Why I do this
I’ve been doing these income reports since September 2012. If you are new to the website, I do this for a number of reasons:
1. So you know exactly where I make money. That way, you don’t have to wonder if I’m full of crap, if you can trust me, or if you can learn something. My hope is that you trust me and that through that you’re more likely to get involved, possibly follow an affiliate link, or purchase something.
2. So as to inspire you. So often, we think that our incomes have an upper limit that is determined by someone else. When we have control of that upper limit, there is something really refreshing about that.
3. To hold myself accountable. I’m not always the best with book-keeping and monitoring where and how I make money. This forces me to keep better track of my goals and outcomes.
Let me thank those of you who have made it possible. Thank you for signing up for hosting through Blue Host, clicking on my occasional Google advertisement, and other affiliate links. Thanks for trusting me with your websites and for growing with me, you are all so awesome!
Here are links to my past earning reports:
February Happenings
January was a continuation of the HUGE step forward for Practice of the Practice. I launched more podcasts in February. At the time of this writing, just under 700 people have downloaded the podcast.
What is amazing is that the podcast immediately boosted my rankings for the term “counseling private practice” in Bing and Yahoo, I am on the front page for both of those search engines. Also, it has been super fun to create. If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast and want to, there is a link on the right side of the article.
Also, there have been 1385 visits to the site, that is a 38.5% growth in one month. I think that is because of the podcast and extra blog posts.
Also, I went to the University of Michigan Depression Conference, so that took out a week of counseling that I normally would have had.
What I’m still trying to figure out is how to best monetize the site. I provide all of this free content, but the amount of affiliate links and purchases is not something that can sustain the amount of work I put in. When I look at how much I make per hour in private practice compared to the time on the site, it should be an easy decision (because private practice is so lucrative). But I believe that the site has potential and that at some point it will out rank the private practice in monthly sales.
We’ll see.
February 2013 Earning Report
What I’m going to be reporting and what I’m not going to be reporting
Full-time Job: Since some of you are new and some of you have been around Practice of the Practice for a while, I’m going to give a quick summary of where I make income. My full-time job is at a community college as a counselor. I love the job and it gives me great opportunities. Also, since my wife stays home with our daughter it is an income we can count on, health insurance, a pension, and a really great environment! I’m not going to disclose my full-time wages there, since it is not something that is part of my private practice.
Private Practice: I do 3-8 sessions a week in my private practice. I don’t take insurance, so it is private-pay. As a result, I don’t have many expenses in time or actual money. Included in my private practice money is time I spend doing supervision for LLPCs (Limited Licensed Professional Counselors), a 100 requirement in Michigan.
Passive Income: The term “passive” makes it sound like I don’t have to do work. What I mean is money that I make that is not in direct exchange for my time. I will outline what these are under each item.
How I made money in February 2013
Disclosure: many of the links below are affiliate links that will earn me a commission if you purchase through them. If you do, I really appreciate it and if you have any questions about any of the products or services please contact me! Also, if you don’t have a good experience with them, I want to know that too.
Counseling, consulting, and useful products
Private Practice (8 sessions) $743
Other counselors, I have a counselor that works for my practice and I get a portion of what is brought in: $315
Building Websites: $500
Buy Joe a cup of coffee: $4.80
Paperwork Packet: $0
Consulting and LLPC Supervision: $830
E-book: $69.50, also several were borrowed through Kindle’s lending program, this may bring in a few extra dollars.
52-week e-newsletter to start a counseling private practice. Most of the kinks have been worked out. I think we are all good now: $75.28
Affiliate Marketing:
BlueHost Referrals $130
Amazon Affiliate Referrals $5.70
NameCheap Referrals: $8.00
Google Ads $3.84
LegalZoom: $0
February 2013 total: $2,685.12
I really can’t believe that it was another +$2,000 month! It really makes all of the time spent in early 2012 worth it creating content for the website. With that said, my primary income is still through my full-time job and doing counseling.
My goal for March is to get at least 10 people to sign up for my:
52-week Private Practice Creation Newsletter
$15 $10 per month
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
January 2013 total: $2,707.09
December 2012 total: $2,287.97
November 2012 total: $1,219.18
Some of the numbers from Google Ads, Amazon, NameCheap, and my e-books will not be paid until they reach a certain amount or 60-90 days after the sale. I report what has been sold in the month it was sold. Also, I do not take expenses off of this report.
Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC is blown away by all of the people enjoying and growing through his blog, Practice of the Practice. He also does counseling in Traverse City, MI at Mental Wellness Counseling. Also, he is the author of Mental Wellness Parenting | A remarkably simple approach to making parenting easier. To link to Joe’s Google+ .
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Photo by Aaron VanHeest, you rock!
