February 2019 Income At-A-Glance
Gross Income for February: $199,772
Total Expenses for February: $31,663
Total Net Profit for February: $168,109
Difference b/t February & January: +$62,010
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 entrepreneurs every single month, we’re able to provide you with support – and a single resource – where we share what’s working, what’s not, and what’s possible.
There’s a lot of hard work that goes into learning and growing as an entrepreneur, especially when you’re just starting out. The most important part of the equation is that you’re able to pass on what you learn to others through teaching, which is what we aim to do here.
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.
Josh Bauerle’s Monthly Tax Tip
What’s up Fire Nation, my name is Josh Bauerle. I’m 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’ve been working with JLD & Kate at Entrepreneurs On Fire for years now, and they’ve included me in these 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 to you, my job doesn’t stop at the verification level; I also provide a new tax and accounting tip every month!
Josh’s February Tax Tip: Focus on mastering your craft
The other day I was watching an interview with the actor/comedian Steve Martin, and he was talking about how he’s approached by aspiring entertainers all the time who flood him with questions like “how do I find an agent?”, “who should do my head shots?” and “what PR person do you recommend?”.
Finally – and I’m sure many of you have heard this quote before – he responded to one of the aspiring entertainers by saying something along the lines of “You know what, none of that crap matters right now. It will some day, but right now all that matters for you in this industry is becoming so good they can’t ignore you”.
Basically he was saying: master your craft, focus on the work that will get you jobs, worry about the little details later.
This resonated with me so much, because I’m constantly receiving emails from people who want to start a business but can’t decide what entity to choose, or don’t know how to get an EIN, or aren’t sure what bank to go with…
And I just want to say: NONE OF THAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW!
None of that will make a difference in the success or failure of your business.
It will become important down the road, but right now what’s important is creating a business that makes money.
So if you want to start an ecommerce business, focus on finding a product you can make a profit on – not whether you should form an LLC or not.
If you want to start your own law practice, focus on becoming an amazing lawyer with incredible people skills – not whether you should apply for an EIN right away.
If you want to start an Internet marketing business, focus on learning everything there is to know about Facebook and Google ads – not on where you should open your business bank account.
Yes, those type of details do matter.
But whats more important is doing the work to build an actual business.
So if it makes you feel more comfortable to form an LLC before you start, or apply for an EIN, etc. go ahead and do it! Just don’t waste time making those kind of decisions at the expense of getting started on doing the work.
So when should you worry about those things?
When you have an actual business, which in my opinion comes when you are bringing in money.
THEN you can discuss the options.
And the single best thing you can do when you know you are ready to make these decisions is to talk with a tax professional and attorney to make sure what you do is the right move for your specific business.
Until then, work on being so good the world can’t ignore you!
As always, 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 February
Puerto Palooza
We kicked off February strong with our in-person mastermind event, Puerto Palooza!
This was our 2nd in-person mastermind event and during the 4 nights and 3 days we hosted 7 incredible entrepreneurs from around the US.
Each individual represented a very different niche, and it was so incredible to get to hear about where everyone was currently at – plus walk through the potential of where they’re headed.
After 14 hot seats, 4 amazing dinners together, a hike up submarine hill, and an entire day spent exploring Old San Juan, we wrapped the event with a BBQ and pool party.
If there’s one thing we walked away from Puerto Palooza with, it’s this: attending in-person events and building intimate relationships with like-minded people is powerful. It not only allows you to open your eyes to many different possibilities – and to see your business from a different lens – but it gives you the support and motivation necessary to take those big steps forward.
If you’re interested in checking out some of the top events we recommend for entrepreneurs going down in 2019, head over to our Top Conferences post!
Prep for Podfest in Orlando
The 5th annual Podfest Multimedia expo is being hosted in Orlando, FL in early March, and a good amount of time in February was spent prepping for this event.
