How to Make More Money
Happy Friday,
You want to make more money? Make yourself more rare and valuable to your employer. The more rare and valuable you are, the more you're worth. That's not just a recommendation; it's a law - the law of supply and demand.
Most people think the organization they work for sets their pay because that’s who issues their paycheck. Mostly untrue. Supply and demand determine your approximate value in the marketplace. Employers just tweak it to reflect their specific needs. So, if you feel underpaid, don't automatically blame your employer.
If many people can do what you do, your pay will remain anchored to them (the equilibrium price) until you do enough to clearly differentiate yourself.
Here are ten things you can do right now to make yourself more rare and valuable to your employer. They work precisely because most people don’t do them:
1. Show you 'get it' by thinking and acting like an owner/entrepreneur rather than an employee. One of the main jobs of every CEO/leader is to put more of the organization's chips (compensation & resources) behind the people who see the whole picture and can make a difference. If you think and act like an employee focused only on your own slice of the world, you're out of context with the whole and, over time, will earn less. Make it clear you understand how and why your organization works.
2. Earn personal trust with people of strategic value to the organization.
3. Perfect your people/leadership skills, aka. Your personal influence.
4. Perfect your writing and verbal communication skills to represent yourself better and show you can effectively represent others.
- Outwork your peers.
6. Start using AI at home and get on top of the emerging trends and tools. (@rowancheung on X is an excellent gateway aggregator of AI info.) Start using AI productivity tools at work as aggressively as your organization's AI policy allows.
7. Become a cross-functional expert and integrator.
8. Be diligent about earning people's trust in your character and competence.
9. Set aside an hour to read the Good News Fridays you missed. Seriously.
10. Finally, share your job and salary roadmap with your boss. Doing so invokes the power of unstated but implied expectations. When your boss is on notice that you're on a serious mission, they’ll pay more attention and become more invested in your success. It works.
Punchline: You increase your pay by becoming more rare and valuable to your organization and profession. It's the law—the law of supply and demand. And there's no more certain or rewarding investment a person can make than an ongoing investment in oneself. Most people don't do it. That's why it works.
Have a terrific weekend,
Dave
Feedback and blowback are always welcome here: dave@goodnewsfriday.com
Access the 53 past topics @ goodnewsfriday.com
Written by me, with some thought support by ChatGPT: speed assist and blunder avoidance by Grammarly.
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