Why The Job-ification of Your Passion Can be the Ticket to Hating Your Life
[Note: I'll be writing a series of future posts on financing your freedom. If you'd like a free 15-minute consultation with me on the topic, enter your email address on this page and then drop me a line at claycollins (at) gmail (dot) com]
photo by Leo London
About two months ago I wrote about how I’d quit my job and was going for broke. I’m happy to report that since then, things are going better than ever. I’m making more than I ever have before, I have unprecedented levels of free time and flexibility, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
But I’ve talked to enough people going through similar situations to know that I’ve had some really lucky breaks, and that some of my circumstances aren’t easily repeatable. So I’ve written this post to address some of the most frequent problems people face when trying to fund their freedom and liberate themselves from traditional work environments.
Let’s get started.
One of the most damaging myths perpetuated by our society is . . .
The Myth that if You Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow
There is this insane myth in our culture that if you do what you love, the money will naturally follow. It’s one of those deceptive half truths that often leads to humiliation.
The reality, however, is much more like this: if you’re dedicated, disciplined, and smart, and willing to make short-term sacrifices for long term gains, AND you fundamentally understand how money is made (i.e. and the ins and outs of successful business models and the business models of your competitors), then there’s a good probability that, if you’re selective about what you do, you can turn your passion into a money making venture. Whew.
This isn’t always the case, but it usually is. There are always . . .
Exceptions to the Rule
Some people are lucky in love. They marry their high school sweethearts, have beautiful children, rarely fight with their spouse, and rarely question their relationships.
Other people are lucky in business. They start businesses in their garage with friends and end up developing that business over the next 30 years and becoming billionaires.
For many of us, financial freedom and success takes us a little more work, but the payoff can still be huge. We just have to face . . .
The Problems Associated with Doing What We Love
Here are two common problems you might face when trying to make a living doing what they love . . .
1.—You make very little per hour and have to work 16+ hours per day in order to make ends meet. Working that hard makes you hate your life.
2.—A market exists for what you do, but you don’t know jack about how to get paying customers.
Another problem is that . . .
Many People Don’t Have the Guts to Make Money Doing What They Love
Most people’s passions make them feel good about themselves. If you’re good at painting, for example, then it’s likely that you receive lots of social validation from others regarding your painting. Your job might suck, but at least you feel fulfilled as a painter.
So what happens if you try to become a professional painter and fail at that? What happens if you have to make more paintings just to make ends meet and the quality of your paintings suffer? What happens if you fail as a professional artist?
If you fail at job-ifying your passion then it’s likely that you’ve lost a large (in some cases, the largest) source of your self-esteem. And most people don’t want to risk that.
If you try and fail at job-ifying your passion, then one of the greatest sources of your energy and self worth may start making you feel like shit.
That’s why . . .
Making Money Doing What you Love Takes Lots of Guts
Lots. It takes more guts than making money doing something that you hate. It takes more guts than making no money at all. It takes putting yourself out there and being willing to fail at something that used to make you feel like a million bucks.
It requires you to stand up for the value of the services or products that you provide and have a backbone. It requires you to actually believe that people should pay you well and asserting your value directly or indirectly.
And if that’s not enough, you’ll have to deal with the fact that . . .
Cognitive Dissonance Can Mean Death to Your Passion
In a classic 1959 psychological experiment, it was shown that people are more likely to find intrinsic motivation for tasks which they are paid very little. When people are are paid more to perform a task, however, they attribute motivation for performing the task to the high monetary reward. They report enjoying the same task less because, in their minds, they are doing it for the money.
And this makes sense. If, for example, you are an unpaid blogger then there’s a good chance you love blogging enough to do it for little or no pay. If, however, you’re a paid blogger and are obligated to blog in exchange for the money you receive, then you’ll likely enjoy it less. After all, it’s your job.
One solution is to . . .
Business-ify Your Passion Instead of Job-ifying It
The small business people have been talking about this ever since The E-Myth Revisited was published.
But here’s what you need to know: if your business doesn’t run without you, then you don’t own a business. You own a job. And believe me, very few people like their job.
When you business-ify your passion instead of job-ifying it (i.e. when you create a business that runs without you), then you free up the time, energy, and creative resources necessary to actually be passionate about the heart and soul of your business (see here for more about how to do this).
This is why, with few exceptions, the people I know who have funded their freedom, who are making it on their own doing what they love, actually geek out on business and business processes. So if you’re trying to fund your freedom, you’ll need to learn to geek out on the processes by which money is made. You need to learn to enjoy business and marketing on some level.
For example, if you love blogging, but don’t love internet marketing, then the chances of you making it as a blogger are slim (that’s just the odds; there are notable exceptions). If you love business and fundamentally understand the processes by which money is made on the internet, and then start a blog, then your chances of making it as a professional blogger are much, much, better.
But perhaps the #1 thing holding you back from making money doing what you love is . . .
Your Pursuit of Soft Opportunities
If you don’t understand the place of “soft opportunities,” then you’ll ensure that you never get to leave your day job (or that you’ll have to go back to it).
