A lawyer I am coaching asked a great question.

What was the greatest return on your investment of time?

Time is Money

For me that answer is an easy one. I wrote a monthly column for Roads and Bridges magazine titled: “LAW: The Contractor’s Side” each month for almost 25 years.

I chose the title of the column purposely. I wanted to convey that I represented contractors.

Here are a couple of columns I wrote:

At the Risk of Sounding False:I wrote this column after the Enron and Worldcom cases because I knew it was more important than ever for contractors to focus on business ethics.

Traveling the Measured Mile: I wrote this column to share with contractors how they needed to prove their damages when their project was delayed by the owner.

Why was writing this column such a great return on investment and what is the lesson for you?

  • The column was one page long, so I was not writing a law review article. I spent more time searching for the best topic than writing the column about it.
  • My photo was included with the column, which made it more personal. Contractors got to know me and they were interested in learning from the column.
  • Perhaps most importantly, the magazine was read by virtually everyone in the road and bridge construction industry.

Seth Godin has written about the importance of shipping it in his blog post Unrealized projects. In the post Godin writes:

One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen.

So, to get the greatest return on your investment of time, write short pieces often, write them on a regular basis, include your photo and then get what you write as widely distributed as possible.