Ditch Guilt & Be Unapologetically Selfish
When is the last time someone asked for your price before asking for your time? My guess is NEVER!
I get inundated with requests for help from individuals all over the world. Often very financially comfortable ones.
Most of them asking for advice on what they can do next, or how to improve their business.
BUT…. Nobody seems to realise the implications of asking for someone’s time and good ideas. Often that advice they’re asking for goes into earning THEM money and not me.
Only one acquaintance who’s ever asked for my commercial advice has ever offered to pay for it.
Often the umbrella of friendship shields them from ever assuming they should.
So I ask you, how much are you worth?
Hard to answer right? And that’s the problem with artists and creatives.
Labour is easily priced. Asking a friend to decorate your house because they’re handy is almost NEVER met with an expectation of it being FREE.
You see how much time went into it, and you pay accordingly. Or at least offer.
YOU: “Thanks for doing that FREE favour for me.”
MATE: “Fuck off! That took me 4 hours. I need paying… now can you build my website next week for nothing please?”
All creatives are familiar with this….
As there are only 24 hours in a day, you’ve got to steal time from somewhere or someone else in order to give it away.
This means:
Less sleep.
Less time with a loved one.
Less time working on your own ventures.
Should that all be free? That’s rhetorical. I don’t have an answer for it.
One of my core values as a man is to be a mentor to people. It gives me value beyond monetary terms.
However, when you grow your reach and responsibility, its inevitable that you’ll start feeling the strain.
They may want you to check their business cards, or new youtube video, but your girlfriend wants to spend some time with you and you’ve not visited your mother in a week.
Perhaps you work a 9 hour per day job. You also sleep 9 hours.
Math dictates you now have 6 hours for yourself, your own ventures, hobbies, the gym, close friends, chores around the home, visiting family and growing your relationship.
Does it sound like enough time? It’s not.
Now how does that fit with your own life? Do you have kids? That’s a 24 hour responsibility + work + everything else I just mentioned.
Why then, do people assume that your time isn’t worth anything?
The people that get help from me are the people that respect my time. The ones that say “Thank you for the time taken to read this, I appreciate any help you could offer”… I’ll lose sleep for you.
As artists, creators and entrepreneurs we need to value the time others give to us in our commercial endeavours.
By helping people earn money for FREE with your advice… You are losing money.
Time is money. That’s not a cliche.
For you, you need to dedicate a set amount of time per day you’re willing to offer help. Anything over that people should expect to pay.
Surprisingly I’ve seen consultants in multiple industries earning £1,000 for a meeting. The money is in their account before their butt sinks comfortably into the conference room chair.
Those people understand their value and price themselves into a position where their time is instantly respected by all.
You need to decide how much you’re worth.
As a creative, nobody will ever value you, unless you do.
They say a man who spends all his time feeding others, goes hungry.
Geraint Clarke
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📝 Read this story later in Journal.