Doing good work is the easiest marketing you can get
Among my share of presents this Christmas was Kurt Vonnegut’s Armageddon In Retrospect, a collection of his writings on war and peace. Having so far read only the introduction written by Vonnegut’s son, I’m already ripe with material to write about:
When I complained about being paid fifty dollars for an article that had taken me a week to write, he [Kurt] said I should take into account what it would have cost me to take out a two-page ad announcing that I could write.
The message here is simple: if you are in a profession where your work is viewed publicly, then you should worry less about how much you’re being paid, and more about doing good work.
Why? Because if your work is publicly displayed (be it in print, the web, or whatever), then it serves as an advertisement for you skills. If you’re a designer, the best marketing you can do is to create attractive products that accomplish what clients want. A happy client will be more likely to share his happiness with others, thus shooting business your way. Word of mouth has exploded.
If you’re a developer working for a company of any size, write the best code you can and make sure others know about it. If you’re a writer, write your ass off. Your name is wherever your words are, so every article you get published is active marketing.
If you’ve got the chops, flaunt them and reap the rewards.
Excellent quote! and some good points. Of course we always can’t get paid in promotion, but it’s a lot better than nothing.
Thanks Chris!
Another point about working for little money is covered in this web comic about work http://businessguysonbusinesstrips.com/art/fame.gif
Realistically doing good work for crappy pay is something you can do if you don’t need money, or are starting out. When people do need money, and can’t spend time on quality, they put out a large quantity of crap. Then they buy themselves things for all the money they’ve made and feel pretty good.