

This is ok, and it's not my only income stream thankfully, but it's a bit below what I now want to be the minimum here ($1,800 - $2,000) and below three of the last four months.

Looking ahead

The corporate job dynamic has been hanging around for a long time and it should be resolved within weeks. That will shape my next moves.

In the meantime, I've got to get my book out, start writing my course and see what I can get out of Buy Buttons. There are so many ways to make money out there.

Income Report: December

As 2017 draws to an end, I guess it's time to have a little review of where I am now.

It took me a while to start getting a bit serious about all of this online income / passive income / enterprise thinking, and I'm nowhere near where I want to be. But I've worked a lot on my mindset in recent months and I'm convinced that 2018 will build upon the momentum I've been seeing in recent months.

I'm gradually building up structures and disciplines that should put me in better stead for the next 12 months. One of the reasons why I struggled at times this year was that I didn't have clear enough goals to target and didn't have any metrics to measure how well or not I was doing. That's going to change.

I'm also going to keep my main focus on two areas: career and finance. Those are going to be the core of all my income streams. That way I won't be too distracted by shiny objects that cross my path. It will also allow me to repurpose content and work done in different areas. I have a few random connected domains that I hope to monetize, while I also need to build on my relationships and ideas in different ways. Go where the money is and use what you know what works - that's my plan.

December was an incredibly short month for me as I effectively took off the last two weeks. As a result, there's very little to speak about in relation to my income streams:

Resume Writing: About $400. Did very little but that was to be expected. I'm angling at $1,200/month for this. That's a lot less than most of my months but that's because I want to re-direct my efforts elsewhere with a passive and online income bias.

Ebooks: $16. Pleasantly surprised that I sold eight over the month (not amazing but one of my best months, and reflective of both books being purchased - The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume). In keeping with my idea of repurposing and going where the money is, I'm starting to write a new book talking about cryptocurrency. My goal is to get $20/week via my ebooks in 2018. That's a stretch at the moment but that's exactly what I need.

Writing: $0. This was a disappointing area for me this year. I had a few bites but didn't have the consistency. In 2018, my writing is going to be heavily focused on finance writing. By focusing on this niche I won't waste time on areas that I can't build as part of my brand.

Projects: $0. I had two good projects this year and the goal is to find similar types of deals. I realize that working with organizations, while more hassle, are far more profitable and better for my development. It means that I need to tighten up my propositions but I'm excited about what I might be able to bring to the market.

Total: $416. A non-month but directionally I'm heading in the right direction. Slowly but surely...

Income Report: November

It's as if the scales have fallen from my eyes. Well, at least a bit anyway.

For months I've been playing at my income generation world. There's nothing wrong with taking a step backwards to go one to two steps forward. The trouble is I seem to have been going one step back, then one forward, then one back...Looking back at old blog posts this all became clear.

But I've noticed in the last few months that I've started to wake up. Baby steps, perhaps. But woken up nonetheless.

I had an interesting chat with a guy a few weeks back, who initially was a potential client but actually turned out to be simply a font of knowledge. One concept he talked about was the idea of what he called the "Strategy-Tactical-Execution" pyramid. At the very top is Strategy. This is our big long-term goal, whether that's for a career, for building a business or creating a life. The Tactical stage below that is all about doing things that support your Strategy. For example, taking a new qualification or building new business relationships are ways in which you can better position yourself for being a success at the Strategy stage.

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The trouble is a lot of us tend to get caught up in the same old, same old because it serves a purpose (e.g. gives us cash) but doesn't actually move us forward towards a greater goal. That is the Execution stage. That is the level that isn't necessarily taking us forward, beyond giving us cash, something to do, putting food on the table and so on. It's obviously a necessary step, and sometimes it feels quite substantial. But in order to get ahead, we simply have to learn how to move up the pyramid.

