The Case for Being Paid
Help Others, Set an Example
Happy Asian Woman has been a passion project for three years and with the encouragement of my business coach and creative community, I’m dreaming big for next year.
In addition to wanting to grow readership so I can spread the message of valuing mental health and happiness, I’ve decided to start paywalling some content.
I have many reasons for switching from 100% free to a partial paywall.
Reader Transformation
There’s a glut of free information online but just because information is available, it doesn’t mean it will change lives.
The hard part of any sort of teaching is implementation.
I firmly believe people achieve better results when they invest.
I’ve seen it in my own coaching business.
When I charge more, clients take my input more seriously and grow faster. They get better results because they’ve invested and trust me.
For example, very early in my college admissions coaching practice, I helped a friend’s daughter with her essays — for free. We had several sessions and I was happy with her progress, but one day she brought me essays that were entirely different.
I considered the essays a step back from the stage we were at and asked her why she made the changes. She told me she showed them to other high school students in her English class, and they suggested those changes.
Meanwhile, I had a decade of professional experience, had already gone to a top college and grad school, and had written for top companies like Apple and news outlets like Chicago Public Radio.
My student listened to high school students more than me… all because I didn’t value myself (a.k.a. I helped her for free.)
It was a total waste of time for both of us.
Now that I’m charging much more than the rate I started at 14 years ago, my track record of student growth and admission results are far better.
So with this newsletter, my hope is that once readers start paying, even a nominal fee, they will take these ideas more seriously. Perhaps they’ll journal about the prompts I have at the end of each story, or they’ll implement some of the ideas I delineate in my articles.
My hope is that you all achieve more clarity, alignment, peace and joy.
Sustainability
Happiness is not always an easy topic to write about, especially when things aren’t going well in my own life.
I took a very long pause from this project when a family member was diagnosed with cancer late last year. When my own life is difficult, it’s hard to want to share personal stories publicly, especially when others in my family want privacy.
However, in relaunching this newsletter on Substack three months ago and receiving payment (thank you!), I’ve discovered my own mental health is improving when I write about this topic more consistently. I’m constantly thinking about how to consciously build a happy life — and what you look for, you will find.
Paid subscribers increase accountability. I plan to write every week because people are counting on me, believe in me, and are supporting this project.
Payment increases longevity and sustainability, and it helps me help others like you.
Value Women’s Work
In our society women perform the vast majority of free labor.
We are typically the caregivers, household managers, default parents, workplace social planners, church administrative/behind-the-scenes volunteers, etc.
One reason I’m running this blog is as a legacy project for my daughters.
And one lesson I want to teach them — and all women — is that our skills, labor, time and energy are valuable.
As an Asian-American, Christian female in a liberal arts helping field, I am often asked to volunteer in many capacities, both in a personal and professional sense.
Sometimes I say yes, sometimes I say no… and sometimes I wonder whether a man would be expected to provide so much free labor in so many realms.
For a long time when I was knee-deep in parenting young children, I did not value my time, energy and skills enough.
Since my husband was very busy in his Big Job, I thought a “good Christian mother and wife” did it all and I felt guilty hiring help.
I completely burned out.
Shortly after my father died, I read “We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power”.
I decided I wanted more of an outlet outside of household management and parenting, so I turned to growing my business.
Reading that book helped me realize that in order to show up better (and earn more) at my paid work, I had to outsource more first. (Most women have it the other way around - they earn more and then they outsource more.)
The book also said when women have more money, we have more power.
We can use that clout for many beneficial things, like supporting causes we care about.
In charging for Happy Asian Woman, I hope to spur all of my female readers to examine our lives, both at work and at home, and see how we can value ourselves more.
Do you do free labor and if so, why? What stops you from charging? Do you find people value you more when you charge more? Do you achieve more transformation when you invest more?
Read more…
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