Your Market Value

This is a hotly debated contest about your market value, or salary. Most of us think that we should be paid more than we actually are. In some cases its true but in many cases we aren't worth what we think we are worth. Many guys like you and me could be working in a multimillion company and could be making for our employers the same millions. But our monthly compensation is a fraction of what the company's actual revenue is. For example I have a friend who is a graphic designer and he literally makes millions for his company with his work and the guys who pay him give him a monthly salary that is less than six figures. He feels that he is not adequately compensated for his work. He doesn't want to earn half a million but something a bit more reasonable. Although it would be wrong for him to think that he is worth half a million, and sad to say he is only worth a few thousand.

 
Your employers are worthy millionaires not because they are better than you in any way. They are humans like you, eat sleep and take a dump like the rest of us. The only difference is that they are able to organize resources much better than we are and end up making a lot of money. They might not be great marketers but they can hire great marketers to do their marketing for them. They might not be great designers but they can hire good ones. Anyways you get my point. With their ability to bring all these people together to come up with a finished product they are able to earn millions. A very good example is Steve Jobs, he wasn't the best programmer in his company in fact he was at best mediocre but he was able to attract the best talents in the industry and produce great products like the mac, iPhone and IPod.

 
With the dissatisfaction from their employment there are people who are brave and can quit their work and start their own entrepreneurial business and make ten to a hundred times what they made before. The problem with these people is that they come a dime a dozen. Many people have this fantasy of starting their own company and making millions but the harsh reality is that this doesn't work out for everyone. This is because not all of us are meant to be leaders and some of us are meant to be followers. There is no crime in being a follower but the crime is thinking you are a leader and you aren't. If you feel that you would be a successful entrepreneur by all means to do it. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone.

 
There are certain things that you can do to improve your market value. The top of my list is that you should go back to school, attend conferences, and read more about your industry so that you are regarded as an expert in your field. With improved knowledge you will become more effective at your work place and your employers will notice it and if they don't other employers will and you can go and work for them. In the words of Jay Z – "don't be good be great" Another thing you can do is quit working for your underpaying employers and look for somewhere else to work or alternatively start your own thing. Do you. The last thing I can think of to increase your net worth is to network with people in your industry, this helps as you will be able to know other opportunities that are out there.

 
What other ways do you know that you can do to improve your net worth?