How much are you worth to your boss?

The "after 30 days, we will discuss my salary"-talk that I demanded be in my contract happened today.

Before I get into the flow if it, I thought I'd let you guys know that I've been trying to prepare for today's conversation for about two weeks. Money's a sore subject. I know what I need. I know what I want. The salary I was on wasn't enough for either and I had no clue how much to ask for or expect. And I hate discussing money. Even more, I hate being a burden. So asking a business owner for more of his money makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable.

Am I a valuable asset to my place of employment?

So now, post graduation, post employment- I networked. I emailed the SU Career Center for some really great feedback and talked to my very well connected Uncle (I'm not kissing ass- it's the truth) to figure out how much to expect. How to bargain. What to say. What to prepare for. Everybody was on target and I was way off when going to sites like salary.com (pure garbage).

They started off by saying that I was more than they could have ever expected. Holler. They asked me how I liked the job and were ecstatic with my honest answer that I like that I get to multitask, I'm good at it and I don't get bored of one thing (plus side to working for a boutique). And I love everything I'm getting to learn. Oh, and the environment in the office isn't too shabby either.

So these are the things that stood out to my bosses (both positive and negative):

• They don't have to tell me what to do. They show me how to do something once, and I'm off.
• Based off of what they show/ tell me, I brainstorm great ideas for marketing and content and website architecture and so much more.
• I don't vocalize those ideas to them enough. They need to be managed. I need to speak up more often.
• I'm learning fast. I'm studying things related to what I do and things related to what they do- both on and off the job. They were really impressed by the fact that I care enough to take the work home with me, even though they had no expectation of that. (It's definitely beneficial to understand exactly what you're doing, and when that involves trying to promote what somebody else is doing- you have to know what they do too. And it's all incredibly interesting to me.)
• I'm bubbly around the office. I fit in well in their atmosphere."You complete our team."
• They know I'm worth more than what they're paying me, and they're looking forward to being able to compensate me more down the line. (That might be B.S. for all I know, but it was a good line to throw in.)

They went on for a while, but that was most of it. I ended up with a 15% raise. I guess after a certain point, I have to learn that I'm not being a burden by asking for/expecting more money. I'm a valuable asset that's deserving. Nothing about that is burdensome.

So it looks like this small business values somebody who's intelligent enough to take charge, isn't afraid of responsibility, looks forward to a challenge, is willing to go the extra mile, will speak up, and can take a good joke.

I still can't get over how this was supposed to be a part-time secretarial position.

What do you think makes you a valuable asset to your boss/future bosses?