For Pete’s sake – you just need to ask for the money already…
Okay, so maybe you can relate to my two colleagues. They probably read this, so I’ll change their names just in case I introduce the two of you later. So let’s call them Donna & Annabelle. Just like you, they are both brilliant, accomplished and poised for super-stardom. Annabelle and Donna have both stepped into the spotlight and launched incredible new ventures that have skyrocketed very quickly. So here’s the deal….
Over dinner, Annabelle says she has this idea to bring her new members together quarterly. These people are all the top people in her field and she wants to get them in the room and have a roundtable discussion; make the acquaintance of other leaders in the area; and hear first hand how to navigate through this marketplace and achieve more success.
This is a fabulous idea for many reasons that I won’t go into here, but immediately seeing the value the rest of our conversation went something like:
Me: “How much are you going to charge to attend?”
Annabelle: “Nothing.”
Me: “Ummmmm really? Who is sponsoring your event”
Annabelle: “No sponsors.”
{Cue the crickets}
So here’s my message to you, if you don’t want to charge people to experience all the inherent benefits you are offering, your offering will not sustain itself. This is not charity. It’s business… know the benefits and value you provide and charge accordingly. If you can’t see it, ask a trusted colleague who can.
Scenario Dos –
In brainstorming with Donna, (again, equally as fabulous and accomplished as you) about the launch of her new service, she hesitates to put up a service page to collect revenue immediately because as a start-up “people won’t want to pay me.” {Where are those crickets?}
That’s just fear of success or of failure. (I’m not really sure which because they both seem like they’re intimately intertwined.) I don’t care if your site has been up for decades, if a new person strolls along to your site and finds it – it’s new to them. Launch your platform, products and services knowing that you’re going to make money. Kay? Good. If your work is beautiful charge for the value it provides. If your work sucks, well that’s a different story.
So this week’s mantras are:
“I shall not work for free.”
“I shall ask for what I’m worth and not compromise”
Know that this issue of ‘pricing for value’ comes up all the time with clients who are just as accomplished as you are. Ask someone who is already a star earner to help set your pricing model. Chances are you’re probably not being objective enough about it and I don’t want you leaving any more money on the table.
Cheers!
Lise