Could writing on Medium.com be YOUR part-time job in 2024? (my earnings)
When people think about a career in content creation, they tend to get lost in big numbers.
They believe that all they have to do is start publishing articles and videos and within a few weeks they’ll be sipping drinks at a Caribbean resort making MrBeast money.
Sorry folks, that’s just not how it works, and that mistaken belief is why most people quit way too early.
But let me ask you an important question: would you rather write articles and film videos about topics that interest you or spend those hours flipping burgers at Wendy’s?
When you change your perspective in this way, suddenly the content creation game looks a lot more appealing.
No, I haven’t quit my job yet to blog and I’m certainly not pulling MrBeast numbers on my YouTube channel, but what I have done is turn independent online writing into a reliable part-time job that paid me about $130.21 per hour last month.
Let me walk you through my latest earnings, and then I’ll tell you how you can get started down the same path.
How I made $130 per hour writing online (earnings review)
Here’s a quick look at my stats and earnings from writing here in March.
That’s pretty decent by most measures, but I think it becomes all the more impressive when you think of it in terms of hourly wage.
Think about it: here in Canada, the minimum wage is around $15 per hour or a bit more, depending on which province you live in.
In the United States, minimum wage can be as low as in the $8 range.
So while I might not be a multimillionaire (yet?), my hourly wage from my “part-time job” is significantly higher than your average lawyer’s.
The calculations
How did I arrive at my $130.21/hour number?
Here’s what landed in my bank account after the currency conversion.
I’ve calculated that:
It takes me about 45 minutes to write a 1,000 article, which is about the average length of my posts
15 posts in March = 11.25 hours of work
$1,464.89 / 11.25 = $130.21
Now, the magic of getting paid for content rather than getting paid for your time is that the earning power of content is almost infinite.
It’s what accounts for my high hourly wage blogging: the stories I wrote this month contributed some, but a good chunk also came from posts I wrote many months and, in some cases, more than a year ago.
By staying active and pumping out new content, it also brings new eyes to my old content.
Story examples
To illustrate this, let’s look at an example of a story that’s popping for me right now.
I actually thought this story was going to be a flop and, to be honest, it kind of was … at first.
Yet after plodding along for many weeks doing not much of anything, it suddenly took off.
I couldn’t tell you what prompted the sudden interest, but it does prove an important point and something else you need to remember about content creation.
You just never know when something is going to blow up.
Let me give you another example to illustrate both this point and the almost infinite earning power of content creation.
Take a look at my highest-earning story EVER.
My hourly wage for writing that piece is $2,652/hour and counting.
Examples for beginners
Since a lot of people reading this will probably just be starting out, let me throw in one more example from my YouTube channel, where I still consider myself an early-stage content creator.
Three months ago, I published this video:
After more than a year of making videos, it now takes me approximately 2 hours to shoot, edit and post a video, and this one was right around that amount of time.
So I was effectively paid $37.46/hour to make that video, and my hourly wage is rising every day.
I hope you’re seeing the power of creating something new versus working a job that pays you a pittance for your priceless, finite time on this planet (including toiling away as a freelancer, where your content has a finite return).
When you work a job, you trade your time to someone else for money — and usually not very much.
But when you create your own little army of digital employees — whether they’re articles, videos, products, or whatever — they go out every day and earn money for you.
Separating your time from money is a concept you must understand and embrace if you ever want to make a really notable amount of cash in your lifetime.
The harsh reality
Here’s something that a lot of people don’t want to hear, however: It simply won’t happen overnight.
Think about getting good at anything.
You go to university for four-plus years to gain competency, then work low-level jobs for years before you gain some expertise and start earning promotions.
Unlike the liars on the internet who claim they can change your life in 5 minutes if you just buy their $500 course, I don’t claim to have a magic bullet for your content success.
It will take time, but if you’re motivated to learn and to produce consistently, I honestly believe you can turn your life around way faster than you think.
Certainly in a much shorter time than it takes to get a four-year degree and grind away at a job for 10 years before getting your big break.
And in the meantime, my earnings show it is possible to earn a pretty decent part-time wage while you learn and pay those dues.
It sure beats the heck out of flipping burgers at Wendy’s if you ask me.
Friends, thanks so much for taking the time to read today! If you enjoyed this piece, please give it a clap or two so others can find it and let me know in the comments!
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