Investing in knowledge training and James Whistler

The increase of knowledge -- from Billing Knowledge

It’s not new, but  Does it Pay Off to Invest in Knowledge during Non-Billable Time? posted in December by GG Bari at Billing Knowledge gets right to the heart of a problem many freelance or consultant knowledge workers face. That is, whether or not customers should pay for the training or learning required to do the job they hired you for. And, if they don’t pay for training, how much needs to be loaded on the fee to take the learning part into account?

These are difficult questions for anyone who bills by the hour and remind me of the kerfuffle over James Whistler the painter.

Whistler created some paintings in a day or two, but charged his usual hefty fee. When questioned about the morality of asking for what amounted to a huge hour rate he replied he wasn’t charging for the hours worked, but for a “lifetime of experience”.

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