Over the years I’ve known that my ability to market myself didn’t hold a candle to my ability to market other organizations. I can come up with a list of reasons someone else’s product (or more often), a not for profit, deserves to receive funding or a sale, but myself? Undervaluing my products is also high on the list…. I know this isn’t just me though….
I remember my first full time job was as a computer programmer at a university. To get the position I had to list my experience, enough to qualify to test, and then take a civil service exam and score in the top three — which basically meant 100 percent. After being hired and working a few months, another programmer was added. I was called into the assistant managers office (Bill) shortly after to be informed that the new person, Brent, would be making more — but it was because he had a family. Needless to say being young and in my first job I had no clue how to respond… and this was the early 90s late 80s. Years later it still annoys me.
Around 2013 friends convinced me to join them in sewing, needless to say they were girl moms and I was a boy mom… For boy moms you probably already see the issue with that, but I was a little slow. We spent a few days making the website, all girls clothes with the promise that we would add boys clothes later. By we I mean, I made a site and they directed the changes they wanted. I also bought the domain, paid for hosting, owned the theme that I had used…. yada yada yada. When the inevitable break happened I was ordered to turn the site over. As I proceeded to let them know how much their share would equal, it did not go over well. They were incredulous and I had not even included my time… I really had only included the domain name and what they would need to set it up the same — which I actually think they thought I would do for them after we split ways. For split ways, read into that, they decided we had different priorities and cut me out of everything. (Not amicable)
Time and experience, materials, all in reality have value… I went on to start from scratch and sell women’s clothes, staying away from children’s clothes. I still don’t really market myself, preferring to allow people to find me. I like to remind people to Be Yourself and Be Unique. I still have a habit to undervalue my time and experience, telling myself I am working to keep myself busy.
Really though I was a excellent programmer (though I’m a dinosaur now) and I love sewing. — but I find fault myself in everything I do. I look at the items from China and think someone can get something that works a lot cheaper, why would they buy a handmade custom item…. why should I spend all that time making something someone is just going to realize they could have gotten a cheap knock off of? Then I calculate my time and resources and it’s hard to not consider moving on to something else….