And that's what I'm focusing on more. The Execution level is something I've been stuck in for too long. Low level, easy cash but a "no progress" level of existence. This month, however, I've (hopefully) started to think differently. I'm back on the mindset of building stuff.

I had a windfall of a gig that I hadn't been expecting. It was similar to the consulting role I had in the summer helping out a university with resumes for its MBA program. (Not "online" in any way shape or form but I still want to highlight it because it came out of online roots). The added dynamic to it is I had to do a mini-workshop/talk.

Now, I have never seen myself as a public speaker but in the space of one month, I have done two talks - one for a university, one for a women's forum.  Both tested me and both opened my eyes up to possibilities. I also managed to get a new coaching client as a result of the forum talk as well. I've been resisting a lot over the past year and I realized it was time I woke up to this fact and took a stand.

Time to stop playing at being an entrepreneur or self-employed or freelance or whatever moniker comes to mind. Time to see how far it can take me. Things will be very slow. No doubt. But it's time to stop the excuses and get on with it!

So, how was this month?

Resume Writing: $1460. This is always an interesting one. It's a staple that has been very consistent over the last year. But in many ways it's got "Execution" tendencies. I'm trading time for money, it's got little in the way of "Tactical" qualities (beyond giving me the skills to write my ebooks and giving me deeper insight into the banking industry), and it's certainly not something I plan on doing forever. I'm not going to get rid of it just yet but I would be disappointed if I read this in a year's time and it's still making up such a large percentage of my "hustle" income.

Project: $3840. I know, I know, this is a one-off. But it's the second one-off of its ilk and was, in fact, a direct result of working with someone at the previous university. These nice bonus payments won't be a monthly occurrence, but if I play my cards right I could find myself with a few more of these with other institutions in 2018.

eBooks: $2. I've got two books out there (The Simple Guide to a Winning LinkedIn Profile and Craft a Winning Resume) but I haven't consciously marketed them in recent months so traction has been limited. The algorithm that had worked quite well for me months ago isn't playing ball any longer. But because I've got these two products primed, I need to move beyond Amazon and think about also marketing them elsewhere. That's my target in January.

Writing: $120. I haven't actually collected the money yet, and I'm still waiting for the pieces to be accepted, but I'm pretty sure my two blog posts to be used on a careers site should be fine. This was another opportunity I saw available, having looked around my local Facebook forums and followed it through. I think there's scope for more there as well. And it's a great way for me to also promote my services as well.

Dividend: $70 (can't exactly remember but it was something like that). I haven't spent enough time looking at my investments and I do plan to start trading more actively as an additional hustle (my background is in investments, though I am pretty rusty). Still, my dividend approach is still something that appeals, and with each dividend I receive, I simply reinvest it in the same stock.

Total: $5492. Thanks to the project, this was one of my best months this year. I'm not going to pretend that this will be the norm, unless I consistently get awarded bonus projects. But it's certainly a pointer in the right direction.

Other projects I've looked at have included:

Zazzle: This is the second year running I'm going to try to take advantage of the Christmas season and sell some products. Last year I achieved zilch. This year, zero. But at least I'm giving it a go.

Domains: I bought some domains a couple of years ago and haven't used them at all. I don't want to flip them, as I do see some value in their names. I reached out to another Facebook forum for ideas and someone suggested using them for affiliate marketing. To do that I would need to build some websites, or pay someone to do it for me.

And then I have a eureka moment. I already have a website sitting there, doing very little, with a few half-hearted blog posts. Why don't I turn that into an affiliate site in the meantime? Far less time, money and effort required than the other sites and it's an asset that's being wasted doing nothing. I only came up with this idea today so it's still fresh. But my goal is to gradually optimize it over the next month just in time for those "get a new job" new year resolutions (it's a resume writing site).

Overall
So that's it for now. December will be quiet as I'm essentially switching off mid-month and taking a three-week break. I may do another entry towards year end with a forward-looking bias.

Either way, November was good and certainly on the right path. It wasn't just transactional execution. There were signs of some potential long term.

