You’re too expensive. Justify yourself
Way 1 Justifying yourself and/or trying to talk them into “reasoning” why you’re worth it won’t pull the trick. Anchoring your offering down, won’t do it either. Bumped into this vid where the “guru” (aka marketing-bro) lowers the price (anchors down), trying to set a comparison to then try to move the perception up. It’s bullshit. (I can tell you, because I’ve done that and it NEVER worked.) Here’s what he said. Someone is telling you “you’re too expensive” and they compare your product or…
About your brand
Today’s message comes from friend-of-the-list and fellow emailer Russell Wadlin, from TailWhip. Your brand. Don’t talk about it.Be about it.✌️ —Russell.
It’s not about *your* worth
When you do work, you’re not supposed to charge “what you’re worth”. That’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is how you can figure out what’s worth to your customer. ‘Cause when you figure that out, you both can focus on the real thing that will move the needle. You’ll make more educated decisions. You’ll work together to get to that thing as fast. When you know what they value, and deliver, they’ll be delighted. And they’ll be happy to pay what you never considered before. What you charge will be…
5 guys, kids and hot dogs
These are 3 types of tricks our brains play in communication. 5 guys Using the same words, yet talking of (or at least thinking of) different things. If you don’t ask to clarify… things can (will) go sideways. Spend less time with your kids Hearing something weird and just assuming it is what you think you heard. That can also bring weird moments if you don’t dive deeper into what’s that you just heard. It could be “Spend less time with your kids”… or “Spend less time with dickheads”. The…
Maths is contextual
And here’s Rory Sutherland having a better explanation on why even maths is contextual. “We often, when we look at data, we look at averages. Averages are misleading because what matters is variance.” And averages are the common ground. The thing that “fits into the market”. The safe space of the known. Of “what is”. But not of the potential. Variance. Of what matters.
Life isn’t math
You’ve heard (I’m almost sure) that you can do whatever you want to achieve. All of that with formulas on: Exponential growth Compound interest Constant growth Time value 10% of the TAM (Total Addressable Market) Dividing how much money you want in a year and divide it by hours Reach You being in front of “more opportunities” Sending more proposals/quotations Etc. There are more nuances to that. The important thing here is: unlike math, a formula won’t apply to all of the scenarios to bring…
An example of assumptions
If you find hard to come up with what assumptions look like, I’ll play guineapig for you. 🙂 Brand and Marketing consultants Focus on choosing brand or marketing as strategic OR tactical. It’s all about storytelling. Focus on experiences —selling experiences. It’s about convincing people. Look for product-market fit. Try to create their “own” category Will help you build your “category of one” Will build you a monopoly of one. Bill by the hour. Take price, cost and rate as the same thing….
Codifying your magic
To you, it’s as easy and natural as breathing. It just happens. Feels like magic. To others, that very same thing is unthinkable of —or at least VERY, very hard to do. When you codify this magic though, this superpower can be shared with others. When you codify it, you can leverage on it, as nobody else/very few will have it. When you codify it, you stand out. What’s that ONE thing that nobody else can do as you do?
A set of assumptions
What are the assumptions in your industry / niche / specialization / market? How does your market show up? What are the common expectations of your market? What are the common misconceptions your market has? What do they expect from you and your competitors? Etc. I’d love to hear about what you face everyday. And tomorrow get to ask you the second part to this question. 🙂
What books
What books are you reading this year? I’m curious to know which ones you find interesting. On my side, here’s my list (so far): Learn Your Lines by Jonathan Stark. What to say when you’re put on the spot by prospects, so that you can build trust and confidence. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. An insight on how Rubin sees creativity. Sales Pitch by April Dunford. How to approach sales from a point of helping your prospects to buy. Regeneration: The Future of Community in a Permacrisis World by…
