You Have To Work Hard — But the Hard Work Is Worth It
When I was fifteen, I did what many young and inexperienced teens do — I fantasized and idealized getting a summer job and earning extra dough. I imagined getting on as a server at the local pizza joint — scrounging up tips and stuffing my pockets with cash. Or if that didn’t work, I jumped up and down with excitement at the prospect of commandering the front desk of our local library(a career choice that never fully transpired into a job even after advanced college studies). But as passionate as I was about finding my first job, my first several attempts were unsuccessful.
The summer before my sophomore year of high school was the most dismal. I got turned down from detassling because during the interview, I mentioned I would be gone for a week on family vacation. I turned in my application at the pizza shop, but never heard back. The library had already hired their summer help. So, I ventured in to the city hall to see if they needed help at the local pool. They had also hired all of their help for the season. However, there were still openings for construction of the new pool.
“Are you sure you would want to try that though, you’d have to work hard?” The clerk said. I looked at the application, handed it back and said thank you before walking out. My fantasies of finding a job had not taken into account how difficult the job search itself would be. My brainstorming for part-time gigs did not include highly demanding jobs I knew were beyond my ability.
I learned very quickly, earning money is hard work.
Yeah, often someone can have some very lucky or serendipitous exceptions like winning the lottery, scoring a big inheritance from an unknown relative, or having a job or project pay huge dividends.
But for a great deal of the time, earning money is hard work. And remember that hard work plus the larger complex movements of numerous other economic variables brought about any money that suddenly came from the sky to begin with.
Now, someone can certainly work harder for extra money and it is refreshing that the sky is the limit for opportunities to earn income.
Yes, the sky is certainly the limit for money-making opportunities. You can put out a lemonade stand and earn enough money to go to summer camp or start an online bundt cake shop that brings in six figures a year. But it’s easy to forget, earning money is hard work.
Now, there is even the reality of passive income where you earn money from investments, dividends, high-yield savings accounts, or numerous other streams.
But somewhere in the picture, the energy, work, time, and drive to yield the passive income was anything but passive. Think if someone invests a large sum of cash in a low-interest government bond paying regular dividends. A large enough principal investment would offer someone a nice steady income stream where they would never have to touch the principal. But in the case of government investments, it is mainly taxpayer funds or other public-generated revenue that covers the bond’s interest. So much of the bond-holder’s passive income is being provided by a percentage of the factory worker’s income, a levy imposed on even the most modest of homeowners, or a flat rate for every piece of merchandise bought by the everyday consumer. In case of investors who see their stock investments skyrocket over the course of months or years, companys’ financial values are built in great part on the back of countless workers’ sweat and labor plus customers’ paying their hard-earned money for the cost of goods or services.
Hard work, hard work all around.
But what about these new online and social media platforms? I hear people make some good money on those. The sky’s certainly the limit there, right?
Well, yes the social media and internet platforms that have developed the last few decades bring countless new unbounded opportunities. But again, a key element is going to be hard work. Remember, making money in the niche markets has traditionally been super tough. Much of the toughness has remained a constant.
It is good to know that Medium averages about $15 per 1,000 views(according to one writer Russell Lim’s experience). This was where they were before many Medium upgrades like cut publications or changes in the money-earning model. And top writers can earn even more than this with more internal views plus higher metrics for reader engagement. It seems like many writers make twice or three times the average. In many respects, this is a relatively significant amount of green. Compare and contrast this with other platforms and you will see Medium is consistently in the upper range for total revenue.
Let’s not take away the savvy from other platforms. Social media platforms like Facebook pay about $3 to start per 1,000 views, while Youtube videographers can boast $18 or more per 1,000 views. With many video or social media platforms, stars who find advertising endorsements can make even more dough. And we often don’t even hear about other internet or social media hustles anymore, like those who earn big bucks trading merchandise on Ebay. Or remember Etsy? Well, Etsy producers and sellers average about $45,000 or more per year(with some bringing in that amount per month)!
But remember, each of these platforms require hard work as a key ingredient. Remember the demand of writing platforms. Whether on Medium, Wattpad, Substack, or countless other platforms, aspiring writers must give great energy, time, effort, care, and commitment to craft engaging works. Then, they must keep with the process of producing new works to bring writers back. In particular, Medium stars attest to many critical and difficult steps involved with drafting top articles. These include producing content that is engaging and relatable, working titles and subheadings that lure in editors as well as readers, and incorporating images and other media to beef up pieces. Yes, earning income on writing platforms is hard work indeed.
My teenage job search ultimately yielded fruitful results. I ended up landing a job at the local grocery store where I worked throughout high school, college, and then full-time through my late 20s. Though I have yet to take on the challenge of writing online for cash, from what I hear persistence and full heart are also key ingredients for making it big here. As is hard work.
But hard work is not necessarily a tough, brutal ingredient. The difficulties and challenges of any endeavor are what make the journey more rewarding and worthwhile. As the saying goes, “it doesn’t get easier, you just get better.” Soon, I imagine writers are so skilled and savvy at stroking butter through online platforms’ churns that it is like the master pianist effortlessly performing a selective concerto.
And they also say that if you do something you absolutely love for a living, you will not have to work a single day in your life. Having found positions myself that allow for wonderful learning opportunities plus amazing chances to make a difference, from my point of view I can attest to this being true for the most part. But even if you are able to make a living doing what you love so that the “tough work” part fades away, are there not also red herrings that come with this ideal? We also hear about the demands and pressures that keep those fortunate “bliss-followers” from fully doing what they love. “I just want to write my heart out,” we might hear a top Medium writer say, “but I have to worry every day about these stats, feedback and criticism from other top writers, and constant challenges to keep readers coming back.” All the while, they have reached the rare milestone of having their online writing yield enough income to raise their whole standard of living.
So we are back at the unavoidable ingredient of hard work. Whether you are able to make it as an online writer with all the hard work and persistence plus the rare opportunity to pursue a profession and endeavor that you love, or whether you are like me and just dabble in online writing for the fun of it, the greatest rewards gathered from the hard journey are indeed priceless. And isn’t what is priceless and immeasurable what truly makes all of the hard work worth it?
