Make money. That is what we are all trying to do, isn’t it?
Whatever your career may be, we are all looking to make more money; whether you are a lawyer, a real estate agent, a policeman, or a mechanic.
If you are looking for ways to make money online, you will not have to look far. There are countless blogs online that focus on making money on the internet. Some are good, some are bad.
Those who are making a lot of money online rarely give good advice about how to do it yourself; either because they are too busy or because they do not want to give away any “Secrets”. The reality is that there is no real secret to making money online. All you need is a good idea and a willingness to work hard to turn your idea into a reality.
Happiness. Photo by Guy Kawasaki
It is easy to put the pursuit of money ahead of everything else and forget that currency is nothing more than a means to an end. It is nothing more than something that enables you need to enjoy the life you truly want.
An Offer of Work
Finding the right balance between work and play is important to your happiness. All the money in the world will not help you if you are overworked, tired, and unhappy. That is why I place a higher priority in my life on lifestyle than money.
I was recently reminded of this.
I got a call two weeks ago about a position that was available for a large internet company based in Glasgow called Equator; a large company with over 100 employees that has clients such as Disney and HTC.
They were interested in me for one of two roles: SEO Manager and SEO Team Leader. The team leader role was more senior as you had to manage a team of people.
I was not searching for a full time job, however the prospect of working for a respectable internet company intrigued me. Despite me having a great knowledge about most aspects of working online, I do not consider myself an SEO expert. Therefore, I would undoubtedly learn a lot in such a role.
From a social aspect, I was keen on working besides people who share my passion for working on the internet. I have been working from home alone for years and I do sometimes wonder if I would be happier if I was working with others every day.
Equator a large digital company that have been operating since 1999.
Last Wednesday, I travelled to the Equator office for an interview with the head of the SEO team and head of the marketing team.
I was really impressed with the company. The two people I met were very nice and it looks like they have created a professional environment that is also fun to work in.
I have no doubt in my mind that I would enjoy working there.
The next day I got a call from the job agency advising me that Equator wanted me back for a second interview.
I declined.
There were a few reasons I made this decision. The first one being money and the second one being how much the job would have affected my lifestyle.
The manager role that they wanted me back to interview for offered £25,000 per year. According to the Salary Calculator, that works out at £77.26 per day. However, when you take off my £7.50 train fare and at least £5 to buy lunch, I would realistically be earning around £65 per day.
It is not a lot of money for someone with my experience and someone of my age. At the moment, I can earn double that amount in just a couple of hours by performing reviews and freelance writing for other blogs. I would effectively be spending three to four times as many hours out my house to earn half as much money.
It just doesn’t make sense financially to take the job, however taking a drop in income is something I was willing to do in the short term if it created more opportunities for me in the long term.
Whilst I pride myself on being someone who works hard, I also greatly value the time I am not working. I was simply not willing to take a job that would ultimately leave me tired, stressed, and unhappy.
Overworking can have a detrimental affect on your life.
Image Copyright: Bark
At the end of the interview last Wednesday, they advised that the working hours were 9 to 5.30pm with an hour break. This is not ideal. I worked in Glasgow for years and always enjoyed flexible working hours that allowed you to work early, work later, and take a longer lunch if necessary.
Sticking to those fixed hours would be a big problem for me because of where the office is based. It takes a ten minute drive and two trains for me to reach their office. My journey to the interview was longer than expected because the delay in my first train caused me to miss my connecting train. Realistically, working in that job would require me leave the house at 7.30am and get home at 7.00pm.
I am used to being able to start earning as soon as I am ready in the morning. If you look at the job as earning around £65 per day and add in the time to commute to my total working hours, I would be earning less than the UK minimum wage.
Getting home so late would mean that I effectively have to give up Brazilian Jiujitsu training as I would arrive home too late to make the classes I go to. It would also mean that I would have to go to the gym to do weight training early in the morning or very late at night.
My initial thought was that I could accept a job with an internet company and top up the lower income by continuing to work on my websites when I am home, however it would be difficult for me to do that. After getting home at 7pm, I would have to eat dinner and then work a couple of hours at night on my own websites.
This was something I did for years in my early 20s as I was trying to establish myself online. I put in the hard work those years so that I could establish myself online doing the thing I loved. I therefore have little incentive to work such a long tiring schedule again.
