Earn What You’re Worth: Find and Eliminate the Bottlenecks

Top Secrets of Marketing & Sales

To earn what you're worth, you need to find and eliminate the bottlenecks. Consider this: When you're outproducing what you are earning, that creates friction. It creates a bit of tension. And in most well-run organizations, the organization says, "this person needs to be compensated more." And if that's not happening in the organization you're with, if you are outproducing what you're earning, it means that there are plenty of opportunities for you somewhere else that will actually recognize and appreciate that value and reward you accordingly. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be asking the question, are you earning what you're worth? Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David, it's great to be with you again. And as I was thinking about this question, I realize I'm not sure I know what I'm worth. I know some people that say, you know, my time is worth this much money, and if I'm not making it, then I've got to change something or do something. I'm not there yet. I'm just not. David: Yeah. I think you're not alone. I think there are a lot of people who struggle with this, and the real challenge comes in the last half of the question, you know what you're worth because can't answer the question until you determine that part of it. Are you earning it? Well, I don't know. I have to know what I'm worth. Or I have to decide what I'm worth, choose what I'm worth. Choose what I think I'm worth. I think, and I've said this to a number of people over the years, the reason that I ended up getting into business myself is that I couldn't find anybody else who would be willing to pay me what I thought I was worth. Right? , you work in different jobs and you say, okay, well I feel like I'm worth more than this. Well, when you start your own business, you're earning what you're worth because if you're not producing anything, you're not earning anything. And if you start earning stuff, then whatever you're producing justifies it. And so essentially you're earning what you're worth. But still, even with all that, a lot of times, those of us in sales or those of us who own businesses, may feel like the work that we're doing is costing us too much in terms of time and energy and effort and not producing what we're looking for in terms of financial results, which is the reason I ask the question. Jay: Yeah. I think it is so important that there's other ways to be paid for your worth. You know, if you're in a place where you get job recognition, where they listen to your ideas, where you can climb up the ladder, for a lot of people that's worth more than the bottom line paycheck. Now, if they're not getting enough to pay their bills, then obviously cash is king. But all of the surveys I've seen say that people would really take less money if they felt like they could get rewarded in other ways. Now, when you're working for yourself, that equation changes completely. David: Yeah. And I mean, a lot of times people start their own business. They do their own thing because they figure it's going to give them all sorts of time freedom and things that they don't have in a regular job. And very often they find out it's exactly the opposite. I think it was Michael Gerber, the author of the EMyth who talked about the fact that there are a lot of people who work for other companies and they say to themselves, "okay, this guy's a jerk. I'm going to start my own business." And they stop working for a jerk and they start working for a maniac... themselves. And when I heard that line I'm like, "that is so true." So often we will do things in our own businesses that we would probably never do for another employer in terms of the amount of hours that we'll put in, the amount of thought that we put in, and all that sort of thing. Now, there are employees who do that. There are employees who are really focused on that and who really give their all to a job.