This morning I came across a guy calling out Steve Carell because Steve was paid $12 million to do the voiceover for the new Minions movie.
Basically the guy was pissed that Steve got paid so much, and that the people who animate the movie aren’t making as much money (see his Tweet below).
I bring this up, because this type of thinking is everywhere today.
Some of it is simply outrage…
Some of it is jealousy…
But a lot of it is because most people don’t understand one of the fundamental rules of money, and that’s this…
The person who drives the sales (like Steve Carell) will always get paid disproportionately more money in relation to people that don’t drive the sales.
Always.
That’s how it works.
And it works like that in movies, just like it does in an ecomm biz or in a law office.
The one who’s driving the sales gets an outsized reward.
So the actor who puts a LOT of butts in seats, will get a big payday.
Same with the lawyer who brings in high-profile clients…he’ll make more than other lawyers.
And a killer copywriter will almost always make more money than a marketing manager or an operations person.
Why?
Cause they move the needle.
And if you “move the needle” you’ll get paid a lot more money.
So while the animators on a film like Minions are important…
If you swapped them out with another group of animators, it wouldn’t change a thing.
Ticket sales would be the same.
However…
If you took Steve Carell out of the movie…
And his name was no longer on the poster…
And he wasn’t doing a big press tour on Good Morning America, Nickelodeon and Rachel Ray to promote the movie…
The ticket sales WOULD suffer.
Why?
Cause Steve Carell is a draw..
He puts butts in seats…
And it’s why the studio is glad to pay him $12 million dollars for a few weeks of voiceover work.
So what’s my point with all of this?
It’s this…
If you want to make a lot of dough…
You need to understand this principle.
The people that are responsible for driving the sales will always make disproprtionately more money.
This was true 50 years ago…
And it will be true 50 years from now…
So if you want to get paid more than everyone else…
Turn yourself into the person that drives the sales.
That’s the key.
Hope this was helpful…
Enjoy your Friday,
– Justin
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