Profitability. It’s a big deal. Are you making more than you’re spending. In my case, rent, cell phones, groceries, utilities, public transit and other misc. must have expenses is adding up to be exactly what Laura and I make every month. It’s hard and people don’t really get it. The other day we were chatting with a friend of ours about how money is tight so we’d like to go out to a park and not spend any money. 15 minutes later, our friend walks off and says to Laura, “we should go shopping this weekend.” What? That couldn’t have been habit and does she not understand that whole deal with money?
Living in an economy of consumers is fantastic because there is a wealth of opportunity for small ideas to have incredible profits and for artists in music and film to make a living doing what they love knowing that someone will buy their album. That consumer mentality is still alive and well despite the fact that millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Economists are stating that we must keep spending and they’re absolutely correct but it’s a little hard to do that when the money you spent isn’t coming back to you in the form of increased wages or yearly bonuses. Of course, I don’t have to explain to you this downward spiral so let’s just skip over that.
Last year I set out to not charge for 80% of the work I did. I have a day job that pays very well based on my experience, education and age. I’m very happy at my current job there are tons of people out there who don’t work nearly as hard doing the same job and get paid double what I make. I wasn’t raised with the mentality that you should compare yourself to others and feel sorry for yourself, however, I was raised to fight for what is right, to bust your ass and you’ll be repaid for your efforts but not just with money but with a feeling of accomplishment, self worth and maybe a little money to go along with it but that’s not everything. That was the inspiration for the 80% rule.
I will do 80% of my work as a consultant, event planner, social media marketer for no charge. I would do it without charging or asking for a single dime because I’m a 22 year old Florida boy with no college education. My plan worked. Since moving to SF in June of 2008, I have planned 15 parties / events, acted as a panelist and speaker at 5 events and helped 10 small companies focus their social media goals, develop tactics and reach out to their customers via social networks. I’ve had an excellent 9 months. My Linkedin network great from 0 to nearly 250 connections. Facebook friends soared from 99 to 750 friends and my Twitter followers rose from 500 to 2500. My connections in the Internet economy have been very helpful and I’ve even been dubbed, “The Party Guy” after going to 4 parties a night for the first 6 months in San Francisco. I did that just to build up my connections and it worked beautifully.
Aside from my professional relationships, I’ve strengthened my fantastic relationship with my girlfriend Laura. I’ve made a couple of friendships but no one solid enough to call a best friend and I’ve had the ability to travel more than ever this past year. I’ve never gone somewhere strictly for vacation and always needed a work excuse to get away but it’s still great fun to go to a new city even if you’re stuck in a conference during the day. I’ve enjoyed my time in Tahoe, Reno, Las Vagas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta and other bay area cities. I’ll be going to Austin Texas for SxSW in just over a week.
My great joy in moving to San Francisco has been the ability to help people. My work ethic of only sleeping 5 hours a night has paid off because I can finish work from 5PM-3AM and have a chance during the day to volunteer at a homeless shelter, participate in a food drive, raise money for charity and just help people. AdamsBlock that was launched in October of 2008 inadvertently lowered crime, raised awareness about the homeless population and raised money for a local charity equaling thousands of dollars. I’ve had the honor of planning a party that allowed us to give 400 toys and over 200 cans of food. I had the chance to help the city with Project Homeless Connect and stop by a local school to see how public education and technology are doing in San Francisco in an effort to see how we can change things. San Francisco is a large city compared to my hometown so there is so much opportunity to help out that it’s been a fun and incredible experience.
Of course, all of this free work, charity and time had to add up somewhere, right? Yeah it wasn’t until I filed my taxes and after my charitable contributions I only made 36 thousand dollars last year. I didn’t realize it was so little until I put all of the numbers into my computer, added it all up, and looked at charity donations that the number just glared at me. It looked at me as if to say, “well congratulations, at least you’re not unemployed.” I immediately smiled because I have a great job, a book that’s nearing completion, a wonderful girlfriend and I think of the people I was able to help in the last year of living in San Francisco. It’s not about how much money you make or how much you work, it only matters if you can leave our Earth a better place when you’re gone. I’m working on that and if I can inspire others to do the same things I’ve done, that will be my only ambition.
People have asked why I’m transparent about what I make, where I spend my time and how I live. The answer is, I’m trying to show people what I do by leading as an example. I tweet about helping people or planning events / barcamps and then post photos of things I’m working on and then occasionally I’ll talk about money, finances or how much I work. The reason why is that I want you to look inward. Look at how much you work, look at the money you make and say to yourself, “I only work a 40 hour work week and make twice as much as him yet I didn’t do shit for the world last year.” Then you go out and you do something. I’m not here to be a martyr, get attention through pity, make you feel good or bad about yourself. I’m writing this to show that anyone can help and anyone can do something amazing, inspiring and something that betters our world. I placed profitable last on the title of my blog entry because Being Open, Honest & Giving should come before profitability.
Thanks to all of you for reading. It’s 3:30AM, I’m still working but felt inspired to post this blog entry. I hope you enjoyed it.
