Numbers Tracking For Spreadsheet-Phobic Writers

Easy Free Spreadsheet (no email required)

Gabriel Klingman
2 min readDec 4, 2024

“That can’t be possible…”

The words slipped out of his mouth as we both stared at my laptop screen, neither of us breathing.

Last week over coffee, I watched an entrepreneur’s excitement crumble in real time. Here’s what happened — and why it matters for every writer building a business.

I’ve known this entrepreneur for three years.

He’s smart. Experienced. Successful (or so I thought).

As we sat down, he couldn’t contain his excitement about his new business. The sales were flowing. Customers loved the product. Everything seemed perfect.

But something felt off.

Even though I didn’t know his industry, his price point seemed suspiciously low for the quality he described. Despite his reassurance that he was “rolling in the dough,” I couldn’t shake the feeling….

So I did what any friend would do: I pulled out my laptop.

“I just want to run some napkin math,” I said, opening a quick spreadsheet.

Two minute later… It happened.

We both stared at the screen in silence. His excitement… Evaporated.

We were staring at red on the sheet…

Turns out, he was losing $3 on every single sale...

This… was awkward.

This guy is brilliant at creating products people love. But like many creatives (myself included), he had a blind spot: the numbers.

I get it. As a creative, we…

  • Love the art of creating?
  • Eyes glaze over at spreadsheets?
  • Avoid looking at numbers?

But after 7 years in business, I’ve learned a hard truth: If you want to build a sustainable business around your creativity, you need to track your numbers.

The Only Numbers That Actually Matter

Here’s the good news: You don’t need to track hundreds of metrics.

For creators building an audience (especially writers), you only need to focus on a few key numbers:

  • Growth rate
  • Engagement metrics
  • Conversion rates
  • Revenue per subscriber

These numbers tell you:

  • What’s working
  • What’s not
  • Where to focus
  • When to pivot

From 35 to 5,800

I’ve used this approach to grow my Medium following from 35 to over 5,800 readers, and my email list from 0 to over 1,200 subscribers.

One simple tracking sheet that I update weekly (this is a google sheet — no email required).

It’s not fancy. It’s not complicated. But it works.

And I’m here to help you.

Enjoy

If you’re a non-fiction writer who’s struggling to make money, you’re in the right place.

Building a business and being great at writing are two different skills.

I send out an (almost) daily email with business and productivity tips for writers.

Click here to join Writerpreneur.

Ps. This resource was sent to my email list 3 months ago. If you want resources like this sent directly to your inbox, Click here to join Writerpreneur.

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Gabriel Klingman
Gabriel Klingman

Written by Gabriel Klingman

Ops Manager for Capitalism.com. In March, I wrote 70k words in 7 days. Follow to learn the business of writing.

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