Not only will John keynote the event, but we’ll also have a Podcasters’ Paradise booth in the exhibitors area – in addition to a breakout session and the closing session: the Roast of John Lee Dumas.
We’ve done a lot of events over the past 5+ years, but it’s becoming more and more apparent just how much time is invested in prepping for an event. Putting together a value-packed talk, practicing that talk, organizing logistics and items for the booth… it’s not a quick or easy thing!
But we know Podfest will be worth it, and we’re excited to recap our time at the event in next month’s income report!
New Welcome Series Stats
During last month’s income report we shared with you that we were just wrapping up some pretty major updates to our welcome email series.
We’ve officially completed that update – videos included – and we’re excited to share some of the stats with you!
Our initial goal was to not only increase our overall opt ins, but to also increase the number of opens and clicks from our welcome email series by 5%.
The more opens and clicks we get from our welcome email series, the better we’re doing at sharing the value we have available here at Entrepreneurs On Fire.
While it’s still early on – and we don’t have a ton of data on the new emails – we thought it would be helpful to pull open rates and click rates on two separate months so we can see where we’re at.
Below, you’ll see the open rates and click rates on 3 separate welcome emails from our old series, and then another set of open rates and click rates on those same 3 updated emails from our new series.
Dec 2018
Welcome: 46.2% open and 9.2% clicks
Your Big Idea: 37.6% open and 7.9% clicks
Podcasting: 35.2% open and 3.1% clicks
Feb 2019
Welcome: 48.1% open and 7.3% clicks
Your Big Idea: 42.4% open and 10.9% clicks
Podcasting: 38.1% open and 6.6% clicks
Again, we’re still early on in the data set for the new emails, but at a glance, our open rates have been higher and so have our click rates. We haven’t quite hit that 5% increase, but we’ll continue monitoring and making small tweaks along the way.
It’s so important to monitor your stats and have goals in place when you make updates like this. Talking about constant improvement in one thing, but actually having a measurable goal in place is what makes it count.
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February 2019 Income Breakdown*
Product/Service Income: $107,702
TOTAL Journal sales: 264 Journals for a total of $9,199
The Freedom Journal: Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!
- TheFreedomJournal.com: $237 (6 Hardcovers & 2 Digital Packs)
- Amazon: $3,237 (99 Freedom Journals sold!)
- Total: $3,474
The Mastery Journal: Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 days!
- TheMasteryJournal.com: $242 (3 Hardcovers & 3 Digital Packs)
- Amazon: $2,574 (90 Mastery Journals sold!)
- Total: $2,816
The Podcast Journal: Idea to Launch in 50 Days!
- ThePodcastJournal.com: $263 (4 Hardcovers & 0 Digital Pack)
- Amazon: $2,646 (57 Podcast Journals sold!)
- Total: $2,909
Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 Podcasting community in the world!
- Recurring: $20,755 (169 monthly)
- New members: $13,912 (61 new members + 1 Total Launch Package)
- Total: $34,667
Real Revenue: Turn your BIG IDEA into Real Revenue
- New members: $0
The Revenue Crew: An Elite Mastermind ON FIRE!
- Currently closed to new members
Podcast Sponsorship Income: $58,500
Podcast Websites: $5,000
Podcast Launch: Audiobook: $260 | eBook: $76
Free Courses that result in the above revenue:
Your Big Idea: Discover your big idea in under an hour!
Free Podcast Course: Create and launch your own podcast!
Funnel On Fire: Create a funnel that converts!
Affiliate Income: $92,070
*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.
Resources for Entrepreneurs: $28,120
- Audible: $25
- BlueHost: $825 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
- Click Funnels: $24,826
- Coaching referrals: $1,970 (email me for an introduction to a mentor for overall online business or a Podcast focused mentor!)
