Dirty Money Talk: April 2025
Welcome to my Dirty Money Talk, where I lay out all the dirty details of my business for everyone to see.
I subscribe to a couple of people who do these and read them every single time they land in my inbox. Because I’m nosy, and I like seeing what other people are doing, how they’re doing it, and how they feel about it. So I decided to start doing them myself.
I want to do these for a few reasons:
It keeps me accountable. Writing these up for you guys forces me to actually look at my data and reflect.
I think financial transparency is extremely important and hopefully me doing these helps break down the money taboo.
How many hours I worked in April?
52 hours, 35 billable (68% billable)
How did I make money this month?
Brand voice & web copy for an insurance syndicate
Brand voice + content strategy for an immigration law firm (deposit)
How was April overall?
I was so close to hitting my stretch goal of $18,000! More than the dollar amount, I love that all of it came from projects I am loving with clients I’m excited about. I will note that around $4000 of that is a deposit for a project that’s only just kicking off, so I haven’t worked the hours yet that ‘match up to’ that invoice. But over the past few months I’ve definitely been learning that steady project work and deposits for future work are the way to go!
I had a big life month which took some of my energy away from my business, including my birthday, visiting my family in Sydney and coming back sick (toddlers are germ factories), and finishing 4th place in my gym’s 8 Week Challenge, so I’m glad I not only survived April, but made it through without burning out.
How did my goals go for April?
I managed to keep posting on Instagram. I’m not really in a rhythm with this just yet, so I’m keeping it as a goal at the front of my mind. Check me out.
I definitely enjoyed time off for my birthday and visiting my family. My niece is almost 2 and is so cute and sassy I can’t deal.
I also finished creating and implementing the automated outreach for agencies and referral partners!
Goals for next month:
Go stay with my best friend Martha in Perth while she recovers from a surgery.
Stay on top of my client work. I’ve got a lot of life things going on in May.
I better keep Instagram content on this list. When I focus on Instagram I usually keep up with my emails and LinkedIn as well.
What does it cost to run my business?
My (approximate) regular, ongoing monthly expenses are:
Co working space: $450
VA: $1000
Software & Subscriptions: $250
This doesn’t include any extra professional services, travel, office supplies etc.
Tech I’m currently using for my business
Productivity
Zapier (paid plan)
Upbase (paid plan)
Notion (free)
Moxie (lifetime subscription from Appsumo)
Clockify (free version) for my time tracking. I like the Chrome plugin.
Brain.FM to help get me into focus mode. Affiliate code: tbp for 20% off
Chat GPT 4.0 (free).
Squarespace for my website
Podcasting
Descript (paid annually) for podcast editing
Squadcast for podcast recording (free account with Descript subscription)
Marketing
Simplified.app for scheduling social media posts
Systeme.io* for emails, courses, products, and funnels!
Thrivecart (lifetime subscription) to host all my products and courses.
Finance
Thriday (annual plan) for my business banking + bookkeeping, and to implement the Profit First system. I mostly use Moxie for my invoicing because I sometimes need different currencies.
Wise for any international payments I need to send or receive.
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