Don't Be Afraid to Talk Money, Part 3: Know Your Daily Nut

Welcome back to the Blogathon! We're back to talking about money. On Friday, I posted about the importance of knowing what a market pays before you write for it; yesterday I described four ways to determine your hourly rate. 

There's another figure you should have in mind as well, especially if you're writing with an end goal of making money (and if you're reading this blog, I assume that's the case!). It's what I call your daily nut, or the amount you have to make to reach your annual income goal. 

To determine your daily nut, you do two things: number one, determine what you want to make this year. Then divide that number by the days you'll work this year; the result is your daily nut. 

Here's an example. Let's say your income goal is $60,000 this year (that in fact is my goal this year, working about 15 hours/week). And let's say that you're planning to work 240 days out of the year. That's Mondays through Fridays, with four weeks off for holidays and vacations.

Grossing $60,000 a year comes to $5000 a month, or $250 a day. So your daily nut is $250. If you want to make $30,000, your daily nut is $125. And if you're shooting for six figures, your daily nut is $450. 

Every day, you should average your daily nut, or you won’t hit your financial goal at year's end. So, a content marketing assignment that pays $1,000 should take you about four days' worth of work. A book proposal that pays $4500 should take about 18 days' worth of work, total. Of course, not every project will work out exactly like this--some will take more time, some will take less. The idea, though, is that you average a certain amount each day.

Readers, your assignment: determine your daily nut. 

**As always, if you want to make money as a freelancer, I recommend these three books:  Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, written for brand-new freelancers in search of their first clips. Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition is a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line. And my latest book,Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, shows how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. 

The State of *One* Freelancer's Income, July, 2011

First, thank you so much to all of you who have taken my quick, confidential 2010/2011 freelance income survey; I'll post the results in a week or two. The more responses we get, the more accurate (and helpful!), the results will be, so please take a couple of minutes to take it if you haven't already--and ask fellow freelancers to do the same.

So, let's talk some more about money. I've posted before about the importance of having a daily nut, and that my income goal for 2011 is $60,000. That translates into a daily nut of $250.

Well, as of June 30, we're halfway through the year. So far, I'm on target to hit $60,000 (barely)--I've made $30,497. But where has that money come from? In addition to some syndication fees (I syndicate work of other writers for one client) and some travel reimbursements, etc, my income breaks down like this:

• $15,500 from ghostwriting projects including a book and book proposal (both of which were started in 2010);

• $4,275 from original articles for magazines;

• $3,800 from speaking gigs;

• $2,465 from reprints;
  

• $825 from royalties on traditionally-published print books like Small Changes, Big Results, and Ready, Aim, Specialize;
  

• $545 from royalties on POD and e-books
  

• $915 from "hand-sales," or copies of books I've sold at speaking gigs

I've said before that I make most of my income from ghostwriting books, but by analyzing where my money is coming from, I can see that speaking, original articles, and reprints are contributing significantly to my bottom line. As for royalties and hand-sales, they're just gravy--although I expect to see my POD and e-book royalties increase during the last six months of the year, especially since my "chick lit" novels, Did you Get the Vibe?, and White Bikini Panties, are selling well.

My point? We're halfway through the year. Where do you stand, money-wise? How are doing as far as your annual income goal? And what kinds of work are you finding the most lucrative? I'd love it if you'd comment here and let me and other blog readers know. :)

Myth, Busted: Freelancers Work for Peanuts (or "Exposure")

Earlier this year, I surveyed fulltime freelance writers about what they're making this year, what kinds of work they're doing, and whether they're making more this year than in 2009. Since then, I've been collecting more survey responses.

The latest results? With 127 fulltime freelancers responding (admittedly a small sample), 51 percent plan to gross $40,000 or less this year. However, that means that 49 percent plan to make more than $40,000 this year. Nine percent plan to make $60,000-80,000; another 6 percent plan to make $80,001-100,000; and 10 percent plan to break the six-figure mark in 2010, a year that's been tough for just about every self-employed businessperson.

The fact that 25 percent, or one in four, of those surveyed plan to make $60,000+ this year should help defeat the myth that freelancers work for peanuts. Sure, some do, but many aren't just surviving but in fact are thriving in a turbulent economy. And if other writers are doing it, you can too.

The State of Freelance Income, Take Two

Long-time readers of my blog will recall that I started a poll about the state of fulltime freelancers' annual income back in the spring. Well, I'm continuing to receive responses and will report on the latest figures soon. (I'm also planning a follow-up survey in January, 2011 so we can see how 2010 turned out compared to 2009. As of June, 2010, 55 percent of respondents expected to make more in 2010 than in 2009 and 30 percent expected to make about the same; only 15 percent expected to make less than they did in 2009.)

Already participated in the survey? Great--thank you! If you haven't, though, and you're a fulltime freelancer, please visit my Freelance Income Survey to share your data. (Tell your freelancing buddies, too.) It will take you less than 3 minutes, is completely anonymous and will give all of us more info about the state of the market these days.