I’ve worked very hard to put myself into a position where the value of my service is less about the number of hours that I work, and more about the value packed into each hour.
The irony is that it takes an enormous amount of time to get to the point whereby you cease to be paid based on hourly work.
I have spent hours upon hours reading books about my craft, studying case studies from my industry, looking for best practices, and analyzing the lessons learned by the failure of others. I have blogged more than 420 posts on Social Media Philanthropy, my Social Media blog. I have spent days upon days tinkering, testing and dabbling in the inner workings of different networks, platforms and code.
It reminds me of a legend about the famous Pablo Picasso:
Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.
“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”
So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.
“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”
“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.
“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”
To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”
I diligently track my time, so I know how long things take me, and our prices are somewhat based upon that, but as time goes on, I hope to play the supply and demand curve so that those that recognize the inherent value of my perspective will be willing to pay increasing sums of money for access to how I think. I’m working very hard to get there.