What are Soft Opportunities?
Soft opportunities are opportunities for future opportunities. They are opportunities for potential opportunities. They are (often) opportunities to boost your ego that don’t also boost your bottom line. Soft opportunities are usually social opportunities. They are ego opportunities. They don’t put money in your pocket.
As an example, I’d like to talk about . . .
How Aspiring Professional Bloggers are Getting Killed by Soft Opportunities
In my view, soft opportunities are the #1 reason why aspiring professional bloggers never make it. As you read this, look for parallels to your business (or your future business) — chances are good that the parallels are many.
Let me first lay the groundwork by saying this:
If you don’t know how to make money selling other people’s products or services, then you’ll probably have a difficult time selling your own products and services. Likewise, bloggers who don’t know how to make money online without a blog will probably have a difficult time making money online with a blog (most people who really know how to make money online aren’t wasting their time with continual content production because the return on investment is so low. There are exceptions).
(My advice is that any aspiring professional blogger should learn to create information products, do kick ass affiliate marketing, and learn how to build a list).
Ok, so because many bloggers don’t fundamentally understand internet business models, they end up wasting heaps of time and energy on “soft opportunities.”
For example . . .
- When you spend countless hours trying to hit the Digg front page but don’t have a specific plan for converting the traffic into $$$, then you are wasting precious time and energy on a soft opportunity. You might get a rush when you get all that traffic, but 6 months down the line all that time and effort will likely seem irrelevant.
- If you spend lots of time networking with other bloggers with similar subscriber counts, when you should be instead be working on a business plan, then you may be wasting time on soft opportunities. Note: if you want to become an a-list blogger, talk to other a-list bloggers, not your peers. (I’m not saying talking to your friends is a waste of time, just don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re doing productive networking when you’re not).
- When you are blogging to promote your service-based business and get clients, then your blog is probably a soft opportunity that is generating almost no clients for you (blogs are one of the least effective ways to get high-paying clients for your service business; there are some exceptions).
The fact is, people obsess about their traffic, about subscriber counts, their twitter followers, and technorati rankings. But if you want to make it as a professional blogger, there’s there’s one number you should be paying attention to above all others: your bottom line.
All of this advice doesn’t just apply to bloggers: many new business owners are too concerned about getting publicity, working on branding, creating ads with big pictures of themselves, and networking, than they are about creating direct and immediate opportunities to create income. Because publicity, networking, etc. make us FEEL good, and make us feel like we’re making progress (until our mortgage payment is due and we realize that all that publicity and networking made us little money).
It’s not that money is the most important thing, but . . .
If you Don’t Have a Laser Beam Focus on Making Money, then Your Dream Job or Business Has an Expiration Date
I’m not saying you should become a greedy scrooge. I’m not saying you should become obsessed.
I am saying that you should have your priorities on straight. I am saying that you should . . .
Find Overlap Between Your Passion and a Proven and Repeatable Business Model
Before you set off trying to make money doing what you love, find the highest leverage way to business-ify your passion.
For example, if you’re passionate about antique furniture restoration, realize that a blog about furniture restoration might be a horrible way to make money. Maybe the best way would be to create a set of DVDs on furniture restoration and sell that?
If you want to eventually sell those DVDs, but feel that blogging is a great way to get started, then you’d be wise to first investigate whether or not blogs are a good venue for selling information products (my own research suggests that, with a few exceptions, blogs are one of the WORST platforms for selling your own e-books and other information products).
Finding this overlap requires you to . . .
Do Some Business Model Research Up Front
Blogging isn’t a business model. Selling things isn’t a business model. Neither is making music, painting, giving massages, or creating information products.
So the first thing you need to do if you want to successfully business-ify your passion is to find the best possible business model and then find out how much money others are making using that business model.
For example, if you want to be a professional self-development blogger, don’t find out how much John Chow, Brian Clark, or Darren Rowse make, find out how much Jay White makes (note: Jay White still has a day job). Or find out how much Leo Babauta makes (even when he had around 30k subscribers, Leo still had a day job), because it’s entirely possible that these blogs make only $30,000 per year. No one really knows (wouldn’t it suck to do all the necessary work, only to find out that the best performing business models don’t yield enough income to allow you to support your family?).
So here’s the take-home: find a business model that can facilitate the business-ification of your passion, then find others who have successfully executed that business model. Research how many hours they spend on their business and how much money that yields. If you’re not willing to work similar hours for a comparable income, then start looking for a different business model. Especially if you don’t think you’re as savvy or skilled as the person running the businesses that you’ve researched.
Closing Thoughts
In this post, I’ve diverted from the usual topics to talk about money. Because freedom can’t come unless you get the money thing handled (in one way or another). Period. I hope this has been of some help.
