Smutlancer Monthly Income Report: April 2019

April was the most relaxing month I’ve had all year. I began 2019 with big projects and then moved right into focusing on Eroticon. After getting back from London, John Brownstone and I turned our attention to getting ready to sell our condo and move at the end of May. Somehow, someway, work felt slower in April, but income increased. Part of that could be because most of it came from work I did the month before.

All of that to say, I don’t know if this is the start of an income increase or if it’s a blip on the radar. I guess we’ll find out as the year progresses.

April 2019 Income

My April income is primarily based on work completed in March. I bill clients on the last day of every month, and they have 10 days to pay. Affiliate sales tend to pay quarterly, but some pay monthly. I break down my freelance writing between vanilla and sex content because I want to show what’s possible in either category.

April was an odd month. I was a little less busy than I had been in March, but I began working with a couple of new clients. One of whom paid me the moment my article was received — which means it gets to count in April income instead of May! Woohoo. Even as I’m trying to increase blogging income, I’m also trying to diversify my freelance income. It’s nice to have a single big client, but it also means bad things would happen to my income if they let me go.

Most of my diversification efforts won’t be seen until May income, but I’m working on it. Okay, let’s get into April…

• Freelance Writing
  • Vanilla Content: $2800.00
  • Sex/Adult Content: $5754.60
• Affiliate Sales: $29.96
• Podcast Sponsorship: $100.00
• Sponsored Blog Posts: —
• Website Sponsorship: —
• Banner Ads: —
• Book Sales: $6.47
• Patreon: $277.00
• Consulting: —
• Donations: —
• Bonus (from client): —
• Product Sales: $124.06

Total Income: $9,092.09 (up $1,653.39 from March)

April 2019 Expenses

Some expenses are monthly, some quarterly, and some annual. Taxes are something I save for monthly to be paid quarterly. I’ve added a couple new expenses, but as you can see from income, I’ve definitely got room to do more.

• Web Hosting: $42.98
• Domain Renewals: 27.95
• Podcast Hosting: $32.00
• Canva —
• Buffer: $10.00
• InLinkz: $2.99 (linky tool for Masturbation Monday)
• Blog Contributors: $20.00
• Taxes: $1000.00
• Payment Fees (PayPal, Stripe): $281.19
• Shipping/Postage: $17.15
• Tech Support: $50.00
• Copyscape (plagerism checker): $20.00
• TinyPNG (image compression): —
• Patreon: $25.00
• DepositPhotos (stock photo): — $29.00
• Wavve (a podcast promo tool): $10.00
• Transcription Services (for Loving BDSM): $60.00
• Graphics Commission: $35.00
• Plugin Renewal: $19.00
• MailerLite (email newsletter): $15.00

Total Expenses: $1,697.26 (down $483.83 over March)

Expenses are lower this month because I didn’t have tax prep or accounting costs. Once we get the quarterly bookkeeping set up, that cost will be included in the expenses going forward.

April 2019 Net Income: $7,394.83 (↑ $2,137.22 from March)

Let’s be clear. These numbers do NOT suck. I gasped when I saw my gross income for April. I didn’t realize it was that high, but I also don’t know when/if it’ll be that high again. It didn’t feel like that much money came in for April, but we’re also dealing with selling our home, and there have been a LOT of expenses with that, so that could be why I didn’t feel the increase.

I look forward to seeing what happens from here. As of the day I write this, I have a call scheduled with my biggest client who says he has more upcoming projects. But I’m also hoping to grow my Patreon, add a new Patreon (for Smutlancers!), and help John Brownstone increase product sales once his shop is back up and running after our move.

This month could be a blip or it could be the start of something great. I’m not focusing on that too much. The main thing is to get the work done for my clients and maintain my blogs so my work and income continue to move forward.