Are agency owners really short-changing themselves by trading time for dollars? It’s a phrase the online industry has used for a while but it has roots in some interesting places not built for agency owners. So let’s dive into what it means and what you can do to figure out what your time is worth.
First, let’s talk about the idea of trading time for dollars. What does it mean?
Simply put your time is worth something. It’s called a job. Now the benefit we have as entrepreneurs is we get to set our hourly rate and what we charge clients. That flexibility to set the rates higher or lower all depends on how many clients we have, how much we need to live, etc.
Where it went off the rails in our online industry was with a marketing message created by course creators/sellers.
Here’s a great quote from Maggie from Small Business Boss:
Every story and marketing message needs a villain. For course and program creators selling us the dream of making millions, trading time for dollars is a compelling villain.
The hero is so-called passive income. But within online business, very little income is truly passive. A more accurate term for revenue generated at scale through courses or programs is leveraged income. There’s definitely still work involved.
The characterization of “trading time for dollars” as the villain is not a fair or entirely accurate one. It’s rooted in trying to sell us a path to freedom and wealth that’s unlikely to be accessible for the majority of us.
So you can see how those who are service providers have been made to believe that running a service-based business is not the best way to maximize your hours to get more money.
But what I don’t think this argument addresses are two major things – how you’re wired? And how to charge more? We dive into both inside the podcast and how you can stay ahead of the curve in your business and know what works best for you
Catch up on more episodes of the Empowered Agency Podcast.