May was an amazing month for me. I feel like I did a great job with being fully present at home. As some of you may have noticed, I love blogging, podcasting, consulting, and doing private practice so much, that it does not feel like work. Thus, I tend to do it more than I should, especially when I’m at home with my daughter.
Chess with a Toddler
Her is the way I play chess with my three-year-old daughter. Here are the rules:
- She can move a piece anywhere, but only one per turn.
- If she takes one of my pieces, she has to replace it with her own.
- If she takes my king, she wins (I have not told her this or she’d do it all the time, she has to figure it out).
- I have to follow the real rules.
- When she’s done, we’re done after we clean up. I want it to be a positive experience.
We just added that pawns can only move forward one space, or two on the first move.
Also, in early May we had our ultrasound for our baby. We took the results (without looking at them) and gave them to a pie place. We told them, “If it’s a boy give us blueberry and if it is a girl give us strawberry rhubarb. They then packed it up and we took the pie to dinner with our family.
We opened it at the end and found out we’re having a strawberry rhubarb little girl!
This month I also attended TEDx. If you’ve never been to a TEDx talk, you have to go! I interviewed Drew Dudley for the podcast, it will be coming out soon. Here’s one of his TED talks.
Two New Staff
Another huge step forward for Practice of the Practice was implementing what the students from Loyola’s Business School said and what other podcasts have taught me:
- Simplified the homepage
- Created a New? Click Here tab to help orient new folks to the website
- Brought on a Loyola intern to help with social media, Jennifer Wzorek. She’s already helping with analysis, business consulting support, and growing the social media presence.
- Also, I now have a personal assistant for my Traverse City counseling private practice, Mental Wellness Counseling. Melissa Rabidoux has a ton of business experience and I’m hoping that as Mental Wellness Counseling grows, she can grow with me!
Private Practice Consultant Work
In March and April I added more private practice consultant gigs to my work. These have continued. I get requests usually weekly for a quote. I’ve started talking with people more and putting together a unique proposal with growth options. I try to capture where they want to go and how quickly new clients will pay them back for growing quicker.
Great counseling things you may have missed in May
Past Income Reports
People often ask me why I disclose all this information? To me, I am inspired when other people are open and honest. Then I can learn from how they succeed or fail. My hope is that this helps others to grow in their businesses!
April 2014 Monthly Income Report $7,834.16
March 2014 Monthly Income Report $10,645.70
February 2014 Monthly Income Report $6,483.14
January 2014 Monthly Income Report $4,834.57
2013 Annual Counseling Income: $54,513.97 (January-December 2013)
December 2013 Monthly Income Report $4,774.58
November 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $5,148.16
October 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $4,689.99
September 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $3,137.30
August 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $3835.74
July 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $5691.65
June 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $4,471.29
May 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $6,022.91
April 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $2,116.96
March 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $2,476.92
February 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $2,685.12
January 2013 Monthly Income Report total: $2,707.09
December 2012 Monthly Income Report total: $2,287.97
November 2012 Monthly Income Report total: $1,219.18
October 2012 Monthly Income Report total: $3,213.87
September 2012 Monthly Income Report total: $1,361.60
May 2014 Earning Report
What I’m going to be reporting about how to make extra money 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 4-7 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. I also do consulting with private practice clinicians and supervision for LLPCs in Michigan (Limited Licensed Professional Counselors), a 100 hour 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 increased revenue in May 2014
Disclosure: many of the links below are affiliate links that will earn me a commission if you purchase through them, it’s one way that I help support the work I put into the website. Please click on them to help support Practice of the Practice.
Private Practice: $4,190
Other counselors: I have two counselors that work for my practice as 1099 contractors and I get a portion of what is brought in: $779.50
Paperwork Packet: $0
Consulting: (this sometimes includes building a website as part of the private practice coach session) I do private practice coaching. Usually there are three parts to it:
- A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) Analysis
- Website redesign or re-optimization
- Coaching
$1,871.25
LLPC Supervision: $840
The Motherload: $0
E-books: This was one of the best months ever! I’m going to look into how/where people are coming from. It looks like a spike later in the month. $48.73
Practice of the Practice | A Start-up Guide to Launching a Counseling Private Practice
Mental Wellness Parenting | A remarkably simple approach to making parenting easier
Paperback Copy of my book Mental Wellness Parenting: A remarkably simple approach to making parenting easier
Member’s Newsletter to Launch/Grow a Practice
Member’s Newsletter: This is the weekly newsletter that walks people through exactly what they need to do when starting a private practice. $155.53
Affiliate Marketing to Increase Revenue
Aweber: This is the service I use to create emails, manage lists, and create follow-up emails where they can be in order for the person. It’s super cool! $5.70
BlueHost Referrals: If you are setting up a website, this is the best hosting because of their customer service and the ability to have unlimited websites hosted! $130
Amazon Affiliate Referrals: If you are buying something on Amazon, it’d be great if you clicked the link. I get a small commission without you having to pay anything more! This month was a down month, but I have been de-emphasizing some of these affiliates since they don’t bring in much and can make the site look sort of ugly: $16.19
NameCheap is who I use to purchase my URLs, they are so easy to work with when you’re setting up a website!: $3.20
Google Ads: I have a few ads through the website and these bring in a bit of passive income. Since my podcast interview with Sarah Barnes I’ve been doing a lot less of this: $4.48
LegalZoom: This is the second month that someone has clicked and bought something through this link! It’s so exciting, also my wife bought her PLLC so I got to really see it firsthand. It is amazing and super easy to use. $68.70
May 2014 Total: $8,1113.28
(2nd best month ever!)
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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
Joe Sanok is a private practice business consultant and counselor that helps small businesses and counselors in private practice to increase revenue and have more fun! He helps owners with website design, vision, growth, and using their time to create income through being a private practice consultant.
Joe was frustrated with his lack of business and marketing skills when he left graduate school. He loved helping people through counseling, but felt that often people couldn’t find him. Over the past few years he has grown his skills, income, and ability to lead others, while still maintaining an active private practice in Traverse City, MI.
To link to Joe’s Google+ .
Photos by Tax Credits