Income Report: October

You can only fool yourself so much.

Over the last month or so I've been detoxing. It's an exercise I started about 10 years ago - twice a year, three to four weeks at a time. Initially, it was all about the food, the drink, the cigarettes, the really not very lifestyle I was living. It was about cutting out dairy, meat, alcohol, certain sugars and so on. It was about getting in tune with fruit and veg. Every time I've done it, my body has felt better for it.

In more recent years, I've expanded my interpretation of detox to include cutting back on Facebook, doing more meditation and focusing on my mental/emotional/spiritual health. It's never meant to be perfect or about living a life as a monk. I probably could have done a bit more exercise this time as well. But one thing's certain, it sure as hell gave me a bit more clarity this time around.

You see, I'm very good at "playing" at stuff. It's all about tinkering at the edges rather than getting stuck in. The trouble with that is, I've kind of been fooling myself. I haven't pushed on with much of what I've talked about in previous blog posts and have kept on spinning the plates, hoping that some great masterplan would fall into place.

Well, this month has given me more headspace to observe what I've been doing. And some of it needs to change - and some of it has already started to change.

Firstly, I've been talking about finishing an ebook since August. Well, not only did I finish it, I got it edited, formatted and got myself a brand spanking cover (check out my ebook on how to write a LinkedIn profile). I realised that I've talked about passive income for a long time and yet I haven't committed time to building the assets. My goal is to make sure that changes. 

For one thing, I am now juggling the creation of two more ebooks, one of which I want to convert into an Udemy course by the beginning of next year.  I also noticed that my Zazzle account hasn't brought me any joy but I'm going to promote my wares in the run up to Christmas, simply using designs that I didn't market last year. 

I also thought it was time to have a look at my Google Adsense account. I've got a few websites but I never found the time or energy to see whether I could make any money out of them. I finally sorted out linking an account this week and earned a grand total of about $0.15 in a week. That may not sound like much but given that the account had been close to dormant for a couple of years, that's progress!

And I've also pitched for two writing gigs - one would be great for branding, the other pretty good on the cash flow front. We'll see what happens but it's time to focus (again) on diversifying my writing income.

On a separate tact, I also accepted an offer for at least one speaking engagement, maybe two. It's unpaid but it will get me great exposure. I keep telling myself how much I hate public speaking (though probably don't) but it's exactly the thing I need to do to get me out of my inertia and stupor.

Completely detached from this, but still in the passive income space, is something that has been lingering for a while - "scrip dividends". These are essentially where you reinvest the proceeds of a dividend back into the stock that you are holding. The rationale behind this is that research has shown that your returns based on dividends being reinvested tend to far outstrip the returns you make when you take the dividend in cash. Even though I've known this principle for years, it was always "too much hassle" or "I don't know where to go to find out" type of thinking by me. But with the clarity that a financial freedom goal should inspire, I got it sorted. 

Will this momentum last? Probably not. But a ball in motion stays in motion. So my hope is that I keep genuinely and honestly chipping away in a way that I can actually see tangible advancement when I  look back in six months time.

Resume Writing: $2,080. Not a bad month in terms of the numbers. I also switched from PayPal to request getting paid into my international bank account. I had thought that my original approach made sense, but having done the sums I noticed that PayPal really does take a fair bite out of my income. That and the currency conversion. The new approach will hopefully save me a little bit here and there.

eBooks: $4. A fairly quiet month and probably reflective of the fact that I haven't marketed my earlier book on resume writing or my new book on LinkedIn profiles. I want to put the marketing on autopilot, but for now the books are out there and time to write some more.

Dividends: $103. Even though I've signed up for the dividend reinvestment process for one stock, a couple of dividends slipped through the net and went straight into my account. That's fine by me, and a sure sign that my passive income strategy actually exists.

Google Adsense: $0.15. Yes, it's as good as nothing but it's the first money I've earned this way so I'm going to shout it from the rooftop!

