The Thriving Artist: Make Over $100,000 per Year as an Artist.

As I worked on the schedule for Q's job, I didn't know how much my core crew could take. I called my scheduling engineer Scotty.

"Capt'in. I don't know if the crew can take much more," Scotty said. "They're about to blow! We've just lost two network drives and our workload is expanding like Tribbles."

"Give me everything you've got, Scotty," I said. "How long do you think it will take to get this job done?"

"It's won't be easy Capt'in," Scotty replied. "I'll try to move some things around. It should take me until Friday, at noon. I'm doin' the best that I can."

Mid-day Friday. That's later than the client wanted, but there is always more room in the schedule than the client tells me. I tell Q that we can deliver it by Friday at noon at our normal rate, or he can have it earlier for a premium rate.

"If I have to work my crew overtime, and put other jobs aside," I said to Q. "It costs me more."

As I have heard many other times, his schedule magically got looser when it meant saving money.

The longer schedule allowed us to enjoy the project and put more into it. We would be more proud of it, less stressed and the client would be happier.

Stardate: Thursday morning. I check in with Scotty on our delivery schedule.

"We're just about done, Capt'in," He told me. "We should have it ready before lunch today. But Capt'in, I suggest we sit on it for the rest of today. Don't tell Q we're done yet. Just in case something happens."

"How should we handle this, Scotty?" I asked.

"Hold onto the job until the end of the day. Deliver it to him around 5 PM. That gives us some breathing room and he gets the job a day early. We both win."

Stardate: Thursday, 5 PM. I take Scotty's advice and deliver the quantum logo to Q. I'm proud of the result and he couldn't be happier.

"Your crew never ceases to amaze me, Captain," Q says. "I can't imagine working with anyone else."

Stardate Thursday, 6 PM. I'm back at the ship. I talk to Scotty about how he got the job done so much faster.

"Oh, I always knew we could do it by this morning Capt'in. But you never know when some Romulan is going to distract you and put you behind schedule."

"Besides," he continued. "If I didn't pre-plan for complications that allow me to always deliver on time or even early, it wouldn't look like I'm performing miracles then, would it Capt'in?"

"No it wouldn't, Scotty," I replied, laughing. "No it wouldn't. Beam me up."

Simon. Out.

Mark Simon's The Thriving Artist: Make Over $100,000 per Year as an Artist three-CD audio set offers insider secrets help artists achieve greater success. Learn about three career mistakes most artists make, how to earn 25% more money without doing more work, negotiating and much more. Cover art by Mark Simon and Travis Blaise. Mark may be reached at MarkSimonBooks@yahoo.com.