You just gotta trust
Pre-S. You know what? You’re fucking amazing. It’s so awesome to have people around that value others and their work. 🙂 There were a bunch of replies on the last emails about “Work for Free” and “Showing up is the secret”. Most of them were taking into account that work goes both ways: give and get. Not only money, but trust. Here’s the thing There’s more and more of businesses, “thought-leadershitheads”, recruiters, and more, that will abuse their position. The only thing you will always…
A stand on working for free
Friend-of-the-list and fellow daily emailer, Danny Ruspandini, from Impact Labs wrote a post on response to “Work for free”. And it’s worth taking over the list today: On doing work for free. I feel pretty strongly about this, so I replied. For clarity, the context of my response is within your business – you know, the one where you’re a solo creative pursuing a career that supports you, and perhaps a few other people. It doesn’t include helping a friend move house, tending the garden at your…
The brightside
Here’s the bright side (and takeaways) from these friends-of-the-list about “workifor free”: “Perhaps the 95% didn’t “not show up” but rather found a more respectful use of their time.” Wes Wheless “The people you want to work with never ask you to work for free, and the ones who ask you to work for free are the ones you wouldn’t want to work with.” Genevieve Hayes “The secret isn’t showing up, it’s positioning yourself so that you never end up in the position where you have to compete…
The opposite of a good idea
Let me know what —to you— the opposite of a good idea is? 🙂
Don’t be that client.
The amazing thing about reading a post on free work? You also being triggered by it and coming with great replies and perspectives on the subject. (Thank you tons!) This one post shared in a previous email is the thing that triggered me to think about what’s wrong here: Some of the replies [edited for clarity; shared with permission) “Asking 1200 people to invest time in something you know will only go to one person is questionable, perhaps unethical.” — Wes Wheless, The Lightbulb. “… there…
What “competitive price” sounds like
Here’s what it sounds like when someone says “competitive prices”: that they have lower prices than the competition (so they can win). That they’re inexpensive. That they won’t be able to command a premium. That they’ll accommodate to whatever the customer asks. That they have no power in the sale. That they shy away from leading. That they can’t say “No, thank you. Not interested.” That they’re cheap. That they’ll match competitors’ prices. That they’ll win… the race to zero.
Competitive prices
What do you hear when someone claims that: “We have competitive prices”?
Marketing or branding
Marketing is understanding business through the market lens. Branding is understanding business through the customers lens. They both work together. One is not “better”, “more important” (aka strategic), than the other.
As a buyer
In response to the 650 question on if Billy’s deal was good or bad, friend of the list and great illustrator and designer Rad came back with one question that was HUGE (edited slightly for conciseness, shared with permission). “The customer got a heck of a deal from Billy because they’re sure to make a killing with the enhancements because it’s already 16,000 to get the instrument but only less than 10% to get the upgrade.Billy could have charged more. (I think)What am i missing?” Here’s a…
Your own prison
A prison where you’re trapped —of your own making. That’s how Blair Enns describes pricing and the feeling of stagnation you might have —how you “can’t” raise your prices just like that. [You can also listen to it here] And he’s right. Traditional pricing (and how most of us have been taught on it) has to do with how we charge, based on what it costs us, and the extra (margins/profits) we’re supposed to make. This margin of what we’re supposed to make usually gets to be based on: what the…