What People Pay For

Most people don’t get paid to drive to work, to the grocery store, or to a concert.

It’s easy to argue that we should be getting paid. We’ve spent several years learning how to drive and take tests to qualify to become a licensed driver.

We pay an extravagant amount of money in gas, car payments, taxes, tolls, and maintenance. And then on top of that, those of us in the western world are spending almost 28 hours in a car each month, 100% for free. That’s the equivalent to about 20% of each work week, sitting in a car.

The logic would seem to say, if I show up to your business, event, or job, I should be paid for my expertise in driving and ongoing driving costs.

Artists face the same dilemma: practice takes hours of time a week. Equipment and supplies costs thousands of dollars to buy. It took 15 years of work to get to a high level of expertise at making art. How do you charge for that?

The problem is, the client can’t see 15 years of hard work (and usually they don’t see how long your commute was, either). They can only see the art you make, and how much it does or doesn’t move them.

Nobody wants to pay for drive time. Everyone wants to pay for something that excites them, emotionally engages with them, and brings beauty to their world.