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Derek Ralston said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
Thought-provoking post. I like your no-fluff, common sense approach to doing what you love. There is a definitely a business side of things that has to be understood and made priority if you want to successfully follow your passion as a full-time career. I think the misconception comes because there are a few people that follow their passion without focus on money, and end up making good money along the way. For example, I started a videogame website in high school and didn’t really have a goal of making money, I just wanted free games to review. But the site ended up making good money along the way… And I don’t know if it would have if I would have been more focused on making money. Anyway I think your approach is more repeatable (=
Andre Kibbe said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
Awesome post. I’ve always rolled my eyes at the “Do what you love [without actively monetizing it], the money will follow” maxim that was probably coined by a liberal arts major on the NEA dole when that was still an option. Asset-leveraged income (which sometimes goes under the “passive income” misnomer) is definitely a better model than ass-in-seat time.
Productizing expertize in a skill set is more scalable than cranking out blog post every day, but blogging is still a great way to build a personal brand for list and lead generation. Thanks for reminding us that popularity doesn’t pay the mortgage.
melissa pierce said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
well… good post Clay, I ‘m glad you veered off topic brcause this isn’t something that has been discuss which has I’m sure been on many of your readers minds. And as I sit here watching the musicians at Vans Warped Tour it hits home that in order to survive doing what you love perseverance and a real perspective.
Michael Martine said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Absolutely, totally, spot-on wonderful! Except for one point:
There are quite a few exceptions, I’m afraid. I realize that one statement isn’t the point of your post, but I’m curious what information you have to back that up. I can point you to many business people who use their blog effectively to get clients, including myself.
But about people job-ifying instead of business-ifying, or even having the guts to any of it, you’re dead on. A lot of people need to hear something that cuts through the happy la-la crap out there.
Michael Moniz said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
This is a great post.
To work on success we have to take risks. Sometimes we are so scared of the risks we never even get on the path to success.
With that said, I love how you mention how soft opportunities can distract us from what we really want. I have a friend who spend so much time on trying to get high on rankings but never thinking about building subscribers or better yet, having good content.
It is all what you focus on. We need to go after our dreams and make sure the steps we take are truly leading us there.
Mary@GoodlifeZen said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
One of the problmes is that people often don’t like us making money. I was recently talking to one of my subscribers at goodlifezen.com who I know in the flesh, so to speak. I told him that I need to make some money out of that blog. He was quite offended and said that people won’t like that.
I must say I felt a flash of anger but said reasonably calmly:
“I put hours and hours into that blog each week. Can people reasonably expect that I’ll do that just for fun instead of earning an income?”
Lisa @Holistic-Treatment-for-Depression.com said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 7:32 pm
This is a great post. You point out how easy it is to slip into the soft opportunities, and even something like blogging, which feels like “business” can be simply soft opportunity unless it directly creates a flow of income.
Good business advice for those seriously committed to living an authentic, financially-free life.
Laura Roeder said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Really smart post, this would have been a great resource when I started my business! I think many focus on things like blogging or marketing because there is no outright rejection or failure. Asking someone to buy from you is a much scarier prospect.
Dave Navarro said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 8:04 pm
Ain’t that the truth. It’s scary to have your greatest strength picked apart by the masses … but it’s also a great way to push yourself to make it stronger.
Again, that’s a bulls-eye. If I hadn’t spent a few years in the trenches of internet marketing, I wouldn’t have a fraction of the understanding I’ve needed to make my blog turn a solid profit.
Glad you put that caveat there. I’d definitely say there are exceptions - because of my blogging, I’ve been able to push my rates for writing farther and farther up due to exposure/authority. But I’ve always planned my blog around doing that, so that goes back to what you were saying earlier.
Could you elaborate? My sales on my products have gone way up since I started blogging - in fact, my blog audience is tons more responsive than my mailing list.
Hella good article, Clay. Hella good.
Success Professor said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
Excellent post. Worth the Digg! :)
I’ve recently moved my blog from a complete hobby (where I just posted for a few people), to trying to create a growing hobby (where the number of readers jumps.) I have always seen the idea of moving it to a business model as a third stage which I would move to once I had a decent readership. Perhaps I have been wrong. Currently I have a couple of ways of generating income through the blog, but perhaps I need to move to new models sooner, rather than later.
What are your thoughts? Do you monitize your blog on day one, or do you build the readership a little and then add in ways of making money?
Kelly@SHE-POWER said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 8:30 pm
Amazing article, Clay. So much information there. I think I’m going to have to sit on it a bit to take it all in.
I do agree though about the soft opportunities sucking up blogger’s time and delivering very little reward. I currently have no monetary plan for my blog, it’s more about connection and entrenching my writer’s voice and getting my fiction out there for some feedback while I slog away at my novel. So I have never gone for the Digg goal or focused on marketing because there would be no pay off for the time. What does it matter?
But I will admit that so many other people do this that sometimes I doubt myself and think should I read my stats and write to popularity? Should I hone a niche? Strategize for taking over social media? It’s funny how being different to the crowd can make you doubt yourself.
And I have never heard that study before about low paid jobs versus high paid jobs, but it actually makes sense. In my marketing days in between backpacking trips I would sometimes do temp client service and admin for rent money or even a lower level marketing rle until a management position came up.
