This 30 minute exercise 3X'd my income in 3 months

Hi! How's your week going?

Today, I want to share a very powerful tool with you.

3 months ago, I realized I needed to grow my income.

And I started to figure out how.

In my mind, this process had two parts: figuring out how much money I needed, and figuring out how I was going to make it.

When doing the exercise I will show you right now, I was surprised. I shook in anticipation as I realized what I could actually do. I found I could make more than the amount of money I needed. I could do much, much more!

This method allowed me to fund the publication for my book, my education, and some other cool projects I'm working on (wink wink).

Now. This exercise itself won't make you any money.

This is about breaking your limiting beliefs.

About realizing your potential.

And about taking action to create it.

I'm sorry I keep repeating it, but nothing beats taking action.

Today, I want to share it with you. Why? Because most of my subscribers are artists and creatives. And I'm dedicating myself to debunking the idea of the starving artist. So take this exercise as a first step to NOT be a starving artist.

Let's jump into it.

Part one: What you need to make.

You can do this exercise on paper, or on an excel sheet. I personally work better with analog mediums, especially when I need to tap into my creative energy. So I did this on paper. But you do you!

1. List out every recurring expense you have every month, for the next six months: food, gas, education, rent, going out, whatever you need to have money available for every month.

2. List out every non-recurring expense you have every month over the next six months: Christmas gifts and holiday parties, I'm looking at you! But also: any courses you want to take, books you want to buy, or projects you want to start.

3. Add 10% to each month for everything you forgot to take into account: there will always be unaccounted-for expenses. Prepare for them now.

4. Add 20% to that: 20% above your expenses is a good percentage to be saving. If you want to make this higher, be my guest!

5. Figure out how much money you need each month: Most likely, every month will be a slightly different number. That's fine. We're doing this with no judgement. And if the numbers are higher than you expected, don't panic. In a minute, we'll figure out how to make them happen.

Part two: How you could make it

Here's where it gets fun. For this part of the exercise, I definitely recommend doing it on paper. This unlocks your creative mind – and we'll need it at its greatest capacity. Then, go back to a spreadsheet if you want.

1. List out every skill you have that you can get paid for, and every product you could sell: If you think you have none, you're most likely wrong. And if you genuinely don't find anything, make a list of things you'd like to learn that could make you money. Make this list as long as you can. Go wild.

2. Next to each skill or product, write an estimate of how much you could charge for it: Don't overthink this. Write whatever comes to mind. Remember none of this is set in stone, we're just playing numbers.

3. Figure out how many of each you'd need to do to reach your income: take an average of how much you need to make per month, and divide it by each price you set in step 2. Then, your result for each division is how many of each product/service you need to sell to make your entire income. This should mostly be his numbers.

Before this gets confusing, let me give you a small example.

Let's say one of the things on my list is selling my book. And let's say the estimated price is $20.

For the sake of this exercise, let's say I need to make $1000 per month on average.

1000÷20=50

This means I would need to sell 50 books per month to make that $1000.

_______

Now, let's say another thing on my list was making training plans. And let's say on average, I'm charging $75/month per training plan.

1000÷75=13

So I would need to sell 13 training plans per month to make $1000.

_______

And for a last example, let's say another thing on my list is selling prints with my art on them. And each print is $5.

1000÷5=200

So I would need to sell 200 prints per month to make $1000.

But the point isn't to have a single source of income. It's to leverage and combine all your skills to create a diversified income that you enjoy creating.

Step 3: Mix and Match

For optimal surprise factor, DON'T add the numbers until the very end. This applies whether you do this on paper or on a spreadsheet. Keep it playful as you're doing it. The results will probably astound you.

1. Make a column for each month

2. Start with the first month. Estimate how many of each of your potential sources of income you think you could sell in the next 30 days. Then, add its price next to it. So following the example above (and adding a few things), I may write:

   1. 10 books at $20

   2. 3 training plans at $75

   3. 30 prints at $5

   4. 8 private dance classes at $25

   5. 2 ghostwritten articles at $100

   6. 4 coaching sessions at $50

3. Repeat step 2 for every month. Again, be playful: ask yourself, how many of these would be fun to make? We're going for peaceful, enjoyable income here. If you see my list above, these are things I personally would enjoy, and that wouldn't burn me out. This is crucial for you to actually follow through.

4. Multiply each amount by its price, and then, add them all together. This is where the magic happens.

   1. 10 books at $20= $200

   2. 3 training plans at $75= $225

   3. 30 prints at $5= $150

   4. 8 private dance classes at $25= $200

   5. 2 ghostwritten articles at $100= $200

   6. 4 coaching sessions at $50= $200

   7. TOTAL: $1175

5. Repeat for every month, and be astounded by your potential! 

You now have a roadmap to generating an even bigger income than you'd planned, in ways you enjoy, with no burnout.

Step 4: Action

If you've been here for a couple of weeks, you knew this was coming.

Putting all this on paper is good for clarity. It's exciting, and will probably make you feel productive.

But writing it down doesn't put money in your pocket.

You know what does? Going out, creating the products, the services, and going to market. Start selling.

See what works, what you enjoy most, and double down on it.

See what doesn't sell, or what drains your energy, and delete it.

And now, you can actually start making money.

Quick tips

• A more expensive service/product = a faster way to get the money. It's easier to sell 5 $200 products, than a $5 product 200 times.

• If you don't have skills that can be sold for higher prices, you can always learn them!

• Don't stress if not every month looks exactly like you planned. It's normal, and expected. Some may be lower, and some may be ridiculously higher.

Art Recs of the Week

1. Playlist: This week, I want to do something I hadn't done yet: send you one of my playlists. I've been listening to this one as I write this newsletter:

2. Illustration: Chiara Bautista was recommended to me about 7 years ago by a boy I worked with. I thought of her art recently, for the first time in a long time. This specific illustration used to live in my head rent free. I'm obsessed with it again because it reminds me of a poem in my upcoming book (more on that VERY soon).

3. Poem: Sarah Kay is my favorite poet of all time. This poem from her book No Matter the Wreckage has been very special to me this year.

I hope the rest of your week feels like getting to wake up without an alarm after weeks of having to wake up early. Like the first hug from a friend you haven't seen in months. Like someone else making you breakfast because they love you.

Big hug for you, and see you next Wednesday!

-Vale, The Friendly Artist.