Finance Update: June Edition
A financial recap of my 4th month of #runemployment
It’s July! Which means we are officially halfway through the year (where has 2017 gone?) and 4 months into my #runemployment journey. As always, a quick reminder from The Path to Profitability on my key financial milestones:
- Milestone #1 = Make $1 [COMPLETE!]
- Milestone #2 = Breakeven (make $2,500/mo) [IN PROGRESS]
- Milestone #3 = Turn a profit (>$2,500/mo) [ON HOLD]
June by the $s
TOTAL FOR JUNE = $1,476.17 from the following sources:
- €1,000 in Prize Money ($1,142.40 USD). I was fortunate enough to start the month with an unexpected victory at the Cork City Marathon. I still haven’t gotten the paperwork to wire this money (I imagine it takes some time for the $$$ to travel across the Atlantic), but I know (hope?) it’s coming!
- $221.35 from Patreon. Patreon has continued to provide a fantastic channel to connect with the most loyal Mocko Show fans. The reported earnings do not include the processing fees (~5%) and Patreon’s fee (~7%), but this will be the easiest number to report on a monthly basis. Still need to figure out how I’m going to establish “rewards” tiers for this platform to incentivize more activity — any suggestions?
- $87.45 from YouTube. A bit of a down month for The Mocko Show after halting productions for almost two weeks in the middle of the month. As hard as it may be at times to continue to produce interesting content, I need to challenge myself to output videos on a more regular cadence. My goal for July: 3 videos a week!
- $24.97 from AdSense. My YouTube hiatus was accompanied by a break from blogging as well. Again, I would like to push myself to keep generating content — these two channels are my best opportunities for sharing my story and connecting with the ultra community! Frustrated with the number of ads that took over my website, I updated my settings so that readers would not be quite as overwhelmed by banner ads — I hope this makes the site more usable! I also had my site hacked last month (the first sign that I’ve really made it?), so please shoot me a note if you notice anything funky going on!
- $37.50 from Mocko Show merchandise. The Mocko Show hats were a big success and there’s been huge demand for the bright green trucker hats. After printing and shipping costs it’s not going to represent a huge revenue stream, but I’m more interested to get Mocko Show merch in the hands/on the heads of as many runners as possible than turning a profit. If you’re interested in a hat, let me know ASAP before I place my next order (email me at [mocko at mockoshow dot com])!
Some Big News: Sponsorship!
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last two weeks, you may have missed the BIG announcement — I am officially a sponsored Nike Trail Athlete! ICYMI:
This is a hugely validating step in my path to building a sustainable career in running and I could not be happier to be working with a company that’s built such an incredible reputation in athletics. It also doesn’t hurt that I actually prefer wearing their products (I rocked the Wildhorse 3s in last year’s Western States, well before a Nike contract was even a consideration). I’m still filling out the paperwork to finalize the contract so there won’t be any direct financial impact for another month or two, but a guaranteed base salary and the opportunity for race bonuses will have a significant impact on my path to profitability. More details to come in the months ahead, but suffice it to say that I AM EXCITED!
Four months down, (hopefully) plenty more to go
Here’s how I’ve fared over the first four months:
$400 in March
+ $1.59 in April
+ $5,433.17 in May
+ $1,476.17 in June
= $7,310.93 in 4 months ($2,689.07 behind breakeven goal)
The Nike contract should give me the boost I need to breakeven before the end of the year, but I’ll continue to push myself to grow other revenue streams to make this “running thing” sustainable even after my competitive racing days are over.
One Final Thought
I have received a bit of criticism in talking about my finances and making it sound that my running escapades are strictly about turning a profit. That could not be further from the truth. If making money was my goal, I would never have left my tech job nor traded my stock options for a couple free pairs of running shoes. I’m not here for the money, I’m here because I LOVE running more than ANYTHING in the world (yes, even Costco muffins) and making a buck or two while doing what I love is just syrup on the pancake. However, I no longer want to treat this runemployment as merely a vacation before I deplete my savings and I’m forced to return to a more traditional form of employment. I want sustainability, I want to save for retirement, heck I’d even like to own a house in the not-too-distant future (anyone aware of affordable housing in the Colorado mountains?). And that’s where the prize money, the Nike contract, and the experiments with YouTube, blogging and merchandising come into play. I can only hope that sharing my story with the world will inspire each and every one of you to take a similar leap of faith and follow your passions! Do what you love, love what you do!
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