The thing was I like the creativity of marketing, but often I was happier doing the low paid jobs. Maybe because I didn’t think of them as ‘real’. They were a means to the end so I still felt free. When I’d get a career job I’d end up hating it and resent the money as a noose around my neck. I thought I was just weird, being a bit of a un-materialistic nomad and all. But maybe I’m not.
This is your best article for awhile. Thank you, and I’m glad things are working out well for you.
Kelly
Tim Brownson said,
Wrote on August 1, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
“The Myth that if You Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow”
That indeed maybe a myth, but this isn’t: If You Do What You Love, Happiness Will Follow.
Who cares about money as long as you have your basic needs met if you’re happy?
Coming from somebody that earned well over $100k and was miserable to earning less than $20k the following year and being happy, I know where I’d rather be.
People chase money because they think it will make them happy, whereas if they just ‘chased’ happiness in the first place money becomes way less important. And your job NEVER equals your identity and anybody that thinks it does, is in big trouble.
PS My business doesn’t run without me, I guess I must have a job. It’s a nice one though ;-)
Dot H. said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 3:24 am
As I always say, the problem is that beachcombing just doesn’t pay that well. :-) This sounds like a great plan for someone about to take the jump into a business of their own. Myself, I’ve always hated selling and marketing, so I guess my blog will not end up being a business. Since I started it as a way of expressing myself and using my writing skills, that’s okay with me. For some reason, the word “business” has always made me shudder. Fear of success, perhaps, or maybe just fear of such a large level of risk.
Angell said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 6:49 am
Yep - one of your best posts ever there. Its opened my eyes to a lot of home truths about my own “business”. Anyway - I need to go find/research some business models…
now - how do I do that exactly???
Mary@GoodlifeZen said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 8:00 am
Lovely article, Clay
But I don’t agree.
My sense is that passion is a great indicator for talent. So, if you follow your passion, you’re likely to develop a strong natural gift…which usually leads to success.
Brian Clark said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 9:23 am
Clay, I think I told you when we met in Chicago that I knew you were going to make it. This post just shows your understanding is truly there… great work.
But I will chime in with Michael and Dave to say that content marketing has been the best way to score clients online since well before blogging. My guess is that some bloggers get too caught up in blogging for other bloggers instead of content marketing to their prospects.
The real question is, do you want clients? I jumped out of that rat race three years ago, and I ain’t going back. :-)
Shooter Gunderson said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 9:35 am
Wonderful post! I had a breakthrough: I realize I need to write something called “5 no brainers that took 10 years to learn”
Clay Collins said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 11:09 am
@Michael: Thanks for the really good feedback and comments. It’s great to have you here.
Regarding that one point, I can elaborate. I personally don’t know a single consultant or whatever who makes more than $60k consulting per year (I know plenty who’ve made more than $5k in a month, but not consistently over the course of a year) because of jobs gained through their blog, and who also doesn’t have to work a day job as well.
Clay Collins said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 11:23 am
@Dave: Thanks for the constructive comments and the positive feedback. Yeah, I can elaborate a little.
When you don’t have the burden of creating new original content you have the time to focus on really nailing your adwords campaign, really nailing the copy with split tests, nailing the offer with split tests, kicking ass with your SEO, and focusing on conversion, conversion, conversion. From what I can tell, bloggers really don’t have the time to do this. And blogs aren’t really designed to do this.
Also, if I’m going to create a service (or sell a product), I’d rather create a site that’s designed from the ground up to sell that service, to elicit the one response of selling the service. Blogs are difficult because the reader’s attention can go to too many places.
Finally, blogs are social spaces and they tend to activate the social parts of the brain more than other online places. And people (in my experience) seem to be MUCH LESS willing to buy services in chatty, conversational, and social contexts.
You mention that your blog subscribers are much more responsive than the people on your list? How so? And are they more responsive on a percentage basis? Personally, I’d rather have 5k people on a list than 10k RSS subscribers. Email auto responders allow you to reuse content and set up sequences based courses (as you know), and they really allow you to nail the copy. I’d rather spend a month really nailing the copy on an email “course” that I can reuse, than churn out post after post on a blog.
There’s a reason why the big MMO people (except Brian Clark and Yaro (who seems to have a blog so he can sell to bloggers on MMO ideas)) don’t really use blogs. Guess what Jeff Walker, Eben Pagan, John Carleton, Frank Kern, etc. pay VERY little attention to? Their blogs. They pay MUCH more attention to their lists. In fact, their blogs are like the LAST thing they want you to see (they’d rather get your email address from a sqeeze page in exchange for an email address and then send you heaps of great information through an auto responder). For the post part, when these people use their blogs, they use them as a content management system and don’t really seem to expect to get RSS subscribers.
I think this is for one simple reason: blogs don’t allow you to carefully craft and control the customer experience.
Clay Collins said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 11:44 am
@Brian: Thanks for the huge complement. It means a lot. Thanks also for stopping by.
