When I was a kid, I used to make a little stall in front of our house during the holidays. We used to make Lemonade to or go up the back of a farm nearby and pick blackberries or passion fruit to sell.
I always remember getting excited about how much money we would make while picking the berries or lemons. Followed by the boredom and frustration after hours of sitting waiting for people to buy our produce. Sometimes we would knock on doors to try and sell some faster.
One holiday when I was a bit older, I spent a whole day writing a leaflet offering my services to do odd jobs washing cars and the like. When it was finished I had to talk my mum into going to town to make lots of copies on her work photocopier, and then spent a few more hours posting them in letter boxes around the neighbourhood. I got a few jobs washing cars and cleaning swimming pools for my efforts, giving me a tidy sum of pocket money. The thing I remember is the making and distributing the leaflets took twice as long as the actual jobs, which only took a few hours to do.
I always think of these experiences when I hear people mentioning celebrities getting paid huge sums of money to front brands. Back in the early 2000’s Nike reported paid Tiger Woods more to market their products than they paid their workforce in china to make their shoes. Many people considered that unjust, but I can’t help thinking, that you make money from selling products, not just making them.
photo credit: EvinDC
I like the point you make at the end. You make MORE money selling your product than you do manufacturing. Even the manufacturer must have sales people which are often paid out of proportion to the rest of the company. Or at least that’s the way it seems until you consider that selling the product matters as much as making it!
Love the writing style!