June 2014 Income At-A-Glance
Gross Income for June: $216,094
Total Expenses for June: $53,386.02
Total Net Profit for June: $162,707.98
Difference b/t June & May: +$60,241.70
Why We Publish An Income Report
This monthly income report is created for you, Fire Nation. By documenting the struggles we encounter and the successes we celebrate as business owners every single month, we’re able to provide you with a single resource that tells you what’s working, what’s not and what’s possible.
There is a lot of hard work that goes into learning and growing as an entrepreneur, but the most important part of the equation is what you’re able to pass on to others through teaching. We’re passionate about helping you build the life you want to live, just like we have.
As you read through our day-to-day struggles and successes that help define our journey, focus on the lessons we’ve learned from these experiences. Our goal is to make your journey as enjoyable and successful as possible.
That’s not to say you won’t encounter roadblocks. Believe us – we know that no one can escape those no matter how much reading or studying you do. Just keep in mind that every roadblock is a building block towards your future success.
Let’s IGNITE!
**We’ll receive a commission on the affiliate links below. If you click on my affiliate link and sign up for the products and services I trust and recommend, then I will earn a commission.
CPA On Fire
Our CPA, Josh Baurle, Shares his June Income Report Tip!
What’s up Fire Nation? My name is Josh Bauerle, and I am a CPA and the Founder of CPA On Fire, where we specialize in working with entrepreneurs to minimize their tax liability while keeping them in line with the ever changing tax laws.
I have been working with EntrepreneurOnFire to make sure their accounting systems are running smoothly and that their taxes are as low as possible. John and Kate have included me into the monthly income reports with unlimited access to all their accounts so I can verify that what they report here is complete and accurate.
And because they believe in delivering an insane amount of value, my job doesn’t stop at the verification level. I will also be providing tax and accounting tips to you along the way!
This month, I want to talk about your choice of business entity…
Imagine two entrepreneurs – let’s call them Bill and Tom – who go to the same CPA to do their taxes. Both businesses had net income of exactly $100,000 last year, which was the only source of income for the owners. Both owners are the same age and single, with no dependents and no additional deductions. Their taxable income is exactly the same in every way.
When they leave their CPA’s office, Bill owes the IRS $30,790 in taxes, but Tom only owes the IRS $23,375 in taxes.
How can this be?
Their situations are exactly the same, yet Tom is paying $7,415 less in taxes than Bill.
The answer is simple: it’s their choice of business entity. While Bill’s business is being taxed as an LLC, Tom has wisely chosen to be taxed as an S-Corporation.
While it’s often ignored by new business owners, your choice of entity can impact everything from your taxes and legal liability, to your taxes and paperwork filed, and the more money you make, the more important this decision is. EOFire, for example, will likely save over $20,000 in taxes this year simply by electing to be taxed as an S-Corporation instead of an LLC.
So, which entity is right for you and your business? Unfortunately, that can’t be answered in a monthly income report tip, but here is a general rule of thumb to get you started:
If your business has net income of $40,000 a year or more, you will likely save money by being taxed as an S-Corporation. (How much you save depends on how much you make.)
If your business has net income of less than $40,000 a year, you’re likely better off as an LLC, sole proprietor or general partnership.
Because your choice of entity is such an important part of your business, I highly encourage you to contact a CPA and/or an attorney to find out which one is best for you. There’s still time to get set up for 2014 if you act quickly!
Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss what would be best for YOUR business. I LOVE chatting with Fire Nation!
What Went Down In June
Podcasters’ Paradise gets an upgrade
When we received an email blast from Infusionsoft about a special bundle they were offering for a Customerhub Strategy session & Design package, we knew it was too good to pass up.
We’ve been gathering data and brainstorming a content reorganization for Paradise for a few months now, and we realized that the strategy sessions would be a perfect way to actually put our ideas into action. What did it look like in the beginning stages?
Like this:
We had also been wondering what our options were to make the site look a bit better. Customerhub is great, but unless you’re a designer, the customization isn’t easy.
Our goal: to make each and every one of our member’s user experience as good as it could possible be. Easy navigation, a logical video flow throughout each of our sections: Create, Grow and Monetize, and a feel that was, well, like Paradise!
4 hours on strategy calls; 3 content maps drawn out; 200+ video moved around; 1.5 hours of design review; and about 10 hours of learning the in’s and out’s of partials and custom permissions later, and we launched the Paradise upgrade:
We’ve been receiving great feedback from our members, and we look forward to continuing to improve this and every other product we offer Fire Nation on an ongoing basis.
CalendarOnFire
Maybe it was because we were gone in May, but June was a hoppin’ month for meet ups and Webinars!
Looking back at the calendar, it seems like we had a different meet up or Webinar to join multiple times per week. As you know, committing to a meet up or hosting a Webinar is, well, a commitment!
