hard yards

put in the hard yards

As with coupons and vouchers, there is seemingly no end to the opportunities that exist to improve a Web site's traffic flow by giving something away for nothing—as long as users are prepared to put in the hard yards, of course.

2007, Ian Cocoran, The Art of Digital Branding, Allworth Press, →ISBN, pages 128–129

Those clever women at the frontier of fashion do all the hard yards for us, every month, by attending the shows in London, Paris and New York.

2010, Kelly Doust, A Life in Frocks, Sydney: Murdoch Books, →ISBN, page 129

In tough conditions, with no room for complacency, the campaign will need to slog out the hard yards, give it 110% and leave it all on the field.

2017 August 22, Peter Lewis, “In a tough campaign the marriage equality team faces hard yards ahead”, in The Guardian

The couple had already put in the hard yards: Fred started out in '60s freakbeat combos The Weeds and Lollipop Shoppe, with Toody joining him in early '80s punk trio The Rats.

2021 December, Jon Dale, “Dead Moon fever!”, in Uncut, →ISSN, page 8