Do you need to learn how to manage your money as a freelance blogger? These managing money tips for blogging are here for you to thrive online financially. Even if you are thinking about starting a blog these money management tips are for you as well.
Nowadays, increasing numbers of people are growing to see that blogging is a genuine career option. Something that many of us associated with individual pursuits is now serving as a source of income for many.
Blogging monetization can be an enjoyable and fulfilling job. But you are going to have to treat it like a job and this means learning better managing money tips while you blog away.
Here are some managing money tips to take that will help you keep everything above board!
Table of Contents
Managing Your Money By Monitoring Your Financial Position
When you monetize your blog, you will find yourself responsible for paying your taxes and other necessary contributions, such as national insurance, traditional IRA, gold IRA or even crypto IRA.
When you’re employed, your employer will figure out how much tax you owe and deduct this from your wages before paying you.
Every blog business should have a set of organized books with which they can monitor their financial position. You should be keeping a close eye on how many sales you are making, your expenses, your goals, and your end targets.
Managing your blogging money can be done with a program like Quicken or a simple Excel spreadsheet. If you can do this before you start a blog or know what to write about, it will help you manage your blog finances better.
Keep Detailed Records of Your Blog Expenses
It’s normal to have a long list of expenses in the first years of doing business as a blog. However, you should aim to keep expenses as low as possible.
If you struggle with some of the financial calculations, we recommend you take a look at The Calculator Site to make sure your finances are as accurate as possible. Don’t forget blog expenses such as:
- Domain name
- Web hosting
- WordPress themes
- Plugins like Yoast
- Social media ads
- Paid forums
- Digital ads
- Office expenses
- Travel
Knowing where you spend your money is one of the first steps for managing money tips to help your blog grow financially.
Manage Your Taxes For Your Blog Business
But when you work for yourself, you’ll have to do this work yourself. Now, one way to achieve this is to determine which tax bracket you’re in. Then, figure out how much tax you should be paying, and deduct this from each invoice you’re paid.
You may also encounter unfamiliar tax forms—such as a 1099k tax form for example—depending on how you receive payments. Therefore, it might be worth your while to acclimate yourself to how a blog business is viewed by the IRS.
When you monetize your blog, you will find yourself responsible for paying your taxes and other necessary contributions, such as national insurance.
When you’re employed, your employer will figure out how much tax you owe and deduct this from your wages before paying you.
Alternatively, if you want to lift a weight from your shoulders, you can use the services of an accountant. An accountant can take control of your tax affairs and ensure that you pay the right amount on time.
Hire An Accountant As Your Blog Grows
If you’ve taken our advice on board but you still can’t manage to keep things under control, it may be time to hire an accountant. If your blog business is still growing, you could look for a part-time candidate or even hire someone on a freelance basis.
Once you’ve mastered the basics of financial management, don’t be afraid to continuously expand your knowledge. When it comes to making money, you can never know too much. Similarly, you shouldn’t expect to become a whizz in this area overnight.
Keeping a company profitable takes time and, if you’re new to entrepreneurship, you’re bound to make some mistakes along the way.
In the majority of countries, accountants have to be professionally qualified to legally and officially deal with their accounts. Make sure that your accountant has the necessary qualifications to be recognized by the law before using their services.
Meet Your Deadlines For Money Management Tips To Work
Failing to meet tax return deadlines or other immediate payments can result in larger losses. If you keep up with your obligations, you won’t be forced to pay any fines or unnecessary interest on payments.
And now with the additional IRS agents being hired by the US government, you really want to make sure you get it right!
Therefore, set up dates on your calendar to warn you when the taxes and other bills are due so you are not late with them.
Reduce Operating Costs To Manage Your Finances As A Freelance Blogger
When you work for yourself, you’re going to have operating costs. When you blog as a freelancer, chances are, you’ll be working from home to make money. So, reduce your overheads where possible.
Switch energy providers to find the best deal for your money. Conserve energy where you can, turning off devices you’re not using and lights you aren’t using.
When buying blogging tools to work with, search for the best deals, discount codes, and promotional rates to make your blog the best.