Prolific Academic: $0. I haven't touched it for a while but no doubt there are still a few dollars here or there to take advantage of.

Total: $2,187.15

Not bad. One of my best months for these hustles I think. December is definitely going to suck so I better get my head down and make November look good!

Income Report: September

September didn't quite go as planned. But working for yourself doesn't really do linear performance.

The one thing I'm most disappointed with is the fact I haven't completed my second eBook. It's not as if I actually have much to write. It's simply that I haven't closed out my own proofing process, prior to sending it onto a professional to do a better job on it.

That said, I was inspired to start writing my third eBook (yep, I do have a habit of jumping from one shiny object to the next). So I'm about a quarter of my way through book #3. I' m still keep to build momentum in this area, though sales in September were pretty poor again. Time to find more ways to do free marketing.

My standard resume writing gig kicked back in and was probably back to average levels, after last month's lull. But I'm also looking to build opportunities with organisations rather than individual resume writing opportunities. I realised this when a private client and myself decided to part ways - he wanted a lot of changes to the work I had done, and I couldn't see the economic rationale for spending all this time on one individual. I learned that the decent sized one-off contract from during the summer was exactly what I should be seeking more of.

I'm now in my "detox" period. What started out as a nutritional overhaul twice a year, has now turned into a more holistic purge across my life. That includes a massive re-evaluation of my online/offline income streams - what I'm working on, what my ROI looks like for everything I'm doing, how to squeeze more time and money out of my current situation. As I've suggested before, I need to tighten up my measuring capabilities. I would like to think that when I do this review next month I would have at least moved the needle a little bit. But I seem to say that most months....

In the meantime, I need to work on Christmas income opportunities online (I think I may struggle to get much done from a Halloween perspective), and simply keep refining my business model and number of viable income streams.

A snapshot for the month:

Resume Writing: $1,360
Dividends: $0
eBook sales: $4 - Well, it's still selling (Craft a Winning Resume ) but now is time to really step up, look at online courses and all other kinds of opportunities.

Prolific Academic: $0

Total: $1,364 - Nothing major to write home about, but it's still ticking along. 

Income Report: August

So August was a bit of an odd one. I've been busy. Too busy with non-work related stuff. And quite frankly it was summer so I didn't expect much

I guess the main thing to come out of it all was the completion (well, almost) of one-off sizable contract. I wouldn't say that it was overtly exciting or something I aspire to do a lot of. But as writing gigs go it was pretty damn fine!

My standard resume writing gig has very much been on the back burner and I would guess that I probably only made about half of the previous month's return. But the important thing is that I'm finding new ways to diversify my income. And it's a hybrid online / offline approach. I'm finding new ways in which to take this whole thing seriously.

I still must, must, must get my second eBook out. I really have no excuse now. But I'm reasonably happy with the momentum I've seen in my first. I've sold some and in fact more than the previous month, so I must be doing something right.

I've already started thinking about Christmas and how I should be looking to monetize online. I remember saying the exact same thing a year ago, but now I have a far better sense of what I can work on. Watch this space.

So I still need to keep testing what works and measure the effectiveness. But my next focus is to get my next eBook out in September but it's all looking very encouraging ahead of my next book launch, which is planned for August. And then there's my finance jobs site.

A snapshot for the month:

Resume Writing: $500 (early guesstimate). Probably something like that. Don't really know.
"One-off gig": $5,200. Yep, a bit of a windfall gig working with a university. If I can work out ways to extend my relationship with them then who knows what's possible.
Dividends: $0
eBook sales: $6 - Disappointing that I didn't beat my previous month's figure, but at least it's still selling and there are plenty of spin off ideas to consider for the book (Craft a Winning Resume ).

Prolific Academic: $7

Total: $5,713 - Yep, it's incredibly distorted by the gig I did for the university (and nothing like any of my previous months), but now I know I can get that kind of project, why shouldn't I look for more?