It did not take me long to realise that I would not be happy if I took the job and that declining their offer was the best thing for me to do.
Life is for Living
I have been making a living on the internet for so long that is sometimes easy to forget how lucky I am.
I am lucky enough that I can fit work around my life; not the other way around.
I am lucky enough that I can do additional work when I need more money for a holiday.
In July I returned to Martial Arts after a long absence.
Exercise and martial arts are a big part of my life and not being able to train the way that I do now would have made me unhappy. Likewise, commuting every day in crappy weather is something that would have slowly drove me crazy.
I love working online. I love exercising. I love doing martial arts. And I love travelling. Working online allows me to do everything I love. Working in a job that is far from my home means making sacrifices.
We all come to a crossroads in our lives every few years. If you are considering taking on a job that requires you to work excessive hours or requires you to spend a lot of time commuting, take a step back and ask yourself whether it is worth it. Ask yourself whether your lifestyle will be negatively affected.
Ultimately, your happiness is more important than your bank balance, so find a rewarding job that pays the bills be sure to devote time to the important things in life.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
That equivalent day rate and long working hours are pretty poor so I understand why you turned it down.
I’m in a bit of a similar position where I feel like I might want to re-enter the workplace and learn some new skills, do something a bit more varied or team-oriented.
But when you compare it to the perks of remote freelancing, such as location independence, better hourly rate, freedom, it’s hard to take making the switch seriously.
As you say, freelancing or working online is far from perfect, but its not a bad gig.
What if the day rate had been more than you are able to earn now, but you still had to do the long shifts? Would you have been more tempted?
If they’d offered 2-3 days home working a week, would you’ve been more interested?
A part-time role might be a good compromise, as you can still top up your earnings with your own projects, but get the benefits of a regular job. Although decent part-time roles seem to be few and far between.
Joe
Hey Joe.
I definitely would have been more interested if the money was better because I wouldn’t have had to top up my income from working on my websites. I could have instead hired freelancers to help update my blog and I would have had more free time. Therefore, my lifestyle wouldn’t have been affected so much.
Two or three days working there would have been manageable too as it would have allowed me to work through everything else on the other days of the week. The thing is, whilst a part time job is perfect for my current situation, it is obviously not going to help me long term within the company with regards to moving upwards into higher paying positions.
Long term, I feel that working on my own projects is going to be better for me.
Kevin
Kevin, I cannot tell you how much I have been both motivated and inspired reading this article. I have been right where you described, so, so, SO many times with trying to decide whether or not to go for instant gratification (get an outside job) or to stick with my gut and go with my passions (blogging, writing). Even though building an online business can be long, tedious work, the results from your labor are so much sweeter than the alternative, which is simply trading time for money. There are some days that are more difficult than others, but just to know that I’m doing this for my future benefit makes me want to hang in there longer. Although that instant check does look good from time to time (!), I have to always keep things in perspective. Again, THANK YOU for such an inspiring, honest but objective post that has conveyed some of the things that online entrepreneurs frequently face. This was so appreciated by me!!
Thanks for the kind words Bridget.
When I write an article such as this, a part of me is writing it for myself. It’s like therapy. So it is always pleasing when fellow bloggers and internet marketers can relate to my predicaments.
I think there is a lot of bullcrap that floats around within the internet marketing world that makes what we do to be the perfect job with no drawbacks. It most certainly is not. However, the job is very rewarding and if you work hard it can be good financially too.
I suppose the moral of the story is that the grass is not always greener on the other side 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the post.
Kevin
Excellent article – I loved the way you broke down your time vs the salary – I think it’s something that is overlooked quite often when we think we’re being paid well for a ‘job’. Best wishes, Jayne.
Thanks Jayne. I think you need to look at things like that when you are moving from being self employed to full employment.
As the old saying goes, time is money.
Great article, Kevin. I like how you really weighed the pros and cons here. I would give my right arm to be able to work as a blogger/freelance writer from home…for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Although my passion is not martial arts, I share your same sentiments about my home & family. It kills me that my son has to sit around after school for 2 hours everyday waiting until I get off work so I can pick him up. Looking forward to the day when my side hustles become full-time work. Thanks for the reminders & inspiration!
Thanks Mary. Yeah it is sometimes easy for me to forget how flexible my job is and how helpful that flexibility is.