It’s not about the money or the time, not really. It’s about what you do with them, how you use money and time to enhance your life and your business.
Money Means More In Wise Hands
If it was just about the money, every lotto winner would be happy and financially set for life. But resources have a way of slipping through fingers that aren’t ready for it.
The same is true for time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, yet some accomplish amazing, smart and creative things and others just kind of tread water. Time gets away from us without a plan.
John Mariotti brings up an interesting question about how companies spend money on technically. He asks “Should You Buy “State of the Art” Technology?” and suggests that we “choose the state of your need.” Instead of the latest phone, app or software, John says to get something that “is proven, reliable and well understood.” And because of the way technology leaps forward, proven and reliable products can still be cool and sexy (of course, proven and reliable is sexy).
Technology is ambitious (and that’s fun), but it always needs a season or two to work the kinks out. So why should we pay top dollar for someone’s beta product. When we could wait a couple of years and pay for the one that works the way it should.
Since Time Is Money…
Social media can devour a large chunk of our time. That’s a big deal when you’re a small business trying to market yourself. You don’t have time or money to waste.
Ivana Taylor says that we need to focus on creating “a tight marketing message” before we dive into social media. In “How B2B Marketers Can Use Social Media To Generate More Customers,” Ivana walks us through the process of identifying our target audience and creating a message that connects.
At the end of the day, social media is just a communication tool — we’re responsible for how we use. Put the time into a better marketing message and social media can have a greater impact.
Your Time, Your Money, Your Job
After starting a business or receiving a major promotion, there is no greater professional impact on your time and money than job lost. In “Get Ready for New U.S. Jobs: Here’s Where to Find Them” John highlights great employment opportunities like service and technology jobs in multiple fields including health care. He also mentions something that’s interesting for small business owners. John says
“The new middle class will be completely different than the one we knew just a few decades ago. They’ll know how to do different, more technologically sophisticated jobs.”
In the past, your college degree and years on a job could guarantee your middle class status. In the future, we will have to do more and be smarter if we intend to live that dream. I also believe the “new middle class” will include a larger number of successful small business owners and independent contractors. For some, job insecurity has lessened the risk aversion to creating a business.
Change is common now. The best thing we can do is accept it and dive in.
Money Photo via Shutterstock
Caleb Page
This seems to have been a timely topic for the last ten years. Remember complaining about too much email? Your article shows that we should have kept quiet back then!
I like the 24 hours per day example – I’ve been using 168 hours per week for a long time. We’ll all be in the same place starting next Monday morning, only what will be different? Thanks for sharing the links – I’d be interested in hearing more about how people sift through the noise of social media.