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!