People do all kinds of work because they enjoy the activity for its own sake. Fishing, gaming, DIY, gardening, cooking, baking, working out, you name it! We're intrinsically motivated by such activities because we enjoy them, either for the activity itself or for what we want to achieve like making a birthday cake for a parent or child.
We're not so intrinsically motivated by work, though. So payment for our efforts and the value we bring to our employer is one of the reasons why we go to work, along with the desire to be respected, for responsibility, and because we will support what we help create or bring.
Money can be a very effective motivation for hard work. We work hard, and we get paid. Then we use that money we've earned to house ourselves, feed ourselves, treat ourselves, or take ourselves and our friends and families on a holiday somewhere. (Note to self: need to go to Edinburgh again!)
Content creators, like myself, may or may not see what we do as being "work" because our motivation comes from the fact that we enjoy the activity and we enjoy seeing what comes from taking part in the activity, like sharing our knowledge and experiences and seeing a community grow around us.
Another motivating factor for me is that I can share my knowledge and experiences with the online legal community around my life as an autistic aspiring lawyer so as to help the rest of the community learn more and move to become more inclusive of folks like me and other neurodivergent lawyers at every stage of their career. As time has gone on, I now see my project here as my own space and my own brand, but also my responsibility and my burden for a number of reasons, thus making it a bit like another job, and I wouldn't change it for anything.
At the same time, there is a great deal of effort and time investment that goes into creating valuable and engaging content. It isn't just the typing out of the words; its the research, the layout, the formatting, the tone and the language. And for the video content I create, its the work that goes into approaching, discussing, selling to, and adding value in return to my guests. All of the above is not too dissimilar to "work", so maybe it makes sense that we also view what we do as "work" so that we can justify our getting paid for what we create?
Its an interesting question I've been asking myself after connecting with and learning more from other creators. I don't know if there is or isn't a right answer to this as I think it will all depend on the creator's perspective and goals, whether they see what they do as work, and the value they place on all the effort they put in to create engaging content.
There are a few things I've been able to take away from my own opinions and from others.
Point 1
My goal for my space and my brand is to share information and experiences and knowledge to help others support neurodivergent lawyers at all levels in work and in life. I believe this shouldn't be behind a paywall because it can become inaccessible to those who can't afford to pay for the content.
I'm writing this in February 2022, nearly 2 years after the COVID-19 pandemic was announced. I'm fortunate enough to have been working full time up until now and been able to make a living. It was an added bonus that I enjoyed what I did and the people I worked with! At the time, knowing that I had that full-time job and a way to make a living meant that I needed to work for my living. Simple as that! And because my job took priority for at least 8 hours each weekday, it means that those 8 or so hours weren't being used for content creation as effectively as perhaps they could have been.
Just as a customer would complain about a service or product that was delivered late, followers might complain about regularly scheduled content that was shared later than usual, especially those content creators who also work with other people and companies.
Let's say, for instance, a content creator was commissioned by Nike to share their products regularly every Wednesday. There's a contract and everything so it is formalised. But if the creator shares the scheduled content late and it is posted at a time where Nike can't maximise the impact of the sharing, then there will be complaints made about the creator, wouldn't there?
Point 2
If we're going out of our way, perhaps because we've been asked to create something individual or bespoke, to create something that goes beyond the kind of thing that we do with our platform normally, then it makes sense that we receive recompense for our added efforts and expenses incurred to actually do this.
This is because we've gone above and beyond what we do for our own platform normally. For instance, if creators regularly create blogs for their platform as standard, then to be asked to do something that is extra to what they do, such as an official presentation or some advisory work based on their content, goes above and beyond what they do and so they are within their right to ask for payment for the work they do that is above and beyond.
Point 3
This came from a connection based in the US.
"Other Autists have echoed my experience, and I want self-advocates to know that you are allowed to ask for an honorarium. And if there is no honorarium, you are allowed to say no. You are allowed to say that you don’t work for free because you are allowed to charge for your time because you have value. You deserve money in exchange for your work, your nonrenewable resources."
This makes sense. Time is a non-renewable resource - once its gone, we can't get it back. So wouldn't we want to make sure that we are getting our worth for our time invested? In today's corporate world, money is how we put value on our time and expertise. And it requires our time and expertise to be able to create valuable and meaningful content for our audiences, whether its what we do normally or whether its anything above and beyond, regardless of the profession we are in or that we are creating for. It is absolutely right that we put a fair monetary value for our time and expertise on the value that our work can bring to those who approach us to create something for them.
If creators don't value their time, they can't expect others to. Creators can have their altruism taken advantage of if they are not careful.
Point 4
But would putting a financial value on the advocacy that you do, either for yourself or for the community, make you unpalatable or inaccessible to those who want you to share your experiences with them in order to make them or their company better? ie, if there are others doing it for free, wouldn't they be more likely to be approached?
I think this one leads to a point I learned from a friend in the profession.
"Content for free, but implementation for a fee"
Knowledge should generally be freely available, I believe. It does no one any favours when one person holds a monopoly on knowledge and guards it behind a paywall. You can learn something from everyone every day. Being able to freely access knowledge means that people can improve their understanding and awareness and challenge their own opinions and understanding on a topic. You can also gain access to other knowledgeable people in this area, and together generate new ideas and processes, and recognise everyone for their efforts in the creation of their content and the sharing of their knowledge for the benefit of each other and for their audiences.
At the same time, if people want to know how to implement the creator's content for their own use, whether it is personal or for their company, then the creator has every right to choose to charge for the implementation of their knowledge. There is nothing wrong with creators valuing their time and enhanced service offerings; in fact, it should be more vigorously encouraged!
Now the above is from the perspective of the content creator making the decision as to if they want to ask for payment for their content. But let's have a look at the other side here.
What if someone chooses to pay you for creating content?
Seemingly, that's a win on your part, right! This means that someone else, whether its an individual, group, or company, sees the value in the content that you're creating and sharing and wants to offer you payment for the work you're putting into it.
But maybe there is an expectation from the person/company paying you for your content? In the transactional world/profession that we are in, there is usually something that is wanted or needed in return for the payment we receive for our content creation, whether it is an expectation of frequency or particular topics. Remember what I said above in the example around Nike? There may or may not be a similar sort of expectation here. It is always worth asking the question so that you are fully informed.
I think that when people pay, they pay attention. This means if someone pays a creator for something, however small, they are naturally more likely to pay attention as they have made the effort to make an investment into the creator. They will want to get their money's worth in value.
Then again, if the creator's content is good anyway, it will be easier for their audience to want to pay or invest in it further down the line. I've paid other creators "coffees" for the work they've put into sharing their knowledge and experiences because I've found them to be worth it! Their content is good, I've taken a lot away from it, and they've inspired me too, so naturally I want to pay it back.
Ultimately the choice for content creators to charge for their work will be for the creators themselves to make. Its not for me or anyone else to tell a creator if they should or shouldn't ask for payment or charge for their work. But maybe these points here will give any creators who are reading some food for thought both for and against the idea of asking for payment or charging for their work.
Be safe and be well! :)
P
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Credit: Cover image photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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