Helping Others, Making Money: Which is More Important?
I’ve been having a lively debate with my blog designer James about my tag line on this blog. “Practice-building tips and success strategies for mental health professionals” isn’t doing it for me anymore. It’s not inclusive enough, for one thing. Many of my readers are not mental health professionals. And we’re here to change the world one person at a time, right? We need to think beyond just building an ordinary helping business. We need to think about how our work changes lives AND makes money.
Which brings me back to my debate with James. In my new tag line I want to emphasize that this is a place where my readers want to make a difference and help others. James, on the other hand, with her vast experience in business building, thinks we should go with an angle that emphasizes that what you learn here will help you make more money.
Now, if we are to think purely about what motivates people to read a blog, purchase coaching or products, the truth is it is mostly about making money. And when I go into my survey archives of questions I’ve asked readers about what they want from this blog, most comments focus on things related to money (like how to get out-of-pocket reimbursements, develop billing systems, etc.) Honestly, no one mentions the desire to help more people or improve lives. Hmmmm….
I know most of us (if not all) go into our professions with altruistic intentions to help others live better lives. But what really motivates you to do the work you do? Is it helping others, being a change agent, or is it the fact that you can make rather good money as a helping professional (Yes, you can. No eye rolling please. If you’re not making good money yet, you need to read this blog in close detail…..).
So, I need to ask you (since James and I are no closer to an agreement), which is more important? Or does one (helping others) not relate to the other (making money)? Or vice versa?
Isn’t this the dilemma we often put ourselves in as we build helping businesses? At times, I think we all feel ambivalent about making money as we help others with their life problems. Or is that just me?
But that ambivalence does not mean we are not deserving of making a good living. James (who is not a therapist) knows this. I’m still learning to be comfortable with the idea of broadcasting to the world that my blog is about helping others AND making money.
So, please tell me: helping others, making money–is one more important to you? There is no right answer, but I think it’s a conversation we should start. I’m very interested in your thoughts, so please share!
Like this post? Want to learn more about helping others AND making a good living? You’ll want to sign up for my report: “8 Steps to Developing a Practice that Allows You to Help More People, Make More Money and Enjoy Your Life.“
My answer is Yes! I would go with the concept that one writer promotes (can’t remember his name write now). He writes that the truly wealthy do not think in terms of either/or, but rather in terms of both/and. CopyBlogger has some great information on this topic, which I have not taken the time to analyze, but it addresses the new paradigm of social marketing/networking. Direct marketing is perceived as ‘bad’, while social networking (while never asking for a sale) is perceived as ‘good.’ But in the meantime, the social networker can remain poor if not asking for the sale.
Therapists, as a whole, need to be grounded in James’ type of business thinking, in my opinion, because as a whole we are shy to ever ask for anything. By becoming comfortable with putting our value out there and asking for sales in return, we will achieve the optimal balance.
You can tell from my anonymous (to the world) posting that this is a sensitive topic to have my name attached to, but it’s an important one to discuss.
I recently realized that I need to hone down what I track to just the revenue that I generate on a daily basis – the actual hours that I bill that turn into money. Because until this part of my practice is where it needs to be, nothing else can grow. And, it’s during these “billable hours” that I’m able to help my clients. I think of this as my “prime directive” ala Star Trek.
My secondary directive is to make sure that all of my other actions are leading me towards my ideal clients which will then turn into money. This means that if I’m putting time into networking, I need to make sure that the events I’m attending are also attended by people who serve my market. I need to make sure that I’m sending out my newsletters since I know that brings in clients. And I need to find a way to turn the things I enjoy (talking about law practice management & marketing) but had long been non-revenue generating, into an income stream, which is what prompted me to begin offering coaching to other attorneys.
It isn’t that money is more important than helping people, any more than food or sleep is more important than helping people. But if I haven’t slept, I’m hungry and I’m worried about money I can’t be helpful to anyone.
I agree with Steve- we will have a hard time helping people if we can’t pay our bills and keep the doors open. It’s not about becoming rich- it’s about a sustainable living that allows us to help more people!
