It’s funny how growing up, it seemed so natural for a phone to be attached to a wall. In thrillers, the scene where the mysterious, gloved hand cuts the cord marked a serious escalation – there was no way to call for help.
As a society, we have left that limitation in our past.
The same thing happened to many types of expertise-based work: its value is becoming less and less bound by your location. Firstly, the world is rapidly becoming more complex, demanding specialized expertise.
Secondly, technological advances (video calls, international payments, project management, collaboration platforms) have made it easier to work across time zones and continents.
A meeting that used to take months of planning and a 16-hour plane trip now takes seconds to set up virtually and is mostly just as good.
And if the value of what you offer is globally relevant, you are now free to set prices based on where your skills are needed, not where you happen to live.
Remember, local market prices are meant to prevent undercutting, not to limit your earning potential. There’s no real reason to handicap yourself by keeping your earning potential hostage to local customs.
Expertise is increasingly a currency that holds value beyond borders. Global pricing means advertising and referrals may lose a lot of power, but the benefits include bigger payouts, accelerated learning, and higher resilience.