Recently I received an email from an old fan. He and his wife were celebrating their 20th anniversary and listening to my DJ mixes had a lot of memories for them many years ago. He offered to pay me to make him a “cameo” type of personal video.
Cameo is a website filled with celebrities that will record well-wishes for you for a fee.
I’m not on Cameo, but I use Loom a lot to record videos, so I offered to do that for him. I realized I needed to walk my walk in this moment and not do it for free. It would have been easy for me to do something nice for a fan, or, as Robin suggested, tell him he could make a charitable donation on my behalf. I knew there was a learning opportunity here for me, so I made myself collect the money.
That money will make no difference in my life, but that isn’t the point. I was in the position of creating tremendous value for someone, that I can bring to something as significant as a 20th wedding anniversary.
So I made the video. I like making Looms. I’m good at them, I know I communicate well with them. They’re easy and fun for me. And I knew that’s exactly why I needed to be paid for it.
I made the video and sent it and he sent the money to my Paypal, and I was over the moon. He was thrilled at this surprise he’ll be able to share with his wife. Something only I could do for him in this way. I was told later how much it meant to them, and was asked for a the original video file so they could keep it forever.
It felt good, and showed me that I can make “fun” money. In addition, “walking my walk” is a recurring theme of mine that I write about. I enjoy modeling what is possible because I know that inspires others. I knew it was important in this moment.
I’m on the lookout now for more ways I can make “fun” money.
Where are the opportunities in your own life to create tremendous value for someone and make money for something you’d happily do for free?