A lot of people ask us how we get so much stuff done, and I attribute a lot of our success to creating a schedule, and then sticking to it. Check out our joint calendar for the month of June below, which only includes our Webinars and schedule meet ups.
You’ll noticed there were very few days when we didn’t have any Webinars or meet ups schedule. In fact, I can count them quite quickly: 3 days. Hosting Webinars and being a part of meet ups is important to us, and when we’re able to set a schedule and stick to it, we’re able to get a lot more done.
Fire Nation Elite 2.0 Ignites! Are you looking for a tribe?
You heard right Fire Nation: Our Elite Mastermind Tribe is ready to set the world ON FIRE!
We’re very excited about Fire Nation Elite’s 1 year anniversary, which was on July 1. To help celebrate, we’ve not only revamped the many benefits that come with being a member of our Elite Mastermind Tribe, but we’ve also opened the doors to allow in several new members.
If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a Tribe of like-minded individuals who are there to help support you every step of the way, then click here to schedule your 8 Minute FNE Fire Chat with John Sunday, July 20th (space limited!)
We would be understating reality if we said Fire Nation Elite is anything less than OUTSTANDING… schedule your chat with John and you’ll hear why :-)
RescueTime summary
If you haven’t heard of RescueTime before, it’s an incredibly powerful tool that’s perfect for anyone looking to manage their time better.
RescueTime is a software that you download to help track your time online. Think you only spend 1 hour per day in your email inbox? Think again… It’s probably more like 3.
The first step to managing your time better is fully realizing what it is you’re spending your time doing right now. Most people don’t take the time to track this because it’s difficult to write down every single thing you do in a day. With RescueTime, you have software constantly working behind the scenes to log your time for you.
With the help of RescueTime, we’ve been able to reassess where we’re spending our time to bring efficiency into everything we do. Big thanks to our RescueTime app for helping us keep on track!
Kate’s May: 196.5 hours (vs. 155 in May)
Kate’s top 3 sites for the month (in order):
1. EntrepreneurOnFire.com (includes content creation)
2. Infusionsoft / CustomerHub (our CRM / membership site platform)
3. Microsoft Word
John’s May: 267.5 hours (vs. 149 in May)
John’s top 3 sites for the month (in order):
1. Gmail
2. Adobe Audition
3. EntrepreneurOnFire.com
We also can’t forget about all the hard work and time that our team members contribute! We couldn’t be doing what we’re doing without the help of JM, Jess and our newest addition to the EOFire Team, Adeel!
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June 2014 Income Breakdown
Product/Service Income: $211,247
Podcasters’ Paradise: $134,335 (invoice total)
Create, grow, and monetize YOUR Podcast.
WebinarOnFire: $15,083 (invoice total)
Create and present a Webinar that converts.
PodcastOnFire: $1,121 (invoice total)
Create and launch your Podcast in 14 days.
The One Thing: $133
$7 mini training.
Sponsorship Income: $43,719.76
Fire Nation Elite Mastermind: $10,550
1-on-1 Mentoring: $5,000
30-minute Blitz Calls: $1,000
Podcast Launch (Audiobook on Audible): $124
Podcast Launch (eBook on Amazon): $182
Affiliate Income: $4,847
- BlueHost: $2,250 Step-by-step guide and 23 WordPress tutorials included! Disclaimer: This is my affiliate link and I will receive a commission if you sign up through my link
- LeadPages: $400
- Authority Engine: $200 (ask for the Fire Special)
- Tim Paige Voice Over: $230 (ask for the Fire Special)
- Amber Ludwig-Vilhauer No Guts No Glory: $190 (ask for the Fire Special)
- Virtual Staff Finder: $75
- Music Radio Creative: $282
- WPCurve: $490
- Audible: $225
- Optin Monster: $362
- Amazon: $81
- Other affiliate income: $62
*Affiliate links above – if you click on my affiliate link and sign up for the products and services I trust and recommend, then I will earn a commission.
Total Gross Income in June: $216,094
Business Expenses: $51,772.80
- Advertising (mostly FB ads): $3,090
- Design & Branding: $833
- Education: $142
- Meals & Entertainment: $2,786
- Merchant Account: $457
- LibSyn: $198.85
- Other Business Expenses: $213
- Paradise Affiliate Commissions: $11,862
- Paradise Refunds: $16,810 (invoice total)
- Promotional: $2,805
- The One Thing Refunds: $0
- WebinarOnFire Refunds: $1,833 (invoice total)
- PodcastOnFire Refunds: $0
- Software: $394
- TheMidRoll (Sponsorships): $5,629.95
- Total Launch Package Fees: $125
- Travel: $335
- Virtual Assistant Fees: $1,724
- Website Fees: $2,535
Recurring, Subscription-based Expenses: $1,613.22
- Adobe Creative Cloud*: $49.99
- Authorize.net*: $91.10
- Cell Phone*: $177
- Internet*: $171
- eVoice*: $9.95
- Infusionsoft CRM*: $363
- Insurance*: $172
- Quickbooks Online*: $25
- ScheduleOnce*: $42.19
- Skype*: $2.99
- Taxes & Licenses (recurring): $72
Total Expenses in June: $53,386.02
Payroll: $13,193
Last month’s Income Report Tip from Josh was focused on how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur. This month, we’re reporting a payroll figure for the first time here at EntrepreneurOnFire, which we do not include in our “business expenses” above.
