How much is your time worth?
$25 an hour? $50? $100? More?
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur-writer, you should start putting a value on your time.
Outsourcing isn’t just for big companies, it’s for solo-entrepreneurs too
Since part of being a good writer is enjoying research, a lot of us get into the habit of looking up how to do something and then doing it for ourselves. Why pay someone else for something you’re perfectly capable of doing yourself, right?
Need to start a blog? Well, you can just look online and figure out how to install WordPress. Standard templates ugly? Well, just look up some other templates or learn how to design your own… So what if the entire day has passed and you haven’t written anything?
But what if, just what if, you could focus all your work time and energy on the one thing you’re really good at? What if you could hire someone else to do the things you’re less interested in (and let’s be honest–probably less good at)?
Guess what? You can.
It doesn’t make you lazy; it makes you smart. Being self-sufficient is admirable, but it’s not particularly profitable.
You want to make sure your days aren’t just busy but that they’re productive.
Outsource the busy work, and focus on what you enjoy and what (we hope!) brings in the money.
If writing is what you really enjoy, and what you’re really good at, then every hour you spend writing doubtlessly brings you more money than hours you spend doing other things.
“Other things” can have to do with editing websites, creating graphics, or other online business-related pursuits, but it can also have to do with domestic activities.
Yes, even laundry.
Outsourcing the Dreary Stuff
If you could be making $50 or $100 an hour writing, then is it really worth an hour of your time to clean the house, do the laundry, maintain the yard, etc.? If you enjoy doing those things and it’s some kind of zen experience, then by all means, do them (and come do mine too!), but if housework is dreary, then why not hire someone to do it? Often you can find someone on Craigslist to clean your house or mow your lawn for $20/hour or less. Depending on where you live, you may even be able to have someone pick up your dirty underwear, wash it, fold it, and bring it back to your doorstep.
As a writer and an entrepreneur, your time should be worth far more than these dreary tasks cost to outsource.
Make Sure Others Value Your Time too!
One of the problems with working from home, especially if you’re married or living with someone who has a regular job, is that others often assume that because you’re home, it’s natural that you be the errand jockey.
Pick up the dry-cleaning, take the kids to swim team, clean the house, walk the dog, etc.
Some of these things you’re not going to be able to outsource (and when it means spending time with another living, breathing being, you probably shouldn’t), but taking care of these tasks shouldn’t be more your responsibility than your partner’s. Your work time is just as valuable.
Once you’re bringing in a decent income, it’s easier to make your friends and family see that your time is valuable and you can’t just do things because your office is located at home. In the beginning, however, it may be a challenge to change their perceptions.
So, talk to your family, and show them what you’re working on. Explain what you get accomplished in the day. Make a point of letting them know that you have deadlines (even if they’re self-imposed deadlines). Get your family excited about your entrepreneurial projects (telling others about what you’re doing has the added bonus of making you more likely to stick to it and make it work). Create a plan outlining your profit timeline, and show them how what you create today will be earning the family money tomorrow. Do whatever you have to do to get others to realize your time as is valuable as you already know it is.
And above all, make sure you do realize the value of that time yourself. If you don’t believe it, no one else will.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Michele // Jul 18, 2008 at 8:24 am
Super great post! I love the writing part more so I hired someone to design my website, blog, and other sites I have in the works. It makes me happy – and so very relieved – to know I don’t have to worry about that part of things.
This is very motivating. I enjoyed reading it a lot. Now… if only folks didn’t think I was on the computer for hours every day playing PacMan!
*smiles*
Michele
2 LS // Jul 18, 2008 at 10:35 am
This occurs to me all the time. I wonder how much money I am losing by reading a magazine, cleaning the garage, etc. It can really drive you crazy if you let it.
3 Amy Derby // Jul 18, 2008 at 10:42 am
I outsource. A lot. I like to think of myself as smart.
Unfortunately, it took me a long time to learn (to admit that) this is a good way to do things. I wanted to learn to do everything myself. But learning takes time, and patience. I have neither most days. It pays to pay someone else to do things for us. I used to have the “why pay someone else to do something I could do myself” philosophy, but that’s slowly changing to “why do myself what I could pay other people to do faster and better?” Nice post. 
4 Annie Binns // Jul 18, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Great points, Lindsay! I’m happy to have found your blog (errr … I’m happy you found mine and commented so I could find you is what I meant to say). It’s tough to get into the outsourcing mindset until you try a few things and realize how great it is!
5 Audrey // Jul 18, 2008 at 7:48 pm
What an excellent post. I found your link on wahm.com
I have a cleaning girl. I’ve had one for years. I detest cleaning. I could laundry all day long, I couldn’t care, but I hate to clean. Oh and I don’t do windows either LOL.
6 Lindsay // Jul 18, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Michele, you have a great looking site, so it looks like the outsourcing is working!
I’d seen the blog before, but don’t think I saw the splash page up front until now. I may have to bug you and find out who did your design, as I need to get one made up for this site at some point.
LS, I think it’s fine to read and have free time (it can’t all be about work!), but yeah, hire the neighborhood kids to clean the garage.
Amy, I was the same way. I did all my early sites myself since I didn’t have any money to spare, but those sites just looked so unprofessional that I should have found a way to hire out the work. I probably would have been making money sooner.
Annie, thanks for dropping in. It’s nice to see the people you’re stalking, er visiting, come by to say hi.
Hey, Audrey, glad you clicked through and said hi. One always wonders if signature links get noticed. Yeah, cleaning is the worst, and it’s so time consuming too. I was in the army, so I’ve done it all, but I think that just makes me hate it more.
7 Rebecca // Jul 19, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Hi Lindsay,
I’m really enjoying your new blog, and beginning to look at blogging in an entirely new light. I started my first blog (Becca’s Byline) in 2006, and Bookstack in January of this year. Write on Wednesday is my newest venture into the “writing prompt” style of blogging.
I’ve not yet stepped into the world of monetized blogs. I’m fortunate to have a son who is a professional web designer and SEO specialist (who might give me a discount!), and I admit my brain is whirling a mile a minute since I’ve started reading Writing For Your Wealth.
So thanks for the ideas and advice – and congratulations on your success in this arena! I’ll be continuing to soak up all your ideas and experience
And I just started following you on Twitter, too. I’m RavenousReader.
8 Annie // Jul 19, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Hi L – I found you at Write on Wednesday. What an intriguing site you have here. Since it’s pushing midnight now, I’ll be back later to explore.