@Steve, Guess what? James is a writer for Copyblogger! She’s James Chartrand. So interesting you connected her ideas.
@L That sounds like a good way to consider the many angles of this issue. Chris Brogan (the king of the kumbaya blogging world) calls this “baby’s got to eat.” If we don’t sustain ourselves, we can’t be of much use to others.
@Robyn So to take the idea of “sustainable living” further…how do we define that? And is one person’s “rich” another person’s sustainable? Or does it matter?
Another vote for the both/and view. As a Christian therapist, I believe wholeheartedly that “the workman (workperson?) is worth his wages,” (1 Tim 5:18). Only those who’ve already made tons of money (like philanthropists) can afford to donate anything, and most of those types of donations end up being monetary rather than service oriented. L, Steve and Robyn are all on the right track. Since we don’t live in a currency-free world we need to navigate that avenue with the same skill and care that we use in helping our clients. Here’s to acknowledging our worth in both tangible as well as intangible ways.
@CaraLyn07 Thanks for sharing your perspective. So true we need to work within our currency-based system and put a value on what we offer.
i agree that tag line should include mention of making money. that guy who wrote rich dad, poor dad (robert something) says that money informs every topic in our society. we are providing a valid, specialized, critical service, and should not confuse the bottom line with our professional choice of helping others.
the bottome line (no pun intended) is that nobody is holding a gun to our clients’ heads. i just raised my rates this year, and nobody has complained yet. people will pay for what is important to them. recession or not, malls and movie theaters are still full…
thanks for the wonderful blog post, susan!
@Linda, such a good point about malls and movie theaters. I just went to see “Avatar” the weekend and the place was packed! Out for dinner afterwards, 2 hour wait for a not inexpensive restaurant. People WILL pay for what they value and we certainly have valuable skills and support to offer. And glad to hear you raised your rates!
Make more money in order to be able to help more people! Or find a way to make money that also helps people.
Great conversation. I like to help others and make a good living. I don’t think the two have to be separate. Keep up the great work Susan!
kbk
I don’t think the two are separate. I noticed that the more I focus on serving other people and their wants and needs–the more money I make. When I worry about making money I start to focus on what I think others want and that’s a losing game because you are guessing- you really aren’t in touch with the people you serve. So-focus on helping others and it’s true (even though it is cliche)- the money will come.
@Annie I agree that we should find ways to be helpful and make a good living. Neither is mutually exclusive.
@ Kathleen Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation.
@Fern Absolutely, when we focus on serving others in ways that meet their needs the money comes naturally.
I’m writing from the UK and I’m totally passionate about the VALUE of therapy and I’d like to throw that into this mix. Value comes into therapy in lots of different areas, I don’t think the public places a high value on mental well being…not equal to physical well being anyway. So following on from that, if we as a community don’t communicate the value of the service we offer, how can we expect the paying public to place a value on it either.
Here in the UK many clients can access free counselling via the NHS, which I think is great. I work within the NHS 2 days a week and I have noticed that “did not attends” happen far more regularly when I work at NHS jobs, they happen far less with my fee paying, private clients. I’ve also heard from a counsellor who works at a drug rehab hostel that they negotiate a fee with clients using the counselling service…it’s always a very small amount, 20pence…50pence, something like that. Again, the same thing happened, once the clients were made to put a value on the counselling they turned up much more frequently.
So, for me the issue is not just about money.
Tamarisk, Ah, but it IS about money, even a few cents makes a difference…. Psychological research shows again and again people value what they PAY for. Whether it is an outcropping of our capitalist culture, I don’t know, but we associate things that cost money as valuable and the more they cost the more we value them. Hence people working to buy a bigger home, fancier car, more expensive clothes. Of course, we don’t hike up prices on therapy because we want it to be accessible to those who need help, but if we are to run a successful business we need to keep this human behavior trait in mind. People don’t value free or cheap and that has nothing to do with the quality of the service offered. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!