I was in a conversation the other day with Miles Austin and he said the following quote: "Inform for free, how to for a fee." Chris Brogan recently wrote a post on price points, and essentially pointed out that if you wanted his time you had to pay him what it was worth. Good point. The more you give away your services, the more you undervalue them, and the more people will take advantage of you. That's what I've learned from the past year. And when people balk at paying my prices, it means they aren't my clients, and if I try and take them on, I'll be wasting my time chasing them.
I no longer offer free half hour consultations and I've determined what my price points are and I'm sticking to them. And as you may have noticed I no longer offer free webinars, and what I've found is that price doesn't substantially change the participation in the webinars.
If you want free, read my blog or subscribe to my newsletter. I'm happy to inform you. But I recognize that how to always needs to have a price. If it doesn't, it ultimately isn't valued or followed through on. This is true regardless of what service you offer. There will, of course, be some people that will do their best to get something for nothing or for a reduced price. And I think the best choice in those cases is to walk away. They can tell you they can't afford you because of the economy, but even if the economy was better they still would come up with some reason.
Know your value and stick to it. That's really what I've been learning, as well as how to say No to bad business deals. When you do that, a lot of stress falls away because you aren't trying to chase after clients. Instead you let them come to you, when the time is right and they recognize they are ready for the how to.
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