If you don’t value yourself, no one else will – Insights from Alex J. Vasquez at WordCamp OC 2014
Value.
What comes to mind? Is it the $1 menu at your favorite quick service restaurant? Is it the cave full of jewels in Desolation of Smaug? Or is it just as simple as a fair trade: money for services rendered?
It’s true that in the service sector, as opposed to the widget sector, price and value are often used interchangeably where the two parties often have differing definitions.
At WordCamp Orange County, Carol Stephen (read her “Awesome Moments” post) and I attended Alex J. Vasquez‘ talk called: “Valuing (and Pricing) Yourself as a Team.”
By the way, you know what blows me away about #WCOC? The humility of the speakers and that was demonstrated big time by Alex.
He had a way of speaking that was humble yet experienced. He wasn’t afraid to talk about mistakes or victories. That says a lot about the confidence of a person, especially one who believes we should be just as confident.
Although, I’m not a WordPress developer or even a freelancer, as an office manager for a commercial general contractor, I could not help but see the parallels during the talk. I was encouraged by it.
There is a lot of overlap for anyone in the services industry, construction included. And, of course, we all want to get more value out of our time. Who doesn’t? I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that I’d love to get paid for my work instead of my time.
“The key to success is not hard working but smart working.” ~ CamMi Pham “7 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Be More Productive, Backed By Science”
Watch the presentation here.
Special Shoutout to Alex for the thank you tweet. That is always appreciated
Live Tweets:
Alex’s talk was encouraging. And I always love someone who can make fun of themselves. Those are my favorite types of people. That shows courage and good humor. It’s too easy to make fun of other people! Thanks for this post! Another great one, my friend.
Good point, Carol. It does reveal the depth of one’s character.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment; I appreciate it.
Loved this article. Great guidance!
Murney
Thanks, Murney! It was a great session. I need to watch it again.
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I’ve only met Alex one time, very briefly. From everything I read, he is a very intelligent guy. I agree with everything that he said in this talk, and that you tweeted. We are valuable. Our expertise has value, but we need to be the ones to enforce that fact I’ve only met Alex one time, very briefly. From everything I read, he is a very intelligent guy. I agree with everything that he said in this talk, and that you tweeted. We are valuable. Our expertise has value, but we need to be the ones to enforce that fact . We cannot trust our clients to do it for us.
I agree, John. Peer feedback is important because a lot of us work remotely or alone. And I understand that a lot more now. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.