Museum Pros Should Pay Attention to the Business World: Money

Confession – I spend a lot of time reading books and articles about and by the business sector. I probably read more business materials than I do museum pedagogy. To be fair, there are more business resources easily available impulse buys from the Target book aisle. The reason I read these books, is they have been tremendously helpful to me in my career. While I joke about reading more business literature, that only applies to my off time. When I am at work, I read way more historical and museum material. When I’m home, I like to read about how I can better myself as a professional. Here is where the business world comes in.

Because Target was out of You are A Badass, I first read You are a Badass at Making Money. I felt a little weird about buying and reading it cover to cover at first, but then I realized, I work in the museum field and I probably do need help in this area. However, one of my favorite ideas in the book was about how what you put into your job is what you will get out of it financially. Not just how you feel about your money, but how much real money you will make. And while it may not pay off in your current job or immediately, these things have a way of paying off eventually. I’ve heard other folks in the business sector that when you are working, think about whether you are doing something that is passive or active. Are you calling a client and making money or are you simply organizing your files? I think this can be a helpful approach for a museum professional. If we think of our work and our time as money, could this be motivating and empowering? I think at times it can be. We all know that the museum field is not the highest yield profession, but we still make money and it’s okay to value it and want more of it.

I’ve learned a few other helpful business life hacks that I’ll share on occasion. Is there anything from the business world that has helped your museum career?