A Laborer is Worthy

A Laborer is Worthy of His or Her Wage - By Tom Roe

An open letter to the Christian community,

I accepted Christ as my savior at the age of ten in Virginia in 1974, and every since--have struggled to seek after God's will in my life every day. Some days, weeks, or months are easy, everything just lines up and it's easy to follow the perceived evidence of God's will in my life, other days, it's not so easy.
 
Please don't think I am upset, I'm just perplexed--and at 41 years of age have been reconsidering my chosen career path--I am not upset at all
 
I have been involved in media and technology since 1982 in my high school in London, Kentucky.
 
I recently gave up a media job of eight years because I wasn't seeing evidence of my personal ministry actually expanding the kingdom of God. Even though I worked for a Christian company--I spent most of that time trying to think of things to do, and, looking back--not really seeing much accomplished.
 
Now as an self-employed freelance artist, I see time and again, people not willing to commit a reasonable amount of money to developing the technical or media side of their project or business. They try to get everything on the cheap only being disappointed with the end-result. I've seen managers spend weeks of their valuable time trying to do something for free, that a competent technical person could do in a day, for a very reasonable fee.
 
Help me to understand this if you don't mind. I won't hold a grudge if you can't, it's not my way. However, as an observer of human nature and a writer, I like to hear other folk's opinions about these things
 
There is a company here in town that does complete corporate identity development, it costs around $14,000 to come out with all the stuff you need to set yourself apart as a company, letterhead, logo, business cards, etc. But, not everybody wants everything, so if you just want a logo, they can do that for you for $3,000 or so.
 
I'm an independent, freelance artist, so I can keep my cost low, I'm charging around $450 to do a logo, unless the client needs to expand it into 3d animation or video production. 
 
There is another company here that will charge you $400,000 to use their highly secured e-commerce server for your fortune 500 company, but I can give you a very secure e-commerce solution, completely customized to your needs, for $3,000 to $5,000.
 
A large production company would produce a 30 second commercial for you for $15,000 to $150,000 (sometimes even more), depending on your needs, and I'll do an excellent job (within the limits of my production suite, including 3d animation of your logo) for $3,000 to $6,000.
 
Some companies can give you a website, setup, for $40, but you're pretty much on your own to build it. I can set up a basic website for $450 (ten hours of labor), and you will have a customized website for your business or ministry.
 
I am so reasonable compared to the big companies, but I feel like I can't get anyone to commit to small things, like a $450 logo design. It does make me wonder why I've wasted so many years of my life getting good at this.
 
Try to remember that a laborer is worthy of his or her pay. Artists need to pay their bills too, so if you know someone who can do the job for you, give them a shot, and you may be blessed by more than you could have ever hoped to accomplish on your own.


Tom Roe - tom@tomroe.com
http://tomroe.com - http://botmedia.com