7 Years of Making a Living from the Internet
I quit my full-time job in 2008 and started a blog in the hope that it will help me realize my dream of working for myself. It started off with a bang, making me a good amount in the first month. But soon the launch fever subsided and the audience disappear. So did my savings.
Luckily, I was able to land up some good freelance writing assignments that kept me going. I also tried a lot of other things online in the next two years, made money, lost money and finally went back to my core skill of web publishing by starting Guiding Tech in 2010 which has since then enabled me to make a good and sustainable living online.
Here are some lessons from my journey so far.
Making Money Online is Easy. Making a Living is Hard
Making money online isn’t that difficult these days. It used to be when I started. But things have progressed significantly and now there are more avenues than ever to do it. All you need is a skill… heck, you don’t even need that, you could make money by taking up mundane tasks too.
So pocketing some change using the digital ecosystem isn’t a big deal. However making a living from it is a whole different ballgame. That requires the same amount of effort, persistence and diligence as a full-time job in some firm. Of course, there are perks (work from anywhere, flexibility of timings et al) but do not discount the effort that it takes (at least for the first few years of starting out) to do it sustainably.
Rules of the Game Do Not Change
Just because you can work from anywhere on your laptop and you could sell to the whole world’s audience, it doesn't mean it’s going to be a walk in the park.
The processes are simpler, sure. Tech is your friend, yes. But you still have to build an audience and get them to pay attention to you in this increasingly noisy world. You still need to compete with others to get that client or that customer. Rules of building a business, small or large, stay the same really.
Consistency and Adaptability
Most people are not able to make a long term living online because they are not consistent. They give up too soon. And most people who are consistent and already making a living, fail in the long term because they do not adapt to the changing environment.
I’ve learned this the hard way. As I mentioned earlier, my first site had gained traction early on. But as soon as the traffic plummeted, I started focusing on other short term stuff to make money. I needed the cash but I should have also consistently kept working on my site, something I didn't do. I eventually did that after two years but if I had done that from the get go, I’d have a much bigger site today.
And it seems that I am also learning a lesson in adaptability a little late in life. While Guiding Tech has been going strong and has an audience of almost 2 million people per month, the fact is that content consumption trends have seen major changes in recent years, with video becoming really big. We’ve finally gotten around to working on our YouTube channel, but I spotted this trend late, or should I say started working on this late due to my lack of interest in creating videos (I’ve always been more interested in the publishing side of things). But starting this late has cost me, no doubt.
Not to say that you should jump on every new bandwagon, but identifying trends that can have far-reaching effects on your work and adapting accordingly early on is paramount to your long term survival.
Absolutely Worth Giving a Shot
Yes, one of my biggest lessons is that it’s been worth it and if you’ve been considering using the world wide web to make money or make a living, I urge you to start taking some action. Take that Photoshop class, write that article, create that video, start that blog… seriously, just get started and make use of this incredible opportunity that your parents or grandparents never had.
Bila kalian menyukai artikel ini silahkan tinggalkan komentar.terima kasih atas kunjungannya.