Tuesday, March 2, 2010

When Money Becomes an Obstacle

It shouldn't I know; it should be welcome, and it is.

I decided to add another organization to my list of speaking opportunities; telephoned etc. On September 9th at their request I emailed off a précis of half a dozen topics. On November 5th we managed to meet by arrangement. On January 25th I delivered the talk.

So far, what many of you will see as a "typical lag" when dealing with certain types of organization.

Here's the catch: At the Nov 5th meeting they said they would pay me to deliver; up until that time I was prepared to do it "pro bono", for the glory of having my name in lights, and to gain another name to hang on my "speakers" page.

I collected the P.O. from my mailbox on my way out the door Friday 5th Feb, too late to phone their office and ask why the P.O. appears to be for $200 instead of the $100 they had announced. That conversation will take place Monday morning.

Payment terms are 30 days, which means I might get a cheque for $100 by 10th March.

I'll do the calculation for you: 182 days a.k.a. half a year.

Presumably any future talks can be arranged without the initial 2 months preliminary discussions, so that it will be a 4-month order/payment cycle.

So why do I care? I was prepared to do it for free anyway, right? Right!

But a good maxim is BUSINESS IS THE EXCHANGE OF TWO PIECES OF PAPER, ONE OF WHICH MUST BE A CHEQUE.

And waiting four months to get paid means I have become a bank, which I do not want to be.

Without the payment I'd be happy to volunteer every fortnight; with the payment scheme it has become business, and a very poor business at that.

For six months labor I've got my name in lights just once (the talk was very well received), so it seems to me that without a regular speaking schedule, I'm not getting the exposure I had hoped for, and I'm certainly not getting paid enough to force my way forwards.

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