- ConvertKit: $90
- Disclaimer Template: $46 (legal disclaimers for your website)
- Fizzle Mastermind: $338
- Virtual Staff Finder: $0
Courses for Entrepreneurs: $59,249
- Create Awesome Online Courses by DSG: $4,960
- Digital Course Academy by Amy Porterfield: $52,115
- Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt: $570
- ASK by Ryan Levesque: $0
- Bio Hacking Secrets by Anthony Diclementi: $178
- Boost Blog Traffic by Jon Morrow: $841
- Opesta by Ethan Sigmon: $531
- Digital U by Eben Pagan: $0
- Facebook Ad training by Dan Henry: $0
Resources for Podcasters: $3,080
- Pat Flynn’s Fusebox Podcast Player: $99
- Podcasting Press: $626
- Designrr: $291
- Tim Paige’s Make My Intro: $450
- Libsyn: $1,536 (Use promo code FIRE for the rest of this month & next free!)
- UDemy Podcasting Course: $78
Other Resources: $1,675
- Amazon Associates: $275
- Other: $1,400
Total Gross Income in February: $199,772
Business Expenses: $27,838
- Advertising: $4,521
- Affiliate Commissions (Paradise): $1,334
- Accounting: $1,621
- Cost of goods sold: $736
- Design & Branding: $373
- Education: $70
- Legal & Professional: $37
- Meals & Entertainment: $3,372
- Merchant / bank fees: $1,507
- Amazon fees: $4,049
- PayPal fees: $373
- Shopify fees: $1,340
- Office expenses: $661
- Community Refunds: $1,450
- Promotional: $506
- Travel: $1,929
- Virtual Assistant Fees: $3,248
- Website Fees: $711
Recurring, Subscription-based Expenses: $3,825
- Adobe Creative Cloud: $100
- Boomerang: $50 (team package)
- Bonjoro: $45
- Authorize.net: $70
- Cell Phone: $246
- Google Suite: $50
- Internet: $80
- eVoice: $10
- Infusionsoft CRM: $309
- Lifelock: $219 (annual subscription)
- Insurance: $648
- Libsyn: $244
- Chatroll: $49
- Shopify: $1,034 (annual subscription x3 sites)
- Sumo: $29
- TaxJar: $19
- Taxes & Licenses: $523
- Thrive Cart: $37
- Zapier: $15
- Xero: $30
- Zoom: $15
Total Expenses in February: $31,663
Payroll to John & Kate: $15,900
In our May 2014 Income Report and our June 2016 Income Report, Josh focuses on how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur. Check them out!
Wondering what we do with all of our net revenue? We share all in our April 2017 Income Report :)
Total Net Profit for February 2019: $168,109
Biggest Lesson Learned
Confidence feeds action
During our in-person mastermind here in Puerto Rico, Puerto Palooza, I got to sit down with 7 incredible entrepreneurs, individually, and chat systems.
I was super excited to dig in and identify the areas where each individual was wasting time. While it’s not always obvious to you (the one doing the tasks day in and day out), it becomes incredibly obvious when you write out the things you’re spending your time doing each day.
This is why the first step in creating systems is to take inventory.
As I started each of these hot seats, and asked questions and gathered more information to help inform my recommendations, I realized something.
It wasn’t that these individuals had NO systems in place, or that they were wasting a ridiculous amount of time on things that they shouldn’t be doing.
Every individual actually had an amazing start to creating systems in their business that will create an amazing amount of freedom – they just didn’t realize it. And it was simply the conversation – the confirmation – that they were on a great track that built the confidence necessary to feed their next action.
My main point here is that sometimes it’s just about having the conversations to find out whether or not you’re on the right track. Sometimes reassurance and confirmation of where you’re headed is all you need in order to take that next step.
Alright Fire Nation, that’s a wrap!
Until next month, keep your FIRE burning!
~ Kate & John
Note: we report our income figures as accurately as possible, but in using reports from a combo of Infusionsoft & Xero to track our product and total income / expenses, they suggest the possibility of a 3 – 5% margin of error.
