In today’s lesson I am going to share with you a unique perspective on how you can maximize your value to the market. In a previous post, What’s Your Value To The Market? I pointed out that we are all paid based on the value we bring to the market. If we want to increase our income, we must first increase our value.
As I shared in People Are As Different As They Look, we all have different talents, strengths and abilities. God did not create two people alike. Your objective then is to identify your most unique gifts and skills and strategize on how to capitalize on them. This will be your first step to making more money.
Self-Assessment
What are your most valuable strengths? What are the things you naturally do better than others?
Let me encourage you to make a list of all your talents, skills and abilities, and then based upon your knowledge of the marketplace, assign an estimated dollar value to each as a stand-alone item.
The example in How to Get Any Job You Want works well here. As an administrative assistant your strengths may range from answering the phone to writing business plans. Your value could range from $15 an hour for answering the phones to $75 an hour for writing business plans.
In my case, I’m a one-man shop. As an entrepreneur, my tasks run the gamut from booking airline and hotel reservations (market value of $10 an hour) to being a keynote speaker earning thousands of dollars an hour. It doesn’t take much to recognize where I should spend my time if I want to maximize my value.
Spend your time wisely
Once you identify the things you do that bring the highest value to the market, be creative and determine how you can do those activities more frequently.
In the example of the administrative assistant example, you would be wise to spend more time writing business plans and less time answering the phones.
If you are in sales, consider how you can spend more time prospecting, networking and meeting with prospective clients, as these are the activities that generate the highest market value.
If you are an entrepreneur, consider how you can spend more time doing the things that have the highest market value. Often times these are the things that ONLY you can do. In my example, I can have my wife or dad book my airline tickets, but only I can present my content as a keynote speaker.
As you evaluate all of your responsibilities, look at the ones that you can delegate to others so you can spend more time doing the ones that will drive revenue and profit.
Strive For Excellence
Once you have identified your talents that command the greatest market value and determined how you can spend more time doing them, your next step is to strive for excellence as you master them. Stretch yourself beyond your previous level of performance and go further than where most people will go. Refine and perfect your craft and you will STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD.
Your Next Step
If you want to increase your income by increasing your market value, take 15 minutes right now to generate a list of your greatest strengths. Then list the dollar value the market will bear for each particular skill.
Once you have completed this task, spend some quiet time over the next couple of days and think about how you can maximize your market value by focusing more of your time performing the responsibilities with the highest market value.
Lastly, strive for excellence with a commitment to be the best at what you do. Look for the little things you can do to refine and perfect. Build a brand for yourself that commands respect and admiration. A daily routine predicated on using your greatest gifts will bring you lasting personal fulfillment and financial success.
To achieve what you have never achieved before you must be willing to do what you’ve never done before.
About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 29 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s daily lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts.
Related Posts:
How to Put Together an Action Plan
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As a dynamic entrepreneur for 29 years, Todd Smith has enjoyed extraordinary personal and professional success. He owned his first business at 18, became one of the youngest Realtors ever inducted in to RE/MAX's Hall of Fame at 28, and for the past 20 years Todd has owned his own sales and marketing business. His business has generated more than one billion dollars in sales and has paid him more than 23 million dollars in commissions.
