It’s easy to say “I am going to earn $70,000 this year.” But it’s harder to do it. I used to just take assignments and cash checks without really setting goals or tracking income. But I have found that my income dramatically increases when I am working towards a tangible number. Last week we talked about how to set your 2014 income goal and today I wanted to talk about how to use this number every day to increase your income.

Here are five steps to achieving your 2014 income goal:

1. Determine Your Monthly Income Goal – This part is easy. Take your yearly income goal and divide it by 12. This is the amount that you need to earn each month. Since my goal is $70,000, I will need to earn $5,833 each month.
2. Then Break it Down By Week – Next, divide your monthly goal by 4. Yes, I know that some months have five business weeks in them and others are holiday weeks. But I have found that using four gives a good average. My target weekly income is $1,458. This means that in order to meet my goal, I will need to average this amount each week. Some weeks I know I will earn more and some weeks I will earn less. Some writers I know will break it down even further to how much they need to earn each day, but that is too much accounting for me.
3. Keep Track of Your Earnings – Since I like to set goals that I can control, I count my earnings when I submit the assignment to the brand or editor instead of when I get the money. Yes, it can take weeks or months to get the money, but this way I get to count my efforts towards my goal right away. I used to keep track of my earnings in my head (I told you that I am not a math and accounting person), but I have now moved to using a simple spreadsheet.
4. Make Adjustments as Necessary – Life happens. Kids get sick. You get sick. Family emergencies arise. And you take much deserved vacations. Since you are your own boss, you can also make adjustments to your monthly goal when you need to take time off to tend to other things. This past May, my father-in-law suddenly died of a heart attack. To take the pressure off myself, I lowered my monthly goal for June and July and then increased it for the fall to help make up the difference. I also love to travel and will do the same thing when I take two weeks off each year for our big vacation.
5. Increase Your Marketing When You are Behind – Fast forward to this year. So far this month, I am nowhere near earning $1,458 a week. I took most of December off to hang out with my kids who were off school and have been taking care of sick kids this month. But because I know my target, I know that I am currently behind and unless work begins falling out of the sky, I will not meet my goal for January. So have begun contact my current clients to pitch work and also find some new clients. By knowing where I am in reference to my goal, I can make adjustments to my marketing efforts before I get to the end of the year and come up short.

How do you track your income and make sure you are on track for achieving your 2014 income goal?