Thank you for reading this article, which comes to you originally from Personal Profitability.

Hey there Profiteers! I hope your holiday season is off to a great start. Here in California, I had family visit from out of town, enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm getting ready for a big trip to Israel in December! But today, we're looking back at October to see how this near-record month came together.

What's the deal with these income reports?

Money is a big taboo for many people, which means we rarely talk about things like our savings, investments, and how much we earn from side hustles and projects. One of my biggest goals at this site is to help you reach your financial dreams, and I believe that being open and transparent with my successes – and failures – can help you learn to build your own side hustle and full-time income streams.

Since 2012, I have reported my online and side hustle income on this website every single month! Check out my online income tracker and click through to the monthly updates to see a breakdown every month from $739 online in January 2012 to my first $10,000+ month in October 2016 to my current six-figure income, which I earn from the comfort of my home office. Only eight years of hard work and I was an overnight success! But using what I learned the hard way, I hope to help you do the same far faster.

This blog started as a little side hustle project back in 2008, and it completely changed my life! Thanks to my online business that started right here, I now make more money than ever before, work fewer hours, have full control over my schedule, and love my entrepreneur lifestyle. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, follow along with my income reports each month, along with my free Personal Profitability Bootcamp, subscribe for free to the podcast in your favorite podcasting app, subscribe (and click the bell) to catch weekly videos on YouTube, and grab some other goodies along the way.

In-depth guides for new readers:

• Complete Beginner Guide to Budgeting
• Complete Beginner Guide to Credit
• Complete Beginner Guide to the Stock Market
• Complete Beginner Guide to Freelancing
• Complete Beginner Guide to Travel Hacking
• 137 Side Hustle Ideas

Update from Profitability HQ

Freelance writing started as a little side hustle, but has certainly become the “job” that supports everything else I'm working on these days. However, it's a job I love and, unlike my old day job in a cubicle, gives me the freedom to work on airplanes and in coffee shops on the schedule I choose.

Interestingly, I find that I usually do stick to a roughly 8am to 5pm work schedule on weekdays, with email check-ins and lighter work outside of those hours. Like any job path, I often dive in and work on a project when a deadline is near on a weekend, but I try to keep those hours for family time.

Even with a lot of travel and some days off lately, moving from lower paying articles from some older clients into higher paying projects, even with less predictable income overall, led my total income to record highs in September and October.

Freelancing – Freelancing is a time for money business, so getting into the six-figure income tier requires working with only high-quality clients and providing high-quality results. Over the last few months, I have seen bigger income from projects with large financial companies. I've put in big hours, but the results are clear in the income report details below.

Mastermind Hunt – Mastermind Hunt is now into the hundreds of signups! I'm so excited to see the wind filling the sails here. Mastermind groups come together regularly! Join with the code “profits” for your first month free. Mastermind Hunt can help you form a small support group to improve your finances, side hustle, or entrepreneurial project. Check it out to learn more.

Community Sharer – This app, which I'm building myself with outsourced developers, is working so well that I'm using it for some of my own Twitter posts right now. Anywhere I have my own dedicated page with a feed of my posts, I have them automatically share when published. I'm also using the app to build out sharing automation for Mastermind Hunt. Right now, I'm in the midst of working with Facebook to get approved for posts there. After that, Pinterest! If you want to automate your online community or article sharing, check it out!

Just funded the #HSA for the year. $6,900 family limit for 2018. That a $1,518 tax savings for 2018, and no taxes on withdrawals. Best #tax-advantaged account there is! pic.twitter.com/nEuCsdaSqA

— Eric Rosenberg (@EricProfits) November 14, 2018

Side Hustle and Online Income Report

Welcome to my 82nd monthly income report! You can view income reports starting in to 2012 here. I'm ten for ten so far this year hitting my $10,000+ per month revenue goal and might even reach my increased $10,000+ monthly profit goal. We're coming down to the end for this year, so let's see how the start of Q4 took shape.

October 2018 RESULTS

REVENUE

Personal Profitability Income – Advertising

• Affiliate Marketing – $9
• Click advertising – $0
• Direct Ad Placements – $0

Freelance Income and Services

• Consulting / Coaching – $0
• Live events – $0
• Speaking fees – $125
• Website support – $1,000
• Writing Services – $16,398

Side Hustles

• Product Sales – $0
• Flipping – $0
• Premium Plugins – $0

Gross Profit – $17,532

EXPENSES (Does Not Include My Paychecks, Taxes, or Health Insurance)

• Advertising and Promotion – $106
• Bank Charges and Payment Fees – $17
• Business Licenses and Permits – $0
• Computer and Internet Expense – $1,276
• Conference Fees – $211
• Dues and Subscriptions – $0
• Meals & Entertainment – $66
• SG&A – $0
• Outsourced Labor – $1,273
• Partnerships – $0
• Postage & Shipping – $0
• Professional Services – $0
• Telecom Expense – $106
• Travel – $1,301
• Total Expenses – $4,356

Total Revenue $17,532, Total Expenses $4,356, Profit Before Tax $13,176

Financial Planning and Analysis

My daughter got mad I didn't put on kids music. She yelled "ok Google, put on the it's bitsy spider song." She just turned 3.

It has begun.#parenting

— Eric Rosenberg (@EricProfits) November 11, 2018

As I alluded to above, service businesses don't scale well. To make up for that challenge, it is important to work with the best clients that have budgets aligning with the value I can provide. I never take a project that pays per hour. If the last two months are an indication, that strategy is certainly paying off!

But at the same time, I've also seen a few long-term, lower paying clients fall away over the last few months. That is also a big reminder that freelance work comes and goes, and I'm working on a refresh to pump some new life into an old idea. Email subscribers will find out what I have in store before anyone else, so make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out!

Until next time, stay profitable.

The post October 2018 Online and Side Hustle Income Report appeared first on Personal Profitability.