Doesn’t that massive plate of Korean food look yummy? But there’s no way you could possibly get through all that food at once, which is why there’s a handy bowl of rice at each place setting. It helps keep the meal in perspective and forces you to eat like a civilized person–a few small bites at a time from the rice bowl.
Ingenious, eh? You recognize when you’re getting full much sooner when you’re stopping and starting as opposed to one continuous shovel-fest.
What’s all that got to do with freelance jobs, making money online and earning a living from your writing?Like the Korean place setting pictured above, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger says you should make your freelance goals more bite sized. And I agree. The first step to doing this is to actually set some goals. How much do you want to make from your freelance work? Rowse had one freelancer pull an arbitrary figure of $30 thousand per year. Sounds great, right? But break it all down and 30K per year works out to a whopping (n0t) $3.42 an hour.
I hear you saying it now. “Why don’t I just go work at Starbucks?”
Why indeed?
Rowse points out that a little over $8o per day is all you need to earn that 30K. What he doesn’t mention–because he was staying on topic with his theme “How to make 30K per year as a blogger”–is that maybe you should reconsider your goals if they are TOO SMALL. $3.42 per hour? I know MY time is worth much more than that, how about yours?
The Rowse post is great because it does make earning a living from your blog seem far more achievable. But I’d add two additional cents to what’s already been written–beware of undervaluing your time. True, a lot of blogs aren’t worth more than three bucks per hour, but if you are confident in your material you should consider ratcheting up those goals as soon as it is apparent that you’re capable of doing more.
Rest on your laurels? Not in this business…just look at how Darren Rowse himself continually redefines his work on the web over time. He does not get caught up in how fabulous his blog is, he just keeps working at it to make it better than it was yesterday. A good example to follow, if you ask me.
–Joe Wallace