A wise man or woman once said, “if you’re good at something never do it for free..”
Most of us are blessed with something we are good at, despite most people not working in the area where their talents lie. Among the issues faced by most creatives is deciding on the value of their work. Unless one is doing an art for commercial purposes, most artist find it really hard to charge for their services and most end up undervaluing their work or even themselves.
Among the issues that come up include
- Taking your skills for granted
- Wondering why people pay for your skills, given that you wouldn’t
- Focusing on your flaws
To start facing these issues you should first ask yourself some of these questions
- How long have you been practicing your particular skill(s)?
- Why do you feel uncomfortable charging for something which you would do for fun?
- Who would be delighted to pay you for your skills?
The time you input into something is very important. This must always counting as you do your costing. Most of us feel like since something comes so easily to us, the time we spend doing it is not of much importance. But gaining a skill takes time even if you have a talent in it.
Another issue is that we feel that we wouldn’t pay for what we are doing or rather the service we provide. This in turn translates into the way you value your talent. For example, I love writing so when asked to write for someone for pay I found the question difficult as I had mostly been doing it for myself as a hobby.
At the end of the day as creatives we should stop undervaluing ourselves. You have a unique talent and as the wise highlighted ” if you’re good at something never do it for free…”