How to Monetize Your Talent

It is common kn0wledge that to earn an income, either a salary or profit you MUST exchange VALUE for MONEY. It is a transaction; give and take.

So, what is VALUE? It is what is interpreted by the person who sees it as relevant at the time you offer it. People value different things at different times according to their preferences. For instance; I may want a chicken sandwich for breakfast and go to a drive through but you may want a chicken sandwich for dinner and prefer to sit in an eatery to have it. Same thing, different times or same time, different things.

This differentiates what I value from yours and that means we may require two different people to provide what we value or on the flip side one of us will not have what we want when we want it and someone would not make money.

Monetizing your talent is way more than just being good at something and selling it. It involves all the “wh and h” questions; why, where, who, when, where and how. I believe everyone has something to sell but answering the “wh” questions will help you decide if you can, will or should sell it.

If you can justify “why” you are doing what you are doing then you have a good start. For instance, “I can sing”. Question: do I release an album? Or do I back up an existing singer? Or do I just work in the industry?

I spoke on this topic to movie makers who were learning to use their smartphones to make movies. This is an excerpt of what I said to them;

“What if all of us decide to do feature films tomorrow with what we have learnt, how many of us will be successfully recognised?” We agreed on a high 15%.

This seemed unfair but that’s how the world works. When people all do generic work only a few get recognised. Most of the time being different is what would make you valuable and increase your worth.

So, I asked them, “what can you do that hasn’t been done before with the smartphone?” Silence.

Let me share 2 ideas I have given to my clients that I shared that day;

1. A young lady came to me with a dream of being a photographer but it seemed no one will hire her because she was “omo kekere” (small child) and I told her to give herself 3 months to work for free and she will become a millionaire.

“How”? She asked.

I told her to go to high profile weddings and events and take pictures for free and put her signature and number on them and before long she was appearing in top-notch magazines and other platforms through those she gave free photos. The jobs began to roll in.

2. A wannabee makeup artist came to me about growing her business but throughout she kept talking about the model’s outfit clashing with the makeup. So, I told her instead of working with makeup why doesn’t she dress the models to match the makeup or vice versa?

Now she’s doing her thing like she owns the market. She is an “outfits director”. Who knew?

Let me tie this up here;

1. It is what you can do and become great at.
2. It is how you do it that would position you strategically as unique and relevant.
3. Everyone loves some innovation. Ask Richard Branson
4. Don’t ignore anything. As an entrepreneur everything counts
5. Offer free services in places that would give you exposure.
6. Always exchange what you want for what you can get.
7. Look to tie your value with a need. Become a solution provider and people will pay for your solution.
8. Find those who have gone before and see what they aren’t doing that you can do. See “uber” and “airbnb”.
9. Be audacious. Tell people they need what you have. Bluff is you have to because confidence sells.
10. Get great advice. It will save you a lot of money.