Furthermore, look for deals on plugins for your websites and social media schedulers and hosting. Anytime you can save money freelancing it will help you keep more of what you earn blogging.
However, do remember to make money blogging you have to invest some money and time into it with a self-hosted blog.
Reassess Your Rates for Managing Money Tips To Grow Your Blog
When you first start out blogging, chances are you charge less, as you’re less experienced or may have a smaller readership on your blog. Your blog will need to show up in the search engines to generate traffic. This can take time and/or money to invest in your blog and gain more subscribers.
As time goes on, and you improve your craft, you may want to start charging more for advertising on your blog, advertised blog posts, or other exposure you provide. Reassess your rates regularly to ensure that you’re charging the right amount for your work in your niche.
Of course, one of the big factors is time. Always remember time = money. If you are spending more time doing things for clients, you need to raise the rates or speak with them about what you are doing.
Is your freelance work necessary to get the job done? If so, you need to raise those rates to stay in business.
Some of the rates to raise may include:
- Sponsorships
- Ads
- Ghost Writing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Passive Income
- eBooks
- Courses
- Consultant fees
- Services
Collect Your Invoices To Manage Your Finances As A Freelance Blogger
Be sure you are getting paid as a freelancer. That is a huge step to managing money as a blogger or any freelancer today.
If you can’t collect the money, you may stop providing services to that client. I give my special longtime clients up to 90 days as long as they are in communication with me. It’s best to get 50% upfront if you can.
My blogging friend Donna recently stated:
Hi Lisa
Bloggers, online marketers and others who have businesses online often do a lot of freelance work.
So this is all good advice to keep them on the straight and narrow.
I find it’s especially important to get the deposit AND set a very realistic time schedule.
It’s far better to get the work done AHEAD of schedule than to be late.
Being ahead of schedule is sure to get you repeat assignments, referrals, and great testimonials.
-Donna
Ensure Customers Pay You On Time
More often than not, a seamless cash flow is a solution to a lot of your blog’s financial issues. One of the ways to encourage this is by being strict with payments and ensuring your customers fulfill their invoices on time.
This is one of the top managing money tips for bloggers as you could easily fall behind on your own debts without incoming money. If a client has not paid you, nudge them often but nicely to collect the money for your blogging business.
Oftentimes, your clients won’t mind receiving a reminder call from you.
Your Turn On Managing Money Tips For Blogging
As you can see, there are countless areas that you can focus on when it comes to managing money tips for a freelance blogger. Those outlined above are just a few examples to get you started out in the right direction for you to make money with your blog.
What tips can you add to this blog post in the comments below? I’d love to hear more from you on this topic.
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Keep those rates generous, guys! Once you scale effectively by leveraging, and your targeted audience grows, more customers and clients will pay your higher rates. One billionaire noted how many people have excellent ideas but do a poor job distributing. Get that down, be firm with your premium rates and prices and you will prosper. Excellent post Lisa.
Ryan
Hi Ryan, That is so true but don’t sell yourself short either. I started with rates too low and it’s hard to increase them. But you are right after you get going others will pay you more as you are worth more with the experience behind you. Thanks for your input and have a great day Ryan.
Hi Lisa,
This advice is not for freelance bloggers alone, it can be applied to any business.
Being aware of business operational costs is very important to keep it running and maintained.
And one should be conscious of his financial status in order not to go beyond the limits either in business expenses or other personal responsibilities.
Thanks for sharing, Lisa.
Hi Shamsudeen. You are correct, it can be applied to other freelancers as well. Yes, finding the right balance between finances for business as well as personal is the key to success. Thanks for coming by and make it a great day.
Thanks for the tips, Lisa! It’s indeed important to keep all these in mind to run a blogging business efficiently. One struggle bloggers face is the balance between reducing operating costs and investing in tools that make your work better and get you more results. These tools are not cheap. So it is important to always stay financially aware and keep learning, to make the right budget decisions.
Hi Poulomi, thank you for mentioning the struggle many bloggers face with balance. I face the struggle often but try to remain steady with my marketing investments each month. I love using an excel spreadsheet to keep on top of it all. I appreciate your coming by on this one. Have a great day.