molly.com
Wednesday 4 January 2006
When RSS Beats You to the Punch
I’M THINKING AN EXPLANATION IS IN ORDER. Some people saw my rant about the commenters who were saying horrid things to me because I posted about wanting funding – 20k per month – to continue doing what I do. Apparently, there is something so shocking about this amount that it brought out some really mean people.
My failure was that I did not explain that 20k a month isn’t meant as a traditional salary. That’s what it will take for me to run molly.com more efficiently and be able to continue traveling and doing the work I love. The amount would allow me to have a personal assistant / office manager, something I’ve needed for a very long time now as those of you who are still waiting for shipments and email responses from me are well aware.
I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer about all this, and that people took it the wrong way and said hurtful things. So I went on a rant and said hurtful things back, nearly pulled an Oxton, and then realized it’s all just very silly so I killed the posts.
And that’s why your RSS feeds have those posts, but they aren’t here. On with the show . . .
Filed under: professional
Posted by: Molly | 02:49 | Comments (40)
Darn…I was still trying to figure out how to find you a 20K/month gig for the finder’s fee only when you pulled it all off.
It’s not an unreasonable figure to run a business, actually. The health insurance costs alone will eat a large chunk of that gross figure.
Good luck finding and funding the assistant
Oh! In that case can I have…. oh… $3k/month as manager/personal assistant/Canadian?
And how do you feel now, Molly?
GaBuBu: I feel sleepy. Very sleepy. Oh you mean about all this? Well, I should have unquestionably been more clear in my first post. And that I should wait a few before hitting publish whenever I write a rant.
When I read your first post I felt really depressed about how much I earn, at least now I don’t feel so bad.
Personally I always leave a rant in the drafts section for at least an hour before getting published.
But, but… now I’ll never know if there was a response to my comment!
Ah, well, such is life
Molly, I guessed it right
Since I saw the beginning of the discussion and then the disappearing of the whole article I surmised exactly this. I was pretty surprised that most of the comments touched the salary — they were pretty insensitive. You shouldn’t go for similar rants since you’re that tender. Have a nice day and don’t think about it 
At the end of the day, even if it was ‘traditional salary’ and you can pull it off, why go for lower. Your a very hard working and dedicated woman and earned what you can get away with.
My intial reaction was:
“Wow 20K a month! I need to step it up a notch so I can become a guru and make that much.”
Its too bad that some people decided to get negative about it.
Back to my Utopia list…I would also like it to be a place where money doesn’t divide people as it does today.
“Be bloody, bold, and resolute;
laugh to scorn The power of man,
for none of woman born Shall harm M……”
You should have left the post and booted out some of the comment.
20K a month isn’t enough for you.
Molly,
the explanation certainly helps. But now it sounds more like you want to run your own business….not take that 20K as a salary. Because if you had an assistant working at a traditional company, YOU would not need that salary as part of your own.
I had posted a comment which I think you deleted, simply asking what it was that you DID that was worth so much….I just want to understand. I’d love to travel, but don’t you normally get paid when you travel to speak somewhere already? I’m simply looking for some understanding….more to figure out what I need to do to up my own salary, not trying to put yours down!
Also, please keep in mind the audience of your blog as well….a lot of people who probably have great knowledge about XHTML, CSS and web standards, but have to work for a year or more to make what you want in three months.
I just don’t get it sometimes. I read that post and thought, “Gee, I really wish I could even think about money like that.” Maybe a few other minor thoughts about the gall it took to post such a request, but whatever.
I didn’t get to read any of the comments, but it sounds like that was a good thing. Why do people take such things so personally?
Molly, you are worth much more then the $125/hr ($20k /160 hours) that you are asking, and if others don’t understand what the going rate for decent IT consultants, then they are living in their own little bubble. Goog consultants are not expensive, they are priceless. I even created a Consulting Rate Worksheet: http://donxml.com/grokthis/articles/249.aspx that can help FTE’s figure out what an equiv. consultant rate should be and vis versa.
I missed that one, but as always rants beget rants. LOL… Yeah too many people take things too personally, and I think it is hard to read those comments and not have some sort of negative reaction to their negative comment on you post.
$20k a month, hmmm not sure far behind the mark you are, but I think I speak for most people when I say we would all miss your presence, and your rants too…
RSS…a double edged sword. Similar things have happened to me.
