Ev BogueTwo years ago, I quit my day job and made a vow to start working only on the web. Now I do, I make my entire income from writing online.
One of the decisions that I made around this time was that I would charge a living wage for my work.
This is why I haven't priced my stuff at $5.99. I don't do this because I have anything against $5 things, it's just not a good plan if I'm going to make a living. I'd have to write a whole bunch of $5 work to a whole bunch of people if I wanted to do that.
Instead, I decided to dedicate my time towards learning skills that truly benefit a small group of people who are willing to support my work.
Charging for my work isn't easy. I occasionally get some pushback from people who want free lunch. My response is always: if you want free things, you're more than welcome to read the blog. If you want the deeper more intricate work that I'm doing, it's only a small amount of money.
There are a few ways that I've been able to make the transition from working a day job to supporting myself from my work online:
I've always been up front that I want to make my living from people who support my work across the Internet. I am not a hobbyist. I'm not free-handouts table. If you're into my work, sooner or later you're going to be asked to support it with dollar dollar bills yo.
I always charge what I believe the work is worth. See above about the $5.99 thing. This doesn't mean I won't someday create a product that costs less. However, I won't expect to make a living wage from it. It'll be a small part of a larger whole. Probably a short essay or something like that -- not a whole book or a program that really brings value to those who engage with the work.
I write about very specific things. Untethering, Taking Your Book to the Web. These are specific. Being specific means there isn't any confusion if someone isn't interested in what I'm creating. I'm either a good fit, or I'm not. No hard feelings if you wanted to learn how to rebuild hover-board engines, I'm just not your ideal writer. Maybe someone else is though!
I recognize that some people won't be able to access my work. For many reasons, there will be people who aren't willing to invest in their own education. I recognize that there will always be people who don't want to invest, and I acknowledge that. These people aren't the people I'm creating for. They're free to watch, listen, and read the free stuff on the blog. Will they get the deep stuff? No. But they can always imagine what it is.
To be honest, I wish I could give everything away for free. If I did that, I'd need to find a day job at an office or something. That would be cool, except then I'd be doing what my boss wants me to do all day.
Instead, I get to explore whatever topics interest me, and report back to the small group of remarkable people who support my work.
Thank you. It's a gift to be able to work this way.