Here’s an important question for sovereign professionals. Are you doing the important part or the hard part?

It may not be what you think:

There are countless factories vying to sell generic products to the companies that own the customer relationship. Perhaps 90% (sometimes 100%) of the profit goes to companies that make the sale, not the ones who actually made the product.

That’s because while they make the thing, they don’t do the work. The hard part is earning attention and trust. The hard part is helping someone make the choice. 

As Seth says,

The Broadway producer makes a profit, the chorus member ekes out a living. 

That’s an important distinction for a freelancer.

It can be very tempting to “focus on what you love” and “contract out” your sales and marketing to an agency, be that an interim agency, a platform like Fiverr, or a creative agency. Just bear in mind that you’ll be doing the important work, but you won’t own the relationship. You won’t earn the rewards of the “hard part”.

Read the full post from Seth Godin, here.

Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash