Money Lessons from 9 Years of Professional Blogging: Money Moves September 2020

Today is the official day to celebrate my divine 9 year blogaversary. And the 100^th blog post on my newly revamp blog. So, lots to celebrate.

² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour (9:00 a.m.) and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right (an appropriate wage).’ And they went. ⁵ He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ⁷ They answered him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard also.’ ⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [to be hired] and ending with the first [to be hired].’ ⁹ Those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) came and received a denarius each [a day’s wage]. ¹⁰ Now when the first [to be hired] came, they thought they would get more; but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they protested and grumbled at the owner of the estate, ¹² saying, ‘These men who came last worked [only] one hour, and yet you have made them equal [in wages] to us who have carried [most of] the burden and [worked in] the scorching heat of the day.’ ¹³ But the owner of the estate replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go, but I choose to give to this last man [hired] the same as I give to you.

Matthew 20:2-14 AMP

This post doesn’t feel right just listing off lessons or things related to money. Especially since I did that last month and like to keep things fresh over here. I want to share one of the most important money lessons I’ve learned over the past 9 years blogging professionally.

And that lesson is…..

for professional blogging

Charge what I know I’m worth.

NO, I’m not telling you to overcharge when you put out crap material. Or hide extra charges when you’re doing a campaign. Or to charge $10,000 because some so-called social media guru says to.

I’m saying to charge your worth because we often undervalue our gifts, skills, talent, time, effort, experience and expertise. With that undervaluation, we tend to regret taking on that project or assignment. Sometimes resent the work we love or was hired to do.

This month I truly reflected on the past 9 years of my blogging career and thought it would be easy to come up with a list of money lessons I learned along the way. Yes, I’ve learned quite a lot but the one that seems tied to many of those money lessons is the fact that I didn’t charge what I know I was worth. After finishing a lot of projects or assignments, I ended up feeling depleted because the amount of work to give the client quality superseded what I ended up with once all bills were paid related to said project or assignment. Or more time was needed without getting pay because I didn’t charge my worth.

Moving forward I have started to accept assignments [paid y’all because the free or giving my gifts away does not pay bills. in a pandemic that means get that money because you never know what will happen next] that fulfill something that continues to ignite the desire within me to blog.

When I see people, I’ve known or followed for a long time making the huge deals they’ve made, I’m so proud for them. I know the work behind where they are. I know the time it took to do the work consistently in order to put out quality. Thus, I applaud them for the deals they close. Because they are charging their worth and can back it up with results.

For me, I have a long track record of results that can be checked since 2011. I know what needs to be done in order to run an amazing campaign, put out a quality blog post or do a rollout. Moving forward I know blogging will continue to be the center and foundation of how I make money. So, in order for me to charge what I am worth I have to make sure, you who writes the checks, are able to clearly see why the value I bring here on my blog will be value that will extend to you when we work together as well. The work I want to do with this blog, the new direction of this blog is not going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder either. But I won’t undercharge the value I know I bring each and every time I work with anyone. The scripture above reminds me why I need to charge what I know I’m worth.

If anything what I learned over the past 9 years will keep me focused on rebuilding this blog into a thriving business. I must remember to charge what I know I’m worth then back it up with the experience and expertise I have in my toolbox. At the end of the day, I don’t want to be upset or disappointed by the money I agreed to related to the work I accepted.

This month I’m celebrating 9 years as a paid professional blogger. That’s right. I’ve been paid to blog since 2011. Even though I started blogging in 2009, it was just an outlet to express myself. Then September 2011 rolled around and I decided I would make blogging a career option for me. Now here we are 9 years later and I’m still creating content that is authentically transparent. If you have been blessed by my content in anyway over the years, please contribute to my cashapp $VernettaRFreeney Thanks for rocking with me. Your support means so much to me.