Tag: real work involved

Please make no mistake, if you are going to do something well and make a living at it, there is going to be some real work involved. ‘They’ say that if you do something you love, you never really work. The ‘they’ in this case are probably the ones not getting paid for their work. After all, whether it is the work you do, or satisfying the people you do it for, real work is involved. If you want the finished product to magically appear, you need to strike a deal with the magical gnomes who work between midnight and 6 a.m.

If you’re going to do work independently, you should look at some of it as learning, some of it as donations to charity, and for some of your work you should absolutely get paid actual market value. Exact percentages can be based on several different factors, how your work helps others, what you learn by doing a specific job, and how you grow as a professional. The value of the work is not truly how much time you put into the design and building. The cost of your work is measured by the market value of what you offer.

Everyone believes that their work is worth a lot of money. If I spend five hours writing out multiplication tables for zero through 14, and it takes me five hours to do so, can I charge $15 an hour and try to sell the mathematical tables for $75? Well, sure, I can. Will I sell any? Doubtful.

If I’m going to sell something, I should sell something that is of actual worth to someone. something I make and sell should be something that people need and don’t have a less expensive way of procuring (like a five-dollar calculator.)  And it should be of true worth, not something I made up for a quick buck.

I remember a speaker once who noted that in the late 1800s and early 1900s for a $20 Double-Eagle gold coin, a person could purchase the most elegant suit made. It was also pointed out that for the price of that $20 Double-Eagle coin, you can still buy the most refined suit made today. Items of worth, measured at market value, will always hold their value equal to other things of the same amount.

If you build something, first make sure of its worth.  Also, make sure that it is not about to be replaced by a different or better technology.  To succeed, you must be one of those who do your homework and make it happen.

Thanks for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.