How Much Money Do You Make? An Offbeat Look at How, How Much, and When You Know You've Got Enough

How much money do you make? To most people this is a very sensitive issue; if you have co-workers, you always want to know what they make so you will have an idea if you are being discriminated against. On the other hand, you don't want anyone else to know what you make, because if they make more than you, it will make you look bad to everyone.
There once was a break-in to our office at a company where I worked, and payroll records for all executives were stolen. For awhile, there was great concern that the salary of the chief executive, also the owner, would be exposed and cause a crisis when all the low-paid workers found out how much the chief made. This did not happen, because the culprit was quickly apprehended before he could expose the information.
There are several reasons payroll information is kept secret. The employee's self-interest is the most important to the worker. Whether it's right or wrong, a person's social standing-friends, and self-esteem-is usually determined by what the person does. And what is the most significant measure of esteem? How much one is assumed to make usually is based on the outward appearance of wealth: house, cars, boats, clothes, and other material trappings. It could be devastating for information to get out indicating just how little someone makes. What someone is paid, except in entry-level positions, is usually the result of some kind of negotiation or work evaluation between the worker and their employer; no one else is involved in this process. For pay information to be readily available to others in the work group just asks for strife and friction in the work place. Office politics are bad enough without introducing class warfare through common knowledge of unequal compensation.
There are a very few companies who make this information easily visible for anyone to see. Whole Foods, a large organic grocery chain, is one. It is part of its corporate marketing plan to develop trust among consumers, and they have a set pay scale with no exceptions; that's the only way this could work. You can be sure, when top executives are included, their salaries will be lower than you would expect; it's also certain they have many perks and stock options or other ways to make up for low salaries that are not available to most employees.
Most companies and their Human Relations departments take great pains to keep payroll information confidential. Just like their employees, the company has a strong motive for secrecy. This motive speaks to the idea most companies advertise: "Our employees are our most valuable asset." Being an asset, the recruiters try to find the very best people out there for the least possible cost; so-called incentives are usually included in a pay package. Upon closer examination, it can be seen most of these "incentives" merely cause a person to work ever harder and put in longer hours to reach the incentive. Everything from the company side is for the benefit of the company, not the employee, so they certainly don't want salary information available to the public.
There was a recent op-ed column in the New York Times by Susan Reed advocating all US businesses be required to make all payroll and salary data available to the public. Her reason for requiring this degree of transparency was she feels salary secrecy covers up age, race, and gender discrimination. It also is alleged to disguise general inequity and unfairness. All these allegations are no doubt true in many instances, though not all. Some say if salary information has been so secretive for so long, there must be something wrong with the pay system. I say the rate of pay was either accepted out of necessity or it was negotiated with the employer. In either case it's NOBODY'S BUSINESS but between the employer and the employee.
Now, let's look at some of the businesses we all operate. These include Network Marketing, Multi Level Marketing, all kinds of e-commerce and Internet business, Blogging, and similar types of business. In many of these, a prominent aspect is recruiting others to help expand your sales capacity.
When you approach someone about any kind of opportunity, what is the first question you get, even before "What must I do?" It is, "How much money do you make?" This implies the new recruit expects to do about as well as you do. But this is none of their business for several reasons:
• A life insurance company recruiter is not expected to tell a new salesperson what the recruiter personally makes. Even if the recruiter is an independent agent, they aren't expected to tell what they make; they are entrepreneurs just as an MLM recruiter is, and they assume the same business risks with no guarantee they will make anything. They could even be a commission salesperson with no certainty of making anything.
• Perhaps the main company has data publicly listed with SEC, but this does not cover individuals.
• Neither the insurance agent nor the MLM recruiter can guarantee success or a certain income level. The truth is everyone is not going to do as well as others in any business. For me to tell you what I make is to imply you will do the same or better. This simply isn't true, because I'm smarter than you are and I'll always make more than you do!
• Perhaps the most powerful reasons not to tell a prospect what you make are the FTC deceptive advertising regulations. Generally, these say that without conclusive proof, no income level or other attribute of a product or service can be advertised. Most of the legal troubles (including some current ones) faced by the MLM industry have resulted from unprovable income claims.
Although this kind of information is simply nobody's business, wouldn't it be nice to have an idea of how your income stacks up against others doing what you do? Or, wouldn't it be nice to know how much you should negotiate for a new job? Well, here's a way you can find some information about pay levels at TechCrunch using PayScale. To use this you must do a brief sign-up, but the basic service is free. I found the answers to be very reasonable, so it is something you can really use in your career.
Since many of us are entrepreneurs using the Internet, how can we find how much people make doing what we do? A search on Google will turn up many sites purporting to have information about what others make. Who knows how solid the data used by these Webmasters are? In any event, it certainly is not true everyone in these businesses is doing as well as implied. It is also true many are doing much better-some you would not believe! These sites do give an indication of what you might be able to do from your Internet business:
Digital Inspiration deals with what the Webmaster and some friends are doing with AdSense and blogging. One interesting fact is how much traffic comes from India; everything I'm seeing shows this country right in the thick of Internet business. A lot of us are into AdSense and the blogging scene; seeing what successful people are doing could be a useful way to increase our own income.
AssociatePrograms.com is attempting to use a poll to establish income data for what affiliates can expect to make. You can see from some of the resulting comments that everyone is reluctant to give away pay information. It's just nobody's business! However, reading some of the comments may give you ideas about the affiliate business; I imagine most of us are into this scene to some degree.
Paula Neal Mooney has a New List of Blogger Salaries, Webmasters, and Affiliate Marketers. This group certainly includes all of us. Though I always question all income information, this site appears to make an effort to verify income claims; a lot of so-called heavy hitters are not included because data could not be verified. You can get a lot of ideas by reading the entries by each entrepreneur; a lot can be learned by visiting the URLs listed as well. There is a helpful commentary about these business people down the left sidebar. Paula also makes the observation that many successful Internet entrepreneurs have prospered because they exposed their outrageous success for all to see. If it works, do it. This in no way changes my view that most people's income is nobody's business, but if you can use it to advantage without running afoul of the FTC, by all means proceed.
In any discussion of income, the inevitable question arises, "How much is enough?" There is no answer to this, because even those who have much more than they need will keep on accumulating to accomplish objectives other than personal comfort. Examples are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and a plethora of celebrities.
A 2003 article on USA Weekend.com is about the author's research into how much a U.S. family needs to be happy, concluding it was about $50,000 USD a year. Further research indicated a move up to $75,000 did not increase satisfaction, indicating that after some point it's not how much you make but how you manage what you have. By taking care of the important items in your life, you will remove the stress that always follows irresponsible handling of available funds.
Meanwhile, unless you can truthfully tell someone what you make, and it benefits both of you, it's NOBODY'S BUSINESS.

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