I have to agree with Don. As far as consulting goes, $125 / hour for what you know and do as well as supporting molly.com? Either you live in a place like me, where salaries don’t touch those of San Francisco or London or you’ve just under-priced your work, in my opinion.
This is just another example of when the written word fails to communicate our actual intent.
Um, just so you know, that has a subtly different meaning in Britain…
I bid $2.5k a month (for personal assistant) and I actually live here in Tucson.
Your kidding right someone gave you crap because you were only asking 20k a month for a salary to do what you do. Well I guess to some that is alot of money probably so much money they would kill for half that is they got a chance to. But really when you start making 50k a a job and pulling 3 or 4 jobs a month then come hollar.Funny to hear you wrote all these books Molly and yet you still struggle to find jobs that pay you what your worth!
Good luck with your future endeavours, Molly.
The concrete price of what you do (the $20k/month) seem to receive equally concrete responses.
Putting that aside, I think highly of you as a web standardista (one of the top 25 most influential women on the web, a member of WaSP and countless books authored by you, as I heard) so whatever you do, know that you have full support from a wide range of people on the web, and perhaps offer you something you need to go all the way.
Molly-
You explanation certainly makes the 20k/month sound a lot more understandable. I definitely thought you meant a traditional salary when you first posted — but even still, I don’t know that 20k/month ($240k/year) is totally unreasonable. Our field is definitely underpaid, by and large. I’ve speculate that most of us are, on average, worth at least twice what we’re paid. Considering the highest paid web designers/desvelopers are probably in the lower triple-digit, $240k/year doesn’t sound like an unreasonable worth to place on yourself with your skills and experience.
My initial reaction to your post was simply, “well, she’s probably worth that much, but good to her in actually getting that much!” Even though a few of us are probably worth it, I can’t imagine there are too many companies actually paying out a quarter-millon dollar traditional salary to web designers.
Maybe the lesson learned for all of us on this is that discussing salary is just not usually a good idea. People take it all too personally, and don’t consider the factors involved. For example, I have a great job and make what would probably be considered a low-ish salary for a web designer in most of the American urban centers. But, here in the midwest, I can easily afford a three bedroom house and a brand new car — plus have plenty left over for boozing it up on the weekends (and the other nights, too).
Anyway, good luck with getting whatever you need to be happy — that’s really all that matters.
I reckon I’d make a good ‘remote’ PA.
Holy crap…I can live quite well on half of that a year where I live!
Well my rude comment was just a joke, no offence intended, so my apologies for that.
To be honest it much depends how many days/months work you get, only work one or two months per year and the total income isn’t that much.
For example: I tried selling my body for 20K an hour, but no-one was interested.
I suspect a big part of what touched off some of the responses was the word “need” in “I need 20k”. That probably surprised a lot of readers who have firsthand experience that one doesn’t *need* 20k/month to survive. Once you explain what you mean by “need”, it becomes a lot clearer. Good luck with your plans!
Without revealing my sub-$20K per month earning ability, I will say that the freelance life is pretty expensive. My wife, son, and I pay about $650 a month for quite good health insurance (which goes up 5 to 10 percent a year, well ahead of inflation) and individual dental insurance is essentially unavailable in Washington state.
I pay about 25 percent of what I earn in business and occupation tax (2.5%), city business tax, and federal tax after backing out all the deductions, etc. The B and O and city tax wouldn’t apply to my income in Washington state, which has no personal income tax.
My mortgage payments for a modest house I bought 10 years ago have deductions attached, but run about 15 percent of my gross income. Because of the stupidly designed alternative minimum tax, my wife and I may pay *more* tax next year because we have these deductions (child + house puts lots of middle class folks into AMT territory starting 2006/2007).
Disability insurance is expensive and limited.
I run my own servers and license some content, so about 15% of my gross income before taxes goes to expenses, including office rental and co-location.
If I just had a job with good health benefits, I believe I could gross 50 to 60% less than I gross today and still wind up with roughly what I make at the end of the day, and get some paid vacation and sick days…
“If I just had a job with good health benefits, I believe I could gross 50 to 60% less than I gross today and still wind up with roughly what I make at the end of the day, and get some paid vacation and sick days…”
— Glenn
Ouch, but then you’d have to work for someone else. Trust me, having an idiot manager – who earns twice what you do whilst knowing half as much – telling you what to do isn’t nice (not that all managers are like that).