Total Net Profit for June 2014: $162,707.98
Can you believe this all came from the launch of a single Podcast? Are you ready to start yours?
Don’t miss our new Podcast Workshop that we are hosting next week on how YOU can create, grow, and monetize YOUR Podcast. Here’s what our attendees are saying about the Podcast Workshop:
Rob said: “This was a smart hour to set aside!“, and Dave added, “This is perfect for me! John is laying out exactly what I am working towards!”
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Things We Learned In June
Schedule it to make it real
I remember hearing this saying for the very first time, and it was on a podcast episode with Amy Porterfield. I couldn’t agree more – especially after seeing how much we were able to accomplish in one short month.
We shared our Webinar and meet up calendar with you, which revealed a pretty packed schedule when you consider that doesn’t include any of our other daily activities, like engagement, community support, email, social media, email marketing, our CRM, blogging… you get the point ;)
Scheduling helps make things real by 1) forcing you to actually write down what it is you want to accomplish, and 2) by giving you a deadline for completion. You can talk about hosting a Webinar until you’re blue in the face, but it’s never going to happen until you actually schedule it.
Try it! What have you been meaning to get out the door, but haven’t scheduled yet?
It’s like riding a bike – kind of
Part of what made our 2-week trip to Europe in May so special is that we were going completely unplugged for the entire time. I took this to heart, and not only did I stop reading business books that I’m inspired by and that teach me numerous lessons, but I also stopped writing daily.
When I got back from the trip, I realized just how important it is to constantly exercise your reading and writing muscles – the same way you would exercise your body by running, or getting on an elliptical machine. When you skip your run for a week straight, you’re kind of sore when you do it again, right?
When I sat down to write our email newsletter after returning from our trip, I had a really tough time doing so. And when I started brainstorming the next set of blog posts, the topics weren’t coming to me as easily as they had before.
I didn’t forget how to read and write – picking these things back up was like riding a bike; however, it did take me a couple of weeks to really feel comfortable and “back on track” with my reading and writing routines.
Unplugging is great, but don’t let that stop you from exercising your mind. I speak from experience when I say, once you plug back in, you will be sore.
It takes time to save time
I’ve been hearing a lot of questions recently about the systems we’ve set up at EntrepreneurOnFire. It wasn’t until we returned from our Europe trip and started hearing these questions over and over again that I realized what a huge pain point time management and systems are for entrepreneurs.
It also made me realize that there is a huge misconception about systems.
Here’s an example: someone asked me, “Kate, what do I have to do to set up the same types of systems for my business that you have for yours?”
Well, as you can imagine, this is a beastly question. If I had a quick and easy answer for it, then I’d happily share it with everyone I know, including you.
But the truth of the matter is, there isn’t a single answer to this question, because creating systems in a process, not an event. You don’t set up a system, leave it, and that’s it. Rather, you create a plan, implement, test, tweak, improve and continue to check up on it.
Fortunately, I do know a great place where you can start, and that’s with an outline for how creating systems can create freedom. And while you’re looking over that, I thought it might be helpful if we shared the Top 5 time-saving resources John and I use on a daily basis to help us with our time management:
Our Top 5 time-saving resources
1. RescueTime
Helps you keep track of and manage your time spent online. Break it down by which programs you’re spending the most time in, and track hours online per day, per week and per month.
2. Asana
Teamwork platform: add tasks and keep track of multiple due dates on a single dashboard. We love working in Asana because it helps us manage our projects with our virtual team efficiently.
Send the same type of email over and over again in gmail? Save it as a canned response and auto populate content quickly!
4. TextExpander
Type the same word, phrase or sentence over and over again? TextExpander allows you to create hotkeys for your most frequently used words. Your email address, your phone number, or your tagline – anything you want!
5. Workflowy
Keep track of tasks, due dates, important notes and more with the help of Workflowy, a note taker that follows you wherever you go!
Lots of lessons learned this month about scheduling and time management! What’s your #1 takeaway from this month’s income report?
Alright Fire Nation, that’s a wrap!
Until next month, keep your FIRE burning!
~ Kate & John
PS: Click to Tweet… we’ll love you for it!
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