“As I’ve said before, free money scams are a problem.”
– Matthew Lesko
I stopped pirating things once I started blogging. No more “free” music, no more “free” books. If I don’t think something is worth its price tag I wait until it goes on sale. Crafting art, no matter how lowbrow, is difficult. If you put the energy into making something you deserve to be compensated.
When I started freelancing, I stopped looking for “bargains.” I won’t miss a meal from spending an extra five dollars. I’d rather do business with an actual entrepreneur, not some faceless sweatshop Bangladesh.
Making your own money is hard. Conventional work may be boring but it pays consistently. You can sneak off and take a nap in the bathroom. Make six thousand trips to the water cooler. Surf the Internet all day. As long as you do the bare minimum you get money.
When you’re self-employed those luxuries disappear. Phoning it in is no longer an option. Almost every guy you see on a site like Elance is hustling hard. A few negative reviews and he’ll be back to flipping burgers. I can’t even imagine the stress.
I have a regular job. My side money goes towards covering miscellaneous expenses. Usually just gas and trail mix. This weekend I’m using it to buy a watch
Even as a hobby entrepreneurship is a pain. People nitpick. There are deadlines. No one returns your emails. A guy willing to put up with this doesn’t need to be driven out of business by some 21st Century plantation. I don’t need a lot of money to survive. A grown man with a family does. He’s not charging more to be greedy, he’s charging more to get by. I have no issue with that.
Assuming a guy isn’t just screwing around, I’m willing to pay him whatever his services are worth.