As I sat back this morning from my lovely 5AM wake-up call by my 11 month old daughter, I was going to do the same things I do every morning but today things turned out just a little bit different. It was almost exactly a year ago when I stepped foot into the world of online content creation. After looking over my spread sheet for the last year's worth of accumulative writing including words, articles as well as cost and maintenance of my computer, I can now say with utmost certainty that over the last year I have reached the following milestones: 1) I am just about 150,000 words from reaching the total of 2.5 million words typed over the last year. 2) I have types over 6,000 articles for various people online and through multiple forums and freelance sites. 3) I have gone through 4 keyboards seeing as they have been left with absolutely no traces of letters, shift, ctrl, alt and the number pad. The function keys and standard number were still visible except for number 4 because the "$" had been used heavily. 4) One video card needed to be replaced as it was built-in to the motherboard and could not handle 16 hour days of flipping through web pages and word processors. 5) two lan cards. Don't know why, maybe they were just cheap. Now personally, If you would have asked me a year ago if I saw myself as a writer I would have laughed at you. The truth is that I am much better at math and science than I am at writing. I guess that explains my failing of English lit back in middle school. I wonder if that is some type of record? If only I had an "Author's Notation" on every article I did as proof. But heck, what do I have to lie for. Anyway, the fact of the matter is that most of this work was even done for far less than what others charge. My total income for these 2.5 million words is just over $10,000 for the year, but when you take into account that I am living in the Philippines and the minimum wage here works out to be about $2,750 a year, I would say I have done quite good for myself. What I do know, is that this year is probably going to be my last for creating content for web sites. Between my head and wrists, 2.5 million words are starting to take their toll on my under thirty age bracket. Instead, I think what will happen, Is for the next 2 to three months at the maximum, I will push with all my might and brain power to add another million words to my totals sort of my "Nest Egg". I am currently working on two long term contracts. Of the first one, I will attempt to do $50+ a day for 6 days a week for the next month or so before calling it good. On my second long-term commitment, the one I have been writing for since last year, I shall keep up with that one for at least a little while longer since he has been good to me for this last year. Besides, it is only 2,400 words +/- a day which I can handle for extra pocket money. As far as the remaining "Nest Egg" I am planning on putting it to good use. For my daughter's 1st birthday, I plan on giving her the best gift I can, her American Citizenship. She will never have to fight in lines with her friends for a green card since I am American, it gets passed on to her... After a small fee of course Since I am more interested in mathematics and science, I have decided to start a manufacturing business here in the Philippines making things that are affordable to the locals by manufacturing and selling them myself. For this to happen I have to go shopping which I have already started... Mwuahahaha $150 for a vacuum chamber $275 for a vacuum pump capable of pulling 29.75 inches of Mercury. $120/mo for a new house with space for the small start-up $2,000 for resins, RTV silicone, dyes, tints, fillers $2,000 for various fiberglass matting and sheeting $1,000 for various equipment and storage space. I still have to get about another $4,000 worth of supplies so that I can start the business off right. If you cannot start a business that is efficient from the beginning, you will be spending the rest of the business's life trying to regain that efficiency. Too much to do and so little time to do it in. I am already getting old. I am 28 and I am still not in the position financially that I wanted to be in before I got married and had kids. Hopefully the course of the next year will all lay in accordingly for me and my family and bring around a much more stable lifestyle. Well back to work now, I wasted a whole 30 minutes typing this out. Talk to you all some other time, -WorldWide
I thought this thread a lone was 2.5 million words! Well done another fellow Pinoy *half* doing well.
Congrats on reaching the milestones though not the ones like 4 keyboards.I am a writer myself but as I am from well to do family and have 2 offline businesses to run I don't write much.I hope I can reach 1 million words this year thats less than half of yours.Congrats anyway and thanx for this inspirational post.
I think that you are more successful than you realize. You have so much going for you, including your young age. I had to start over again when 20 years older than you are now, and am now loving my life. You have the advantage of even more time. With your level head, desire to succeed, and being unafraid of hard work, you will do soooo well. I'm happy for you, because you are going for your dreams and living your life on purpose. Very best of luck in your new endeavors. Shirley