How Long Can You Keep Working For Free?
Writing may not be cutting it
Is the writing side hustle paying off for the work involved?
Most people who start out writing or those who pick it up later usually will expect not to earn much money from it for some time. It is not a get rich quick method or even a regular paycheck for most people. Some may get very lucky and start earning thousands almost immediately, but most are not that fortunate.
If you have been trying for a year or two or more without any success, it might be time to reconsider your methods. Are you basically working for free? Are you able to sustain that effort?
If you are a young person who is trying to earn money to pay for bills or to make your side hustle with Medium turn into a full-time income, you may not be able to continue working for free (or basically free if you are making very little money from your writing).
If you are an old person who has ample funds and does not need any extra money, you can keep working for free as long as you want. If you enjoy what you are doing, the money you are not earning will not matter.
If, however, you are an old person who does need a little extra money each month or who wants to avoid having to use all your retirement funds, maybe you cannot keep working for free.
A few very successful people who are involved with writing have talked about paying someone else for content creation. That is something that can only be done if there is success and earnings are high. They also mention the possibility of being a content creator for someone else and being paid to write under another person’s name. That might be a possibility.
If you are not making much money and are consistently working hard at Medium, it might be time to reevaluate what is happening.
Burk wrote a good article about how he makes money online. His main way that he touted was Medium. He said that he was a “German kid that has never been confident and proficient in English” but now is making money writing in English. He credits Shelby Church and Tim Denning with bringing him to Medium. He says he is making money by Repetition and Consistency.
There are plenty of people writing about Medium and how well they are doing on the platform. There are lots of people who are successful and are earning good sums of money on Medium.
It is possible. If you can hang in there and get along without money for what could be a fairly long period of time, it may be well worth the effort.