Clients can be daft, but at least you’re not 100% answerable to someone who got where they are due to big company politics. Trust me, your lot isn’t that bad!
Interesting to hear that someone elses government thinks the enterprising individual is someone to be trodden upon, thought that was a solely English thing.
Ha ha. Ok this is how I saw it. Say I have a startup that’s actually got potential. I’m an out of the loop kind of guy wasting resources – or a business wanting to make powerful alliances in the industry – well I think all things considered 20K a month isn’t too bad.
How many doors are open to you in the industry Molly? Doors I would never get through myself? I think that’s where your major asset to a firm would be, beyond your actual abilities even are the assets you bring in with you. Of course it depends on the firm.
When you look at some of the prices high profile blogs have achieved in the last few years that would be another money earning thing indeed. Certain companies would do well to have such a platform targeted at a specific demographic of professional.
So all things being equal Molly I actually don’t think 20K is an unreasonable amount. Look at what managers are pulling in some companies? Don’t worry about the criticisms on it because mostly they’re people just surviving. If they can’t offer 20K worth of value to an organisation then they won’t get it.
If I had such an organisation and a purse to go along with it I’d no doubt think seriously about what you could achieve for that money. Advertising and promotion, selling, etc. beyond the direct job.
[K rant ended and have to get out of my dressing gown or I'll get Tasmanian jokes - its 7.30am here]
[...] “She does have a follow up though called When RSS Beats You To The Punch“ [...]
My previous comment on the former article wasn’t hurtful was it?
nortypig: You – Tasmanian jokes? Surely not?!!!
Ahh Tasmanian jokes are only rehashed irish jokes anyway Matt no doubt… we mix and match the same ones around the world to fit whoever is our perceived butt… I guess.
I’m a rather sporting looking dude (NOT) in my semi-ripped half open bath robe before that first coffee. God knows why nobody likes to give me money lol.
Oh I forgot… although I’m not allowed into the US, the UK, most parts of the civilised world and some other countries besides – you know how visas can be guys – I still think the assistant’s position sounds cool. Man I’d love an assistant, I mean a paid one. Awesome.
I’m not sure which is worse, the slur on my name or the lack of a link… hey ho live by the sword and errr.. yeah.
Sorry Mr. Oxton. It wasn’t a slur, though, it was me making you infamous. An entirely different thing.
Well I’ll still write a chek, but you can’t actually cash it for like 6 years. Deal?
I didn’t comment on your 20k post because I had no job to offer. You were posting a work request, which is something I have considered doing at times so I did read the long string of rude reponses. I thought it was funny how many insults popped up because really, if a person isn’t prepared to make an offer, what difference should it make to them how much money you want? Either they are a person who wants to negotiate or they aren’t. That’s part of the problem with having a comments field for every post on a blog. Some things don’t really need to be open to public discussion. For some reason there are people in the world who resent the discussion of money. I don’t know whether you can pull in that sort of money from a single client/employer, but if you can then more power to you.
You shouldn’t be apologising or backing away from your original post. Its a market economy and at the end of the day, people are earning way in excess of $20k/month – some way way in excess of that figure.
I’ve had a similar experience myself being appointed to the board of a multi-national at 26. Unfortunately a few people couldn’t see beyond the birthdate, with a lot of them making bad assumptions and some particularly rude comments.
If you have the ability, expertise or profile to demand that amount, you’d be out of your mind not to, and at the end of the day, most naysayers to that type of suggestion have never and will never earn that type of money and therefore the concept, or more importantly of what is required personally to justify that kind of price tag, is beyond them I’m afraid – but that’s their problem, isn’t it?
What I found is that the vast majority of the detractors, when given a similar opportunity, basically couldn’t cut it, no matter the fact that they thought it was easy while they were watching others do it and pointing out that they were’nt worth it.
You go right ahead and ask for whatever YOU think you’re worth. You may get it, you may not.
$20k a month for what you do? That’s cheap! I can easily find useless contractors on that sort of money here. Fair enough, I’m basing my comment on London contractor rates where silly money is the rule but still, you’re worth more than $20k a month.
At the end of the day, a salary in itself doesn’t mean anything. Paying someone 1k a month can be way too much if that person doesn’t produce anything useful. On the other hand, paying 20k a month someone who has the knowledge and experience to produce 500k worth of revenue a month is a bargain.