Jellybeans is my way of thinking about total cost or benefit of something. It includes…
- money
- time
- emotional energy
- reputation
- possessions
- and other resources
Getting too much spring mix salad greens costs me jellybeans because i have to pay for them, load them out of the grocery store and into my house, into my fridge. Gotta move them around in my fridge. Stare at them and try to not get angry that they are about to go bad. Throw them all away because the purple leaves are brown.
When we negotiate a deal and get a gig, we want to get the most money possible from the booker. At the same time we want to feel like we’re not ripping them off. And we want to feel like we did great work.
Instead of thinking about how to get the most jellybeans out of the situation, we can think of how both parties can gain jellybeans out of thin air.
If someone pays me a bunch of money and i have more time than money and what i can do saves them time… we both get jellybeans out of the deal. This is the happiest aim of every deal – find how both parties gain a ton.
The jellybeans that i put in are small. The jellybeans the customer gains are big and vice versa at the same time. Mutual exploitation.
I feel the issue that causes many artists to be afraid of money is that they think the jellybeans flow only in their direction. Creative people, we offer something of value to the world!!
Take action: Figure out something you can do for a customer
where they receive more than you give. eg: I know you’re going to be in a rush on 3 hours of sleep. you’ll probably want some comfort. I’ll pickup an amazing caffeinated bev and sandwich for you from my favorite bakery!”