The Money Making Theorem: How to Set Income Goals So You Can Earn $1000+ Extra Each Month - What Mommy Does (2024)

I have secret to tell you. It relates to your relationship with money.

This isn’t something I see many people talking about online. Actually, there aren’t many people who talk about making money online in the first place. And the ones who do don’t really cover this topic.

What I am about to tell you in the post will change the way you look at making money for the rest of your life if you let it. Here we go…..

The ability to earn extra money starts with a mindset, not necessarily a skill set.

What do I mean? Let me explain.

The money-earning mindset is this:

Ever heard of the way you eat an elephant? ONE BITE AT A TIME.

You can achieve any extra income goalas long as you start with a realistic goaland then set incrementally higher goals along the way.

You achieve big money-related goals the same way you eat an elephant – one bite at a time!

Earning extra money is not a mystery…..to people who are willing to put in the hard work.Figuring out exactly what you should do to make money takes time at first….you have to figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it after all…..but once you have crossedthe initial income goal you set for yourself, you have all the experience that went into achieving that goal to build on and reach a second goal. And the next goal you surpass will give you more experience and knowledge so you meet your third goal. And so on.

The best part about all of this is that each subsequent goal will be easier to achieve, even though it is bigger than the last, because you have so much experience, momentum, and efficiencies going for you.

To help explain this mindset, I came up with what I call Lena’s money making theorem.It’s been at the back of my mind for years, and I think about it every time I hear a friend say, “I can’t afford that.” This is the first time I thought to put it on paper (or on my blog).

“I can’t afford that.” That phrase is so limiting!

I eliminated “I can’t” from my vocabulary long ago, and frankly it gets me into a bit of trouble. Because I don’t say “I can’t,” I get into situations where I think in limitless terms while others around me think of their limitations and focus on circ*mstances.

Related Reading:How to Start a Blog the Right Way(includes a special just formy readers)

Self-imposed limitations breed negativity, and someone with a big goal to achieve doesn’t have time for negativity!

I thought about writing this into an e-book and charging for it, but then I realized I want it to go farther than that. I don’t want to charge anyone for this if it can help them overcome a limiting mindset and go for their dreams.

Here it is – my money making theory. It’s the first skill I believe anyone needs to take charge of their financial destiny. It’s not a traditional skill in terms of something you use every day; rather, it’s a mindset.

Let me explain with a word problem (I was horrible atthose in school…can’t believe I’m using one here!) 🙂

The Money Making Theorem:(Goal x Hard Work x Time)

Here’s how you solve for it:

Reasonable Goal x Hard Work Over Time = First Achieved Goal

First Achieved Goal x More Hard Work Over Time = Second Achieved Goal

Second Achieved Goal x Smarter Hard Work** = Third Achieved Goal*

*Third Achieved Goal = at least 8 times the First Achieved Goal

**Smarter Hard Work = Hard Work with the benefit of knowledge gained

Real Life Example of a Path to Earning $1000 Extra Starting with a $100 Goal

Let’s put some numbers and a real example to this.

Let’s say your initial income goal is $100 per month, and your chosen method of earning money is as an English tutor.

Goal #1: $100 Extra per Month

You do some research and determine most tutors charge $25 per hour, but you feel your experience is not as good as some, so you charge $20 per hour. You advertise by placing flyers in the neighborhood mailboxes and spreading the word to all your family and friends. You find two students to tutor once a week each, and their parents pay you $20 each session for a total of $40 per week. You rejoice because you realized you make $160 per month, exceeding your extra income goal of $100 per month.

Goal #2: $400 Extra per Month

You feel like you can easily handle more tutoring jobs, so you pound the pavement looking for more students to tutor. In a month’s time, you are able to round up 3 more students for one hour a week each, which means you now earn $20*5 = $100 per week. That’s $400 per month!

Now you’re really starting to see potential in this venture. You put in a good bit of effort on the front end securing those clients, but now you’re able to work 1 hour per day and pocket an extra $400 per month.