I completely and 100% agree that content marketing (or information marketing) is THE BEST way to get clients. And no :-), I don’t want clients per se (I have a couple really good ones and don’t want to take any more right now because I prefer selling products to selling my time).
So content marketing is a great way to go, but are blogs really the best way to do content marketing? Like, for the average person? In my comment to Dave I make the argument that they aren’t.
Stories like yours are really inspiring. And I don’t think I’m going back either :-)
And I think you’re totally right about bloggers writing for other bloggers or to “their audience” (as far as I can tell, a good copywriter would NEVER refer to readers as “my loyal audience” or “dear reader(s)” or whatever). I also think that writing the majority of your content for social media is a huge mistake if you’re trying to sell your own products (the social media strategy seems to do well for affiliate marketing).
You’ve been doing this much longer than I have and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this comment and my comment to Dave.
Clay Collins said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 12:05 pm
@Mary: Great to see you in the comments.
Yeah, I think there are a lot of people who, for some reason, don’t want bloggers to make money. And most of us never will if we’re just selling page views (as Brian Clark has said, I think).
Michael Martine said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
Clay, thanks for the response. Believe it or not, I don’t have an email list for Remarkablogger. I get a lot of client inquiries that begin with: “I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now, and…” My SEO kicks ass. I am on the first page of SERPs for my keywords with the 3rd and 4th listings.
The whole thing I’m going to be teaching in my Gateway Blogging program is what Brian mentioned: blogging for the right people, with the right content. Most people get this wrong, but it’s not blogging itself that is to blame. A blog is the shallow lip of the sales funnel.
However, I am going to move into information products to give me more flexibility with my time. Your breakdown of the money was dead on.
Looking forward to the rest of this series. :)
Kirsten said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
Great article, a lot of down-to-earth smarts here to help balance the idealism of following a dream. I’m re-evaluating my process and passions these days, and your insights have given me much to think about.
Greg Gardner said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
Clay,
I’ve never had the courage to admit to myself that this was in fact a myth. Noone wants to admit it because it sounds so ideologically correct. Thank you for being brave enough to admit it. Thanks also for explaining how you think it might really work.
Greg
Lawren Smith said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
I want to thank you for your insightful article. I have told people in the past about the importance of having a business that allows you to earn more but work less. Many of them say that this is not possible, but I say it is. I don’t see the point in starting a business just so you can have another job. In that case, why not stick to the job you have. Many people who own a business that works them to death, end up leaving and returning to a job.
I think people want the rewards of having their own business, in particular, a home business, the rewards include freedom and lifestyle, but they forget the hard work and the skills that are required to run a business. The skills I am speaking of are skills in marketing, sells, and communication. Then of course their is the other skill, which you mention, making and managing money.
Thank you for sharing…
chris said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
“The Myth that if You Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow”
This definitely a myth in my case because I love to teach but the money is still not following. I think you like you said, luck sometimes need to be involved. Even professional athelets or artist don’t quite make it because while some are very talented, they haven’t been lucky enough.
“Note: if you want to become an a-list blogger, talk to other a-list bloggers, not your peers.”
Is this an open invitation that I can correspond with you as my mentor? :)
Like Kelly said, this is one of your best post by far. It’s even more special because I didn’t expect a post like this comming from you since it carries a different theme. You’ve really shown your great range with this post.
Victoria Pickering said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
Thanks for writing this - it is a great instruction manual about how to be a practical dreamer, combining passion with common sense. To me, the best line is “if your business doesn’t run without you, then you don’t own a business. You own a job.” Owning a job can be wonderful, but does not provide the freedom for much else, since there is no way to leverage your time if you are the core of the business. The distinction between owning a business and owning a job is something that is critical to recognize during the process of creating and running a business.
Lance said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Great post Clay. I think a big thing can be taking that leap of faith,and really believing in yourself (even when others don’t). Guts! And then all the nuts and bolts that go along with making it happen and succeed. Well-written!
Crystal said,
Wrote on August 2, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
Wow Clay, right on time. I’ve been debating lately on whether or not I’m better suited for a job lifestyle or an independent work lifestyle, and after reading your post I A-ha’d that the answer is: Both!
Now, what that means…I don’t know. I’m going to explore a hybrid of the two. Maybe it means working for a contract hut that hires me out to different places, but serves as my home base. Maybe it means telecommuting and reporting to a team/supervisor, so I have the structure (and the regular paycheck) but still have flexibility in my daily schedule. We’ll see.
Blogging has been great fun and I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it, but as you so eloquently said, it’s far more fun and I’m much more effective when I don’t have to earn money with it.
Thanks so much for the clarification. You covered a lot of ground in this pos, and it was all worth the walkthrough.
Buckets of blessings,
Crystal
Daniel Richard said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 12:01 am
That’s something worth thinking about for the week. :)
James Hall said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 2:10 am
(Warning: longwinded & essentially meaningless comment follows!)
Right on Clay!
This shows what my experience hasn’t been yet but when I do have that experience it will (taking an educated guess here) be a pretty close match to what you must have had…
or you could not have blogged about it so impeccably.
