One of my fellow DVVAA’s (Delaware Valley Virtual Assistants Association) colleagues posted a link to 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed on Steve Pavlina’s blog. When poking around this guy’s site, I found a post even more intriguing. How to Make $10,000 in One Hour. After reading this, it’s stuck in my mind and keeps popping back up periodically.
He brings up a point I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: you need to schedule unbillable time to raise your income. Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?
Up until about 2 months ago, I had all my available working hours filled with client work. But filling all your available hours with client work stunts your growth. It keeps you in the role of an employee earning $x/hour instead of an entrepreneur. You need time to think, try new projects, and grow. I spend some of my time working on projects that pay quite handsomely, some that have the potential to pay handsomely in the future (planning a writers’ retreat, writing my new co-authored VA book, Entrepreneurial Freedom, promoting my book Write It Right: The Ground Rules for Self-Editing Like the Pros. I don’t get paid for the time I’m spending writing this blog post either.
When will you develop the idea that earns you $10,000 in one hour? Don’t fall in to the trap of thinking an hour of your time is worth $30, $50, $75 or $100 an hour. Sure, you may have some hours that are worth $0, but you may also have some that are worth $250, $1,000 or even $10,000. Spend time researching ideas, thinking and relaxing. Being too busy with client work may just stunt your long-term growth.