The two things that give your mind a very tough competition when it comes to choice are MONEY or EXPOSURE. It’s like choosing between your favorite food and saving the last penny you are left with as they are equally dear to you.
The thing which is going to help you to get through this, is understanding what to choose and when to choose. There are going to be a lot of times when you’ll find yourself more inclined towards making money because that’s natural, but you got to go with what’s right for you.
Here are some important things that you should keep in your mind while taking off your career flight and making a choice between landing at exposure field or money heaven.
When exposure has value
There are times when exposure is worth putting your money love down. Let’s put it up like this, One day you get a call from let’s say Google and they ask you to create a new look for their browser and you ask, “what are they going to pay you? And the answer you get is, “No pay, you’ll get huge break in terms of exposure.” This is the time you’ll ask yourself that whether your talent is worth for free even for google, but then again it’s GOOGLE and it’s going to open huge opportunities for you in the future. This was just an example, it doesn’t necessarily have to be Google, it can be anything big and fancy that you think might help you with your future gates. When exposure have value, go for it .Just be wise enough to hop for such chances and not to lose them just for money.
When exposure is what you NEED
Google was just an example. When you start off your career you are not in the position to prioritize money over exposure because exposure is what you need for making money. You have to be at a certain level of your career when you demand a handsome salary package. You can’t be at the start of your career and demand something that you don’t deserve yet. But here is the question! What do you need to excel in your career? Absolutely and without a shadow of doubt EXPOSURE. So this is when it becomes mandatory and somehow your only option to choose exposure.
When you don’t need exposure/you find it exploiting
Sometimes the exposure-as-compensation is not negotiable. Most companies and employers exploit artists on the name of exposure. That is high time you say no to exposure cheque and cash your talent right away because at the end of the day exposure is not going to pay your bills anyway. There is another case when you are at that point of your career when exposure no longer serve as ladder in this case you’ll know right away when you should turn down this exposure offer and ask for the exact price of your skills.
Somehow your self-awareness matters a lot in such situations because you have to know yourself enough for this exposure/money trade off that whether you skill is cheap enough or the company is big enough to make the deal.
