Do the Math!  How to Monetize Your Skills in a Big Way

Monetize Your Skills

Egads, you’ve done it now. Your calendar seems full, but the bank account isn’t. Since you’re a coach or consultant and not a baseball player, there is no backstop.

I’ve been there. When I first started coaching and consulting I felt like I was competing with highly qualified and motivated individuals who were thriving even though they seemed to bill pennies instead of big dollars. In order to have enough business, I had to reduce my prices and then work twice the hours…didn’t I?

And let’s face it – there is plenty of information that is available online for free if people look hard enough, so what’s a coach or consultant to do?

Pick a niche, right? I resisted picking a niche because I didn’t want to miss the chance at getting some great work, and I have a hard time concentrating on one thing at a time. So I did everything. I was coaching people on their careers and then leveraging digital and social media, I opened a food business and I had articles and book chapters published.

I was exhausted.

“Figure out what you’re good at and write it down, then write down the things you like to do, find where those things intersect and monetize the heck out of those overlaps,” Sandra Yancey, Founder & CEO of eWomenNetwork said to me at a conference. Yes, I admit that she said it to everyone in that ginormous room, but I felt like she was speaking directly to me. 

It took me a couple of weeks to create two lists, because I was procrastinating. The first list was the things I was good at. The second list, which was really short, was the things I like to do.

I looked for the overlaps and ended up with an even shorter list. There were only two things on it, and they were closely related. I wrote them down on a sticky note and hung it on my wall where it glared at me for about a month. Then I settled down to do the math. 

Do the Math!

For easy math, let’s pretend your goal is to have gross sales of $50,000 per year. A great way to figure out how to get there is to work the math backwards.

With a goal of $50,000 per year, and planning to take one week per quarter “off” so you can recharge your batteries, you have 11 months to bill $50,000, which is $4,545 per month.

To keep things manageable, I bill out about 20 hours per week, balanced with administration, exercising, cooking, and procrastinating. And so with $4,545 as a goal, and an average of 4.3 weeks in a month, that means $1,057 per week, divided by 20 hours, and I can bill myself out at $53.00 per hour.

$4,545 ÷ 4.3 = $1,057÷ 20 hours = $53 per hour

I see all kinds of people billing out services at $50-60 per hour. Professional organizers, new massage therapists, tutors, handy persons, bookkeepers, computer fixers, social media, community managers, coaches, consultants and more.

Suddenly, a $50k goal doesn’t look that hard, right?

This is why I love doing math backwards!

How do you feel about sending invoices for $1,057 per week, and reaching $50k? 

$4,545 / 4.3 = $1,057 / 20 hours = $53 per hour

I see all kinds of people billing out services at $50-60 per hour. Professional organizers, new massage therapists, tutors, handy persons, bookkeepers, computer fixers, social media community managers…coaches and consultants…and more.

Suddenly, a $50k goal doesn’t look that hard, right?

This is why I love doing math backwards!

How do you feel about sending invoices for $1,057 per week, and reaching $50k? 

$4,545 / 4.3 = $1,057 / 20 hours = $53 per hour

I see all kinds of people billing out services at $50-60 per hour. Professional organizers, new massage therapists, tutors, handy persons, bookkeepers, computer fixers, social media community managers…coaches and consultants…and more.

Suddenly, a $50k goal doesn’t look that hard, right?

This is why I love doing math backwards!

How do you feel about sending invoices for $1,057 per week, and reaching $50k?