Goal #3: $800 Moreper Month

Now you’re in your third month and your students are starting to see the results of your work with them. Their grades are improving, and three of them refer other friends to you for tutoring. In the meantime, 2 more people find you because they held onto the fliers you distributed in the two months prior. Luckily, you are able to schedule your tutoring work so you’re working 2 hours per day, doing 10 tutoring sessions per week. You are now earning $800 extra per month with little additional effort.

You realize you might lose some of your original clients in a few months, and you seem to have no problem landing tutoring jobs, so you decide any future students you take on will be at $25 per hour.

In month 5, you lose your first 5 clients only to replace them with 5 more in the exact same tutoring spots, only this time you’re charging $25 per hour. You are now earning ($20*5*4) + ($25*5*4) = $400 +$500 = $900 per month!

You’re starting to form a waitlist! SATs and college applications are approaching soon, and many parents are starting to worry that their children are lagging behind. You now find yourself tutoring 10 teenagers each week with 8 more on your waiting list at all times. All this without advertising any more – this is just word of mouth from the great job you’re doing.

Exponential Earnings: $100 Turns into $1000

It’s month 6 and you’ve now replaced the second set of 5 students with 5 new students paying $25 per hour. You are now making $1000 extra every month, working only 2 hours per day.

You look at the numbers and your brain starts spinning….how far can you take this thing?

See how this all worked out? If you had started out with a goal of $1,000 per month, knowing you could at most earn $20 per hour, you would have possibly stopped at the thought of 50 tutoring sessions per month. That sounds like a lot!

As you went along, you realized that getting to $1,000 wouldn’t take TEN TIMES the effort it took to get to $100. By the $1,000 mark, you were charging more. And you were also not having to put in as much effort into advertising as word of mouth was plenty to keep your business running.

Notice how this equation requires all three major elements: a GOAL / TIME / HARD WORK.

If you remove any one of those from the equation, the outcome probably wouldn’t be the same. If you didn’t have a goal, you might have settled for something less than you deserved. If you didn’t give it time and quit early on (or worse, even before you started!), you wouldn’t have achieved the $1,000 per month mark. And if you hadn’t worked hard, your students wouldn’t have gotten good grades, and the word of mouth clients wouldn’t have come your way.

How to Apply This Theorem to Your Life

Despite the outline of a $1,000 journey above, $1000 might seem like a lofty goal to some. If it sounds too much for you (or if you don’t need that much extra each month), then start smaller.

There’s nothing wrong with starting with an ultimate goal of making $200 per month. If that’s what you can envision yourself earning, then go for it.

The point here is that you should set a goal. Any goal. Even if your realistic goal is $100 but your pie-in-the-sky goal is $1,000. Even if your ultimate goal is $200 and you start with $20.

That’s how I built up my blogging business from a $100 per month venture to a real home business that earns over $9,000 a month (January earnings, income report on the way). By starting with small goals and taking the wins as I went along. Making newfound knowledge work for me so I could ultimately work less yet earn more.

Do you think you can apply this money-making theorem to your situation? Give me your ideas! Set your goals in the comments below so I can keep you accountable and so you’ll have a place to return to update us all on your progress.

Good luck!

As my example above shows, money-making ideas don’t have to be glamorous. With hard work, you can turn ANY marketable skill into a money-making plan.

If you are trying to figure out what you could do to earn extra cash, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What do you like to do?

2. What are you good at?

3. What are people willing to pay for?

Once more, in a more visual format:

Your Awesome Money Making Idea

Find something that fits all three of those criteria, and you’ll find the perfect money making idea(s) for you!

Take a few moments to sit down with a pen and paper, and list those three requirements on a piece of paper. What services/products/business ideas stand out to you?

As a neat exercise, I tried to come up with 100ways to earn $1,000 moreevery month. Here are all of my ideas. After you finish the exercise on your own, glance over this list for some ideas that perhaps you hadn’t thought of. Remember, you don’t have to start with the $1,000 goal. Start smaller, give it time, and work your way up to that! And after you hit $1,000 per month….just think of what your next goal could be! 🙂

The List of 100+ Ways to Make Extra Money!

100+ Ways to Make Extra Money