Rousing Review The Art of Earning

Rousing Review The Art of Earning I devored The Art of Earning* a few weeks ago. I know, I know, it launched eons ago, but I put it into my To Read folder on  Dropbox and then, well, let it gather dust. Sigh. When I was on the subway with a read New York magazine, I clicked over to my To Read folder and re-found The Art of Earning, silently beckoning me. I love me some Tara Gentile (did ya hear that well be presentin at SXSW together, along with Molly Mahar of Stratejoy?) and this topic feeling that making money isnt greedy or slimy or what-a-nice-person-does hits home for both myself and the large majority of my clients. I also knew that I have a price hike in my future and it was, honestly, freaking me the hell out. Crunching The Numbers told me to charge 60% more than I do now, but it looked way too  significant/scary for me to commit to and I immediately balked. While I know that I wont put that number into effect, itll definitely be significant-ish. Can ya tell Im still rolling the number around in my head? Anyways, I usually read stuff that I know Im gonna use as a Rousing Review with my iPhone Notes handy, jotting down passages and exercises I loved and questions I had and anything else I wanna include in my post. But this time, I wrote down nada. Not because there was nothing that struck me quite the contrary. I was so enthralled by what I was reading I forgot to take my Reviewer point of view! So, as I look back on what I took away in general, its nothing short of a whole new perspective. Tara talks about becoming a marketer of meaning. Its about owning your worth, your talent, your style, and your skills (I dont care if youre one of a million jewelry designers on Etsy you still have a unique worth, talent, style and skill) and realizing that youre valuable. What you produce whether its a product or a service is your customers or clients gain. They value the craftsmanship in your necklace, or the colors in your photos, or copy you create for them to use. The more money youre making, the more value youre giving to the world. Youve become A Marketer of Meaning. Yes yes, I know its easier said than done. I know its a matter of self-confidence and trust and fear and your personal relationship with money and all those emotional Vampires that come into play. But the beauty of  The Art of Earning is that Tara knows that, understands that, and addresses that. She not only tells you that theres no way youre gonna become Bernie Madoff (because you so wont), but she has a way of writing that allows you to really shift your perspective yes, even the one that says I wont be able to be a  successful  solopreneur ever. Stability only comes with a steady paycheck. People, theres a whole chapter on that! Dont take my word for it, though. Here are some of my favorite questions she posed: How do you approach earning money? Spending it? Investing it? What emotions do you assume your customer feels after buying from you? What more can you do by allowing more money to flow through you? And while I didnt count the questions, Id guess theres about 2 dozen more. Such good perspective-shifting, such great a-ha! moments, such great forming-a-plan action items.and while its priced at $25, you can pay what you can. Ah,  The Art of Earning, you live up to your subtitle and make making money beautiful. *yup, this is my affiliate link. But ya know by now that I dont put my Happy Hooplah stamp on anything I dont find amazeballs. So you can trust me. Pinky swear.