“The E Myth” was a disappointment for me because it’s basically a manual for franchising and creating flawless turnkey operations. “We all” (probably) know Macdonalds stopped selling burgers back in ‘54 and totally deep-ended into the fledgling “sizzle” market a la the 50’s Disneyfication-of-the-World business model (justcan’tcount ‘em anymore- billions sold daily). “We all” now (probably) know Walt smoked up but “we all” are not too sure if all this materialistic output “we-all’re” staggering under wasn’t possibly crack pipe generated from the git go (not to finger Walt as a dope fiend or dis Mickey here).
Now psych ops is a good strat to employ in wars and I suppose since nowadays business is war in both the way it - daily drives men apart & campaigns to poorhouse the “enemy” while it historically has initiated most of the real “hot” ones (with the unending help of religion of course).
Clay, products isn’t what I ever planned or even faintly imagined I ever wanted to be doing but in this 2008 postmodernburger “business climate” that “weall’re” all glob-ally sweating swearshop thru now thanks to Reganomics (talk ’bout glowball warming! - still can’t find no 1lb. Haspel suit to wash & wear in all this 100% pysch-ops humidity b.s. going on night and day!).
Having “all” endlessly been thru “that” - idiot proofing of a business stuff, everywhere you go now - thing, should be a strong clue for folks (who aren’t dead yet) on how “The E Myth” is “mything”. Though to be fair here (& not just slightly less then savagely critical then I initially intended) - “other people” can “E Myth” on automatic (w/o getting out of their cars) now thru mindlessly duplicating, copying, mimicing, playacting, plain sheer idea-thefting, not bainstorning etc. etc. without having to put out for the initial sex/creativity thing. Sort of a money without the sex thing where you can peacefully indulge without the painful pillow talk aftermath fiasco.
In other words, business & a pleasureable life/career/jobber (the kind that should give one’s life a tiny little shred of joy in an otherwise hopeless situation) aren’t a happily cohabitable couple - ever. I’ve never heard anyone say that full time work is full time bliss or that once married - lived happily ever after…
Yet these are the myths we live by & delude & gorge ourselves on while our “real” lives peter out before it’s far too late to “get one” (without having to pay for it, so exwhorbanetly*). So I’d op-positionally defy the herd-instink here yet again & wisdomgripe: better to face up to the uttermost in total disappointments and accept gratefully all the bitterest of soul destroying rejections, welcoming them from all everywhere always - and not to ever, ever give in to not getting our own way (we never do for very long anyway though we never stop trying to). Now that would be a really worthwhile thing to do and it would really “work”…………….. but the cost of getting into something that fresh well…
But don’t worry Clay! I’m not gonna do it, I’m just a lazy ass blogger (who’s gotta go to bed now cause I gotta go to work in a couple hours instead of midddle o’the night bloggin like a damn fool!)
j-
*check spelling could be wrong
Vicky H said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 7:56 am
Clay, this is a great reminder to all bloggers who do it because it is there passion! When your passion becomes a job or is overwhelming, does it effect your passion? If yes, this can be detremental because your readers will probably be able to tell if it’s becoming a chore.
I’m pondering this over the weekend… Great points.
Vicky H
Emily said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 11:05 am
Very cool post. I’ve always thought about how “do what you love and the money will follow” is stupid and deceiving. I love playing cello and doing photography, but there’s no guarantee that if I quit my day job, those hobbies will all the sudden start making me enough money to survive. It’s a little too idealistic, and takes a lot of work, which I’m really glad you pointed out.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 11:17 am
“The Myth that if You Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow”
I agree with you that this does not always happen. I once bought into this myth and created a wonderful business that crashed about 2.7 years later. Yet I needed to follow that myth to learn a big lesson. I am a founder, a starter and a creator not a maintainer. Thus coaching with its project focus has been a perfect fit for me.
Yet I also agree with Tim. Happiness first is the surer route to freedom. When we make everything dependent on the money what happens when we miss? I’m sure you know folks who have the money and the happiness did not follow whether they were doing what they love or not.
You are right when you say that list-building and info-product sales is the key to not trading time for money. That of course is where true freedom is found, when we have an ongoing stream without additional time invested.
I enjoyed this post and the comments. Good show Clay.
Clay Collins said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 2:10 pm
@Tom and @Tim: I hope this article didn’t imply that you can’t make money doing what you love. You can! The key and VERY hard part is to find a way that your passion (or thing that makes you happy) intersects with a viable business model. But I truly believe that there’s always a way to make good money doing what you love. It just takes a lot of up front research.
Colleen said,
Wrote on August 4, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
Very interesting post. I have to say, though I (like many others) would love to make money online, I currently fall into the ‘don’t know how’ category.
I do know how to write, though, and could definitely create a decent info-product. Can people seriously make money $7 at a time for a .pdf of some sought-after info?
How exciting!
The Financial Philosopher said,
Wrote on August 5, 2008 @ 9:44 am
Clay,
This post is strong but I would be careful how you use the word, “freedom.”
