In this post, Megan Hurley talks about the future we all want for our blogs, and how we can take baby steps to achieving a happy future. If you would like to guest post on Blogussion, read our guidelines for more information.
At some point in his or her life, almost everyone will land a minimum wage job. This is especially common for young adults who are looking for something to supplement their busy school schedules.
These jobs, like working at a fast food joint, restaurant, or in my case as a barista in a cafe, can be a good way to generate that much needed spending cash. Remember, though, you only have that cash because you are most likely still living under Mom and Dad’s roof, and therefore still have them to pay your big expenses.
What happens when you’re done with school, looking for a “grown-up” job, and want to get out from underneath Mom and Dad?
When I graduated from college this past spring, I thought that increasing my hours at the cafe to full-time would be all I needed to cover rent, bills, and car expenses—and still have some left-over cash—until I could land a great job that actually had something to do with my degree. I will be the first to admit that I’ve led a fairly sheltered life. But looking back, even I am surprised at how naive I was!
I quickly discovered that even on weeks that I would be scheduled for the maximum 40 hours (which was rare – the cafe was trying to conserve on hours), money was very tight. Not to mention the fact that working 8 hours, more often than not during a long and inconvenient mid-day shift, left little time for taking care of anything else in my limited social life, including searching for a “real” job. This left me with a new dilemma: drain what was left of my free time to get another, monotonous minimum wage job, or move back in with the parents to continue the job hunt, and lose any hope of independence for the time being. Neither option was appealing.
Now there’s nothing wrong with living at home and staying with that entry-level job until something better comes along. But let’s face it, with the economy the way it is right now, opportunities won’t just find you. Which is why you need to pump in that extra effort to create the opportunities for yourself.
For me, the opportunity was starting up a blog about money-making ideas at FindingBenjamin.com, and creating a business for myself. (The idea didn’t come completely on it own – I did have a nudge in the right direction, from my entrepreneur father.) Scary, yes. I started with average computer skills, and VERY limited knowledge of blogging and everything that goes with it. And as much as I whined and complained about working in the cafe, at least I knew what to expect there.
But you don’t win by playing it safe. Though it’s challenging, I am constantly learning new things, and with my 19-year old brother Chris coming aboard as my partner, this fledgling project is starting to grow quickly. And surprisingly, I am enjoying it!
I’m still holding on to the cafe job for now—no more than 15 hours a week—just for a little cushion, but it won’t be long before I’ll be ready to let it go for good. (I’d like to be able to enjoy my own triple-grande-extra-foam-non-fat lattes, not make them for someone else.)
Even if you’re not ready to completely forge out on your own, start thinking of ways that you could one day work for yourself and make good money doing it – even if it’s jotting your ideas down in a journal, or taking small steps like creating a personal website, or even just looking around to see how others are doing it.
There are all kinds of advice articles out there from other young entrepreneurs. Ventures like this can have very little or no cost involved, so you don’t have to worry about tapping into your hard-earned tip-jar money right away.
When you are ready to give your idea a go, know that it won’t be fun and exciting all the time—you WILL make mistakes, and you will have frustrations. But use them to your advantage. Working for your self and getting a startup going is a challenge. But because of that, it’s also so incredibly rewarding.
Think about it—the freedom to work on your terms, without anyone scolding you about cold food or bitter coffee— it’s a wonderful thing! If you work hard enough, sooner or later, that scribbled idea could become a reality. Or maybe it won’t, but by then you’ll have the experience to do it bigger and better with the next idea. What do you have to lose?
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?Hey Megan,
congratulations on your success and new found calling.
Everything starts with an idea, the question is whether one has the courage to bring it to life.
Igor
.-= Igor Helps You Succeed´s last blog ..Social Media Viral Power Proof – District 9 and Harry Potter Case Studies =-.
Yes, blogging indeed is waaay better than any job. But the perspective might be a little different for us bloggers who are still in school (we still want to get a job after earning a degree). Your story is very much moving. I wish success for FindingBenjamin Dot Com
.-= Liane YoungBlogger´s last blog ..There’s a New Kid on the Make Money Online Block – Meet DaneBlogger Dot Com =-.
Excellent real life report, seems you made the right decisions! It is great to see people getting pro-active in this economy, even more so, if it is a young person like you. I know a lot of people that could learn from you! SY
.-= hospitalera´s last blog ..If You’ve Put in the Effort to Write a Blog Post, Go the Extra Mile and Make That Post Easy to Ready =-.
Congratulations on your blog.
One thing I would add is that you need to blog on a subject you are passionate about – that way the subject will be constantly in your mind, so hopefully you will never be stuck for content, and most importantly it will never feel like work!
.-= Fishgun´s last blog ..Pick a Fight with Shirtfight =-.
Great article.. very inspirational! I’ve tried endlessly to convince my nieces to start their own site/blog, but at their age they have more interesting things to consider…
.-= New Homes Blog´s last blog ..Cash for Clunker Appliances =-.
Inspiring post. Hopefully, I will never have to take a minimum job. I am confident that the Internet can make me enough money that I will be avoid working at McDonalds.
.-= Jake | Web Journey´s last blog ..Ways to Find inspiration for Posts =-.
What I have found out about the internet and a real job is they both kinda relate. I quit my job last summer and thought I was going to make a fortune on the internet. I believed that I would have to do less work and I would get paid for it. Let me tell you it didn’t go that way and it took me actually 8 months to make a dime. Just because someone says something is easy (“blogging”) and you an make a lot of money from it doesn’t really mean that you’re going to make it big like them or you will even succeed. My best advice would to be continue to work in the money you earn from work, invest that into your blogging or whatever your’re into then quit when things start to go your way.
Great post!
Nice Article !! this article is very well written written and easy to understand so Good work , Keep it up.
.-= Car buying sites´s last blog ..Looking for used cars in limited budget =-.
With all the doggone weather we have gotten as of late I am stuck indoors, fortunately there is the internet, thanks for giving me something to do.
I’d have to concede with you on this. Which is not something I typically do! I really like reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
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