{"id":860,"date":"2008-10-28T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2008-10-28T17:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/28\/should-you-try-to-make-money\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T02:58:39","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T09:58:39","slug":"should-you-try-to-make-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/28\/should-you-try-to-make-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Try to Make Money?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost everyone is an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 If you create something original, you\u2019re an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether that medium is music or software, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00c2\u00a0 A big question for a creator of any kind is whether to keep a passion as a hobby, or try to use it to make an income.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t used to be this way.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a clear dividing line between hobbies and work.\u00c2\u00a0 Technology has made it possible for small-time artists to blur this line.\u00c2\u00a0 Bloggers, amateur designers and basement programmers have been able to make a decent living pursuing a hobby, the question is: should you do it?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Your Choice<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not going to discuss the problem of whether artists should be allowed <\/em>to make money off their work.\u00c2\u00a0 I think the answer is a definite yes.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyone who has spent hundreds of hours working on a project can attest that money certainly isn\u2019t everything, or even the most important thing.\u00c2\u00a0 However, by putting in all of that work, you should be able to choose your reward for success, whether it is money, praise or change in the world.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the decision to go pro needs to be made on an individual basis.\u00c2\u00a0 Some people can really enjoy turning a pastime into a business.\u00c2\u00a0 For other people, it will just be an overhead nightmare, sucking the joy out of an activity you once loved.<\/p>\n

Making Money and Creating Art Aren\u2019t The Same Thing<\/h2>\n

Typically, successful independent software developers don\u2019t spend most their time developing software.\u00c2\u00a0 Profitable developers often spend only about 30-40% of their time actually writing code.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of the most successful developers spend less than 10%.\u00c2\u00a0 For this website, only about 30% of my time is spent writing.<\/p>\n

As soon as you start trying to make money, you introduce overhead.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u2019ve found that the most successful micro-entrepreneurs, spend the largest chunk of their time on marketing.\u00c2\u00a0 Generally, you don\u2019t spend time on marketing if you aren\u2019t trying to make money.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t like the business activities, don\u2019t try to make money.\u00c2\u00a0 With few exceptions, making money isn\u2019t just a process you can slap onto a hobby.\u00c2\u00a0 It takes serious consideration, and often occupies more of your time than the actual creating.<\/p>\n

The flip side of this is, of course, by turning a hobby into a money maker, you might be able to quit your job.\u00c2\u00a0 This can end up giving you more time to create because, while you\u2019ve added overhead, the extra income means you don\u2019t need to spend time working somewhere else.<\/p>\n

I enjoy doing the overhead work and business-creation at least as much as I enjoy writing.\u00c2\u00a0 But this is my preference, not everyone’s.<\/p>\n

Money Can Kill The Joy<\/h2>\n

I stopped freelance writing in August.\u00c2\u00a0 Although I enjoyed writing for direct payment more than any other job I\u2019ve had, it wasn\u2019t as fun as writing for free, or writing for this website.\u00c2\u00a0 I enjoy writing a lot more when I know that I\u2019m not going to be paid a cent for finishing an article or book.<\/p>\n

When you directly exchange your time or efforts for money, it\u2019s easy to lose some of the joy.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, instead of being a fun, voluntary activity, it becomes work.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u2019ve found that working indirectly for money by building a business (instead of per article or per deliverable) helps this problem.<\/p>\n

Some Hobbies Aren\u2019t Good for Making Money<\/h2>\n

Just because you like your paintings, that doesn\u2019t mean people want to buy them.\u00c2\u00a0 A hard lesson to learn for any micro-entrepreneur is that people don\u2019t want what you\u2019re selling.\u00c2\u00a0 If your reason to go pro is the dream of watching thousand dollar payments roll in while you sit back and relax, stop fantasizing.<\/p>\n

Why Making Money is Good<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve just presented a few arguments for why any amateurs should think hard before starting to earn money.\u00c2\u00a0 But, there are also many reasons to go pro other than greed.<\/p>\n

More Professional Projects<\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re limited to your own volunteer activities, and the help of whoever you can trick into working for free, you\u2019re weaknesses will always show up in the final result.\u00c2\u00a0 If you\u2019re a great programmer, but lousy interface designer, your software will be hard to use.<\/p>\n

Earning money from a project can give you the resources to make it better.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of having to do everything yourself, you can focus on your strengths and hire people to do what you can\u2019t.\u00c2\u00a0 Revenues can allow you to improve what you have to offer to the world.<\/p>\n

Work on a Bigger Challenge<\/h2>\n

Earning money gives a very specific, measurable goal.\u00c2\u00a0 When your goal is more abstract, it can be harder to focus on it.\u00c2\u00a0 Earning money for me is a huge motivator, not because I really desire the extra cash, but because it turns a vague, open-ended task into a concrete and challenging goal.<\/p>\n

Quit Your Day Job<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve never understood how some people live double-lives.\u00c2\u00a0 They spend the majority of their day working jobs they either tolerate or actively dislike, to spend their off-hours working on satisfying projects to give away for free.\u00c2\u00a0 There are valid reasons for this, and I mentioned a few of them above.<\/p>\n

However, why does their need to be a split?\u00c2\u00a0 Why should the activity that gives you meaning and passion in life be separated off from the activity that earns you money.\u00c2\u00a0 It would be like eating all your food in two different meals: one which has no nutrients, but flavor and another that fills you up, but tastes like cardboard.<\/p>\n

All or Nothing<\/h2>\n

I’m of the opinion that pursuits to earn money should be an all-or-nothing approach.\u00c2\u00a0 Either you keep it an amateur effort, free of overhead and customer service, or you work to build it into something meaningful.\u00c2\u00a0 There are two big reasons for this:<\/p>\n

Most micro-businesses take a lot of work to reach decent income levels.\u00c2\u00a0 I probably earn about $50 per hour based on my monthly income and earnings per month (although it varies considerably).\u00c2\u00a0 When I started, it was probably about $0.04 per hour.\u00c2\u00a0 Although you don’t need to start at such a low level, exponential scaling is important.\u00c2\u00a0 Putting in half the effort might only give a tenth of the results.<\/p>\n

Second, the potentially corrupting factors of money occur no matter how much is involved.\u00c2\u00a0 Hobbies become work whether you’re paid $0.10 per hour or $1000.\u00c2\u00a0 The business overhead of earning money tends to be all-or-nothing.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts: make money or keep it a hobby?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost everyone is an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 If you create something original, you\u2019re an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether that medium is music or software, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00c2\u00a0 A big question for a creator of any kind is whether to keep a passion as a hobby, or try to use it to make an income. It didn\u2019t used to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,683],"tags":[221,229,69,228,115,230,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business","7":"category-nc-career","8":"tag-aonc","9":"tag-artists","10":"tag-entrepreneurship","11":"tag-hobby","12":"tag-money","13":"tag-stealing","14":"tag-ugwy","15":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould You Try to Make Money? - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/28\/should-you-try-to-make-money\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should You Try to Make Money? - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Almost everyone is an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 If you create something original, you\u2019re an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether that medium is music or software, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00c2\u00a0 A big question for a creator of any kind is whether to keep a passion as a hobby, or try to use it to make an income. 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