Where people make mistakes is thinking that “do what you love” brings freedom. It’s because social conventions like to use that word. Freedom is liberating and romantic but it is also deceptive…
Let’s say an aspiring blogger becomes financially successful and decides to make blogging their single source of income. The blogger is “free” or liberated from their 9-5 job but now they MUST BLOG or their source of income diminishes or disappears. Is this “freedom?” Will the “passion” for blogging stay the same when it is chained by financial demands?
While it is virtuous to “do what you love,” the perspective changes when you MUST do it for an end other than the enjoyment of doing it…
I suggest you “do what you love” only if you are willing to do it for free (notice that “for free” connotes “no money”). If money follows, then great. If not, nothing should change. Once money becomes attached to a passion, then the passion is bound by the money, and we can only be free if we are free from the desire for the money…
“Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.” ~ Epictetus
“You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness.” ~ Robert Frost
“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” ~ William Faulkner
Thanks for provoking thought…
Kent (The Financial Philosopher)
Jonathan Mead said,
Wrote on August 7, 2008 @ 10:33 am
Clay, I didn’t realize when you posted about “project liberation” you had just quit your job. I thought you were always a bum (kidding of course).
Ben said,
Wrote on August 7, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Thanks for this article. I’ve kind of lost the focus on people who really matter and looked at how other people, which do stuff totally unrelated to my goal, do. I’m now going to look at my “heroes” and see how they do it.
Duff said,
Wrote on August 8, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Great post, Clay. My last business failed because of this:
That said, there is a kind of joy that can come from doing your passion on a regular basis, and if you don’t enjoy business, well then you’re kinda stuck with either a) learn to enjoy business or b) be a service worker, perhaps making a fairly decent hourly wage because of some specialized skill (massage, music, coaching, consulting, etc.).
I guess you could also hire or work with someone who’s great at the business end too!
Guin White said,
Wrote on August 10, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Fantastic post. I have one suggestion. You recommend “If you’re not willing to work similar hours for a comparable income, then start looking for a different business model.”
Often it’s not the amount of time or energy one puts into a business that makes it successful, it’s the quality of those efforts.
My husband and I ran a small cafe for 8 years. The first three we were open 7 days a week, no less than 16 hours a day. Well, needless to say, after those three years we were exhausted — and our success was limited (I attribute that to being too available, open too many hours and the service providers — us — being tapped, drained, both emotionally and physically).
We actually closed the doors for about 2 months and retooled. And when we reopened, we were open no more than 5 days a week and no more than 8 hours a day.
Well, we were hugely successful, easily doubled our income by making ourselves less available and allowing ourselves to recharge.
We ended up selling the business and moving to a popular resort destination. I have a full-time job now and my husband is trying to break into the screenwriting market — he’s incredibly talented, hard-working. Talk about a difficult business model to crack. But again, it’s a completely new and foreign, so we’re back where we started with a new ‘business’. Ahhhh, such is life. :) And ain’t it sweet?
Andrea Hess|Empowered Soul said,
Wrote on August 11, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
This was an awesome article, Clay! As someone who DOES make her living online (and blogging is just a part of that …), I have to say that I adore working ON my business as much as I like working IN my business.
Plenty of people love doing their work, but not building their business - and that’s where the problems arise, I think. Often, dealing with the business aspect sucks the joy right out of self-employment.
If we do what we love, and also love building a business around it - THEN the money will follow.
Blessings,
Andrea
Pamela Slim said,
Wrote on August 14, 2008 @ 2:04 am
Great, great post Clay! This is my first time visiting and I immediately added you to my blogroll. I love your philosophy, style and approach.
I actually came here via a Twitter referral since I am writing my book (Escape from Cubicle Nation) and was asking for examples of common concerns about “do what you love, the money will follow.”
Your assessment is spot on, and definitely mirrors my experience.
The only thing I would say, in accordance with some other commenters, is that blogging can be a great way to get service biz — with the caveat that it has to be a part of an overall marketing strategy, and, as Brian was saying, linked to content that your target audience finds exceptionally useful.
I get all my coaching and workshop clients through my blog (in fact, I don’t do any other marketing), and almost without exception, by the time they reach out to me in a “sales prospect” context, they are already sold because they feel like they know me from my writing. It is very cool that way — saves a lot of haggling, and it makes me feel really great about the time I do spend blogging (which is admittedly a lot).
I look forward to reading more, and sharing more with my readers.
All the best,
-Pam
Paul | Compare Generics said,
Wrote on August 15, 2008 @ 4:45 am
So true, Clay! “Show me the money” like in Jerry Maguire. A friend of mine is running his small ecommerce business selling niche jewelry. 40-60 visits per day. $2000-3000 profit a month. Business model+power of focus+consistency. This is all you need.
It is also true that instead of adding effort it is sometimes better to change type of actions you take and increase your time efficiency.
Chris Edgar said,
Wrote on August 15, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
Thanks for this insightful post. I could definitely have benefited from more knowledge of Internet advertising before launching my blog, which I did mostly to unleash my creative energies.
