4 Types of Income that are More Valuable than Money

What comes to your mind when you think about income?

Money – right? As far as most people are concerned, income is money and nothing more. That is why when people – especially young people fresh out of school – are choosing a job or career, their primary consideration is money. However, that is a very shortsighted perspective. Those who find themselves in low-paying jobs – or even non-paying volunteer jobs – think they are not earning from the job because they have a narrow perspective of what income is. However, there are different levels of income, and the least of them is money.

You may say that the literal meaning of income is money received for work done or investment. But since money is simply a tool for the exchange of value, we can agree that whatever you have that you can exchange for value at will is potential income. In other words, potential income is also income. Anyway, enough with the semantics. Let me share with you 4 types of income you can earn that are more valuable than money. You start to look at jobs and money differently after watching this video. Before we get to it be sure to subscribe to this channel for more insightful videos like this.

1.     Experience

You’ve probably heard the story of the ship engine that stopped working. This was how the story went. Once upon a time, a big ship engine stopped working. The ship manager engaged different experts to fix the engine. But none of them could figure out what the problem was.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young. He arrived with a large bag of tools and immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, while the ship manager watched him, hoping he would know what to do. After close inspection, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped a part of the engine. Instantly, the engine came back to life.

A week later, the manager received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

“What?!” the manager exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they asked the old man to send an itemized bill that justified his huge fee.

The old man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer………………….. $2.00

Knowing where to tap…………………….. $9,998

In other words, the effort is important, but knowledge of where to make the effort is multiple times more valuable! Few things are as valuable as accumulated years of experience in a given field. Money is not as valuable. If you have the opportunity to work at a place that will offer you valuable experiences, you will do yourself a lot of good to choose it over a place that offers monetary rewards but little to no room for experience. When you are working at a place or in a business that offers experience, you are gaining income. Cherish it. Value it. Work as though you are being paid above average income because you are.

2.     Track record

Track record is often used to refer to the best performance or the history of performances of athletes on a certain track. It is also used to refer to a person’s or organization’s past performance in a particular industry or field of endeavor. In the world of monetary exchange, people and organizations are evaluated based on their track record – and in many situations, your track record will speak for you more than any amount of money in the world can.

Can you imagine Hush Puppy, the internet fraudster, showing up for a job interview or contesting for a political position? How likely is he to succeed? He will most likely receive a negative response. What if the same Hush Puppy guy walks into a crime syndicate office? He will likely receive a warm welcome because his track record is relevant in this field. The reason for the different receptions he will receive in both scenarios is because of his track record.

People and enterprises owe much of their success, and unfortunately their failure, to their track record. If you have a friend who has a track record of not paying back the money he borrows, his chances of finding someone to borrow him money in the future diminishes with each negative record he sets.

If you don’t have a job at the moment, it’s easy to stay idle and do nothing – waiting for the miracle job to come. But the longer you stay without creating new records, the more difficult it is for you to get an opportunity. Potential employers or partners expect you to be doing something during your 3 years of unemployment. You see, I don’t believe in unemployment, especially for people who are educated. If you don’t have a job, create one for yourself or get one for free. If you are willing to work for free, there is no way you won’t get a job within the next one month. With that you can start earning income in form of experience and track record.

Earning track record is important; being able to effectively communicate your track record also directly affects your industry reputation. So you have to use your track record to secure more opportunities to set more track records. In the words of Henry Ford, “You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do”.

3.     Association

I belong to different professional and faith-based organizations. Usually these organizations bring people with a common goal or belief under one umbrella. And it often includes a mix of people from diverse social status. It’s a good place to relate with different caliber of people at a very personal level. I have gained tremendously from the people I’ve met within the organizations and equally been of value to others as well.

I have invited a good number of people to these organizations, majority of who were glad to be invited. But there are also a group of people whose response is always, ‘are they sharing money there?’ In other words, these people believe that the only incentive to be a part of any thing is money. This is simply a myopic perspective.

There is no wealth without people. The world is run by people. In other words, people are the engine of the world. Or would I say people are the real currency. An association you have with one people you meet today can change your life in ways you haven’t imagined. If you have the opportunity to learn under the association of someone who is where you want to be or has qualities you admire, do not hesitate to accept the offer even if it’s not paid for. You earn income in association with that person. And that is more valuable than money.

Robert Kiyosaki puts this clearly, “The Richest people in the world look for and build networks, the rest of the people look for work”.

4.     Brand leverage

Brand leverage is similar to the association but it goes a little further. Some time ago, a client from a bank approached a company I’m a part of for service. They were eager to know who we have delivered our solutions to. We gladly showed them a job we did for a government body. They were impressed, not because of the job we did, but who we did the job for. What they did not know was that we were paid peanuts for that job. We actually acted as technical partners to another company that got the direct contract. Their offer was way below our normal cost but we decided to accept the job for brand leverage. We didn’t just see the money we were getting paid, we were seeing how having this brand in our portfolio will help us get future clients.

Brand leverage gets people to say, “if this person is associated with this brand, then he has to know what he is doing”.

Have you noticed that the fee entertainers charge multiples once they gain an award recognition – even if the recognition ended at the nominee level? Or that the price of real estate in an area increases significantly when a bank or a known brand purchases a property in that area? Or people posting pictures online of them and Barrack Obama or a celebrity to boost their personal brand perception. These are all examples of how brand leverage increases value. If you have the opportunity of associate with a known brand, it can be more valuable to your career or business than money in the long run.

These levels of income increase your value in the marketplace and make it easier for you to earn more money in the future. When you have the opportunity to be paid in experience, track record, association, or brand leverage, don’t hesitate to take advantage of it because you will be gaining something that is more valuable than money. In the long run, this will earn you more money.

I hope you have learned something today. If yes, like and share this video with someone. If you are yet to subscribe to this channel, now is a good time to hit the subscribe button. Until next time, YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!