The most pressing question for me has been how many compromises I’m willing to make in my blog’s content. My natural writing voice and method of conveying content don’t usually lend themselves to titles like “Top ___ Ways You Can Get [Money/Productivity] Today” and “[Celebrity]’s Tips for [Succeeding At Some Activity].” Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with people who write that way, but it’s never been a natural fit for me. I’ve struggled with whether that’s a sacrifice I’ll need to make for business purposes. My current answer is no.
Neil Keleheer said,
Wrote on August 15, 2008 @ 11:41 pm
Hi Clay, it’s been a while since I’ve visited and I really like the changes. It feels like you’ve found your voice. I also enjoyed reading this article.
When trying to make money doing what you love I think that one of the most important things is picking something that you love that benefits people or affects them in some way. As an example, the Google boys were doing what they loved by trying to make it easier for people to find information on the internet. I also read about a teenager making millions because she started providing my space backdrops for her friends. When doing what you love affects other people in a positive way then chances are that you’ve got a way of making money from doing what you love.
On another note, you talked about turning doing what you love into a job and the dangers of that. I experienced the same thing when I started trying to do art as a way of making money as opposed to doing art for arts sake. You can make a lot of money selling art but the key is when you are doing the art that you want to sell you focus on doing the art. That’s when the art becomes beautiful, because it is an expression of ourselves. If we are focused on the money we will make selling our painting while trying to paint or draw then the picture will be less than beautiful. It will lack that special something that would make it into art. So if you want to do what you love for money, the trick is to keep doing what you love and stay focused on doing what you love while you are doing it. Rather than thinking “I’ve gotta go to work now to pay the bills…” instead “I’m getting to do something I love…”
Working for yourself (or for someone else) isn’t a bad thing. It can be but it doesn’t have to be. It is an option. Just like running your own business is. If the overall goal is a life you love, where you get to do what you love to do, then working for yourself or owning a business are two possibilities that depending on what you love doing may both have benefits.
What if you have a job where you love the people you work with and everything else? What if you job pays you to do what you love and pays you well? Then you may already be living a life you love and don’t need a 4 hour work week.
If you are working for yourself and love all the things that you have to do, even if what you own is a job but you enjoy your life they you are probably doing alright. But if you don’t like working all of that time, and you don’t love what you do, then you might need to start changing things.
The question we might want to ask is why we want a four hour work week. So we have more time to do the things that you love? What are the things that we would love to do? What are the things that we don’t love that are in your life? Replace the ideas of what you don’t like with ideas of what we would like instead. Then we can look for ways to make our dream life come true.
That’s what I think anyway.
Like most of the other comments up above mine I thought this was an excellent article. Look forward to hearing more
Neil (guess I’d better subscribe, oh I am, guess I’d better read my subscription)
Neil Keleher said,
Wrote on August 15, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
Just saw a comment about “freedom.” Another definition of freedom is knowing what the possibilities are and being able to choose freely from among them. In this case the key is knowing what is truly possible, not what you think is possible but what is actually possible. We can be free in any situation imaginable if we can see what the limits of our current situation really are. In this case freedom is seeing what choices we really have and not being limited by what we think of believe.
ZaggedEdge said,
Wrote on August 17, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
I manage clothing lines for action sports companies. Why should anyone give up their dreams?
Bert and John Jacobs from Life Is Good didn’t have an easy time doing it– but their slogan is still “Do what you like, like what you do” and they bring in $100m a year.
Sheila said,
Wrote on August 19, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
Hey Clay,
I want a free 15 minute consultation.
This is a great article. I also think it’s important people realize the risks they are taking when they “business-fy” their passion. It’s easy to spend endless hours on our passion because we love doing it. But when you rely on your passion as your bread and butter it loses a bit of the “passion” luster.
For example, I love to perform. I love being on stage more than anything, and I get to keep that passion of mine alive by taking acting classes, collaborating with my friends on film projects, doing a community play… It’s this part of me no one can touch. I know that once I decide to take my acting as the my sole income source a lot of other emotions will come into play. I will stress about getting the next gig, take on projects/roles that don’t inspire me because they pay well, have others tell me I should take my acting here… and the list goes on and on
I’ve decided to continue pursuing my passion as just my passion and turning my alternate passion (marketing) into a viable income source.
It’s different for everyone and sometimes it’s really a matter of timing.
Nathalie Lussier said,
Wrote on August 19, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
Thank you Clay for explaining this concept. I always hear “do what you love”, but I often wonder if blogs really convert to anything over time. Subscriber counts are nice, but what do they convert to?
I am also loving the conversation here, especially reading Pam Slim’s experience, along with other bloggers who provide services.
I’m off to organize a better strategy for doing what I love. :)
Thanks again!
AJK said,
Wrote on August 20, 2008 @ 5:02 am
This is your best post yet. Thanks. Dreams rooted in business reality is the only way you can make this alternative lifestyle work.
Бизнис блог said,
Wrote on September 21, 2008 @ 11:48 am
Креирање животен стил…
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